10-02-15 A quality book for you

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Don Alexander
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Don Alexander »

Spidrift wrote:However, Achmed remains unexplained.
I seriously need to explain that? /:)
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by TCampbell »

Motorcycle wrote:Never did like this particular thing writers use: Having someone keep desperately denying something completely obvious when everyone can see it & people just go along. For once, I wish someone would just say, "Cut the crap. It's plain as day you ________." This time is funny, but I still wish didn't have to go through it since, as Spindrift mentioned, it draws things out. A lot.
bambikles wrote:Oh my, this must the funniest strip in a while in SDB !
For better or worse, this one's kind of on me. Gisele originally planned to go straight to Dillon saying "So you like yaoi," and Ruby not exactly denying it. But Ruby has so stridently, if transparently, denied sexuality of any sort (confessing it only to herself, and even then, only sometimes) that I felt like she had to try one last time to wriggle out of this confession. The specific script, once we settled on that, was 99% Gisele (I think my contribution consisted of the use of the word "So").

Lest it seem like I'm still grabbing at too much of the glory instead of just giving you a window into the process, I always marvel at how Gisele (clearly no prude herself) writes Ruby's wrestling matches with repression, and I was glad I nudged her to do so here.

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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Spidrift »

Don Alexander wrote:
Spidrift wrote:However, Achmed remains unexplained.
I seriously need to explain that?
Was a new one on me. Not everyone has the same pop culture references, remember.

(I try to limit myself to one Casablanca reference every three or four months on these boards.)
TCampbell wrote:For better or worse, this one's kind of on me. Gisele originally planned to go straight to Dillon saying "So you like yaoi," and Ruby not exactly denying it. But Ruby has so stridently, if transparently, denied sexuality of any sort (confessing it only to herself, and even then, only sometimes) ...
Well, she accidentally revealed something to Gary...
TCampbell wrote:...that I felt like she had to try one last time to wriggle out of this confession.
Just so long as we get onto some kind of constructive character interplay soon (i.e. Friday). Like I said, character integrity is all well and good, but when you're only running two strips a week, it may sometimes be necessary to move things along a bit briskly.
TCampbell wrote:Lest it seem like I'm still grabbing at too much of the glory instead of just giving you a window into the process, I always marvel at how Gisele (clearly no prude herself) writes Ruby's wrestling matches with repression, and I was glad I nudged her to do so here.
My outsider's guess would be that a writer who could do this was more likely to have observed it from the outside than to have experienced it herself. Somebody who'd actually worked through those sorts of issues in person might even find that it's too close to home to write easily. Ruby doesn't hide her problems very well, however hard she tries - she's too honest - so if she's partially modeled on life, she'll likely be based on someone who demonstrated the process very clearly to sympathetic observers.

Talking of consistency, by the way: how unreliable is the sound insulation in this apartment, I wonder? Because Ruby and Dillon just heard Amber and Ray's moans through the wall, and Ruby was able to hear Dillon and Jerzy's discussion of the cock ring in some detail. So it can't be terribly good. So, logically, if Ruby now gets annoyed enough with Dillon to raise her voice at him, Amber should really be able to hear what's said.

Unless she's been rendered completely insensible with ecstasy, of course. This time, anyway.

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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Quinlan1973 »

Sometimes Dillion has surprising moments of brillance.

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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by 'J' »

Spidrift wrote:Talking of consistency, by the way: how unreliable is the sound insulation in this apartment, I wonder? Because Ruby and Dillon just heard Amber and Ray's moans through the wall, and Ruby was able to hear Dillon and Jerzy's discussion of the cock ring in some detail. So it can't be terribly good. So, logically, if Ruby now gets annoyed enough with Dillon to raise her voice at him, Amber should really be able to hear what's said.

