Revenge of Ask T Questions

[Valerie]

"Though not all Method actors use the same approach, the 'method' in Method acting usually refers to the practice, advocated by Lee Strasberg, by which actors draw upon their own emotions and memories in their portrayals, aided by a set of exercises and practices including sense memory and affective memory."

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

"Though not all Method actors use the same approach, the 'method' in Method acting usually refers to the practice, advocated by Lee Strasberg, by which actors draw upon their own emotions and memories in their portrayals, aided by a set of exercises and practices including sense memory and affective memory."

And here I thought that meant something else...

[Valerie]

Well, I was kinda wrong, too. I thought it was always that, but apparently it's not. Call it even? <3

[rebochan]

Thanks for the detailed answer there, T. I was a little sad that the cutoff of the comic between the end and the epilog left that wide open.

See you Monday for whatever comes!

[maritza]

Meg and Samantha were highly willing participants in a smear campaign...

So was Stan. Even if he didn't know the plan beforehand, he HAD to know who was behind it. And he was okay with it, because he did nothing about it for a long time.

Also see his smear campaign against Duane and Aggie, both of them actually interested in getting the school presidency to improve the student's lives, and who had, beforehand, never ever harmed Stan in any way.

Also all he lost is a relationship he didn't even care about that much.

[Fen]

Because a social monster like Stan would surely not suffer from becoming an outcast

[snowmansam]

Because a social monster like Stan would surely not suffer from becoming an outcast

I think the key point here is that he suffers at his own hand. He made the choices; he had the opportunity to make different ones. Thus he earns pity (if that) more than sympathy.

[TCampbell]

Tharqa, Charlotte's mother, Samantha, Cyndi, Braz, Meg, and Karen got off too lightly.

Fixed it for you. (to reflect the ones that actually -did- nasty things to other people, and *really* "got off too lightly")

Ehh, did Samantha do much? She just talked a lot. I think she made that poster, though.
Same for Meg. I don't remember Meg doing much.
Cyndi ended up in a mental institution, so it's not like nothing happened...

As for the others, right on.

Meg and Samantha were highly willing participants in a smear campaign, as well as knowing that Cyndi was doing something to Michelle, and they both did nothing to stop her, they probably didn't even...

In fact, that's my question for T, now that I think of it. If you had an itemized list (that crosses either a moral or legal line) of what Karen and her Injustice Gang did to Penny's group, and then Aggie's group, what would it consist of?

And now that I think of it, I would have to reluctantly include Charlotte in that list, too. She may have thought it was "right", but she probably knew deep-down that it wasn't, no matter what lines Karen fed her. (Brandi's exempted because Brandi, as noted, did indeed serve a little time for her assault on Xena.)

Well, let's see here.

1) They encouraged not only underage drinking, but a generally irresponsible party atmosphere, in contrast to Penny's events, which benefited both from her parents' participation and Penny's own control-freak tendencies. I'd sort of shrug this off by saying Penny's parties are really more the exception than the rule, but it is unusual for the irresponsibility to be quite so calculated. Karen and Cyndi made it clear that they cared much more about keeping their parties quietly illicit than about the welfare of even "friends" like Helen. This is the one bad thing Stan did that I can't even try to excuse, and it's in line with his "hey, nobody takes this seriously anyway, right?" attitude in his political campaigns.

2) Relatedly, they made it an attendance requirement to exclude Penny, specifically. Maybe I could let this one go under other circumstances too-- nothing wrong with Penny wanting to exclude Stan or post-Popsicle, pre-Missing Person Cyndi from events. But the whole "vow of e-silence" thing... again, it's the organization of the move that makes it creepy to me.

3) Helen fanned the flames of resentment between Penny and Aggie as long as she could.

4) Cyndi and Samantha, with the others' approval, manipulated Brandi into severely doubting whether Penny was truly her friend.

5) Stan and Cyndi, with the others' general approval, played upon Michelle's insecurities to drive her away from Penny. Now, Stan honestly thought he was doing her a favor with this, so that's a little morally gray in his case, but the others didn't.

6) Cyndi virtually engineered Michelle's eating disorder, transforming her from a thin but healthy girl who joked about "high metabolism" to a nearly skeletal one who read about portion control. The others did not realize the depths of Cyndi's sadism: they knew she was sabotaging her but never imagined that it was in such a permanent way.

7) The group launched a campaign promoting the concept of Sara as a lesbian rapist and Penny's lover. This one is on all of them, astonishingly, except Cyndi. Meg pushed for it, Karen agreed and eventually embraced it rather than lose control of the group, Charlotte and Tharqa shot the video, Samantha made a dumb but snarky poster about it, and even Helen strongly implied she believed it. Cyndi was still busy with Michelle at this point.

The group compounded Penny's humiliation by letting her attend a party when her reputation and emotions were already seriously off-balance.

9) Though it didn't actually cause any damage, the remaining members of the group did plot to humiliate Duane simply because of Samantha and Charlotte's issues, Cyndi's sadism and Karen's desperation to give the group a "project."

[TCampbell]

NnnnI'd have to argue with you on Charlotte. She went through a hell of a lot to end up doing what she did, so you sure as hell can't say she got off lightly, even if you feel she's still responsible for those actions.

I don't think she got off *lightly* - but I am pretty sure she never really got into trouble for that video about Sara.

Again, she very clearly went through some bad things to even be able to do that, especially to do the method acting she clearly did.

That's what makes me sad for her - I don't think that was method. I think she was actually drawing on a personal experience with someone, and just slightly modifying things for the video. Unless I'm off on that one, T?

That's always been the most popular interpretation. I... would rather be a little vague about this one.

[TCampbell]

Because a social monster like Stan would surely not suffer from becoming an outcast

I think the key point here is that he suffers at his own hand. He made the choices; he had the opportunity to make different ones. Thus he earns pity (if that) more than sympathy.

This is a point that I keep trying to make, although it's difficult to make in specific fictional examples. I believe that justice finds its way into the world more often than is easily apparent. I think it's unrealistic for someone like Tharqa to ever have to face up to her specific sins, in court or even in the court of public opinion. The only people in a position to pursue it-- Sara and Charlotte-- cannot do so without dwelling unhealthily on the past, and in Charlotte's case, refusing responsibility for her own actions. But Tharqa will die unloved. Not because of what she's done. But because what she's done makes her who she is.

[istatalnara]

When does the spin off start?

[Jason Waltrip]

Hey, give us a little time, okay?

[Bo Lindbergh]

"us"? So you're involved?

[Doc Harleen]

T, I would first like to thank you for such a fantastic comic. I look forward to Wednesday, and the spin-off, and following whatever other projects you may have. I'd also like to mention how much I loved the blanks that you filled in about Lisa and Stan's relationship - that was just amazing.

I was just wondering - what's Karen doing now? I apologize if this was already answered, but I don't believe I've seen it.

Also, during the Popsicle Wars days, Karen latched on to so many people from Penny and Aggie's school. Did she ever end up with any friends from her own school, or did her unpopularity pre-makeover prevent her from gaining influence?

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

T, were you laughing maniacally when you saw how our reactions kept doing a roller-coaster all over the place?

I've been trying to compose an answer to Zanosuke Kurosaki, but I really don't think I can without giving spoilers. I'll just say that I do like to surprise you, but that's probably obvious.

Well! Now that the strip's done, you can answer this one, yah?