Author notes
Chapter 3 Page 18
Abt_Nihil onActually names mean a lot to me, despite my basically agreeing with her saying that they're not much else than placeholders for numbers.
But knowing someone's name changes a lot. Like… you can sigh that name on the bus to work on a cloudy day.
While you're at it, please check out Thrones And Dominions!
REPLIES:
Fitz: Why, thank you! Making that panel look "cute" just happened, I guess. I was only concerned with making their pose look somewhat natural. And I'm not too sure what it was you wanted to say but forgot… but bringing up the word "significant" in this context can never be wrong, eh? Sunhra never goes to the bathroom though ;-)
JNP: I think actually handing her the towel might have already been the first step to failure… in any case the twelve before him must have done something different. My thought was that it was her who carved the scratches… like a prisoner in a cell, numbering the years. But that's just my personal interpretation ;-) Glad you appreciate my breaking the panel border! This was something like an anti-Austin-Powers-moment… instead of going out of my way to hide things, I'd go out of my way to show'em. For me that's one of the fun things about this comic. And it IS about sex, so… I probably should be concerned about showing more, not less. / This might actually be the prequel to 40-year-old virgin, considering his age. No telling what might happen within a decade though! Although I'm not quite sure what's to adore about his stance here… you should be afraid, you should all be very afraid! :-) By "girls having it easier" you mean what's said on page 4 about guys having a lower, uh, threshold? / Compare my reply to Fitz: No bumping/grinding in the foreseeable future… but you can always hope.
Jabali: Hah! Yeah, same with me. It may also have to do with the fact that relationships tend to get more shallow as I grow older. As a kid you'd become friends because you're on the same wavelength, but once you've got a job you're more or less just forging alliances. It's tougher to get to know people who are really memorable. And I hope that's not just MY problem.
mmm bacon0: Thanks!
alejkhan: Don't worry, that tub probably survived many generations before her. Not necessarily quite as promiscuous generations. That would require further historic study… As always, I'm learning much more about my own comic by reading readers' interpretations! Like your saying that his looking for an equal exchange stems from a potential inferiority complex. My initial thought was that he harbors the feeling she might forget him sooner than he'd be able to forget her… that she doesn't really care who he is. That she'd take anybody. If that ain't bad for your self esteem, I don't know what is! (Oh, and I'll have to remember the word "notch"… probably more applicable here than "scratch".) Thank you!
JNP (again): I see! Yup, peer pressure certainly is a part of the equation. Although I have to see that by now I've pretty much internalized peer pressure. I don't need peers to pressure myself any longer! ;-) There's a monologue in the next chapter dealing with how both peer pressure and internal reasons play into what I want to depict here, so I'd rather not explain myself at this point. Let me just say I think I know your reasons, meaning I know people who share your reasons, but they're not my own. I think your reasons, as ironically as you might phrase them, are quite rational - and us rational folks just have to live with being laughed at by the not quite so (morally/mentally) gifted bunch! I heard you can protect yourself against STDs and children, though. And cash means nothing to me (- just writing that to get female attention, lol)! Can't see how Al… uh, let's just call her Vic, that sounds female enough XD So, can't see how she would wanna insinuate that every form of chastity (particularly yours) stems from a potential inferiority complex (then again, if she really did want to insinuate that… my hats off to her for coming out on my comic! XD). You should have nothing to fear from her! And I really hope my characters are complex enough not to carry with them some subliminal sort of sexism… if promiscuity is wrong or right, then it is so for good reasons, and while gender/sex may enter into some of those reasons, I certainly wouldn't say that a girl per se should or shouldn't be more or less promiscuous than a guy. But you're right, insofar as that is a common stereotype. All I can say is: I don't think it applies in my peer group… then again, I like my peers to not be sexist ;-) Man… we're touching on some deep-rooted subjects… discussing this is fun, but I'm just so glad I only have to draw a comic and not write a book on all this!
Comments
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Login or RegisterDAJB at
Nice exchange.
Although I strongly suspect that rubber duck knows more than it's letting on!
JustNoPoint at
Heh, I have so many reasons NOT to have intercourse yet. So it's just easy to wonder what is real, or what I am using to just make myself feel better at times. Kinda like your character did a few pages back ;-)
Nah, if I thought that you were trying to just stuff views down my throat I wouldn't like the comic so much. Your experiment just hits home a lot. So if your characters are not complex than I'm probably not either. (heh, I may not be :P)I don't have a problem with promiscuity myself. To each their own. I have HELPED friends "get laid". I don't push my beliefs onto others. That makes people out of tune with different ideas. Sex is a very normal thing, and people that enjoy it should feel free to do so. It's nice to enjoy things ^^
Peer pressure obviously isn't a big factor for me. I have been celibate for almost 28 years. It just kinda gets old though. I figured by now people would be more mature than in school.
My friends all support me. But I live in a bit of a redneck zone where Obama is also thought of as a terrorist in disguise simply because of his race. So work kinda throws me in with ppl I'd rather not be around a lot.
And discussing these "deep-rooted" subjects helps me see more aspects of them. It's not like these issues won't be in my comic. They are relevant to my interest so I get to go through it later as well.
JustNoPoint at
By "girls having it easier" I mostly meant with peer pressure. Though pushy boyfriends could equal it out. Then again I had some pretty pushy girlfriends in my day.
Generally speaking though in society if a girl isn't promiscuous then that's looked at as a positive trait.
Guys can't let other people know about it. I know I wish I wouldn't have let people in real life know I am "waiting". Would be nice to go to work without the virgin and gay jokes :P
alejkhan's comment makes me wonder if my own chastity stems from not wanting to be inferior. Bah, I think at this point I just don't want the STDs, children, and I do want my cash XD
alejkhan at
Notches in a bathtub! Did she carve them with a super futuristic laser? I'd be worried about a huge crack splitting the thing in two. But, I guess the tub has survived 12 interesting encounters, so it's probably pretty sturdy.
The dialog on this page is extra gorgeous. I think it is very interesting that he is looking for an equal exchange (whether it be emotional, physical or both), and that it is a wholly selfish need for equality: just so that he doesn't feel inferior!
Go on man, defeat her with your philosophy!
Jabali at
Hmm… well, all I can say is that I used to be good with names when I was school and college, now… It's more difficult maybe it has to do with the fact that almost anyone I know have an "web alter ego".
JustNoPoint at
So twelve other people handed her a towel? And scratched her tub? Oh dear, is this some of that hidden meaning stuff ;-)
…over and over again…I'm going to attempt and not scare you with my comments this time and just say "LOL… no way the panel border is going to prevent us from strategically not seeing the nipple shot in the 1st panel!" XD
The last lines make me adore this character! Wait, is this leading to a sequel to the 40 year old virgin?
And now the next page comes the double standard of laughing at the guy for being abstinent. Girls have it much easier in that regard (not that any seem to be practicing it in this comic :3)
Fitz at
Awww that top panel is just so damn cute! It distracts me from what I want to say! Something about the inner need to be significant - to FEEL significant for the other person… Something like that. Ich vergesse ;) So let me just say: awwwwwww! Kawaiiiii! ;)
P.S. Any chance for Sunhra and the cowgirls bumping into each other in the bathroom, as well?