| 1 | ---- |
| 2 | |
| 3 | The character page for ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''. As with the main page, ''please, no NSFW links on this page!'' |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Note that this is a page for characters who are ''primarily'' seen in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''. [[Characters/MenageA3 See here for characters who primarily appear in the parent comic]], ''Webcomic/MenageA3''. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | [[folder:Dillon]] |
| 10 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dillon_sdb_colour.png]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | -> ''"I transitioned from gay to super ultra mega gay."'' |
| 13 | |
| 14 | The comic's primary character, Dillon O'Brien is a flamboyant gay actor with a passionate romantic streak and some problems with self-control. ("Dilly," as in the comic's title, is a casual nickname used by some of his friends.) He appears to be an exceptionally convincing actor when he tries, but is a little eccentric about it. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | |
| 17 | * AbhorrentAdmirer: Towards Gary, to the extent that Gary notices his advances enough to be annoyed. Dillon's attitude to Gary is a mixture of teasing and infatuation; Gary, being clueless and straight, finds the teasing uncomfortable enough and any hints of sexual interest worse. However, Dillon's later behavior toward Ray shows more signs of a working conscience; apparently, [[TheConscience Ruby has been good for him]]. |
| 18 | * AchillesHeel: Anyone turning PuppyDogEyes on Dillon can get him to do almost anything. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/understood He actually refers to this]] as his {{kryptonite|Factor}}. |
| 19 | * AllGaysArePromiscuous: Played with in the person of Dillon (more than with other gay characters). He used to claim a rather promiscuous past in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', but he now mostly ''seems'' to be looking for a reliable monogamous partner, and talks about how badly a past boyfriend's cheating hurt him. On the other hand, he's a compulsive flirt, which at the very least often makes him ''look'' like a representative of this trope, and sometimes makes him seem like a flat-out {{hypocrite}} for those complaints. |
| 20 | * AllGaysLoveTheater: Being a mass of gay male cliches, Dillon manifests this trope; he's dedicated to his acting career -- and at one point takes a drag role in a stage musical. |
| 21 | * AttractiveBentGender: Dillon makes a disturbingly plausible tall, leggy blonde woman. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/better-suited-for-this-role His Black Canary costume]] was enough to fool several people. It became something of a standing joke in his time in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', and is [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/on-a-bed-of-roses lampshaded by Matt]]. See also Dillon as [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/dress-appropriately Amber-Amber.]] |
| 22 | * BreakoutCharacter: Dillon was a moderately important secondary character in ''Webcomic/MenageA3''; WordOfGod from the creators is that they, and apparently a fair number of fans, took a liking to him, while finding that most of the fans were heavily focused on the lead trio. So they gave him his own title. |
| 23 | * ButIWouldReallyEnjoyIt: Dillon has serious self-control problems when it comes to sex. After he breaks up with Matt, they have difficulty keeping their hands off each other when they are alone together, and [[SexWithTheEx they don't always succeed]]. It is eventually brought home to him that he's made some unwise choices, romantically, and he resolves to do better -- but the betting is open on how well he'll succeed. |
| 24 | * CampGay: If you took every CampGay stereotype in the book and ''then'' some, squeezed them into a pink leotard and sprinkled them with glitter, Dillon would be the result. At one point, his orientation note on the ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' Cast page read: "Gay. ''So'' gay." |
| 25 | * CharacterDevelopment: Dillon eventually shows signs of emotional development in his own comic, especially once Ruby has had identified and pointed out some of his more obvious flaws. He resolves to be more sensible about the relationships he forms, and actually feels guilty about tricking Ray into a kiss -- enough to stop doing so, even, with some [[TheConscience prompting from Ruby]]. He also seems to be bringing his DramaQueen tendencies under control; when he can end up looking like the calm and reasonable one in [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/did-not-mean-to-hurt-me a scene with Amber and Ruby,]] he is definitely making progress. The comic ends with him showing definite signs of having substantially improved, [[spoiler:being honest with Gary about his attraction and working to suppress his jealousy regarding Jerzy]]. |
| 26 | * ChickMagnet: His good looks attract occasional unwanted female admirers, and it seems from flashbacks that this started in high school. |
| 27 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He has his moments. |
| 28 | * CrazyJealousGuy: Dillon becomes flakily jealous about Jerzy, though he's relatively harmless as the trope goes; the concert plotline centers on him trying to assess Jerzy's fidelity by spying on him in disguise. ([[{{Hypocrite}} No, you're not imagining the hypocrisy there.]]) As might be expected, this doesn't go well; Dillon probably ends up learning more about himself than he does about Jerzy, Ruby gets to exercise her snarky side on him, and then Dillon blows the disguise in a moment of bad temper. |
| 29 | * TheDitz: Dillon may be a competent actor with some social skills and an eye for fashion, but hormones or carelessness frequently put his brain into idle. |
| 30 | * DragQueen: Dillon may tend this way for professional purposes. Back in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', his stage career received a boost when he was a hit in the (female) role of ComicBook/BlackCanary, and in this comic he claims to have been successful in more such roles, and goes shopping for a skirt to wear in another. He does look good as a woman, but why so many cross-dressing parts come his way is unclear. |
| 31 | * DramaQueen: Dillon's {{camp|Gay}}ness often tips over into sheer excess, perhaps manipulatively, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/best-ease-back-there as here.]] Some readers suspect that he can cry CrocodileTears, but it seems more likely that his crying is entirely genuine but can switch on or off in a moment; he's just that mercurial. |
| 32 | * EvenTheGuysWantHim: |
| 33 | ** See Dillon dressed up as ComicBook/BlackCanary or Amber-Amber; he can certainly attract a certain amount of passing straight male interest when he's in drag, and male readers will usually agree that this is plausible. |
| 34 | ** Dillon impersonating Amber-Amber (Gary's favorite porn star) even persuades Gary to make out with him under the pretense of helping Gary learn how to do it right, albeit to no apparent lasting effect on Gary's sexuality or attitude to Dillon. |
| 35 | ** Dillon has claimed to have "turned" several straight guys in the past with his Swirly-Go-Round kissing technique. ''However,'' after Ruby extracts some details from him, she points out that it's much more likely that they were bisexual or gay, but either in denial or using this claim as a way to brush Dillon off. |
