20-03-15 What am I doing

[Spidrift]

Most of us could get out of this easily enough and seeing as how Zii would probably remember Ruby as a child she would probably assume that she was lost in the wrong section and think nothing of it, however, Ruby will make it worse.

Given that Ruby has actually put the yaoi back on the shelf, she really ought to be able to pull a flat denial. On the other hand, I disagree about one thing there; Zii, being Zii, will surely assume that another woman is in the yaoi section for the yaoi, and doubtless react to any denials from Ruby with good-natured teasing - which Ruby will treat as overwhelming pressure, making her fold instantly.

My guess is that we'll get a frame or two of that, and then just as Ruby is about to flee in panic, Zii will notice Minew, throwing them into a bonding-over-cuteness scene. The interesting thing would be if they ended up bonding enough for Ruby to ask Zii to keep the yaoi thing quiet from Amber.

Now maybe they will leave without incident because Minew could provide some distraction, but it's also quite likely that she may extort herself to keep Zii silent without any effort. I remember months ago when Zii wanted to learn about Gary's technique and thinking she might want to employ a spy who no one has ever seen. If Ruby is that fearful that her respectability could be destroyed then she might agree to get involved in Zii's hijinks.

I don't remember Zii having any specific ideas about employing a spy, and anyway, she's already established by cross-examining Amber that it's very difficult for someone who's experienced the Swirly to explain the secret. And flat-out blackmail doesn't really seem like Zii's style. For her part, the one thing that I reckon Ruby would think was worse than being embarrassed in front of Amber would be sexual contact with a strange man, so I imagine she'd just respond with a flat "No".

Anyway, given that these events are taking place some days before current activities in Ma3 (though, okay, maybe not before Zii tried to get Amber to teach her the Swirly), I think we can be pretty sure that Zii isn't about to drag Ruby into her insanity with Gary. That would be far too much of a crossover, and far too messy to orchestrate. I think that this is just going to be about getting an alternate view of Ruby and Amber and their relationship.

(Though I wish I knew why Zii seems to be looking annoyed in that last frame today. Startled, or amused, or curious, would make sense, but that facial expression reads as irritated to me. I hope that Ruby playing the slightly annoying kid sister all those years ago doesn't still rankle with Zii, and that Amber hasn't been bad-mouthing Ruby too much to her friends.)

[Feywald]

I just realised this will be Rubys first encounter with Zii since she discovered she was having a homoerotic affair with her sister during her(Ruby's) childhood. It was revealed by Dillon in one of the gig strips.
So this might take an interesting turn that has little to do with Ruby being caught in the Yaoi section.

[Bambikles]

Just to say Ruby's body language is amazing in this strip !

[Spidrift]

I just realised this will be Rubys first encounter with Zii since she discovered she was having a homoerotic affair with her sister during her(Ruby's) childhood. It was revealed by Dillon in one of the gig strips.

That wasn't a guest strip; it was a perfectly normal Giz-drawn strip, although it took place during the big crossover sequence.

But yes, that's another thing to factor into whatever happens next. If Ruby isn't thrown off-balance for the entire conversation, it'll occur to her soon enough, I'm sure.

So this might take an interesting turn that has little to do with Ruby being caught in the Yaoi section.

That incident may have left Ruby with a worse view of Zii than Zii has of her; the revelation was clearly a kick in the guts for her, and means that Zii may be firmly associated with humiliation and the breakdown of her early relationship with Amber, in her mind. It looks like this scene really needed Minew along, to save the conversation from being very short and increasingly frosty.

[Feywald]

I had meant 'Gig' as in concert, and i couldn't remember how to post links as text.

That incident may have left Ruby with a worse view of Zii than Zii has of her; the revelation was clearly a kick in the guts for her, and means that Zii may be firmly associated with humiliation and the breakdown of her early relationship with Amber, in her mind. It looks like this scene really needed Minew along, to save the conversation from being very short and increasingly frosty.

Pretty much what i thought, but i can not remember if it's ever been alluded too that Ruby knew her sister was bi previous to this. Come to think of this, has it ever been mentioned that amber has had sex with a women who is'int Zii? (Excluding three somes and her work.)

