Revenge of Ask T Questions

[TCampbell]

While the awkward "bitch/bead-ella" thing is completely adorkable, are P&A ever going to get back to the (to my ear anyway) less forced banter of 840 or thereabouts?

I'm not entirely sure if this is a writing critique or not. If it is, all I can say is that I almost always try to let the dialogue flow as naturally as possible.

If it's not, then my answer is that relationships sometimes zigzag but rarely retrace their steps exactly. Penny and Aggie continue to sass each other as recreation now, like they've more or less done from the start, but a Penny who's admitted she's attracted to Aggie-- and now helps pick out some of her clothes-- is not a Penny who can "dress as Aggie" and call it a "Halloween costume." In some ways it is more awkward between them now, in some ways, less. There's less saying what they really mean but less lying to themselves and each other about what they really feel, less of a messy mix of love and hate but more confusion about what's left. Whatever happens from here, they're likely to change some more.

[TCampbell]

Are you going to finish the ending to P&A where aggie was at the door crying?

You'll see Monday!

[xoxi]

How can you say it's outdated? We know nothing about it other than it being a flip phone. And there are flip smartphones. Never mind that on two year contracts it could be a 2009 phone.

I really can't imagine Penny not using a touchscreen.

[belniente]

I really can't imagine Penny not using a touchscreen.

My mom had a flip phone with a touch screen. It was pretty cool, the flip part was clear so it was kind of like a cover for the screen (which actually wasn't that great a touchscreen, but it was nifty none the less).

[mindstalk]

I know this is crazy nerd talk but maybe Penny likes not having a touch keyboard taking up most of the screen. I've got an N900 which has a touchscreen but I always type with the physical keyboard.

[showler]

I really can't imagine Penny not using a touchscreen.

That one is her "parent" phone. Probably not much point in having an expensive phone just for talking to and occasionally texting her parents. Her other phone is probably more elaborate.

[TolKooAD]

I really can't imagine Penny not using a touchscreen.

That one is her "parent" phone. Probably not much point in having an expensive phone just for talking to and occasionally texting her parents. Her other phone is probably more elaborate.

That makes me feel better. Yeah, it's a flip phone, which sort of doesn't necessarily mean it's outdated, but because the design is so simple and there's no keyboard, it sort of makes me think it's an old one, maybe from 2004 or 5. If it's reserved for parental use, though, that makes sense.

[Valerie]

Are you going to finish the ending to P&A where aggie was at the door crying?

You'll see Monday!

HOW COULD YOU!? YOU'RE A MONSTER! ;_; *runs upstairs, slams door, bawws*

No, um, what made you decide to off Finister? Just because, as Penny said, he is getting old for a rat?

[TCampbell]

Are you going to finish the ending to P&A where aggie was at the door crying?

You'll see Monday!

HOW COULD YOU!? YOU'RE A MONSTER! ;_; *runs upstairs, slams door, bawws*

No, um, what made you decide to off Finister? Just because, as Penny said, he is getting old for a rat?

I'll just repeat what I said to a friend about it...

TBH, I was thinking about two things-- the two girls needed a real emotional crisis to push them past the "playing house" that they've been doing (when they're not playing doctor)... and I've been of a mind to look up old characters as the series nears completion, to give them closure where we can. So I got to thinking about Finister, and what he might plausibly get up to at his age, which led me to look up rat lifespans, and suddenly the emotional crisis fell into my lap.

The fact that my parents' household just lost a cat it's had since I was a teenager might have something to do with it, too.

[Valerie]

Are you going to finish the ending to P&A where aggie was at the door crying?

You'll see Monday!

HOW COULD YOU!? YOU'RE A MONSTER! ;_; *runs upstairs, slams door, bawws*

No, um, what made you decide to off Finister? Just because, as Penny said, he is getting old for a rat?

I'll just repeat what I said to a friend about it...

TBH, I was thinking about two things-- the two girls needed a real emotional crisis to push them past the "playing house" that they've been doing (when they're not playing doctor)... and I've been of a mind to look up old characters as the series nears completion, to give them closure where we can. So I got to thinking about Finister, and what he might plausibly get up to at his age, which led me to look up rat lifespans, and suddenly the emotional crisis fell into my lap.

The fact that my parents' household just lost a cat it's had since I was a teenager might have something to do with it, too.

