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

[Valerie]

Apologies Val. Am I still in your harem?

Of course, darling. <3

[mindstalk]

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

Not many Europeans on the board I guess. Or none mean enough to go "you need seniority to get only three weeks of vacation?"

Belated International Worker's Day!

[Valerie]

Let's not rub it in.

[JerrBear]

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

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

'cept Santa.

This isn't serious is it? That's meant in jest, right?

[Artemisia]

Let's not rub it in.

Yes, I'd much rather be rubbing lotion into someone special :p

[JerrBear]

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.

Someone may've mention this already (I haven't finished the thread yet), but it could be spray painted block letters. Just an outline of letters I mean.

However, the Ugly may just be graffiti meant for someone else or everyone.

[retrophrenologist]

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

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

'cept Santa.

This isn't serious is it? That's meant in jest, right?

Of course. Everyone knows that Santa is a mean-spirited old lush.

[Artemisia]

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

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

'cept Santa.

This isn't serious is it? That's meant in jest, right?

Of course. Everyone knows that Santa is a mean-spirited old lush.

Yes, he once really effed up the Coca-Cola boardroom and killed a Britney Spears impersonator. . .

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

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

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

'cept Santa.

This isn't serious is it? That's meant in jest, right?

Of course. Everyone knows that Santa is a mean-spirited old lush.

Yes, he once really effed up the Coca-Cola boardroom and killed a Britney Spears impersonator. . .

And that's not even getting into all the Elf's Rights and Reindeer's Rights Violations OSHA keeps having to bring him up on...

[JerrBear]

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

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

'cept Santa.

This isn't serious is it? That's meant in jest, right?

Of course. Everyone knows that Santa is a mean-spirited old lush.

I was asking mainly because it's hard to detect a jesting and/or sarcastic tone online. Unless it's obvious like the jokes above.

I've run into the attitude (the one where people think there's no such thing as being happy and fat) before. It's insulting. For me, the biggest insult is that I have to be unhappy just because I am fat, and due to being fat. My weight has nothing to do with whether I am happy or not.

[Hexr]

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

Not many Europeans on the board I guess. Or none mean enough to go "you need seniority to get only three weeks of vacation?"

Belated International Worker's Day!

Hum. I must've missed this one. Is it too late now?

I was asking mainly because it's hard to detect a jesting and/or sarcastic tone online. Unless it's obvious like the jokes above.

I've run into the attitude (the one where people think there's no such thing as being happy and fat) before. It's insulting. For me, the biggest insult is that I have to be unhappy just because I am fat, and due to being fat. My weight has nothing to do with whether I am happy or not.

Heh, interesting. Now, I can obviously only speak for myself, but while I am quite happy nowadays, I would definitely be happier if I wasn't this overweight, and I was happier when I wasn't this overweight.
I'm not saying your attitude is wrong somehow, quite the contrary. It's just so different from mine.

[Doc Harleen]

Bubbles, oh my gosh, it was like you've read my inner monologue. We should bake cupcake together or go mini golfing sometime. All the laughter will be good laughter. Others are welcome.

Yay! Thank you for my morning squee!

And...

Not many Europeans on the board I guess. Or none mean enough to go "you need seniority to get only three weeks of vacation?"

Yeah, North America (both Canada and the U.S.) are close to the worst in the world for minimum vacation requirements. I think we are second only to Japan, based on a report I read a few years back, but I don't know if anything has changed since.

[Brook]

...I can't tell if Ronnie needs to be hugged or smacked.
Probably both.

Also, my first thought was that he might be a "T" character, or maybe "I?" The hint at body issues gives me that vibe. Or is he gonna be our token cis/straight?

This is what she's referring to, for those of you going WAIT WHAT.

I saw it I took it Ronnie was either a cis woman, or a trans woman who's either not figured out what's "off" yet, or has... And in either case, thinks she can never be "enough of a woman" (for which the "beauty" criterium still is rated scary high), so keeps it to herself and lets people think she's a guy because it's easier on the social rejection nerves. Like you guys, it was the emphasis on "smart", and the insistant nickname preference.

...You don't have to "go out of your way" to look like s/he does here. Just drop all efforts. Long hair takes upkeep; so do most "feminine" outfits.
If you feel that you can't be pretty, then revealing to your environment that you're trying can feel just humiliating. If you give up all attempts, people at least leave you alone. That's not the same as "going out of your way" to look "like a boy" - it can be simply not dressing "like a girl" because you're afraid you can't make it look good. Compare how (in large parts of the world) clothes that can be called "male attire" are closer to "unisex" than anything that would be labeled "female attire".

Also, Bubbles, I know the "I know they're laughing at ME" feeling just all too well. That writing describes it pretty much perfectly. Brrrr.

[Mung]

I was rail thin in HS, but still the "excluded" one. You feel like no one talks to you except to set you up for something, and you want to be included so badly you go along with it anyway. You end up angry at them for doing "it" (because usually you're right about the set up) and angry at yourself for being so needy you couldn't just tell them to f*ck off.
He's probably overweight, because he's depressed, and depression is nothing if not self centered. A narcissist remembers everything good about themselves, and all the times they did something great - or were at least able to grab credit for which they then rewrite in their memory as something they did. A depressive dwells endlessly on their faults and shortcomings to the point of almost not believing that they have redeeming traits. Victories are almost immediately forgotten or credited as occurring IN SPITE of their involvement, and they're just as quickly replaced by something (anything) negative. Every scab - even ancient ones - are constantly picked at 'til they bleed and never allowed to heal. All of this leads to actions/behavior that reinforces their problems. Their lives are one giant negative feedback loop that they just can't see how to break.
I don't think Ronnie is quite to the depths I've described, but he's well on his way, and a course change is unlikely to come without prompting from something outside of him. Even then he might ignore it as another attempt by someone to screw around with him. I do hope T didn't introduce Ronnie just to give his roommate an "A".

[Freemage]

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

Now, now. Not every single plus-sized character of T's is like that. Tharqa and Karen, yes. But then there's Tim from Fans, who's a caring and compassionate guy without being the "jolly" stereotype either. Laura, from Fans Book Six, was OTOH the "jolly plus-sized type," but exaggerated, such that her teammates resented her for being too sunshiney.

1: I'd argue that early Tim was actually pretty unpleasant, even deliberately so--it was part of his effort to gross out people so they couldn't get close enough to hurt him.

2: Laura, for all her cheerfulness, was still 'unpleasant' in the sense that she created an antagonistic response in almost everyone (including the readers, which is the key, here--sometimes a person can be displayed unpleasantly, but still be written in such a way as to be a liked or sympathetic character--see Charlotte). She was arguably the least-liked character among the new cast--the best I can say about her is that her annoyance doesn't seem to be actually related to her weight *.

3: And those are Fans! characters; readers who only know P&A/Quiltbag are, frankly, justified in thinking that the only overweight characters in the P&Averse are unpleasant, because they're the only ones we've ever seen.

Attractive people get diversity and depth. Different races and creeds have both scum and heroes (Sam/Duane, Charlotte/Katy-Ann). But in this setting, if you're fat, you're a generally unlikeable person.

The last time I saw a character who was overweight and genuinely likeable and positively portrayed from the get-go in a T. comic was Sophia--and I don't think he was co-writing CCS when she was introduced then.

*: Actually, this really IS key--other than Laura, all the other overweight characters (Tim, Tharqaa, Karen, and now Ronnie) are primarily portrayed in relation to their appearance. Tim overcomes his self-loathing, but the others all sort of wallow in it, or are controlled by it.