El Goonish Shive II - I stand by my ridiculous comic

[Hytheter]

If he is then it's another possible pairing for Justin.

Another? What are the others?

[Silva Stormrage]

Another? What are the others?

Ah well there is one other that isn't confirmed but it seems likely that George is also gay based on his reaction with Elliot and in the Summer Moments. So I guess that would be two total possibilities.

[Weimann]

He might be gay, sure. He does take offence to the derogatory use of the word (not that you'd have to be gay to do that), and I can't help but note that "fairy" is another derogatory for a homosexual male. Still, of course we can't know that.

[Randomguy]

Another? What are the others?

Remember how not too long ago many of the new characters talking to Sarah after her appearance on the review show turned out to be gay? There are now plenty of people with compatible gender and orientation. Of course, they are minor characters, but so was Ashley until "Identity".

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Yes, poor Justin really needs his gaydar checked, because it does seem like there are plenty of non-closeted gay men he could at least approach. Although, admittedly, it has been some time since his "if I ever meet another gay guy" comment. Since his complaint is "I gotta get myself a boyfriend", he may have now found the other openly gay guys of his environment, and not found a match.

I still think we are being led to a Justin/Noah pairing, mind you. I don't like it all that much at this time, but I do expect it to happen.

Grey Wolf

[Dusk Eclipse]

Ah well there is one other that isn't confirmed but it seems likely that George is also gay based on his reaction with Elliot and in the Summer Moments. So I guess that would be two total possibilities.

I dunno, if you are referring to the summer moment in the movies it seem more like surprise to me, but I guess it could be interpreted that way.

Doesn't Justin go to school with Nanase, Ellen and Grace? Perhaps there are less gay males in his school than in the school the others attend.

[Silva Stormrage]

Yes, poor Justin really needs his gaydar checked, because it does seem like there are plenty of non-closeted gay men he could at least approach. Although, admittedly, it has been some time since his "if I ever meet another gay guy" comment. Since his complaint is "I gotta get myself a boyfriend", he may have now found the other openly gay guys of his environment, and not found a match.

I still think we are being led to a Justin/Noah pairing, mind you. I don't like it all that much at this time, but I do expect it to happen.

Grey Wolf

Noah really? Is there any such hints that he is gay or even bisexual?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Noah really? Is there any such hints that he is gay or even bisexual?

He's friends with benefits to a girl he is not attracted to, much in the same way Nanase was to Elliot. Other than that non-clue, we know nothing about his sexuality, so all options are on the table and equiprobable. Given the weird triangle of affection between him, Justin and Justin's ex (sorry, no time to look up her name), it seems a reasonable development.

As to your broader argument, point taken. I may have spent too much time in fandoms were canonical sexual orientations is at best a minor impediment to OTPs (HP & AtlA). (In fact, I know I have spent too much time, but I have always tried to stay away from that half of the fandom)

Grey Wolf

[Randomguy]

He's friends with benefits to a girl he is not attracted to, much in the same way Nanase was to Elliot.

When is it ever said he's not attracted to her? They "provide close comfort and pleasure for each other". That sure sounds like attraction to me.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

When is it ever said he's not attracted to her? They "provide close comfort and pleasure for each other". That sure sounds like attraction to me.

No, that does not sound like attraction. Deep friendship: yes. Attraction: not.

Full context:

In fairness, she is not really my "girlfriend". Our friendship is serious, but our relationship is not. She is openly in love with someone else, but we provide comfort and pleasure for each other

Nothing in that phrase suggests he is anything other than a good friend for her - indeed, he very much outright admits the relationship is not a real thing. Comfort and pleasure indicate very good friendship, but nothing he says indicates he is the least bit attracted to her.

Grey Wolf

[Hytheter]

Remember how not too long ago many of the new characters talking to Sarah after her appearance on the review show turned out to be gay? There are now plenty of people with compatible gender and orientation. Of course, they are minor characters, but so was Ashley until "Identity".

I forgot about those. But they are way minor characters, and Justin wouldn't have met them since they go to different schools.

[Randomguy]

Comfort and pleasure indicate very good friendship, but nothing he says indicates he is the least bit attracted to her.

Depends on your interpretation, I suppose. I'm interpreting "pleasure" to be physical pleasure, i.e. the "benefits" parts of "friends with benefits", which would imply attraction.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I forgot about those. But they are way minor characters, and Justin wouldn't have met them since they go to different schools.

It's not that big a town, and Justin does work in the Geek Culture Center - chances are, he has met them, if they are at all interested in geek stuff (which IIRC some of them did).

Depends on your interpretation, I suppose. I'm interpreting "pleasure" to be physical pleasure, i.e. the "benefits" parts of "friends with benefits", which would imply attraction.

