Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Strips 3936-3940 (11-15 February 2019)

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Neko_Ali:
Berf indeed.

APersonAmI:
I really like Renee in this. She’s sympathetic, calm tone, she immediately stops when Brun has more to say. Not saying she should be acting differently, of course, but nevertheless, this is good.
Heh. Puts "Oh. Am I not good to live with?" "You're fine." in a new light.

I also like how Brun puts it. “I like living with you. I feel safe with you. I know if you get annoyed with me, you’ll still understand me. I feel good coming home to that. I trust you, and I’ll find another place.”
Strong sentiments, well put. Honesty is important, many people are bad at it, A+.

With Renee, I do not think she is making a sacrifice here. Again, “You’re fine.” Followed by (paraphrased:) “But you should have an actual living space! With your own bed! Don’t you miss having a place for yourself?”

I think Renee genuinely enjoys Brun’s company and living with her. She didn’t realize Brun felt how she did, and now she’s touched and wants to reciprocate.

I think it’s mutual. Not unwanted, not unwelcomed, just happy, and surprised, and mutual.

(Edited because I accidentally put too much space at the bottom of my comment xD)

Dandi Andi:
I am very late to this party, but I had a few things to get caught up on.


--- Quote from: Milayna on 12 Feb 2019, 04:49 ---Eh, if someone deserves being mean to, then go for whatever hurts most, which in the case of someone like that guy, is probably his dick. Also pencil-dick is a pretty average insult, a bit less hurtful but less lazy than ["birch"]. So I'd say Renee got the slight upper hand there.

Also, the president*'s fingers are short, hurr hurr.

--- End quote ---

It isn't about what hurts Peter. It is about the splash damage. Not mocking somebody's body is about not contributing to a culture where the size and/or shape of a person's genitals is a source of shame or pride. I have made great effort lately to not use my common go-to insults because they mock appearance, cognitive ability or language skills. While me calling someone "gammon faced" seems trivial, I am increasingly uncomfortable with suggesting that being unattractive is something worth shaming someone for, even if they're being an ass. Her recognition of this was very timely for me.

As for Thrillho pointing out that Brun may be far more sarcastic that we give her credit for; absolutely yes. I work in a grocery store. A large portion of our bagging staff are somewhere on the spectrum. One thing you learn about people on the spectrum (if you take the time to get to know them) is just how vast the spectrum is. Frequently, new hires have to be given some guidance on interacting with them because they understand far less about interacting with the neurodivergent baggers than those baggers understand about interacting with the rest of us. "Sara is totally non-communicative. Just put her at a register and let her bag. Be nice and say hello, just don't put too much pressure on her to make small talk. Mark is really into schedules, so he'll probably remember yours better than you do. It helps him feel in control if things are steady and predictable and it gives him something to talk about. Bella hasn't quite got the hang of small talk, so she's going to tell you all about what she had for lunch. Tell her about yours and give her a high five and she'll be the sweetest person you ever met. Ted? Ted was just fucking with you. It's just a little harder to figure out his sarcasm voice. You'll get the hang of it." They run the gamut form very high to very low function socially. But when you learn to stop seeing them in terms of their position on the spectrum, you can almost forget that they're on the spectrum at all.

Brun, if she is indeed on the spectrum, reminds me of Ted (his name has been changed just in case). He understands sarcasm perfectly well, it just isn't intuitive to him. He has to think about it. And he knows that most people assume that he doesn't get sarcasm and he uses that to his advantage. He's the sort of person who will make someone explain a racist joke just to make them feel bad for thinking a racist joke was funny. I think Brun may have been poking a little fun at Renee for her habit of giving people anatomical nick-names. And I think it worked precisely because Renee would assume Brun was being serious.

BenRG:
I've never really been able to shake the possibility that Brun was essentially lonely and miserable up to that fateful night when she met Clinton for the first time. Oh, she'd found a balance point where she could function and survive with a modicum of independence but it's clear that she wasn't in the nicest of places in terms of how those she had to work with and/or around treated her. Nor does it seem that she had many friends beyond Renee.

The fact is that, despite its challenges, Brun likes her current life a great deal more than she liked her previous life. She'd really prefer not to go back to the way things were before, thank you very much.

So, here we are and the fact that Moving Day for Renee and Brun is on the horizon. I'm wondering how that may develop going forwards and whether having her own private space may lead Brun to seize certain opportunities, so to speak.

Gyrre:

--- Quote from: Milayna on 12 Feb 2019, 13:23 ---
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 12 Feb 2019, 09:29 ---Isn't that kind of difficulty with metaphor common among people on the autism spectrum? Any idea that Brun might be neurotypical seems to be getting remote.

--- End quote ---
Often, though it differs by situation and person. I can usually follow straight metaphors, especially when the dimensions are absurd (a dick shaped like a pencil) or the situation is like that. But with exaggerations, slang especially, or internet memes, or situations where speech isn't denotative but rather structured on mutual intrinsic understanding (think of situations where a couple dudes might do a complicated fist bump and clown around speaking incomplete sentences), I'm often lost. I didn't pay enough attention to the other students in my spec ed classes to really evaluate their responses, much less that I'd remember after 11 years.

*snip*

--- End quote ---
It definitely varies. While it's a common hallmark of autism, it's not a prerequisite. I have more trouble with people not being very specific when they talk. "That" "this" "those" "it"  can be pretty frustrating for me. Especially when the person talking isn't pointing at whatever or doesn't describe it beyond "there" when pointing.


--- Quote from: Thrillho on 12 Feb 2019, 14:04 ---I'd also like to add that the way Brun is discussed sometimes makes me a bit uncomfortable.

I am on the spectrum. Many of us do understand how life works. Many of us also don't get anywhere near enough credit for how sarcastic we're being because people expect us to be socially stunted, and we cannot read Brun's tone (I'm willing to bet Renee can't always either).

Also, at the risk of seeming contradictory - we only have our observations of Brun to lead us to believe she's not neurotypical anyway.

--- End quote ---
Would we technically be 'dead-pan snarkers' when we do that? Most people have trouble telling that I'm being sarcastic unless I'm gesticulating more than normal and over-emphasizing words.

BTW, from what we've observed of Brun, I'd say it's pretty clear she's neurodivergent. But that could just be my personal biases.

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