| 36 | ** When he kisses Ray (with the excuse of teaching him acting skills), Ray apparently finds the experience so hot that he starts questioning his own sexuality. This leaves open the question of Ray's actual inclinations and degree of repression; Dillon's suggestion is that Ray simply had latent bisexual tendencies, and later events bear this out. |
| 37 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Dillon is horrified by the idea that Julian, who Dillon used to babysit when Julian was a child, might want to date him and do "grown up things". For him, their past dynamic is impossible to overlook in this case. |
| 38 | * {{Flanderization}}: Comparing early strips in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' to his later appearances leads some readers to detect this. An ArchiveBinge may leave one thinking "Where did Dillon go, and why is Jack from ''Series/WillAndGrace'' being called by his name?" He's arguably much more of a collection of stereotypes now than then -- though other readers would say that there were hints from early on. This is perhaps {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' where he says he went "''from gay, to super ultra mega gay.''" |
| 39 | * GayBestFriend: Played with, in that Dillon seems to want to be every woman's gay best friend. He has more actual (gay) sex than the archetypal gay best friend, but otherwise fits the trope fairly well in relation to Amber. He's equally determined to play the part for Ruby, whether she wants him to or not; her attempts to keep him at a distance bring out her snarky side, which very occasionally leads to her calling out his faults. |
| 40 | * {{Gayngst}}: Dillon mostly ''massively'' {{avert|edTrope}}s this trope; the occasional crying jag after a relationship breaks up notwithstanding, he may be a lot of things, but angsty isn't one of them. However, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-like-someone-else a brief flashback]] reveals that he went through a completely standard case of the teenage version. |
| 41 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: Once he becomes the star of his own comic, any appearances he makes in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' could count as instances of this trope from that comic's point of view. |
| 42 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Dillon's total lack of self-awareness sometimes advances into the realm of hypocrisy, becoming one of his major flaws: |
| 43 | ** In ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', he calls Gary out on nearly cheating on Yuki and goes on a lengthy lecture about being faithful and how a person that is cheated on feels... But when he started teaching Gary the Swirly-Go-Round kissing technique, he said that he had seduced twenty-seven men away from their girlfriends with it. It was pointed out in online discussions that "I made them forget their girlfriends" can be a gay figure of speech, meaning "I made them forget that they used to be interested in girls" rather than "I made them desert their girlfriends at that time", but a later strip in his own comic suggests that Dillon was being entirely literal. Then he claims that none of the twenty-seven told him that they were in relationships beforehand -- at which point, Ruby spots that [[UnreliableNarrator his entire understanding of the situation might be flawed]]. |
| 44 | ** He certainly remembers Matt (from ''Webcomic/MenageA3'') as his "bastard ex-boyfriend" for being unfaithful, however shaky his own grasp of fidelity may be. |
| 45 | ** He also becomes [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/staked-a-claim insecure and jealous when he starts dating Jerzy,]] then sets out to [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/sort-of-works-either-way hit on another attractive man]] the very next day. Indeed, he continues flirting, sometimes physically, with every attractive man in sight, taking excuses to [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/ambitious-mood rub up against a swimming instructor]] who he knows [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/nothing-to-gain-from-this isn't gay]] -- despite having referred to one of Ruby's old teachers as [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/makes-me-look-professional "Dirty Professor Conried"]] for merely persuading Ruby to wear a short skirt and to bend over frequently while wearing it. |
| 46 | ** The fact that the comics seem to let Dillon off for most of this initially suggests that ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful applies here. However, Angel eventually exploits Dillon's hypocrisy when bad-mouthing him to Jerzy; Dillon and Ruby are eavesdropping that conversation, and Ruby ''thoroughly'' enjoys watching Dillon squirm. Indeed, Ruby, the most romantically inexperienced and naive character in the setting, is able to offer him some good (if blindingly obvious) romantic advice. Part of [[TheConscience her role in the comic]] seems to be to introduce him to [[CharacterDevelopment basic self-awareness]]. |
| 47 | * IncompatibleOrientation: Dillon is a bit of a magnet for this problem; see the main pages for both ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' and ''Webcomic/MenageA3''. |
| 48 | * {{Jerkass}}: It may not be conscious on his part or that of the writers, but Dillon ends up in this category for some readers when his cute ditziness slips too far into self-indulgent stupidity or flagrant hypocrisy. For example, Ruby almost drowned because he couldn't stop flirting, even though he already has a boyfriend -- and while she was being revived, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-got-distracted he was taking pictures.]] |
| 49 | * LargeHam: Although Dillon appears to be a competent professional actor in the comics universe, his {{camp|Gay}} mannerisms and flamboyant emoting could be considered hammy. |
| 50 | * LovableSexManiac: Appears to be the intention with Dillon, who, when he isn't actively pursuing Jerzy or yearning for the unattainable Gary, is using Ruby as a straight guy detector, trying to impress Richie the handsome pet store owner, rubbing up against Andy the (non-gay) swimming instructor, and generally flirting with every attractive male in sight, while being blond, cute, and ditzy. How lovable he ''actually'' is, is [[YMMV/StickyDillyBuns a matter of personal opinion]], but he's certainly a sex maniac: |
| 51 | -->'''Gary:''' ''[gasping over the phone]'' Dillon! (pant pant) Thank God! (pant) I need (pant) help!\ |
| 52 | '''Dillon:''' Gary? Is this a reverse obscene phone call? Ya ''durrty'' boy!\ |
| 53 | '''Gary:''' (pant) Handcuffed! (pant) Police! (pant) Been doing (pant pant) long-distance track! (pant) Japanese girl on me! (pant pant)\ |
| 54 | '''Dillon:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Whoa! That sounds way more fun that what I'm doing! I'll be right over!]] |
| 55 | * MethodActing: [[invoked]] Lightly satirized when Dillon [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-doubt-my-credibility claims to use this technique here]]. Given his flamboyant style, and the fact that the most successful role we've seen him in was as a superheroine, [[UnreliableNarrator he may not be a perfectly reliable witness]]. |
| 56 | * TheMistress: In ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', Dillon plays a gender-reversed version of this role to Nathan for a while. |
