THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: jwhouk on 31 Oct 2010, 15:11
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Happy Halloween everyone!
Here's your tasty, sweet and chewy thread (with a crunchy poll inside!) for your editorial pleasure.
EDIT: Changed the format to include dates and strips included.
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Early comic! Tai is a (minor) celebrity!
And I suppose "BUTTS LOL" is at least the choice for Monday...
Happy Halloween, everyone! :mrgreen:
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This makes me wish I'd written more bad fanfic when I was younger.
...I know they say you're never too old, but in this case...
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Sign her netbook? But where?
Screen is counter-productive, keyboard is both difficult and likely to wear off... top cover? Then she can get it engraved to match.
Or maybe Marigold wants Tai to sign her private key?
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It doesn't happen very often that every single panel of a strip makes me grin. It happened here. :-D
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Or maybe Marigold wants Tai to sign her private key?
Kinky!
For those who didn't get it, the normal thing would be to sign a public key.
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The 'inevitable cleft of his taut buttocks'?
Look, I already had plenty of reasons to hate Tai as it is.
'Sides, if those're Ron's cheeks, I'd guess the proper adjective should be 'scrawny.'
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Wait, did we know Tai wrote that kind of thing?
Also, http://www.google.com/search?q=inevitable+cleft+of+his+taut&btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky (http://www.google.com/search?q=inevitable+cleft+of+his+taut&btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky)
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Wait, did we know Tai wrote that kind of thing?
We knew she was a Harry Potter nerd (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=814), and that she writes homoerotic fiction (including taut buttocks) (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1131), so I guess it makes sense, though her writing yaoi seems a bit odd. Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
In the first couple of panels, Tai even looks a little Potteresque.
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Wait, did we know Tai wrote that kind of thing?
We knew she was a Harry Potter nerd (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=814), and that she writes homoerotic fiction (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1131), so I guess it makes sense, though her writing yaoi seems a bit odd. Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
In the first couple of panels, Tai even looks a little Potteresque.
Then again, she genuinely enjoys Jimbo's writing. That alone should tell you scores about her taste in literature.
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Harry and Ron?! That's sick!
It's Harry and DRACO who are meant to be, dammit!!!! OTP!!!
But seriously, I would personally hesitate to read rated-R Harry Potter fanfics in public. But that's just me.
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Hopefully, it's not.
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I don't know what's worst: That he misspelled quidditch, that I know he misspelled quidditch, or that I'm the first one to say that I noticed this.
Also, it's insane how much slash has been made for Harry Potter when the only canonically gay dude is Dumbledore. I mean, what about all the ladyfolk that clearly had vibes for each other? Or that steps to the boys room that girls could climb? Or Hagrid and all his- okay, never mind. I think I'll go polish my wand or stroke my dragon now (SNL heyoooooooooo!).
Also noting tai squadron and the use of the number 42 and the triforce minicomp that looks a bit too much like a DS to me- I could have sworn it was a DS lite or i until the last panel.
Also noting that Goldie is either really slow at switching/ closing tabs, or that netbooks suck even more than I already thought (don't get angry, I have big fingers- I hate smartphones too.).
Also noting that any dude would be butchered if he looked at prawn at the coffeeshop he was working at.
Also noting the hilarity of a lesbian who doesn't even want to have sex with a girl a dude came in (I know there are mitigating circumstances, stop poking me) is writing slash.
Also noting that a third of what I've said has already been said in differing ways. Oh well.
Also noting that I note too much.
Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
In lieu of murder charges, I will forgive you. Besides, she's made a billion of choose-your-currency, she can take it.
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Noted and logged.
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Weasley is our king.
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Harry/Ron? Really?
Figured Tai would be writing something a little less... mainstream. Hagrid/Giant Squid or something weird like that. (Yes it exists.)
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You know what? I didn't even bat an eye at the fact that Tai--a lesbian--is writing slash fics. I see it all the time on the internet to the point I've gotten used to it. So many girls claim to be lesbians yet say they like slash and yaoi. Yes, yaoi. Yaoi as in the gay buttseckors.
They typically make the argument that while they like watching two bishie anime guys get it on, they don't actually want to have sex with guys IRL.
-Sigh- Well, at least Tai knows better than to write Draco/Harry...
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My first reaction was "Why is she reading that on a DS?" Damn, computers are getting small.
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She'd be better off writing Star Trek Yuri fic. :-D
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Also noting that any dude would be butchered if he looked at prawn at the coffeeshop he was working at.
If it was text-only pr0n, mostly nobody would notice, and Marigold doesn't work at CoD.
On the subject of noting details, what do they sell at Panda House across the street from CoD? Is it a "Chinese" restaurant? A quick google reveals that there are actually three restaurants of that name near Northampton MA, and a Panda Garden in the town. Jeeze, talk about pandering to stereotypical views...
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Panda House (IRL) moved out of Northampton a few years ago.
And yes, it was Chinese food (or at least what we Americans call Chinese Food).
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Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
I figured she wrote this when she was younger... most of these fics, at least according to stereotype, are written by high schoolers.
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Also noting that Goldie is either really slow at switching/ closing tabs, or that netbooks suck even more than I already thought (don't get angry, I have big fingers- I hate smartphones too.).
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[bile]
whilst i'm sure that Marigold will be a linux user I've developed a real hatred of netbooks and could easily see a small one taking 10s or more to hide Firefox.
my wife has just bought a brand new acer aspire 1 with windows 7 basic, and not only is it slower than the acer aspire 1 from 2 years ago that was running xp when it broke, it's slower than the 1995 era dell dimention 4400 runing xp sp3 that i have at home as a "server".
I understand that moores law allows for either cheaper or more powerful, but my larger fingers aside i simply cannot stand these tiny things. it's faster for me to use my old iPhone 3G to look up something.
[/bile]
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The new Macbook Airs seem to be becoming the "gold standard" of small laptops fairly fast. And, frankly, the iPad is about five to ten times easier and faster to use than any netbook I've ever tried.
It's just a pity they're so expensive.
Also; W7 basic sucks ass. Microsoft, Symbian, Google, and all the other mobile OS people need to get a grip and start making proper scalable "small" operating systems developed expressly for netbooks.
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The new Macbook Airs seem to be becoming the "gold standard" of small laptops fairly fast. And, frankly, the iPad is about five to ten times easier and faster to use than any netbook I've ever tried.
It's just a pity they're so expensive.
Also; W7 basic sucks ass. Microsoft, Symbian, Google, and all the other mobile OS people need to get a grip and start making proper scalable "small" operating systems developed expressly for netbooks.
Depends on your definition of "small". I still argue for the Sony Vaio Z, which is ridiculously times more powerful, in a 13.1" size (full i7 processors, RAIDed SSDs, optical drive), for an equally ridiculous price. Well, ok, not ridiculous, considering what you get, but pretty high.
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Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
I figured she wrote this when she was younger... most of these fics, at least according to stereotype, are written by high schoolers.
There's no set age limit for slash fic writers. Also, as to the whole English lit major? I have a friend who's been writing slash since high school, has gotten both her undergrad and graduate degrees in Literature, and she loves slash AND Harry Potter. Good slash, bad slash, Harry/Draco, Ron/Draco, Harry/Ron, Sirius/Remus (her One True Pair)... You name it, she's slashed it. In fact, most of the more active slashers I've met through Harry Potter fandom ARE or have been English Lit majors.
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Now that I think about it, dressed like that, Tai does kinda resemble Ron quite a bit. I don't know if that says something about Ron, or Tai.
Oh, and everybody knows, Yaoi is for lesbians and Yuri is for straight dudes. Straight girls just read the originals. Gay boys don't read.
Well, that was enough stereotype stoking for one day. Tah-tah.
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Harry/whomever slash fics are probably common - I occasionally head over to Topless Robot for the "Fan Fic Fridays" and there are some odd ducks out there.
I'm just waiting for the Beowulf/Grendel slash fic
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I'm just waiting for the Beowulf/Grendel slash fic
Knowing the Internet, it HAS to exist already. Most likely written in Old English.
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Exactly half of the internet is full of people who write fanfiction. The other half is filled with people who read fanfiction but don't admit it because it's not cool. The former half also has the occasional, rare example of someone who writes something so mind-bendingly obscene that they'll gleefully share it, knowing it will ruin lives simply by existing. If you say you don't know anything about fanfiction, and you're saying it on the internet, YOU ARE NOT FOOLING ANYONE.
...that being said, I heartily approve of Beowulf / Grendel slash. "I will take the beast naked, on his own terms!" Christ, half the work is done for you. And you just KNOW that there's the sequel in which Beowulf hits up that MILF in the cave.
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I'm just waiting for the Beowulf/Grendel slash fic
Or Gilgamesh/Enkidu slash fic.
Oh, wait...
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Hey, Marigold has a Viliv N5. Skinned, too! Good taste.
As if I didn't have ENOUGH reasons to like her.
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Considering the gratuitous enactment of Rule 34 currently being undertaken, does anyone have any ideas for a suitable sound effect that one might theoretically hear everytime a conversation spawns new enactment? Something like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?
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You know what? I didn't even bat an eye at the fact that Tai--a lesbian--is writing slash fics. I see it all the time on the internet to the point I've gotten used to it. So many girls claim to be lesbians yet say they like slash and yaoi. Yes, yaoi. Yaoi as in the gay buttseckors.
They typically make the argument that while they like watching two bishie anime guys get it on, they don't actually want to have sex with guys IRL.
Do gay dudes look at lesbian porn and get off?
Also noting that any dude would be butchered if he looked at prawn at the coffeeshop he was working at.
If it was text-only pr0n, mostly nobody would notice, and Marigold doesn't work at CoD.
On the subject of noting details, what do they sell at Panda House across the street from CoD? Is it a "Chinese" restaurant? A quick google reveals that there are actually three restaurants of that name near Northampton MA, and a Panda Garden in the town. Jeeze, talk about pandering to stereotypical views...
Sorry, my visual cortex got discombobulated and I mixed her up with Cossette. Re-positing; any dude would be labeled a pervert and a creep if someone saw him reading text prawn from literotica or fanfiction.net or somesuch while he sipped his copy.
And yes, it was Chinese food (or at least what we Americans call Chinese Food).
What, fortune cookies and chow mein aren't native Chinese cuisine?
Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
I figured she wrote this when she was younger... most of these fics, at least according to stereotype, are written by high schoolers.
Well, according to their often tenuous grasp on sexual function or anatomy. TV Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouFailSexEdForever) has ruined my life. (http://community.livejournal.com/fanficrants/1798922.html)
IT COULD GET ON DISNEYLAND ATTRACTIONS BY ITSELF.
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Considering the gratuitous enactment of Rule 34 currently being undertaken, does anyone have any ideas for a suitable sound effect that one might theoretically hear everytime a conversation spawns new enactment? Something like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?
I imagine it would be a bit of a squelching noise. >_> And 5 would be right out!
I can wrap my brain around lesbians liking yaoi, and I get that one might like a fictional account of something that one would never do or participate in, but since Tai had a bad reaction to Marten's whimsical spooge descriptions, it leaves me with some surprise that she would write yaoi -- I mean, she'd probably end up having to describe it herself, though maybe she wouldn't use the term "happy batter" (that would be awesomely hilarious if a yaoi writer DID use that term). Regarding her fanfic itself, the excerpt was so badly written I can only hope she's not an English Lit major. Writing yaoi may be "slumming" for real writers, but that's no excuse for awful prose. Then again, this may ensure that Tai one day becomes a best selling author, considering what gets published/popular these days.
Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
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Still trying to get my mind away from that "inevitable cleft." Which I can't because, you know, read the label.
Exactly half of the internet is full of people who write fanfiction. The other half is filled with people who read fanfiction but don't admit it because it's not cool. The former half also has the occasional, rare example of someone who writes something so mind-bendingly obscene that they'll gleefully share it, knowing it will ruin lives simply by existing. If you say you don't know anything about fanfiction, and you're saying it on the internet, YOU ARE NOT FOOLING ANYONE.
...that being said, I heartily approve of Beowulf / Grendel slash. "I will take the beast naked, on his own terms!" Christ, half the work is done for you. And you just KNOW that there's the sequel in which Beowulf hits up that MILF in the cave.
The animated version of that last part (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/) already exists, starring Angelina Jolie as said MILF.
I've never written any fanfiction. I have read some, way back in the day—most notably "Heavy Planet," or something like that, a Sailor Moon semi-pron tale that I read beyond the first five paragraphs mainly because it treated the Sailor Scouts seriously—and it was amazing how much there really is to work with when doing so. (Dr. Allosaurus, (I kid you not) why, oh why, did you never finish that?)
Anyway, I'm now trying to work out whether or not Tergon has caused me to cease to exist. For the record, I don't think he h *pop*
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I'm just waiting for the Beowulf/Grendel slash fic
Or Gilgamesh/Enkidu slash fic.
Oh, wait...
I thought that was just yaoi bait, so the fangirls could think their part?
Regarding her fanfic itself, the excerpt was so badly written
hahahaha.
HAHAHAHAHA.
:roll:
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Also noting that any dude would be butchered if he looked at prawn at the coffeeshop he was working at.
If it was text-only pr0n, mostly nobody would notice, and Marigold doesn't work at CoD.
Unusually for a female character.
Westrim says he was thinking of Cosette, but Faye was reading over Marigirl's shoulder.
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Does anyone else find it odd that the bushes are INSIDE the window in the the first panel? (See that they go beyond the window frame at the right). Or do you think it's a mis-draw?
I'm still amazed (and yet somehow very glad) no one has fanfictionized or rule 32'd this: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1453
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The new Macbook Airs seem to be becoming the "gold standard" of small laptops fairly fast. And, frankly, the iPad is about five to ten times easier and faster to use than any netbook I've ever tried.
It's just a pity they're so expensive.
And there you point out the niche for netbooks -- a computer that is small enough, lightweight enough and cheap enough to dare to take anywhere, quick enough to do some internet banking and to do your email and read QC when you're on vacation, with a decent keyboard (at least my Samsung has a decent keyboard; better than the Asus and Acer netbooks) to keep a diary when on vacation, with a decent enough hard disk to work as an image tank for your photography when you're on vacation or location, and to, in case of emergency, double as a real computer on the road. And with a realistic 6 hour battery life.
The Samsung netbook I have works well enough with Windows 7 Home, and does all of the above, at a lot less than the price of an iPad, which doesn't do all of the above. It's been the best 300 dollar investment we've done.
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Does anyone else find it odd that the bushes are INSIDE the window in the the first panel?
The plant's been inside since Dora got it (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=467); it's called Melvin.
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Anyway, I'm now trying to work out whether or not Tergon has caused me to cease to exist. For the record, I don't think he h *pop*
Wait - oh, dammi *pop*
In all honesty, even if I did run across a fanfic of something I was a fan of, I'd probably actively avoid it.
Anybody for Flo/Gecko?
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For comic #1786...
1. Happy All Saints' Day, all. Hope everyone's Halloween was good too.
2. Funny comic, but makes my inner Hogwarts fan cry :psyduck: .
3. I also thought Marigold's device was a Nintendo product, with the Legend of Zelda's Tri-Force on its lid. Unless Nintendo also makes net-books?
4. Funny how Tai and Marigold are both so warmly dressed compared to Faye.
5. I sense more Tai "yuri" hijinks, this time directed towards Marigold :roll: .
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3. I also thought Marigold's device was a Nintendo product, with the Legend of Zelda's Tri-Force on its lid. Unless Nintendo also makes net-books?
Nah, the Triforce DS has the logo in the corner, like this-
http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Gold-Triforce-DS-Nintendo/dp/B0022V26QG
Marigold has got to be holding a Villiv N5 or an MBook with a Zelda skin/decal. It's too round to be a Fujitsu, and too small to be an Acer.
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I'm just waiting for the Beowulf/Grendel slash fic
Or Gilgamesh/Enkidu slash fic.
Oh, wait...
I thought that was just yaoi bait, so the fangirls could think their part?
It's debatable due to translation issues, although usually with archaeological linguistics it's best to err on the side of what would squick a monk.
What's weird is that I've heard that most of the data we have on the legend other than the epic suggests earlier versions didn't put nearly so much emphasis on the relationship of the two. In composing our version, the poets and scribes so tasked followed the framework of the existing legends, but fleshed out (so to speak) the bond between the two men and moved it to the forefront of their account.
Sound familiar?
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With all this talk here of slash, I was a bit surprised to hear today of a new search engine (http://blekko.com) which uses "slashtags" as its main USP :mrgreen:.
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I am now officially shipping Jeph and Fanfiction.net: http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff (http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff)
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
How about "I'll curse you if you even ATTEMPT!"
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And yes, it was Chinese food (or at least what we Americans call Chinese Food).
What, fortune cookies and chow mein aren't native Chinese cuisine?
You can blame the Japanese for fortune-cookies. "Chow-mein" (炒面 chǎo-miàn, pronounced roughly chow-me-en*) is an authentic traditional dish, or rather family of dishes, since all it really describes is fried noodles with shredded meat and/or vegetables, and there are many, many variations prepared in China, and wherever Chinese people have settled.
Chop-suey, by contrast, is often represented as being some sort of invented, leftover glurge foisted on unsuspecting Americans by sneaky Chinese immigrants, but I am dubious. Chop-suey (杂碎 zá suì pronounced roughly dza-sway*) means "assorted stuff" or "odds and ends", and does anyone actually imagine that nobody in the whole history of China ever threw a meal together out of whatever leftovers they had available before they got to the United States?
*My pronunciations are those of Mandarin Chinese. Many English loan-word names for Chinese food, and many other things, are derived from Southern Chinese pronunciations.
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What's on the Menu for this week?
Teh Drama! - 10 (18.5%)
Faye & Angus II - The Second Date - 6 (11.1%)
Sven woos Hanners (again) - 2 (3.7%)
Sven woos Marigold! - 3 (5.6%)
PVP: Dale vs. Marigold! - 14 (25.9%)
More Singularity Jokes! - 0 (0%)
Will & Penelope Elope! - 2 (3.7%)
BUTTS LOL! - 11 (20.4%)
GOOGLE IT! - 6 (11.1%)
Total Voters: 54
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
Very Secret Diaries! I read those when I was 17 and a huge, huge LOTR fan.
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I am now officially shipping Jeph and Fanfiction.net: http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff (http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff)
Can't tell if Marigold is hot n' bothered or just plain bothered in that last panel.
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Probably a good chunk of each!
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Also noting that Goldie is either really slow at switching/ closing tabs, or that netbooks suck even more than I already thought (don't get angry, I have big fingers- I hate smartphones too.).
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[bile]
whilst i'm sure that Marigold will be a linux user I've developed a real hatred of netbooks and could easily see a small one taking 10s or more to hide Firefox.
my wife has just bought a brand new acer aspire 1 with windows 7 basic, and not only is it slower than the acer aspire 1 from 2 years ago that was running xp when it broke, it's slower than the 1995 era dell dimention 4400 runing xp sp3 that i have at home as a "server".
I understand that moores law allows for either cheaper or more powerful, but my larger fingers aside i simply cannot stand these tiny things. it's faster for me to use my old iPhone 3G to look up something.
[/bile]
Try uninstalling all the crap that acer puts on there.
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Try uninstalling all the crap that acer puts on there.
Totally. New Windows machines from the get-go start out full of bloated garbage, and it just goes downhill from there. It would be like if every time you wanted to buy a car, there was a comatose hippopotamus stuffed in the back...
"What, you don't want the free hippo we've included? Well, you can always drop it off somewhere... just be careful, cause those things get MAD when you move em."
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Dora in last panel: awesome.
MariTai seems to be underway.
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Oh this is gonna hurt...
*covers eyes with hands*
*peeks through fingers*
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DATES FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! :mrgreen:
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I see Dora's got some shipper in her.
...what do you want to be she's got some femslash under her belt? Hmm... someone tell Marten to Google 'dora daria jane.'
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Oh this is gonna hurt...
No, I'm sure Tai will be gentle.
teehee
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
Very Secret Diaries! I read those when I was 17 and a huge, huge LOTR fan.
I'm not sure I want to admit those were my gateway, and I read all her other fanfic, and thought it was actually good. Glad I got over that phase
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It seems to be a near unanimous NO WAI to anything involving Pintsize so far, and well it should be.
I dislike Dora and I want to dislike her conduct here (miss defensive-on-everyone's-behalf is now a-ok just because the scenario appeals to her? Dick move. ), but goddamn that face in panel 4 is cute.
I am now officially shipping Jeph and Fanfiction.net: http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff (http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff)
Shipping a human with a website? maybe the singularity has hit after all.
And yes, it was Chinese food (or at least what we Americans call Chinese Food).
What, fortune cookies and chow mein aren't native Chinese cuisine?
You can blame the Japanese for fortune-cookies. "Chow-mein" (炒面 chǎo-miàn, pronounced roughly chow-me-en*) is an authentic traditional dish, or rather family of dishes, since all it really describes is fried noodles with shredded meat and/or vegetables, and there are many, many variations prepared in China, and wherever Chinese people have settled.
Chop-suey, by contrast, is often represented as being some sort of invented, leftover glurge foisted on unsuspecting Americans by sneaky Chinese immigrants, but I am dubious. Chop-suey (杂碎 zá suì pronounced roughly dza-sway*) means "assorted stuff" or "odds and ends", and does anyone actually imagine that nobody in the whole history of China ever threw a meal together out of whatever leftovers they had available before they got to the United States?
*My pronunciations are those of Mandarin Chinese. Many English loan-word names for Chinese food, and many other things, are derived from Southern Chinese pronunciations.
:psyduck: I bow before your superior knowledge and curse my fumbling brain.
Try uninstalling all the crap that acer puts on there.
Totally. New Windows machines from the get-go start out full of bloated garbage, and it just goes downhill from there. It would be like if every time you wanted to buy a car, there was a comatose hippopotamus stuffed in the back...
"What, you don't want the free hippo we've included? Well, you can always drop it off somewhere... just be careful, cause those things get MAD when you move em."
Why does this bug people so much? It doesn't take very long to install Ccleaner, uninstall the excess baggage, then scrub the registry. I mean, the stuff that's a bitch about actually coming out like Norton I can understand, but I can take 10 minutes for a 50$ knock off of the price (which is what it often amounts to for the end user- they don't get to preload those programs for free.)
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What bugs people is that they have to do it - why can't you just buy a machine with a clean install in the first place?
Also, this is not Marigold's first encounter with Tai (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1688). I think (OK, hope) she may be a bit cautious after that... incident.
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GNU/Linux (http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html)
Sorry, just had to do that. I will remove myself to the Old Geeks' Bragging Thread immediately.
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Is that what last week's WCDT has become?
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GNU/Linux (http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/index.html)
Sorry, just had to do that.
(http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/20000/1000/000/21021/21021.strip.gif)
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
Very Secret Diaries! I read those when I was 17 and a huge, huge LOTR fan.
LOL!
Those were great!
My favorite was Isildur. "An evil *ring*?! ..."
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If Dora's eyes get any bigger she's gonna be staring in her own anime cartoon...
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Dora smiles like the hypothetical offspring of Hanners and Hello Kitty. :P
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That looks more like OS X than anything else. (Mostly because of the icon arrangement; all the Linux distributions I've seen try to ape Windows.) Either she Hackintoshed a cheap netbook, or in QC's timeline Apple licensed their OS to third party hardware developers in the mid-eighties and gained the dominant position in market share, essentially inverting the real-world Apple/Microsoft market share figures and allowing for such computers to be legitimately manufactured and distributed.
Or maybe it's just because Jeph uses OS X so that's what he drew.
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What bugs people is that they have to do it - why can't you just buy a machine with a clean install in the first place?
Also, this is not Marigold's first encounter with Tai (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1688). I think (OK, hope) she may be a bit cautious after that... incident.
Yeah, but it's possible Mari still don't know about Tai. All she knows is she's friends with Dora and co., and she likes the booze.
Either way, I approve of this. Let's hope they both have fun, and if Tai makes a pass, Mari either a) lets her down easy, or b) decides to see how the other half lives.
*crossing my fingers and praying for b)*
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I think that Marigolds in for an interesting education.
That's if her brain doesn't explode.
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That looks more like OS X than anything else.
OS/X doesn't have the wastebasket on the desktop, or the Windows-style icons in the top-right corner of application windows. It looks pretty generic to me.
I don't quite see how Faye and Dora could have intervened discreetly. But this could end in tears. Or giggles. Or both. And Dora's having flower-girl fantasies again, isn't she?
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Dora smiles like the hypothetical offspring of Hanners and Hello Kitty. :P
What scares me is that Dora doesn't look like herself in that last panel. For a few minutes, I actually thought maybe Raven had come back to visit or something. Or it was a misdrawn Hannelore. Or something.
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Query: will Angus be upset with Faye for not warning Marigold?
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For comic #1787...
1. Aww... Tai really did (physically) sign Marigold's net-book.
2. Poor Marigold, I do not think this will end well for her. (But amusing for we the audience, of course.)
3. I think Dora, currently in a committed monogamous heterosexual romantic relationship (phew, what a mouthful), has to live out her bi-sexual urges through Tai.
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
Very Secret Diaries! I read those when I was 17 and a huge, huge LOTR fan.
I'm not sure I want to admit those were my gateway, and I read all her other fanfic, and thought it was actually good. Glad I got over that phase
I don't remember the VSD being terrible, but I have heard horror stories about her Leather Pants Draco. I don't ship Harry/Draco at all, so her non-LOTR skipped my radar.
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Also, this is not Marigold's first encounter with Tai (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1688). I think (OK, hope) she may be a bit cautious after that... incident.
well spotted. oddly foreboding too.
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I am now officially shipping Jeph and Fanfiction.net: http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff (http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff)
The folders are yaoi, yuri and sca...?
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What bugs people is that they have to do it - why can't you just buy a machine with a clean install in the first place?
Also, this is not Marigold's first encounter with Tai (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1688). I think (OK, hope) she may be a bit cautious after that... incident.
Quite, although I have suggested replacing the OS with a clean copy of XP from her old laptop she has has refused and I can't be bothered to change her mind, i just keep using my MBP and don't touch hers 8-)
GNU/Linux
Sorry, just had to do that.
I'd be tempted but I've never used any Linux based system, I'm a Mac man through and through.
re the comic, I got confused about Dora for a minute but thinking about it it's been 11 comics since she was last drawn (1776 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1776)) and she's wearing the same clothes, maybe Jeph is still experimenting, or it's just been so long since she was so happy that we've forgotten what it looks like.
Or as a result of the singularity she has actually been fused with Raven, who's next? Faye, Hanners or Marten?
P.S. On second thoughts scrub Marten, it would be really hard to tell.
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What scares me is that Dora doesn't look like herself in that last panel. For a few minutes, I actually thought maybe Raven had come back to visit or something. Or it was a misdrawn Hannelore. Or something.
I have seen... "that look" exactly one other time in QC readership.
And last time... it involved Hello kitty belt shenanigans. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1751)
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What bugs people is that they have to do it - why can't you just buy a machine with a clean install in the first place?
Also, this is not Marigold's first encounter with Tai (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1688). I think (OK, hope) she may be a bit cautious after that... incident.
...For the reason I said. That bloatware mitigates costs.
Quite, although I have suggested replacing the OS with a clean copy of XP from her old laptop she has has refused and I can't be bothered to change her mind, i just keep using my MBP and don't touch hers 8-)
I'd be tempted but I've never used any Linux based system, I'm a Mac man through and through.
Must... not... respond... :|
But I want to so bad. Maybe I'll just ask a question; what OS does it have and why do you want to replace it? I'll just quietly ignore the Mac part.
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Ok, I know Dora in panel 4 is supposed to be all cute and whatnot, but god alive it comes across as nightmare fuel...
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Windows, Linux, Mac...
OpenBSD (just to throw a spanner in the works); new v4.8 was out yesterday, and it's time to update my firewall.
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Must... not... respond... :|
But I want to so bad. Maybe I'll just ask a question; what OS does it have and why do you want to replace it? I'll just quietly ignore the Mac part.
