Revenge of Ask T Questions

[mindstalk]

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...)

...why do you think they're talking in stage whispers and want to be overheard? It seems perfectly straight to me: Sara's concerned about Michelle and not attentive to Penny's secrecy concerns so talks about Michelle, Penny panics and pulls them into the restroom, Meg catches them and gloats, then lets them go, which Sara quietly snarks about.

(ah, scooped by T)

[Alice Macher]

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.

All right. Thank you. To be frank, it was the artwork here that threw me off. Those are rather odd faces Penny and Sara are pulling, and if we look at the discussion thread for that strip (which I did before asking), people seem to be taking those looks as stage whispers, which was my first impression too.

[ukelele]

Are we going to hear what Jack wanted to talk about?

I was also wondering, how is Katie feeling about her sexuality versus her faith lately? She's expressing her desires clearly but they are on the borderline of what christianity considers to be acceptable, if only to hold off a specific sexual act before marriage (as opposed to other sexual acts). Is she going for what feels right and ignoring doctrine or deciding that her choices 'don't count' as going against it? Was her decision to become more physically intimate influenced by her fear that Jack would leave her?

[FarkUp]

...why do you think they're talking in stage whispers and want to be overheard? It seems perfectly straight to me: Sara's concerned about Michelle and not attentive to Penny's secrecy concerns so talks about Michelle, Penny panics and pulls them into the restroom, Meg catches them and gloats, then lets them go, which Sara quietly snarks about.

That is a bad pun and you should feel bad.

[TCampbell]

Are we going to hear what Jack wanted to talk about?

Sort of.

I was also wondering, how is Katie feeling about her sexuality versus her faith lately? She's expressing her desires clearly but they are on the borderline of what christianity considers to be acceptable, if only to hold off a specific sexual act before marriage (as opposed to other sexual acts). Is she going for what feels right and ignoring doctrine or deciding that her choices 'don't count' as going against it? Was her decision to become more physically intimate influenced by her fear that Jack would leave her?

Katy-Ann has always been more about the letter behind the law when it comes to her belief system. "Okay, sex before marriage is wrong. But why is it wrong? What aspects of it are wrong, and how much intimacy can I have without those aspects?" More often than not, this kind of thinking behind the doctrine makes her standards for herself stricter, not looser. Obviously not this time, but this wasn't a position she arrived at without a lot of thought and prayer.

Katy-Ann certainly recognized that she and Jack were in crisis, and that she had to ask some hard questions about what she did and didn't want to do to address that. Now, getting hot and heavy with a guy in order to keep him is not often recommended. But if the only problems in the relationship are sexual or stemming from sexual issues, that is a bit different. The emotional nakedness that Katy-Ann is talking about, along with Jack's Lisa-inspired desire to see "the real her," is working strongly in their favor.

[bunnyThor]

but this wasn't a position she arrived at without a lot of thought and prayer.

"So Katy-Ann did pray. And the LORD spoke to her, and He did say, "Go forth, Katy-Ann, and straddle one of Jack's legs, for this will give him dominion over thy breast and let him venture forth into thy promised land." And Katy-Ann did assume this position. And the LORD saw that it was good."

[mindstalk]

You mean she cares more about the spirit of the law, T?

[TCampbell]

You mean she cares more about the spirit of the law, T?

Yeah. Very much so. She's not oblivious to people who quote one particular line of scripture, and use it to justify positions that she feels would be offensive to Jesus.

[Alice Macher]

Has Aggie tried her hand yet at drawing Penny?

[TCampbell]

Has Aggie tried her hand yet at drawing Penny?

Light sketches from photographs, nothing like that scene in Titanic.

[Valerie]

Has Aggie tried her hand yet at drawing Penny?

Light sketches from photographs, nothing like that scene in Titanic.

I demand fanart of this, you fan-artisty people.

[Bo Lindbergh]

Has Aggie tried her hand yet at drawing Penny?

Light sketches from photographs, nothing like that scene in Titanic.

I demand fanart of this, you fan-artisty people.

Of which part, the photography or the sketching?

[FlyingFish]

Has Aggie tried her hand yet at drawing Penny?

Light sketches from photographs, nothing like that scene in Titanic.

I demand fanart of this, you fan-artisty people.

Of which part, the photography or the sketching?

And then Lisa shows up to belt out "My Heart Will Go On" just to be a nuisance...

[Alice Macher]

In the last strip of ": - )", Duane's IRC screen name is "DisDisGuy." Is that a reference to something in particular?

[TCampbell]

Actually it's "DIsDisGuy," or "D Is Dis Guy." More of Duane's alphabet obsession at work, and a little fun with puns which is also very Duane. Improper spelling and pronunciation is more unusual for him but not unheard of.