| 57 | * ThePornomancer: Dillon has claimed to have the same knack for seducing straight men that Zii of ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' has for seducing straight women. His alleged tally so far is at least twenty-seven. However, this seems to be mostly in his past -- and it eventually becomes apparent that Dillon may be [[UnreliableNarrator deluding himself]] about about his accomplishments. |
| 58 | * PrettyBoy: His slim build, blonde hair, and soft features easily place him into this territory. |
| 59 | * SecretKeeper: When Ruby has finally talked herself into a corner, Dillon agrees to keep her love of {{Yaoi}} a secret. Even before that, he seemed to respect her preference that Amber not know about her adventure as [[SweetPollyOliver "Rudy"]], and eventually, he keeps her activities with the {{Yaoi}} club quiet from Amber, once he realizes that Ruby has not told Amber about this. |
| 60 | * SobriquetSexSwitch: Dillon calls himself "Dinah" or "Dilla" when he cross-dresses (although the former choice is originally triggered by him playing ComicBook/BlackCanary on stage). |
| 61 | * StupidSexyFlanders: The fact he looks so good as a woman makes things quite hard for Gary. Amusingly, he [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/nave-farm-girl remarks]] (albeit clearly as a joke) that [=DiDi=]'s cooking could make him go straight for her. |
| 62 | * TaughtByTelevision: Parodied when it turns out that [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/oprah-never-lies Dillon gets some of his ideas about straight men and gay sex third-hand]] from [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah.]] |
| 63 | * TheTease: Towards Gary, who is more terrified than aroused (when he actually notices). |
| 64 | * UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Dillon's campness can tip over into childishness, as [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/on-friendly-terms when he wins out over Angel during their first encounter.]] |
| 65 | * VitriolicBestBuds: In very mild form, to both Gary and Ruby. |
| 66 | ** Dillon was Gary's roommate for some time before ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' began, and the two got to know each other quite well, though "best buds" would be an exaggeration. Dillon was always inclined to tease Gary, that being his style and Gary being easy to tease; later, his feelings turned to infatuation, which mostly led to Gary getting confused. |
| 67 | ** Dillon is determined to become friends with Ruby, and doesn't let her resistance stop him; she eventually seems to develop a liking of a sort for him. However, he can't resist teasing her sometimes, while putting up with him causes Ruby to develop her capacity for snarkiness. Their interactions thus frequently involve bickering, at which Ruby is much better than Gary was. |
| 68 | * WholesomeCrossdresser: Funnily enough, ''some'' of Dillon's cross-dressing fits within this trope; much of it is for purely theatrical purposes. However, he's also perfectly willing to use drag to persuade Gary to accept his kissing lessons, or to give a bisexual boyfriend extra thrills. |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[/folder]] |
| 71 | |
| 72 | !!The Larose Sisters |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Amber]] |
| 75 | [[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amber_sdb_colour.png]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | -> ''"Like, is it appropriate to compare his penis size to others' on the first date?"'' |
| 78 | |
| 79 | Dillon's room-mate, Amber Larose is a [[PornCreatorGoingMainstream former porn star seeking to make it as a serious actress.]] Back in their ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' days, she was the prime mover in arranging the slightly dubious transaction which got her and Dillon the apartment, which is in their joint names. They love each other like brother and sister, and often work together. Amber's view of the world seems to have been somewhat distorted by years working in the porn business; despite having had sex with dozens of people, she says at one point that having a boyfriend is new to her. And although she's nice enough, she doesn't really understand other people with more inhibitions -- notably her own sister. |
| 80 | ---- |
| 81 | * AllegedlyDateless: Amber is seen in early strips complaining about her difficulty forming relationships outside of the porn industry which she's just left, and there are a lot of hints that she's yearning for the comfort of a sexual relationship. The arrival of Ruby is flagged as a further problem, because they have to share a bedroom. However, within a couple of weeks or so, comic time, she's shown to have had sex with two men and one woman, and she has no difficulty claiming the room for herself and a guy overnight. She may still have problems forming ''stable'' sexual relationships, but the suggestion that she can't find ''anyone'' is unconvincing. |
| 82 | * TheAtoner: Ruby has forced Amber into this role, in a very small, domestic way. Amber doesn't understand Ruby's psychology, and Ruby's grudge is amplified and distorted by resentment. However, just by putting up with Ruby and caring for her, Amber is helping with the healing of Ruby's damaged psyche, thus atoning for the part she (unintentionally) played in making Ruby what she is. |
| 83 | * ButNotTooBi: While Amber is shown as cheerfully, actively bisexual, when she starts looking for a serious relationship, she limits the search to men. This seems to reflect her personal attitude rather than a universal rule in the comics, though. |
| 84 | * ColourfulThemeNaming: Amber is a color (as well as a [[RockThemeNaming gemstone of sorts]]), and Amber’s sister’s name is Ruby, of which the same is true. |
| 85 | * DarkSecret: Amber has kept her porn career secret from her parents (and Ruby has colluded in this [[spoiler:despite feeling incredibly bitter about the fact]]). However, this seems unlikely to last if Amber's acting career takes off... |
| 86 | * DeathGlare: The normally quite mild-mannered Amber manages to generate a burning glare [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/see-you-on-set when sufficiently provoked by Nathan here.]] |
| 87 | * DemotedToExtra: Amber starts the comic's run sharing an apartment with the title character, and appears in most of the early strips, with a potentially complex SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan plot hook and some other issues attached -- and she is always part of the set-up for Ruby's story. However, she finds the answer to her romantic problem at the first attempt ([[spoiler:Ray]] is literally standing around the apartment when she comes home one evening), she never does address many of those other issues, and so far as Ruby is concerned, she mostly serves simply as someone to be rude to and finally reconcile with. |
| 88 | * DoYouWantToCopulate: While she never gets ''quite'' as blunt as the trope name implies, Amber has a relaxed, positive attitude to sex, and her porn career has perhaps left her desensitized to the sort of things that many other people discuss more delicately, even in these comics. She has real difficulty understanding the prudish (but not, realistically, ''insanely'' prudish) Ruby -- and vice-versa, of course. |
| 89 | * DramaQueen: Mostly, Amber is fairly calm and reasonable, especially when compared to Dillon, but [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/did-not-mean-to-hurt-me guilt and confusion can push her over the edge.]] |
