Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#31 Post by Technic[Bot] »

First of all. That is some weird looking pizza and I have had some really iffy pizza in the past.

Anyhow I am gonna be the devil advocate and say that no this is not Sythe asking Maren out. First of all I do not think Sythe is sufficiently brave to just ask her out like that. Secondly he is quite a nice guy and, a gentleman and supposedly, a diplomat. So even if he really wanted to get into Maren pants I doubt he would simply blurt it out like that. I do no think asking someone if he wants to have a go at the horizontal tango is appropriate.
I am almost sure that this is actually Maren imagining things, because, surprise, surprise. She is developing feelings for our favorite fleabag and the alcohol and the magical beach are simply making her daydream about it. So next week we will have Maren red as a beet wondering why her mind went that way and Sythe puzzled by her behavior thinking "I did not even said anything".
Also since we touched the subject tangentially: What were they drinking. For me it looked like ice tea but I rarely drink and I could not tell a cocktail from a glass of water even if my life depended on it so I know I am most definitely wrong.

In any case I am the semantically challenged one for a change.
I have heard the phrase "hook up" with several different meaning. I have seen it used to refer from everything from a passionate make out session, a "roll in the hay" with someone to establishing a short term a casual relationship with someone. The phrase does not even translates well to Spanish. So could someone help me understand its meaning?
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Rafe
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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#32 Post by Rafe »

My darker impulses seem to be triggering here. Maren and Sythe did come to the party together, at least outwardly looking like a couple. If nothing else, Maren seems to be warming up to Sythe (and Keidren in general). I could see her rejecting Sythe's advances - but more in a calm "nah, I don't think so" way.

She might even go back to the rooms to have a talk with him, keeping Sythe's hopes up (and some tension going with the readers). But then, whichever way things were going to turn out won't matter, because somewhere in this process, SOMETHING AWFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN. There is a metric crap-load of foreshadowing ready to drop on us involving Clovis, his wolf friends, the newly un-bound Rose and (don't forget) Raine.

Sure, some humor might occur first. And we might even find out that Sythe's feelings aren't as casual as they seem. It might turn out that his feelings for her are a lot more serious than even he realizes. I also get the feeling that, if those feelings come out, it's going to be in a very stressful danger-filled situation.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#33 Post by Shockwave07 »

Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 5:34 am First of all. That is some weird looking pizza and I have had some really iffy pizza in the past.
Seen some pizza like this in Arizona. Cheesey, thin enough crust that it wants to fold in on itself. Not bad but makes you want to hold it with two hands.
In any case I am the semantically challenged one for a change.
I have heard the phrase "hook up" with several different meaning. I have seen it used to refer from everything from a passionate make out session, a "roll in the hay" with someone to establishing a short term a casual relationship with someone. The phrase does not even translates well to Spanish. So could someone help me understand its meaning?
Generally "hook up" does refer to starting a casual relationship. Can take on different meanings like invitations to "roll in the hay", but doesn't always have to be sexual. As you can probably tell this doesn't have a solid definition.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#34 Post by Kelden »

He's definitely going for it - he's fond enough of them, and figures the Ice Queen has melted enough to be fond of him considering all they've been through.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that Keidran are, culturally, very casual when it comes to sex. So, aside from breaking down the racial barrier, this honestly isn't quite as big a leap from Sythe's perspective as it may seem.

It's just a question of whether Maren is even remotely open to the idea, and how she'll react in general to him going for it.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#35 Post by aitaituo »

Shockwave07 wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 6:19 am
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 5:34 am In any case I am the semantically challenged one for a change.
I have heard the phrase "hook up" with several different meaning. I have seen it used to refer from everything from a passionate make out session, a "roll in the hay" with someone to establishing a short term a casual relationship with someone. The phrase does not even translates well to Spanish. So could someone help me understand its meaning?
Generally "hook up" does refer to starting a casual relationship. Can take on different meanings like invitations to "roll in the hay", but doesn't always have to be sexual. As you can probably tell this doesn't have a solid definition.
Where I am from, it means "roll in the hay" AND "tomorrow we will be strangers again." I hope that translates well. It is not Sythe asking Maren to become his girlfriend. It means a night of passion and no future, with each being nothing more than living sex toys to each other. That's why I think Maren will respond VERY negatively. She is attracted to Sythe and she seems to be developing feelings for him. It's not just rude for him assume she would want that, it's demeaning that Sythe would think she wants to be a disposable source of pleasure for him. Maren isn't just reserved. She also has real self-esteem. Even if Sythe is merely teasing her, I don't see her taking it that way regardless of his intentions. She's not a keidran. Sex is not a way to get to know someone to her. That's why I think she will fall back on her racism when she reacts to Sythe's pass at her. A kind of "How dare you think I'm some fleabag slut?!" reaction.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#36 Post by Emp_Dragon »