Unless she's been rendered completely insensible with ecstasy, of course. This time, anyway.
that would depend largely on the layout of the apartment. if the bedrooms are directly next to each other then there could be a lot of sound leakage between them (though this isn't a low rent place, so maybe not). but if there's a bathroom or a closet between them, then that could certainly deaden any crosstalk.
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by themacnut »

Spidrift wrote:
FlashD81 wrote:That might be Dillon's next line of questioning, and that could possibly push her over the edge.
He may not know it, but Dillon doesn't actually want to push Ruby over the edge. She's actually been quite polite to him up until now, in her own way. But she's capable of a lot of anger, as Amber knows, and she's seen the inside of Dillon's head. She may never actually really lose it with him, but if she does, she could say some really very hurtful things.
I would so very much like to see Ruby just completely unload on Dillon, speaking aloud every unkind thought she's ever had about him. :ymdevil: I'm sure she would under sufficient provocation. But even if the creative team did let that happen, I'm also pretty sure what would happen next; Dillon would break down crying like a little girl, causing Ruby to immediately regret every unkind thing she said and try desperately to apologize/take it all back. Ruby's guilt over that outburst could be so great that she'd allow herself to be dragged into more of Dillon's crazy schemes.

Hmmm, I think I like that outcome. Bring on the Rubysplosion!
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Azrael »

But you make it so easy. :p
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by brasca »

Spidrift wrote:
brasca wrote:Ruby should go with the "I read Playboy for the articles" claim. Similarly she should claim she read the books because she liked the drama, but then stopped when everything got hot and heavy.
That would work. Alternatively, she could always resort to something close to the truth; "Okay, I have those feelings. Reading that booked helped me get things out of my system without making an idiot of myself with some unreliable man - unlike you and Amber."

But Ruby is stubborn. It's part of her charm, but sticking to her first reaction is doing her no good here.
I really want to know more about Ruby and Amber's childhood. We only got a glimpse of Amber's at a slumber party with Zii so it is difficult to make any estimation, but it is possible that Amber was a bright kid whose doctor parents expected would go far. This would certainly explain Ruby's motivation to get good grades. Then Amber discovered sex and went girl and boy crazy. Who knows if her grades slipped, but after seeing her sister in a porno Ruby was likely scared into the repressive hole she dwells. I think she is afraid that if she loses so much as an ounce of self control she will end up abandoning her dreams of a businesswoman for carnal indulgence. She is right to some extent when she observes all the problems her roommates have being led by their libidos, but her mirror opposite approach has its price too.

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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Spidrift »

themacnut wrote:I would so very much like to see Ruby just completely unload on Dillon, speaking aloud every unkind thought she's ever had about him. :ymdevil: I'm sure she would under sufficient provocation. But even if the creative team did let that happen, I'm also pretty sure what would happen next; Dillon would break down crying like a little girl, causing Ruby to immediately regret every unkind thing she said and try desperately to apologize/take it all back. Ruby's guilt over that outburst could be so great that she'd allow herself to be dragged into more of Dillon's crazy schemes.
The question would be whether Ruby could actually get angry enough that she stopped caring about Dillon crying. It'd take a lot, but I think it's theoretically possible. After all, if she ever really got down to cataloguing his faults, "manipulating people by fake hysteria" would be somewhere on the list. And I'd really love to see someone throw that one in his face.

It's highly unlikely to happen, though, especially now that Ruby has learned that she can use her smarts to analyse people. Ruby lacks a killer instinct (though she's sour enough to be hostile to Amber 24/7). One big reason why the creative team have had to make her, essentially, a good person, is that if she ever turned nasty, she should logically get quite seriously unpleasant.
brasca wrote:I really want to know more about Ruby and Amber's childhood. We only got a glimpse of Amber's at a slumber party with Zii so it is difficult to make any estimation, but it is possible that Amber was a bright kid whose doctor parents expected would go far. This would certainly explain Ruby's motivation to get good grades. Then Amber discovered sex and went girl and boy crazy. Who knows if her grades slipped, but after seeing her sister in a porno Ruby was likely scared into the repressive hole she dwells. I think she is afraid that if she loses so much as an ounce of self control she will end up abandoning her dreams of a businesswoman for carnal indulgence. She is right to some extent when she observes all the problems her roommates have being led by their libidos, but her mirror opposite approach has its price too.
Amber may have been a bit more academic before she went sex crazy (not just boy crazy, remember), but it's not actually necessary. Remember, Amber is the pretty, outgoing, popular one, who even gets all the parental attention if Ruby is to be believed. That left Ruby with no choice but to be the smart, quiet one. She clearly has some brains, but I'd bet that a lot of her academic success is down to boring hard graft. She goes out of her way to make Amber feel stupid, and I'll bet she's been doing that for years.