| 90 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Her strongest standards are linked to a ''positive'' attitude to sex; in her eyes, getting it by trickery or using it for financial profit may be ethically questionable, but are the sort of thing that a girl may have to do, but cruelly refusing it to a boyfriend, leaving him frustrated, when he pleasures you 24/7, is just plain ''wrong''. |
| 91 | * {{Expy}}: Amber seems to be a fairly clear expy of ex-porn star Traci Lords, at least in looks and desired career path. |
| 92 | * GoodBadGirl: This trope is generally averted, in that the comic doesn't seem inclined to judge Amber or Chanelle for liking sex and even for making a living from it. However, Amber is in the process of settling down more, and has declared that she could be happy with one good man. Moreover, Ruby ''does'' seem inclined to judge Amber for her past behavior; from her point of view, classing Amber as a good bad girl would be an act of forgiveness. |
| 93 | * HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Well, actually “Ex-Porn Star With A Heart of Gold”. Amber can be genuinely sweet, though she's sometimes selfish or self-indulgent, and (for instance) she really does attempt to help Gary when she thinks he needs assistance. However, her past behavior towards Ruby accidentally left the latter significantly emotionally damaged, and she’s slightly less help to Gary than she intends; she has a trope-subverting (but comedic) tendency to dangerous ''carelessness.'' |
| 94 | * HormoneAddledTeenager: Amber was allegedly quite a shy teenager at first, and flashbacks seem to confirm this. However, after Zii introduced her to good sex, she clearly got rather carried away, and ended up working in porn. She's in her 20s and has just turned to straight acting when she first appears in the comics' present, and while she isn't bitterly regretful, she seems somewhat embarrassed by her porn past. |
| 95 | * ICallHimMisterHappy: In her quest to get [[CampGay Dillon]] to use his Swirly-Go-Round technique on her again, Amber reveals that she's indeed named her...um...something (probably her clitoris) "Rosebud" (and terrifies poor Dillon in the process). |
| 96 | * TheImmodestOrgasm: After tricking Gary into an... intimate PracticeKiss, her [[{{Pun}} rather epic climax]] alerts Gary's FridgeLogic detector.(''"Wait. How are you talking?"'') The result? [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/can-i-have-your She breaks him.]] |
| 97 | * LingerieScene: Amber is periodically glimpsed in skimpy underwear or flimsy nightwear. |
| 98 | * TheMistress: To Nathan, until she gets what she wants from him, in writing. |
| 99 | * MyGodYouAreSerious: Gary comes to her doorstep, telling her he's seen all her videos and apologising for having seen her as a lust object. She doesn't believe he's seen them ''all'' -- until he brings out a [[PornStash massive box of all the pornos that she was ever in]], including one that ''wasn't even for sale in North America.'' |
| 100 | * NiceGirl: Occasional selfishness aside, Amber is quite sweet and caring towards her friends. |
| 101 | * PornCreatorGoingMainstream: She is trying to become a real actress ([[{{Expy}} à la Traci Lords]]), though she and Dillon had the misfortune of working under JerkAss producer Nathan ([[CastingCouch all too literally]], as it turned out). Fortunately, (with a little help from [[AttractiveBentGender Dillon]]), [[KarmicTrickster she was able to turn the tables]] and nab both a favorable contract and a free apartment out of the deal. She was known as "Amber-Amber" when working in porn, but she now tries to dissuade people from calling her that. However, she still seems prone to thinking in porn industry terms, making her character journey incomplete as yet. |
| 102 | * RockThemeNaming: With her sister; she and Ruby are both named after gemstones. |
| 103 | * SupremeChef: Not really emphasized, but on several occasions, Dillon references Amber's apparently great skill as a baker (mentioning both cinnamon buns and muffins at least once). As with [=DiDi=] in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', she's probably not professional-level, but still excellent for an amateur. |
| 104 | * ThisIsUnforgivable: Demonstrated twice in ''Webcomic/MenageA3''. Once when Zii tells her of Gary's rather messy relationship with Yuki, which she interprets as abusive, leading her to declare war on the spot on "Yuki" [[MistakenIdentity (actually [=DiDi=])]]. The second time occurs when she hears that Yuki is using Gary for oral sex and never reciprocates with any sort of physical affection. |
| 105 | -->'''Amber''': That selfish ''bitch''! It's worse than I thought! |
| 106 | * UnknownRival: |
| 107 | ** At one point while Yuki is dating Gary, Amber vows to break them up because of Yuki's maltreatment of him. However, because Amber accidentally issues the challenge to the wrong person, Yuki never actually knows about this, making Amber Yuki's UnknownRival for a short time. |
| 108 | ** Later, Amber pursues Gary, not quite appreciating how many other women have the same goal in mind. (Frankly, any woman who takes an interest in Gary ends up as part of a network of often-unknown rivals.) |
| 109 | ** More subtly, Ruby seems to regard Amber as her competitor for parental affection and attention in general. Amber just doesn't understand this at all. |
| 110 | |
| 111 | [[/folder]] |
| 112 | |
| 113 | [[folder:Ruby]] |
| 114 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ruby_sdb_colour.png]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | -> ''“Okay, got it. So he’s a fu-dan-shi, and '''other girls besides me''' are fujoshis. Those poor, twisted freaks.”'' |
| 117 | |
| 118 | Amber’s sister, Ruby Larose, is a recent [[{{Booksmart}} BBA graduate]] who comes to Montreal to look for a job, moving into the apartment and Amber’s room during her search, which leads to her becoming Dillon and Amber’s shared PA. Ruby and Amber have ... issues. Ruby believes that she is TheUnfavorite between her and Amber, though how true this is has not been established; Amber denies it, though not always very forcefully. |
| 119 | |
| 120 | When she first arrives, Ruby is prudish, conventional, and one of the few {{introver|sionTropes}}ts in the setting, and so is way out of her depth, but she is determined to get through despite everything. She is also initially very determined always to do the right thing as she sees it, which gives her sometimes surprising strength of character -- though her morality becomes a little more flexible with experience (and she’s increasingly easily DistractedByTheSexy). She’s also serious about her business ambitions, and eventually demonstrates a slightly ruthless manipulative streak. [[SeriesOfThe1970s 1970s]][=/=][[SeriesOfThe1980s '80s]] television programs, especially {{cop show}}s, seem previously to have been her main form of entertainment and her guide to life, occasionally heading into DiscoDan territory; nowadays, she covers her various areas of ignorance and naivety by heavy use of Website/{{Google}} through her smartphone. |
| 121 | ---- |
| 122 | * AccidentalPublicConfession: Ruby suffers an unfortunate outburst while [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/between-two-men in conversation with Angel in the pet shop.]] Trying to be polite while both confused by and curious about Angel's complex sexuality proves too much for her. |