aitaituo wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:13 am
Shockwave07 wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 6:19 am
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 5:34 am In any case I am the semantically challenged one for a change.
I have heard the phrase "hook up" with several different meaning. I have seen it used to refer from everything from a passionate make out session, a "roll in the hay" with someone to establishing a short term a casual relationship with someone. The phrase does not even translates well to Spanish. So could someone help me understand its meaning?
Generally "hook up" does refer to starting a casual relationship. Can take on different meanings like invitations to "roll in the hay", but doesn't always have to be sexual. As you can probably tell this doesn't have a solid definition.
Where I am from, it means "roll in the hay" AND "tomorrow we will be strangers again." I hope that translates well. It is not Sythe asking Maren to become his girlfriend. It means a night of passion and no future, with each being nothing more than living sex toys to each other. That's why I think Maren will respond VERY negatively. She is attracted to Sythe and she seems to be developing feelings for him. It's not just rude for him assume she would want that, it's demeaning that Sythe would think she wants to be a disposable source of pleasure for him. Maren isn't just reserved. She also has real self-esteem. Even if Sythe is merely teasing her, I don't see her taking it that way regardless of his intentions. She's not a keidran. Sex is not a way to get to know someone to her. That's why I think she will fall back on her racism when she reacts to Sythe's pass at her. A kind of "How dare you think I'm some fleabag slut?!" reaction.
Well, I guess that's where the difference in how we are interpreting the situation so differently comes from, because "hooking up" to me, can mean anything from let's have some casual fun as friends with benefits to a very casual and almost teasing proposal of marriage.
And on top of that, I dismiss the notion that consentual sex in itself conveys any social worth change onto either participant as utterly preposterous and unacceptably authoritarian.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#37 Post by AmigaDragon »

Warrl wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 3:04 am (And do Sythe and Maren know and believe that Flora is pregnant with Trace's kid? After all, it's been well-known for a long time that keidran and human can't cross-breed, and I don't recall either of them even being explicitly told that part of the situation.)
Sythe noticed and was told her situation. Whether anyone else in group B has been told yet is unknown. Most, if not all, of group A already knows (whether anyone outside of Flora and Trace fully believes or not, though Sythe did rationalize it using Raine as an example).
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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#38 Post by Jonesy »

I quite like this turn of events. Sythe seems very confident and casual about it, which feels surprisingly right for him. I'm extremely eager to see the response regardless of which way it goes.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#39 Post by themunck »

In regards to how casually Sythe means it, I think he deliberately put that that bluntly so she can reject the bluntness without reacting the idea itself unless she wants to. If she wants to keep it ambigious whether or not she's into him (say, because she doesn't yet know whether she is), then she can just reject the "right now" part of the conversation.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#40 Post by AndreRhineDavis »

