2013-05-02: [CT] Totally Not Foreshadowing Something

For talking about the plot, the art, the dialogue, the characters, the site, and the individual updates...
Bytemite
Resident Wormhole Lawyer
Posts: 170
Joined: May 19th, 2011, 12:32 pm

Re: 2013-05-02: [CT] Totally Not Foreshadowing Something

Post by Bytemite »

I can imagine. Dark water plus at night = so much black ink for shading. Fields of black can make it really tricky to get the details all up in. And the scanners don't necessarily like that either.
User avatar
Forrest
Finally, some love for the BJ!
Posts: 977
Joined: August 21st, 2007, 12:49 pm
Location: The Edge of the Earth
Contact:

Re: 2013-05-02: [CT] Totally Not Foreshadowing Something

Post by Forrest »

Bytemite wrote:But I also at the same time thought that this bathing scene is WEIRD. [...] Meji's underdeveloped and immature according to basically every standard at this point in the story. [...] I'm not making him evil in retrospect, I'm questioning this scene because it does imply there was something a little more than protectiveness going on with Ian's intentions towards Meji. Even though I think Ian IS a do-gooder to begin with, there's a bit of yuck factor here with Meji.
Honestly I think the "yuck factor" thing is really being overblow now in retrospect. For one, at the time, we didn't know how old Ian was, and they look like they could be not too dissimilar in age. Knowing in retrospect that Ian is 40ish and Meji is 17 does lend a good reason why the two should not actually engage in any kind of relations, but then there are a lot of much bigger reasons besides just the implied power differential due to age. But from what we can see of Meji here in that bathing scene, she is more "developed" physically than 20- and 30-somethings I've dated, so I don't see any reason to say Ian finding her appearance attractive is "yucky" the way it would be if she looked like she was 10 or something. She doesn't look like a child; she looks like a young, but still-post pubescent, woman. I think someone else commented earlier that Meji is in the state of development that earlier eras would have called "nubile", and any adult man just finding her attractive shouldn't be problematic. Actually doing anything about it probably would be, but just appreciating her appearance isn't indicative of anything weird about him, and retroactively making it out to be weird seems like just a further excuse to villainize Ian.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of All Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
User avatar
Imp-Chan
Not Yet Dead
Posts: 1407
Joined: August 10th, 2007, 11:03 am
Twitter @: ImpChan
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Contact:

Re: 2013-05-02: [CT] Totally Not Foreshadowing Something

Post by Imp-Chan »

The age difference never really bothered me much. They look about the same age class physically, I suppose I just placed them in the same class developmentally back when we didn't know how old Ian was. Honestly, I'm still not sure that's all that inaccurate, even knowing how old they are in years.

Besides, I was actively enticing guys more than ten years older back when I was 17, too. It was, in fact, a game. Not the healthiest game, mind you, but apparently pretty normal for a teenaged girl who's out of sync with her peers.

^-^'
Because scary little devil girls have to stick together.
Image
Bytemite
Resident Wormhole Lawyer
Posts: 170
Joined: May 19th, 2011, 12:32 pm

Re: 2013-05-02: [CT] Totally Not Foreshadowing Something

Post by Bytemite »

For one, at the time, we didn't know how old Ian was, and they look like they could be not too dissimilar in age. Knowing in retrospect that Ian is 40ish and Meji is 17 does lend a good reason why the two should not actually engage in any kind of relations, but then there are a lot of much bigger reasons besides just the implied power differential due to age.
Hmmm. That's a good point. Not knowing what Ian's age is, I think the first time around I might've paid more attention to "covering eyes = nice guy" then what I thought of this scene later when I realized how old he was and what his friend's reaction to the possibility of Ian/Meji was.

However, as you mention, there is a good reason why the two should not engage in any kind of relationship, independent of what my reactions were originally or now, and so the yuck factor is still very much present.
I think someone else commented earlier that Meji is in the state of development that earlier eras would have called "nubile", and any adult man just finding her attractive shouldn't be problematic. Actually doing anything about it probably would be, but just appreciating her appearance isn't indicative of anything weird about him.
...Disagree, don't see her as looking developed here, and also see above. Plus Meji comments that the only people interested in her at her high school are the ones who are weird that way. It extends to Ian despite the different species. In fact it might even apply more.
Post Reply