| 123 | * AgeInappropriateDress: Ruby demonstrates this twice over in her early scenes. When first seen, in public, she's wearing a very short skirt (indeed, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/an-excuse-to-get-close her very first appearance]] involves an [[WardrobeMalfunction accidental]] [[PantyShot panty flash]], albeit more visible to other characters than to the readers), despite her aggressive disinterest in anything sexual -- for reasons that she later explains, but also perhaps as a symbol of the fact that she's emotionally still a young girl. Later, to sleep, she changes into a [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/time-to-bond-with-my-sister long nightdress]] that would look prudish on your great-grandmother. The fact that she is soon persuaded to get rid of the skirt, and the nightdress just disappears in favor of T-shirt style nightwear in later night-time scenes, is symbolic of her CharacterDevelopment. |
| 124 | * {{Angrish}}: Ruby is normally fairly controlled and distinctly cerebral, but her burning rage at Amber renders her incoherent [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/angry-with-herself at least once.]] |
| 125 | * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: What happens when you leave a kid sister at home from whom you’ve become rather distant since you hit your teens, and you see little of her for several years -- but you ask her to keep your porn career secret from your parents for most of that time? You get Ruby showing up on your doorstep. She may look a bit old to be an annoying kid sister, but she's going to try anyway. |
| 126 | * BadLiar: Possibly Ruby's key trait. Seemingly any serious attempt to deceive anyone else makes her [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-was-accidental blush and blather furiously until she blurts out the truth anyway.]] She [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/try-committing-to-him actually says herself at one point that she doesn't like to lie]] -- albeit sarcastically when refusing to flatter Dillon. Her attempts to deceive ''herself'' over her interest in sex cause her a lot of stress and confusion; her denials verge on the ridiculous. It's not clear how she was able to deceive her parents about Amber's occupation for several years, but her persistent abrasiveness with Amber may largely be caused by the fact that Amber made her do so -- or the stress from that may be the reason why she's ''such'' an awful liar. This is sometimes a significant virtue, though; she's effective at playing TheConscience to Dillon because, unlike all his other friends, she doesn't enable his idiocies, but calls him on them. |
| 127 | * BecomingTheMask: |
| 128 | ** Ruby invokes this, perhaps simply as an excuse, when she [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/things-i-could-give shows Dillon her tougher, cynical side]] while in [[BeardOfEvil masculine disguise]]. Then she [[BoyfriendBluff uses that tougher side to help Dillon out]] (at a little risk to herself, even). |
| 129 | ** She is also Becoming the Mask in a larger and subtler sense. When she first arrives in volume 1 of the comic, she is attempting to present herself as a nascent businesswoman, but despite her business degree and PowerHair, she is clearly just a mixture of an AnnoyingYoungerSibling and TheIngenue. In volume 2, however, she actually develops to match that presentation, coming up with moneymaking ideas and manipulating other people into assisting with them. |
| 130 | * BerserkButton: Ruby seems to be permanently angry around Amber, but is fairly reasonable to Dillon and other people. However, when Dillon tells her that working as his PA will also mean working for Amber, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/we-are-already-downsizing she explodes in his face.]] It seems that Amber is Ruby's very own berserk button. |
| 131 | * BlankWhiteEyes: Glimpsed on Ruby (in a variant form defined by her glasses) in [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/try-new-things the last panel here,]] when she's blushing overwhelmingly at the collapse of one of her weak attempts at deception. She is subsequently occasionally shown with her reflective glasses again obscuring her eyes. Eventually, when she's thinking about {{Yaoi}}, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/started-to-heat-up that word is shown on her lenses.]] |
| 132 | * {{Booksmart}}: Being book smart (but otherwise inexperienced) is very central to Ruby’s characterisation. She’s modern enough to extend this to being “Website/{{Google}} smart”; whenever she runs into something she doesn’t understand, she pulls out her mobile phone and hits the internet — a habit which serves her well, even if some of what she learns causes her the occasional HeroicBSOD. |
| 133 | * BoyfriendBluff: Ruby actually [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/what-kind-of-boyfriend-are-you pulls this off]], to protect Dillon, while in her [[SweetPollyOliver "Rudy" disguise]] -- which must take some nerve. |
| 134 | * BrainyBrunette: Her intelligence may sometimes seem like an InformedAttribute (at least in volume 1), but she has the university education, and she's stuck with being the book-smart, occasionally snarky contrast to her blonde sister Amber. So she lives this trope, complete with glasses. |
| 135 | * BrokenBird: Ruby is a minor textbook example of someone broken by emotional trauma. She's been suffering for a while, too; WordOfGod is that the WildTeenParty during which she was traumatised took place [[http://www.pixietrixcomix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=13780&start=45#p459890 when she was about 14,]] and she's still not recovered in the comic, which is set after she has graduated from university. However, the cause of her bitterness, a minor FreudianExcuse, is [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/no-interference revealed during her first appearance,]] rather than being saved up for some big scene later. Furthermore, her broken emotional state is frequently PlayedForLaughs in this comedy comic, making her simply a [[TheComicallySerious comedy]] [[SourPrudes prude]] or ButtMonkey in many strips. |
| 136 | * BrutalHonesty: Ruby is often [[HairTriggerTemper short-tempered]] while being [[BadLiar habitually truthful]], which can make for harsh honesty. She isn't ''excessively'' brutal, except to Amber (who triggers her seething rage); she's perfectly willing to apologize (even to Amber) when she realizes that she's gone too far or spoken carelessly. However, she feels obliged to, for example, tell Dillon the truth about his claims of past sexual success -- which is good for him in the long run. |
| 137 | * BullyMagnet: [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/Low-on-funds One strip]] implies that Ruby was something of a bully magnet in her schooldays, leading her to cut herself off from much human interaction. |
| 138 | * ButtMonkey: Ruby is repressed and easily confused, which causes her multiple problems: |
| 139 | ** In her first appearance, she accidentally [[PantyShot panty-flashes]] Dillon and Jerzy; later, she stumbles on a [[PornStash collection of porn]] her sister has starred in, is disgusted to find two of her sister's sex toys just lying around, and then ends up [[spoiler:hiding in a wardrobe, watching and then listening while Jerzy and Dillon have sex]] (which she ''doesn't'' enjoy). Oh, [[WebcomicTime and that was only the first day]]. |
| 140 | ** The next day she has it pointed out to her that her favorite tutor at university was an exploitative pervert, and her long-standing wardrobe choice is therefore deeply embarrassing. |