aitaituo wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:28 pm I know a lot of shippers are probably hoping for Sythe and Maren to hook up, but I think he permanently blew it here. Maren is going to chew out Sythe pretty hard and likely fall back on her racism to do it. She is way too reserved to respond positively to such a brazen pass. Sythe's best case scenario is a massive distraction before Maren's mouth really gets going.
The thing is, I really don't see Maren as the romantic sort. She's very cold and reversed, the "ice queen" as it has been put. I mean yes, we know she used to date Trace, but even then we never really saw her being affectionate towards him. I would think casual sex would be right up her alley. Like, I can hardly see her wanting to snuggle and be affectionate with anyone. In my opinion/experience, people with that sort of personality often prefer to have a non-commited casual [censored] for fun rather than explore with the whole commitment/relationship/emotional side. So yeah, I can totally see Maren going to a nightclub to hook up with guys. Of course whether she's comfortable with Sythe's blunt proposition out of the blue is another thing. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I imagine that Sythe's comment would offend/scare her *less* than if he let out his feelings for her and told her how much he liked her. A casual [censored] for fun is a casual [censored] for fun, but someone telling you they really like you? Then Maren would have to deal with *feelings* and *emotional intimacy*. And we all know how she avoids all that and reacts with cynicism and sarcasm whenever emotional intimacy comes up.
Technic[Bot] wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 5:34 am In any case I am the semantically challenged one for a change.
I have heard the phrase "hook up" with several different meaning. I have seen it used to refer from everything from a passionate make out session, a "roll in the hay" with someone to establishing a short term a casual relationship with someone. The phrase does not even translates well to Spanish. So could someone help me understand its meaning?
Yeah, I'm a native English speaker and I had lots of difficulty understanding this phrase when I was a teenager. (Then again I am autistic, so I also had difficulty understanding the social context and the social world in general).
This is my understanding of the phrase.
To "hook up" with someone implies getting "sexual" with someone you're not currently in a relationship with. You wouldn't say you hooked up with your girlfriend, the fact that you're already in a relationship makes this sound weird. "Hooking up" has the connotation of being at a party or club and meeting someone there (a person you're not currently sexually involved with) getting sexual with them. Precisely what these sexual acts are are very context and culture dependent. The implied minimum is "making out", i.e. kissing each other sexually and rubbing your hands on each other's bodies. When you're 15 years old and you "hook up" with someone at a party, often it just means this. As you get older and sex becomes more of a normal thing, "hooking up" with someone will likely lead to / include sex proper. I guess the point is that "hooking up" doesn't *necessarily* imply an actual sex act, although very often it does *lead* to it. Hooking up with someone basically means "going sexual" with someone, in the sense that from the moment you both decide to make out with each other, from the moment you both decide that you're acting on these sexual desires together, you're "hooking up". This may lead to all sorts of sex acts that same night, or it may not. This may be a one night stand, or it may lead to being friends with benefits, or it may be the start of a romantic relationship. Either way, it's "hooking up".
aitaituo wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:13 am It is not Sythe asking Maren to become his girlfriend. It means a night of passion and no future, with each being nothing more than living sex toys to each other. That's why I think Maren will respond VERY negatively. She is attracted to Sythe and she seems to be developing feelings for him. It's not just rude for him assume she would want that, it's demeaning that Sythe would think she wants to be a disposable source of pleasure for him. Maren isn't just reserved. She also has real self-esteem. Even if Sythe is merely teasing her, I don't see her taking it that way regardless of his intentions. She's not a keidran. Sex is not a way to get to know someone to her. That's why I think she will fall back on her racism when she reacts to Sythe's pass at her. A kind of "How dare you think I'm some fleabag slut?!" reaction.
Emp_Dragon wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 8:41 am Well, I guess that's where the difference in how we are interpreting the situation so differently comes from, because "hooking up" to me, can mean anything from let's have some casual fun as friends with benefits to a very casual and almost teasing proposal of marriage.
And on top of that, I dismiss the notion that consentual sex in itself conveys any social worth change onto either participant as utterly preposterous and unacceptably authoritarian.
Yeah, I disagree with aitaituo and agree with Emp_Dragon here.
Casual sex is not inherently demeaning or disrespectful or negative at all. What's important is that it's consensual and that everyone is comfortable and on the same page. There's nothing wrong with being like "I find you attractive, you find me attractive, I'm horny, you're horny, let's go and have sex and have fun together". If both people are totally cool and comfortable with this, then they can go and do that and they can both have a great time. The problem is when one person has feelings for the other person which they don't reciprocate, or when one person finds that they're not comfortable with casual sex and that sex has a deeper meaning for them. Or whatever. Sex can be very psychologically complicated. Many people enjoy casual sex, many people don't. What's important is that you respect people and make your intentions clear and make sure you have their consent. The main problem is when there's misunderstanding or miscommunication or disrespect between people. Or sometimes of course people think they know what they want but then later they realise that they're actually not comfortable with something they previously thought they would be.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#41 Post by Combak »

Hayate wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 3:41 pm Wow, did not see this coming. Is it April fools?
I just came by to leave a comment saying that, when I first read this page, I had to double check to see if it was April 1st or not.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#42 Post by Bellhead »