I did list this earlier, but what the hell, its currently running W7 basic, and the reason is it is brand new, yet slower than a dell desktop from the mid 90's.
and would you, kind sir, care to elaborate on why you will be "quietly ignoring the Mac part."?
[edit] There really needs to be an emoticon for " looks down nose, adjusts top hat, and prepares to remove riding glove" [/edit]
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Given Marigold's social aversion to things that don't involve guilds and fanfic posts, I'm afraid she'll run off as soon as Tai makes a pass, leaving most of us bummed. "GEEZ JEPH, WHY SUCH A DOWNER, RAWR RAWWWR , ETC".
I've been surprised before in these situation plotters, but who knows, maybe Marigold really will decide to explore her social horizons a little bit. If Hanners can find it in her to put her hand on a toilet seat, anything's possible!
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[edit] There really needs to be an emoticon for " looks down nose, adjusts top hat, and prepares to remove riding glove" [/edit]
YESSSSSS
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Given Marigold's social aversion to things that don't involve guilds and fanfic posts, I'm afraid she'll run off as soon as Tai makes a pass, leaving most of us bummed. "GEEZ JEPH, WHY SUCH A DOWNER, RAWR RAWWWR , ETC".
... !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Why exactly would we WANT Tai + Mari ?
I'm completely unaligned in this question ... just curious what happends next.
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I'm completely unaligned in this question ... just curious what happends next.
I'm not exactly unaligned. I hate it to say it, but Tai as a person is just... repulsive to me. It's not because she's gay, either. I'd have absolutely no problem if Marigold ended up with a nice girl. Heck, I think a Marigold/Raven or Marigold/Faye coupling would be awesome. But Tai? It's just... I don't know, I just feel like out of the entire cast (Vespavenger and Yelling Bird included), that Tai is the most unlikeable out of all of them. And Marigold is sweet and kind and...
I just feel like Tai doesn't deserve her.
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Given Marigold's social aversion to things that don't involve guilds and fanfic posts, I'm afraid she'll run off as soon as Tai makes a pass, leaving most of us bummed.
I've got a general feeling about Marigold that he is the type of person who has seen everything around the net, including "Rule 34"s application to itself, so I doubt she will be freaked out by a lesbian. I will digg up some proof when I return from school.
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Or maybe Marigold wants Tai to sign her private key?
Kinky!
For those who didn't get it, the normal thing would be to sign a public key.
then maybe Marigold wants Tai to sign her PUBIC key AMIRITE
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What bugs people is that they have to do it - why can't you just buy a machine with a clean install in the first place?
I find that various manufacturers business line machines tend to have less or no bloatware.
(In the case of ThinkPads, you can actually reimage it, and tell it to not install the bloatware when you install the image.)
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Oh god.
...kinda like animals know when an earthquake is going to happen, I can already physically sense the upcoming awkwardness.
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Humans are the animals to relationshipquakes.
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Bad (or good, depending on what you are into) news, guys: Mar-bear specifically said she is not into girls (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1493).
I have seen... "that look" exactly one other time in QC readership.
And last time... it involved Hello kitty belt shenanigans. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1751)
This one by Angus (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1419) may qualify too?
There are some mentions on the internet of Marigold having a 4chan poster on the wall (although I cannot find the exact strip), so as I said, as a 4chan visitor she has probably seen a shitload more stuff than just lesbians.
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Sets up lawnchair near the railyard, sits down, opens cooler.
"Anyone want a beer? Show's about to start. Plenty of good spots left."
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Dora smiles like the hypothetical offspring of Hanners and Hello Kitty. :P
What scares me is that Dora doesn't look like herself in that last panel. For a few minutes, I actually thought maybe Raven had come back to visit or something. Or it was a misdrawn Hannelore. Or something.
Ok, now you've reminded me how much I miss Raven.
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A lot of us are currently missing Raven, it seems.
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I am now officially shipping Jeph and Fanfiction.net: http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff (http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/1456308074/fffffffff)
The folders are yaoi, yuri and sca...?
If it follows the usual progression for these sorts of things, the last would probably be scat (f)or scatalogical. I'd hope for a nice, safe SCA, but I don't think Marigold's social enough for that.
A lot of us are currently missing Raven, it seems.
Personally, I miss Mieville. I don't think we've seen him since he last assaulted Pintsize with a pair of baby Roombas (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1666).
Oh, and looking for the Mieville strip found me this (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1663) old strip of Dora with the big eyes and adorableness... she's still much more recognizably Dora in this one, though.
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GNU/Linux
GNU makes a distro now?
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Hi, long time reader first time responder yadda yadda.
I'm with Westrim on this one. Total dick move by Dora. Letting someone awkward in social situations who has expressed zero romantic or sexual interest in women and has explicitly come on to one guy and flirted with another (Dale, let's be honest, that's what it was) go off oblivious with a Lesbian who obviously thinks she has a chance is being shitty to both of them simply to satisfy her bizarre fantasy that the two of them will end up together? Way to totally fuck with two people you're supposed to be friends with. Best case scenario Marigold lets Tai down gently and Tai is ok with it. More likely scenario, Marigold freaks out and hides away again and Tai is emotionally hurt, and why? Because Dora is an insensitive selfish bitch who can't think further than the end of her nose. I mean christ, even FAYE is concerned about the situation and she admits to being a bitch.
I'm really starting to go off Dora. I'm not bothered by the insane jealousy because I understand it's likely there for a reason and she most probably can't help it to a high degree, but the weird selfish matchmaker thing coupled with her ludicrous rages against Marten for absolutely no reason when he's vaguely nearby something she considers to be bad really suggests that she wants to control her friends, not help them. The double standards and controlling, manipulative behaviour when it comes to Marigold and Hanners, the two most vulnerable people in the strip in social situations is not a pleasant thing from someone who is, let's face it, the third main character in the strip.
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I, too, like the 'Hello Kitty look' very much. Apparently Jeph is also happy with the way it turned out as he reused it here. My favorite Dora? I liked it when she let her hair grow half-bianchi. Too bad Jeph is still not done with his palette experiments.
Sets up lawnchair near the railyard, sits down, opens cooler.
"Anyone want a beer? Show's about to start. Plenty of good spots left."
It was below freezing point here this morning, so I'm not searching for my lawnchair. Mari+Tai? I predict that we will only see the awkward aftermath of the "dinner date". Makes for a better show anyway. I could be wrong about this, so no large bets - a beer mebbe?
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GNU makes a distro now?
I advise you to tiptoe from the room before anyone notices that remark! (see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU/Linux_naming_controversy))
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I'm not sure why everyone is reacting so negatively to this.
Firstly considering Marigold has explicitly said she is not into girls earlier the only person who is likely to be hurt here is Tai and considering Tai's attitudes to most things I don't think that is too likely.
Secondly even if it ends badly Marigold has already demonstrated a formidable ability to handle disappointment and failure with relationship issues in the Angus arc.
Personally I think this is headed towards expanding Marigolds group of close friends from the current count of just two, Angus and Hannelore and encouraging her to leave her room and further her experiences in the real world (that entering the bar scene was just painful), and lets face it if there is any character equipped to give someone a crash course in enjoying life it is Tai.
My prediction for this arc is that it's going to force Marigold to become more social outside of WoW, force Tai to become a little more mature and most likely result in Marigold getting together with that Horde/Alliance guy (I can't remember which).
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I concur! Marigold's a big girl, and this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vY-4zWKsJM) (sorry, had to). She may not deal well with a pass, but it may not get that far. They've definitely got more to talk about than most of the other girls Tai "dates". It may also encourage Tai to take up some more serious writing, putting her English Lit degree to use beyond Librarianism (which is actually almost as far from Lit as "you want fries with that?").
OK, I went too far already...
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I'm reacting negatively because this is the latest in a long string of controlling and potentially manipulative things Dora has done to her less socially aware "friends". She tries to take over their lives, directing them in certain ways instead of letting them make up their own minds or without alerting them to potential problems just because she thinks the situation is cute.
Remember how ballistic she went at Sven because Hanners asked him out on a pretend date? Remember how she acted when Hanners, the person who is least likely to go for Sven with the possible exception of Tai, came home? She demanded to know if she had fallen for him. She wanted to steer her in the direction Dora wanted her to go. That to me is not a healthy person to have as a friend.
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I loved today's specials: NOTHING TODAY, JERKS!
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Point taken but I think Dora would have been more of a bitch to actually say something along the lines of a warning at that point: "oh hey Marigold, yeah just be careful with Tai... etc etc". That is not the best way to encourage a potential close friendship which is what I see this as becoming.
I will point out the Sven thing is mostly because she has huge issues with her brother mostly dealing with her own insecurities and feelings of self-worth which I think is a separate issue to the one we are currently seeing.
I'm not sure what you mean by Dora being so manipulative though (it's been a while since I last did a archive crawl). Most of the manipulation I have seen from her has been in a positive form, encouraging others to overcome their own issues rather than for her own amusement (that's more of Faye's schtick).
The problem with Dora at the moment is that Jeph is exploring her insecurities with relationships and her brother which has naturally led to a large number of comics portraying her in a negative light recently, but I don't think this is a true reflection of Dora's personality. Instead a number of issues that she has suppressed for a large number of years are finally coming into the light because of the positive developments in her life (Relationship with Marten, her brother finally maturing a little) which due to the various disappointments she has suffered she is having difficulties (understatement) accepting.
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Oh god Dora's face
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I share neither the Dora nor the Tai hate that is prevalent on this board, so I may be biased, but I agree with Vander, I'm not quite sure what Dora was supposed to do in this situation. Tai and Mari met, hit it off because they have things in common and left to get to know one another better. Was Dora supposed to jump in and yell "Wait Mari, Tai is TERRIBLE!" Something tells me that wouldn't have gone over very well. And we would probably all hate her for patronizing Mari if she had done something, after all, Mari is an adult. I think Dora's face in the last panel was simply reflecting my thoughts, that this pairing will result in some hilarious awkwardness and possibly a new friendship. After all, Mari and Tai share interests unique to them among the core cast. Finally, it's not like this is exactly dangerous. Tai isn't a date rapist, she just teases too hard sometimes. Jeez. Also, when she gets rebuffed (like when Marten told her to lay off Hanners) she responded well and without defensiveness, meaning she can be taught and take criticism. She's still learning where the line is, but she is a good person, and IF she makes a pass I think she will be rebuffed with ease. Mari is a big girl who really can take care of herself. She has already grown a lot and I feel that she does better in one on one situations than groups anyway. I'm looking forward to it.
Also, what is manipulative about standing back and doing nothing? Again, it would be more manipulative to try and control the progression of the friendship or stop it entirely by interjecting character judgments.
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Marigold only told Hanners that she's not into women. It's still unknown information for Dora.
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It's mostly that she seems to want to dictate what they can and can't do. I mean, I understand her being a little apprehensive about Hanners "dating" Sven, but she went through the roof. At Sven. She tried to talk her out of it even though the idea of Hanners doing it with Sven, especially on a pretend date, is ludicrous and Dora knows that.
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Crap. Was going to write a long reply but it got deleted. Will write it later.
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Bad (or good, depending on what you are into) news, guys: Mar-bear specifically said she is not into girls (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1493).
Well, one thing I've always loved about QC is that the people act like people, and people are complicated. And one interesting thing I've found about sexual attraction is that sometimes people don't know that they might be interested in something until they've been presented with an opportunity.
For the record, I am not rooting for a Marigold/Tai hookup. I'm just saying that it isn't necessarily off the table based on a single denial.
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I share neither the Dora nor the Tai hate that is prevalent on this board, so I may be biased, but I agree with Vander, I'm not quite sure what Dora was supposed to do in this situation.
Maybe explain to Marigold that Tai isn't thinking as innocently as Mari is?
Tai and Mari met, hit it off because they have things in common and left to get to know one another better. Was Dora supposed to jump in and yell "Wait Mari, Tai is TERRIBLE!"
Why on Earth would she say that? I saw one person say that they don't like Tai, and no one suggested that Dora stop them because Tai is terrible.
Something tells me that wouldn't have gone over very well.
No, but then that would be a stupid thing to say, and not what I or, I doubt anyone else, was suggesting.
And we would probably all hate her for patronizing Mari if she had done something, after all, Mari is an adult.
With little social skills who clearly can't read the situation she's in.
I think Dora's face in the last panel was simply reflecting my thoughts, that this pairing will result in some hilarious awkwardness and possibly a new friendship.
You think so? I think that was her praying for a new couple because she thinks it would be cute face. If memory serves, she's wanted implausible couples before.
After all, Mari and Tai share interests unique to them among the core cast.
What? Unless you mean WoW, which I guess is true since Dale isn't core cast. Yet.
Finally, it's not like this is exactly dangerous. Tai isn't a date rapist, she just teases too hard sometimes. Jeez.
Whoa whoa, attempted rape? Who the hell thinks that would happen? Who even suggested that? What comments are you responding to?
Also, when she gets rebuffed (like when Marten told her to lay off Hanners) she responded well and without defensiveness,
She didn't think Hanners was flirting with her. She obviously thinks Marigold is.
meaning she can be taught and take criticism. She's still learning where the line is, but she is a good person,
Never said she wasn't a good person, but since she thinks Mari is flirting with her (if you don't think so, wow, can you not read situations) she might not take a refusal so well. Plus if she's drunk she can get belligerent.
and IF she makes a pass I think she will be rebuffed with ease. Mari is a big girl who really can take care of herself. She has already grown a lot and I feel that she does better in one on one situations than groups anyway. I'm looking forward to it.
Mari can take care of herself? What Marigold are you on about?
Also, what is manipulative about standing back and doing nothing? Again, it would be more manipulative to try and control the progression of the friendship or stop it entirely by interjecting character judgments.
Umm, no. She clearly has a double standard about these things. She warns Hanners more than once about Sven, despite the fact that Hanners is currently not interested in a physical relationship, and Sven knows not to try it, and yet here when Marigold is blundering into a situation which could lead to severe awkwardness and possible upset on one or both sides, she stand by and does nothing because she thinks it's cute.
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The "Sca" is probably "scans," for scanlations of manga.
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Also, what is manipulative about standing back and doing nothing? Again, it would be more manipulative to try and control the progression of the friendship or stop it entirely by interjecting character judgments.
I agree.
I'm sure Mari can manage a "I Don't Swing That Way" moment.
I mean, I'm socially awkward- and I can manage a "IDSTW" moment without saying a word.
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This is gonna turn into another "strong friendship based on optimal awkwardness" like so many in the QC universe are.
Marigold gets a boost of major confidence that someone, even if it's not ideal gender, would like her. Tai gets a friend that gets her on her most geeky level. Marigold gets to learn about sexual self-confidence while Tai gets an live audience for her writing.
Win:win
As far as the Dora=doom point of view...
She's not a crazy bitch with a yenta complex, she just likes seeing people happy. She didn't set anything up, she's witnessing a shy girl accepting a date. Right now, she's not thinking of the awkwardness, she's just thinking "yay! Two people I like might like eachother!"
She reacts immediately to what happens around her, and right now it's cute.
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As far as the Dora=doom point of view...
She's not a crazy bitch with a yenta complex, she just likes seeing people happy. She didn't set anything up, she's witnessing a shy girl accepting a date. Right now, she's not thinking of the awkwardness, she's just thinking "yay! Two people I like might like eachother!"
Emphasis mine, on what I think is the frustrating part of this situation. Dora knows Marigold is not the best with social situations, and that includes reading social cues. If I base this off of your words - that Marigold just accepted a date with Tai, and it appears that at least Tai, Dora, and Faye get that it's a date, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that to Marigold it's not a date - just getting some food with this fanfiction writer she's a fan of.
And whenever Faye, of all people, wonders if maybe Marigold should have been told that this is pretty much a date set up, Dora, wide-eyed and hopeful, responds with an emphatic "Nope."
Dora may be thinking that this is a good chance for two people she knows to like each other, but I think it makes more sense that she's living a little through Tai in this situation. I don't think Dora knows Marigold isn't into girls (as she only told Hanners), but that doesn't mean it's ok for her to watch her socially awkward friend accept a date without understanding it for what it is.
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Well, Marigold does know that booze+Tai=pantless and on your lap (#1688).
There may be a bit of living vicariously through Tai, but she got the same look in her eye when Faye and Angus decided to slowly get things happening.
Dora saying "Nope" a second time to "should we have told her?" doesn't mean she's NOT going to tell her as soon as Tai leaves. It indicates that if Marigold knew, this cute (in Dora's eyes) moment would never happen, instead it would be met with Marigold becoming so uncomfortable she tries to run and gives herself a bloody nose (again).
It's already done. Faye and Dora are simply talking hypotheticals, "if you could have told her, would you?" and the answer for Dora is "nope"
Also, this week in QCtime EVERYBODY WENT ON DATES, Dora might also just be feeling the love.
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I'd say they should have told her, but I'm not sure just what they should have said. Maybe a gentle, "uh, Mar, you know she sees this as a date, right?" but I'm not sure how I would say that subtly, much less thinking on my feet, and Mar being Mar, she'd probably have freaked out more than she will when she actually does realize it, plus Tai might have been pissed. Saying nothing might actually have been the best decision. I mean, hell, the girl's got a "yuri" folder on her computer. It'll be awkward, but it's probably not going to be a complete trainwreck.
Still, Dora's smile is a wee bit disgusting.
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I think Tai is just being a bit smoother this time around about her social life. She is probably just going to talk to Marigold about fan fic stuff and have a pleasant dinner. Maybe test the waters a bit. I mean it's not like she can't learn from her missteps in the past, e.g. freaking Hanners out and kinda pissing off Faye by sitting in her lap.
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I'm with Westrim on this one. Total dick move by Dora. Letting someone awkward in social situations who has expressed zero romantic or sexual interest in women and has explicitly come on to one guy and flirted with another (Dale, let's be honest, that's what it was) go off oblivious with a Lesbian who obviously thinks she has a chance is being shitty to both of them simply to satisfy her bizarre fantasy that the two of them will end up together?
It's mostly that she seems to want to dictate what they can and can't do. I mean, I understand her being a little apprehensive about Hanners "dating" Sven, but she went through the roof. At Sven. She tried to talk her out of it even though the idea of Hanners doing it with Sven, especially on a pretend date, is ludicrous and Dora knows that.
Dora just can't win with some, can she? If she doesn't intervene in someone else's social life it is a "total dick move", but if she does intervene, then she's being controlling and dictating what they do...
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Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly...
and some characters bring out strong reactions, even if they don't try!
The last time there was this much vitriol, it was about Sven. Before that, Angus. And there've even been Faye haters!
Seems only Marten and the robots are safe...
Oh wait, I forgot about all the people who were yelling about how Marten needed to "man up" and dump Dora.
[sigh]
Reiver, pass me another beer, willya?
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
Very Secret Diaries! I read those when I was 17 and a huge, huge LOTR fan.
Yes! ("Sam'll kill him if he touches him.") VSD was hilarious! I think its quality was helped by the fact that it was intended to be a farce.
Personally I think this is headed towards expanding Marigolds group of close friends from the current count of just two, Angus and Hannelore and encouraging her to leave her room and further her experiences in the real world (that entering the bar scene was just painful), and lets face it if there is any character equipped to give someone a crash course in enjoying life it is Tai.
This is entirely possible. Marigold is very gradually coming out of her shell. Will there be awkwardness on the date-Marigold-doesn't-know-is-a-date? Certainly. But whether she freaks out or not, she may well be flattered that Tai was attracted to her (well, until she realizes Tai is attracted to everyone with tits and clits) -- Marigold doesn't think she's attractive, so even if she doesn't feel that way toward Tai, this could boost her confidence. As for Tai, she'll get over it. Whatever happens, I don't see anything worth wringing my hands over, and it is kinda funny that Jeph's set up another date (a Rule of Threes thing?).
Regarding the poll, it's interesting that 1. there are more anti-yaoi people than anti-yuri, and 2. the board is so unified against Pintsize/anything. ^_^ Wonder if Pintsize/cakemix counts . . .
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Well, it's one thing to see it on a screen, but when you're live and in person to the real deal, then the awkwardness card seems to always somehow come into play.
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Can't we all just agree that the comics this week will feature copious amounts of anime poses, non-stop blushing and end with sex(hurrrr) discussion and smarm talk ?
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I'm with Westrim on this one. Total dick move by Dora. Letting someone awkward in social situations who has expressed zero romantic or sexual interest in women and has explicitly come on to one guy and flirted with another (Dale, let's be honest, that's what it was) go off oblivious with a Lesbian who obviously thinks she has a chance is being shitty to both of them simply to satisfy her bizarre fantasy that the two of them will end up together?
It's mostly that she seems to want to dictate what they can and can't do. I mean, I understand her being a little apprehensive about Hanners "dating" Sven, but she went through the roof. At Sven. She tried to talk her out of it even though the idea of Hanners doing it with Sven, especially on a pretend date, is ludicrous and Dora knows that.
Dora just can't win with some, can she? If she doesn't intervene in someone else's social life it is a "total dick move", but if she does intervene, then she's being controlling and dictating what they do...
I don't normally mind Dora. In fact, until very recently I just wished she was a bit less crazy-insecure.
As for the above strawman, I have a problem more with the way she tries to interfere. It's not that she steers Hanners, it's that she's visibly angry when Hanners doesn't do what Dora wants, and that Dora doesn't actually think about what Hanners might want to do. On the other hand in this instance, she allows Marigold to randomly blunder into a situation without knowing all the facts just because she thinks it's cute. There's a big difference between letting a friend of yours know what the situation with one person is, in this case that Tai sees this as a date, and trying to outright control what that person does, a la trying to stop Hanners going on a pretend date with Sven and haranguing her when she comes back.
If Dora had taken Hanners aside and said "I don't think it's a good idea, but it's your choice. You know what he can be like right?" I wouldn't have had a problem. She didn't. She went ballistic at Sven for some reason, apparently thinking that he somehow brainwashed Hanners I guess, and kept trying to get her to say no. She eventually relented but then started grilling her afterwards. She was only forced to actually think about Hanners and not herself when Hanners stood up to her.
Dora is a great character and she used to be the character I considered the second most likeable, behind Marten, but recently she's been well...selfish. Acting selfishly like she has with regards to your less socially adapted friends IS a dick move.
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UPDATED!
SlashFic You'd HATE to see:
SlashFic You'd HATE to see:
Hanners/Marigold - 2 (1.7%)
Hanners/Tai - 5 (4.3%)
Hanners/Faye - 3 (2.6%)
Faye/Dora - 2 (1.7%)
Faye/Tai - 1 (0.9%)
Faye/Marigold - 3 (2.6%)
Sven/Marten - 11 (9.5%)
Dora/Marigold - 4 (3.4%)
Marigold/Tai - 3 (2.6%)
Angus/Sven - 11 (9.5%)
Angus/Marten - 10 (8.6%)
Pintsize/ANYONE - 61 (52.6%)
Total Voters: 116
---
This has got to be the most one-sided poll I've ever seen on this forum.
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Look at that, character's doin' a face
with her face
that sure is
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She's very good at the :3 face.
That's all I'm gonna say.
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As for today's comic: Let's go over the facts, shall we?
1. Marigold has explicitly stated to Hanners that she is NOT into girls. (cf.: 1493 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1493)).
2. She IS okay with others being "into girls" - but she's not into girls. (same comic)
3. It's not 100% clear, but she may have already associated Tai with GLAAD, from the NRRD-Con at Smith College (cf.: 1530 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1530)).
4. We, as an audience (and NOT Marigold), already know what happens to Tai when she gets "a beer and a half" (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1603) in her.
5. HANNELORE knows what happens to Tai when she's... yeah. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1611)
6. She's rather uncomfortable when Dora gives her "awkward-cute huggles" (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1619)
7. She DID have a rather rude rejection from her first Kiss The Boy moment (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1631) - which, at least in the Tropish world (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SituationalSexuality) of storytelling, (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StraightGay) is sometimes used as a "tipping point".
8. She has promised Hannelore she wouldn't "get drunk and try to make out" (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1638) with her.
9. Marigold does admit (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1676) that "nothing ever goes the way you want it to." Whether or not that applies to her sexuality...
10. Marigold did put it succinctly in the next comic (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1677): "Somebody to be nice to me, and pay attention, and... y'know."
11. She DOES have "some standards". (Alliance Rogues? No way.) (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1680)
12. She found it hilarious when Dora told her (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1684) about what they'd been saying about her behind her back.
13. She probably got the idea Tai was probably a lesbian (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1686) after she returned to the party (just as Angus and Faye came out of their time-out).
14. Marigold has experienced what happens to Tai (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1688) when she gets a couple of beers in her.
15. She admitted to Hannelore that she liked what happened between her and Angus. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1692)
16. Marigold definitely understands double-entendre (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1702) - and was embarrassed about it in relation to her and Hanners.
Looking back at all this, I'd have to speculate that she probably won't think much of the fact that Tai's a lesbian; but she might be very uncomfortable with Tai hitting on her.
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As for today's comic: Let's go over the facts, shall we?
7. She DID have a rather rude rejection from her first Kiss The Boy moment (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1631) - which, at least in the Tropish world (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SituationalSexuality) of storytelling, (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StraightGay) is sometimes used as a "tipping point".
9. Marigold does admit (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1676) that "nothing ever goes the way you want it to." Whether or not that applies to her sexuality...
... :x
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I don't understand how it's Dora's responsibility to do or say anything in this situation. Two of her friends decided to go get a dinner together. That's it.
If Tai does make a more direct move it's hard to imagine that Marigold would react SO poorly that the situation needed direct intervention. A little awkwardness seems to be the worst outcome of this scenario. I think it's safe to say they'll both be fine or, as some have pointed out, it may even be the start of a new friendship. This is hardly a disastrous situation that anyone needed to go out of their way to prevent.
If this happened to two of my friends I'd be hard pressed to hold in the giggling until they left the shop. Putting a stop to it or warning them wouldn't even occur to me.
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As a good, funny punchline, it works, and Dora's the perfect one to deliver it.
But a real Dora amused at a socially-inept friend going off to be humiliated (ok, embarrassed) should be smacked.
Oh, and everybody knows, Yaoi is for lesbians and Yuri is for straight dudes.
[ Appy-polly-logies for off-topicness! ]
Out of curiosity, this straight dude attended the (excellent) Yuri panel at last weekend's MangaNEXT, and I'm still baffled at the supposed straight dude delight in Yuri... The bright and experienced American yuri publisher (an out and proud lesbian) running the panel explained that, especially in Japan, any actual consummation of the F-F relationship (or even worse, ANY hint that either have ever had sex with a guy!) totally destroys the yuri manga's appeal. It destroyed one popular yuri manga; hordes of Japanese women sent back their badges in dismay, abandoning the story in horror.
So, I'm baffled; we're told men read yuri (to project, to feel like naughty females, yadda) ... but then are deeply offended when sex occurs...??? This does not sound male to me, this seems like a (lesbian?) female reaction. Remember, males are the ones who consume vast quantities of actual hardcore porn where sex is the whole point.
I then went and read a yuri manga and the furthest they got was staring into each others eyes and emoting furiously. To me, a total waste of paper and ink. I'm sorry, i don't see the male turn-on in Yuri.
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As a good, funny punchline, it works, and Dora's the perfect one to deliver it.
But a real Dora amused at a socially-inept friend going off to be humiliated should be smacked.
Seriously, humiliated how? It's mild awkwardness at worst.
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*pop* -as. That would be extremely silly after…
<_<
>_>
O_O
…all?
Er, before a group of you tar and feather Dora, if Marigold doesn't have some idea a girl who takes her pants off at parties is a trifle unusual already, she'd never going to notice a pass, either. Even a blatant, far-too- over-the top Tai-pass.
On the other hand, recluse Marigold is actually interacting socially of her own volition. If I were Dora, I wouldn't stop it, either. Tai's a loudmouthed, oblivious bit of annoyance, but she's never actually harmed or even playfully groped anyone that I can recall. Also, given Marigold's reading material, surely to god she's at least heard of teh lesbians.
