9 Jan 12: Accept yourself

[maritza]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean "Lisa and Michelle falling for Stan makes sense" I meant "BRANDI and Michelle"

My bad

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

I think Freemage pretty much nailed it. Upper-level, "conscious" desires, Stan thinks he wants to be a political version of Rich. Lower-level, "unconscious" desires, he really wants to be more like the man that Katy-Ann always saw in Jack. Until he figures this out for himself, he'll keep doing like Helen, and end up with what he thought he wanted, and a taste of ashes in his mouth afterwards.

Also: Uh, wow Lisa, no wonder you and Penny didn't get along at the end there, you've both got the same bad habits when angry.

[Hexr]

this is totally nitpicky of me, but her use of "cool story bro" comes out of nowhere, and kinda doesn't really fit how it's used thematically. i get that we need to see that she speaks in meme speak and is a channer but i feel like that just sort of didn't fit the conversation or the meme itself.

Agreed. To cite its Know Your Meme entry (which jibes with how I've always seen it used):

“Cool Story, Bro” is a popular catchphrase / image macro used as a sarcastic response to to thread posts, trolls and general comments that are deemed boring, pointless or just too long to read.

I read it as an equivalent of "what do I care?" Yes, it's kinda not the intended use of meme, but not too far off.

And it actually ends with kthxbai, except the last part is silent and ends more than the conversation? T continues to squeeze the heart while tickling the irony bone (not to be confused with irony boner, which is something else entirely). This is amazingly heartfelt stuff, one of the best strips in a while.

Sooo... What is irony boner, then? Getting horny... ironically? Or is it like a boner of iron?

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

Just one thing I'm a little lost on. "Sad-Keanu." Is she talking about Keanu Reeves because I thought the trope on him was him being so wooden.

If this is to be believed, it was apparently another meme.

[Trefle]

Oh, so it's not someone really surprising. Okay. But who is this 'last girl you were a boyfriend to'....? Am I missing something or is this just Stan's jokes?
also, kthxbai. Is this perhaps one of the most heartwrenching uses of it?

Lisa, this is not your day.

Stan, it's kind of weird to call someone and be like, "Hey, it's your boyfriend! Mind if I keep calling myself your boyfriend even though you've apparently asked me not to call myself your boyfriend and also pretend to be your not-boyfriend for a while so I can schmooze all over people? "

Just saying!

+1.
Also, I think I read a certain 'whoops' in Lisa's face; you know, after she shot Stan's words back. She doesn't seem to like -LIKE- Stan that much (at least today)?
Stan does sound a bit...wanting, yet also pushing that want away from him. I'd think that if they really go steady, the responsibility on their relationship will be fallen to Lisa....

Talking about meta; it's quite surprising how...we don't necessarily accepted something, but know it's going to happen, so we swallowed the bitter pill. Aaah, Lisa; I sympathize with you this time.

[sun tzu]

Oh, so it's not someone really surprising. Okay. But who is this 'last girl you were a boyfriend to'....?

That would be Brandi.

[Trefle]

Oh, so it's not someone really surprising. Okay. But who is this 'last girl you were a boyfriend to'....?

That would be Brandi.

OH, so it's Stan's. (didn't notice the direction of the speech bubble) Now THAT I know. Thanks!

[phagocyte]

Ughhhhhhh. Have you ever met a person who constantly quotes 4chan in real life, in casual conversation? it's pretty fucking obnoxious. I'm still not sure Lisa's MEANT to be as onoxious as she comes off being.

Eh, Stan made his bed, and I don't feel sorry for him. A person who knew him wouldn't treat a relationship with differently.

[brasca]

I think Freemage pretty much nailed it. Upper-level, "conscious" desires, Stan thinks he wants to be a political version of Rich. Lower-level, "unconscious" desires, he really wants to be more like the man that Katy-Ann always saw in Jack. Until he figures this out for himself, he'll keep doing like Helen, and end up with what he thought he wanted, and a taste of ashes in his mouth afterwards.

Also: Uh, wow Lisa, no wonder you and Penny didn't get along at the end there, you've both got the same bad habits when angry.

