07-04-15 I have peeked at a few shows myself

[Shouri]

New strip! http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-s ... ows_myself

[SilentChaos87]

Well played, Zii. Masterfully done.

[Spidrift]

Nicely plotted; the writers explain why Ruby is about to open up to Zii about whatever story issues they want to work through in this plot strand, despite her usual preference for keeping stuff private (and also stay in character for both Ruby and Zii). Zii is giving Ruby's instincts a lot of credit, though; Ruby had just a second to hear what Dillon and Jerzy were saying, subconsciously deduce that two gay guys were approaching the room (not even knowing that Dillon was gay before that), and find the closet. Well, Zii is judging by her own standards. Or finding any excuse to draw Ruby out, for the fun of it.

Squinting at the smartphone picture, it doesn't look like any scene we've witnessed in the comic (and not just because Zii was apparently floating on the ceiling when she took it), though that might be Matt on the left. Well, we knew that Zii has a long record of voyeurism.

I also like how Minew has been given her own speech bubble font.

Oh, and I foresee a big character-shift plot the day that somebody gets into the photo collection on Ruby's smartphone. Along with this image, I bet she's kept the selfie of shame...

['J']

it occurs to me that the strip's been going long enough that zii not having a camera phone was a minor plot point in the early chapters.

[Spidrift]

Well, she didn't have one on her; she was a bit lightly dressed in that scene. But yes, Gary was lending her his at an earlier point. She had a pocket camera by volume 2, though, and actually she got hold of a video camera as far back as the porn set flashback.

Anyway, this isn't really a matter of technology marching on; Gary had a camera 'phone from the first, so Zii presumably couldn't afford one rather than the technology not being available. One might sensibly guess that she upgraded after she got a salary from the shop, around the time that she also acquired her first PC.

One can also imagine her grabbing Gary to work out how to transfer her photo collection to the 'phone, while carefully not letting him see the actual photos...

['J']

not so much a question of whether the technology existed, but rather that it was still just un-ubiqitous enough to not seem odd that she wouldn't have one. also, the fact that the term 'camera phone' was still in usage.

[Spidrift]

On the other hand, she also didn't have a PC back then, which was hinted to be, well, something inconvenient, though not actually too weird; there seems to have been some deliberate hinting that Zii was actually almost broke at the time. (It did become a plot point.)

On the third hand, she felt the need for a full-sized laptop; these days, she might just pick up a decent tablet.

[wiseguy]

so Zii got a fujoshi pal?

[themacnut]

Heh, Ruby is slowly but surely being drawn into Zii's circle of "perversion". Hopefully she can resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance before her head explodes or she has a mental/emotional breakdown.

[Spidrift]

I get the impression that Zii is seriously trying to help with that, and can probably make a fair job of it. She's not just teasing Ruby, and she's not just forcing Ruby to admit to liking yaoi; she's just made her agree to be honest in this conversation, which means that Ruby won't be able to duck any difficult issues. Which rather suits Ruby's style, because she really is a very honest person, and all that lying to herself and others was what was being really bad for her head.

After all, Ruby has already told herself once that there's nothing wrong with looking at men. So she's not really all that negative about sexuality; it seems to be the problem of "respectability" and self-respect that messes her up. But she'll need to work through that, with Zii's help or not, because as panel 1 in this very strip shows, she can be as tough on herself as she is on others.

(Which is the kind of thing that makes any tendency to judgmentalism that she may display tolerable for me. It's the huge and crucial difference between people with high standards and people who are just judgmental jerks.)

So the next question is what Zii will challenge Ruby to be honest about. I'm sure that she'll get that Ruby is a virgin, if she hasn't guessed already; I'm wondering if she'll push Ruby towards giving Andy a call back and a fair chance, or whether she'll focus on things like Ruby's relationship with Amber, or whether they'll just end up gabbing about yaoi until Jung calls to remind Zii that she's supposed to be minding the shop.

[brasca]

Zii can call it a business lunch with a potential steady customer. And I say lunch because you cannot say that much over a coffee break.

Quote removed. The DAMNed

[Spidrift]

Just enough to confuse the hell out of a certain waitress, possibly. But I suspect that Jung would call Zii's bluff on that "business lunch" line. (Unless Zii produces someone who can sort his books out for him by way of a resume-building temp job or something.) But these are comic strip characters; they're used to packing lots into four panels...

[Sage]

Ruby's cat is much cuter than Gary's. Just a thought.

[Spidrift]

It is, but then it's a fluffy kitten rather than a mangy old adult. But technically, Lita is Zii's, not Gary's. Theoretically.

[The Omnipotent One]

I saw the thumbnail with Minew on it and I couldn't help but say "DAAAWWWW"