[Spidrift]

Somehow I read "gig" as "guest" there. Sorry.

We've never seen Amber having a sexual relationship with any woman except Zii outside of a professional context, and her relationship with Chanelle, who seems to be her closest friend apart from Dillon, always looks fairly platonic except on video. (I think that the writers actually confirmed that.) Well, there was the time they kind of faked it, but that was strictly to mess with Dillon's head. (Ma3 #601, May 15, 2012, NSFW.) And Amber is always talking about finding herself a man. My reading is that she actually tends fairly heavily heterosexual, but she's cheerfully flexible, pragmatic, and very porn-casual (Kinsey one or two, basically), and has been ever since Zii first seduced her; in her mind, a woman can be great for fun, but for relationships, she wants a guy.

As for Ruby - there was a moment shortly after she first showed up when she thought that Amber was confessing to being lesbian, and she went quite pear-shaped at that. So Amber very sensibly didn't try to finesse the point. Anyone who knows a little bit about porn will guess that a successful porn actress won't have been too fussy about getting sticky with other women, but Ruby makes a point of not knowing or thinking any more about porn than she can help, so the idea that Amber must have done stuff with other women in front of the camera had probably never crossed her mind. Insofar as she thinks about sex at all, she likes her categories clear and simple, to save having to think too much - I'm sure that she knows the word "bisexual", but it probably just strikes her as a meaning "greedy and confusing and even weirder than other people".

So she won't have considered the idea that Amber might be bi until that moment at the gig, making the reveal even more unpleasant for her. Not only did it make a part of her childhood into a bad joke with her as the butt while Amber and Zii were surely laughing at her, but it proved that her bloody sister was even more messed up and sick in the head than she previously thought.

[FlashD81]

(Though I wish I knew why Zii seems to be looking annoyed in that last frame today. Startled, or amused, or curious, would make sense, but that facial expression reads as irritated to me. I hope that Ruby playing the slightly annoying kid sister all those years ago doesn't still rankle with Zii, and that Amber hasn't been bad-mouthing Ruby too much to her friends.)

I don't see annoyed myself. I see more curious mixed with surprise? like she is not really believing what she is seeing.

[Ecchi-Spud]

[Spidrift]

I don't see annoyed myself. I see more curious mixed with surprise? like she is not really believing what she is seeing.

Okay, it's hard to read that expression for sure.

Though we have all missed an important question here; How does Ruby look to Zii? After all, Zii just addressed her as Little Ruby Larose, which will be how she remembers Ruby from ten years ago (and it always used to bug me when people who'd known me as a kid addressed me the same way, ignoring the fact that I was older now). But Ruby isn't little any more, is she? I think she's now got several inches over Zii. And on top of that, she's currently dressed the way that suits her best.

If this was a completely fresh encounter, with no complications on either side, I'd expect lines from Zii like "Wow, you've grown" or "You look amazing". If Ruby was a gawky, buck-toothed youngster - and I'll bet she was - to Zii's eyes, she'll have really blossomed. It'll be interesting to see if the dialogue addresses that.

[wiseguy]

if it is a "is she Ruby?" approach than I understand the "little Ruby?"

but if Zii was 100% sure it was Ruby, than she would have gone "Ruby! you have grown"

[themacnut]

Yep, I'm expecting hilarity to ensue here. I also expect Minew's presence to be possibly the only thing that keeps things from getting frosty or even downright hostile between them, considering Ruby's discomfort at learning that Zii and Amber were having an affair.

Quite frankly, considering that Ruby really won't want to talk to Zii and her embarrassment over being "caught" in the Yaoi aisle, I wouldn't be surprised if she stammers out something like "N-no I-I'm not her!" and simply flees from the store, maybe never to return. It'd be anticlimactic, but not surprising.

[The Omnipotent One]

Is this not the first time Ruby and Zii have met?

[Don Alexander]

No, they know each other from when Ruby was a kid and Amber & Zii were in high school together. See the strip linked above by Spidrift.

