[25 Mar 11] Let me get you out of those clothes

[Alice Macher]

And yes, both her greater sexual experience, and her generally positive outlook on her prior relationships, puts her in a different place than Aggie, confidence-wise. (Aggie has two past efforts, neither of which functioned in any way to make her more confident; Penny had two, as well, but both of those ended on her terms.)

True of Penny's relationship (such as it was) with Duane, and true of her first breakup with Rich. But remember, the second time they broke up, it wasn't her doing. (The argument they had some time before was partly her fault and partly his, but that ended in a shared joke over Penny talking like him and Rich pleasantly saying he was going out for a drive.) When her parents showed up and Rich saw them, Penny pleaded with him to realize she couldn't have called them, but he wouldn't listen and that was that. Perhaps you were thinking of the bit in "The New Reality" where Rich says to Sara, "Penny made her choice." That's how he assumed it happened, not how it actually did.

Penny cut that out!

Hee hee. I said it in the IRC channel, and I said it in a tweet, so I may as well say it here too:

Penny needs to learn some patience, and in the meantime to invest in a shower attachment.

[mindstalk]

She didn't lose Rich on her terms, but she didn't lose him in a confidence threatening way, either. He didn't dump her, he ran away from her parents.

Penny knows she's hot. Who's ever expressed interest in Aggie that she knows about? Lisa, maybe-ambiguously. Darren was willing but not active. Don't think she knows about Daphne.

No, wait, we saw her turning down boys very early in the comic, so she's been asked out at least. But given what didn't happen, and her personality, it's a far cry from Penny twirling boys around like puppets and having actual relationships.

[bunnyThor]

Just noticed that Aggie felt so awkward in panel three that it knocked the letters right off of her boobs.

[Kamino Neko]

No, wait, we saw her turning down boys very early in the comic, so she's been asked out at least.

In fact, it's implied it happens fairly regularly, though it's a bit unclear if it's always this Tom fellow, or as implied by the last panel, other guys ask her, too.

[Alice Macher]

She didn't lose Rich on her terms, but she didn't lose him in a confidence threatening way, either. He didn't dump her, he ran away from her parents.

Putting it like that, though, would imply he was at all scared of her parents. (Rob did throw in a "Yeah, you better run" after Rich was already headed in the other direction, but given its timing, and Lynda's amused reaction, that was probably more of a response to Lynda having--in his view--questioned his manliness in the previous strip when she laughed at the very possibility of his cheating on her.) His angry look and, as I mentioned, his later claim that "Penny made her choice," suggest that he assumed right off Penny had called her parents there, and so was all "Callin' your ol' man and lady, huh? You can't dump me. I'm dumpin' you."

You're right, though, that that probably wasn't a threat to her confidence as such. Not that she had much of a chance afterward to get back in the game, since she was grounded all summer and, just weeks into the fall semester, fell victim to Charlotte's video. (Her "Did someone spray me with Anti-Love Potion, Number Minus Nine?" thought, after Braz dissed her...that would count as her sexual confidence faltering, because at that point she'd neither seen nor heard about the video.)

[glandy]

If Penny takes Aggie to play dress up and manages to pick out some stuff that Aggie is completely comfortable with yet is a big improvement on what she normally wears it might actually be a quality time exercise rather than something that alienates Aggie.

And the innuendo is maybe a tad early. Hold hands first, you two. BABY STEPS!

[isobel]

If Penny takes Aggie to play dress up and manages to pick out some stuff that Aggie is completely comfortable with yet is a big improvement on what she normally wears it might actually be a quality time exercise rather than something that alienates Aggie.

And the innuendo is maybe a tad early. Hold hands first, you two. BABY STEPS!

Also, it might help them both figure out whether or not there's a future in the romantic side of things. I've known loads of people to have dated friends, realized they were better off as friends, and come out of it with a better friendship. Not saying Penny and Aggie won't date, but that the way they're interacting really reminds me of that kind of situation. Basically, I think they have a lot of good-- or at least not-disastrous-- possibilities ahead. A shopping trip would be a nice place to kick that off.

[NobodySpecial]

Thinking it over for part of a day, Penny might have cause to regret pushing this button this quickly. People who don't have deep relationship histories and little sexual experience tend to get VERY defensive when people start poking at that particular subject. (This applies to me and others I've known in my life. YMMV.) It's doubly irritating when it's a person who's expressing interest in you, because you can never be sure if that person is actually interested in you or is subtly mocking you. This is entirely because people who don't date/hookup tend to be bad at reading/misreading signals. Penny might think she's doing some harmless stuff and Aggie might very well go overboard in her reaction to it. (I'm thnking of her grade at 'being cool with things' still as an incomplete.)