And they do look kind of cute together (hence that smile)—not that I'd wish Tai on anyone. But, as I say, the very worst that can happen is Marigold gets startled. Well, she could possibly become embarrassed. Jesus Christ on a Beanpole, wouldn't that be different?
Now I'm gonna wait for Jeph to bring on the dancing, martial-arts-happy nuns, because obviously he just has to prove that my "what, why worry" position is wrong.
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oh snap, this wont end well for Marigold, and poor Tai will get blue clit once they get to her place. Something tells me the awkward zone will not be solved on this one.
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AWKWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD.
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Welp. This cannot end well.
Unless it ends in lesbian sex.
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"The suspense is terrible...I hope it'll last."
helloandgoodbye has the right idea. :-P
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Mar... you're an idiot.
That is all.
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Dora and Faye did absolutely the right thing keeping their mouths shut.
Marigold is ostensibly a big girl, and even if she's not, the only way she's going to grow is for her to get out of the house and around people and risk being embarrassed.
Tai, while maybe a bit shallow, isn't a total creep. she may not even be into Marigold, and even if she was, she's experienced enough to know when it's appropriate to make a pass and when it isn't. If Tai doesn't get a sense that Marigold would be open to anything more than friendship, she'll almost certainly keep things on a strictly platonic level.
I think it displays a bit of homophobia the reaction that people are having to Tai displaying (what to this point has been) a completely innocent social interest in another girl. Some of the reactions here are more appropriate for a Priest taking out a five-year-old, not two grown women.
Just because Tai likes girls doesn't mean that she wants to get with anything with a vagina. In fact, Tai has been bemoaning the un-fulfilling qualities of an abundance of casual sex. I don't think Tai is going to be interested in Marigold for just a casual encounter. I'm not saying that Tai wouldn't be open to a relationship with Marigold, I just don't think it's her primary motivation, and I doubt she'd make too much of a move on the first date, if this is even a date. It's more likely that she'll give up when Marigold completely misses all of her flirting.
Warning! While you were typing Jeph posted the comic, you may wish to review your post
OH, SHIT!!!!!
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Mar... you're an idiot.
That is all.
Hey now, that's a bit harsh and not true. She's not an idiot, she's just naive, as can be expected from someone with practically no sexual experience.
I feel sorry for them both now, it's gonna get so uncomfortable for them later on :-( I almost can't bear to watch. Almost.
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To be honest... is there much difference between Tai flirting with an apparently-oblivious Marigold, and Sven even getting CLOSE to Mar? Dora and Faye were vehement about him staying away from her. To be honest, she was vulnerable then, and still hurting from Angus' rejection, a situation that Dora has since seen resolved... but really, there's direct, unsolicited flirting going on. Why is Dora's reaction so different?
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Heh... this week is beginning to look like the plot of a slash fanfic set in QC. :P
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This will either end up in a train wreck with Dora winding up feeling guilty over not telling MariBear and Faye going after Tai with the Malaysian Battle Spatula. or a moment of real awkwardness between Tai and Marigold leading to a friendship.
Or Marigold deciding to experiment.
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I think it displays a bit of homophobia the reaction that people are having to Tai displaying (what to this point has been) a completely innocent social interest in another girl. Some of the reactions here are more appropriate for a Priest taking out a five-year-old, not two grown women.
Yeah. The "OMG! They should have WARNED her!" reaction does feel that way, doesn't it? One does wonder if the Dora's-a-dick crowd would have had the same reaction if Tai had been a man who'd asked Marigold out to dinner in the same circumstances.
Tonight's joke feels a bit forced to me. No matter how introverted Marigold might be, it's a bit hard to imagine she'd confuse the meaning of "novel" in Tai's quip. English is my second language, and I wouldn't.
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To be honest... is there much difference between Tai flirting with an apparently-oblivious Marigold, and Sven even getting CLOSE to Mar? Dora and Faye were vehement about him staying away from her. To be honest, she was vulnerable then, and still hurting from Angus' rejection, a situation that Dora has since seen resolved... but really, there's direct, unsolicited flirting going on. Why is Dora's reaction so different?
Because she's had issues with Sven sleeping with her friends since high school. Tai's never slept with one of her friends. There's a big difference in behavior patterns that explains Dora's reaction.
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I don't understand how it's Dora's responsibility to do or say anything in this situation. Two of her friends decided to go get a dinner together. That's it.
Because she KNEW shit was gonna go down and she consciously did nothing to stop her friends from getting hurt. She may think it's "kawaii", but she KNOWS Mari is straight, and she knows how fragile Marigold is. Dora also KNOWS what Tai is thinking, which is why she thinks it's so cute. If she thought it was JUST two people going to lunch, then she wouldn't have gotten all doe-eyed. I'm less upset at Faye because Faye at least realizes that something should have been done, while Dora simply revels in it. I'm pissed at Dora for keeping her trap shut (first time I've ever used THAT phrase).
I don't think Tai is going to be interested in Marigold for just a casual encounter.
You were saying...?
and DAMMIT Tai, sometimes a cigar is JUST a cigar!! Leave poor Marigold alone.
Having said all that: it does make for good reading, so bravo on Jeph for another interesting arc. I may be mad at the characters, but I'm definitely tuning in for what happens.
UPDATE:
I think it displays a bit of homophobia the reaction that people are having to Tai displaying (what to this point has been) a completely innocent social interest in another girl.
Dude, come ON. This has nothing to do with homophobia AT ALL. It's got to do with the fact that Tai's interests are NOT completely innocent, and frankly, rarely are when it comes to women. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that's just how she is. On the other side we have Marigold, who is very fragile and socially deficient - she's putting herself out on a limb, being VERY brave and trying to make a new friend, and she's going to get accosted by Tai, who will hopefully not traumatize the poor girl too much. It's a reaction of protection towards Marigold, nothing more.
It has NOTHING to do with homophobia, and I really don't think that's a word that should be thrown around so casually.
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Still, you would think that Dora and Faye would try SOMETHING to protect Marigold from embarrassment/being taken advantage of. I think it is kind of a dumb idea that the girls are so against a man taking advantage of her, but Tai (who seems to be pretty aggressive when it comes to flirting) flirting is completely fine. I don't really see the difference between a lecherous man and a lecherous woman.
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Marigold invited her over to show her what is, essentially, porn. Tai said "that's a novel euphemism" ... And we're not allowed to think there might be some awkwardness because Marigold has insisted that she is straight, straight, straight? And yet she's showing a lesbian her porn?
I honestly don't think she even put two and two together about the euphemism.
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Marigold is showing her her erotic FANFIC. Marigold is also a huge nerd. If you know anything abut internet culture, you know that weeaboos are super passionate about their fanfic, and like to share it with people who share a similar interest. It has nothing to do with being interested in Tai sexually. According to your logic, guys who watch porn together want to fuck each-other's brains out.
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My *point* is that Marigold does not even realize that what she thinks might be completely innocent may not be construed as such by the other party.
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Because she KNEW shit was gonna go down and she consciously did nothing to stop her friends from getting hurt. She may think it's "kawaii", but she KNOWS Mari is straight, and she knows how fragile Marigold is. Dora also KNOWS what Tai is thinking, which is why she thinks it's so cute. If she thought it was JUST two people going to lunch, then she wouldn't have gotten all doe-eyed. I'm less upset at Faye because Faye at least realizes that something should have been done, while Dora simply revels in it. I'm pissed at Dora for keeping her trap shut (first time I've ever used THAT phrase).
Who's getting hurt? When and how? Tai MIGHT make a serious pass at Mari and Mari will most likely rebuff that advance the same way EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET HAS MADE A FAILED PASS AT SOMEONE OR HAD TO REBUFF SOMEONE'S ADVANCES.
This is not a critical situation folks. Calm down.
Dude, come ON. This has nothing to do with homophobia AT ALL. It's got to do with the fact that Tai's interests are NOT completely innocent, and frankly, rarely are when it comes to women. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that's just how she is. On the other side we have Marigold, who is very fragile and socially deficient - she's putting herself out on a limb, being VERY brave and trying to make a new friend, and she's going to get accosted by Tai, who will hopefully not traumatize the poor girl too much. It's a reaction of protection towards Marigold, nothing more.
It has NOTHING to do with homophobia, and I really don't think that's a word that should be thrown around so casually.
When you bandy about words like accosted and traumatized because a lesbian MIGHT make a pass at a straight girl you start looking fairly homophobic.
Still, you would think that Dora and Faye would try SOMETHING to protect Marigold from embarrassment/being taken advantage of. I think it is kind of a dumb idea that the girls are so against a man taking advantage of her, but Tai (who seems to be pretty aggressive when it comes to flirting) flirting is completely fine. I don't really see the difference between a lecherous man and a lecherous woman.
Taken advantage of? Again, you're jumping to a rather extreme conclusion.
Seriously, when did Tai become a sexual predator?
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As I started reading the first panel, I was all "Hey, cool, I was totally wrong, they are just hanging out and talking as friends and this may just be awesome for the both of them after all!" and then I kept reading and as Marigold is going all blushy and stammery while inviting Tai over (which we know is just what Marigold does when she's nervous about the situation she's in - and also, props to her for really going out on a limb and trying to do something friends probably would - but anyway, Tai probably doesn't know this about Marigold, which may lead her into thinking there's more to the situation than there really is) but the whole thing just reeks of typical sitcom misunderstanding, with Tai all thinking that Marigold is into girls, and thus making a move on her, probably at just the moment Angus walks in, and so Marigold's embarrassment at 1, not reading the signs of Tai asking her out, 2, inadvertently leading Tai on/into thinking she wanted Tai to make a move, and 3, being found in an awkward moment by a guy she just got over seems to foreshadow that Marigold will return to being a recluse because wah she's just so terrible at social interaction. And maybe she'll yell at Dora and Faye for not pointing out to her the way the situation was going down. Or maybe she and Tai will just laugh it off and be better friends, but that just makes it more sitcom-y if you ask me.
But we'll see what tomorrow brings!
Oh yeah - to the discussion going on about why it's so frustrating that Dora (and Faye) didn't mention anything to Marigold about Tai's sexuality/the real possibility that Tai asked Marigold out on a date. First, we know that Marigold is bad with social situations and reading social cues, so even if she knows that drinking makes Tai frolic about in her underwear, we have no idea if she knows of Tai's sexual orientation. I think it is also safe to conclude that Marigold wouldn't view this as a date, even if Tai currently does. Second, we know that Marigold has already been upset that Dora (and Faye) withheld information from her regarding people's love lives (specifically what was going on between Faye and Angus). She believes (rightfully so, I think) that she deserves to know what's going on if it affects her, and she hasn't already seen the signs.
That's not to say that sure, the awkwardness that may ensue won't kill either Marigold or Tai, but if the awkwardness didn't have to happen, if this had all just been cleared up from the get-go, I still think the two of them could have gone out to eat and talk about fanfiction with the understanding that it was only as friends...which may be better for both of them after all. (Heck, I can even see Tai getting mad at Dora for not mentioning to her that Marigold doesn't swing that way. Why waste time flirting on a lost cause?)
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Tai has pushed herself on a straight chick up to and past the point of discomfort, but she's different from Sven both in Dora's eyes and objectively.
As far as we know Tai has never had to crawl out a bathroom window to avoid an ex, nor enraged someone to the point of throwing her guitar in the street, nor left someone so irate as to throw dishes during Thanksgiving.
On the other hand, 815 revealed that she was non-consensually two-timing Serena.
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Seriously, when did Tai become a sexual predator?
I wouldn't go so far as a "predator", persay, but she does come across to me as incredibly selfish (in terms of wanting what makes her happy no matter who it hurts). An example would be the last comic she was in where she talked about how Dora was "tainted", as if Dora was some sort of plaything that had been taken out of the box, and how open she is about wanting to break up people's relationships. Gay, straight or in-between, bragging about that is creepy and weird.
Edit:
Yeah, 815 pretty much hits the nail on the head to me. That she's bragging about her destructive actions, smiling and laughing about it... I mean, sheesh, if that's not just bad behavior, I don't know what is. And Marigold is still, at this point, very fragile.
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That sums up Tai's character pretty well. I am actually offended pretty often when she comes up in the strip. It seems like since she is a girl, her lecherous nature, selfish relationship patterns, and sexual objectification of other women are endearing. If she were a straight man, I highly doubt most people would find her endearing.
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It's interesting that someone objected to my use of the word "innocent" in regard to Tai's interest in Marigold. When I was typing that post (before Jeph posted the comic) I originally used the word "chaste." Now that it's clear that Tai has a romantic interest in Marigold, suddenly there's something wrong? That point of view isn't only homophobic, it's sexaphobic too, as if sexual and romantic attraction were something shameful and dirty. Tai likes girls. Unless Marigold is completely clueless, she has to know that there exists a possibility that Tai might hit on her.
If it had been Dale instead of Tai, everybody here would be screaming "Maridale" five times a post, but because it's a same-sex situation, suddenly it's "Oh NOES, Tai is such a slut! Marigold may be embarrassed! Why didn't someone warn her?! she'll never get over the shock that another girl LIKES her!!!"
As someone who considered (past tense) myself straight until a gay guy made a pass at me (and quite a welcome one too,) it kind of irks me when people assume that straight people NEVER welcome attention from people of the same sex.
Marigold identifies as straight, but she may just assume she's straight because she's never had an opportunity to explore a same-sex situation. It's quite possible that when the moment of truth comes, she'll just say fuck it and go with it.
Tai knows what she's doing, and I can't believe that as experienced as Tai is, she's never misread a signal and made a pass at someone who wasn't interested. As long as she doesn't force the issue, Tai has nothing to be ashamed of.
This may just be the situation that gets Marigold to consider the reality of physical affection, even if it is with another girl. Maybe when Tai makes a move (which seems inevitable now) Marigold may just let her curiosity (and her deprived libido) take over.
Which brings us back to Dora...
Dora did ABSOLUTELY the right thing by keeping her mouth shut.
First, she's not Marigold's mother. Second, If Marigold is ever going to be able to accurately read social cues, she's going to have to learn how to do it for herself. She needs experience, and the only way that's going to happen is if she lets herself get into situations where she might get hurt. What happens then is HER responsibility, Dora can't just give her the skills she needs, she has to learn them. Third, there exists a chance that Marigold may, when the moment of truth comes, discover something about herself that she might not otherwise have realized, and if a "friend" had stopped me the night I went home from the bar with guy the first time, I would have been quite upset.
A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are for, Marigold has to sail the treacherous waters of the Adult-Relationship Ocean, even if she has to cross the dangerous shoals of the Gulf of Awkwardness.
And I think I'm going to need a new UBMEOD before this arc is over, because there's no way the one I have will last!
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Wow, lots of stuff since I last checked in. I'll try to limit my tendency to over respond. Lets see... I find netbooks to generally be badly designed since the OSes aren't scaled properly, and macs to be very overpriced for a negligible performance boost and limited ability to modify or accessorize, among other drawbacks. I can't comment on 7 basic since I refuse to use a netbook, but 7 in general is a better OS than XP except for some inexplicable file access changes that shouldn't be an issue on a NETbook. Business lines have less bloatware but also cost more.
OKay, that's out of the way. Now for the juicy bits that actually have to do with the comic. First, non TaiMari stuff. Relationshipquakes is an awesome term and I will use it in a conversation as early as possible. I get the impression that the main reason Tai gets disliked is her promiscuity, which is understandable. What people can deal with on the net and in real life are often completely different. Since today hit 90f I'd take the cooler offer, but i don't drink beer. Root beer, maybe. Okay, page 2 done, on to page 3.
Now, I seem to have triggered something if a firestorm in the person of my lackey unknown person that agrees with me, Corrigan. Let me clarify my views, if I can. The issue is that she quite often meddles in other people's lives in the strip whether they want it or not, as designated team mom- I think not very many would debate that. The problem is that despite that tendency, she did not intervene in this clearly-going-to-get-worse situation (especially after today's strip), purely because it appealed to her. She has just as much responsibility to intervene in situations she does like as those she doesn't when the grounds is that someone is going to get hurt. Recap #1: her tendency to interfere is bad, but suddenly not interfering because she likes the scenario (despite obvious recognition that one of the two does not know what's happening, and previous evidence indication that she will not react well to the revelation or that the other will know the meaning of restraint) is even worse. Recap #2: She interfered with Sven and Hannelore despite knowing that both knew exactly what was was going on, purely because she didn't like the idea of them together. Now we have Marigold clearly oblivious, Tai clearly hitting on her, and Dora clearly letting them move towards a Nice Boat (okay, it probably won't end that badly) because she thinks the idea of them together is cute.
As for Marigold, she may have handled the Fayngus revelation okay, but that was character growth, and character growth isn't steady (and it happened after she already had a severe, multi week freak out over Angus rejecting her). God only knows what will happen when she realizes a person with another orientation is hitting on her (which today's strip makes clear that she hasn't) or worse, ends up the the recipient of an unwanted kiss herself. Several people said Dora shouldn't get in the way of a friendship in progress: problem is, only one character thinks that what it is; the other thinks they're on a date, and that is unlikely to end well. A friendship may happen, but not because one of the friends hit on the the other one who was clueless, and that could have been prevented.
No one is asking for Dora to have prevented them from going out or anything remotely similar. A simple "Tai, stop hitting on her," off hand comment would have defused the situation right quick; Marigold would be clued in, Tai would back off, and they could go off and read fanfiction all night long.
Okay, hope that covered everything. I managed to not make it a 3 page long quote-and-respond, at least. Assume this was posted at 6PM EST while I catch up on the rest.
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akronnick-
I think you're too quick to use the word "homophobic" here. Seriously-
Do you really think people are dismayed because Tai is a girl who might show Marigold new avenues?
Have you REALLY come to expect that here?
Maybe it's just my perspective on things, but I don't see this as a homosexual-oriented thing, but from the viewpoint of a vulnerable person (Marigold) who is JUST starting to emerge from her shell and socialize with people suddenly being alone with someone who is, quite frankly, a terrible human being.
Again,
It's not because Tai is gay.
It has nothing to do with her homosexuality.
It has everything to do with the fact that Tai has absolutely no problem using people for her own selfish purposes, breaking up relationships, and in general doing whatever she feels like doing no matter the human cost for others.
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I wouldn't go so far as a "predator", persay, but she does come across to me as incredibly selfish (in terms of wanting what makes her happy no matter who it hurts). An example would be the last comic she was in where she talked about how Dora was "tainted", as if Dora was some sort of plaything that had been taken out of the box, and how open she is about wanting to break up people's relationships. Gay, straight or in-between, bragging about that is creepy and weird.
The Dora being tainted thing was silly, but it's only silly because the reasoning was "he jizzed there". I totally get a friend's ex losing all sexual appeal. When you know two people as part of a couple for long enough they stop being individuals and start being "so-and-so's girl" or "so-and-so's guy". At some point thinking about them as a sexual being just feels wrong. If she used the jizz as a cover (heh, gross) for an actual realization that she could never date her friend's ex for real reasons than that page is a lot less strange. But maybe I'm giving her too much credit and she really is just disgusted by the idea of Martin's Happy Batter. That's a weird attitude, not a bad attitude. No one's hurt by it, it's just immature.
As for actively trying to break up someone's relationship the only example I can think of is Dora and Martin and I never took that as anything more than playful banter. And by the way, that's how Dora and Martin took it too.
Edit:
Yeah, 815 pretty much hits the nail on the head to me. That she's bragging about her destructive actions, smiling and laughing about it... I mean, sheesh, if that's not just bad behavior, I don't know what is. And Marigold is still, at this point, very fragile.
See, I don't read that as anything more than her trying to move herself from a polyamorous relationship into a monogamous relationship and not handling it very well. That sure wasn't the best way to go about it, but she's in college. College is a time for being stupid and selfish. I couldn't add up all the stupid mistakes I made in college with a calculator and Stephen Hawking's help.
Numbers just don't go that high.
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(http://i56.tinypic.com/sd057s.jpg)
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The Dora being tainted thing was silly
It wasn't silly, it was creepy and disgusting. Dora has rebuffed Tai on numerous occasions throughout the strip (yes, I am too lazy to go digging through them all), yet that's totally irrelevant to Tai. In Tai's mind, Dora the plaything would have been "ripe for the picking" had Martin not taken her "out of the box". Hence, also in previous strips, why she's tried making passes at Dora. Repeatedly. Despite Dora clearly not being interested. It's not about "losing sexual appeal", it's that Tai would have had to deal with Dora being a "used toy". Hence why she described it as such in the very next strip.
See, I don't read that as anything more than her trying to move herself from a polyamorous relationship into a monogamous relationship and handling doing it very well.
So two-timing, cheating and being perfectly ok with doing that, despite having a CLEARLY STATED prior agreement is "handling it well"? No, it's not. It's being totally selfish and disregarding other people's feelings, all so Tai can get what Tai wants.
That sure wasn't the best way to go about it, but she's in college. College is a time for being stupid and selfish.
Wait, so now just because she's youthful, she gets a pass? What happened to all the talk about "mature adults" and such? And that makes it all right?
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I would love to say that I don't think Tai would stoop to date rape if/when Marigold said no, but that frankly ascribes a level of self-control, maturity, and respect for others that Tai has not demonstrated during her appearances. I don't have a beef with Tai cause the girl is gay, I have a beef with her because she flat-out told Dora, "God, I wish you would break up with Marten so I could have sex with you" in front of Marten, who is 1.) her friend, 2.) her subordinate at work, and 3.) was her in to the entire social circle in the first place. That's some gross shit right there. If she was a dude and she pulled that, there would be harsh words all around.
That being said? I don't fault Dora cause she really is just happy for Mar-bear and no one gets that Tai is gross, and even if she is she seems harmless. She's never hurt any if them, so from their perspective this shit is cute.
And it could be cute! I hope Tai either magically does not do bad shit to Marigold and deals with the shutdown, or she pulls off a Sven-style fifth Dan seduction technique and Mari realizes hey, this girlsex thing is awwwwwwwwwriiiiight
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It wasn't silly, it was creepy and disgusting. Dora has rebuffed Tai on numerous occasions throughout the strip (yes, I am too lazy to go digging through them all), yet that's totally irrelevant to Tai. In Tai's mind, Dora the plaything would have been "ripe for the picking" had Martin not taken her "out of the box". Hence, also in previous strips, why she's tried making passes at Dora. Repeatedly. Despite Dora clearly not being interested. It's not about "losing sexual appeal", it's that Tai would have had to deal with Dora being a "used toy". Hence why she described it as such in the very next strip.
Dora isn't interested because she's in an intimate relationship. She has shown that she enjoys or is at least flattered by Tai's attention. I'm not looking up the strips, but she was jealous when Tai turned her attentions to Faye at a party (she was huggin' Faye because Faye was warm, apparently) and she and Martin shared a moment where they were both think about Tai's pierced hood in another strip. She's never turned away Tai in a manner suggesting she wants Tai to leave her alone, in fact she seems to do the opposite.
Aside from that, I think you're reading WAY too much into a few offhand comments. She likes Dora as a person, she's shown that on multiple occasions. She DOESN'T really think of her as a toy.
So two-timing, cheating and being perfectly ok with doing that, despite having a CLEARLY STATED prior agreement is "handling it well"? No, it's not. It's being totally selfish and disregarding other people's feelings, all so Tai can get what Tai wants.
You quoted before I fixed that typo. NOT handling it well.
My fault, sorry.
Wait, so now just because she's youthful, she gets a pass? What happened to all the talk about "mature adults" and such? And that makes it all right?
Because she's significantly younger than the rest of the cast. They are mature adults. She is not.
It's not alright, but it's understandable. Kids are dumb.
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Here's the other thing. Dora considers Tai a friend, too, and pulling a "ZOMG MARIGOLD TAI WILL RAAAAEP YUO" would be a dick move to Tai.
Oh, and Marten's had issues with people even IMAGINING Dora naked, before (Tai in this case, but he mentions her exes): http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=773
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I'm just pulling out a couple of specific things I want to remark upon:
Tai likes girls. Unless Marigold is completely clueless, she has to know that there exists a possibility that Tai might hit on her.
First, I'm not sure that Marigold even knows Tai likes girls, but regardless of that, I'd argue that yes, Marigold is completely clueless (at least currently) and also that she has no idea that there is possibility that Tai might hit on her - but I'd argue that's from the perspective that Marigold doesn't consider herself attractive enough to imagine anyone, male or female, to hit on her.
If it had been Dale instead of Tai, everybody here would be screaming "Maridale" five times a post, but because it's a same-sex situation, suddenly it's "Oh NOES, Tai is such a slut! Marigold may be embarrassed! Why didn't someone warn her?! she'll never get over the shock that another girl LIKES her!!!......Second, If Marigold is ever going to be able to accurately read social cues, she's going to have to learn how to do it for herself. She needs experience, and the only way that's going to happen is if she lets herself get into situations where she might get hurt. "
(I'm tying these two together because that's how my response went.) Even if it were Dale, I would still still argue that it should have been brought up that this is a date situation, since Marigold apparently still has no clue that's what is going on. The gender of the person doesn't matter, it's more that this situation is not necessarily a good one for a person who is just starting to become social to be in. Reading social cues can be really tough, and if one isn't particularly expecting something out of a situation (that's only made worse by sitcom misunderstandings), it could be enough to make the person totally backtrack on any progress made. And this could happen to Marigold even if this were Dale. It isn't about a girl liking Marigold, it's about helping out a person who isn't aware of what's going on. Yes, Marigold needs to learn to read signs herself, and yes, she's going to be put in awkward situations while that happens, but come on, when two people she considers friends just let her walk away without any inkling of what's going on, I don't think that's being a friend. As westrim said, Dora saying something like "Tai, stop hitting on Marigold" could have still let there be an awkward moment, but also allowed Marigold the chance to see what cues she was missing. And I think something like that should have been done, regardless of the person hitting on Marigold. (And interestingly, if it was someone like Dale, who Dora may not have considered as "cute" as she apparently does Tai/Marigold, do you think Dora might have spoken up? Interesting thought.)
Tai knows what she's doing, and I can't believe that as experienced as Tai is, she's never misread a signal and made a pass at someone who wasn't interested. As long as she doesn't force the issue, Tai has nothing to be ashamed of.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought that Tai has made passes at Faye, indeed made Faye quite uncomfortable, despite Faye not being interested. And she's alluded, at least, to wanting Dora, and talks about it with Marten, despite being his boss. I think that Tai isn't that experienced, really (she's young and in college and still figuring out what she even wants) and she is the personality type to push people way past comfort levels. Up til now, we've also seen her get away with it, with no one really calling her out on that, though at least Marten got close with that last interaction the two of them had. (Also, Dr. ROFLPWN brings up some very good points in regards to Tai's behavior concerning Dora)
I would say that Tai knows what she's doing, but at least with what we've seen of her, I don't think that what Tai does is very nice.
First, she's not Marigold's mother.
Others have said it better than me in regards to this, but Dora often likes to act as the mother of most of the gang. (Not the best example but, even though Hanners was better friends with Marigold at the time of the Angus-Faye-partydrama, Dora decided she was the best one to handle the situation and just decided that was how it was gonna be.) It's been said quite often that Dora is the voice of reason within the group (except when it concerns her own insecurities or Sven) - despite not being anyone's mother, Dora quite often takes that role. That's why I think it's almost jarring here that Dora seems content to let Marigold go off with Tai without knowing what's going on simply because apparently Dora thinks it's cute.
EDIT:
Wait, so now just because she's youthful, she gets a pass? What happened to all the talk about "mature adults" and such? And that makes it all right?
Because she's significantly younger than the rest of the cast. They are mature adults. She is not.
It's not alright, but it's understandable. Kids are dumb.
The "mature adults" allowing the immature person to continue to act as such without comment on why her behavior should change doesn't make them seem that mature to me. Her behavior may be understandable, but to me it looks like she acts as such because she simply can - no one calls her out on it.
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Marten told Tai to back off of Hanners...
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She DOESN'T really think of her as a toy
I disagree. To Tai, even someone she is aiming for a relationship in becomes a plaything. She lies, manipulates, makes insinuations, tries to push herself on people, and all without any regard for the feelings of whoever she has objectifies. She has also referred to Dora as "a thing" on occasion.