I'm sorry about your cat.

[Ladile]

Just a couple of random questions that occurred to me while reading through the archives recently:

Near the start of Last Summer of Youth, Duane references Helen being in Boston - how is he suddenly aware of this? I can't see Helen feeling like she should bother contacting anyone, so the only thing I can think of is maybe her whereabouts came to be public knowledge during the Missing Person arc as the FBI were eliminating potential suspects.

Since Duane knows where Helen is, I'm assuming that the others do as well and have some idea that she ran away for a reason. If so, does Aggie still hold any ill feelings toward Helen indirectly causing all the trouble with Sara and for being a factor in ruining her friendship/relationship with Marshall (even though she doesn't care about him anymore)?

Finally, during the Popsicle War: Providence in the Fall, we see Karen and Charlotte arguing over which one was to blame for the rape slander video - who actually did suggest it?

Also, I'm sorry about your cat

[TCampbell]

Well, kitty'd lived twenty years: we were pretty much prepared. Apparently a fox got her. I choose to believe that meant a quick hero's death.

You're pretty much right about how Duane knows Helen's whereabouts. Not only the FBI but the press investigated the story, and though events unfolded too quickly for this to become a real issue, the fact that Helen had scuttled off to another town and was a former associate of Cyndi's did raise some eyebrows initially.

Aggie's still not aware of the full story behind Helen's family life. No one really knew all of it: Penny knew it was unhappy but not the extent. That said, Aggie still wouldn't trust Helen any further than she could throw her.

The responsibility for the rape video: there's some to go around, really. Meg put pressure on Karen to "do something about Sara," Karen came up with the basic plan, and Charlotte was the only member of her circle willing to implement it. (Meg and Sam objected not on moral grounds but because neither was comfortable portraying themselves as a victim. Cyndi, still largely acting the part of someone similar to Meg and Karen, claimed the same reason.) Charlotte brought a lot to the role for reasons many have inferred.

[Alice Macher]

In this sequence from "Everybody Loves Duane," I'm not clear as to Penny's and Sara's exact goals, nor as to which of their reactions to Meg are genuine, if any, and which are faked.

To elaborate: I got that Penny and Sara are speaking in stage whispers outside the washroom, and therefore they want someone to overhear them talking about Michelle starting to recover from her eating disorder. But who is that someone? Do they already know Meg's in the washroom and therefore they're trying to entrap her? Or, given the subject of their staged conversation, and given that they know who was mainly responsible for Michelle starving herself, were they hoping word would get back to Cyndi? And when Meg gloats over having snapped them entering the washroom together, are they genuinely surprised and annoyed, or still acting?

(This is for the TV Tropes story recap I'm still working on...)

[showler]

I got that Penny and Sara are speaking in stage whispers outside the washroom, and therefore they want someone to overhear them talking

Are they? I thought the weird look on their faces was because they were trying to talk without being seen to talk. Hence why they jumped into the bathroom so they could talk normally without being seen. Meg did see them, but nothing came of it.

[TCampbell]

In this sequence from "Everybody Loves Duane," I'm not clear as to Penny's and Sara's exact goals, nor as to which of their reactions to Meg are genuine, if any, and which are faked.

To elaborate: I got that Penny and Sara are speaking in stage whispers outside the washroom, and therefore they want someone to overhear them talking about Michelle starting to recover from her eating disorder. But who is that someone? Do they already know Meg's in the washroom and therefore they're trying to entrap her? Or, given the subject of their staged conversation, and given that they know who was mainly responsible for Michelle starving herself, were they hoping word would get back to Cyndi? And when Meg gloats over having snapped them entering the washroom together, are they genuinely surprised and annoyed, or still acting?

(This is for the TV Tropes story recap I'm still working on...)

Gosh, I had no idea this one was going to confuse anybody. Penny and Sara don't want to be seen talking together. Penny tells Sara to cut it out, but Sara won't shut up, so Penny pulls her into the washroom where they're at least less likely to be seen.

Meg surprises them completely by following them in... and then surprises them some more, by letting her superiority complex actually prevent her from doing them any more harm. Penny recognizes that all she has to do to maintain this cease-fire is let Meg tell herself that she's won, and Penny can swallow that much pride considering the stakes.