22-05-15 Can I fire him

[Spidrift]

I don't see that as entirely obvious. It's possible, but the main thing now may be Angel desperately trying to swear Ruby to silence while Ruby tries to work out what the heck Angel is talking about. And anyway, if Ruby tells anybody about this, it's likely to be Dillon. Of course, Dillon may well then tell Jerzy, but as Ruby could tell him, that'll just make him look tacky and jealous.

I rather hope that the main point here is a broadening of Ruby's education in the weirdness of people, anyway. It's a weird kind of sentimental education that she's receiving, but I want to see what sort of person comes out the other end of it.

Incidentally, one might deduce that Ruby's subconscious has been trying to tell her something. Up until now, she's thought that Angel was a pretty-boy guy; and yet, although her dreams and fantasies have involved every other good-looking man she's met in Montreal, they have never featured Angel.

Which is actually the writers missing out on a chance to be cruel to her for once, if you think about it.

[LegendaryKroc]

If it does become an ongoing thing, it'll probably be just one of several ongoing subplots. In terms of relevance to the overarching plot? I'd peg it as being moreso than DiDi and Sandra's little girl-date, but less so than Matt's machinations towards a foursome with him and Gary in it, were relevant to Ma3. And it would probably focus on Angels attempts and motivations to keep it a secret from Jerzy, as well as a few other people's attitudes. And he wouldn't even have to be told it was happening; he could wind up finding out under his own agency by overhearing it (on purpose or by accident) or walking upto/in on Angel in a date-like pose (even a casual one) with Richie. When he found out (if he finds out, I should say) his reaction would be relevant too, as would any resulting consequences and/or fallout.

But yeah, this also seems like a perfect opportunity to put a crowbar in-between the door and doorway of Ruby's knowledge of the ecclectic nature of humans and force it a little wider. She's been undergoing a better understanding of people through Dillon and Amber - could Angel, of all people, be another such person? I can see it. While certainly sitcom stalker-level crazy, Angel seems well-adjusted enough that this whole genderfluid thing could be the next thing Ruby gets to learn about.

As for that last one... in-teresting.

[Spidrift]

I'm not sure that these comics have single overarching plots. They have multiple loosely interwoven plot threads, whose significance varies almost-randomly as the writers discover what does or doesn't work for them.

As to what Ruby learns from this scene ... it probably won't be much, though it may well be good for her. Basically, if she can accept that people can be like Dillon or Angel and still not be entirely horrible human beings, she should see that her own impulse to snuggle up to an attractive guy in a rather blandly vanilla-heterosexual way is nothing to worry or be ashamed about, and won't get her laughed at. Though conversely, the sort of hysterical messes that Dillon and Angel get into might confirm her opinion that romance is more trouble than it's worth. It may just come down to other people being so interesting or funny that she stops being quite so uptight and starts hanging out with other people more, for the lulz. Knowing that gender-fluid people exist is interesting, but she's unlikely to want to walk that path (unless Rudy comes back to haunt her...), and it's not like she's previously been too judgemental of unorthodox sexualities.

(I'd credit Dillon and Zii as the people who've helped her most so far, though. Even if she could have picked up some useful lessons from Amber, she's blinded by anger when she looks in that direction. The encounter with Zii may have been brief, but it showed her that some people out there are prepared to be reasonably nice to her without preconditions.)

[themacnut]

As to what Ruby learns from this scene ... it probably won't be much, though it may well be good for her. Basically, if she can accept that people can be like Dillon or Angel and still not be entirely horrible human beings, she should see that her own impulse to snuggle up to an attractive guy in a rather blandly vanilla-heterosexual way is nothing to worry or be ashamed about, and won't get her laughed at. Though conversely, the sort of hysterical messes that Dillon and Angel get into might confirm her opinion that romance is more trouble than it's worth.

I personally would like to see Ruby continue to avoid romance as a nice change from the everyone's-getting-laid-or-trying-to general theme of the Ma3 verse. I'd like to continue to see her look at the romantic hijinks of those around her and keep shaking her head thinking "Not worth it." while continuing to engage her libido with yaoi. Abnormal? Sure, but Ruby's clearly not a normal young woman.

[Spidrift]

I like the fact that Ruby is actually having a story, starting from paranoid hostility to sex and shame at any sort of sexual feelings, through learning more about herself and others, to accepting her own, essentially totally unremarkable nature. This comes with marker points along the way, where she learns or realises stuff, or other people help her, not always deliberately, and in the process she influences them. She can't not change at all - that would make her look stupid, and she isn't stupid, and anyway she's already changed in that she's acquired the taste for yaoi - but the change is a process, and involves her personality evolving.

But this doesn't have to be a fast process. She has to change her mind about things, and she can be stubborn. Anyway, she's cautious about trusting anyone, and it'll need a lot of trust for her to go to bed with anyone. She hates feeling vulnerable or ridiculous, after all. And even once she does go that far, do you think her relationships will be easy or uncomplicated?

It's an interesting contrast with Gary. He was gagging for it from the first, so that comic had to find a lot of arbitrary reasons for him not to have any success, starting with him being a total dork. Ruby isn't going to get there until she wants to, so what's going on inside her head becomes an important element of the story.

[smoothjohnny]

Please, please, please have Yuki kick Jacob in the nuts. Kick him so hard until he ends up like Yvan after Gary left the club.

For real though. Kid's a Scrappy Doo if he takes a human form.

[LegendaryKroc]

It might be more accurate to say he's Zii and Gary's lovechild - he has his mother's impulsiveness and his father's Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome and ignorance.

Though in all seriousness, Jacob is a smart kid -- the whole "boy-side and girl-side" thing was his idea, after all; if he can get over that lack of self-awareness he's come down with, he'll be golden.

Quote removed. The DAMNed