She makes playthings, toys out of people. Regardless of whether she is "young and dumb" :roll: she still has done it and shows no evidence of even an attempt to rectify.
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Okay, now I'll do some good old fashioned quoting. This post is realtime.
Out of curiosity, this straight dude attended the (excellent) Yuri panel at last weekend's MangaNEXT, and I'm still baffled at the supposed straight dude delight in Yuri... The bright and experienced American yuri publisher (an out and proud lesbian) running the panel explained that, especially in Japan, any actual consummation of the F-F relationship (or even worse, ANY hint that either have ever had sex with a guy!) totally destroys the yuri manga's appeal. It destroyed one popular yuri manga; hordes of Japanese women sent back their badges in dismay, abandoning the story in horror.
So, I'm baffled; we're told men read yuri (to project, to feel like naughty females, yadda) ... but then are deeply offended when sex occurs...??? This does not sound male to me, this seems like a (lesbian?) female reaction. Remember, males are the ones who consume vast quantities of actual hardcore porn where sex is the whole point.
I then went and read a yuri manga and the furthest they got was staring into each others eyes and emoting furiously. To me, a total waste of paper and ink. I'm sorry, i don't see the male turn-on in Yuri.
Part of the problem is the differing definitions. Over there, yuri basically covers everything about a lesbian relationship. Here, it was originally understood just in terms of hentai and it was only recently that the broader definition was picked up on, since actual yuri manga doesn't have much of an audience here. Most dudes, Japanese and American, are only interested in it after it reaches the H level. Most yuri manga is in fact not geared towards dudes since the Japanese, as that panel may have brought up, see schoolgirl lesbians as a perfectly okay phase- but only a phase. Like you just said, it was women reading that manga and women who sent in their badges (it's weird that in the next paragraph you flip that to males), since in the end they expect the tragic tale to fold up with them finishing their phase and leaving each other for matrimony with a dude. Essentially, they are tolerant of lesbians, but NOT as an orientation. Since America flips that, with more tolerance, there isn't really a market for it since that ending is culturally incompatible.
TL;DR Men don't read yuri, they look at it.
Dora and Faye did absolutely the right thing keeping their mouths shut.
Marigold is ostensibly a big girl, and even if she's not, the only way she's going to grow is for her to get out of the house and around people and risk being embarrassed.
Tai, while maybe a bit shallow, isn't a total creep. she may not even be into Marigold, and even if she was, she's experienced enough to know when it's appropriate to make a pass and when it isn't. If Tai doesn't get a sense that Marigold would be open to anything more than friendship, she'll almost certainly keep things on a strictly platonic level.
I think it displays a bit of homophobia the reaction that people are having to Tai displaying (what to this point has been) a completely innocent social interest in another girl. Some of the reactions here are more appropriate for a Priest taking out a five-year-old, not two grown women.
Just because Tai likes girls doesn't mean that she wants to get with anything with a vagina. In fact, Tai has been bemoaning the un-fulfilling qualities of an abundance of casual sex. I don't think Tai is going to be interested in Marigold for just a casual encounter. I'm not saying that Tai wouldn't be open to a relationship with Marigold, I just don't think it's her primary motivation, and I doubt she'd make too much of a move on the first date, if this is even a date. It's more likely that she'll give up when Marigold completely misses all of her flirting.
Warning! While you were typing Jeph posted the comic, you may wish to review your post
OH, SHIT!!!!!
I can let you off the hook somewhat, since you apparently missed the "brutal criticisms" comment and Faye and Dora's clear comprehension of the innuendo, and you seem to have realized the mistake as of the newest strip. But yes, Tai was in fact hitting on her, and she is not known for her chastity. What you term homophobia is just (roughly) the same reaction that Sven provokes, and that he would provoke if he started hitting on say, Hannelore. Actually, the response is much milder (than to Sven OR to Sven hitting on Hanners).
Yeah. The "OMG! They should have WARNED her!" reaction does feel that way, doesn't it? One does wonder if the Dora's-a-dick crowd would have had the same reaction if Tai had been a man who'd asked Marigold out to dinner in the same circumstances.
Tonight's joke feels a bit forced to me. No matter how introverted Marigold might be, it's a bit hard to imagine she'd confuse the meaning of "novel" in Tai's quip. English is my second language, and I wouldn't.
Like I said, Sven. Hannelore. But both of you are reading too much into it; most expect Tai to act promiscuous and Marigold to be clueless, and were fine with that; Dora letting the misunderstanding persist, not so much. What's homophobic about expecting to Tai to act exactly as she has and IS acting? Or about wanting Marigold to avoid the upcoming social backfire, given her previous actions/reactions?
To be honest... is there much difference between Tai flirting with an apparently-oblivious Marigold, and Sven even getting CLOSE to Mar? Dora and Faye were vehement about him staying away from her. To be honest, she was vulnerable then, and still hurting from Angus' rejection, a situation that Dora has since seen resolved... but really, there's direct, unsolicited flirting going on. Why is Dora's reaction so different?
Because she's had issues with Sven sleeping with her friends since high school. Tai's never slept with one of her friends. There's a big difference in behavior patterns that explains Dora's reaction.
That doesn't excuse Dora's inaction in this instance because the worry isn't about Tai, it's about Marigold.
I don't understand how it's Dora's responsibility to do or say anything in this situation. Two of her friends decided to go get a dinner together. That's it.
Because she KNEW shit was gonna go down and she consciously did nothing to stop her friends from getting hurt. She may think it's "kawaii", but she KNOWS Mari is straight, and she knows how fragile Marigold is. Dora also KNOWS what Tai is thinking, which is why she thinks it's so cute. If she thought it was JUST two people going to lunch, then she wouldn't have gotten all doe-eyed. I'm less upset at Faye because Faye at least realizes that something should have been done, while Dora simply revels in it. I'm pissed at Dora for keeping her trap shut.
I think it displays a bit of homophobia the reaction that people are having to Tai displaying (what to this point has been) a completely innocent social interest in another girl.
Dude, come ON. This has nothing to do with homophobia AT ALL. It's got to do with the fact that Tai's interests are NOT completely innocent, and frankly, rarely are when it comes to women. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that's just how she is. On the other side we have Marigold, who is very fragile and socially deficient - she's putting herself out on a limb, being VERY brave and trying to make a new friend, and she's going to get accosted by Tai, who will hopefully not traumatize the poor girl too much. It's a reaction of protection towards Marigold, nothing more.
It has NOTHING to do with homophobia, and I really don't think that's a word that should be thrown around so casually.
Dang, I wish I had read this before writing my responses. I think you put it much better.
Marigold invited her over to show her what is, essentially, porn. Tai said "that's a novel euphemism" ... And we're not allowed to think there might be some awkwardness because Marigold has insisted that she is straight, straight, straight? And yet she's showing a lesbian her porn?
No, she's inviting her over to show her her fanfiction. Some of it may be pornographic, yes, but don't conflate the terms, and we don't actually have any indication of what Marigold writes yet except that it's probably about dudes with dudes. And from Marigold's previous remarks it seems she's more about the character development (no, not "development", just development), anyway. And where have we seen that Marigold knows Tai's orientation? Tai certainly knows Marigolds.
My *point* is that Marigold does not even realize that what she thinks might be completely innocent may not be construed as such by the other party.
Thanks, captain (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CaptainObvious).
Okay, gonna stop now, I'm getting snarky. And for my own sanity and time, I think I'll skip the rest.
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My god some people take the comic too seriously! And some people have very limited and deluded views on life. Worrying. The outcome of the arc? Likely that they'll both be embarrassed and that's about the end of it. Tai might be more promiscuous than most, but it's not like she does it in a "inevitably gonna hurt people but don't care" sort of way. She's pretty straight up and decent, and just cause it's different to what society deems the norm, some conceive it as rotten and twisted, when it's just different. *sighs*
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It's not because Tai is gay. It has nothing to do with her homosexuality.
Maybe. Maybe not. Comparing the responses from some here to Dora's trying to interfere in the Sven/Hanners date (that Dora was a dick and a bad person), and to her not interfering in this Tai/Marigold thing (that Dora was a dick and a bad person), I'm not so sure that there isn't a double-standard being applied. Neither Sven nor Tai has an exactly exemplary record in personal relationships (and Sven can't even play the youth card*). Both have a record of putting their desires first, seduction, manipulation, two-timing etc. Marigold is no more vulnerable than Hanners (as far as we know, Marigold isn't under psychiatric care), and no more deserving of protection, so I can see one of Dora's responses being wrong, but not both. Unless different standards are being applied to Sven and Tai.
*Not that Tai can be all that much younger than the rest of the cast. She's small in stature sure, but we've seen a reference to her being a TA at Smif, so presumably she's at least a grad student. Which, in the USA, would make her 22-23+, wouldn't it?
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OMG!!!
Can open!
Worms everywhere!!!
akronnick-
I think you're too quick to use the word "homophobic" here. Seriously-
Do you really think people are dismayed because Tai is a girl who might show Marigold new avenues?
Have you REALLY come to expect that here?
Maybe it's just my perspective on things, but I don't see this as a homosexual-oriented thing, but from the viewpoint of a vulnerable person (Marigold) who is JUST starting to emerge from her shell and socialize with people suddenly being alone with someone who is, quite frankly, a terrible human being.
Again,
It's not because Tai is gay.
It has nothing to do with her homosexuality.
It has everything to do with the fact that Tai has absolutely no problem using people for her own selfish purposes, breaking up relationships, and in general doing whatever she feels like doing no matter the human cost for others.
Is that what you think she's doing?
What I see her doing is exploring a shared interest with someone she's acquainted with, leading to a nice dinner conversation and an invitation back to her new friends place. Tai's not going after her because she's naive or inexperienced or because she might be easy. If Tai were taking advantage of Marigold's inexperience, that would be predatory, and I wouldn't approve of that. But Tai is just going with the flow here, being spontaneous, and trying to expand her own social circle. A while ago she was saying that she couldn't find anyone in her current circle that was interested in a serious relationship with her, so she steps out of that circle and suddenly she's a predator?
Tai never seriously wanted to break Marten and Dora up so that she could sleep with Dora. She was attracted to Dora because of her solid relationship with Marten, which made her (Tai) uncomfortable, so she joked about breaking them up to diffuse that bit of tension. Has anyone who seriously tried to get someone to cheat on them ever done it right in front of their partner?
The reason this seems like homophobia to me is because many people are reacting like "Marigold, get away from Tai! Don't you know you might catch TEH GAY!?!?! Run!!!!!"
While that may not rise to the level of Arkansas school board homophobia, It's homophobia nevertheless. It is precisely BECAUSE I expect more from the netizens of this board that I'm calling it as I see it.
Too many people treat the characters (and by extension, real people who are similar to the characters) as if they can be defined entirely by whatever stereotype best fits them. Jeph's characters are much less one-dimensional for this to be a reasonable position.
And while It may be possible that I am letting my feelings about unrelated real world current events,Fucking John Boehner!!! I stand by my point of view.
Tai has done nothing wrong by hitting on Marigold.
Marigold is a human being who needs to learn to make her own choices.
And Dora wouldn't have done either of them any favors by intervening.
Addenedum: (6 new replies)
Goddamit people, This Dick-broom is wearing out faster than I can type!
I don't have time to respond to every individual statement, but if you find yourself thinking "I'm not being Homophobic, am I?" you might want to think some more (and that's all I'm going to say about that)
And my non-specific response to the Marigold is clueless crowd is thus:
Of course she's clueless, she has no experience! She can't learn to not be clueless unless the takes a risk or two, gets embarrassed and *gasp* get's her heart broken!
It's something she needs to learn, and the only way to really learn it is the hard way.
Yes, everyone else in the cast (except Hanners) learned this stuff in junior high, but that doesn't mean that since Marigold missed it then, that she can get off without learning the hard lessons sooner or later. (and as having had my first homosexual encounter when I was thirty, believe me, the sooner the better!)
addendum #2 (3 new replies)
One more point before my dick-broom falls completely apart:
People are comparing Tai to Sven, and that they equally disapprove of both, what that works out to is this:
Sven is (or was) a cad. Tai is a lesbian. Dora disapproves of cads, therefore she should....
Yep, no homophobia at the end of that sentence.
Addendum #3 (2 new replies)
I'm posting this as is no matter how many new replies and I'll respond to further discussion later, when I'm not trying to clarify what I said earlier, and I have a UBMEOD that isn't completely worn out. (and after I've thoroughly studied any and all online thesaurus entries for the word completely!)
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Marten told Tai to back off of Hanners...
Excellent point, and a perfect example of what Dora should have done. That's the difference between marten and Dora. marten knows how to empathize with another human being, while Dora... well, if she can, she hasn't shown much evidence of said ability to this point.
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Sven is (or was) a cad. Tai is a lesbian. Dora disapproves of cads, therefore she should...
Not a single person here has said anything that amounts to that.
In fact, they have gone out of their way to make sure to be clear that it's not "that way".
Tai is not simply "a lesbian", and simply being "a lesbian" is not what people have the problem with here.
Tai has a history of using people, tossing them when she gets through with them, lying to them, and in general treating them like toys, like playthings (this must be the what, fifth time I've reiterated that). I have a difficult time believing that Tai has anything BUT ulterior motives on her mind, given her past conduct.
many people are reacting like "Marigold, get away from Tai! Don't you know you might catch TEH GAY!?!?! Run!!!!!"
Who?
Which people?
Everyone I've seen here has reacted out of concern for Marigold's well-being- not because Marigold might become "TEH GAY", but because Marigold might end up falling for someone who is known to be abusive. Whether it be a lesbian relationship or a straight relationship, being with someone who has a long history of using people would not be beneficial for Marigold.
Honestly, it would be kind of nice if Jeph would introduce a fully lesbian character into the strip with a little more thoughtfulness and self-restraint than Tai. If he wants that to be Marigold, I'm all for it.
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It's not because Tai is gay. It has nothing to do with her homosexuality.
Maybe... Maybe not. Comparing the responses from some here to Dora's trying to interfere in the Sven/Hanners date (that Dora was a dick and a bad person), and to her not interfering in this Tai/Marigold thing (that Dora was a dick and a bad person)....
To me, the major difference between the two situations is that Hanners was aware of what she wanted (a pretend date) and who she was asking it from (Sven, a guy who's know to not be all that stellar). Marigold isn't aware of what's going on - she just thinks she's having lunch with a cool person who likes fanfiction, just like her, and who writes fanfiction she likes! - and she is unaware of Tai's potential intentions, as she didn't pick up on the flirting.
In short, Dora seemed to refuse to accept that Hanners could be aware of what she was asking for, and acted like she had to stand up for her because Sven is just so terrible, yet when she sees Marigold miss cues from a person whose intentions aren't always so awesome either, she keeps her mouth shut because she's just so doe-eyed about the possibilities.
*Not that Tai can be all that much younger than the rest of the cast. She's small in stature sure, but we've seen a reference to her being a TA at Smif, so presumably she's at least a grad student. Which, in the USA, would make her 22-23+, wouldn't it?
Isn't the rest of the crew around 25-26? There can be a lot of growth in those two/three years, much stemming from leaving the college world and being in the real world, so I'd still view Tai as mentally younger than the others.
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Who's getting hurt? When and how? Tai MIGHT make a serious pass at Mari and Mari will most likely rebuff that advance the same way EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET HAS MADE A FAILED PASS AT SOMEONE OR HAD TO REBUFF SOMEONE'S ADVANCES.
Remember how the failed pass was traumatic to her? Being passed at (for lack of a better term) unexpectedly could make Marigold very wary about creeping outside her little bubble, because she has no way to tell how what she says is being construed. This being the case, she might think it's better not to try to make friends anymore, because look what happens. It's not that Tai means any offense, obviously.
It has NOTHING to do with homophobia, and I really don't think that's a word that should be thrown around so casually.
When you bandy about words like accosted and traumatized because a lesbian MIGHT make a pass at a straight girl you start looking fairly homophobic.
[/quote]
I think you've misconstrued what I meant. In my life, "accosted" is just a term I use when you jump someone's bones.
And just for clarification (just in case) I have never implied any sort of predatory nature on Tai's part. I'm not actually mad at Tai in this thing; I do NOT think she's a sexual predator. I'm not sure who said that first, but i think the term is WAY, WAY out of nowhere. Like I said before, I'm just mad at Dora, no one else.
Finally: this conversation has officially sucked all the fun out of this still very fun comic, so I think I'll bow out now, except maybe to answer any responses to anything I've said.
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Likely that they'll both be embarrassed and that's about the end of it.
You know, that's probably not true. Marigold might call Dora and Faye out on not "warning" here, in fact, I hope she does. I know this sounds extremely unempathic, but dealing with such a conflict situation might provide some character development for both Mar (general social skills, yaddayadda) and Dora (in terms of realizing that she sometimes has double standards).
Also, Marigold might just "randomly" run into Dale while she is all pissed, Dale might comfort here and then (add your own thoughts about the two here).
On another note, I fear Jeph will leave us with some kind of cliffhanger over the weekend.
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In short, Dora seemed to refuse to accept that Hanners could be aware of what she was asking for, and acted like she had to stand up for her because Sven is just so terrible, yet when she sees Marigold miss cues from a person whose intentions aren't always so awesome either, she keeps her mouth shut because she's just so doe-eyed about the possibilities.
Yes, and Dora's condemned for both! She's apparently a bad person for trying to protect Hanners (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into) and a bad person for not trying to protect Marigold (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into). This doesn't make much sense unless those condemning Dora think Tai is more dangerous, or toxic, or something than Sven. I'm not sure if it is homophobia, or just the traditional more indulgent attitude to male sexual misconduct than female, or what, but something feels out of balance to me.
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Finally: this conversation has officially sucked all the fun out of this still very fun comic, so I think I'll bow out now, except maybe to answer any responses to anything I've said.
I'm sorry.
I enjoy a good hearty debate-type conversation. I'm new here, so I had no idea I was assisting in draining the fun from your enjoyment of the comic. Again, I truly apologize, it was certainly not my intention to do so.
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My god some people take the comic too seriously! And some people have very limited and deluded views on life. Worrying. The outcome of the arc? Likely that they'll both be embarrassed and that's about the end of it. Tai might be more promiscuous than most, but it's not like she does it in a "inevitably gonna hurt people but don't care" sort of way. She's pretty straight up and decent, and just cause it's different to what society deems the norm, some conceive it as rotten and twisted, when it's just different. *sighs*
Taking it seriously is half the fun! The other half is arguing about it. And the other half is trying to guess where the story will turn and then arguing about that. Its a lot of halves ,that's why this board is so loopy.
It's not because Tai is gay. It has nothing to do with her homosexuality.
Maybe... Maybe not. Comparing the responses from some here to Dora's trying to interfere in the Sven/Hanners date (that Dora was a dick and a bad person), and to her not interfering in this Tai/Marigold thing (that Dora was a dick and a bad person), I'm not so sure that there isn't a double-standard being applied. Neither Sven nor Tai has an exactly exemplary record in personal relationships (and Sven can't even play the youth card*). Both have a record of putting their desires first, seduction, manipulation, two-timing etc. Marigold is no more vulnerable than Hanners (as far as we know, Marigold isn't under psychiatric care), and no more deserving of protection.
No, just not. It's because she's hitting on her. A guy acting the same would get a similar reaction.
stuff
Wow, you're almost as bad as me with length. Almost. :evil:
What I see her doing is exploring a shared interest with someone she's acquainted with, leading to a nice dinner conversation and an invitation back to her new friends place. Tai's not going after her because she's naive or inexperienced or because she might be easy. If Tai were taking advantage of Marigold's inexperience, that would be predatory, and I wouldn't approve of that. But Tai is just going with the flow here, being spontaneous, and trying to expand her own social circle. A while ago she was saying that she couldn't find anyone in her current circle that was interested in a serious relationship with her, so she steps out of that circle and suddenly she's a predator?
Okay, you're being even more clueless than Marigold. I though you had figured that Tai was hitting on Marigold after after your last post, but I guess not. YES Tai is hitting on her- how is that even debatable? What it means is what's debatable- to me it doesn't mean she's a predator, just promiscuous, which we already knew about her.
The reason this seems like homophobia to me is because many people are reacting like "Marigold, get away from Tai! Don't you know you might catch TEH GAY!?!?! Run!!!!!"
While that may not rise to the level of Arkansas school board homophobia, It's homophobia nevertheless. It is precisely BECAUSE I expect more from the netizens of this board that I'm calling it as I see it.
:x That's annoying. Now I'm getting angry. I tend to do that when people insinuate I'm a homophobe even after I've explained how wrong they are. To recap: the issue is NOT "OMG Mari, don't catch teh gay!!!" it's that Marigold is socially awkward and clueless, and her alleged friends just let her walk off into a misunderstanding that is quite likely to blow up and hurt Marigold, however strong some think she is. It would be just as bad if it were some dude. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TAI'S ORIENTATION. Get it now? Damn!
Jeez my head hurts. I'm going to stop reading now. No wait, 2 more.
I don't have time to respond to every individual statement, but if you find yourself thinking "I'm not being Homophobic, am I?" you might want to think some more
The thought never crossed my mind. What did was "god it's fucking annoying to get called a homophobe just for saying that a person who happens to be a lesbian hitting on a straight chick with severe issues is likely to cause said straight chick much angst, which could have been easily avoided with a simple fucking heads up from a person who is allegedly her friend but is willing to let the angst happen because she likes the match up"
Sven is (or was) a cad. Tai is a lesbian. Dora disapproves of cads, therefore she should....
NO. Sven is promiscuous, Tai is promiscuous, and Dora should let her friends know what the fuck is up instead of making googly eyes.
Now go away and take your damn accus- and insinuations with you. I'm going to sleep. Maybe Chymes has a point.
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Who's getting hurt? When and how? Tai MIGHT make a serious pass at Mari and Mari will most likely rebuff that advance the same way EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET HAS MADE A FAILED PASS AT SOMEONE OR HAD TO REBUFF SOMEONE'S ADVANCES.
Remember how the failed pass was traumatic to her? Being passed at (for lack of a better term) unexpectedly could make Marigold very wary about creeping outside her little bubble, because she has no way to tell how what she says is being construed. This being the case, she might think it's better not to try to make friends anymore, because look what happens. It's not that Tai means any offense, obviously.
She's going to have to get out there eventually and she's going to have to deal with some uncomfortableness. It's part of the whole experience. If she does hold up in her apartment after this than I would hope her friends would go drag her out of it again and explain to her that life is full of surprises. both pleasant and unpleasant and part of being a big girl is dealing with it.
It has NOTHING to do with homophobia, and I really don't think that's a word that should be thrown around so casually.
When you bandy about words like accosted and traumatized because a lesbian MIGHT make a pass at a straight girl you start looking fairly homophobic.
I think you've misconstrued what I meant. In my life, "accosted" is just a term I use when you jump someone's bones.
I certainly did misconstrue what you meant. To me accosted is an action with an implied level of hostility. I've never heard it used in the manner you explained above and it explains quite a bit since I felt that came out of nowhere.
And just for clarification (just in case) I have never implied any sort of predatory nature on Tai's part. I'm not actually mad at Tai in this thing; I do NOT think she's a sexual predator. I'm not sure who said that first, but i think the term is WAY, WAY out of nowhere. Like I said before, I'm just mad at Dora, no one else.
I'm the first one who brought the words sexual predator into this thread and I brought it up to say that she WASN'T that in response to my (apparently mistaken) interpretation of your post and and one other that suggested that Tai would "take advantage of" Mari.
Finally: this conversation has officially sucked all the fun out of this still very fun comic, so I think I'll bow out now, except maybe to answer any responses to anything I've said.
Sorry. That wasn't my intent.
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Marigold invited her over to show her what is, essentially, porn.
No.
Just no.
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In short, Dora seemed to refuse to accept that Hanners could be aware of what she was asking for, and acted like she had to stand up for her because Sven is just so terrible, yet when she sees Marigold miss cues from a person whose intentions aren't always so awesome either, she keeps her mouth shut because she's just so doe-eyed about the possibilities.
Yes, and Dora's condemned for both! She's apparently a bad person for trying to protect Hanners (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into) and a bad person for not trying to protect Marigold (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into). This doesn't make much sense unless those condemning Dora think Tai is more dangerous, or toxic, or something than Sven. I'm not sure if it is homophobia, or just the traditional more indulgent attitude to male sexual misconduct than female, or what, but something feels out of balance to me.
Protection isn't the problem; it's decision making and the lack of it.
Dora was pilloried for interfering with Hannelore's decision because she kept doing so even after it was clear that Hanners had made one. Faye on the other hand simply made sure Hanners knew what she was doing then, as soon as it was clear she had the relevant info, shut up.
Here, Dora is actively withholding information that Marigold needs in order to make a decision (specifically that Tai is a known letch, just like Sven in a way, but vastly more tolerated because we and the other characters don't really know anyone she's been with personally) and so is once again interfering in other peoples' decision making.
Basically, Dora wasn't letting Hannelore make her own decision then and she isn't giving Marigold even the opportunity to make one here. Totally consistent.
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Awwww you guys are so nice! I didn't mean that it was YOUR FAULT that I wasn't having fun, I just... I dunno, maybe I just realized that I was getting a little too worked up.
I'll be fine tomorrow :)
But it's super-cool of y'all to be all 'mea culpa' when you didn't have to be. But seriously, it's my deal, not yours.
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Awwww you guys are so nice! I didn't mean that it was YOUR FAULT that I wasn't having fun, I just... I dunno, maybe I just realized that I was getting a little too worked up.
I'll be fine tomorrow :)
But it's super-cool of y'all to be all 'mea culpa' when you didn't have to be. But seriously, it's my deal, not yours.
I think we all got a little too worked up.
Also, I looked up accost. The meaning I read:
Accost: Approach (someone) with hostility or harmful intent.
What you meant:
Accost: (of prostitutes, procurers, etc.) to solicit for sexual purposes.
Both dictionary correct, but I'll take the hit for not knowing both versions before posting. It seems this was a misunderstanding. Apologies.
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my, such interesting (albeit heated) discussions.
I just wanted to say I very much liked akronnick's comments on the possibility that same-sex advances don't need to be a horrible thing if one is not gay. I believe that is an important point here, as it plays a big part in Marigold's (potential) response to whatever Tai does.
Also, and without developing too much, I personally don't see Tai as all that harmful, despite all the not-nice things she's done in the past. Not casting any first stones here - plus, I've seen far worse, and with deliberately worse intentions. I don't think Tai has (or has had) harmful intentions, and that counts for something at least.
And finally:
According to your logic, guys who watch porn together want to fuck each-other's brains out.
Oh, but they do. :police:
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I generally agree with Mr_Rose on the whole this-is-Dora-and-her-control-of-others'-decisions kick that's getting her flak--however, I ain't gonna give the purple-haired one flak, because I think she doesn't have all the information either.
Sven is a known quantity, both for Dora and the others. They have been involved in watching someone get burned by his promiscuity, and Dora suffered from his promiscuity personally. Sven has warning telltales all over him for the gang. But Tai? Her promiscuity and sexual aggressiveness have caused, so far, only hilarious antics. Dora sees her as "the cute poly lesbian who hits on me sometimes", not "potential threat." Tai also plays the poly card, whereas Sven didn't and doesn't.
So I think we shouldn't blame Dora if Tai does something fucked-up. If Tai does something fucked, that is on her and her alone. Blame the victimizer, not the victim or the victim's friends.
THAT BEING SAID, this could turn out hilarious (Tai sits on the bed hot-and-bothered and irritated as Mari regales her with Bleach shipping vignettes) or even have a GOOD END:
(Tai and Marigold are reading something with two ladies, Mar-bear's face is red)
Tai: You okay? You're blushing pretty hard there...
Mari: I...I just...The way you write Haruka and Michiru...So much...Detail...I...I wish...
Tai: *leans in close* Wish what? That you could write like that? Oooor, maybe, that...you knew what that felt like...?
Marigold: *small squeaky voice* Y-y-yes...
Tai: *seductively, hand where it shouldn't be* I can show you.