[brasca]

I think Aggie would definitely feel more comfortable if Aggie was trying to get her into bed. This is what she was fretting about before. Being changed into someone she doesn't know. I sympathize. I hated fashion then and now.

[Alice Macher]

I'm trying to think of how Aggie's and Darren's short-lived and not especially genuine relationship sheds light on this situation. I find myself thinking back to it because it was the one time Aggie took the lead and acted with confidence in romantic/sensual matters. (And even then, as people have pointed out here, her flirting was so clumsy and inept that were it not for Darren's passive, go-with-the-flow nature, that ship never would've sailed.) That was in contrast to her thing-that-never-was with Marshall, where she took the Nice Guy approach of "show up where he is, try not to act like too much of a fool, and wait for the magical day when he'll dump Karen and pick me."

Is it possible that, assuming Penny's forwardness doesn't scare her off altogether, Aggie will learn how to be more confident and natural with her, in ways other than snarking? Not that I want either of them to give up the snark. I like the snark, and more importantly, it's clear they do too. However, a relationship isn't one long uninterrupted Marx Brothers routine, and you can't trade zingers very well when your lips are smooshed against each other's, or your tongue is probing...wherever.

Maybe Aggie can learn, as Lia S suggested earlier in this thread, from Lisa. (Back when she was dating Darren, Aggie thought to herself, "Lisa's right. Flirting is easy and fun," suggesting that at some point--presumably during the "sticky, sweet and probably vanilla" stage where Lisa was actually encouraging the relationship, not later when she was all "big sack of eh"--may have given her pointers.) Or maybe she can learn by example from Penny herself. (Actually, that's a better idea; besides the fact that Lisa's apparently not into serious relationships at this point, if Aggie did rely too much on her methods she might end up speaking to Penny as she does in Cerky's "With My Hoo-Hoo" cartoon. )

[Freemage]

First off, I stand corrected on the second Rich break-up, though the point that it wasn't a blow to her confidence (w/ re: attractiveness/sex) still stands.

Is it possible that, assuming Penny's forwardness doesn't scare her off altogether, Aggie will learn how to be more confident and natural with her, in ways other than snarking? Not that I want either of them to give up the snark. I like the snark, and more importantly, it's clear they do too. However, a relationship isn't one long uninterrupted Marx Brothers routine, and you can't trade zingers very well when your lips are smooshed against each other's, or your tongue is probing...wherever.

Earlobes, right?

[Lia S]

Maybe Aggie can learn, as Lia S suggested earlier in this thread, from Lisa. (Back when she was dating Darren, Aggie thought to herself, "Lisa's right. Flirting is easy and fun," suggesting that at some point--presumably during the "sticky, sweet and probably vanilla" stage where Lisa was actually encouraging the relationship, not later when she was all "big sack of eh"--may have given her pointers.) Or maybe she can learn by example from Penny herself. (Actually, that's a better idea; besides the fact that Lisa's apparently not into serious relationships at this point, if Aggie did rely too much on her methods she might end up speaking to Penny as she does in Cerky's "With My Hoo-Hoo" cartoon. )

Learning confidence from the example of someone one feels intimidated by is... difficult. On the other hand, Lisa is so chaotic that Aggie might not always recognize when Lisa says something Serious and Important. Duane is the right kind of friend to talk with about relationships, but since it's about Penny that would be very awkward.

I wonder if Penny and Aggie will be communicating with each other through Fred, while direct "communication" is limited to snark, confusion, and (I hope) kisses. In that case, poor Fred.

[Mec]

There is something to be said for someone who's all "This is what I want, and I don't know if I can get it, but I AM GOING TO FUCKING TRY. *charges ahead*"

Hell yeah.

[Lia S]

Earlobes, right?

Tongue-probing and ears do not combine. It has something to do with the fact there are taste buds on a tongue. Trust me.

EDIT: now the avatar I added today is surprisingly appropriate

[Freemage]

Earlobes, right?

Tongue-probing and ears do not combine. It has something to do with the fact there are taste buds on a tongue. Trust me.

EDIT: now the avatar I added today is surprisingly appropriate

*Snerks* I do recall, back in the days when I got my first serious girlfriend, a just-as-geeky buddy asking the "how far" questions, which included, "Have you learned what ear wax tastes like, yet?"