| 141 | ** The day after that, there's the trip to the swimming pool where she nearly drowns and then experiences what feels to her like a minor HumiliationConga. At which point, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-got-distracted she notices again]] just how life is treating her. |
| 142 | ** And that's never mind her past experience of discovering that her sister was a porn star -- by being exposed to one of Amber's films [[spoiler:at a teenage party -- when she was 14]]. |
| 143 | ** She gets a little more hardened as the story continues, of necessity, but the emotional traumas don't stop. She tells Dillon that hanging around with him and Amber [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-will-always-be-my-favorite-girl "is like tuning my TV to the 'Uncomfortable Realizations Channel,' 24-7".]] |
| 144 | ** Andy's (apparent) suggestion that they have sex also causes her trauma. However, she gets over that with help from her new friends. [[CharacterDevelopment She's becoming less vulnerable]], and hence less of a butt monkey. |
| 145 | ** Still, even though her relationship with Andy eventually works out okay, it still turns out that he's a borderline asexual who has to be pushed into explaining himself, so getting there involves a certain amount more embarrassment and stress for her. |
| 146 | * CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Ruby's conscience seems to be so hyperactive that she honestly ''thinks'' this applies to her, even for actions which most people wouldn't think were wrong -- and she does suffer a bit in this respect. |
| 147 | ** For example, two years ago, she took a selfie in which she flashed some leg; now, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/banish-these-thoughts she believes that anyone might somehow know about this.]] |
| 148 | ** It doesn't help that she's a BadLiar with some genuine bad luck; for example, she's just told Zii that she'd never been in the comics shop before but she might be prepared to investigate {{yaoi}} as a new experience, when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/try-new-things Jung walks past and reveals that she was in the day before, buying multiple volumes of yaoi.]] |
| 149 | ** However, [[AvertedTrope her luck turns]] as she learns to take more chances. When she photographs and videos Ray kissing Dillon, she maybe convinces herself that they won't mind, but logically, Ray might well have objected. Instead, and apparently to her surprise, on being told by others that he looks good in these pictures, he thanks Ruby and asks her to help him build an image portfolio for use when chasing acting jobs. |
| 150 | * CelibateHeroine: Ruby initially declares that she's uninterested in romance, she just wants to find a good job. Her motives seem to be a desire to differentiate herself from her sister, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-are-the-target-audience a determination to be taken seriously,]] rather than any high-minded morality. (She’s almost trying to project the image of a ChasteHero, but she’s not actually that clueless.) However, the trope is {{averted|Trope}} in time; that determination takes a battering from the ham-fisted manipulations of Dillon and Amber, and she fairly soon has to admit to twinges of interest in sex. She starts treating Andy as a boyfriend, and when the prospect arises of first having sex with him, she reacts with nervousness rather than hostility, and looks quite interested when she is reassured that this needn't be horrible -- and things go on from there. |
| 151 | * CharacterDevelopment: Ruby is forced into some fairly rapid character development, first to keep her sanity in the unfamiliar environment of the apartment, and then to come to terms with some new emotions and interests. |
| 152 | ** Her initial reactions to anything involving sex or nudity is paralyzed fear and a wish to stop it (see, for example strip #36, May 13, 2013, marginally NSFW), but she soon becomes hardened enough to respond with [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/my-weekly-ritual mere annoyance.]] Her curiosity about unconventional sexuality also soon becomes [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/between-two-men impossible for her to restrain.]] |
| 153 | ** She's also caught between the fact that she herself is obviously prone to sexual feelings, and her [[SourPrude prudish]] distaste for the whole idea. She initially reacts with denial, occasionally letting slip contradictory statements like [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-a-modern-woman "I have every right to look at men,"]] but once she gets into Dillon's {{yaoi}} collection, that denial becomes increasingly implausible. Eventually, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-can-really-feel-the-attraction Dillon forces her to acknowledge her interest in yaoi,]] pushing her into acceptance. She goes from calling fujoshi (female yaoi fans) “twisted freaks” to using the word of herself. |
| 154 | ** After a day that was meant to be spent job-hunting, but which involves meetings with Zii and Angel in the shops where they respectively work, and mind-expanding conversations with each of them about sexual matters, Ruby relaxes enough to admit more openly to her own desires -- and to sneak candid photographs of Dillon and Ray kissing. This marks a tipping point in her development. |
| 155 | ** Unfortunately, that development turns into a minor FaceHeelTurn, as she starts trying to manipulate Dillon and others into living out her YaoiFangirl fantasies. Still, she never goes too far over the line, and Dillon never finds cause to object to the way she treats him. |
| 156 | ** By the time of the comic’s return in 2018, her primary motivation in her story is the desire to get Andy into bed. [[spoiler:She succeeds, despite some complications, and in the process shows both an intelligent approach to problems and increased self-awareness. She then admits that her problem with Amber involved a fair amount of jealousy, and now she has a sex life of her own, their relationship can hopefully improve a lot]]. |
| 157 | * ColourfulThemeNaming: “Ruby” is a color (as well as a [[RockThemeNaming gemstone]]), and Ruby’s sister’s name is Amber, of which the same is true. |
| 158 | * TheConscience: |
| 159 | ** Ruby [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/this-is-an-emergency plays this role for Dillon]] when the latter is concealing his homosexuality from Ray, and at other times. As she has quite a strong moral sense, and Dillon is more used to doing whatever he feels like, she seems set to repeat this in future -- except that her CharacterDevelopment compromises that moral sense. She talks to him more about his romantic issues as their friendship develops, and though this is partly out of a voyeuristic interest in hearing about his sex life, there's a sense that even just having her around helps Dillon's own CharacterDevelopment. |
| 160 | ** When she tries to play a similar role toward Amber, though, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/did-not-mean-to-hurt-me her attitude ends up looking much more prudish and sanctimonious.]] That relationship is a bit of a mess. |
| 161 | ** She also delivers a polite nudge to Zii at one one point. |
| 162 | * CoolShades: When Ruby [[SweetPollyOliver disguises herself]] as the {{gangbanger}}-style street punk "Rudy", she switches her round-lensed NerdGlasses for [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/we-are-in-disguise similarly shaped shades.]] Although the lenses are too large for these to work as proper RoundHippieShades, [[BecomingTheMask the disguise seems to do a lot for her confidence]]. |
