[26 Oct 11] Ducking

[oddtail]

I can imagine T's thought process on this one. "Hmm. How can I make whatever Lisa does to be more annoying than anything she's ever done?". And the attempt is fairly successful, too.

I dunno, I *want* to like Lisa as a character. But even when another character lampshades how unfunny she is... my only hope is for character development, but given how much I liked Lisa when she first talked to Aggie, this is probably not an overly realistic expectation. I'll settle for hoping there will be as many scenes as possible where Lisa is not present.

[SolitareLee]

It's kind of deliciously hilarious for me, personally, to have Lisa be one of the main characters for T's new comic when she was the target of soooo much rage in P&A.

YOU CANNOT ESCAPE HER. XD

Edit: I just realized I've been reading every post in every thread on this site for years but have barely posted at all... Dear god, I'm a stalker. ;-; I'll try to post more for the new comic.

[Falaris]

Me likes.

[Azrael44]

Ah, the Alpha display to establish the room-mate hierarchy complete. Apparently Sara's the boss.

[lokisdottir]

Edit: not worth it, just blocking you instead. I love you, new forum. <3

Woo-hoo! Thanks for mentioning this, I didn't know the forum had a block function.

[Pumblenuts]

Lisa looks great in tonight's art, especially panel 4. I like it.

Duckin' A!

[CJ]

I'm really out of the loop when it comes to these trends. I heard of owling on the season premiere of the Office, but thought they were just making it up.

Planking (the original).

Owling.

Duckface.

Give people the internet and they are bound to make fools of themselves.

Does it make sense?
Nope.

[Lia S]

Lisa is definitely ready to read the Principia Discordia and understand it. I was reminded of this page.

[Muttley]

Duckface is Anna Chancellor's character Henrietta from Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Pouting on the internet doesn't deserve dignifying with any formal description.

[Alice Macher]

Lisa is definitely ready to read the Principia Discordia and understand it.

If I didn't know any better, I'd have guessed she wrote it.

[Shadrach]

I can imagine T's thought process on this one. "Hmm. How can I make whatever Lisa does to be more annoying than anything she's ever done?". And the attempt is fairly successful, too.

Heh. Annoyingness is indeed one of her chief traits. Whether one finds it endearing or aggravating is of course a "To each one's own" thing.

But yes, I think T was deliberately going over the top here, and that there's a practical reason for it. Although most of the audience for Quiltbag is, and will be, Penny and Aggie readers, there's also the need, from a marketing perspective, to make the comic accessible to those new to the 'verse.* There are two ways to do that. One is exposition, which we've gotten with Sara's monologue in the first three strips. And which works for her because she's the introspective type.

The other is an establishing character moment, i.e. showing through the character's behaviour what sort of person she is. Which is an apt choice for Lisa because she isn't especially given to introspection. She just acts. Often, indeed, without thinking. Of course, the downside of that approach is that, unlike with an expository monologue, the new reader can only see a limited aspect of her at a time. So in this strip, the new reader gets right away that she's quirky and gregarious, and proud of it; also that her friend finds her annoying at times but likes her despite that. New readers don't yet get to see her compassionate, passionately loyal, or cut-to-the-chase-advice aspects. They will.


* Many, if not most, of whom aren't visitors to the forum and may in some cases never be, and thus "It's all in the manual, er, forum" isn't the best approach to getting them up to speed.

[Adrishiana]

Edit: not worth it, just blocking you instead. I love you, new forum. <3

Woo-hoo! Thanks for mentioning this, I didn't know the forum had a block function.

Sure thing! (For anyone curious, you just click on the person's name, which takes you to the person's profile. Click "add foe." Tada.)

[CBrachyrhynchos]

The other is an establishing character moment, i.e. showing through the character's behaviour what sort of person she is. Which is an apt choice for Lisa because she isn't especially given to introspection. She just acts. Often, indeed, without thinking. Of course, the downside of that approach is that, unlike with an expository monologue, the new reader can only see a limited aspect of her at a time. So in this strip, the new reader gets right away that she's quirky and gregarious, and proud of it; also that her friend finds her annoying at times but likes her despite that. New readers don't yet get to see her compassionate, passionately loyal, or cut-to-the-chase-advice aspects. They will.

Also, since we have a third-person limited narrative, we're given as much about Sara's perceptions of Lisa as Lisa's actual behavior.

[Alice Macher]

True, although this is pretty much par for the course for Lisa, as we've seen in her many appearances in arcs where there's no narration at all. Aggie's her best friend and she sometimes finds her irritating. It's just that that liking someone overall, and finding them annoying at times, aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

[Lia S]

Lisa is definitely ready to read the Principia Discordia and understand it.

If I didn't know any better, I'd have guessed she wrote it.

Which is one reason I love Lisa. Although she seems to be moving towards pure randomness whereas the Principia Discordia makes sense. On the other hand, "wisdom hidden behind silliness" is a good description of both. Time to ask T a question...