I'm not really following the people here who think Minew will be some kind of focus of bonding between Ruby and Zii.

Yep, Zii has a cat (though it's pretty much adopted Gary by now), and, yep, cat ears are kind of Zii's schtick... But she has never struck me as one of those "Awww who's a cute little kitten? You are! Yes, you are!" people (like Ruby obviously is).

I'd ewxpect Zii's reaction to be along the lines of "Cute cat... but why are you carrying her with you?"

[Optimus Kate]

I miss Jerzy.

[Spidrift]

Yep, I'm expecting hilarity to ensue here. I also expect Minew's presence to be possibly the only thing that keeps things from getting frosty or even downright hostile between them, considering Ruby's discomfort at learning that Zii and Amber were having an affair.

Note, however, that the confirmed causes for hostility are strictly one way. Ruby has recently realised that Zii was once Amber's lesbian lover (eugh!), probably subconsciously thinks of Zii as the girl who disrupted her relationship with the sister she admired at the time, and has just been caught in the Yaoi section, which may well lead Zii to a lot of embarrassing comments.

Zii, on the other hand, may well have nothing much against Ruby. She may once have regarded her as an irritating kid, but that was ten years ago, and Ruby is visibly not a kid any more. Likewise, Amber may have groused about Ruby imposing on her lately, but Amber tends to be fair about Ruby when she remembers, so she probably won't have painted her as a monster.* So Zii may just see Ruby as an old acquaintance from her home town who looks kind of classy and smart, carries a cute kitten around with her, and seemingly has good taste in imported comics. Worth at least ten minutes of conversation, surely. So...

Quite frankly, considering that Ruby really won't want to talk to Zii and her embarrassment over being "caught" in the Yaoi aisle, I wouldn't be surprised if she stammers out something like "N-no I-I'm not her!" and simply flees from the store, maybe never to return. It'd be anticlimactic, but not surprising.

But a bit pointless, dramatically speaking. Anyway, Ruby isn't always very quick off the mark when caught by surprise, and might regard running away as cowardly or rude. This raises a different possibility for next Tuesday's strip:

Zii says "It is you! Wow, you've grown! <hug> How are you doing? Why didn't Amber say that you were in town? Hey, Jung, I'm taking a coffee break, okay? Come on, my favourite place is just over the way." All while Ruby just stands there paralysed, maybe saying "gurk".

(Heck, Zii might even introduce Ruby to Sonya, by accident. Bonus points if Ruby then covers herself in confusion by saying "Aren't you the bassist?", and then has to explain how she knows.)

No, they know each other from when Ruby was a kid and Amber & Zii were in high school together. See the strip linked above by Spidrift.

However, just to clarify - this is the first time they've met since the comic started.

I'm not really following the people here who think Minew will be some kind of focus of bonding between Ruby and Zii.

The main reason is that it explains why Giz put Minew into this plot thread at all. Fond though Ruby is of him, not many cat people, however fond, carry a kitten around with them in a bag while out shopping or job-hunting. It was a weird thing for Ruby to do - but now, Minew may serve an unexpected purpose.

Yep, Zii has a cat (though it's pretty much adopted Gary by now), and, yep, cat ears are kind of Zii's schtick... But she has never struck me as one of those "Awww who's a cute little kitten? You are! Yes, you are!" people (like Ruby obviously is).

However, Lita is a skinny, cynical-looking adult cat; Minew is a terminally cute kitten. (He had a fair effect on Amber, remember.) It wouldn't be that strange for Minew to have a bit more of a kawaii effect on Zii. Anyway, Minew doesn't have to have a very strong effect; he just has to give Ruby and Zii something that they can agree on, to get them past the difficult first few minutes of the meeting when Ruby's hostility and embarrassment, and Zii's membership of Team Amber, would otherwise be preventing any connection.


*Actually, Amber may not even have mentioned Ruby to Zii lately. Yes, it'd be weird, but Amber has a bad habit of over-compartmentalising her life. She didn't get back in touch with Zii when she moved back to Montreal until she had to, and she keeps ducking the need to tell her parents about her porn career. I think she finds it hard to manage those sorts of interactions.