Revenge of Ask T Questions

[TCampbell]

It's something that concerns me to be sure, and I think concerns the people I work with, too. There's a whole sequence in Penny and Aggie that was essentially generated by our frustration that people were confusing Sara with Karen. You'll note the two diverged stylistically after that. Fans characters are notably different in body type and facial designs. But this kind of thing is a lot tougher than it sounds like and a bunch of factors come into play. One reason I very rarely ask for super-tight close-ups in Fans is that the style makes many of the eyes look very similar (not all, but many).

[Captain LeBubbles]

Well to be fair, it's a bit unrealistic to expect no resemblance whatsoever from a group of people (and more similarities the more people there are). At one point, I and three of my closest friends had waist-length, straight hair, and three of us brunettes. In a webcomic, our artist would be criticized for not being able to draw us with more variation, but that's just how it worked out. Fictional worlds feel a lot more realistic when there's similarities between unrelated characters- but such similarities it always helps to ask, since coincidence is the driving force of fiction.

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

I want to make sure I have the Michelle thing straight (since we're discussing it in one of the threads). She and her father were close, but then he changed to a job that meant less money and a bit less time with her, and even though she had some new friends to spend time with, she felt like he had pulled away from her and didn't quite understand this change? And she didn't much care for his new job anyway, beyond the fact that it was something he was passionate about. Is there anything I'm missing or have left out (beyond the whole "starving herself over something she rather misinterpreted on a couple of levels")?

[mindstalk]

Well to be fair, it's a bit unrealistic to expect no resemblance whatsoever from a group of people (and more similarities the more people there are). At one point, I and three of my closest friends had waist-length, straight hair, and three of us brunettes. In a webcomic, our artist would be criticized for not being able to draw us with more variation, but that's just how it worked out. Fictional worlds feel a lot more realistic when there's similarities between unrelated characters- but such similarities it always helps to ask, since coincidence is the driving force of fiction.

Reality is unrealistic. :p

http://squid314.livejournal.com/275614.html
(down to the History Channel)

[Captain LeBubbles]

Well to be fair, it's a bit unrealistic to expect no resemblance whatsoever from a group of people (and more similarities the more people there are). At one point, I and three of my closest friends had waist-length, straight hair, and three of us brunettes. In a webcomic, our artist would be criticized for not being able to draw us with more variation, but that's just how it worked out. Fictional worlds feel a lot more realistic when there's similarities between unrelated characters- but such similarities it always helps to ask, since coincidence is the driving force of fiction.

Reality is unrealistic. :p

http://squid314.livejournal.com/275614.html
(down to the History Channel)

World War II is vastly implausible. Apparently there was also this guy who responded to Nazi propaganda being played toward him and the others by playing a Jewish singer back at them, and then lived to become some hugely successful writer/director or something. Come on, writers, lets have a little plausibility!

[Alice Macher]

Back to asking T questions:

How did Braz cope with Cyndi's abrupt disappearance from his life, considering the way she'd wrapped the once-confident jock around her finger?

[TCampbell]

I want to make sure I have the Michelle thing straight (since we're discussing it in one of the threads). She and her father were close, but then he changed to a job that meant less money and a bit less time with her, and even though she had some new friends to spend time with, she felt like he had pulled away from her and didn't quite understand this change? And she didn't much care for his new job anyway, beyond the fact that it was something he was passionate about. Is there anything I'm missing or have left out (beyond the whole "starving herself over something she rather misinterpreted on a couple of levels")?

This "job that meant less money" also meant that Michelle's lifestyle became less comfortable than that of her friends', to the point where they started noticing her recycling clothes more often than they did. This meant a dull, constant throb of embarrassment for her. And while Michelle may have needed her dad's company less often since starting to spend time with Penny and co., she still felt the need for it sometimes, and mentally he wasn't there-- he'd do things with her when prodded but his focus remained on his work. These things matter to teenagers. To be honest, they usually matter to adults.

[TCampbell]

Back to asking T questions:

How did Braz cope with Cyndi's abrupt disappearance from his life, considering the way she'd wrapped the once-confident jock around her finger?

Braz learned enough to realize that at least he wasn't the only person Cyndi had consistently outwitted and manipulated, which made him feel at least a bit better about the whole thing. He retreated for a while to the more easily-understood world of sports, jocked his way through college and ended up in car sales. He never married.