Mari: *huge blush whimper* Y-you c-c-can?
Tai: Well, you mentioned I get into the characters' heads...and I kinda write what I know... *wicked smirk, nibble neck*
Mari: ohgodtakemenowHaruka-sama
Momo: *is blissfully unaware and probably dreaming of robo-Sven*
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Yes, and Dora's condemned for both! She's apparently a bad person for trying to protect Hanners (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into) and a bad person for not trying to protect Marigold (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into). This doesn't make much sense unless those condemning Dora think Tai is more dangerous, or toxic, or something than Sven. I'm not sure if it is homophobia, or just the traditional more indulgent attitude to male sexual misconduct than female, or what, but something feels out of balance to me.
No, I think you're missing the point Moxie was making. In both cases, Dora is denying agency to her friends. She's basically engaging in that indulgent attitude you refer to, only instead of strictly males, she's inclined to indulge sexually aggressive people but god forbid a shy person be given the information to make a decision for themselves. Although frankly don't think it's really fair to Tai either. She's being lead on, and it isn't Marigold's fault -- honest misunderstanding -- but Dora had the power to end it.
When Hannelore intentionally initiates a (pretend) date, Dora tried to prevent it. When Marigold accidentally initiates a date, Dora does not try to prevent it. The common factor here is that Dora is acting against her friends' wishes (whether explicit or implicit). It's not the worst thing in the world, I just think it's kind of mean.
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As a student of media studies, I'd never accuse anyone of "reading too deeply" into a given situation, an accusation I've seen bandied about particularly frequently in this scenario. I would, however, say that it's a bad idea to, well, read things that just aren't there.
It's discursively irresponsible to define Tai's character as being manipulative, a user, or someone who objectifies people she's attracted to as 'toys'. She's certainly playful, tactile and forward, but this isn't something that relates only to her sexuality, it's just how she interacts with the world in general.
The only glimpse we've gotten of her love life so far has been through her own recounts of it. Inevitably, when we tell stories about our own love lives, our own thoughts, motivations and feelings tend to be the focus. Of course Tai -sounds- selfish, we've never seen her in a romantic context other than her own drama-laden stories, or as a flirt. There's nothing there to say that she's any more selfish than any one of the girls at Smif she's been having all that 'drama' with, or even the main group. She just happens to spend most of her time in a context in which casual sexuality is the social norm. I'm not saying that she's definitely -not- selfish in relationships, but at this point, we just haven't seen enough of her in this context to be sure. I'm actually pretty interested in this little interaction with Mar, it's the first time we'll actually see Tai in what she assumes is a romantic scenario.
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Sets up lawnchair near the railyard, sits down, opens cooler.
"Anyone want a beer? Show's about to start. Plenty of good spots left."
Checks his wristwatch, "Yes, the Friday special should be coming on quick."
This will nto end well - Marigold will be beating herself up for some time for not being able to understand the situation, no matter how it turns out. No one like to think of themselves as that naive, but it happens.
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*breathes* Okay, I think I've cooled down a little. Sleep does that. Though not enough sleep
In short, Dora seemed to refuse to accept that Hanners could be aware of what she was asking for, and acted like she had to stand up for her because Sven is just so terrible, yet when she sees Marigold miss cues from a person whose intentions aren't always so awesome either, she keeps her mouth shut because she's just so doe-eyed about the possibilities.
Yes, and Dora's condemned for both! She's apparently a bad person for trying to protect Hanners (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into) and a bad person for not trying to protect Marigold (whom Dora believed didn't know what she was getting into). This doesn't make much sense unless those condemning Dora think Tai is more dangerous, or toxic, or something than Sven. I'm not sure if it is homophobia, or just the traditional more indulgent attitude to male sexual misconduct than female, or what, but something feels out of balance to me.
No one is saying she's a bad person (really, where are you pulling that from?), but she does make mistakes and a friend is quite likely to be hurt right now because of one of them. /a bit off topic There was zero reason to think Hanners had no idea what was up, as Hannelore told her and as Dora knew; the only reason she was opposed was because it was Sven. If it was Steve, she would have laughed and said have fun. /back on topic As for Marigold, again, the problem is she let her personal desires get in the way of helping a friend realize what was up. The comparison point here is NOT Tai/Sven, it's Hannelore/Marigold. Hannelore knew what was up (and to make it bleedingly clear, was the one that initiated it), Marigold does not. even if it were about Sven/Tai Sven had a lot more character development towards becoming less promiscuous than Tai has, not to mention a lot more mutual information about Hannelore than Tai does about Marigold. It's hard to compare the two and think that they are in any way of equal concern (so yes, I guess Sven is "less dangerous").
TL;DR It's about Marigold and Hannelore, not Sven and Tai, and Sven has come a long way from being after anything with a vagina- Tai hasn't.
Finally: this conversation has officially sucked all the fun out of this still very fun comic, so I think I'll bow out now, except maybe to answer any responses to anything I've said.
I'm sorry.
I enjoy a good hearty debate-type conversation. I'm new here, so I had no idea I was assisting in draining the fun from your enjoyment of the comic. Again, I truly apologize, it was certainly not my intention to do so.
Sorry. That wasn't my intent.
It's not specifically your faults, it's the accusations that started getting flung around about people's personal beliefs with zero backing. You just happened to be on the side that started doing that. Don't paint yourself with the same brush. Let's just slide past this rough spot so we can all get along again.
I generally agree with Mr_Rose on the whole this-is-Dora-and-her-control-of-others'-decisions kick that's getting her flak--however, I ain't gonna give the purple-haired one flak, because I think she doesn't have all the information either.
Sven is a known quantity, both for Dora and the others. They have been involved in watching someone get burned by his promiscuity, and Dora suffered from his promiscuity personally. Sven has warning telltales all over him for the gang. But Tai? Her promiscuity and sexual aggressiveness have caused, so far, only hilarious antics. Dora sees her as "the cute poly lesbian who hits on me sometimes", not "potential threat." Tai also plays the poly card, whereas Sven didn't and doesn't.
So I think we shouldn't blame Dora if Tai does something fucked-up. If Tai does something fucked, that is on her and her alone. Blame the victimizer, not the victim or the victim's friends.
Does anyone actually think that Tai is going to do something fucked up? I expect her to be in full antics mode, only for Marigold to finally get what's going on and recoil in surprise. But I presume the antics and realization will come verbally, not physically, and it is evident that Dora expects antics as well.
The whole idea that Marigold somehow has to go through trauma/ some less intense term, so Dora was right not to inform her, is a little weird to me. The first comparison that came to my mind is warning someone of the car in front of them so they don't hit it. Do they really have to hit the car to get the lesson? And lets not forget, it's only recently that Marigold started driving (to stretch an analogy).
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I'm very interested in how Tai responds to that last sentence of Marigold's. That's going to show us something very definite about Tai.
Then we can all have at it again. I haven't seen the (Weekly Comic Dick Talk? My god, I can't remember why the D is there) weekly going at it like this for a while.
While I'm one of her detractors, I do have to admit we don't know Tai is selfish and inconsiderate—she simply plays herself like that fairly often, if you know what I mean. It's very possible she thinks it's funny. Any road, I don't think telling Tai to back off Hannelore when she's specifically discussing pursuing Hanners, who might end up stabbing Tai (or something less traumtic, like flailing the crap out of her), is quite the same thing as watching Tai go with Marigold's flow. Whoever pointed it out is correct: Dora doesn't take Tai seriously (that may be a serious error, but, again, even we don't really know that yet, and our perspective is far more god-like than Dora's). Marigold is simply a shut-in, not (again, so far as we know) the psycho-beast Hanners is. It probably seems like a good idea for her to interact with people to get over that. If in a week or so we cut to Marigold's room and behold Tai's lifeless corpse, a USB drive jutting from her eye socket and a torx wrench shoved through her chest, Dora and we will all know differently.
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I am probably the only person who thinks Tai might pull some fucked-up, repugnant shit, which would be in character with how we've seen her act at times.
Then again, I have to recognize my own bias.'I have never forgiven Tai for her creeptastic hitting on Dora, and her statements re: happy batter did nothing to endear her further.
I also don't think Jeph is going to do a date-rape arc, so my worries are unfounded.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Tai seducing Mari. It shows not only Sven has the chops, the initial bond is hilarious, there's drama potential, and it's better than yet another failed start for poor Marigold.
And they could use the alphabet trick to give each other fabric ideas. Match made in heaven.
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Then we can all have at it again. I haven't seen the (Weekly Comic Dick Talk? My god, I can't remember why the D is there) weekly going at it like this for a while.
Once, long ago, there were the Weekly Comic Threads (or talks, some were unclear on this but at least shared the right letter). Then the Usurpers came, with their Weekly Comic Discussions and for a time there was Strife.
Then, one day, someone whose name is lost to the mists of time proposed an ecumenical solution: The Weekly Comic Discussion Thread. The rest is, as they say... 8) ...history.
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Then we can all have at it again. I haven't seen the (Weekly Comic Dick Talk? My god, I can't remember why the D is there) weekly going at it like this for a while.
Once, long ago, there were the Weekly Comic Threads (or talks, some were unclear on this but at least shared the right letter). Then the Usurpers came, with their Weekly Comic Discussions and for a time there was Strife.
Then, one day, someone whose name is lost to the mists of time proposed an ecumenical solution: The Weekly Comic Discussion Thread. The rest is, as they say... 8) ...history.
YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
I'm sorry, but someone was gonna do it and I've never done it before. :-P Ow, ow, enough with the flaying!
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Wow. Just, wow. :psyduck:
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HI! this is my first post, long time reader, yadda yadda yadda (Excuse my horrible english, it's not my main language :))
and i only wanted to say this very little thing:
LESBIAN SEEEEEEEEXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!
There, finnally i got it off my chest.
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Wow, a lot happened since I last looked at the board. Let me see if I can clear some of the rhetoric to find the discussion points.
1. Hanners and Sven were both well aware of what their "date" would entail and went in with eyes open making Dora's freak out ridiculous.
2. Mari did not enter with her eyes open, she may or may not know that Tai was a lesbian but she certainly doesn't recognize flirting when it happens, therefore IN THIS SITUATION it MAY have been appropriate for Dora or Faye (lets not forget she was there too) to let Mari know that Tai may think of this as a date.
3. Some people find Tai's flirting with Dora not only off putting but cruel to Marten and predatory
4. Many have problems with her recounting of her SMIF relationships
5. Some (including myself) think that she is just teasing Marten and that Dora enjoys the flirting
6. Some (including myself) think her SMIF relationships are the result of inexperience and immaturity that is being corrected with time.
7. I may have first introduced the "sexual predator" aspect to the conversation. I was just trying to point out the hyperbole that was going on, not implying that she was or that anyone actually thought of her that way. I turned out to be wrong. Oops.
8. Some believe the negative reaction to the situation may involve homophobia.
9. Some (including myself) think that it stems from Tai coming across as less than exemplary in the retelling of her relationship exploits.
10. I argued that when Tai is told to back off, she respects that request such as with Hanners. Marten had to use his serious face, but she took it well and without defensiveness. I would prefer this situation with someone like that who is a known quantity than with Dale, who no one in the cast really knows. We (the audience) don't know him either. Remember, we just assume he is a good guy and Mari's OTP.
11. Netbooks, what's up with that?
I don't have the energy to look up a whole bunch of comics where Dora, Marten and Tai all kid around in a friendly way (i.e. smiling, laughing) about Tai hitting on Dora. But that is how I remember it. Also, Tai doesn't exactly come to Dora in the night, whispering sweet nothings (now I'm writing fanfic) so I think suggesting that she tries to break them up is, again, extreme hyperbole. I also remember that Tai really just wants out of the SMIF polyamory high jinks and just doesn't know how to do it. She's slept with them, and lives in close quarters with them making the situation more troublesome and she is attempting to expand her social circle out from that environment which has become toxic for her. This is based on inference from the comic such as her spending more time with the core cast and that she has not referenced the SMIF ladies in some time. I may be giving her too much credit.
I suppose I have come around to thinking that it may have been appropriate for Dora (or Faye) to let Mari know that this is likely a date. However, re-reading yesterday's comic it seems the whole thing happened rather fast and I don't know when such a warning would have been made without it being an awkward interruption right in front of everyone that really would have humiliated all involved. Therefore, I prefer to think that Dora just decided to stand back and enjoy the cute/awkwardness of the whole thing. Like I did.
I concur that we will learn a lot about both Tai and Mari in the next comic.
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Wow. Just, wow. :psyduck:
You gotta understand; from my perspective this is like when you make that first cast of the morning over the mirror-flat lake waters, just as the Sun is peeking over the mountains in the distance and this goddamn huge trout leaps clear out of the water to take your line in mid-air.
I'm sort of perversely proud it only took one post...
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haha This comic will be funny stuff since one of the girls thinks shes into girls but shes not and shes all like 'whoa", and then the one girl will blush and think she'll be raped but it will all be a hilarious misunderstanding.
I love anime.
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Okay, you're being even more clueless than Marigold. I though you had figured that Tai was hitting on Marigold after after your last post, but I guess not. YES Tai is hitting on her- how is that even debatable? What it means is what's debatable- to me it doesn't mean she's a predator, just promiscuous, which we already knew about her.
You know, I "get" what you guys are all arguing about in general, but I've been re-reading these last 3 comics, and... from my little island all the way over here... I disagree. I don't think Tai's making overtures at all. At least, not sexual ones. If anything, _Marigold_ is making all the overtures, albeit unknowingly. As I see things, in #1786 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1786), Tai shows up, gets essentially mobbed by rabid fan after noting that she wrote said fanfic. Advance - Marigold.
#1787 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1787) - Tai the author expounds a little on said fan-fiction, is mildly embarassed by over-gushing Marigold. Her statement of "You wanna come have dinner with me" _may_ be some sort of come-on, but more in my opinion is more likely simply a "I've never met someone that liked this story that much before, I want to know more about how you really feel about it". Marigold, of course, continues babbling in effusive fan-mode, stroking Tai's ego. Enh. I'd call this maybe even in terms of advances from Marigold or Tai.
Faye and Dora, outside, can obviously see that if Tai wants to, she can view all of the attention from Marigold _as a pass by Marigold after Tai_. Their responses then become - "Marigold has no idea (she's acting in a way that makes it seem as if she's coming on to Tai), does she?" "Nope." "Should we warn her (that the way she's acting is very suggestive)?" "Nope." This could, admittedly, be Dora being a "dick" as previously stated. Or maybe it's just that Faye and Dora are so bemused by the fact that the mouse (Marigold), is roaring like a lion (albeit unconsciously), that they want to see where it goes. Also note that so far, as far as I can tell, Tai has made no overt passes, so all Faye and Dora would/could do at this point is seriously embarass Marigold by pointing out the essential double entendres she's making.
#1788 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1788) - Tai continues to make no advances, until possibly the last panel. Marigold again does all the suggesting. Tai points out the double entendre Marigold is making. It goes right over her head.
Now, you can cast aspersions on Tai's past actions (with other people) all you like. I'm just noting that in these last three comics, everything she's done has been totally above-board. Maybe too much is being read into her actions?
Edit - made clarification that Tai's past actions have pretty much been with other people. She may or may not make the same pattern here, it's hard to say.
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Poor Marigold... you're so money and you don't even want it...
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I do not in the least buy this line about "Oh, Tai was only kidding when she made those creepy passes at Dora in front of Marten." I have seen people do that. They're marking territory--they're telling you, in the least subtle way possible, that they are gunning for your significant other the minute you fuck up. It's exactly what it sounds like, where I come from.
Even if it's some weird jokey ha-ha way of defusing sexual tension? It still sounds really creepy and skeezy. It's all like:
"Ha ha, I'd like to fuck your girlfriend! Ha ha!"
"...Ha ha! Are you serious? And why are you saying that?"
"Kinda! Don't worry! I won't! (yet!)"
And then there's a fine slice of awkward silence! So yeah! I don't care what spirit it was meant in, that was Bad on Tai.
...Perversely, that may be why I kind of like the idea of Tai x Marigold, that she will leave Dora and Marten alone. As well as my desire to see Mar-bear hook up with someone successfully, the girl deserves better than an endless string of Life Lessons. She should get to have some fun. And, frankly, if Tai can pull it off, more power to her, because Mar really is unattached and inexperienced. Hell, she could really help Tai get out of the polyamorous lifestyle Tai seems to have fallen out of love with.
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You know, I "get" what you guys are all arguing about in general, but I've been re-reading these last 3 comics, and... from my little island all the way over here... I disagree. I don't think Tai's making overtures at all. At least, not sexual ones. If anything, _Marigold_ is making all the overtures, albeit unknowingly. As I see things, in #1786 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1786), Tai shows up, gets essentially mobbed by rabid fan after noting that she wrote said fanfic. Advance - Marigold.
#1787 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1787) - Tai the author expounds a little on said fan-fiction, is mildly embarassed by over-gushing Marigold. Her statement of "You wanna come have dinner with me" _may_ be some sort of come-on, but more in my opinion is more likely simply a "I've never met someone that liked this story that much before, I want to know more about how you really feel about it". Marigold, of course, continues babbling in effusive fan-mode, stroking Tai's ego. Enh. I'd call this maybe even in terms of advances from Marigold or Tai.
Faye and Dora, outside, can obviously see that if Tai wants to, she can view all of the attention from Marigold _as a pass by Marigold after Tai_. Their responses then become - "Marigold has no idea (she's acting in a way that makes it seem as if she's coming on to Tai), does she?" "Nope." "Should we warn her (that the way she's acting is very suggestive)?" "Nope." This could, admittedly, be Dora being a "dick" as previously stated. Or maybe it's just that Faye and Dora are so bemused by the fact that the mouse (Marigold), is roaring like a lion (albeit unconsciously), that they want to see where it goes. Also note that so far, as far as I can tell, Tai has made no overt passes, so all Faye and Dora would/could do at this point is seriously embarass Marigold by pointing out the essential double entendres she's making.
#1788 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1788) - Tai continues to make no advances, until possibly the last panel. Marigold again does all the suggesting. Tai points out the double entendre Marigold is making. It goes right over her head.
Now, you can cast aspersions on Tai's past actions (with other people) all you like. I'm just noting that in these last three comics, everything she's done has been totally above-board. Maybe too much is being read into her actions?
There's a lot I can say, but I'll just say "brutal criticisms". Oh, and if praising someone's work= please, please, lets go fuck!, that is one damn interesting island you're on.
I do not in the least buy this line about "Oh, Tai was only kidding when she made those creepy passes at Dora in front of Marten." I have seen people do that. They're marking territory--they're telling you, in the least subtle way possible, that they are gunning for your significant other the minute you fuck up. It's exactly what it sounds like, where I come from.
...Perversely, that may be why I kind of like the idea of Tai x Marigold, that she will leave Dora and Marten alone. As well as my desire to see Mar-bear hook up with someone successfully, the girl deserves better than an endless string of Life Lessons. She should get to have some fun. And, frankly, if Tai can pull it off, more power to her, because Mar really is unattached and inexperienced. Hell, she could really help Tai get out of the polyamorous lifestyle Tai seems to have fallen out of love with.
Where do you come from? All I know is that it's not space.
And if all the flowers at the college can't keep Tai occupied, I don't think Marigold can.
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And if all the flowers at the college can't keep Tai occupied, I don't think Marigold can.
Maybe all the flowers at the college didn't have marigold's boobs?
EDIT
I mean, tai has given a thought about be in a 1 to 1 relationship, and maybe she finds marigold really attractive
(Although mar doesn't have a clue about tai's sexual orientations, apparently)
.... Or maybe jeph is fucking with us.
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Wow, even for the usual QC comments there is a lot of overthinking going on.
The last comic pretty explicitly shows that Tai believes this is a hookup and that Marigold has no clue.
I like Tai. She's young, she likes sex and she has a lot of it. Nothing wrong with that.
Dora continued hitting on Faye after she and Marten hooked up (to the best of my recollection) and no one shouted about her being a sexual predator. Some people are just flirty.
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.... Or maybe jeph is fucking with us.
Ya think?
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There's a lot I can say, but I'll just say "brutal criticisms". Oh, and if praising someone's work= please, please, lets go fuck!, that is one damn interesting island you're on.
Have we established that Tai is into "rough play"? I freely admit that she's not one of the characters I follow substantially, so I don't know if it's already been established. If not, I don't really view it as anything more than what she actually says. Is it impossible that she wants actual criticism of her work? In that sense, her context could be taken as "how brutal are your criticisms, really?" I don't recall how much Tai knows about Marigold. If she knows that Marigold is a bit of a recluse stuck in her room all the time with little outside social interaction, this could just be a matter of "and from your _vast_ experience, how brutal can you really get?" Somewhat condescending, admittedly, but hardly sexual in nature.
I did say it was a little island, but I'm not sure that Tai herself realized that what Marigold was saying could pass for advances until _Marigold invited her up to her room_. All Tai was asking for beforehand was dinner together (which may or may not have been a pass), which Marigold then escalated into a "want to come up to my room?" Note the somewhat surprised/bemused look that Tai has on her face in panel 3 of #1788. I really don't think she realized where this was going until right then. Up until that point, she was maybe in what could be called "English Lit mode", going on about what she knows about writing. After that, of course, she makes the double entendre, which goes right over Marigold's head (my mistake for misattributing the double entendre earlier).
Also, of course, now that it's out in the open (for her), she'll be thinking about it, so we're headed right into everything you were complaining about before. I'm just not as sure it was inevitably headed that way up until now.
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I did say it was a little island
Well, not too small because I think I live there. It has more than crossed my mind that we may be wrong to assume that Tai has any lascivious intentions at all. In fact, if Tai can be said to have a "type" based on her attraction to Dora and Bailey it would have to be tall, extremely slender, with smallish....tracts of land. Practically the anti-Mari looks wise. Tai may just enjoy having a fan slobber on her. Who doesn't enjoy getting a little attention and respect. Being a short lady and knowing the tendency of peers to treat you as a child based on height, I would be lapping up that kind of attention also. And come on, that set up was too good to pass up. In the same situation I would have thrown in a "so that's what they're calling it these days." And I have no interest in the ladies.
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.... Or maybe jeph is fucking with us.
Ya think?
Yes. I really do think that.
And i like your avatar picture! It's really nice!
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Ok, people this is getting seriously weird now.
I'm not even remotely upset at Tai, nor do I think Tai is a bad person. She can be selfish, but about the only character I can recall NOT being selfish at least some of the time is Marten and that's because he's some sort of alien. I don't think Tai is to blame for this situation, she doesn't know how clueless Mari is and it's obvious that she genuinely thinks Mari is inviting her back for sex. I don't think she's a predator, and I don't think she considers other people to be objects. Anyone else remember her jealous reaction when Marten said he thought Bailey was hot? Not the reaction of someone who sees girls as sex objects.
Secondly, this has equally nothing to do with Sven OR Tai, except in so much as Dora reacted differently with both. I understand that Dora has history with Sven, but that's no excuse for talking to Hanners like she was a stupid child and trying to stop something because SHE had a personal issue with it, even after Hanners explained she knew what Sven was like and what she was doing. Faye told her it was stupid but in the end she backed off and didn't harass Hanners as much as Dora did when she got back. On the other hand, Dora is clearly happy that something so "cute" as a total sitcom misunderstanding between two people, of which one of whom isn't even the right sexual orientation for it to work and she knows it that will likely end in disaster in some way. Not because Tai is evil, and certainly not as some moral crusaders have claimed because I'm afraid Tai will "catch teh gay!" ( :roll: ) but because Dora has intentionally set up an awkward situation because she personally thinks it's cute, not thinking about how Mari will react or how Tai will take the inevitable rejection.
Further, I'm not homophobic or sexophobic. That's a ludicrous assessment of my annoyance at DORA. D-O-R-A. Not Tai. I would be just as pissed at her if Dora had let Mari go off equally oblivious with Steve or Dale. I doubt it would have happened that way because A. Mari seems to know where she is more with Dale for some reason and B I doubt Dora would be all doe eyed dreamer if it were a guy.
Finally, seriously people, this is about Dora manipulating people by trying to force their hands in decisions. I'm not saying that Dora should have warned Mari about Tai, but that she should have told her that Tai is obviously under the assumption that Mari is flirting with her. She's trying to withhold the relevant information from her because she thinks the situation is cute. In the Hanners situation, it took Hanners practically yelling at her to get her to realise she was being a bitch about the situation despite the fact that Hanners clearly knew what she was getting into.
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I have just one thing to say, and it isn't "yes, lesbian sex!" ....
tl;dr
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*sigh*
More like TL/SHR at this point. (Too long; shouldn't have read.)
There were folks I was going to quote as examples of sensible responses, but I don't have the energy to slog through everything again. I'll simply say that someone who is fragile remains so only due to other people overprotecting them, and that a misunderstood sexual advance does not necessarily result in trauma. I think Marigold and Tai will be fine -- embarrassed, but fine -- with the possibility of personal growth for both of them. Don't know how it will go; satisfied to wait and see.
*sets dickbroom down; goes to see if any popcorn is left*
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I think Marigold and Tai will be fine -- embarrassed, but fine -- with the possibility of personal growth for both of them.
Seconded.
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Well, I tried to stay out of here as long as I could but you have forced my hand Jeph.
I'm very prepared to see if you can bring a mature topic into this arc, just be sure that Tai insists on stopping at a liqour store on the way back to Mari's place for some plot device rape fuel.
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..... someone who is fragile remains so only due to other people overprotecting them, and that a misunderstood sexual advance does not necessarily result in trauma. I think Marigold and Tai will be fine...
Well yeah. I don't think it'll end badly like each one will be crying in a corner. It'll just be "ok so this is where I keep my slashy stuff but it's as bad as the lemooooowhy are you taking off your ... what are you .. WAH! AAAAH OMG OMG OMG OMG OGM OMG OMG OMG" running in the bathroom, and Tai's like "oh .. um .. oh .. sorry" and thru the door you hear "it's ok" and Tai's all "um, igg" and ... well, I don't want to speculate, just a lot of talks, hugs, and handshakes, and we're back to normal after a week. Two at the latest.
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Well, I tried to stay out of here as long as I could but you have forced my hand Jeph.
I'm very prepared to see if you can bring a mature topic into this arc, just be sure that Tai insists on stopping at a liqour store on the way back to Mari's place for some plot device rape fuel.
Oh. god, I was so sure that was a link to TV Tropes that I moused over it.
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Well, I tried to stay out of here as long as I could but you have forced my hand Jeph.
I'm very prepared to see if you can bring a mature topic into this arc, just be sure that Tai insists on stopping at a liqour store on the way back to Mari's place for some plot device rape fuel.
Oh. god, I was so sure that was a link to TV Tropes that I moused over it.
Depending on how the next couple panels go, it just might turn into one.
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Holy god I've been lurking for a looong time before being able to post and I've hardly seen the forum blow up like this. I skimmed but I don't have the attention span to wade through it all so bear with me:
Knowing Tai's nature, the possibility of romantic things happening might have entered her mind when she asked Marigold to dinner, but I don't think it was her main goal; as far as I know fanfic writers meeting in real life is kinda rare so Tai might have just been happy to meet someone with a passion about it that equaled hers. What I'm saying is Tai didn't set out on this date thinking 'HAHAHA ANOTHER INNOCENT SOUL TO RAPE,' I think it was more like 'sweet we can get our nerd on, and later if everything goes right we can get something else on.' Tai's a little too sex-driven, it's true, but she's not a predator, and once Marigold rebuffs her, she'll accept it and awkwardness will ensue.
Which brings me to my next point: I agree with akronnick whole-heartedly, Dora and Faye were totally in the right by not interfering. Marigold is an adult and still has a lot of growing up to do, and at her age the best way for her to do it is by making her own mistakes. After the awkwardness happens, Marigold will be embarrassed but she'll learn a valuable lesson. And who knows, maybe she won't rebuff Tai and learn something else entirely. The point is, you never know until you try, and Marigold's got a lot of trying to catch up on.
