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Post by Max on Nov 12, 2010 8:00:25 GMT
Sorry, JackThe look on Annie's face in Panel 5 is priceless.
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Post by Snes on Nov 12, 2010 8:01:49 GMT
Dangit Max. Again?
Annie in panel five is doing her best impression of a dear in the headlights of an oncoming semi.
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Post by Max on Nov 12, 2010 8:02:33 GMT
Dangit Max. Again? Annie in panel five is doing her best impression of a dear in the headlights of an oncoming semi. Yeah, but I made sure to put a real comment this time.
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Post by edzepp on Nov 12, 2010 8:02:45 GMT
Does Kat REALLY need help with her homework, Annie?
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Alex
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Post by Alex on Nov 12, 2010 8:03:54 GMT
Homework - is there anything it can't excuse?
What I don't understand is why they arranged to meet in the first place. Did Jack request it, so he'd have an opportunity to make a pass? If so, all the awkwardness is odd in light of his easy charm in Power Station...
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Post by mikeymikemikey on Nov 12, 2010 8:04:09 GMT
I just love the sheer teen terror conveyed in the expressions on this page.
"Deer in the headlights" is the perfect description for Annie's expression and I can almost hear the hormonally-panicked teenage boy thoughts emanating from Jack.
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Post by Snes on Nov 12, 2010 8:04:17 GMT
Yeah, but I made sure to put a real comment this time. That just makes it more infuriating. Homework - is there anything it can't excuse? What I don't understand is why they arranged to meet in the first place. Did Jack request it, so he'd have an opportunity to make a pass? If so, it is odd in light of his easy charm in Power Station... I'm thinking we were wrong in assuming this meeting was pre-arranged. Nothing about this seems planned or thought-out.
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Post by Max on Nov 12, 2010 8:04:30 GMT
Does Kat REALLY need help with her homework, Annie? Probably the other way around. Although, if it's mythology homework we are talking about...
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Post by mikeymikemikey on Nov 12, 2010 8:08:21 GMT
If so, all the awkwardness is odd in light of his easy charm in Power Station... In Power Station he was aided by the overall lightheartedness of the situation (at least before it all went to Zimmy-mind-hell). In this situation? There were more awkward silences in the last three pages than an amateur stand up comedy session, which'll cause most teenage boys to start feeling uncomfortable no matter how self-assured. I have a feeling his previous conversations with Annie may not have been that lively either. Given that, it would make sense for having the pretext of a meeting to give him the opportunity to make a pass since Jack might have little idea how to approach Annie any other way.
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Post by whattheziek on Nov 12, 2010 8:11:27 GMT
Hoo boy. The awkward goodbye between tentative friends. Poor Jack. He probably wants to give Annie a hug or something... Good thing Carver knows how to deal with intimidating creatures such as Basil, Ysengrim, Renard, Coyote, Jeanne.... and of course the Beast Awkward.
Smooooooth Carver. Very smooth.
You can just about tell that Jack is going to be mentally kicking himself for this for about a week.
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Post by Casey on Nov 12, 2010 8:12:49 GMT
Judo-chop handshake!
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Post by Rex on Nov 12, 2010 8:13:51 GMT
Man, Tom NAILED this little meeting of theirs. Panels where they're just standing around awkwardly, their facial expressions, the conversation being fumbled, and then this goodbye? Great work.
Reminds me of my baby doves when they begin to imitate adult behaviors... and fail spectacularly at it.
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Post by mikeymikemikey on Nov 12, 2010 8:14:05 GMT
Kung-fu Action Annie! Now with extra Aaaaaawkward!
