Wapsi Square Forum

I'll take some surplus hugs off her hands, anyone with me?

Not have a sister? What's Pickle, chopped liver?

captnq wrote:Ouch.

Only one way to put this...

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Friend-zoned... with a vengeance.

And it's so hard to get out of the Friend Zone...

Pickle is technically her adopted sister. She means she has no blood siblings.

At least, not until Castela's next tantrum...

I thought the sentence made sense, as a whole:

"Always having a sister close to you."

Close to her in age, in activities, in likes and dislikes (to a certain degree, as I'm sure they have some differences there, somewhere). On the other hand, the age gap between Atsali and Castela means they won't always be in the same activities, won't like the same kind of stuff, are not at the same maturity level, and so on.

I think that was what Atsali was referring to.

On second read, she was talking about "you've got supportive family in numbers", where she only has Pickle and Kath.

She didn't friend-zone Nadette. She "sister"-ed her.

Which isn't a bad thing, come to think of it.

eee wrote:Not have a sister? What's Pickle, chopped liver?

That little whirlwind of spines? More like "liver chopper" when she's angry, I think.

jwhouk wrote:Pickle is technically her adopted sister. She means she has no blood siblings.

At least, not until Castela's next tantrum...

And she's never had a sibling (blood or adopted) close to her own age... one who shares and thus "gets" the emotional stuff she's going through as she matures. Pickle is definitely too young to be sympathetic... she's so far removed from the emotional turbulence of adolescence that she finds it very funny to tease Atsali about it.

Nadette is somewhere between close friend, and "same age to slightly older sister". She's probably the first example of "peer support" Atsali has ever had, as a young woman.

Atsali seems to be reacting exclusively to the "support" aspects of Nadette's behavior, and missing the "need and desire" aspects. I suspect that the experience of having a close, emotionally-supportive friend is so new and so powerful for her, that she's missing the subtext. And, she's so skittish about the whole issue of her siren's powers influencing people to be attracted towards her, that maybe she took Nadette's Seer powers a bit too strongly... "Naxette is a Seer and protected from magic -> Nadette is immune to my attraction -> Nadette cannot possibly have any sexual or romantic interest in me"

Dave wrote:Nadette is somewhere between close friend, and "same age to slightly older sister". She's probably the first example of "peer support" Atsali has ever had, as a young woman.

Atsali seems to be reacting exclusively to the "support" aspects of Nadette's behavior, and missing the "need and desire" aspects. I suspect that the experience of having a close, emotionally-supportive friend is so new and so powerful for her, that she's missing the subtext. And, she's so skittish about the whole issue of her siren's powers influencing people to be attracted towards her, that maybe she took Nadette's Seer powers a bit too strongly... "Nadette is a Seer and protected from magic -> Nadette is immune to my attraction -> Nadette cannot possibly have any sexual or romantic interest in me"

Bingo in bold.

Also, we should not forget about Atsali's interest in the as-yet-unseen Jacob--whose mythos form might turn out to be of a red herring, but I digress. If she's mono-focused on attracting this lad's attentions, she may be oblivious to all other information about competing interests, or may be re-interpreting that information based on her conscious goals.

For example, it might seem obvious to her at the moment that when Nadette stuck her tongue in her ear and groped her boob that it was just Nadette, as a good friend, helping her to test out the efficacy of the talisman. At some point, when she's less concerned about this Jacob, she might re-run the events in her head and go "Oh!" But for now, she's got a one-track mind, and Nadette--of course!--shares her goals.

One of two things could happen with Jacob:

1. He is, indeed, the red herring - he has absolutely no interest in Atsali, and it is somehow revealed that whatever classification of supernatural he is happens to have immunity to Siren song.

2. He actually kinda likes Atsali.

jwhouk wrote:One of two things could happen with Jacob:

1. He is, indeed, the red herring -

Which would put him squarely in Gottlieb's sights I'm afraid...

Drops three tins of tuna, rice and some seaweed sheets in the pun jar.

Sushi anyone?

DilyV wrote:Drops three tins of tuna, rice and some seaweed sheets in the pun jar.

Sushi anyone?