For the people comparing Tai to Sven: Interesting, I think you could draw some interesting parallels there, but it still doesn't mean that Dora and/or Faye should have interfered like they did for Hannelore, because Marigold is not like Hannelore, at least not completely. Dora felt it necessary to intervene on Hanners' behalf because (in Dora's eyes, anyway) Hanners is extremely sheltered, extremely naive, and has absolutely no romantic experience. She also has a mental instability that would cause her to freak out in a big bad way if something went wrong on the date. Marigold, though a bit naive herself, isn't as sheltered - even though she didn't today, she can pick up on innuendo (when Angus was commenting on how she and Hanners were "enjoying themselves" the night she stayed over: Marigold caught it; it went right over Hannelore's head), she reads very sexual fanfic, and when drunk, she aggressively came on to her roommate. As closed-off as she is, she's quite a few steps above Hanners. Bottom-line: Marigold going with Tai is quite a bit different than Hannelore going with Sven.
People, this isn't that big a deal. Like I said I feel a little bad Marigold and Tai since chances are they're both going to experience some disappointment tonight (tonight comic-time), but hey, shit happens, you learn from it and grow up that much more.
Man somebody else posted while I was typing this. Ah screw it I don't feel like another wall of text. If I've repeated someone else here, friggin sue me!
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..... someone who is fragile remains so only due to other people overprotecting them, and that a misunderstood sexual advance does not necessarily result in trauma. I think Marigold and Tai will be fine...
Well yeah. I don't think it'll end badly like each one will be crying in a corner. It'll just be "ok so this is where I keep my slashy stuff but it's as bad as the lemooooowhy are you taking off your ... what are you .. WAH! AAAAH OMG OMG OMG OMG OGM OMG OMG OMG" running in the bathroom, and Tai's like "oh .. um .. oh .. sorry" and thru the door you hear "it's ok" and Tai's all "um, igg" and ... well, I don't want to speculate, just a lot of talks, hugs, and handshakes, and we're back to normal after a week. Two at the latest.
Or it happens when Mari's webcam is on (because Dale hacked it) and her whole guild sees (but not hears) everything and many, many tall conclusions are jumped from a standing start.
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Well, I tried to stay out of here as long as I could but you have forced my hand Jeph.
I'm very prepared to see if you can bring a mature topic into this arc, just be sure that Tai insists on stopping at a liqour store on the way back to Mari's place for some plot device rape fuel.
Oh. god, I was so sure that was a link to TV Tropes that I moused over it.
You are not alone.
To these recent developments in Dora's character, I will say this: 'Never question another man's motive. His wisdom, yes, but not his motives.' -Dwight D. Eisenhower. I don't believe that Dora is fundamentally a bad person. She wants what's best for her friends, and sometimes, being the somewhat controlling/demanding person that she is, she expresses that in ways that aren't quite acceptable. Not telling Marigold about Tai's intents is a clear example of this. But is she a bad person? I don't think so. Misguided? Certainly. Lacking in character? Somewhat. But not bad.
As for Tai- meh, still making up my mind about her.
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lots of words
You were right about one thing, I've endured a lot of situations following this web comic from the beginning but I never ever even entertained joining into this fray of fanboy/girl discussion retardation. The amount of people coming out of the woodwork for this is amazing.
Other than that, Tai is basically a female version of Sven, and if she indeed goes after/gets with Marigold, she's proving it by being selfish and self absorbed. Look a fan, let's see what she tastes like. If she uses alcohol or something then shes a common rapist.
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Well, I tried to stay out of here as long as I could but you have forced my hand Jeph.
I'm very prepared to see if you can bring a mature topic into this arc, just be sure that Tai insists on stopping at a liqour store on the way back to Mari's place for some plot device rape fuel.
Oh. god, I was so sure that was a link to TV Tropes that I moused over it.
I feel your pain, bro. :psyduck:
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lots of words
You were right about one thing, I've endured a lot of situations following this web comic from the beginning but I never ever even entertained joining into this fray of fanboy/girl discussion retardation. The amount of people coming out of the woodwork for this is amazing.
The thing that's amazed me is the vitriolic hatred some people hold for some of the characters. I'm annoyed that Dora is acting like this because it seems (to me) to be a recent and unpleasant development, and it isn't that enjoyable to follow a webcomic with an unpleasant main character (like Ctl-Alt-Del, which is horrible). I don't HATE Dora, I just think that she has some unpleasant traits that make me like her less as a character.
I REALLY don't get the weird hate for people like Sven Tai and Angus. Some of it is driven by obsessive shippers, which is sad enough, but some of it just seems to spring from nowhere. I want someone to explain to me why Tai is some kind of sexual predator who treats women like objects.
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lots of words
You were right about one thing, I've endured a lot of situations following this web comic from the beginning but I never ever even entertained joining into this fray of fanboy/girl discussion retardation. The amount of people coming out of the woodwork for this is amazing.
Other than that, Tai is basically a female version of Sven, and if she indeed goes after/gets with Marigold, she's proving it by being selfish and self absorbed. Look a fan, let's see what she tastes like. If she uses alcohol or something then shes a common rapist.
Rapist? Really? We're going to start throwing that word around? First she's a creepy user, then she's a sexual predator, now she's a rapist?
So far she hasn't progressed beyond innuendo. Can we hit the breaks before someone labels her as history's greatest monster?
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Jeph has some massive HILARIOUS punchline planned for Friday.
Or a cliffhanger followed by 10 days of Yelling Bird.
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Rapist? Really? We're going to start throwing that word around? First she's a creepy user, then she's a sexual predator, now she's a rapist?
So far she hasn't progressed beyond innuendo. Can we hit the breaks before someone labels her as history's greatest monster?
What do you call someone who follows someone home expecting something way different than the other person, I'm just reflecting that if she stops for some alcohol on the way, and then goes way too far with Marigold intoxicated.
I don't forsee a mature topic like a date rape arc like that happening though, so its anyones ballgame.
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No one is saying she's a bad person (really, where are you pulling that from?)
Well, since you asked, I'm "pulling" it from here:
I dislike Dora and I want to dislike her conduct here (miss defensive-on-everyone's-behalf is now a-ok just because the scenario appeals to her? Dick move. )
I'm with Westrim on this one. Total dick move by Dora. Letting someone awkward in social situations who has expressed zero romantic or sexual interest in women and has explicitly come on to one guy and flirted with another (Dale, let's be honest, that's what it was) go off oblivious with a Lesbian who obviously thinks she has a chance is being shitty to both of them simply to satisfy her bizarre fantasy that the two of them will end up together? Way to totally fuck with two people you're supposed to be friends with. Best case scenario Marigold lets Tai down gently and Tai is ok with it. More likely scenario, Marigold freaks out and hides away again and Tai is emotionally hurt, and why? Because Dora is an insensitive selfish bitch who can't think further than the end of her nose. I mean christ, even FAYE is concerned about the situation and she admits to being a bitch.
I'm really starting to go off Dora. I'm not bothered by the insane jealousy because I understand it's likely there for a reason and she most probably can't help it to a high degree, but the weird selfish matchmaker thing coupled with her ludicrous rages against Marten for absolutely no reason when he's vaguely nearby something she considers to be bad really suggests that she wants to control her friends, not help them. The double standards and controlling, manipulative behaviour when it comes to Marigold and Hanners, the two most vulnerable people in the strip in social situations is not a pleasant thing from someone who is, let's face it, the third main character in the strip.
I'm reacting negatively because this is the latest in a long string of controlling and potentially manipulative things Dora has done to her less socially aware "friends". She tries to take over their lives, directing them in certain ways instead of letting them make up their own minds or without alerting them to potential problems just because she thinks the situation is cute.
Remember how ballistic she went at Sven because Hanners asked him out on a pretend date? Remember how she acted when Hanners, the person who is least likely to go for Sven with the possible exception of Tai, came home? She demanded to know if she had fallen for him. She wanted to steer her in the direction Dora wanted her to go. That to me is not a healthy person to have as a friend.
Dora is a great character and she used to be the character I considered the second most likeable, behind Marten, but recently she's been well...selfish. Acting selfishly like she has with regards to your less socially adapted friends IS a dick move.
And that's not getting into any of the Dora-slagging from back around the Sven-Hanners date. In just the quotes above from the last few days, Dora is accused of being a dick, totally fucking with two people who were supposed to be her friends, being an insensitive bitch who couldn't think further than the end of her nose, applying double-standards, weird selfish behaviour, being controlling and manipulative, and not being a healthy person to be around. If someone applied all those extremely negative judgements to me, I would certainly think they were saying that I was a bad person. I know tastes differ, but for me, not all the post-facto explanations or disclaimers in the world could suck the poison out of that lot. I mean, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but let's not pretend that the opinion is something other than what it is. Bottom line? I don't think I "pulled" anything out of thin air.
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What do you call someone who follows someone home expecting something way different than the other person, I'm just reflecting that if she stops for some alcohol on the way, and then goes way too far with Marigold intoxicated.
Uhm, I don't know.... how about "clueless"? o.O Gosh, as far as I understand, she genuinely thinks Marigold is making sexual advances at her.
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No one is saying she's a bad person (really, where are you pulling that from?)
Well, since you asked, I'm "pulling" it from here:
I dislike Dora and I want to dislike her conduct here (miss defensive-on-everyone's-behalf is now a-ok just because the scenario appeals to her? Dick move. )
I'm with Westrim on this one. Total dick move by Dora. Letting someone awkward in social situations who has expressed zero romantic or sexual interest in women and has explicitly come on to one guy and flirted with another (Dale, let's be honest, that's what it was) go off oblivious with a Lesbian who obviously thinks she has a chance is being shitty to both of them simply to satisfy her bizarre fantasy that the two of them will end up together? Way to totally fuck with two people you're supposed to be friends with. Best case scenario Marigold lets Tai down gently and Tai is ok with it. More likely scenario, Marigold freaks out and hides away again and Tai is emotionally hurt, and why? Because Dora is an insensitive selfish bitch who can't think further than the end of her nose. I mean christ, even FAYE is concerned about the situation and she admits to being a bitch.
I'm really starting to go off Dora. I'm not bothered by the insane jealousy because I understand it's likely there for a reason and she most probably can't help it to a high degree, but the weird selfish matchmaker thing coupled with her ludicrous rages against Marten for absolutely no reason when he's vaguely nearby something she considers to be bad really suggests that she wants to control her friends, not help them. The double standards and controlling, manipulative behaviour when it comes to Marigold and Hanners, the two most vulnerable people in the strip in social situations is not a pleasant thing from someone who is, let's face it, the third main character in the strip.
I'm reacting negatively because this is the latest in a long string of controlling and potentially manipulative things Dora has done to her less socially aware "friends". She tries to take over their lives, directing them in certain ways instead of letting them make up their own minds or without alerting them to potential problems just because she thinks the situation is cute.
Remember how ballistic she went at Sven because Hanners asked him out on a pretend date? Remember how she acted when Hanners, the person who is least likely to go for Sven with the possible exception of Tai, came home? She demanded to know if she had fallen for him. She wanted to steer her in the direction Dora wanted her to go. That to me is not a healthy person to have as a friend.
Dora is a great character and she used to be the character I considered the second most likeable, behind Marten, but recently she's been well...selfish. Acting selfishly like she has with regards to your less socially adapted friends IS a dick move.
And that's not getting into any of the Dora-slagging from back around the Sven-Hanners date. In just the quotes above from the last few days, Dora is accused of being a dick, totally fucking with two people who were supposed to be her friends, being an insensitive bitch who couldn't think further than the end of her nose, applying double-standards, weird selfish behaviour, being controlling and manipulative, and not being a healthy person to be around. If someone applied all those extremely negative judgements to me, I would certainly think they were saying that I was a bad person. I know tastes differ, but for me, not all the post-facto explanations or disclaimers in the world could suck the poison out of that lot. I mean, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but let's not pretend that the opinion is something other than what it is.
So, saying that someone is doing nasty things recently means that they're obviously a horrible person overall?
Wow. Guess it sucks to be your friend if they start doing things you don't like. :roll:
I think that Dora used to be a good, if sometimes selfish person. A while back she started to see herself as a kind of mentor to Hanners, helping her with the "Party Favours" thing and helping get her a job. She seems to have decided to take Mari under her wing too, but I think that she's being too controlling of them. I think she sometimes does things that are in HER best interests without thinking of others, and I think this is a dick move. I think she WANTS to help Mari and Hanners, I just think she doesn't know how, but assumes she knows best. For example, when Mari found out about Faye and Angus, Hanners wanted to go and comfort her. Hanners is Mari's best friend, but instead of letting the obvious choice go, Dora stopped her and went herself because she had more experience. I think that the fact she does have more experience (and let us not forget, very unhealthy experience) with relationships makes her think that she knows best and therefore can tell them how best to handle things. In some situations this is probably true, but in others, I think she does what SHE deems best, not what is necessarily best.
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So far she hasn't progressed beyond innuendo. Can we hit the breaks before someone labels her as history's greatest monster?
I won't go that far. I will say that all experience shows that she is a user of people who objectifies women as "things" and has never even had a second thought about hurting or being dishonest as long as she gets her way.
The problem as I see it is the societal "double standard" being applied here. People are bending over backward to label her as a fundamentally "good person", despite the fact that we've never actually seen her do anything remotely altruistic, or even show any genuine concern for the feelings of another character in the strip- and in fact, a good number of strips she's in feature her behaving rather poorly.
And why do they do it? She's a pretty young female, so it's "just being cute", the creepy past overtures are just her "being flirty" or "acting young", and so on and so forth. She's not "history's greatest monster", but she's also not "a fundamentally good person" from anything we've seen in the past.
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So far she hasn't progressed beyond innuendo. Can we hit the breaks before someone labels her as history's greatest monster?
I won't go that far. I will say that all experience shows that she is a user of people who objectifies women as "things" and has never even had a second thought about hurting or being dishonest as long as she gets her way.
The problem as I see it is the societal "double standard" being applied here. People are bending over backward to label her as a fundamentally "good person", despite the fact that we've never actually seen her do anything remotely altruistic, or even show any genuine concern for the feelings of another character in the strip- and in fact, a good number of strips she's in feature her behaving rather poorly.
And why do they do it? She's a pretty young female, so it's "just being cute", the creepy past overtures are just her "being flirty" or "acting young", and so on and so forth. She's not "history's greatest monster", but she's also not "a fundamentally good person" from anything we've seen in the past.
Ok, I'm going to want to see some evidence for that lot.
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What lot?
If you're going to respond to an entire post with nothing but a "sez who", the least you could do is bother doing some research, or at least making yourself familiar with the prior comics, especially since Tai's behavioral traits have been pointed out repeatedly in comics shown in THIS VERY THREAD.
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lots of words
You were right about one thing, I've endured a lot of situations following this web comic from the beginning but I never ever even entertained joining into this fray of fanboy/girl discussion retardation. The amount of people coming out of the woodwork for this is amazing.
Other than that, Tai is basically a female version of Sven, and if she indeed goes after/gets with Marigold, she's proving it by being selfish and self absorbed. Look a fan, let's see what she tastes like. If she uses alcohol or something then shes a common rapist.
Actually I only lurked because I wasn't getting the activation e-mail until recently.
Please actually read my posts before "quoting" me. I don't want people associating my thoughts on the comic with yours.
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What lot?
If you're going to respond to an entire post with nothing but a "sez who", the least you could do is bother doing some research, or at least making yourself familiar with the prior comics, especially since Tai's behavioral traits have been pointed out repeatedly in comics shown in THIS VERY THREAD.
Ok, I've looked at some of the comics posted in this thread and didn't see her as a predator or someone who treats people as objects. I don't think she always thinks of other people but I think her sense of humour and sexual openness is such that she doesn't have a problem sharing information, and this may not be the nicest thing, but I don't think it makes her a predator or someone who views people as sexual objects.
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Actually I only lurked because I wasn't getting the activation e-mail until recently.
Same here. I think that accounts for the sudden influx of us newbies.
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Ok, I've looked at some of the comics posted in this thread and didn't see her as a predator or someone who treats people as objects.
Again, and this a repeat (for like the sixteenth time)- she is not a predator.
Secondly- it's already been politely pointed out where her behavior has shown her to objectify women, treat them as objects (such as actually referring to a certain woman as "a thing", as if she was a sex toy) and feels no qualms about using people for her own ends.
Again, I'm asking you to simply read this thread again, since everything you're claiming to be clueless about has been repeated... uh... REPEATEDLY. Jumping back in time to yesterday to repeat the same repetition just because someone doesn't want to review what's already been said would be... repetitive.
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There is nothing wrong with American that cannot be cured by what is right with America.
Like Hanners, there is nothing wrong with Mar-bear that cannot be cured by a little sapphic make-out session.
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Ok, I've looked at some of the comics posted in this thread and didn't see her as a predator or someone who treats people as objects.
Again, and this a repeat (for like the sixteenth time)- she is not a predator.
Secondly- it's already been politely pointed out where her behavior has shown her to objectify women, treat them as objects (such as actually referring to a certain woman as "a thing", as if she was a sex toy) and feels no qualms about using people for her own ends.
Again, I'm asking you to simply read this thread again, since everything you're claiming to be clueless about has been repeated... uh... REPEATEDLY. Jumping back in time to yesterday to repeat the same repetition just because someone doesn't want to review what's already been said would be... repetitive.
It's been politely (and not so politely) pointed out where you believe she has objectified women. Just because Mark disagrees with you (he's certainly not alone in that) doesn't mean he's not reading the thread. He read the same comics you did and came away with a different interpretation. He's allowed.
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It's been politely (and not so politely) pointed out where you believe she has objectified women.
Whatever. It's not worth arguing about anymore.
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Joel's Law, people.
"If you wonder how he eats and breathes
And other science facts (tra-la-la)
You should tell yourself 'It's just a show,
I should probably relax'..."
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Joel's Law, people.
Point taken.
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That certainly is a "Tai-rade"!
Had to.
Also, Rich Old Lady is an awesome boutique name. (it's through the window)
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It's been politely (and not so politely) pointed out where you believe she has objectified women.
Now we're falling back on the "oh, it's an opinion, so it can't be wrong" thing.
You've posted nothing that supports your hypothesis that Tai is a "good person". You've shown no evidence that Tai has ever acted selflessly. You've done nothing but dither for over a day without producing anything to back up your statements that Tai is a "good person".
Whereas many others have directly shown you evidence of Tai using people gleefully, evidence of her referring to people as "things", and making unwanted sexual advances to the cast despite them being in strong committed relationships.
You can call whatever you want "a belief" or an opinion, but all opinions are not equal.
Fine. Here's where Tai lets Martin get out of work for some alone time with Dora (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1092). Here's where she shows legitimate concern for Dora's wellbeing (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=842) and excusing the fact that they went home and did it rather than come immediately back to work. Now I've posted more examples of her being nice than you have of her being mean during my two days of "dithering".
And opinions and differentiating interpretations can't be inherently wrong. The only person who has the infallible view of these characters and their behavior is their creator. And if you subscribe to The Death of the Author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Author) than even his opinion holds no more weight than anyone else's.
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Golly, look at that guy quoting nonexistent posts!
Almost makes you feel like arguing for a day and a half.
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Is there an Ignore function on this board? Just out of curiosity.
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Ok, I've looked at some of the comics posted in this thread and didn't see her as a predator or someone who treats people as objects.
Again, and this a repeat (for like the sixteenth time)- she is not a predator.
Secondly- it's already been politely pointed out where her behavior has shown her to objectify women, treat them as objects (such as actually referring to a certain woman as "a thing", as if she was a sex toy) and feels no qualms about using people for her own ends.
Again, I'm asking you to simply read this thread again, since everything you're claiming to be clueless about has been repeated... uh... REPEATEDLY. Jumping back in time to yesterday to repeat the same repetition just because someone doesn't want to review what's already been said would be... repetitive.
It's been politely (and not so politely) pointed out where you believe she has objectified women. Just because Mark disagrees with you (he's certainly not alone in that) doesn't mean he's not reading the thread. He read the same comics you did and came away with a different interpretation. He's allowed.
Uh huh. Further, one of the main objections you have to her AnAverageWriter, from what I can tell, and I could be wrong, is that she hits on Dora when Marten is around? Well in comic #773 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=773) she explicitly states that's something she wouldn't do. It really might be that she just jokes about it.
Furthermore, the comic (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=815) you refered to as Tai gleefully discussing cheating and two timing is...not that at all. She's talking about how she has to go behind Serena's back to see Ashley EXCLUSIVELY rather than as part of a threesome. She doesn't seem to happy about the situation in panel 1 either. In fact, to me it looks like she's really unhappy that she has to do that. She does look happy when Marten, who you will note sees little wrong here, asks her if she sees it going anywhere, to which she says no, but the sex is good. I don't see that as bragging about her destructive actions or revelling in hurting people.
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Mark-
After jwhouk made his post, I realized that this argument was just going around and around and around. There's no point in spending more and more days arguing about it when nobody is going to change their mind. I'm just sitting back and seeing what Jeph does next.
Arguing so much just sucks the fun out of the comic.
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So, how 'bout those U.S. elections, huh?
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Yeah because politics is totally less of a minefield topic :-P
SO HOW ABOUT THEM RED SOX ARE THEY A BASEBALL TEAM OR WHAT (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=201)
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There is nothing wrong with what Tai is doing. What we have here is... failure to communicate. Specifically, Marigold really ought to have realized by now that Tai's meant or taken everything they've said since "experiment" as a double entendre. Tai hasn't realized Marigold's in the dark, and frankly, if Mar hadn't previously been established as straight and/or a bit naïve, I wouldn't have, either.
And Jesus Christ, has anything in this comic suggested Tai would take advantage of a drunk girl, let alone get someone drunk for that purpose?
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So, how 'bout those U.S. elections, huh?
Generally shitty. Typical Luddite reactionaries.
Where America as a country is making a giant mistake is neglecting the moderates in favor of partisan extremism. Which isn't anything new in American history, I realize, but it's getting worse and worse. It's getting to a point where moderates of both the Democrat and Republican parties are being alienated. Without the appeal of the moderate base, both parties are going to end up choking themselves to death. I'm no political expert, but I predict that there's going to be a rise of a new, strong political party sometime within the next decade or so that will appeal to the people in America who haven't lost their sanity.
AsinineEdit: And the so-called Tea Party doesn't count because it's made up of a bunch of old grumpy GOP members.
[/citation needed]
[/vague allusion to Rally to Restore Sanity]
[/off topic]
Anyways- I would argue that there's evidence that Tai wouldn't take advantage of anybody, or at least, not on purpose. While she might display selfish characteristics (and an unbridled libido), she hasn't shown a tendency to act on those characteristics, though she certainly cracks a lot of jokes about them. I might go as far as to say that Tai is the one who's been wronged by others, and that she's been taken advantage of by various Smif suitemates whose names I cannot remember due to sleep deprivation delirium. So there's a possibility that Tai will take out that frustration by taking advantage of Marigold; reasonably speaking, there's a higher probability that she will not.
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Goddaaaaaaaaaaaaamn people calm it DOWN in here, save some rage for when Jeph puts the new comic out, I mean shit
I do not in the least buy this line about "Oh, Tai was only kidding when she made those creepy passes at Dora in front of Marten." I have seen people do that. They're marking territory--they're telling you, in the least subtle way possible, that they are gunning for your significant other the minute you fuck up. It's exactly what it sounds like, where I come from.
...Perversely, that may be why I kind of like the idea of Tai x Marigold, that she will leave Dora and Marten alone. As well as my desire to see Mar-bear hook up with someone successfully, the girl deserves better than an endless string of Life Lessons. She should get to have some fun. And, frankly, if Tai can pull it off, more power to her, because Mar really is unattached and inexperienced. Hell, she could really help Tai get out of the polyamorous lifestyle Tai seems to have fallen out of love with.
Where do you come from? All I know is that it's not space.
And if all the flowers at the college can't keep Tai occupied, I don't think Marigold can.
From Seattle. Which may be why I don't see the joking cause this city in and of itself is pretty socially retarded. D:
As for all the flowers at the college...well, I mean, her dating pool so far has been "young polyamorous college chicks who do not seem to take shit seriously". She may just be sick of that type of girl, and Mar-bear is a very, very different type of girl.
Then again, maybe Tai will slap a ho for being needy and wanting to cuddle and shit, because Tai the Stone Cold Pimp got no TIME for that, she has a LIBRARY TO RUN
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Goddaaaaaaaaaaaaamn people calm it DOWN in here, save some rage for when Jeph puts the new comic out, I mean shit
Indeed.
The argument could roll for days, weeks... who knows how long, dragging the enjoyment of the comic out of the arguers, with no resolution, just anger.
And that's just not fun for anyone.
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And that's just not fun for anyone.
Are you kidding me? Anyone else want me to pass some popcorn around? I have plenty.
Edit for the new comic: See guys, it wasn't so bad. Gosh. :roll:
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Is there an Ignore function on this board? Just out of curiosity.
Dunno. But we have a brigade of sweepers. Some people might benefit from taking some of that medicine ------ly.
Groan ahead, couldn't resist using Border Reiver's brainchild.
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Pay no attention to the window behind the curtain.
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Tai trying to spare someone's feelings contributes to our knowledge of her character.
Interesting that Marigirl doesn't measure up to Jimbo's writing in Tai's eyes.
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1.) Marigold's faces in the last four panels are so fucking adorable I could DIE *d'awwws*
2.) Poor Tai. I know, from being on both ends of the editor-writer equation, that editing/beta-reading is no mean feat. Especially when something sucks.
3.) You know what will soften the harsh criticisms? Some girl-girl EROTICISMS AW YISSSS
...shuttin' up now
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Liar.
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Well, it says something that Tai thinks Marigold's fanfic is bad when her own fanfic--from what was read aloud--seemed pretty purple prose-y itself.
Dr. ROLFPWN has the right idea. ;)
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Super facial expressions in today's strip. I remember a crappy Eddie Murphy film where he had to negotiate an obstacle course over a bottomless void. That is the path of "constructive criticism".
Tai trying to spare someone's feelings contributes to our knowledge of her character. Interesting that Marigirl doesn't measure up to Jimbo's writing in Tai's eyes.
Indeed it does, and in a positive way too. And Jimbo is a published author, after all.
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I haven't read most of this thread, but I did want to poke in and comment about how I think Jeph likes to torture, not only his characters, but his readers as well! xD
Tai trying to spare someone's feelings contributes to our knowledge of her character.
Interesting that Marigirl doesn't measure up to Jimbo's writing in Tai's eyes.
OR, from a writing perspective, often times people could have great ideas but not have the means to communicate them, usually as a result of not enough practice in writing (or reading). Hence the emphasis on "TONS of potential" We'll have to see if Tai's criticism is that deep. It wouldn't suprise me given that she seems to be a reader.
It's interesting how much your mind's eye will understand what you mean when you write, but others will read it from an objective pov and interpret it differently. The internet is a good example of that. And that's even more reason to proof-read everything even if it's a silly comment on a forum about a comic. One well placed typo can destroy an entire forum post and, quite possibly, the entire forum!
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Having been where Tai is at the moment (so far as reading someone's horrid prose and yet not wanting to crush their clearly frail ego), I can relate. First time I've liked Tai in I-don't-know-when. Which is really important to her well-being, I know. Still…
Tai trying to spare someone's feelings contributes to our knowledge of her character.
Interesting that Marigirl doesn't measure up to Jimbo's writing in Tai's eyes.
Jimbo is apparently one of those rare geniuses of bad writing, creating something so bad, so horribly over the top that it's worth reading just to see how far he'll take it. It's apparently something like Springtime for Hitler. You read it (as opposed to watching the entire musical, in SfH's case) because you can't freaking believe this guy got published, and you want to see what horrible atrocity he's going to do next. In a way, Stephanie Meyers's "Sparkly Vampire Tales" are like that to me.
I'm guessing that Marigold is simply average bad.