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Alex
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Post by Alex on Nov 12, 2010 8:19:04 GMT
I'm thinking we were wrong in assuming this meeting was pre-arranged. Nothing about this seems planned or thought-out. Then the sequence of events is something like: 795: Annie excuses herself from the Donlans, either to go on some errand she doesn't want to describe (and that we don't know about yet) or just because she wants to get away for a bit because of what she just learned about her mom 796: Annie stumbles upon Jack sitting on a picnic table. Either he knew she would be walking that way and so sat there deliberately (creepy stalker!) or just happened to be there (a bit strange, but whatever). 797: Annie greats him, and then decides to sit down and make awkward small-talk. Why? Maybe because she still feels some responsibility? Dunno. Though, it's odd that she would decide to sit down, then have a pregnant let's-avoid-each-others'-eyes pause before asking how he's been. (And at the end, of course Jack makes the pass.) 798: Annie rebuffs it, they continue awkward chitchat, Jack unwittingly makes another faux pas (not his fault at all, but I bet Annie is even more annoyed than I am at constantly hearing about how everyone was taken with her mom, etc.) 799: More of that pregnant let's-stare-away-from-each-other pause, then fake excuse to be leaving, then Jack awkwardly sort of making another pass. The "it was an unplanned encounter" is certainly a reasonable hypothesis, but all of that doesn't quite sit right with me. And yet if Jack did know about it beforehand, you have to wonder why he is so awkward. Maybe he's still suffering from the side-effects of the spider; maybe he's just not good at being charming when he's actually trying to impress a girl.
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Alex
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Post by Alex on Nov 12, 2010 8:24:28 GMT
If so, all the awkwardness is odd in light of his easy charm in Power Station... In Power Station he was aided by the overall lightheartedness of the situation (at least before it all went to Zimmy-mind-hell).[/QUOT In this situation? There were more awkward silences in the last three pages than an amateur stand up comedy session, which'll cause most teenage boys to start feeling uncomfortable no matter how self-assured. I have a feeling his previous conversations with Annie may not have been that lively either. Given that, it would make sense for having the pretext of a meeting to give him the opportunity to make a pass since Jack might have little idea how to approach Annie any other way. In Power Station he had instant chemistry with Kat (e.g. 459) and was totally smooth. Possibly the problem is just that Annie is so different from Kat. I can't really picture Annie doing chemistry, per se. She's just so much more reserved.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Nov 12, 2010 8:24:53 GMT
I'm thinking we were wrong in assuming this meeting was pre-arranged. Nothing about this seems planned or thought-out. I think you guys were right that the meeting was planned, just not by both parties. I'm also thinkin' the encounter started to go off-track when the handholding was rejected with neither good nor bad comment. The Donlan small talk strategy was then employed to deflect awkwardness with some success, which then dovetailed into plan B (favorable and nostalgic comment about deceased mum) but no fractures in stoic front were created. Final attempt to prevent target leaving rewarded by handshake. Congratulations Jack you are still Justfriends. Even so, Jack is doing better than I did at 14.
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Post by mikeymikemikey on Nov 12, 2010 8:33:25 GMT
In Power Station he had instant chemistry with Kat (e.g. 459) and was totally smooth. Possibly the problem is just that Annie is so different from Kat. I can't really picture Annie doing chemistry, per se. She's just so much more reserved. An "instant chemistry" which likely resulted from Jack pulling of his little "forgot to tell you" joke. The lightheartedness of a situation does contribute how well an interaction between people goes, especially if these people are conscious-about-nearly-everything teens. Annie's reserved personality would support this, as being reserved and quite would not be conducive to the situation being lighthearted. Instead, it becomes mostly quiet and, for many people (especially teenage boys trying to make a pass), that kind of silence becomes really uncomfortable. All I'm saying is the situation would affect how "smooth" Jack can be with girls as much as the personalities of the people involved. EDIT: Also, imaginaryfriend's description of the whole thing makes it sound like a crime scene or the post-action briefing of a military operation gone horribly, horribly wrong.
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Alex
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Post by Alex on Nov 12, 2010 8:40:54 GMT
We also have the "oh hey they share interests and skills and even think alike" in 451. Eh. He managed to get the "you are incorrigible" smirk-glare from her, which in my experience is pure gold. And through clever planning! Jack is a great planner - so if he planned this encounter, it's surprising he didn't do so better.