Combak wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:22 pm
Hayate wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 3:41 pm Wow, did not see this coming. Is it April fools?
I just came by to leave a comment saying that, when I first read this page, I had to double check to see if it was April 1st or not.
To be fair, I've refreshed and reread this page like 6 times expecting the dialog to change. :P
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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#43 Post by Eclipse »

aitaituo wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:28 pm
Eclipse wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 2:15 pm Damn Sythe, you've got major balls to just come out with that.

inb4 Maren cuts them off.
I know a lot of shippers are probably hoping for Sythe and Maren to hook up, but I think he permanently blew it here. Maren is going to chew out Sythe pretty hard and likely fall back on her racism to do it. She is way too reserved to respond positively to such a brazen pass. Sythe's best case scenario is a massive distraction before Maren's mouth really gets going.
I was joking (I thought that one up as I was writing and it was just too perfect).

I don't think he "permanently blew it" at all, and I think you're viewing casual sex in way too extreme a light. They're not viewing each other as "sex toys", they seem to have an unspoken bond that goes beyond sex and they both know it. Yes, Maren is more of an ice queen then freaking Elsa herself, and I do think she's going to be upset with the suggestion, but not that upset. My guess is she just yells at him for a bit, calms down, and then says she's not ready yet.

As for the definition of "hooking up", I always thought that meant more of a casual date, but in this context Sythe specified going back to the rooms, so I kind of guessed he meant sex.

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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#44 Post by AmigaDragon »

Kelden wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:09 am The important thing to keep in mind here is that Keidran are, culturally, very casual when it comes to sex. So, aside from breaking down the racial barrier, this honestly isn't quite as big a leap from Sythe's perspective as it may seem.
And I'm pretty sure that anyone on Mekkan who knows a little about keidran knows something about their casual attitudes about sex.
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Re: Comic for December 14, 2019: Sythe Goes For It!

#45 Post by aitaituo »

AmigaDragon wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:01 pm
Kelden wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 7:09 am The important thing to keep in mind here is that Keidran are, culturally, very casual when it comes to sex. So, aside from breaking down the racial barrier, this honestly isn't quite as big a leap from Sythe's perspective as it may seem.
And I'm pretty sure that anyone on Mekkan who knows a little about keidran knows something about their casual attitudes about sex.
AndreRhineDavis wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 11:21 am Yeah, I disagree with aitaituo and agree with Emp_Dragon here.
Casual sex is not inherently demeaning or disrespectful or negative at all. What's important is that it's consensual and that everyone is comfortable and on the same page.
It's not inherently demeaning or disrespectful any more or less than any other social activity. What people are comfortable with is part of their personality, attitude, personal morality, and culture and that's what makes a specific person see it as demeaning or disrespectful. You, most people really, come from a perspective where they are comfortable with casual emotionless sex. Maren does not.

Remember, Maren thought she was Trace's exclusive girlfriend. She even closed her bar to go search for him. There's quite a few pages in the archive where we see Maren refusing to accept that Trace saw her as little more than a booty call and had moved on from her entirely, though to be fair she had his amnesia as a way to excuse his behavior. She begs Trace to come back to her village. Sadly, it seems more likely Maren was one of several of Trace "I'm a Travelin' Man" Legacy's girlfriends.

Maren is also, like, just super-duper racist, using slurs, going straight to violence, and when she sees the first sign of Trace and Flora's relationship, her first thought is that Flora has brainwashed him. It feels like she's come a long way like most of the cast has, but she really, really hasn't. It's been years for us readers, but it's been days for Maren since she suggested murdering Sythe and attacked wolf Raine. Has she stopped calling keidran, fleabags, beasts, and animals?

Think about human society and culture in TwoKinds, too. They don't have the sexual revolution, tinder, or cheap access birth control (our heroes are an unusually magically talented group, common people are regularly shown having to pay for magic or spend years learning it, probably as a Templar). That means casual sex between humans carries substantial risk of pregnancy. That doesn't necessarily mean people would disapprove of casual sex as was the case in the real world, but it's going to be rarer than 2019 America\Europe. In another story, I wouldn't even bother with this line of reasoning, but we know humans in Mekkan literally breed sex toys that can't get pregnant by humans. We also know that humans look down on keidran promiscuity, while hypocritically taking advantage of estrus to hook up with them, and that this behavior is not limited to those wealthy enough to own sex slaves outright. Maren is typical human woman by all appearances, including a hypocritical attraction to keidran.

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