I think that Dora used to be a good, if sometimes selfish person. A while back she started to see herself as a kind of mentor to Hanners, helping her with the "Party Favours" thing and helping get her a job. She seems to have decided to take Mari under her wing too, but I think that she's being too controlling of them. I think she sometimes does things that are in HER best interests without thinking of others, and I think this is a dick move. I think she WANTS to help Mari and Hanners, I just think she doesn't know how, but assumes she knows best. For example, when Mari found out about Faye and Angus, Hanners wanted to go and comfort her. Hanners is Mari's best friend, but instead of letting the obvious choice go, Dora stopped her and went herself because she had more experience. I think that the fact she does have more experience (and let us not forget, very unhealthy experience) with relationships makes her think that she knows best and therefore can tell them how best to handle things. In some situations this is probably true, but in others, I think she does what SHE deems best, not what is necessarily best.
Who, may I ask, can do anything other than what they 'deem best'? How is she supposed to know this fabled what 'is' best? All Dora can know, as can any of us, is what she knows, not, what you, the reader know. You're asking the character to make a judgment that's impossible to her, then condemning her for it.
Dora has problems and she makes mistakes, and some of her worst problems are coming to a head right now because she's taking a chance (rather than breaking things off with Marten the way she expected to). She is certainly not a saint, although I can think of one incident that comes close to qualifying her for it, and she certainly lacks any god-like perspective that allows her to see what 'is best,' whatever the hell that happens to be. Heaven help us, don't we all?
Edit: Super facial expressions in today's strip. I remember a crappy Eddie Murphy film where he had to negotiate an obstacle course over a bottomless void. That is the path of "constructive criticism".
Geez, can you be more general—I can only think of five Eddie Murphy films, offhand, that weren't crappy (sorry, I couldn't pass by a chance to slam EM—his film career has done far too much to me). You mean The Golden Child.
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Booooring. :?
This didn't help any of the discussion until this point.
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Then again, maybe Tai will slap a ho for being needy and wanting to cuddle and shit, because Tai the Stone Cold Pimp got no TIME for that, she has a LIBRARY TO RUN
Best post in this entire thread.
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The poster in the background says it all.
At least she's trying to let Marigold down gently.
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"I can take it if it sucks, ..."
No. You cant. Nobody can. I thought the same and I couldnt either.
Being told one sucks at writing is hard to take, no matter how many illusions one had one could take it.
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once panel 4 came into view I knew this wasnt going to end well for Marigold's dreams/fantasies.
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I really like where this is going.
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Super facial expressions in today's strip. I remember a crappy Eddie Murphy film where he had to negotiate an obstacle course over a bottomless void. That is the path of "constructive criticism".
"It's at 8 o'clock, but I don't think I can make it."
Or at least that's what the Portuguese-dubbed version I saw more times than is healthy vor any VHS equipment or my brains translates to, in one of the many, many scenes I remember too clearly to mention anywhere outside the internet.
Also it feels unsettlingly weird that a (the?) Chinese girl around should mention that particular EddieMurphy film. You won't catch me taking Anaconda out of the shadows. o_O
Oh, and about the comic: Never has Tai's mind been easier to read. BONER KILLERRRRRRRR
Aw, poor girls.
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Well, Tai's apparently still in English Lit major mode... and unless she's totally inept at reading social cues while sober, I don't think we're going to end up with the catastrophe that was feared. Well, unless she actually is some sort of totally selfish monster that won't mind being totally ostracized if this comes out.
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Joel's Law, people.
"If you're wondering you wonder how he eats and breathes
And other science facts (tra la-la-la)
Then repeat to yourself You should tell yourself 'It's just a show,
I should really just probably relax'..."
Sorry, had to do it - total MST3K geek here.
According to your logic, guys who watch porn together want to fuck each-other's brains out.
Oh, but they do. :police:
TOTALLY agree. You only watch adult movies in the same room with someone you want to bone.
I mean, think about it: Adult movies sexually excite the people watching them. So now you've got two sexually excited people in the same room. Why would you want that, if you're not gonna try to put that sexual energy to good use?
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Oh, and about the comic: Never has Tai's mind been easier to read. BONER KILLERRRRRRRR
Damn, you said it first. All the sexual tension INSTANTLY vacated the premises via the Giant Sucking Sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkgx1C_S6ls) created by Marigold's writing.
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Apparently, I need to move my viewing point from the comic to the forums for the true wrecks - or I need more beer.
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This comic is the latest in a series of strips that compound on Carl Jung's theory of collective unconsciousness.
Or in other words, I guess that every single character has the ability to make identical :3 faces.
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
I have been trying to find that for AGES! Like an idiot, I didn't download or bookmark it, and my subsequent googling for it over the last several years has produced naught.
All I remember are vague snippets and laughing maniacally at the extreme funneh.
There was another diary or such that I read a long time ago, where rather than being pervy hobbit-fanciers, they just ate a hobbit whenever they got hungry....still very funny, and a lot of similarities to the VSD.....
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I'm completely unaligned in this question ... just curious what happends next.
I'm not exactly unaligned. I hate it to say it, but Tai as a person is just... repulsive to me. It's not because she's gay, either. I'd have absolutely no problem if Marigold ended up with a nice girl. Heck, I think a Marigold/Raven or Marigold/Faye coupling would be awesome. But Tai? It's just... I don't know, I just feel like out of the entire cast (Vespavenger and Yelling Bird included), that Tai is the most unlikeable out of all of them. And Marigold is sweet and kind and...
I just feel like Tai doesn't deserve her.
Yeah, have to agree here. Mar-bear is so...naive?...in some ways, kinda like Hanners. They both seem to explore sexuality in more of an outsider/observer/researcher mode, although Marigold is far more likely to actually act on her impulses and actually have a physical relationship with another person.
Tai is just so...indiscriminate? She treats sexual partners as throw-aways that exist only for her own needs. She comes, she sees, she conquers, she tosses aside and moves on. A very (stereotypical) "guy" way to act, which I know opens me up to the whole stud/slut double standard argument. I have no issue with women being open and free about their sexual adventures, but something about the way Tai goes about it just rubs me the wrong way.
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Soooo....
...yeah, it's gonna end badly. - 11 (12.8%)
Tai will make the move, and Mar will react poorly. - 7 (8.1%)
Tai won't lead her on, and Mar will appreciate it. - 0 (0%)
Marigold will be TOTALLY oblivious - and Tai will let it go. - 23 (26.7%)
Mar will get a nudge from Momo about Tai's "intentions". - 24 (27.9%)
TaiGold WILL come to pass! OTP! - 8 (9.3%)
I still say Pintsize/ANYONE is worse. - 10 (11.6%)
GOOGLE IT! - 3 (3.5%)
Total Voters: 86
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The poster in the background says it all.
At least she's trying to let Marigold down gently.
Tai was very sweet and gentle with Mari. It was a nice comic to wake up to, what with all the doom and gloom predictions and the character bashing/defending that had been going on for six! pages. After Mari's adorable faces today I hope she isn't too crestfallen when she learns just how difficult it is to write something people want to read.
I'm personally pulling for them to forge the first great fanfic writing team. Mari provides the characters and story and Tai provides the prose!
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Here's a litmus test to see if you've read fanfic: "Still the prettiest!" If you recognized that quote, you have.
[grumble] Not King yet. [/grumble]
I have been trying to find that for AGES! Like an idiot, I didn't download or bookmark it, and my subsequent googling for it over the last several years has produced naught.
All I remember are vague snippets and laughing maniacally at the extreme funneh.
There was another diary or such that I read a long time ago, where rather than being pervy hobbit-fanciers, they just ate a hobbit whenever they got hungry....still very funny, and a lot of similarities to the VSD.....
http://www.ealasaid.com/misc/vsd/ (http://www.ealasaid.com/misc/vsd/) should help?
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The poster in the background says it all.
At least she's trying to let Marigold down gently.
Tai was very sweet and gentle with Mari. It was a nice comic to wake up to, what with all the doom and gloom predictions and the character bashing/defending that had been going on for six! pages. After Mari's adorable faces today I hope she isn't too crestfallen when she learns just how difficult it is to write something people want to read.
I'm personally pulling for them to forge the first great fanfic writing team. Mari provides the characters and story and Tai provides the prose!
It can be like Phantom of the Opera! And then they can sing a duet in a labyrinth!
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Pay no attention to the window behind the curtain.
what? It's closed? i don't get it :psyduck:
Apparently, I need to move my viewing point from the comic to the forums for the true wrecks - or I need more beer.
... NEEDS MORE BEER!
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Anyone know where I can get the Scottish heritage beer "Alba" other than in the 4 packs with three other beers?
Other than Scotland that is. That's a wee bit far for a beer run.
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Tai was very sweet and gentle with Mari. It was a nice comic to wake up to, what with all the doom and gloom predictions and the character bashing/defending that had been going on for six! pages. After Mari's adorable faces today I hope she isn't too crestfallen when she learns just how difficult it is to write something people want to read.
I'm personally pulling for them to forge the first great fanfic writing team. Mari provides the characters and story and Tai provides the prose!
I was reading this, agreeing wholeheartedly until those last two sentences. Then I became frightened. Of all the things we need on the interwebs, more 'inevitable clefts' aren't, I feel, amongst them.
But Marigold could use a more worldly friend than Hanners. (By which I mean 'in addition to' not 'instead of') Also, one who doesn't feel she's years older than teh Goldfarmer. Perhaps immaturity can be a bonus at times.
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Apropos of nothing, I want to note that Jeph just keeps getting better with his art, so big props to the Man himself. I read a link from not that far back, near the beginning of the Fayngus thing, and dang, Jeph keeps improving by leaps and bounds.
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There is nothing wrong with what Tai is doing. What we have here is... failure to communicate. Specifically, Marigold really ought to have realized by now that Tai's meant or taken everything they've said since "experiment" as a double entendre. Tai hasn't realized Marigold's in the dark, and frankly, if Mar hadn't previously been established as straight and/or a bit naïve, I wouldn't have, either.
There's also an assumption here that the failure to communicate is still going both ways. What would Tai do if she figured out that Marigold hasn't got a clue, but didn't want the situation to collapse into Drama or Awkwardness? She'd probably do more or less what she's doing right now. It's not necessarily the smartest way to go about something like this, but it's intuitive and relatively non-risky.
If she was going to figure this out at all, this strip would really be the first opportunity for her to have done so. A lot of bad fanfiction makes it painfully obvious that the author has minimal (or zero) actual "experience," so Marigold's fanfiction stands to throw a lot of red flags. In any case, it's all already been decided, and we'll know in a few strips how it turns out.
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Tai's doing great! She's getting much farther than Jackie did with Robyn way back in Top 10 #1.
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If she was going to figure this out at all, this strip would really be the first opportunity for her to have done so.
Her reaction to the phrase "novel euphemism" should have been a clue.
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Anyone know where I can get the Scottish heritage beer "Alba" other than in the 4 packs with three other beers?
Other than Scotland that is. That's a wee bit far for a beer run.
I think I've seen some Scottish beers on the shelf here in Manitoba.
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Anyone know where I can get the Scottish heritage beer "Alba" other than in the 4 packs with three other beers?
Other than Scotland that is. That's a wee bit far for a beer run.
I think I've seen some Scottish beers on the shelf here in Manitoba.
Should I? I might have to...
GOOGLE IT
http://www.bierkraft.com/albascotspineale330ml.aspx
Looks like it would be a wee bit expensive when you add shipping. The brewer only ships to mainland UK so this was the only option I found with a quick google. Unless we are against on-line shopping?
Also, this place makes me wish I lived in New York. The American beers alone take up three pages.
http://www.bierkraft.com/beerlist.aspx
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Tai trying to spare someone's feelings contributes to our knowledge of her character. Interesting that Marigirl doesn't measure up to Jimbo's writing in Tai's eyes.
Indeed it does, and in a positive way too. And Jimbo is a published author, after all.
Ah, but there are many published authors whose work is truly awful, so that makes little difference. Considering the example of Tai's own writing and her reactions in today's strip, Marigold's writing must be dire indeed. Is it bad that Tai's expression in panel 4 is cracking me up the most?
Of all the things we need on the interwebs, more 'inevitable clefts' aren't, I feel, amongst them.
"He traced his finger down to the inevitable cleft of his palate . . ."
I guess that every single character has the ability to make identical :3 faces.
They certainly seem to have that ability, with the possible exceptions of the APCs (well, Momo could probably do it). Personally, I would like to see some of the characters make the :B face instead.
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Ah, Jeph. The most autobiographical of your strips so far. And yes, I'm glad that our tryst is finally being acknowledged in QC. But what you didn't know is that I was actually an accomplished writer when I showed you that terrible fanfiction. I seduced you, Jeph. I SEDUCED YOU!
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Bayley wins this thread.
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Mar's faces.
I wish we could see what her fanfic was like. d:
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It's no-punchline Thursday
AT THE THUNDERDOME
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What have they done to my thread???? :psyduck:
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What have they done to my thread???? :psyduck:
I don't know, but were I you, I'd've tried to pretend I hadn't started it.
Of all the things we need on the interwebs, more 'inevitable clefts' aren't, I feel, amongst them.
"He traced his finger down to the inevitable cleft of his palate . . ."
Now, see, this is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. Ye gods, it even has a potentially catchy name: the "Inevitable" Meme.
Civilization is…well, it's even more doomed.
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"He traced his finger down to the inevitable cleft of his palate . . ."
"The plumber crouched under my sink, his sagging jeans exposing the inevitable cleft of his pallid, hairy buttocks."
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Ron... and Snape...?
...ew.
Wait, T. Rex? Wouldn't the T. Rex school of erotic fiction be more like "and Ron was his two-penny prince and he gave him hot love, oh-oh-oh"?
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If Tai were to make a move right now, it would probably be successful.
But I don't think Tai wants to go there anymore...
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Nothing like bad erotic fanfic for killing your (figurative) boner.
Good god, Marigold, take a creative writing course!
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MARIGOLD YOUR POOR CHOICE IN SHIPPING IS RUINING THE POTENTIAL SAPPHIC GOODNESS D:<
...as is your apparent inability to put what is happening in your mind to paper, I mean dang. I don't know if even Tai's pimp hand is up to this.
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Ron and Snape... OK, Jeph is just winding us up now! Not of course that any of us would engage in bizarre shipping like that. Or come up with portmanteau couple-names like Snon or Ra- :-o Lord Buddha, no!
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Of all the things we need on the interwebs, more 'inevitable clefts' aren't, I feel, amongst them.
"He traced his finger down to the inevitable cleft of his palate . . ."
Now, see, this is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. Ye gods, it even has a potentially catchy name: the "Inevitable" Meme.
Civilization is…well, it's even more doomed.
"He traced his finger down to the inevitable cleft of his palate . . ."
"The plumber crouched under my sink, his sagging jeans exposing the inevitable cleft of his pallid, hairy buttocks."
Mwahaha -- well, what's the point of writing if not to stab people in the brain? Brains have inevitable clefts too . . . So, three cheers for the doom of civilization! :-D
Ron and Snape... OK, Jeph is just winding us up now! Not of course that any of us would engage in bizarre shipping like that. Or come up with portmanteau couple-names like Snon or Ra- :-o Lord Buddha, no!
Oh man -- thank you for that actual LOL (surprised my husband hasn't run in here to ask what I'm cackling about). Well done!
And maybe the T. Rex referred to in "The T. Rex School of Erotic Fiction" is actually this guy: :mrgreen:
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"I can take it if it sucks, ..."
No. You cant. Nobody can. I thought the same and I couldnt either.
Being told one sucks at writing is hard to take, no matter how many illusions one had one could take it.
No matter how much talent someone has at writing, they need a lot of practice. Rough drafts are always bad. If you look at the more accomplished authors, their rough drafts (if you can find them, which you normally can't) look more like second or third drafts from other people, but they still need work, and those authors have written tens of millions of words. It is a lot of work to write something good. We only see the finished copy, so we don't realize that. Expect to write at least 10 times as much as eventually is in the final item, if not more.
I have never really understood shipping like that. I can see thinking "Man, I wish ___ and ___ stayed together and had more awesome adventures." But "I wish ___ and ___ had sex a lot?" Where do you get that?
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So Tai has found that her calling is to teach creative writing at
junior high school. And Marigold embarks on a new career of writing lyrics for Sven's new genre of music: Country&Western for otaku aka YeehawYaoi.
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...eh, just teach Marigold the other way. She'll be like Peter Chimaera, only with slashfic.
Atuhors Nose: Uncycylopedia (which is online encyclopidia like wikiped) said I was writing story called Quartergasm: Halfway to Climax and dontn't know where come but I decide to write anyway.
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And Marigold embarks on a new career of writing lyrics for Sven's new genre of music: Country&Western for otaku aka YeehawYaoi.
If I could actually stand country music I would kind of want this.
Like, really want it.
... :evil:
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Actually, with a bit more patience, she could teach Marigold.
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And Marigold embarks on a new career of writing lyrics for Sven's new genre of music: Country&Western for otaku aka YeehawYaoi.
If I could actually stand country music I would kind of want this.
Like, really want it.
... :evil:
It has to exist. I know it does.
...well, there's always Willie Nelson's "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other."
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Actually, with a bit more patience, she could teach Marigold.
mmmm hmmm :wink:
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"I can take it if it sucks, ..."
No. You cant. Nobody can. I thought the same and I couldnt either.
Being told one sucks at writing is hard to take, no matter how many illusions one had one could take it.
No matter how much talent someone has at writing, they need a lot of practice. Rough drafts are always bad. If you look at the more accomplished authors, their rough drafts (if you can find them, which you normally can't) look more like second or third drafts from other people, but they still need work, and those authors have written tens of millions of words. It is a lot of work to write something good. We only see the finished copy, so we don't realize that. Expect to write at least 10 times as much as eventually is in the final item, if not more.
I have never really understood shipping like that. I can see thinking "Man, I wish ___ and ___ stayed together and had more awesome adventures." But "I wish ___ and ___ had sex a lot?" Where do you get that?
No idea.
Self insertion maybe? :?
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That must take a lot of flexibility.
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Ron and Snape? I'm sure someone out there ships it, but it's not got a super-huge following. Now, Snarry on the other hand...
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Good god, people - I'm gone for two days, and have to spend the third reading the WCDT?!?
And it wasn't really worth it...
Reiver, another beer here! If I'm gong to watch this, I haven't had nearly enough.
The week is over, but is this arc?
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I'm kind of surprised Marigold hasn't picked up at least a few pointers in writing erotic fiction from all that yaoi she reads. I mean I can assume Tai picked up her skill for it from reading Jimbo's work.
EDIT: Looks like Marigold needs some writing lessons from Jimbo?
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I just want to say that I'm going to have nightmares after reading today's (Friday) comic, and that I really should not read new QC comics before going to bed.
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Actually, with a bit more patience, she could teach Marigold.
Marigold could learn by doing (IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)
(...yes I am fully aware she would have to write femslash instead for that to make sense properly but hush)
Ron and Snape... OK, Jeph is just winding us up now! Not of course that any of us would engage in bizarre shipping like that. Or come up with portmanteau couple-names like Snon or Ra- :-o Lord Buddha, no!
HA!
...Y'know, tying this to earlier in the thread, that means that Marigold, not Tai, is a Rapi--
...But it's funny, see, cause she likes--
...I'll get my coat. :(
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Hahaha, way to pre-emptively kill the mood Mar.
Yahoo Yaoi must be made. It will be deliciously sexy and postmodern.
Until then, have this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj0yaxVCU6I
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Yes, a lot of fanfiction, and for some reason it seems a lot of HP fanfiction especially, seems to be poorly written slash.
Though, in fairness, there's quite a lot of poorly written Buffy femslash, too.
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Geez, last two strips have brought it all flooding back how ANNOYING the Marigold character is in large doses (yes, I was a bit down on QC for a while during the long interrgnum where it seemed QC was the Marigold Show and even Fangus was just there for Marigold's greater character development. I mean, Raven died so that Marigold may have more screentime folks- Jeph SAYS she's at school, but we all know the truth! Although it was all kind of worth it for the Momo/Sven strip...).
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Todays comic is weird.
Nuff said.
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Although it was all kind of worth it for the Momo/Sven strip...).
Wait, they stripped? Was this on Jeph's Tumblr? :psyduck:
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Carl, I'm switching to scotch for the forum - and given Akima's reaction she'll be joining us. Car keys are to be put into the jar on the counter, there are extra blankets and pillows in the closet.
Apparently Marigold slept through the English class where they discussed the "show, don't tell" principle of story telling. That and she has an "active" imagination. It would also appear that Mar's "erotic fan-fic" has killed Tai's libido, or at least caused it to go whimper in the corner and ask the bad man to stop.
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Ron... and Snape...
Thus is a new `ship launched.
And why does it bug me so much when some guy is all up like
Hurr, hurr. She lost her boner. But she couldn't really lose her boner, because she's a girl and so she doesn't have a penis, hence she cannot get a boner, so she didn't lose her real boner. She lost her figurative boner. Herp. Derp.
?
I think it's because it betrays an ignorance of anatomy that makes me fearful for the climax of any female he manages to get with. Besides which, if Tai wants to have a cock, she can damn well have one. (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1595)
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You don't need a cock to have a boner. :roll:
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Marigold's fanfic sounds awful and also sounds like 75% of the fanfic I've read. It's not unusually awful. It's typically awful. What is unusual is the people who write so badly are usually fifteen years old and don't know any better. That shows how naive and unschooled Marigold is with regards to love and sex.
Ron... and Snape...
Thus is a new `ship launched.
It's so cute that you think that's a new ship.
Snape/Anyone is extremely popular and was long before he was outed as a good guy. In the realms of fandom, there are no new ships. No matter how pervy, illegal or just plain despicable, it's been written and then fantasized about. I once started reading a fic about zombie necrophilia incest rape with BDSM where Lucius Malfoy forced Draco to do disgusing things to his dead (as written) mother.. I did not finish reading that one because I was too busy vomiting.
Fred/George fic was also popular (they charmingly call that twin-cest).
Fandom means never having to say you're sorry for your sick f***ing mind.
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And Marigold embarks on a new career of writing lyrics for Sven's new genre of music: Country&Western for otaku aka YeehawYaoi.
If I could actually stand country music I would kind of want this.
Like, really want it.
It has to exist. I know it does.
...well, there's always Willie Nelson's "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other."
So they would get to do the soundtracks to all the umpteen anime versions of Brokeback Mountain?
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Just how bad IS Marigold's Slashfic?
Makes Jimbo look like Tolstoy. - 16 (19.3%)
Makes Erica Jong look like Dickens. - 2 (2.4%)
Is the literarly equivalent of the Sex Pistols. - 10 (12%)
So bad it's mediocre. - 12 (14.5%)
So bad it's bad. - 2 (2.4%)
Bad enough that even Pintsize doesn't like it. - 20 (24.1%)
Oh, just GOOGLE it. - 15 (18.1%)
What? You haven't bought QC Volume 1 yet? SHAME on YOU! - 6 (7.2%)
Total Voters: 83
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I once started reading a fic about zombie necrophilia incest rape with BDSM where Lucius Malfoy forced Draco to do disgusing things to his dead (as written) mother.. I did not finish reading that one because I was too busy vomiting.
And still not as sick as the Lucius/Draco snuff slash that Topless Robot (http://"http://www.toplessrobot.com/") sprang on me one Fan Fiction Friday involving incestuous necrophilia, scat and skull fucking.
I mostly try to stay away from Fan Fiction Friday because it's always icky, but I would still occasionally check it out until I saw that one. That one was the deal breaker for me. I haven't read a Fan Fiction Friday since then.
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...well, there's always Willie Nelson's "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other."
Rewrite it into "Cowboys Frequently Secretly Fondle Each Other".
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I used to write fanfic back in the day (bad, out of character fanfics...but I'll toot my own horn on grammar and word flow). I was about 14 when I started.
I was also about as nerdy/anti-social/anxiety ridden as they come (think 'almost' Marigold).
Yet even I knew that you couldn't just write 'and it was sexy' at the end of something. How old is Marigold, again? Did she graduate high-school? Who, past the age of 16, thinks you can write like that? Honestly, I still know some people who write fanfics (even in their 20's) and none of them would think this sounded legit.
I think I'm mostly sad because I wanted to like Marigold, but this kind of paints her as a fangirl idiot (idiot being the key word here). And you know what? That would be fine...if she were in her teens. :(
Edit: And is anyone else tired of the 'nutsack-hamster face' the characters keep making? :3 <------nutsack
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Nothing borings up Potter-porn like a bunch of fuckin' words.
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I once started reading a fic about zombie necrophilia incest rape with BDSM where Lucius Malfoy forced Draco to do disgusing things to his dead (as written) mother.. I did not finish reading that one because I was too busy vomiting.
And still not as sick as the Lucius/Draco snuff slash that Topless Robot (http://"http://www.toplessrobot.com/") sprang on me one Fan Fiction Friday involving incestuous necrophilia, scat and skull fucking.
I mostly try to stay away from Fan Fiction Friday because it's always icky, but I would still occasionally check it out until I saw that one. That one was the deal breaker for me. I haven't read a Fan Fiction Friday since then.
...That is, in fact, actually worse than the Dumbledore/Snape/Harry mess that ended up being I discovered the meaning of the term "mpreg".
......I was much happier with my life before I knew the meaning of the term "mpreg." Thank you, Harry Potter fans! (Also thank you, too, morbid curiosity)
I used to write fanfic back in the day (bad, out of character fanfics...but I'll toot my own horn on grammar and word flow). I was about 14 when I started.
I was also about as nerdy/anti-social/anxiety ridden as they come (think 'almost' Marigold).
Yet even I knew that you couldn't just write 'and it was sexy' at the end of something. How old is Marigold, again? Did she graduate high-school? Who, past the age of 16, thinks you can write like that? Honestly, I still know some people who write fanfics (even in their 20's) and none of them would think this sounded legit.
I think I'm mostly sad because I wanted to like Marigold, but this kind of paints her as a fangirl idiot (idiot being the key word here). And you know what? That would be fine...if she were in her teens. :(
Edit: And is anyone else tired of the 'nutsack-hamster face' the characters keep making? :3 <------nutsack
You can like someone despite their being a fangirl idiot.
And some people just fuckin' do not know how to write. I have edited for these people--I know. You tell them things, they go and "work on it", they come back with the same shit in a different order with maybe a few small tweaks or more detail here and there. Whatever the problem was, though? Is still there. These people graduated high school with 3.5s at the lowest, and are in their 20s, and they just do not have the chops to do the writing thing, especially not creatively.
If Marigirl actually does have potential, and Tai wasn't just sparing her feelings, I think the problem is she probably has trouble describing action. She sees it in her head just fine, and in her head it's playing out, so she assumes the reader knows what she's thinking. She also is not writing something she knows anything about beyond Internet sources, and those ain't necessarily good.
She may be very good with dialogue and setting! She may even be good at coming up with plot for the characters! ...but she may need a creative writing class like right fucking now.
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On a different note - anyone else notice that Tai's been in Dora's closet?
The evidence is here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=217). Time to arrest the miscreant and throw her in prison.
Then we can get the "Girls in Prison" arc going - you can thank me for the mental images later.
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Marigold could learn by doing (IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)
You're being funny, but I do suspect this is at least part of the problem, the other being that all Marigold reads seems to be comics, where such things are mostly handled by the illustrations, and fanfic, some of is likely on the same level as Marigold's piece. My compliments to Tai for trying, but Marigold's response indicates Tai's likely fighting an uphill battle. In torrential rain, amidst a mudslide.
On a side note, I know it isn't Jeph's style, but yesterday I kept thinking how the googly-eyed poster that replaced the window ought to be rolling its eyes in the last panel, and today, the happy green-haired girl out to be weeping in the last one. Too much Breathed in my past, I guess.
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Marigold. She's hopeless. Oy.
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Too much Breathed in my past, I guess.
There can never be too much Bloom County. Even here (http://www.whatisdeepfried.com/2010/11/01/weapon-brown-189/).
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Marigold could learn by doing (IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)
You're being funny, but I do suspect this is at least part of the problem, the other being that all Marigold reads seems to be comics, where such things are mostly handled by the illustrations, and fanfic, some of is likely on the same level as Marigold's piece. My compliments to Tai for trying, but Marigold's response indicates Tai's likely fighting an uphill battle. In torrential rain, amidst a mudslide.
