[2 May 12] Tickle each others' brain-stems

[Outshined]

I just had a disturbing realization: extended parallels between My Little Pony FIM and Quiltbag.

Enter Hank as Twilight Sparkle stand-in. Princess Celestia wants him to "make friends" with all the ponies in Ponyville, but after Hank/Sparkle gets to know everyone, he realizes that all these ponies are crazy . Ok, so crazy is an exaggeration, but I have a feeling this won't be the last dorm-member who has some baggage that he/she is dealing with.

By the way, did anyone else think that the dialogue panels in today's strip are a little weird? Usually I read dialogue bubbles left to right (unless I'm reading manga...) and -then- top to bottom. But in this case, you must read the strip, top left, top right, then bottom. The flow of the bubbles is a little off. I wonder if this is a subtle way of implying the awkwardness of the conversation, or perhaps Jade is one of those people that doesn't have good verbal timing (you know, the people that start to talk as soon as you do, then pause, then start talking as soon as you think it's safe to continue, etc).

[Ollie]

Another "obese and unpleasant anti-stereotype?" 'K...

no such thing as a happy fatty, i'll have u kno

'cept Santa.

[Adrishiana]

1) That is kind of an odd request, Jade (and a weird way to explain it). If there's no reason for Lisa not to know it came from Jade, why not just hand it over herself or slip it under her door?
2) Whoa there, Ronnie, simmer down a bit.

In their mutual defenses, I kind of get the impression that:

1) Jade is used to treating everyone very casually and
2) Ronnie has been looked down upon and/or excluded for much of his life, so while he is kind of adding 2+2 and coming up with 5 here, he may have been told for most of his life leading up to college that the answer is indeed 5. The... well, unpleasantness may be a defense mechanism. ("Going to exclude me, are you? I'M EXCLUDING YOU FIRST, SO THERE.")

Of course, who knows, he could be kind of unpleasant JUST BECAUSE.

[Valerie]

I just had a disturbing realization: extended parallels between My Little Pony FIM and Quiltbag.

Enter Hank as Twilight Sparkle stand-in. Princess Celestia wants him to "make friends" with all the ponies in Ponyville, but after Hank/Sparkle gets to know everyone, he realizes that all these ponies are crazy . Ok, so crazy is an exaggeration, but I have a feeling this won't be the last dorm-member who has some baggage that he/she is dealing with.

Lisa is obviously our Pinkie Pie. Sara gives me an Applejack feel, I think. Jules is Fluttershy. That leaves Rarity and Rainbow Dash...

[Artemisia]

I have to say that I don't like Ronnie. I'm sorry, but he really isn't a nice guy.

I beg to differ, I think this is setting up something with him in the near future. If he wasn't a nice guy he wouldn't do that favor for Jade, he would brush her off or tell her off or refuse in a not-so-nice manner. But he didn't do that, he accepted it and vented his frustrations for a second but still did it.

I still don't like him. He's the kind of person I've met before who I usually try very hard to avoid. There's something wrong with him, but he would rather lash out than talk things out.

Buried deep down is the heart of a good person who is a true friend that is devoted to others, and accepting that job of delivering a message to Lisa is part of that personality.

To me and from my own experiences there is a difference between lashing out and venting a frustration. Doing it verbally in a snide manner like that I would call venting, but if he threw in insults and went off on a rant or worse that would be lashing out.

Regarding talking things out...well as was alluded to in the last strip it has been tried by Hank but failed. Ronnie may not know how to or may not be able to open up to others yet.

It's really hard for people like him who probably grew up being put down, ignored, used, abused to open up to anyone who aren't close to them and without the right person to show that they aren't that kind of personality they may unintentionally hurtful to others. Him going to see Lisa, whom we all know to be the anti-everything and probably the most social and inclusive person out there is setting up to be the best possible thing for Ronnie.

I'm probably still not going to like him overly much. I'm not even sure I like Hank very much.

[Otaking]

I don't think the UGLY is actually on the mirror, it's all in his mind.

Spray paint isn't really translucent like that.

Nobodyspecial might be on to something in that Jade is setting Ronnie up as part of...or the butt of...the joke which makes the whole thing make a lot more sense.

We seem to be jumping to judgements based on, um, very little? Very *very* little?

That's what we do here. It's the Sport of Kings..and Queens!

If he wasn't a nice guy he wouldn't do that favor for Jade

I agree with this, being nice increases a person's tendency to get walked on too which is obviously a large part of his makeup.

[mindstalk]

I'm probably still not going to like him overly much. I'm not even sure I like Hank very much.

Is this because they're male?

[Valerie]

I'm probably still not going to like him overly much. I'm not even sure I like Hank very much.

Is this because they're male?

I'll be honest, I also thought of making that joke.
But I assume Art's problem probably doesn't extend to fictional men. I mean, it might, but that seems unlikely.

[Artemisia]

I'm probably still not going to like him overly much. I'm not even sure I like Hank very much.

Is this because they're male?

I'll be honest, I also thought of making that joke.
But I assume Art's problem probably doesn't extend to fictional men. I mean, it might, but that seems unlikely.

Actually, it's sort of because they're both male. Most of the men I know act a lot like those two, and, I don't know, most male behavior seems to involve barriers and that just irritates me a lot.

[Valerie]

So it's because they remind you of Real Life men that you don't like? That makes sense.