Wasabe, kemo sabe?

jwhouk wrote:One of two things could happen with Jacob:

1. He is, indeed, the red herring - he has absolutely no interest in Atsali, and it is somehow revealed that whatever classification of supernatural he is happens to have immunity to Siren song.

2. He actually kinda likes Atsali.

Of these two things, I have no interest in Jacob's latter.

jwhouk wrote:She didn't friend-zone Nadette. She "sister"-ed her.

Which isn't a bad thing, come to think of it.

Yup.

jwhouk wrote:

Dave wrote:Nadette is somewhere between close friend, and "same age to slightly older sister". She's probably the first example of "peer support" Atsali has ever had, as a young woman.

Atsali seems to be reacting exclusively to the "support" aspects of Nadette's behavior, and missing the "need and desire" aspects. I suspect that the experience of having a close, emotionally-supportive friend is so new and so powerful for her, that she's missing the subtext. And, she's so skittish about the whole issue of her siren's powers influencing people to be attracted towards her, that maybe she took Nadette's Seer powers a bit too strongly... "Nadette is a Seer and protected from magic -> Nadette is immune to my attraction -> Nadette cannot possibly have any sexual or romantic interest in me"

Bingo in bold.

Yup yup.

Thor wrote:

jwhouk wrote: Of these two things, I have no interest in Jacob's latter.

I rail-y don't think you contributed to the pun jar. (Has anyone rung up its value lately?)

*takes 4 steps up and peers in*

Thor wrote:Of these two things, I have no interest in Jacob's latter.

There is a pan-dimensional pun jar stalking you seeking tribute.

Opus the Poet wrote:

Thor wrote:Of these two things, I have no interest in Jacob's latter.

There is a pan-dimensional pun jar stalking you seeking tribute.

In all seriousness though, I do hope he doesn't just remain a random plot point which is swept under the rug. Make him like Atsali, give them a relationship... provide actual real tension with Nadette. I'm glad that Kevin didn't seem to be put on The Bus, but if we're going to have yet another complicated relationship here how about we give the build up some substance?

Yes I'm still a little bitter about Kevin, but only because him being dropped seemed flimsy. Perhaps that was the point, or it was just narrative laziness. I'm looking forward to seeing what this Jacob boy is, the only male supernaturals we've seen are Officer Bun's, and that Minotaur boy in the Library.

Dave wrote:And she's never had a sibling (blood or adopted) close to her own age... one who shares and thus "gets" the emotional stuff she's going through as she matures. Pickle is definitely too young to be sympathetic

And quite possibly not biologically hominid-equivalent.

Akeche wrote:Yes I'm still a little bitter about Kevin, but only because him being dropped seemed flimsy. Perhaps that was the point, or it was just narrative laziness. I'm looking forward to seeing what this Jacob boy is, the only male supernaturals we've seen are Officer Bun's, and that Minotaur boy in the Library.

and at least one kid in Pickles KindirtGarden class, (i think he was a werewolf?) seen the day that Monica came by for Show n' Tell, and possibly the Sasquatch? kid was also a male but i'm not sure as there weren't too many gender-identifying features on him/her.

There where also two random encounters;

one with Katherine (Good Butt Day story arc?) where a curly (red?) haired dude helped with refilling Oscars fish bowl following the accidental ice cream incident....

and

Following a spectacular face plant while roller skating down an outdoor flight of stairs, Acacia ran into a helpful chap who noticed the crack in the pavement,

He thought it was the cause of the spill, we knew Acacia had been the cause of the crack itself...

Both these guys might have been developed further, but noooOOOOooo...

Don't forget the guy who fumbled a ball and hit the fish bowl, the other time Katherine went to the beach.

Or the guy who was playing football and caught Monica from her fall off her new bike (and she caught the football).

Or the guy who tried cruising Jin at the Cerberus club, when Alan was just starting to get acquainted with her.

Not to mention all the MIB guys: those during the pickup at Suzie's place (including "Junior", with the Salted Caramel Latte Popsicle), and the faceless guys who accompanied Pratt and McBride to Mesa Verde, and took off while the two vampires were trying to reach Katherine and Atsali in the alcove of the Stargate.


There were also a horned guy and a beefy-looking person in the library, when Monica landed on the first floor.


So yes, there are plenty of bit parts being offered to guys... just not very many lasting roles...