Social Butterfly 2015-11-24

[Dave]

I think Devyn is feeling a bit like Wile E. Coyote, when he stops running, the cloud of dust around his feet dissipates, and he realizes that he's standing on thin air above a very deep canyon...

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/social-butterfly/

[Jabberwonky]

If Alexis had just kept her mouth shut...

[GlytchMeister]

There is something to be said for baby steps as opposed to giant strides.

[AmriloJim]

And once again, reality sets in with the proverbial payload of 444.44 standard-sized bricks.

[DilyV]

We've seen that look before... that's the same look Monica had right after seeing Phix chowing down on Medea... right after the blood curdling scream...

here: Panels one and two: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/hush/


I imagine this situation is about the same on the horror scale for Devyn...

[oldmanmickey]

yep she done went off the deep end head first

[AnotherFairportfan]

Heh.

In an early issue of Peter David's Young Justice comic (VERY different from the teevee series of the same name), the Justice League are debating whether to shut down Young Justice (an ad hoc group consisting of Robin, Impulse, the clone Superboy, Wonder Girl, the vapor girl Secret and Arrowette - average age about fifteen) and Arrowette (who's thirteen, i think) gets wound up, stands there with her hands on her (minimal) hips, and tells Superman and Wonder Woman (among others) off to their faces and then storms out.

WG (who has not gotten along with Arrowette to this point) goes after her to congratulate her, and finds Arrowette sitting in a concealed corner, with a brown paper bag, trying to bring her hyperventilation under control...

You can see the relevant pages here and here

[Gyrrakavian]

Heh.

In an early issue of Peter David's Young Justice comic (VERY different from the teevee series of the same name), the Justice League are debating whether to shut down Young Justice (an ad hoc group consisting of Robin, Impulse, the clone Superboy, Wonder Girl, the vapor girl Secret and Arrowette - average age about fifteen) and Arrowette (who's thirteen, i think) gets wound up, stands there with her hands on her (minimal) hips, and tells Superman and Wonder Woman (among others) off to their faces and then storms out.

WG (who has not gotten along with Arrowette to this point) goes after her to congratulate her, and finds Arrowette sitting in a concealed corner, with a brown paper bag, trying to bring her hyperventilation under control...

You can see the relevant pages here and here

Ja, I can see someone hyperventilating after that. I'd probably be having a full blown panic attack if I were in Arrowette's shoes.

[eee]

Aha. Devyn has social anxieties, perhaps even mild agoraphobia. Suddenly her depression and the darkness of her 'inner world' make a lot more sense.

[DilyV]

Aha. Devyn has social anxieties, perhaps even mild agoraphobia. Suddenly her depression and the darkness of her 'inner world' make a lot more sense.

I'm pretty sure most teens feel the same way... all alone in their world, no friends, no one likes me... but they fail to see one of the world's greatest truths...

you always have more friends than you think you do. Always.

[Dave]

Aha. Devyn has social anxieties, perhaps even mild agoraphobia. Suddenly her depression and the darkness of her 'inner world' make a lot more sense.

I'm pretty sure most teens feel the same way... all alone in their world, no friends, no one likes me... but they fail to see one of the world's greatest truths...

you always have more friends than you think you do. Always.

Depression feeds isolation, and isolation feeds depression. It can be hard to break out of the cycle and see the light.

And, yeah, it's common. Even for the popular kids, there's often this dreadful sense of insecurity... would they still hang around with me if they knew what I'm really like? I could lose it all so easily. I'm such a phony. I'm scared.

Not so different for adults, either. The joke around here is that it's tough to live in Palo Alto... not just because it's expensive (and it is) but because everyone there is secretly afraid that they'll be told they aren't successful enough to live there and that they'll have to leave.

Buffy - [to Jonathan] “My life happens on occasion to suck beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. And it’s not just mine. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they’re too busy with their own. The beautiful ones. The popular ones. The guys that pick on you. Everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling. The loneliness. The confusion. It looks quiet down there. It’s not. It’s deafening.”

[Warrl]

Heh.

In an early issue of Peter David's Young Justice comic (VERY different from the teevee series of the same name), the Justice League are debating whether to shut down Young Justice (an ad hoc group consisting of Robin, Impulse, the clone Superboy, Wonder Girl, the vapor girl Secret and Arrowette - average age about fifteen)

I am reminded of something I heard about one of the early debates in the British parliament about whether to allow some large group of people (not women - earlier than that) to vote in Parliamentary elections. One of the most conservative members, considered a certain vote against the measure, gained the floor and said something to the effect of "If we don't give them the vote, how do we propose to stop them from taking it?" (Shortly thereafter, the measure passed.)

I think the adult superheroes could benefit from a similar question.

[Sgt. Howard]

Aha. Devyn has social anxieties, perhaps even mild agoraphobia. Suddenly her depression and the darkness of her 'inner world' make a lot more sense.

I'm pretty sure most teens feel the same way... all alone in their world, no friends, no one likes me... but they fail to see one of the world's greatest truths...

you always have more friends than you think you do. Always.

Depression feeds isolation, and isolation feeds depression. It can be hard to break out of the cycle and see the light.

And, yeah, it's common. Even for the popular kids, there's often this dreadful sense of insecurity... would they still hang around with me if they knew what I'm really like? I could lose it all so easily. I'm such a phony. I'm scared.

Not so different for adults, either. The joke around here is that it's tough to live in Palo Alto... not just because it's expensive (and it is) but because everyone there is secretly afraid that they'll be told they aren't successful enough to live there and that they'll have to leave.