No, it really doesn't. A prostitute gives you pleasure without attraction. Hugging and cuddling provide pleasure without attraction. And closeted gay guys manage to give pleasure to girls they are going out without ever being attracted to them - indeed, Nanase, the person I originally paralleled Noah to, gave Elliot plenty of pleasure without even a smidgeon of attraction. Nothing in Noah's words suggests, in short, that she is attracted to his "girlfriend".

Do not conflate attraction, pleasure and friendship. Lucky people get all three from the same individual, but it doesn't have to be the case.

Grey Wolf

[Mewtarthio]

Is there any evidence that he's not attracted to her (aside from his general lack of affect)? More importantly, is there any evidence that he is attracted to guys, since he could just be asexual?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Is there any evidence that he's not attracted to her (aside from his general lack of affect)?

Proving a negative is impossible. You might as well ask for evidence that Verres is not attracted to Dr. Germann.

More importantly, is there any evidence that he is attracted to guys, since he could just be asexual?

No, which I already admitted to here. But circumstantial literary tropes point that he might be gay. For example, he was introduced as a real character roughly at the time Justin started complaining about lack of boyfriends, amongst other "clues" (that might be misdirections, or reading too much).

Bottom line: we don't know what his sexual orientation is. He has already interacted with Justin a bunch of times, due to their common (ex)friend. there is a basis for them to become friends, and thus maybe more than that. It is not impeded by either sexual orientation, as far as canon is concerned. The only point against it is that Noah looks very feminine, which we know Justin is not attracted to.

Grey Wolf

[Landis963]

Sarah, repeat to yourself this simple mantra: "It dies to removal. It dies to removal. It dies to removal."

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Sarah, repeat to yourself this simple mantra: "It dies to removal. It dies to removal. It dies to removal.

Help me out here in my M:tG ignorance, but why is that so important? Fat lot of good it does to you if you can't kill it. Or is this more of a silver lining kind of thing?

GW

[Landis963]

Help me out here in my M:tG ignorance, but why is that so important? Fat lot of good it does to you if you can't kill it. Or is this more of a silver lining kind of thing?

GW

Silver Lining, really. (If you can't kill it in combat, you need to pray for removal). Also, "removal" can refer to all sorts of spells. "Destroy" effects, Bounce effects ("Return target creature to its owner's hand."), Deal X damage effects, remove from the game ("exile") effects. The one common themes are that a) they're usually spells that don't summon creatures or enchant things (There are some white enchantments that lock down creatures such that they can be called "removal", but Sarah's in the wrong colors for those, with green/red werewolves and black vampires) and b) the creature is removed from or unable to participate in combat in some form.

EDIT: The "It dies to removal" slogan, as touched upon with Justin's and Tensaided's duel way back in the day, refers to the fact that a creature has no inherent protection from destroy, bounce, or exile effects. Which can be a real problem for creatures, especially those with swingy effects that are attached to an otherwise fragile body. "That Thing" has no rules text outlining any mechanics that would otherwise shield it from removal. (Or, you know, any rules text at all, but that's artistic license.)

[Dusk Eclipse]

Correct me if I'm wrong (which I'm probably am) but isn't there a lot of variance in the decks for a sealed type tournament? If they are all using cards from the same pack shouldn't there be a lot more "Dark" creatures? I mean Luke has a blue deck (I thought faries were green ), Sarah had a Black/Green deck and George's Dragon looks like it should be a red card.

Disclaimer: I know it isn't M:tG, but it bugs me a little.

[Forrestfire]

Correct me if I'm wrong (which I'm probably am) but isn't there a lot of variance in the decks for a sealed type tournament? If they are all using cards from the same pack shouldn't there be a lot more "Dark" creatures? I mean Luke has a blue deck (I thought faries were green ), Sarah had a Black/Green deck and George's Dragon looks like it should be a red card.

Disclaimer: I know it isn't M:tG, but it bugs me a little.

I think they're playing Sealed, which is each person having six packs. You end up having 84 cards to use to build a 40 card deck. Your deck's only going to have 23 nonlands most of the time, so even if you get the colors perfectly split, you can run mostly one color and a little of another, and if you don't get colors perfectly split, you're likely to have enough to run a mono-colored deck.

Even if they're drafting, it's generally done in pods of eight people (three packs each), which means 336 cards split between them, and since you're actively choosing the cards you want, it's even easier to get a mono-colored deck.

Also, while faeries started out being just a few green cards, nowadays they're mostly blue and black.

[tyckspoon]

Help me out here in my M:tG ignorance, but why is that so important? Fat lot of good it does to you if you can't kill it. Or is this more of a silver lining kind of thing?

GW

Big stompy creatures tend to cost a lot to play. Removal spells generally don't. So playing something that 'dies to removal' gives your opponent a chance to gain an advantage in the game state with resource efficiency; if you spend all your mana playing Stompalope and your opponent only has to spend two mana to remove it, he can then play something else knowing that you are now down one big bomb card and probably can't respond to whatever he plays since you have no mana in reserve for reaction abilities.

