16-06-15 No other reasons

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Don Alexander
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Don Alexander »

Spidrift wrote:I don't see that as especially "straight" behaviour; Ray is encouraging Amber to distribute the pictures in order to promote Ray's career, and his grin is at the prospect of getting into acting.
:-\

We have a vastly different interpretation of that. I see it as:

Ray is encouraging Amber to distribute the pictures to all her porn actress friends in order to, hopefully, make them think he is hot as well, and his grin is at the prospect of getting MORE PORN TAIL.
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by OldBrit »

But does Ray know Chanelle is a porn actress?
JoybuzzerX wrote:I just get this feeling Ruby will be directing gay porn very soon, starring Ray.
Not gay porn, just live-action yaoi.

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Milkmaid79 »

Of course Ray is totally cool with the pictures being taken and wants them spread far and wide.. can't have Ruby looking like the sort that would violate someone's privacy for her own satisfaction.

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Don Alexander »

OldBrit wrote:But does Ray know Chanelle is a porn actress?
Ray definitely knows Amber was once porn actress Amber-Amber. I strongly assume he has also watched lesbian porn. Amber-Amber & Chanelle Number Fine did a load of lesbian porn together.

So, 99.9% yes.
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by brasca »

Milkmaid79 wrote:Of course Ray is totally cool with the pictures being taken and wants them spread far and wide.. can't have Ruby looking like the sort that would violate someone's privacy for her own satisfaction.
Yes it is tragic when your own indictments of a character are proven false by the actual creators of this strip.

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Spidrift »

wi1dfire wrote:
Spidrift wrote:Indeed, though it's also now established that Ruby still prefers some degree of consent, at least retroactively; she's letting Ray see the pictures, and we have to assume that if Ray had screamed "No! Delete this!", she'd have done so, however, unhappily. She's not turned into Zii or Dillon yet.
Not that I think your guess is wrong, but we actually don't actually have to assume that. We also don't know how the video got into Ray's hands; it would be totally in character for Dillon to ditz out and gushingly show the video off without even thinking that Ruby might be embarrassed or Ray might be concerned. And what would she do, loudly object? Most people trapped in an embarrassing situation wouldn't, they'd try to brazen it out and pretend they don't care. Which is how I saw her acting in panel 3.
We don't know for sure, but not only do we not see Ruby objecting (and there'd have been lots of comedy in a frame with Dillon saying "Hey look at this!" while Ruby reacts), we don't see her looking angry at Dillon or cringing in the corner. If this scene had happened despite Ruby's inclinations, I think that the creators would have found a way to tell us so. They tend to play fair like that.
wi1dfire wrote:I still see this as evidence that Ruby is more concerned with appearing upstanding and morally upright without actually concerning herself with being those things, sort of like she saw nothing wrong with asking for the details of Angel's sex life, but heaven forbid someone overhear the conversation and think Ruby might be interested in that.
Oh, Ruby runs on a huge mixture of shame and guilt, with a large side-order of bourgeois respectability; she couldn't be as repressed as she is without buckets of all three. And sure, a lot of what drives her moral behaviour is the terror of being found out; remember her belief that other people must somehow know about a picture which she took of herself, in private, two years ago. (All of which almost takes this into not-funny territory for me, because I've seen someone literally steer herself into a nervous breakdown through the belief that she'd be found guilty of things that she hadn't even done.) But her moral instincts are actually quite sound, she judges herself a lot more strictly than she judges other people (except possibly Amber, who's kind of her negative yardstick), and we know that she's a fairly nice person at heart, prepared to help Dillon out of a hole when she could just have walked away.
wi1dfire wrote:Pairing these up, but the small blush juxtaposed against Dillon's heart eyes is what makes me think Ray may be buying a clue, and that he's flattered instead of panicked. I am curious though, why do you think Ray was blushing, if not due to him finally noticing how into the kissing Dillon is?
Simple; he's a fairly conventional guy with a pretty strong heterosexual self-image, who is for the first time seeing a picture of himself kissing another guy - and looking convincing and hot about it. That's an embarrassed "Wow, I do look kind of ... gay" blush, with maybe a small realisation that yeah, he didn't dislike it to add confusion to the mix. He may even be modest enough to feel embarrassed by the idea that he's (a) hot and (b) a good actor.