I assume by "barriers" you mean things like "MEN HAVE NO EMOTIONS EXCEPT ANGER." Which, yeah, is pretty irritating. One of the ways that guys get screwed over by patriarchy. (Even though crying used to be a sign of INSANE levels of manliness, according to Cracked.)

Anyway, uh, I dunno. There are ladies that do that, too, just probably not as many. Sara before she realized she was gay would be an example, I think.

[Otaking]

So it's because they remind you of Real Life men that you don't like? That makes sense.

I assume by "barriers" you mean things like "MEN HAVE NO EMOTIONS EXCEPT ANGER." Which, yeah, is pretty irritating. One of the ways that guys get screwed over by patriarchy. (Even though crying used to be a sign of INSANE levels of manliness, according to Cracked.)

Anyway, uh, I dunno. There are ladies that do that, too, just probably not as many. Sara before she realized she was gay would be an example, I think.

One of the ways that guys get screwed over by patriarchy.

Sure, the first guy to show weakness at his job is more likely to get passed over for promotion or maybe get the shit jobs handed to them which can lead to getting fired, etc. etc. Thereby jeopardizing those he supports. Vlad Tepes (and this actually is from my wife, not me) was a nice guy by some standards because he did what he did to protect his people and because he was up against a superior force, had to do it through fear. He's regarded as a folk hero in some circles.

Showing emotion in general is a cry for help, a plea for comfort, help comes from others which is a burden to them and most guys like to be the providers not the helped. Action not reaction. Solutions not contemplation or commiseration.

Then there's a completely different level where women generally are unwelcome of certain kinds of attention these days...sexual harassment suits and this and that so there's another set of feelings to keep a lock on.

Some good clean anger is something that can help you get out of bed and deal with all the rest of it instead of getting under the covers and sucking your thumb.

Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies.

[LookingIn]

I'm probably still not going to like him overly much. I'm not even sure I like Hank very much.

Is this because they're male?

I'll be honest, I also thought of making that joke.
But I assume Art's problem probably doesn't extend to fictional men. I mean, it might, but that seems unlikely.

Actually, it's sort of because they're both male. Most of the men I know act a lot like those two, and, I don't know, most male behavior seems to involve barriers and that just irritates me a lot.

What do you mean by barriers? Like seething over their abusive pasts? Trust issues? Problems accepting things at face value?

[Yinello]

Showing emotion in general is a cry for help, a plea for comfort, help comes from others which is a burden to them and most guys like to be the providers not the helped. Action not reaction. Solutions not contemplation or commiseration.

I blame our primal brain for that fact. Men want to be hunters, men can't afford to be social and show their pain and so on. But I feel it's a bit of a burden for men these days. In the workplace where you're asked to sympathize with the people who work for you when they come to you for help, or for socializing with your co-workers, etc. The line of work I'm in is dominated with women because we let ourselves be more open.

I actually know a guy who collapsed from exhaustion because he was constantly trying to cover up his trauma of his mother dying. So I'm on the side of people wishing guys could be more open, perhaps anonymously on the internet if we're taking babysteps.

Maybe we should just hand out hugs to everyone. '

Also I found a slightly relevant comic to your unwelcome attention comment part: http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e228/Takunsan/1255741060740.png

[Otaking]

In the workplace where you're asked to sympathize with the people who work for you when they come to you for help, or for socializing with your co-workers, etc.

In the first case I do that naturally since I enjoy helping people and also I consider it a sign of respect if they ask me for help. As for socializing, where I work is extremely draconian and we do next to none of this or do it in secret as a result.

I actually know a guy who collapsed from exhaustion because he was constantly trying to cover up his trauma of his mother dying. So I'm on the side of people wishing guys could be more open, perhaps anonymously on the internet if we're taking babysteps.

I'm always burning vacation days to take my wife to the hospital because 1) Sick days don't cover the spouse and 2) Unspoken black marks go in your record for taking sick days ...I got an email from one of our (laughably many) presidents congratulating me on not taking any sick days last year. I've taken two FMLA when I was literally at the point where I could not be in two places at once for her surgeries and even then I considered VPN'ing in from the surgical hospital so I could not miss any work. Guys that take FMLA get a bad rap quickly.

In the plus column however I work from home and have three weeks of vacation a year due to seniority.

[Yinello]

In the workplace where you're asked to sympathize with the people who work for you when they come to you for help, or for socializing with your co-workers, etc.

In the first case I do that naturally since I enjoy helping people and also I consider it a sign of respect if they ask me for help. As for socializing, where I work is extremely draconian and we do next to none of this or do it in secret as a result.

I actually know a guy who collapsed from exhaustion because he was constantly trying to cover up his trauma of his mother dying. So I'm on the side of people wishing guys could be more open, perhaps anonymously on the internet if we're taking babysteps.

I'm always burning vacation days to take my wife to the hospital because 1) Sick days don't cover the spouse and 2) Unspoken black marks go in your record for taking sick days ...I got an email from one of our (laughably many) presidents congratulating me on not taking any sick days last year. I've taken two FMLA when I was literally at the point where I could not be in two places at once for her surgeries and even then I considered VPN'ing in from the surgical hospital so I could not miss any work. Guys that take FMLA get a bad rap quickly.

In the plus column however I work from home and have three weeks of vacation a year due to seniority.

*hugs* I don't know much about your life so I feel bad for making assumptions but your work sounds kind of ... mean? Sorry if I offend. I hope the pay is good.

I hope your wife gets better, I truly do.