14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

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Giz
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14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Giz »


OllieOrOlly
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by OllieOrOlly »

(Outdated meme but can't resist) Oh hai, Gary!

Ramona certainly pegged - ahem - Gary wrong, as he would have sexual experience surpassing chubby Ol' Junghan.
Ruby has quite the range of adorable expressions in this update; anyway, it is good that there wasn't any "mini-quest" to find Ramona, and they are merely at the comic store for immediate conversation with Ruby. Probably should cut through the BS that would generate when Dillon and Amber attempt to help Ruby in their own ways, which are not remotely helpful for her personality type.

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Storm-forge mystique
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Storm-forge mystique »

...wait, is this before or after Peggy's date?

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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by TheFoolishOne »

Jung! you stud you :D <3

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Spidrift
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Spidrift »

Do not underestimate Jung. Ever. He's an advertisement for the nerd virtue of Doing The Reading -- like Ruby, but further along and with his shit more together.

Though I do read Ramona's line there as at least partly boasting about what she's done for (and to) Jung. Hmm. Giz once hinted that she might do a Jung/Ramona bonus strip one day; I think I'd like to see that.
Storm-forge mystique wrote:
Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:43 am
...wait, is this before or after Peggy's date?
Does it matter? At all? Gary is just passing through the comics shop, for the sake of a very nice little throwaway dramatic irony gag in the last panel. And he's not likely to let a little thing like any weirdness in his romantic life keep him from his regular IV shot of printed sequential art.

Anyhow, I found this quite a heartwarming little strip, with a bit of added characterisation for two minor protagonists. Jung sees that there's a problem, takes everything Ruby said on board, and plays it just right, doing his Jerk With a Heart of Gold piece; Ramona may not be super-experienced herself, but she shows that she can read a friend's expression and offer the sympathetic ear that may be all that Ruby needs to start working things through.

And the mandatory panel 4 gag is organic, arising out of the situation and raising a smile without trashing the mood or breaking character. Add in the nicely drawn facial expressions, and this is a small gem of a strip.
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by worldshaking00 »

A Gary sighting! Yay! Too bad that he's not getting involved.

I think that this strip is occurring after Peggy's date et al. Judging from Giz's FB post about trying to wrap both strips up roughly simultaneously, why make things more difficult by going back in time. It shouldn't hurt the narrative to have things progress naturally chronological now. Time having been a wee bit wonky before in Ma3, it is a valid question though.

Whether him and Peggy are FWB still, or Zii & Didi being a couple, should make no difference on Gary still having interest in comics. We'll only know what happened should the creative team decide to have Zii or Gary have a more active role in SDB.

My two cents: if you're going to mix it up and have SDB & Ma3 run concurrently and overlap, might as well go full goose bonzo and have both comics collapse into one gigantic rom-com orgy. No need to pussy-foot around. Let's get these characters from different strips yet the same world introduced to one another.
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by OldBrit »

Ruby's here, Gary's here, Zii's arriving shortly. The strips could easily merge - or the characters could pass oblivious of each other.

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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Spidrift »

I doubt that we’ll see any more of Gary in this plot thread than this. It’s a (rather good) one-frame joke. The only slight possible oddity is that Ruby doesn’t seem to have recognised him, but she’s severely distracted and facing the wrong way. And Ramona is providing Ruby with the required emotional support now; when that’s done, and Ruby has talked through her problem, she will likely move on to getting back in touch with Andy. Throwing Zii into the mix, except perhaps for her own one-frame cameo, would just clutter things up.

(Ruby may have seen Gary around the shop in the past, actually, but what’s she going to say to him? “Hi, you must be Dillon’s lust object. You don’t know me — we have met, but it was in a toilet, and I was dressed as a guy and saying incredibly embarrassing things to myself. Nice to meet you.”)

And characters cross over between the three Ma3-universe comics all the time. Many of them have indeed been introduced. It just makes more sense, when you’ve got three titles, to run three distinguishable comics.
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"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
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Error of Logic
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Error of Logic »

Heh. ^_^ Jung is a pretty decent human being. And he also knows when to call in the cavalry.

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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Spidrift »

I agree that Jung is having his good-guy-really credentials confirmed here. But to be honest, one can end up with the bar set rather low in this sort of comedy, if one isn’t careful. The decent things that he and Matt have been shown doing for Ruby (who obviously brings out the best in people) are arguably just stuff that we should expect of anyone in real life who isn’t a total tosser.
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-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
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brasca
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by brasca »

I thought Ramona would be the best person for this situation so I'm pleased to see Jung bring her out. They have similar experiences and background. I imagine that her sibling relationship can be trying at times so maybe she can get that off her chest too. Even if Ruby doesn't associate Zii with Amber or Dillon it's been a long time since she was ever in Ruby's situation if ever.

I do think Zii could benefit from a chat about self control given the fallout from her band, but I think in this timeline that hasn't happened yet. Of course by the time she might ask Ruby may have forgotten because of constant sexual activity.

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Spidrift
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Spidrift »

I have a vague feeling that if Ruby doesn’t bump into Zii today, the next time she sees her, if she asks for advice about her problem of the moment, Zii might suggest drinking a lot of cranberry juice...
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-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
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brasca
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by brasca »

Well that would be an incentive for Andy, but he may be as opposed to oral as Peg's ex.

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Error of Logic
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Error of Logic »

Though hopefully for less mindboggling reasons?

And in this case, Ruby might appreciate it if oral is not immediately on the table.

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Spidrift
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Re: 14-07-18 SDB-That thing you do

Post by Spidrift »

Nothing that weird about Peggy’s ex’s objection. Simple fastidiousness is kind of commonplace. Now, if you mean Tracy’s ex... Well, actually, Andy might be similarly prone to trying too hard to be an old-fashioned nice guy.

But anyway, who said anything about oral? Not the point at all.

(Okay, okay — cranberry juice may not really be a great treatment for cystitis. I thought that everyone knew that association, though.)

And am I actually the only reader to notice how incredibly cure the two primary characters in this strip are?
Last edited by Spidrift on Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.

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