He gets over it fast, though - no blush in panel 2, wanting to make the pictures public in panel 4 - but that's just a sign that he's very ambitious about his new career. That's athletes for you; motivated.
wi1dfire wrote:
Spidrift wrote:
wi1dfire wrote:Especially not the same week that Sandra on the Rocks is confronting a character over his creeper habits.
At risk of splitting hairs, "creeper" makes it sound like Alex is stalking Sandra, which he isn't really. His wall-shrine might be considered a little creepy, though in many ways it's 100% normal fannish behaviour, but he's not actually done anything threatening towards her. It's not his fault what she did last thing last night...
That IS splitting hairs, and possibly dangerously so. You don't wait for someone to start actually hitting you before you wonder if they might be dangerous when enraged. I also didn't call Alex a creeper, only that his habits are those of a creeper. We know he's mostly a huge fan of Sandra, and has convinced himself he's in love with her...and actually that's not really helping. Okay, maybe he is creepy, although not a danger.
Suppose Alex had never met Sandra in person, but was just a fan in another city who'd picked up on her career. The wall of pictures would surely be no big deal now; like I said, it's really very, very ordinary teenage-fan behaviour. Maybe a little bit immature for someone Alex's age, but not off any scales.

It's only a problem because he knows Sandra in person, and someone who does that sort of thing about someone who's basically a personal friend sets off loud stalker-warning alarm klaxons. But suddenly finding yourself appointed your idol's personal cultural consultant is an unusual situation, and I can't really blame Alex for being a day or two slow to react to the different circumstances. He's now realised just how unfortunate the set-up could look, and if he gets out of the current situation with his anatomy and social relationships intact, I imagine that the pictures will come down and be stuffed very deep in his sock drawer.
wi1dfire wrote:Almost the entire cast of MA3 would have at least been tempted, and most would have acted on that temptation, but not him.
Basic reality of teen fantasies; they're not supposed to come true, and if they do, it's very likely to be terrifying for a teen who isn't a total oaf.
wi1dfire wrote:Really, I want to see Ray react differently than Sandra to similar circumstances (someone being creepy around them) as a contrast.
The problem there is that both Ray and Sandra are basically-likeable characters in light comedy environments; that limits the range of responses that we can plausibly expect from either of them. Actually, I don't think that either will identify the other party as being creepy. Alex is probably about to demonstrate some terror-driven ninja poster-removal skills, and Ray seems to be a good-hearted, slightly naive sort who'll choose to believe Ruby's excuses, and who is anyway too grateful for this potential PR boost to look a gift horse in the mouth.
wi1dfire wrote:It would also have a different affect on the person being creepy, which is appropriate since they are different people doing it for different reasons. Alex is dedicated to the idea of Sandra, is her biggest fan, and now is confronted with the actual living Sandra. Ruby doesn't actually care about Ray for himself, merely as a vehicle or triangulation for her own desires, so seeing someone react totally differently than she would in their place might give her something to think about.
Like I said, Alex is stuck in the situation of being an ordinary teenage fanboy who suddently has to deal with his idol in person. There really aren't any manuals for that; we'll just have to see how he negotiates the situation, but he does now understand that he has a problem. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Sandra guessed some of the truth with Alex - she may even glimpse the wall of photos - and just treated it as an enormous joke. She has an anarchic streak and no very great self of self-preservation, so as long as Alex doesn't show up with a knife or an axe, she'd probably just tease him.

(I'm also waiting to see Marie coming to Sandra and asking her for advice on how to attract the attention of an oblivious boy...)

Ruby's situation is slightly different, in that she's got her delayed teenage hormonal surge hitting her like an express train because she thought she had that nonsense under control, whereas Alex's has merely arrived on time and with only ordinary force. Initially, the yaoi was her safe outlet, her boyband-equivalent, but she's also got real cute guys in her life, and she's going to have to remind herself that they're real people with feelings of their own (even if Ray does start volunteering to pose for more photos). Fortunately, I think her instincts are sound; it's just a question of how well she juggles that, the idea of monetising her new interest, and her relationship with Andy.
JoybuzzerX wrote:I just get this feeling Ruby will be directing gay porn very soon, starring Ray.
I think her plans will use the word "erotica" rather than "porn" - and insofar as there really is a difference, she will stay on that side of the line, in the same region as less-than-graphic yaoi at most. She'll want to create stuff that she can sell online without too much niggling sense of shame, and that Ray will agree to do as part of his improvised career plan.
Don Alexander wrote:Ray is encouraging Amber to distribute the pictures to all her porn actress friends in order to, hopefully, make them think he is hot as well, and his grin is at the prospect of getting MORE PORN TAIL.
Actually, he's encouraging her to distribute them to her "director friends"; he doesn't mention other actresses, though Amber mentions one (but only one). Even if he's forgotten that Amber has now gone legit, despite Dillon telling him so repeatedly, he'd presumably think of porn directors as mostly male.
OldBrit wrote:But does Ray know Chanelle is a porn actress?
Well, he knew Amber as Amber-Amber, so presumably he's at least heard of her frequent collaborator, Chanelle Numberfine, and maybe he's heard somewhere that they're friends, or Amber has mentioned the fact in passing. In which case, there's a fair chance that he'll guess that this "Chanelle" she's just mentioned is in fact Ms. Numberfine. But I don't think that's he's paying much attention to that name, actually; he's more interested in getting those pictures out to some directors, to further his career.
OldBrit wrote:
JoybuzzerX wrote:I just get this feeling Ruby will be directing gay porn very soon, starring Ray.
Not gay porn, just live-action yaoi.
One should acknowledge that the film that Ruby dreams of herself directing in the Kickstarter bonus PDF (which is increasingly looking like foreshadowing) is evidently rather explicit - or would be, if her imaginative repertoire didn't involve Barbie doll anatomy.
Don Alexander wrote:So, 99.9% yes.
I'd say 95%, moderated by the fact that Ray isn't worrying much about that just now.
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by wi1dfire »

