14-11-14 Private is good

[wiseguy]

[Takei]
Oh, my...
[/Takei]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nSKkwzwdW4

[Spidrift]

I'm guessing he may be thinking there will be a female stand in to practice the kissing on; not that Dillon intends to teach him how to kiss, himself.

His previous comments to Dillon implied to me that he thought he'd have to kiss Dillon, but he was prepared to man up and do what was needful to learn the craft. And he hasn't asked who else would be at Dillon's place to assist.

And, of course, Dillon will drag Ruby into this mes in order to save face when he learns Ray has no interest in kissing him.

Dillon seems hell-bent on getting that kiss from Ray despite already knowing that Ray isn't interested that way. I'm guessing that it may take Ruby to point out to him that this is a great way to endanger an old friendship just for the sake of a kiss.

[Artemisia]

Well, we're not entirely sure about Ray. . .he may not be interested because he thinks that Dillon is a Lady's Man not a Guy's Guy.

[Fluffy]

I'm guessing he may be thinking there will be a female stand in to practice the kissing on; not that Dillon intends to teach him how to kiss, himself.

His previous comments to Dillon implied to me that he thought he'd have to kiss Dillon, but he was prepared to man up and do what was needful to learn the craft. And he hasn't asked who else would be at Dillon's place to assist.

Sorry to disagree with you, but Ray has given no indication whatsoever that he expects Dillon to go hands on - as it were - when it comes to teaching him how to kiss convincingly on screen. He's just a guy, embarrassed about asking a male friend to teach him how to kiss a woman - that can't be easy for a guy to admit he needs help with such a thing.

And, of course, Dillon will drag Ruby into this mes in order to save face when he learns Ray has no interest in kissing him.

Dillon seems hell-bent on getting that kiss from Ray despite already knowing that Ray isn't interested that way. I'm guessing that it may take Ruby to point out to him that this is a great way to endanger an old friendship just for the sake of a kiss.

I'm thinking they're going to get to the apartment, Ray's going to ask who the female stand in is going to be (thus crushing Dillon's hopes completely) and that's when Ruby will come in; after which Dillon will claim she's the stand in (taking Ruby aside to beg her to do this one favor for him. And, if he learns what she did to his Yaoi; may use that as leverage to convince her to do it as a means of making things up to him).

[wiseguy]

Well, we're not entirely sure about Ray. . .he may not be interested because he thinks that Dillon is a Lady's Man not a Guy's Guy.

yes people

you assuming that because Ray "thinks" Dill is straight, it means Ray is straight(he could be straight, gay, bi, deeply in the closet and many other possible decisions by writers)

[Spidrift]

Sorry to disagree with you, but Ray has given no indication whatsoever that he expects Dillon to go hands on - as it were - when it comes to teaching him how to kiss convincingly on screen.

That's how it came across to me, though. Having Ray assume anything more complicated, without saying anything about it, strikes me as over-complicated. But we'll see.

I'm thinking they're going to get to the apartment, Ray's going to ask who the female stand in is going to be (thus crushing Dillon's hopes completely) and that's when Ruby will come in; after which Dillon will claim she's the stand in (taking Ruby aside to beg her to do this one favor for him. And, if he learns what she did to his Yaoi; may use that as leverage to convince her to do it as a means of making things up to him).

Note that even if he learns about the accident with the book, at the very least he'll also learn that Ruby has replaced it at her own expense, and she may actually hand him a stack of additional books by way of apology. That gives him very little leverage to persuade her to do anything for him, really.

If he wanted to get her to assist with this lesson, he'd actually do better to tell her it's a way to learn about kissing in a controlled, safe environment, with someone to whom she has no emotional ties. That could actually appeal to her, even; she's clearly a little interested in broadening her horizons, but also very uncertain indeed about how to go about doing so. But even Dillon should see that isn't a very good idea.

Dillon may not appreciate quite how inexperienced and hung-up Ruby is (though he seems to have a marginally bigger clue than Amber does), but he's seen her go quite weird at the idea that she's been kissed while unconscious, and freeze up for most of the length of a meal at the mere idea of a kiss. And she's yelled at him a lot when the subject of kissing came up. He has to realise by now that she's quite new to this stuff and very uncertain about it. Given all that ... well, he might be heartless enough to try to get her to kiss Ray as part of that lesson, but he ought to see that she'd be the worst possible teaching aid for the purpose. Better to hand Ray a plank of wood to kiss; at least it wouldn't be radiating active hostility and nervousness.

But in any case, this assumes that Dillon's reaction to learning that he couldn't kiss Ray himself would be to go looking for a suitable substitute. But this is Dillon we're talking about. He's squealing inside at the idea that he's going to kiss Ray; take that away from him, and his mood will crash like a ton of bricks. Oblige him to watch someone else kissing Ray instead, and he'll probably take to his bed and weep, not cheerfully go looking for the stand-in.