So Ruby has ended up defining herself by contrast with Amber. The porn movie incident and the ensuing secrecy were the final nail in the coffin, preventing Ruby from calming down a bit and reaching some kind of emotional compromise with Amber as the years went by, but they weren't where the thing started. However, getting confirmation that Amber is very sexually active means that Ruby, the un-Amber, has to be totally sexually inactive, despite the fact that this doesn't really fit her nature. It had the side-benefit of giving her more time for that academic hard graft, of course, and that in turn gave her an excuse.

So I think that what Ruby is most scared of is becoming like Amber in any way. Because she's supposed to be the un-Amber, and if she loses that, what will be left?

It'd help if she learned that there's a bit more to Amber than she currently thinks, but, well, Amber isn't helping there. Learning that Amber has problems of her own would be a start, but we readers aren't seeing much sign of that right now, and nor is Ruby.
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Bambikles »

Spidrift wrote:
Don Alexander wrote:"Sirius is also known colloquially as the "Dog Star", reflecting its prominence in its constellation, Canis Major (Greater Dog). The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks, [...]."
And De Nile isn't just a river in Africa. Though inflicting English puns on Bambikles seems a bit cruel.

However, Achmed remains unexplained.
The worst of it that I'm perfectly aware of this fact, as it's the origin of the French word "canicule" (heat wave), and I'm usually good with written puns in English, but here the De Nile made me think it was a reference to some film or webcomic I have never seen/read. Must be because I the "Nile" is written "Nil" in French and said "neel". :p

Jeff Dunham and Achmed were new to me too... This puppet is uglyyyyy and scaryyyyy !!!! :-s

I've learnt the word "maieutics" in my last year at the lycée (or was it in latin courses ?) when I studied Socrate. Philosophy takes the place of the French litterature courses in the last year of lycée. It's indeed a very rare word but as I love the concept, I managed to remember the word (I had to look for the English version, of course).
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by crimzontearz »

Bambikles wrote:=)) Oh my, this must the funniest strip in a while in SDB !
I just love how the conversation unravels. Does...Does Dillon actually use maieutucs here ? :-o
And his face in the last panel shows that he enjoys a bit too much screwing Ruby's mind. But I admit I'd do the same, seems so easy ! It's like putting some money in a juke-box. ;))
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Spidrift »

'J' wrote:if the bedrooms are directly next to each other then there could be a lot of sound leakage between them (though this isn't a low rent place, so maybe not). but if there's a bathroom or a closet between them, then that could certainly deaden any crosstalk.
Last strip, Ruby specifically commented that the moaning from Amber and Ray had finally stopped, implying that the rooms are in fact adjacent, and sound carries through. My guess from one or two previous scenes, especially this one, is that there's an open-plan living room with kitchen attached, a corridor with two adjacent bedrooms leading off on the right, and the bathroom at the other end of the corridor.

Actually, Ruby definitely heard what Jerzy and Dillon were saying (or yelling) when she was in one bedroom and they were in the other, and Amber claims that she can hear Dillon when he's crying himself to sleep. So sound does carry between those two rooms, including individual words if they're loud enough.

So if Dillon pushes Ruby too far, and she yells her opinions of Amber, Amber might get to hear them.
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Re: 10-02-15 A quality book for you

Post by Don Alexander »

brasca wrote:I think she is afraid that if she loses so much as an ounce of self control she will end up abandoning her dreams of a businesswoman for carnal indulgence. She is right to some extent when she observes all the problems her roommates have being led by their libidos, but her mirror opposite approach has its price too.
Surely, this will happen when she meets dashing but eccentric film billionaire Nathan.... Grey. :P
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