Spidrift wrote:Simple; he's a fairly conventional guy with a pretty strong heterosexual self-image, who is for the first time seeing a picture of himself kissing another guy - and looking convincing and hot about it. That's an embarrassed "Wow, I do look kind of ... gay" blush, with maybe a small realisation that yeah, he didn't dislike it to add confusion to the mix.
Does that happen? I've never known anyone that would react that way. Most people don't really care. If they are secure enough to kiss someone they aren't attracted to in the first place, being reminded of the fact doesn't tend to embarrass them, unless they aren't straight. The few I have seen embarrassed turned out to not be quite as secure as they thought. Or blamed it on alcohol, which wouldn't have applied in this case.

Quote fixed. The DAMNed

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Spidrift »

Well, Ray's actual sexuality is a bit of an open question at present, so maybe he is a little bit insecure. And he was only just secure enough to kiss Dillon - he needed a drink the first time, remember. And apparently, Ruby managed to catch a very hot picture there - it impressed an experienced porn actress, after all - so there may well be a certain amount of "Is that really me looking quite so Stupid Sexy Flanders?"
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Milkmaid79 »

brasca wrote:
Milkmaid79 wrote:Of course Ray is totally cool with the pictures being taken and wants them spread far and wide.. can't have Ruby looking like the sort that would violate someone's privacy for her own satisfaction.
Yes it is tragic when your own indictments of a character are proven false by the actual creators of this strip.
Actually she's still a creep-taking an upskirt photo is still wrong even if the subject turns out to be accepting of it.

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by christopheftw »

This strip is a gentle reminder that Ray too is pursuing his own goals deliberately through his interactions with Dillon and Amber, and is not some random naïf who has fallen into the clutches of a bizarre sexual cabal.

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by brasca »

Milkmaid79 wrote:
brasca wrote:
Milkmaid79 wrote:Of course Ray is totally cool with the pictures being taken and wants them spread far and wide.. can't have Ruby looking like the sort that would violate someone's privacy for her own satisfaction.
Yes it is tragic when your own indictments of a character are proven false by the actual creators of this strip.
Actually she's still a creep-taking an upskirt photo is still wrong even if the subject turns out to be accepting of it.
As we can see Ruby did not keep the pictures a secret and Ray is not only fine with it, but wants Amber to share them with her director friends. Ruby has enough wherewithal to know that the men involved are not intensely private people who never want pictures of them kissing to see the light of day which is why she did it. People who take upskirt pictures do not confront the women they photograph because they know they will object and usually involve the legal authorities.

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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Spidrift »

christopheftw wrote:This strip is a gentle reminder that Ray too is pursuing his own goals deliberately through his interactions with Dillon and Amber, and is not some random naïf who has fallen into the clutches of a bizarre sexual cabal.
If anything, his ambition is seeming a little ... intense. I mean, Dillon has always been committed to his acting career, for slightly vague reasons - presumably because he likes being paid to show off and play-act in public, which honestly is fair enough. But Ray defined his reasons at the start as wanting to instill powerful emotions, promptly began talking about getting kissing lessons from a guy, and now wants pictures of himself kissing that guy distributed to complete strangers on the off-chance that it'll further his career.

Even allowing that he's open-minded and is quietly internalising the idea that he's bisexual, this is beginning to seem a tiny bit flaky to me. I don't know how far the creators intended this, but I'm wondering exactly what Ray wouldn't do for an acting gig.
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Roborat »

Oh, this is getting interesting. Is Ruby going to end up with a career directing gay porn?

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Spidrift
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Spidrift »

Erotica, please.

Now, the idea of a virgin erotica director may seem a little weird. But Ruby would be aiming for a specific sort of market, of which she is the archetype. One suddenly imagines her achieving some success in the field, and then starting to fear, in best magical style, that she'll lose her mojo if she ever bumps uglies with a guy...
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Re: 16-06-15 No other reasons

Post by Bambikles »

"Bump uglies" ?? :-\

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