| 163 | * CovertPervert: Despite her initial prudishness, Ruby soon slips into this pattern, and then gradually slips partly out again, in that she becomes somewhat less covert about her interests. Being a BadLiar, she's [[ButtMonkey repeatedly caught out]], so the secrecy couldn't last. |
| 164 | ** She soon finds herself [[DistractedByTheSexy easily distracted by the gay male activity that keeps happening around her]], and tends to think about men in homosexual scenarios and then deny to herself that she's interested, or mentally change the subject. And when she glimpses Matt's penis in a male restroom (it's a long story), she finds herself looking for longer than is [[MaleRestroomEtiquette polite]]. |
| 165 | ** [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/overly-friendly Her rationalizations for her behavior are painfully thin,]] and Dillon hears her [[EroticDream talking in her sleep]] and is subject to some of her {{Freudian Slip}}s, so ''he'' can see that she's repressed (and stressed). |
| 166 | ** She also develops a taste for {{Yaoi}}; see the YaoiFangirl entry below. Although she initially attempts to hide this, Dillon [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-got-impatient spots her interest]] and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-are-the-target-audience forces her to admit the truth;]] she swears him to secrecy, but [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/tasteful-connoisseur Zii also sees through her,]] leading to her becoming much more open about that interest. |
| 167 | ** Having admitted the truth to herself, she's [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/between-two-men openly curious about Angel's sex life,]] and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/good-memories sneaks photos of Ray practicing kissing techniques with Dillon.]] (Fortunately, Ray doesn't mind this, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/no-other-reasons is even grateful]] when told that the photos show him to be a good actor.) Soon, she's maneuvering a number of men into posing for a pin-up calendar -- although she continues to insist that anything she does is "respectable". |
| 168 | ** She is also still [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/he-is-looking-at-me worried that Andy will detect her interests and think badly of her.]] Unfortunately for her, she's still a very BadLiar. |
| 169 | ** By late in the comic's run, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/tell-me-about-the-man it's clear that Dillon is fully aware of her voyeuristic interest, but doesn't mind playing along.]] |
| 170 | * CrossPoppingVeins: Seen when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/oprah-never-lies Ruby finally gets irritated enough with Dillon to yell at him]]. |
| 171 | * DarkSecret: Ruby desperately tries to keep anything even faintly embarrassing or just slightly unconventional about herself, such as her brief (and quite creditable) adventure in male disguise, or, initially, her liking for {{yaoi|Fangirl}}, secret from Amber. Apparently, her self-image as the serious, respectable one in [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry their relationship]] is vitally important to her, or she assumes for some reason that Amber would taunt her mercilessly given half a chance. |
| 172 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: When she first appears, Ruby could be classed as TheIngenue; she's younger than most of the rest of the main cast, woefully naive (and at least one older figure has taken advantage of this in the past), virginal, and if not immune to sexual innuendo, certainly very bad at handling it. However, she's also petulant, arrogant, and insecure, and her "purity" is treated as both a symptom and a cause of emotional damage. She's ''also'' determined to succeed on her own terms, and would probably be angry if anyone tried to play Prince Charming for her. CharacterDevelopment eventually abrades away most of her naivety and some of her petulance, and she eventually takes charge of disposing of her virginity for herself. |
| 173 | * DefrostingIceQueen: There are, inevitably, hints of this with Ruby, although she's more immature and irritable than a typical chilly ice queen. In fact, her cold façade seems to be a thin protective screen; it collapses quickly at [[CutenessProximity the sight of a cute kitten]] or Dillon being [[LargeHam hammily emotional]]. Nor is the defrosting that slow a process; even on her first date (of sorts), with Andy, her interactions with him show that she's perfectly capable of being polite and even quite sweet, and she can turn downright {{Moe}} in her sleep. She soon forms friendships with Zii, Angel, and others, and contemplates sex with Andy fairly readily. [[FriendsAreChosenFamilyArent Her attitude to Amber, though, remains ice cold.]] |
| 174 | * DiggingYourselfDeeper: Ruby is prone to this, as she's frequently depicted as naive, nervous, in paper-thin denial about her own nature, and way out of her social depth -- and she's prone to [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-have-to-make-this-right gabbling]] under stress. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-still-staring-at-it This is a particularly uncomfortable example for her, trying to pass in male disguise having (literally) taken her places she doesn't want to be.]] |
| 175 | * DistractedByTheSexy: As her libido only begins digging itself out from under a layer of repression, Ruby not only keeps ''[[EatingTheEyeCandy noticing]]'' attractive men, she sometimes finds them seriously distracting; see [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/truly-important here]], for example, where she forgets the important resolution she's just made. Her feelings about this are a sort of heterosexual StupidSexyFlanders effect. |
| 176 | * DoesNotLikeMen: Ruby ''seems'' to feel this way in her early appearances, but it turns out that her real issue is that she's nervous about ''sex'', and also regards relationships as too much trouble. Men -- potentially any men -- represent sex to her, and she seems to think that most or all of them are sex-obsessed. She assumes before she meets him that Dillon will be "pervy" (though that may be because he's a friend of Amber's), and she's nervously curious when she finds herself alone in a man's bedroom, and surprised that it's not more sordid. This phobia is backed by her minor FreudianExcuse, and she looks like she's being set up to learn better. (Those who find her attitude grating may call this a HeelFaceTurn).\ |
| 177 | In fact, as she keeps being [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted by the sight of attractive men]], it becomes clear that her dislike is not as complete as she wants to suggest; she [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-is-complex finds the prospect of her first date more confusing than repulsive,]] and once she's been dragged out, her behavior towards her date, Andy, is perfectly polite and even pleasant, and she finds the prospect of kissing him scary but not disgusting. It seems that, so long as she isn't feeling threatened or provoked, [[AvertedTrope she has no real sense of hostility towards men in general]]. |