Interesting point although I think Stan can cope with his conscious desires and where that takes him more than his unconscious desires. To be brief if Helen put her mind to it she could've been an equal partner with Karen and her gang. The problem was she was on the fence with throwing in her lot completely with people she knew were bad because she was having a good time and being of use as opposed to distancing herself and remaining with a group where she never really fit in. Stan had a similar ethical dilemma which cost him friends, but won the presidency. As such he can bounce back from such consequences time and again as long as Jack doesn't cut ties to him.

[Alice Macher]

Ughhhhhhh. Have you ever met a person who constantly quotes 4chan in real life, in casual conversation? it's pretty fucking obnoxious. I'm still not sure Lisa's MEANT to be as onoxious as she comes off being.

Actually, if you go and read through her dialogue in QUILTBAG thus far, you'll note that, unlike much of her speech in P&A over its last three years or so, she's largely dropped the 4chan-speak. When I asked T about this, he confirmed it was a deliberate choice as she moves into a new social circle.

So my hunch is that what we're seeing in the present strip is her slipping back into old speech patterns when talking with someone she does know from back in high school (and whom, unlike Sara, she hasn't interacted with daily since then), not to mention during an emotionally fraught moment where, as we see in the two silent panels, she's blurting things out without thinking. As people are likely to do under stress.

[strangled]

Ughhhhhhh. Have you ever met a person who constantly quotes 4chan in real life, in casual conversation? it's pretty fucking obnoxious. I'm still not sure Lisa's MEANT to be as onoxious as she comes off being.

Yeah, I had a significant other that would say such things as "cool story, bro" to me in arguments. Needless to say, I wanted to reach through the phone & poke him in the eye a million times. I don't see how spouting memes in a fight can make someone feel anything less than complete eye-crossing irritation.

[Tamar]

As Alice has just pointed out, this is pretty much the first time in QUILTBAG that Lisa's fallen back on speaking that way. So it's going to stand out more.

[NobodySpecial]

Couple thoughts.

1) Hopefully Future-Lisa gets a new filter between brain and mouth, because the old one is shot.

2) Protip for Lisa: If you want to say hurtful things or things that can be taken in a hurtful way, making faces over the phone doesn't make it better. I'm guessing you just lost your pipe cleaner.

3) If you're feeling sad that you lost your pipe cleaner, then he wasn't JUST your pipe cleaner. For future reference.

[Shadrach]

1) Hopefully Future-Lisa gets a new filter between brain and mouth, because the old one is shot.

Sometimes people, when they're in the throes of emotional pain, say things they instantly wish they hadn't. It's called being human.

2) Protip for Lisa: If you want to say hurtful things or things that can be taken in a hurtful way, making faces over the phone doesn't make it better.

She does rather more than just make a face when she regrets what she's said. She apologizes unreservedly in the third panel for what she said in the first, and she tells Stan in the final panel "I accept you." The latter isn't an apology as such (but then frankly, she's pegged Stan's arrogant, self-serving, wants-it-both-ways behaviour to a tee, and thus has nothing to apologize for); however, it's an attempt to end the conversation--which will probably be her last, or close to, with him--on a civil note.

3) If you're feeling sad that you lost your pipe cleaner, then he wasn't JUST your pipe cleaner. For future reference.

Now that statement I think has some validity to it. Others have pointed out the vehement, friendship-risking defence of Stan that Lisa made in "August." That does indeed suggest she had...complicated feelings for him. However, it's clear Stan isn't the one for her. Nor for anyone who wants more than a fuck. (And no, I don't hate Stan. He has his fine qualities, but as far as relationships with women go, he's worth diddley-squat as anything more than a good lay. Lisa will survive quite nicely without him.)

[lilithanat]

In sum: Lisa rules, Stan drools.


Okay, less facetiously, T is most definitely showing here in the comic what he's told in the forum: that Stan will continue throughout his life to make everything all about him and his needs. That's his tragic flaw.

How I wish it were possible for him, in canon, to go on a mystical inner journey, as he did some months ago in the Complete the Sentence thread, where he gets to experience first hand the feelings of the women he's hurt and finally learns to live for others as well as himself. But that's not how things work in the P&Averse, so... Stan mah man, as Aggie said in her last words to you, I hope you're prepared to accept the consequences of your choices.