[Trefle]

Given that the focus on QUILTBAG is on Iseul (and Theo) now; I wonder, how do the cast of P&A (or Penny and co. at least?) think about them? What were they look like from the outside?

[TCampbell]

Given that the focus on QUILTBAG is on Iseul (and Theo) now; I wonder, how do the cast of P&A (or Penny and co. at least?) think about them? What were they look like from the outside?

Well, lots of them never formed much of an impression beyond what Sara chose to say about them, which was not too favorable, especially prior to her coming out. After she accepted her own sexual nature, her relationship with them mellowed and her friends' impressions followed that lead.

Daphne, for all her difficulties accepting Penny, made a heroic effort to build an understanding relationship with "the parents," with modest success. In an unguarded moment, Iseul admitted that, despite everything, Daphne might be "good practice in certain ways."

Post-coming-out, I'd say that the general impression was that Iseul was a loving but aggravating busybody who never admitted losing an argument, and Theo was a loving but fairly clueless dude. Daphne understood Theo a bit better, realizing that it's one thing to know what your daughter may be going through and another to feel able to speak about it (and, by that, we're talking about more than just orientation).

[Fen]

Post P&A shipping what-ifs!

How would Duane&Shelly's relationship have gone, had there not been a Charlotte getting in the way of the development?
Also, if post-time-skip Michelle would date post-time-skip Marshall, how would that go?
If everyone's gaydar was on the money with Stan being potentially bi and starting a relationship with Fred, would it have worked out?
And, if it were not for Katy-Ann realizing it and fixing the problem, how would have Jack&Brandi developed?

[TCampbell]

Post P&A shipping what-ifs!

How would Duane&Shelly's relationship have gone, had there not been a Charlotte getting in the way of the development?
Also, if post-time-skip Michelle would date post-time-skip Marshall, how would that go?
If everyone's gaydar was on the money with Stan being potentially bi and starting a relationship with Fred, would it have worked out?
And, if it were not for Katy-Ann realizing it and fixing the problem, how would have Jack&Brandi developed?

There was always some potential for Duane and Shelly. I'm not sure Charlotte didn't actually increase the odds, as she forced Duane to grow up some and be more proactive in his personal interactions. If they had hooked up, it would have gone best as a fling: they don't really enjoy enough of the same things to form the kind of partnership that lasts. Hopefully they could build each other's sexual confidence a bit, though.

Michelle and Marshall, post-time-skip, are a reasonably good prospect.

Hell no. Fred probably wouldn't even let it get off the ground: he has too much self-esteem to settle for Stan even if Stan's the only prospect he has. Some tipsy hookup would fizzle quickly.

Jack and Brandi, in the short term, would have had an extremely gratifying physical relationship. Eventually the same problems Jack had with Katy-Ann would've kicked in ("Am I good enough for her, am I changin' her"), and I'd say they'd have a 50-50 shot at dealing with them-- Brandi's not as deep as Katy, but Jack would've had enough experience to realize "hey, this is the same kinda issue I had before." Katy-Ann herself, had she recovered sufficiently, would probably be able to help them work through it.

[Fen]

Wait, didn't Fred hit on Stan that one time? Why wouldn't he "settle" for Stan?

[Freemage]

Wait, didn't Fred hit on Stan that one time? Why wouldn't he "settle" for Stan?

Gonna take a stab at it:

1: This was before The Alliance. That means that at that point, Fred and Stand didn't really know one another; Fred only knew him from the Class Prez campaign (the first one), and it's likely most of the campus just regarded the whole thing as a lark--no one knew about Stan's Big Plan then.

2: Fred was at least tipsy at the party--T.'s answer did allow for a 'drunken hookup' occurring, just one that would've ended as soon as dawn broke.

3: Stan's own "worst side" hadn't come out then, either.

[TCampbell]

Wait, didn't Fred hit on Stan that one time? Why wouldn't he "settle" for Stan?

Gonna take a stab at it:

1: This was before The Alliance. That means that at that point, Fred and Stand didn't really know one another; Fred only knew him from the Class Prez campaign (the first one), and it's likely most of the campus just regarded the whole thing as a lark--no one knew about Stan's Big Plan then.

2: Fred was at least tipsy at the party--T.'s answer did allow for a 'drunken hookup' occurring, just one that would've ended as soon as dawn broke.

3: Stan's own "worst side" hadn't come out then, either.

Pretty much, yeah.