9/02/11 - We're slowing down after this one

[Sassy-fras]

I hereby dub this ship... Marshelle. God bless her, and all who sail in her!

Even though I had hoped Marshall and Aggie got back together, Marshelle makes sense to me. I'd like to work on this ship. Any openings for bartending?

Or Stan's.

I thought this too. When I shouldn't have. 'Cause I really like Katy-Ann & Jack being together. *crosses fingers that it's Jack's babies & not Stan's* Although.... If it turns out to be Jack's kids...now I'm wondering how Stan & Lisa worked out?!

Great strip! Can't wait for Monday's!

[mindstalk]

It's actually Jack and Stan's baby, via modern reprotech; K-A was the surrogate and egg donor. :p

Subcultures vary. Out of my college, 22 was the minimum age of marriage, with years and years of cohabitation being more common, and I'm not sure I know anyone my age-ish who had kids before 30, and any exceptions I'm forgetting will be just that, exceptions.

[maritza]

I don't want to rain on Jackie Ann's parade but I don't see Jack's name being mentioned.

It's entirely possible KA married someone else.

[Bardlp]

People bring kids to reunions?

[Mung]

I don't want to rain on Jackie Ann's parade but I don't see Jack's name being mentioned.

It's entirely possible KA married someone else.

I have to disagree, I don't see her having children with anyone else in such a condensed time frame. That toddler has be at least 2 and a half, then only if he's tall for his age. So she was in a relationship where she was willing to give up/scale way back on college for someone (and their kids) a mere three years after the end of the comic. Possible, but highly unlikely given K-A's character.

I also officially approve of Marshelle, but Shelly has to stop idolizing guys. Seriously, we're not that great. Even the best of us can be total dicks sometimes.

Bardlp - I refer you here

[Mec]

I found Aggie!

He's in panel 4 between Katy-Ann and Michelle. Different hair, different body shape, but same black-horizontal-stripe top as always!

[justvisiting]

I also officially approve of Marshelle, but Shelly has to stop idolizing guys. Seriously, we're not that great. Even the best of us can be total dicks sometimes.

I don't want to stomp on potential romantic bliss, but am I the only one who thought Shelly's expression looked more just plain embarrassed than sly or bashful or anything else to indicate that there was something there? Maybe she's about to explain about his wife or boyfriend or thinking "Oh, jeez, they're still under the impression I'm a boy-crazy ditz, aren't they?"

I don't get it, isn't Shelly supposed to be the dumb one?

I forget who, but when Sara and Lucy were talking colleges, someone pointed out that out of all the cast, Michelle probably stood the most to benefit from getting out of the high school mentality and methods of socializing and getting exposed to other ways of being. Looks like that paid off.

[sentora]

Really?
She's blond?

Yes, T recently said in the Q&A thread that blonde's her natural colour. I know, it surprised me too. I'd always assumed she was naturally red-haired, given the facial freckles and especially her telling Jack about all the extra freckles she got in the Sri Lankan sun. But then redheads hardly have a monopoly on that.


On another note, I wonder what exactly we'll find out about Shelly's fortunes (if any) with guys over the last six years. The reason I wonder is that "August" opened with two strips showing Michelle taking an interest in Duane, and in a much more understated way than she fell for Rich and Stan. Then the whole thing was dropped as the rest of the chapter focused, understandably, on Agenny (with a brief Sara/Lucy ship-sinking bit). So...did anything ever come of that, even for just that summer, or through part/all of senior year? Since T pretty much never inserts something front-and-centre without a reason, I figure something must have come of Shell's interest in Duane, even if it was just him letting her down gently.

It's possible that Duane encouraged her current career and we were mistaking admiration for how dedicated he still was to helping Charlotte for infatuation with him. Combined with how she was already doing volunteer work, I could see their conversation in that strip putting her on that path.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if Katy's teasing Michelle about Marshall because falling for a co-worker's 'character' is how she wound up with Duane, and Duane appears next strip to confirm that.

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

KA : And then Marshall explained he was just a volunteer pre-med student?

Shelly: This kid was seven. He didn't want nuances.

I don't get it, isn't Shelly supposed to be the dumb one?

¬.¬

It's been six Septembers. Contrary to what Ron White says, you CAN fix stupid.

It's also good to remember that she's actually never been the "dumb one". In-strip, she's been called "not deep", which is so very much not the same thing as "dumb." For example, the real life "Gabe" of Penny Arcade could be said to be not deep. The real life "Tycho" has pointed out in the commentary for one of the books that the man is actually almost frighteningly intelligent, he just has no interest in proving it to anyone. I suspect Michelle is something of the same way: she knows who she is, what she wants, what she can do, and doesn't *care* what "you" think. ("you" in this case being anyone who might wish to put her down or try to limit or define her in some way that really isn't her.)

Check the expressions. Katy-Ann's giving out some advice that's actually pretty damn solid, and yet only Michelle seems to realize this. Sara and Penny are dismissing it, Brandi seems to be skeptical - and yet, of these five young women, which ones ended up with relationship dramas that five, ten years from now, isn't going to matter to them? For that matter, two of them almost seem to actively seek said pointless drama (Sara, Penny, I'm looking right at you...) I hope the last 6 or so years has given them all time to get over some of the issues we've seen them deal.