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Post by hal9000 on Nov 12, 2010 8:56:10 GMT
I'm not sure what to make of Annie's face in panel 5. I can decide if it's a standard regulation blank stare, the 'deer in the headlights' look or possibly 'THE HYPNOTOAD' . The mutual awkwardness seems to be about right, though.
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Post by Tenjen on Nov 12, 2010 9:16:35 GMT
oh the number of times i've seen this play out between preteens and mid-teens>>
even amongst the looser one's who lose their virginity early,
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Post by Per on Nov 12, 2010 10:00:51 GMT
I'm on the "blank stare" side of the fence, or else she's really mediumgood at covering up her panic while offering to shake hands.
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jaen
New Member
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Post by jaen on Nov 12, 2010 10:04:15 GMT
I daresay The Esteemed Author is a natural with depicting awkwardness. You could really feel the awkwaaard beast creeping out of the screen, I'm looking forward to see what becomes of their interactions in the future ; >
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Post by Goatmon on Nov 12, 2010 10:23:46 GMT
If so, all the awkwardness is odd in light of his easy charm in Power Station... In Power Station he was aided by the overall lightheartedness of the situation (at least before it all went to Zimmy-mind-hell). In this situation? There were more awkward silences in the last three pages than an amateur stand up comedy session, which'll cause most teenage boys to start feeling uncomfortable no matter how self-assured. I have a feeling his previous conversations with Annie may not have been that lively either. Given that, it would make sense for having the pretext of a meeting to give him the opportunity to make a pass since Jack might have little idea how to approach Annie any other way. Yeah, it's easy to be confident when you know what to expect. He'd apparently seen the ether-siphoning process before and so he had a calm confidence that comes with knowing the situation. This time around he's attempting to make nice after causing her all sorts of trouble (albeit none of which was his own fault), and he's probably not very experienced (if at all) with courting girls. Least of all, with a girl as difficult to read as Annie. Reguardless, this page is hilarious, and It's great to see Jack acting like a typical kid and Annie losing her composure, for a split second.
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Post by basser on Nov 12, 2010 10:25:48 GMT
Oh dear, Tom, I hope this isn't from personal experience.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Nov 12, 2010 10:38:04 GMT
Also, imaginaryfriend's description of the whole thing makes it sound like a crime scene or the post-action briefing of a military operation gone horribly, horribly wrong. Like the song says, love is a battlefield. (edit) I could use sports metaphors but with the possible exception of (American) football the war metaphors usually seem to capture the carnage of the dating scene better. (/edit)
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Post by wombat on Nov 12, 2010 11:43:14 GMT
Oh my God, this page is hilarious and awkwardly adorable. Annie's expression in panel 5 and Jack's in panel 7 just made my day. (Granted, it's only 6:43AM)
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Post by mikeymikemikey on Nov 12, 2010 12:02:01 GMT
Y'know, this makes me wonder if girls who ever got interested in Anthony Carver before he got together with Surma (if any) experienced the same thing Jack's experienced in the last three pages.
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Post by Alexandragon on Nov 12, 2010 12:57:08 GMT
Look of Annie's face on panel 5 is great!
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Post by blinkerstoned on Nov 12, 2010 13:18:23 GMT
Heh,reminds me of myself when it comes to interacting with certain girls...sooooo awkward.Damn.
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Post by legion on Nov 12, 2010 14:03:55 GMT
I wanted to draw my answer, but it turns out I can't draw, so you'll have to visualize.
What we see: awkward handshake, while Jack's facial muscles are paralized and Annie staaaaaares.
What is actually happening: Annie is firing a freagin' laser beam with her eyes, targeting the floor just before Jack, who jumps in fear in reaction. She does this to prevents him to come any closer.
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