On a side note, I know it isn't Jeph's style, but yesterday I kept thinking how the googly-eyed poster that replaced the window ought to be rolling its eyes in the last panel, and today, the happy green-haired girl out to be weeping in the last one. Too much Breathed in my past, I guess.
I actually wholeheartedly agree that some of Marigold's problems stem from not knowing what the hell she's talking about, and not having good examples to work from. The girl needs to read some good writing, and, well, have some experiences. Hell, I think Marigold would benefit from life experience in general. The girl is heartbreaking, because she's clearly been bullied into basically inverting on herself and never interacting with people except through the Internet.
And true to life, she is, I think, a really good, worthwhile person. I like Marigold. But she's got deficiencies.
Which is why I've come to really want Tai and Marigold to just fuckin' go for it. Marigold needs to take more chances/have more opportunities presented to her, and even if they turn out bad, like Angus, then at least she's had the experience, and she can get through the Life Lesson and move on.
Finally: Reiver is correct, Bloom County is something there can NEVER be too much of.
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Monday's comic: 3 panels of Tai making a move on Marigold by getting her hot and bothered describing the scene as she would write it, with a fourth panel of Yelling Bird saying, "AND THEN TAI AND MARIGOLD HAD SEX."
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No, it'll be,
Tai: "Wow, you just... I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can do this. Don't take this the wrong way, but going through this much bad lime... I'm leaving now."
Marigold: "Okay. See you."
(Tai leaves.)
Marigold: "Wait..."
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In monday's strip the first three panels will be shots of two people having sex, the details in the panels will show it must be Tai and Marigold.
Then the camera will pan in the fourth strip to show that they're watching Yaoi on Mari's computer.
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You can like someone despite their being a fangirl idiot.
And some people just fuckin' do not know how to write. I have edited for these people--I know. You tell them things, they go and "work on it", they come back with the same shit in a different order with maybe a few small tweaks or more detail here and there. Whatever the problem was, though? Is still there. These people graduated high school with 3.5s at the lowest, and are in their 20s, and they just do not have the chops to do the writing thing, especially not creatively.
I guess the type of idiot(who happens to be a fangirl) I'm thinking of is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-crjyRhRkA
Bet you can't get through the whole video without wanting to punch someone in the face (I sure couldn't).
But Marigold hasn't done any of that yet, so I guess I jumped the gun a little by assuming. Let's hope she'll take some constructive criticism and get better. Otherwise, she will be the type of idiot I don't like. And then I'll be sad.
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Yet even I knew that you couldn't just write 'and it was sexy' at the end of something. How old is Marigold, again? Did she graduate high-school? Who, past the age of 16, thinks you can write like that? Honestly, I still know some people who write fanfics (even in their 20's) and none of them would think this sounded legit.
Some things are most easily explained by the hypothesis that it's just a fictional comedy with things exaggerated for comic effect. However, this explanation is too boring for us to accept it just because it's true.
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I guess the type of idiot(who happens to be a fangirl) I'm thinking of is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-crjyRhRkA
Bet you can't get through the whole video (I sure couldn't).
fyp :psyduck:
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You can like someone despite their being a fangirl idiot.
And some people just fuckin' do not know how to write. I have edited for these people--I know. You tell them things, they go and "work on it", they come back with the same shit in a different order with maybe a few small tweaks or more detail here and there. Whatever the problem was, though? Is still there. These people graduated high school with 3.5s at the lowest, and are in their 20s, and they just do not have the chops to do the writing thing, especially not creatively.
I guess the type of idiot(who happens to be a fangirl) I'm thinking of is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-crjyRhRkA
Bet you can't get through the whole video without wanting to punch someone in the face (I sure couldn't).
But Marigold hasn't done any of that yet, so I guess I jumped the gun a little by assuming. Let's hope she'll take some constructive criticism and get better. Otherwise, she will be the type of idiot I don't like. And then I'll be sad.
...The problem I see in this video is someone who does not know when to stop and/or shut the fucking fuck up, which Marigold...doesn't come off as. She seems more like a troubled chick with a very strong fantasy life and a looooooooot of introversion. (And if the anime thing bothers you, that's a matter of opinion; I'm also biased, since my wife has loved everything Japanese-culture since long ago, and I confess I like it all right myself.)
From what we've seen of Mar-bear, she's afraid to even try...
...which ALSO may be reflected in her writing. I mean, it could be that she wants to write some smut, but she has no experience and she's embarrassed, unconsciously.
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Marigolds problem stems from the fact of her nature. Being a socially inept shut in with no real interaction with others makes it difficult for her to have any real frame of reference in order for her to improve her writing. Tai may just be the individual who could change all that with a little patience.
Anything beyond that is up to Jeph.
:-D
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And true to life, she is, I think, a really good, worthwhile person. I like Marigold. But she's got deficiencies.
Me too,
I think the reason I like Marigold is that I recognise many of my own deficiencies in her.
I remember being like that (heck I remember being asked out by a gay guy once and not realising that was what had happened till years later).
One of the good things about QC is that almost everyone has faults, just as in real life. Marigold has more than her fair share, even as a Mari-fan I feel she needs to get a grip sometimes. I hope Jeph lets the character develop a bit.
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I guess the type of idiot(who happens to be a fangirl) I'm thinking of is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-crjyRhRkA
Bet you can't get through the whole video without wanting to punch someone in the face (I sure couldn't).
Meh, it was tolerable.
I have intelligent children. I've lived through much, much worse than that without needing wanting to give punches.
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You know the thing is, it's pretty obvious Marigold is a virgin. I would be surprised if she's done as much as kiss a boy. When I look back at the stuff I used to write when I didn't know about sex... oh it was baaaaad. Because I had no knowledge base for what I was writing. My guess is that Marigold knows next to nothing about sex and has never bothered to enlighten herself. She needs a Hello Kitty vibrator and a copy of The Secret Garden, stat.
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I thought it was noted that her first kiss was with Angus?
I've noticed that people usually have a rebellious phase in high school followed by a hedonistic stage in college. Time and intensity of phases may vary, but people are usually as "grown up" as they'll be after it.
Marigold never really had a rebellious phase where she told the world in some way "I'M HERE IF YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"
Tai meanwhile, is engaged in full throttle hedonism telling the world "I DO WANT I WANT, beeyotch!"
Marigold joining the gang was a step towards maturity, but ironically, Tai teaching Mar-bear to throw caution to the wind would make them both become more mature. Marigold learning to let loose, Tai being able to unwittingly mentor. I really think this pairing (friends or otherwise) is really awesome for both of them.
And let's be honest for so many bisexuals, there hasn't been ONE non-dream lesbian scene. This isn't pandering, this is equality!
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I have intelligent children. I've lived through much, much worse than that without needing wanting to give punches.
Wait, just to get this straight: are you saying intelligent kids have a greater propensity for this annoying-ass behaviour than stupid kids? Because these kids look pretty stupid.
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Yes.
One must be intelligent to be really stupid...
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Then explain Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell.
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Right after reading what happened to this thread, I can be found right next to the genever.
Anyone want some?
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On a different note - anyone else notice that Tai's been in Dora's closet?
The evidence is here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=217). Time to arrest the miscreant and throw her in prison.
Then we can get the "Girls in Prison" arc going - you can thank me for the mental images later.
You know, it wasn't until you said something that I noticed that...
I bet Jeph copied that look after doing all his work with the book and didn't even realize it.
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Some things are most easily explained by the hypothesis that it's just a fictional comedy with things exaggerated for comic effect. However, this explanation is too boring for us to accept it just because it's true.
Quote of the week, right here.
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Then explain Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell.
You just did. ;)
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Some things are most easily explained by the hypothesis that it's just a fictional comedy with things exaggerated for comic effect. However, this explanation is too boring for us to accept it just because it's true.
Quote of the week, right here.
Agreed, that *is* a gem. Sig material, in fact!
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You know the thing is, it's pretty obvious Marigold is a virgin.
Yeah, I agree (with this, and most of the rest of what you wrote... maybe not the Hello Kitty vibrator). You can pretty much imagine what she imagines: they both hug and kiss and rub against each other, with everything soft-focus or pixelated out, and then they both orgasm (at the same time, of course). It just happens. Because. That's sex, right?
(I do give her at least a 50/50 chance of knowing what an orgasm is/feels like, from the, uh, "single-player game.")
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Then explain Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell.
Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell, if given an IQ test, would no doubt score quite highly, probably 140 or higher.
Their problem stems from their inability to emotionally accept facts that they intellectually already know.
This leads to a stressful mental state called cognitive dissonance.
Because they are intelligent, they have a highly developed imagination.
Their cognitive dissonance leads them, and their intelligence allows them, to spin wild stories and conspiracy theories that to a disinterested third party sound really, well, stupid.
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Now I think you just described Nancy Pelosi...
Okay, I think I've been hanging out in the DISCUSS!!! Forum too much now...
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Marigolds problem stems from the fact of her nature. Being a socially inept shut in with no real interaction with others makes it difficult for her to have any real frame of reference in order for her to improve her writing. Tai may just be the individual who could change all that with a little patience.
Anything beyond that is up to Jeph.
:-D
No way. Plenty of social people suck at writing. It's simply a matter of being able to put yourself in the seat of a reader and a writer at the same time. Marigold seems to be a pretty rare case. I think most people who write were probably inspired by someone else they read and probably the way that writer used words to make sense. Marigold apparently reads things without considering how it was written and expects to just brain-barf onto a page and make gold.
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Marigold could learn by doing (IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)
I think Marigold would benefit from life experience in general. The girl is heartbreaking, because she's clearly been bullied into basically inverting on herself and never interacting with people except through the Internet.
And true to life, she is, I think, a really good, worthwhile person. I like Marigold. But she's got deficiencies.
Which is why I've come to really want Tai and Marigold to just fuckin' go for it. Marigold needs to take more chances/have more opportunities presented to her, and even if they turn out bad, like Angus, then at least she's had the experience...
Another vote for Marigold's exploratory and maturational experiences, i.e., ecchi QC!
:wink: Interesting that there are MANY votes in this thread in favor of Mari-Tai doing it, from all genders and orientations... :-P
Fanservice!
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You know the thing is, it's pretty obvious Marigold is a virgin.
Yeah, I agree (with this, and most of the rest of what you wrote... maybe not the Hello Kitty vibrator). You can pretty much imagine what she imagines: they both hug and kiss and rub against each other, with everything soft-focus or pixelated out, and then they both orgasm (at the same time, of course). It just happens. Because. That's sex, right?
(I do give her at least a 50/50 chance of knowing what an orgasm is/feels like, from the, uh, "single-player game.")
I'd say the chances of her knowing what an orgasm feels like are better than 50/50; I'm like Marigold in a lot of ways (but I'm a better writer, I promise), and by the time I'd graduated high school I was pretty adept at the....er.... "single player game" (to use your term, which I like lol).
I'm also sure that having watched/read copious amounts of porn (a lot of yaoi is just porn), and being a college graduate, she knows the mechanics of sex, she's just a crappy writer who can't describe it very sexily.
Having said that, the thing she's probably most ignorant about when it comes to sex is how it feels; emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. Her expectations regarding her first sexual experience are probably ridiculously high.
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I'm also sure that having watched/read copious amounts of porn (a lot of yaoi is just porn), and being a college graduate, she knows the mechanics of sex, she's just a crappy writer who can't describe it very sexily.
I agree.
Which makes me even less convinced of why she wouldn't get 'and they kissed and it was sexy' isn't the way to write things. Usually aspiring fanfic writers mimic other fanfic writers' work (though she could be reading the wrong ones). But so far she's only been writing for herself anyway (I think?), so of course she'd only write what she knows pleases her.
And to reference someone else's post, we know she knows what an orgasm(or at least sexual pleasure) feels like as she was 'dehydrated and masturbating furiously' right after Angus expressed he wasn't interested.
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this may have been discussed already but
prediction for next week: Marigold reveals her lack of romantic and sexual experience, perhaps Tai pulls a Dora (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=564) and smooches her. Or Marigold goes all emo that she's never had romance or sex so in a surprise move ask's Dale out.
and then they all fuck! :mrgreen:
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Her expectations regarding her first sexual experience are probably ridiculously high.
Which is why it should not be with a playa like Tai. Have we ever heard Tai say she loved any of her partners?
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And to reference someone else's post, we know she knows what an orgasm(or at least sexual pleasure) feels like as she was 'dehydrated and masturbating furiously' right after Angus expressed he wasn't interested.
Now there's a question. What if Momo-tan *wasn't* making it up?
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I may have missed someone covering this, but I get the idea many of you critiquing Marigold are forgetting something rather fundamental—I problem I see in, ah, emerging writers all the time. Since Marigold knows the scene is sexy, she thinks others should know that, too. The part she's not getting is that other people reading her words don't understand what they describe in the same way she does. Since it's obvious to her that Harry and Ron kissing is sexy*, it should be obvious to them, too. Put another way, she's laboring under the belief her audience understands her thoughts and reactions in a way that is frankly impossible to them for the simple reason that they are not Marigold.
Once she gets that, then I think Marigold's inexperience will still hinder her, and I agree (as I stated earlier) that I don't think she's reading the best material to teach her how to bridge the gap (Tai's "inevitable clefts" included), but she's got to understand that everyone is not her first.
*Which is more than I can say for myself. Much more. For better or worse, the films have more or less fixed Ron Weasly as Rupert Grint for me, and sexy is simply not one of the adjectives I tend to apply to him. I know he's heartbroken.
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Her expectations regarding her first sexual experience are probably ridiculously high.
Which is why it should not be with a playa like Tai. Have we ever heard Tai say she loved any of her partners?
She had pretty intense feelings for that Bailey girl as evidenced by these two strips: http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=727 and http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=765 . The latter strip kinda carries the implication that Tai originally started being polyamorous as a coping mechanism for being shot down. And as we've seen of late (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1595), she's starting to get tired of the emptiness of emotionless sex.
A bit off topic - I can't figure out how to turn words into links to the comics so I don't have to keep adding lengthy URLs to my posts. Could someone help me? :? Thank you!
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Square bracket, URL=, the URL without the http prefix, close square bracket, link text, square bracket /URL close square bracket.
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And to reference someone else's post, we know she knows what an orgasm(or at least sexual pleasure) feels like as she was 'dehydrated and masturbating furiously' right after Angus expressed he wasn't interested.
Now there's a question. What if Momo-tan *wasn't* making it up?
Somehow, I got the vibe that she wasn't. Though it's an awfully weird thing to do when you're depressed about a boy not liking you...so my 'vibe' is probably off.
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Errgh!
Tai is just so cute and Marigold is just so cute and they both just need some good snugglin' in my opinion! But I think Jeph has done a pretty solid job in establishing kind of a lack of romantic energy between them. So i know it won't happen but dang I just want them
Both to find loves! :roll:
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I can't figure out how to turn words into links
Quote a post that does it, and you'll see.
[url=http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=345]comic 345[/url]
gives:
comic 345 (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=345)
The http:// is actually part of a full URL, and is best included. (I used a trick to make the example visible.)
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Is_it_cold_in_here? and pwhodges, thank you very much! :-)
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Square bracket, URL=, the URL without the http prefix, close square bracket, link text, square bracket /URL close square bracket.
Or, better:
[url=http://putthewebsitenamehere.com]Text you want to link to[/url]
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I may have missed someone covering this, but I get the idea many of you critiquing Marigold are forgetting something rather fundamental—I problem I see in, ah, emerging writers all the time. Since Marigold knows the scene is sexy, she thinks others should know that, too. The part she's not getting is that other people reading her words don't understand what they describe in the same way she does. Since it's obvious to her that Harry and Ron kissing is sexy*, it should be obvious to them, too. Put another way, she's laboring under the belief her audience understands her thoughts and reactions in a way that is frankly impossible to them for the simple reason that they are not Marigold.
Once she gets that, then I think Marigold's inexperience will still hinder her, and I agree (as I stated earlier) that I don't think she's reading the best material to teach her how to bridge the gap (Tai's "inevitable clefts" included), but she's got to understand that everyone is not her first.
*Which is more than I can say for myself. Much more. For better or worse, the films have more or less fixed Ron Weasly as Rupert Grint for me, and sexy is simply not one of the adjectives I tend to apply to him. I know he's heartbroken.
I think I tried to elucidate this earlier in the thread, but you explained it much better and I completely agree. She sees what's going on in her head, and doesn't ralize that the reader can't.
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And then Harry kissed Ron and it was very sexy.
Later on, everybody kisses everybody else! (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=674)
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Awww, you spoiled it!
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I may have missed someone covering this, but I get the idea many of you critiquing Marigold are forgetting something rather fundamental—I problem I see in, ah, emerging writers all the time. Since Marigold knows the scene is sexy, she thinks others should know that, too. The part she's not getting is that other people reading her words don't understand what they describe in the same way she does. Since it's obvious to her that Harry and Ron kissing is sexy*, it should be obvious to them, too. Put another way, she's laboring under the belief her audience understands her thoughts and reactions in a way that is frankly impossible to them for the simple reason that they are not Marigold.
.
I think I tried to elucidate this earlier in the thread, but you explained it much better and I completely agree. She sees what's going on in her head, and doesn't ralize that the reader can't.
I concur. I backed this up earlier with " But so far she's only been writing for herself anyway (I think?), so of course she'd only write what she knows pleases her."
Though I don't completely agree with her inexperience hindering her if she truly wanted to be a good writer. I wrote some racy stuff way back before I'd even *ahem* gotten busy. I also read a lot of fanfics by other writers who I'm pretty sure hadn't done the nasty either. With the help of porn/the Internet/other writers, it was pretty easy to at least feign with writing what it was like (obviously *everyone* comes together, and during you see an elaborate display of fireworks). But on the other hand, I was writing for myself AND other people. I also put my stories out there to be critiqued, so..
If she's only writing for herself, I could see why she writes like this.
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Then there's the whole question of why Tai, presumably an Eng. Lit. grad student, would find JKR's laundry-list-dull writing style appealing in the first place... :evil:
I figured she wrote this when she was younger... most of these fics, at least according to stereotype, are written by high schoolers.
And according to QC, this still is something Tai wouldn't hesitate to write. If you'd ask me. Butts.
Oh noes! I've read through all 1790 comics! D:
Bad feelings. But it sure was fun.
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A bit off topic - I can't figure out how to turn words into links to the comics so I don't have to keep adding lengthy URLs to my posts. Could someone help me? :? Thank you!
Others have answered with the appropriate syntax for creating a link. In terms of the process to achieve it:
- In another window/tab, navigate to the page you want to make the target of the link, and copy its URL
- Return to the forum-post edit-box where you're working up your reply
- Highlight the word you want to make a link (double-click on it works for me). Let's say the word is "fanfiction"
- Click on the Insert Hyperlink button. Your word will then look like this: [url]fanfiction[/url]
- Insert an equal sign after the first "url", thus: [url=]fanfiction[/url]
- Paste the URL of the target page after the equal sign: [url=www.fanfiction.net]fanfiction[/url]
- Click the Preview button to make sure you've got it right.
- Test the link from the Preview to make sure you've linked to the page you intended, and not something embarrassing that was lurking in your clipboard...
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And that's just not fun for anyone.
Are you kidding me? Anyone else want me to pass some popcorn around? I have plenty.
Edit for the new comic: See guys, it wasn't so bad. Gosh. :roll:
Welcome to the forum and may God have mercy on you.
Love your avatar, by the way.
Then again, maybe Tai will slap a ho for being needy and wanting to cuddle and shit, because Tai the Stone Cold Pimp got no TIME for that, she has a LIBRARY TO RUN
Best post in this entire thread.
Hell, I'd put it in the running for best in the forum.
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Since Marigold knows the scene is sexy, she thinks others should know that, too. The part she's not getting is that other people reading her words don't understand what they describe in the same way she does. Since it's obvious to her that Harry and Ron kissing is sexy*, it should be obvious to them, too. Put another way, she's laboring under the belief her audience understands her thoughts and reactions in a way that is frankly impossible to them for the simple reason that they are not Marigold.
Once she gets that, then I think Marigold's inexperience will still hinder her, and I agree (as I stated earlier) that I don't think she's reading the best material to teach her how to bridge the gap (Tai's "inevitable clefts" included), but she's got to understand that everyone is not her first.
Words of wisdom. It is hard work to make the reader see and feel what the author has in mind at the best of times, and erotic fiction carries the additional burden that a scene that turns on one person, squicks another out entirely. Inexperience is a problem, but experience of sex doesn't translate easily into good writing about it either; one assumes that Laurel Hamilton is not a virgin, after all. Either way, it is easy to slide into a hideous combination of tedious mechanical description (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IKEAErotica), and semi-coy purple prose. I nearly included a quotation from a story I wrote at the age of eighteen* as an example, but it would just be too embarrassing...
I believe that reading the work of good authors is fairly essential to learning to write. So far Marigold's reading has seemed to be restricted to JKR (good story-telling, banal prose style), manga (not well-written IMHO especially in translation), and fan-fiction (...). Not promising. Mind you, one needs to read many good authors to avoid the dangers of writing pastiche. I adore Raymond Chandler, but have a dreadful tendency to start mimicking his slightly overwrought descriptive style, without a gramme of his talent.
*A completely original detective/adventure story set in Shanghai circa 1935 featuring a not-at-all self-insert plucky young Chinese heroine, and an American hero who bore no resemblance whatever to a certain fedora-wearing archeologist. Just been rereading it. It's so bad...
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There there, it's okay. *pats* We all have our Old Shame(s).
(And sometimes not even that Old... :oops: )
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On a different note - anyone else notice that Tai's been in Dora's closet?
The evidence is here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=217). Time to arrest the miscreant and throw her in prison.
Then we can get the "Girls in Prison" arc going - you can thank me for the mental images later.
I just peeked back at that strip - the title is "I Have That Sweater". So she hasn't only stolen it from Dora's closet, but she's actually broken down the fourth wall and stolen it from Jeph's closet.
WAY too meta.
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Either that, or he's speaking for the reader - we all have that sweater in our closet...
...and considering the target audience of the early comic, that may well have been the case!
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His target audience were kidnappers? :-D
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His target audience were kidnappers? :-D
(Hands Dliessmgg one Internets)
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Moment of the Week:
Faye catches Marigold reading Slash - 2 (2.9%)
Tai WROTE "Quidditch Field Idyll" - 3 (4.4%)
WILL YOU SIGN MY NETBOOK - 3 (4.4%)
"It's really good though!" - 0 (0%)
Wanna come to dinner? - 1 (1.5%)
Marigold has no idea, does she? - 17 (25%)
Novel Euphemism - 8 (11.8%)
It's got lots of potential! - 0 (0%)
B-but yea, TONS of potential! - 4 (5.9%)
You have to show people WHY it's sexy. - 3 (4.4%)
Ron... and SNAPE... - 15 (22.1%)
I give up. - 12 (17.6%)
Total Voters: 68
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Either that, or he's speaking for the reader - we all have that sweater in our closet...
...and considering the target audience of the early comic, that may well have been the case!
Now Carl, you know that's not true. After all, you had to trade all your pullovers in for cardigans a few years back—it's all part of being a GOM.
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It's all fleece now anyway.
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Tai's explanation of why "And then Harry kissed Ron and it was very sexy" fails as a descriptive sentence sucks. I would've said something more along the lines of...
"One of the major points of fictional writing is description and immersion. There is very little description and immersion to be had in 'and it was very sexy'. To assume that it's obvious that something is sexy is foolhardy due to the fact that this conclusion is dependent upon the reader, whereas more colorful descriptions enhance the experience and mental image. The more vague and presumptuous you become with your writing the more of a failure your writing becomes."
Unfortunately though, that wouldn't have been very funny. I'm pretty sure Jeph chose his dialogue for the potential of teh lulz, not finding a logical explanation as to why Mariogold's choice of words is bland.
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"One of the major points of fictional writing is description and immersion. There is very little description and immersion to be had in 'and it was very sexy'. To assume that it's obvious that something is sexy is foolhardy due to the fact that this conclusion is dependent upon the reader, whereas more colorful descriptions enhance the experience and mental image. The more vague and presumptuous you become with your writing the more of a failure your writing becomes."
If her eyes didn't glaze over first. Part of the issue is, I'm not completely sure that she really wants criticism, or learning, here. I suspect her thoughts might run more along the lines of "OhMyGodTaiWritesFanFicThatILove;I'mGoingToShowHerMine;She'llTellMeIt'sTheBestThingEver;I'mGoingToGetDiscovered;EEEEEEEEE!" She may be looking for some criticism, but I'm not sure that she isn't convinced that her writing is fundamentally sound, and that she "just needs to fix a few little details." Having Tai read it was more of a "getting validation from an author I like" rather than an actual request for criticism. It's easily argued that if she had been looking for true criticism, she could have taken a creative writing class, or asked for some sort of peer review. Then again, peer review might not have been entirely valuable... some of those peer reviewers can be rather vicious and unhelpful...
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Either that, or he's speaking for the reader - we all have that sweater in our closet...
...and considering the target audience of the early comic, that may well have been the case!
Now Carl, you know that's not true. After all, you had to trade all your pullovers in for cardigans a few years back—it's all part of being a GOM.
Not true, my pullover is good thick wool. It's warmer when I'm on the porch yelling at the kids to get off my lawn in the winter.
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I've never had a cardigan, and have no plans to get one (indeed, I recently vetoed my wife's offer to buy one for me).
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On a different note - anyone else notice that Tai's been in Dora's closet?
The evidence is here (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=217). Time to arrest the miscreant and throw her in prison.
Then we can get the "Girls in Prison" arc going - you can thank me for the mental images later.
I just peeked back at that strip - the title is "I Have That Sweater". So she hasn't only stolen it from Dora's closet, but she's actually broken down the fourth wall and stolen it from Jeph's closet.
WAY too meta.
I hate to say this, but Tai's and Dora's sweaters are actually not the same! They have different colours, for a start. The one in #217 has a V neck, the one in #1790 has a round neck. There are other differences I can't name for want of fashion vocabulary, but you get the picture.
I know, I know, that was a stupid thing to de-lurk for. Sorry for butting in.
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Welcome to the minor-points-of-annoyance brigade.
One of my first spasms on the forum was about top hats...
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I've never had a cardigan, and have no plans to get one (indeed, I recently vetoed my wife's offer to buy one for me).
I expect that someday, the hooded sweatshirt with a zipper will be the equivalent of what the cardigan is today.
All the cool young hipsters will be wearing silver v-neck jumpsuits, and us grumpy old men will still be wearing our hoodies, while demanding the immediate withdrawal of offending youth from the grassy area surrounding our domiciles.
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I hate pullovers in general, but I do have an awesomely soft black turtle neck sweater that I just can't hate. I can't do cardigans because they just can't seem to keep there buttons on around me. My sister lives in cardigans. I've seen her sleep in cardigans. Of course, she also sleeps with socks on, so ... you know ... she's weird.
Zipper hoodies are nice. I've made it through Chicago winters with just a zipper hoodie, gloves and ear covers.
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I can't do cardigans because they just can't seem to keep there buttons on around me.
How long have you had this power? And do you use it for good? Or do you go through the mall, cackling as you make various elderly gents a little colder?
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I can't do cardigans because they just can't seem to keep there buttons on around me.
How long have you had this power? And do you use it for good? Or do you go through the mall, cackling as you make various elderly gents a little colder?
And can this power be applyed to other garments?
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I can't do cardigans because they just can't seem to keep there buttons on around me.
How long have you had this power? And do you use it for good? Or do you go through the mall, cackling as you make various elderly gents a little colder?
And can this power be applyed to other garments?
It works on anything with buttons, even jeans.
Sadly, it only works on me.
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Ah. So more of a curse than a power.
Shame it doesn't work on low-buttoned blouses.
I'll retreat into the shadows, now.
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I have longed for telekinetic powers over tube tops. Alas, I have been doomed to a lifetime of disapointment.
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I have longed for telekinetic powers over tube tops. Alas, I have been doomed to a lifetime of disapointment.
Google: Sharking+torrent
Almost as good.
In a creepy stalker sort of way.