[Hexr]

KA : And then Marshall explained he was just a volunteer pre-med student?

Shelly: This kid was seven. He didn't want nuances.

I don't get it, isn't Shelly supposed to be the dumb one?

¬.¬

It's been six Septembers. Contrary to what Ron White says, you CAN fix stupid.

Or, she could have said the same thing to Marshall after taking the picture? Y'know,
S:Wha'd he say?
M: Told me he wants to be a doctor like me.
S:Aww. And you told him you're just a volunteer pre-med student?
M: That kid was seven. He didn't want nuances.

Also,

*snippy*
I also officially approve of Marshelle, but Shelly has to stop idolizing guys. Seriously, we're not that great. Even the best of us are total dicks sometimes.
*cut*

Minor thing, but FTFY.

[maritza]

I thought Shelly was just being as hopelessly romantic as ever, and the rest of them were doing an eye-roll at KA's typical Ask Abby material.

I wouldn't think Shelly is in the "not deep, yet super smart" group. That would be Cyndi. For all her idiotic TMZ talk, she was pretty clever.

Shelly, however, went to ditz to mature really fast, and I meant when she was still in high school.

And when I said "I thought Shelly was the dumb one" I was calling KA dense here.

Cuz I'm mean and she gets on my nerves.

[mindstalk]

Michelle's "not deep" (her therapist) but she also called herself "the slow one" (Brandi not noticing Sara was gay, though to be fair it's more that she noticed change but had a different interpretation). Of course, Brandi's not tops academically herself. Michelle's probably brighter than she thought she was (her alpha was one of the top two test scorers) but yeah, "decent" intelligence and shallow in application.

[Fen]

Err, Michelle wasn't bright, at all. Like, never. I'm too lazy to actually give strip examples, but she has been pointed out to say extremely dumb things repeatedly. However, it can all be blamed on her willingness to stick to stereotypical cliques. If you ask me, the beginning of her story is an exact mirror of her former self(not really understanding what an -ist is so just apologizing beforehand anyway to be sure of it), but instead of continuing to focus on fashion she's gotten dedicated to other things.

So it's kind of silly to say she's smart, but she has gotten better. Either way, she seems to be focusing on better things, and that's a huge improvement right there.

[Cheshire]

Everything about this page made me grin like an idiot. Everything.

But I'll make a list of some things in particular:

-Waltrip did an excellent job on the costumes. I definitely raised an eyebrow at Helen's futuristic outfit from the last page, but these seem much more realistic and also like something that people at a high school reunion would wear. They fit their personalities, but show how they've aged as well.
-Speaking of showing age, I LOVE how Michelle is done here. She's obviously still not the sharpest crayon in the academic drawer ("nationlist or just, y'know, ist"), but she's found her place in life doing something that she loves. I think her use of the word "nuance" shows that growth. But I do like how it's combined with a crush on Marshall, showing that some things will never change.
-Since we're unlikely to see them interact in the strip, I doubt I'll subscribe to "Marshelle." I do love seeing Marshall as a pre-med volunteer though. It was a great way to work him into the strip without having him just show up for no reason. Plus, I was always a fan of Marshall. I'm glad he turned out alright after all.
-Katy-anne's child(ren) really just speaks for itself. No to mention, she just looks so content with her life.
-And lastly, those weird sexy tiptoe legs sprouting from Katy-anne's word balloon in the lower left panel. Lawl!

[zeekoe]

KA : And then Marshall explained he was just a volunteer pre-med student?

Shelly: This kid was seven. He didn't want nuances.

I don't get it, isn't Shelly supposed to be the dumb one?

¬.¬

It's been six Septembers. Contrary to what Ron White says, you CAN fix stupid.

It's also good to remember that she's actually never been the "dumb one". In-strip, she's been called "not deep", which is so very much not the same thing as "dumb." For example, the real life "Gabe" of Penny Arcade could be said to be not deep. The real life "Tycho" has pointed out in the commentary for one of the books that the man is actually almost frighteningly intelligent, he just has no interest in proving it to anyone. I suspect Michelle is something of the same way: she knows who she is, what she wants, what she can do, and doesn't *care* what "you" think. ("you" in this case being anyone who might wish to put her down or try to limit or define her in some way that really isn't her.)

Check the expressions. Katy-Ann's giving out some advice that's actually pretty damn solid, and yet only Michelle seems to realize this. Sara and Penny are dismissing it, Brandi seems to be skeptical - and yet, of these five young women, which ones ended up with relationship dramas that five, ten years from now, isn't going to matter to them? For that matter, two of them almost seem to actively seek said pointless drama (Sara, Penny, I'm looking right at you...) I hope the last 6 or so years has given them all time to get over some of the issues we've seen them deal.

Well, Michelle looks interested in Katy-Ann's advice, but her application in the very next strip is that she should go put the moves on Stan . . . which probably wasn't what Katy meant or a particularly good idea for Michelle's life generally.