[John Campbell]

I think vampire-Justin stole Haley's old clothes. I gotta say they looked better on her. Even if she is a stick figure.

[Silva Stormrage]

I think vampire-Justin stole Haley's old clothes. I gotta say they looked better on her. Even if she is a stick figure.

Nah Haley was wearing long pants

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0675.html

[Lord Raziere]

Yeah....Tedd will definitely switch back to normal after this, he wouldn't want these constant advances plaguing him....

[Qwertystop]

Yeah....Tedd will definitely switch back to normal after this, he wouldn't want these constant advances plaguing him....

Only when he realizes this guy thinks he's a girl.

But yeah. This is a mix of creepy, pathetic, and amusing.

[Mina Kobold]

Yeah....Tedd will definitely switch back to normal after this, he wouldn't want these constant advances plaguing him....

This may be just me, but that would come off as blaming the victim for someone being creepy to them. The problem here is not that Tedd has pink hair, but that Larry keeps trying to hit on Tedd in ways that make Tedd uncomfortable. Tedd switching back would mean that Tedd learnt the errors of his ways, that he brought this on by having pink hair.

You really want Tedd to switch back because of the way people acted about his look? Not because he decided that it didn't suit him after all, but because he was treated differently by sexist jerks? I'm a bit confused. ^_^'

[Randomguy]

And to think this could all have been avoided if they just told each other their names at the start of the conversation.

[Lord Raziere]

This may be just me, but that would come off as blaming the victim for someone being creepy to them. The problem here is not that Tedd has pink hair, but that Larry keeps trying to hit on Tedd in ways that make Tedd uncomfortable. Tedd switching back would mean that Tedd learnt the errors of his ways, that he brought this on by having pink hair.

You really want Tedd to switch back because of the way people acted about his look? Not because he decided that it didn't suit him after all, but because he was treated differently by sexist jerks? I'm a bit confused. ^_^'

I'm not blaming him, but I don't think Tedd personally would want something like this happen again. and I can see a fake smile when shown one, so don't try and be cute with me. -_-

I'd want to avoid an uncomfortable situation like that as well really. If I were in the same position I'd be seriously evaluating how much I'd like the change vs. how much stress it would get me from other people, if its anomalous, sure I would keep it but there are some things that aren't worth potential constant uncomfortable situations that are clearly stress-causing. Tedd, sure he has to decide for himself whether its worth it, but I personally think its not worth it if he is gonna constantly get bombarded by this sort of advance...

[Mina Kobold]

I'm not blaming him, but I don't think Tedd personally would want something like this happen again. and I can see a fake smile when shown one, so don't try and be cute with me. -_-

I'm not saying you are, I'm saying that doing so from a storytelling perspective seems like it would send the message that Tedd was wrong to get pink hair because it leads to advances, which would be blaming Tedd for the advances. Unless it's supposed to be something that has to come with looking feminine, which I sincerely hope is not what Dan thinks. Or it's addressed that Tedd just isn't ready to take the way people treat feminine-looking people in socty, but I think the current arc of Tedd's character is supposed to show that Tedd IS ready to face that. Could be wrong, though. ^_^'

It's an emoticon that I thought best communicated the sentiment I was trying to convey in the absence of vocal tone and body language. It's pretty much there to show that I am genuinely asking a question and trying to show that it is not meant as an accusation or otherwise negative. Not sure if that's a false smile or not, as it is not necessarily my actual facial expression at the time (Well, I am smiling right now due to being in a positive mood, but that's because I default to my overall mood when focussed on typing), but it does reflect my actual intentions. >_>

I'd want to avoid an uncomfortable situation like that as well really. If I were in the same position I'd be seriously evaluating how much I'd like the change vs. how much stress it would get me from other people, if its anomalous, sure I would keep it but there are some things that aren't worth potential constant uncomfortable situations that are clearly stress-causing. Tedd, sure he has to decide for himself whether its worth it, but I personally think its not worth it if he is gonna constantly get bombarded by this sort of advance...

Perfectly understandable, and I do not fault any person for not wanting to deal with it (would be hypocritical, as I generally remain closeted due to people around me being likely to react in very stress-inducing ways). My issue is that I fear that the narrative would then end up showing both that it's a bad thing to do things like colouring your hair or looking feminine to try to grow out of hiding yourself (i.e. Tedd's change of looks is portrayed as Tedd deciding not to fear bullies and embrace what he hid from them, hiding because of this just seems like a cautionary moral about not doing that, to me). Plus, I'm worried that it would come off as if the issue is that people mistake Tedd for a girl and react properly, and that Larry's behaviour would be acceptable towards Sarah.

That is more or less speculative and it's certainly possible that Dan can accomplish it without those issues, I just think it's a risky idea and one that seems unlikely. I'm very much a newbie writer compared to the Goonish Shive, though, and I could be overtly afraid of pitfalls.

[Vinyadan]

Oh yea man, that's smooth.