Buffy - [to Jonathan] “My life happens on occasion to suck beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. And it’s not just mine. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they’re too busy with their own. The beautiful ones. The popular ones. The guys that pick on you. Everyone. If you could hear what they were feeling. The loneliness. The confusion. It looks quiet down there. It’s not. It’s deafening.”

...damn, but I love the Okanogan Valley... mighty fine people here, good neighbors, good friends and good living. Yes, there's a reasonable level of 'angst' here, but NOTHING like what you see in a megalopolise. I am from Campbell, a very short drive from Palo Alto. I knew it before it was 'Silicon Valley'. It used to be Eden- now it's more like the Korean DMZ.
Sometimes, you gotta find your peace where it moved to.

We had our first snow of the season here this morning- very magical

[Warrl]

Not so different for adults, either. The joke around here is that it's tough to live in Palo Alto... not just because it's expensive (and it is) but because everyone there is secretly afraid that they'll be told they aren't successful enough to live there and that they'll have to leave.

Imposter syndrome.

Thing is... when one considers how many apparently-prosperous people are going a little deeper into debt every year in order to maintain that appearance of prosperity... in an important sense they ARE faking it, AREN'T successful enough, and face a serious risk of eventually having to leave that appearance behind them.

[Dave]

I am reminded of something I heard about one of the early debates in the British parliament about whether to allow some large group of people (not women - earlier than that) to vote in Parliamentary elections. One of the most conservative members, considered a certain vote against the measure, gained the floor and said something to the effect of "If we don't give them the vote, how do we propose to stop them from taking it?" (Shortly thereafter, the measure passed.)

That sounds like the era of the Chartist Movement in the mid-1800s. Quite an important period in the development of universal political representation.

There's a very interesting look at this era in Freedom and Necessity, a 1997 novel by Emma Bull and Steven Brust. It's an epistolary novel (a story told entirely in the form of letters written from one character to another) - an uncommon style these days, and a very good read!

Thing is... when one considers how many apparently-prosperous people are going a little deeper into debt every year in order to maintain that appearance of prosperity... in an important sense they ARE faking it, AREN'T successful enough, and face a serious risk of eventually having to leave that appearance behind them.

Yup.

It's funny, too. If you watch almost any situation comedy on television (or in the movies), one strong message keeps coming through: the harder you try to appear to be something you are not, the more trouble you get into, and the more pain you visit upon yourself. Sitcom plots typically seem to follow a "perceived advantage -> deception -> complications -> getting caught out -> recrimination and embarrassment" cycle. A similar plotting shows up in a lot of soap operas.

Clearly, Serious People don't watch enough daytime TV!

[AnotherFairportfan]

Heh.

In an early issue of Peter David's Young Justice comic (VERY different from the teevee series of the same name), the Justice League are debating whether to shut down Young Justice (an ad hoc group consisting of Robin, Impulse, the clone Superboy, Wonder Girl, the vapor girl Secret and Arrowette - average age about fifteen) and Arrowette (who's thirteen, i think) gets wound up, stands there with her hands on her (minimal) hips, and tells Superman and Wonder Woman (among others) off to their faces and then storms out.

WG (who has not gotten along with Arrowette to this point) goes after her to congratulate her, and finds Arrowette sitting in a concealed corner, with a brown paper bag, trying to bring her hyperventilation under control...

You can see the relevant pages here and here

Ja, I can see someone hyperventilating after that. I'd probably be having a full blown panic attack if I were in Arrowette's shoes.

Ujntil i hunted up thise pages to post, i had forgotten Green Lantern saying mildly "Rebuttal, guys?"

[Warrl]

I am reminded of something I heard about one of the early debates in the British parliament about whether to allow some large group of people (not women - earlier than that) to vote in Parliamentary elections. One of the most conservative members, considered a certain vote against the measure, gained the floor and said something to the effect of "If we don't give them the vote, how do we propose to stop them from taking it?" (Shortly thereafter, the measure passed.)

That sounds like the era of the Chartist Movement in the mid-1800s. Quite an important period in the development of universal political representation.

According to Wikipedia, the Chartist movement died without visible accomplishment. Nearly 20 years later, the Reform Act of 1867 granted the vote to most employed men (previously only land-owners could vote). That's probably the context of the incident I was describing, although Wikipedia doesn't mention it.

[Dave]

According to Wikipedia, the Chartist movement died without visible accomplishment. Nearly 20 years later, the Reform Act of 1867 granted the vote to most employed men (previously only land-owners could vote). That's probably the context of the incident I was describing, although Wikipedia doesn't mention it.

Not directly, no - there was so much opposition (and outright political corruption) that the Movement's demands and petitions were ignored or rejected. However, it seems to have laid the groundwork for the eventual adoption of most of the movement's demands, as the ideas percolated through the political system.

I agree, the vote you recall reading about was probably from some years after the Chartist movement per se frayed apart. The argument in favor of the bill might have come from Gladstone or Disraeli, I suppose (I can't find the quote either).

[AnotherFairportfan]

It may be like "I disagree with what you say, but...", which is NOTY a quote from Voltaire, instead originating when a later writer (whose name i have forgotten) said "As Voltaire might have said, 'I disagree...'."

[Gyrrakavian]

It may be like "I disagree with what you say, but...", which is NOTY a quote from Voltaire, instead originating when a later writer (whose name i have forgotten) said "As Voltaire might have said, 'I disagree...'."

Good to know.


On a completely separate notek I just realized your icon pic is MLP:FIM Nudge.