[Artemisia]

Well, we're not entirely sure about Ray. . .he may not be interested because he thinks that Dillon is a Lady's Man not a Guy's Guy.

yes people

you assuming that because Ray "thinks" Dill is straight, it means Ray is straight(he could be straight, gay, bi, deeply in the closet and many other possible decisions by writers)

It's one of those "I'll wait to see how it pans out" moments

[brasca]

I have the strongest feeling that Ruby will inadvertently thwart Dillon's plans. Ray did not ask if Dillon was gay and he never stated he was and while that should hardly matter Ruby returning with a bag full of yaoi as atonement for her previous accident is likely to out him.

That's possible. Or Ruby could even sabotage Dillon's little setup deliberately. Dillon isn't thinking about the consequences of his actions here, and Ruby could tell him that deceiving Ray like this is going to lead to grief a little way down the line. And Ruby is a moral person who can see that "good" isn't the same as "nice".

Or we may get comedy misunderstandings, leading Ray to think that Ruby is Dillon's girlfriend ("You two are sleeping together?" "Well, just the once, last night...") Or something else. But it seems fairly likely to me that Ruby will end up chewing Dillon out for following his hormones into trouble yet again, despite his good resolutions of the morning.

Or in an effort to deceive Ray he asks Ruby to take temporary possession of all of his yaoi collection and hide it in her and Amber's room. That would definitely be an ethical dilemma for her.

[Spidrift]

Hard to see how he could choreograph that while in the process of bringing Ray into the house. Anyway, it'd be easier just to blame the yaoi collection on the women with whom he shares the place. "Those women and their kinky tastes, ha ha."

Anyway, that'd be a pretty minimal dilemma for Ruby. If Dillon has pushed these books into her room, she surely needs to take a look at them ... to make sure that Dillon isn't forcing her to put up with anything too disgusting, of course. It'd be irresponsible of her to make sure that these books are safe to be in a room with a respectable woman!

[Azrael]

sdb20141114.png (101.16 KiB) Viewed 7149 times

[Whisky-Tango-Foxtrot]

The big question, which will probably be answered in the next strip (or two, or three...) is whether (1) Dillon and Ray will arrive at the apartment first--and have their "kissing lesson" interrupted by the arrival of Ruby and a large stack of yaoi--or, alternatively, (2) Ruby will get back home first--and have her "yaoi inspection session" interrupted by the arrival of Dillon and Ray with some potential real-life soft-core yaoi.

Of course, either way, awkwardness (and comedy) will ensue.




(BTW, my theory is that Ray is as gay--but nowhere near as out--as Dillon, and that they each think the other is straight--so they have similar reasons for trying to hide their orientation from each other.)

[Spidrift]

Ray's sexuality is, strictly speaking, unknown for certain, sure. So having him turn out to be gay or bi would be a viable twist and joke. But that's what it would be; a twist. Mostly, these comics are pretty WYSIWYG. So if I had to stake money on it, I'd go with what he's hinted and Dillon believes; that he's straight.

[wiseguy]

???? all Ray has hinted is that he believes Dillon is straight and a ladies love machine

if anything, someone who is successful with the ladies is unlikely to see Dillon as chick magnet, and unlikely to ask him for kissing tips

[Spidrift]

If he wanted to get her to assist with this lesson, he'd actually do better to tell her it's a way to learn about kissing in a controlled, safe environment, with someone to whom she has no emotional ties...

Actually, thinking about it, this suggests an alternative possibility; that Ruby blunders into the acting lesson, romance scene section - and actually insists herself on acting as Ray's partner. After all, she's facing the prospect of kissing Andy again, she's admitted to a bit of uncertain curiosity on the subject, and she's the sort of person who wouldn't like to seem incompetent at anything. So if she saw the possibility of getting instruction in kissing from someone who claims to be an expert, she might just steel herself to go for it. And if Ray is still admitting to nervousness about kissing a guy, well, she'll be doing him a favour too.

She probably wouldn't even realise that she was frustrating Dillon's little scheme here, but if she did, or if he complained about it afterwards, she could feel self-righteously correct; he shouldn't be making trouble for himself by tricking straight guys into kissing him, and she's just prevented a disaster there.

Bonus points if Ray takes a shine to her, and she goes from "never been kissed" to "torn between two lovers" without wanting even one.

[Geeno]

Alternately, Ruby convinces Dillon that what he's about to do is double-plus ungood. Dillon says, "but i promised him kissing lessons! Ruby, would you mind? It's either that or my original plan." And Ruby steps in, reluctantly, to prevent Dillon deceiving Ray.