| 178 | * DoingResearch: Ruby ''loves'' using Website/{{Google}} on her smartphone. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/What-is-best-for-her (“I couldn’t help but google...”)]] She may be naive and innocent to begin with, but on the frequent occasions when she encounters something that she doesn’t understand, she ''will'' be seen looking it up. Which explains how she adapts so well to her situation, and starts spouting fluent yaoi fan terminology so soon after discovering the genre. |
| 179 | * DramaQueen: Although she tries to be serious, Ruby is so tightly wound that she reacts to minor provocations by yelling. (Admittedly she regards Dillon and Amber as inflicting a lot of ''serious'' provocations on her.) Hence, she often increases the drama level, albeit unintentionally. |
| 180 | * EatingTheEyeCandy: After Ruby has her libido kick-started by the persistent proximity of assorted attractive men, she frequently ends up looking at them longer and harder than she'd want to admit, sometimes being DistractedByTheSexy -- especially when various [[YaoiFangirl gay guys keep making out in front of her]]. At first, she's outraged and tells herself they should be stopped, but she just can't keep herself from looking. |
| 181 | * EroticDream: When Ruby attempts to repress her growing sexual feelings, they tend to surface in her dreams. |
| 182 | ** [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/kiss-in-altogether-inappropriate-ways She first experiences a dream involving Andy,]] expressed in her usual rather formal terms ("Let's kiss in altogether inappropriate ways"). Her growing (if much-denied) interest in {{Yaoi}} is reflected when she transforms into Dillon during the dream, but it's also a sad comment on her self-image that she not only takes herself out of the erotic scene, but dismisses herself as "boring" in the dream dialogue. |
| 183 | ** A little later, in a bonus story created following a successful Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign, she dreams of directing most of the comic's male cast in a yaoi movie. However, this turns into a frustration dream because [[BarbieDollAnatomy she lacks the visual references she needs]] to make the dream complete. |
| 184 | * EvilSoundsRaspy: Judging by the number of coughing sounds she makes when trying to play the sketchy street punk[=/=]{{gangbanger}} Rudy, Ruby thinks in these terms -- and some people do buy the act. |
| 185 | * FirstKiss: When she first appears, Ruby has never been kissed. [[SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids She claims to regard romance with disdain]], but it soon becomes clear that she's not entirely sure of her feelings on this; she initially assumes that the [[CPRCleanPrettyReliable CPR]] she received from Andy should count as her first kiss, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-is-complex which leaves her very confused.]] Amber reassures her on that point, and she goes on to have a genuine first kiss with Andy -- which actually turns out to be less dramatic or significant than the trope has taught her to expect, because [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/please-do she's thinking about something else at the time.]] ([[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/share-this-interest Their second kiss]] is actually a bit more passionate, despite being largely {{accidental|Kiss}}.) |
| 186 | * FishOutOfWater: Ruby is a bit of a CountryMouse, but more "ordinary small town" than "country", and not matching the specific norms of that subtype. Mostly, her problem is trying to be asexual in a fairly highly sexualised webcomic -- and she does learn how to fit in over time. |
| 187 | * FiveStagesOfGrief: Ruby's CharacterDevelopment arc Actually reflects the Five Stages process, albeit without any grief or death involved. When she first appears, she tries to '''Deny''' to Amber and Dillon that she has any problems or needs their help with anything, and she becomes '''Angry''' with Amber over her past behavior and with Dillon over his attempts to get close to her. However, things like her interest in yaoi oblige her to admit that she wants to change her life a little, and she tries to '''Bargain''' her way through this, buying the occasional manga and treating this as a business opportunity. Her relationship with Andy makes things confusing, however, and she has a somewhat '''Depressed''' phase as she tries to understand his behavior and come to terms with her own sexuality; she ends up desperately asking her ''cat'' for advice. Fortunately, she gets through this, '''Accepts''' her own nature as a sexual being, and ends up quite satisfied with her life. |
| 188 | * FlatWhat: Demonstrated by Ruby [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/they-lied here,]] when the extent of Dillon’s stupidity over his own sexual history starts to become clear to her. |
| 189 | * FreudianSlip: [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/very-very-very-soon The first clear evidence that Ruby may be kidding herself about her interest in men]] takes this form, and it's not the only time she demonstrates the problem. |
| 190 | * FriendlessBackground: Ruby has suffered previously from a geeky difficulty in forming strong friendships. She thus has trouble processing the casual friendliness of other cast members, although she greatly appreciates it. Her lack of social connections sometimes threatens to make her look like a [[LonersAreFreaks freakish loner]]. |
| 191 | ** [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/low-on-funds A flashback shows her]] as [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation an isolated "straight A" student at school]], where [[KidsAreCruel a couple of bullying contemporaries more or less deliberately separated her from the one friend she had made]]. |
| 192 | ** The only recent social relationships she's mentioned have been with family (and she's comically bad at "bonding with her sister"), and a favorite teacher (who, it's rapidly pointed out, seems to have been abusing her trust). |
| 193 | ** Her spiky attitude and suspicion of men wouldn't have helped her make friends, and she seems genuinely surprised when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/help-you-buy-a-new-one Dillon offers to do her a favor]]; he slowly introduces her to ThePowerOfFriendship, but she has some understandable suspicions about his style of friendliness. |
| 194 | ** Similarly, Zii sees her as an old acquaintance from home who's grown into an attractive young woman and who turns out to share Zii's taste for {{yaoi}}, and is happy to call her a friend after a short chat -- which triggers Ruby's gratitude and the above flashback. |
| 195 | ** Even so, and even after both Zii and Dillon have explicitly called themselves her friends, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/celebrating-with-a-friend she tells Andy that she has very few friends,]] ''if any''. |
| 196 | * FriendsAreChosenFamilyArent: Pretty well every other cast member quickly manages to get through her spiky, defensive shell and takes a liking to her, while she soon learns to appreciate their friendship; her story is largely about her movement from a FriendlessBackground to a healthy social life. Unfortunately, though, almost every time she has to deal with Amber, her long-standing bitterness comes to the surface, and Ruby turns brutally sarcastic and hostile. |
| 197 | * {{Geek}}: Ruby actually ''grows into'' geekiness as the comic progresses. When she first appears, she has no detectable real hobbies and tries to be socially highly conventional. However, once she discovers {{yaoi|Fangirl}}, her nerdish love of detail kicks in, and she rapidly acquires a geek-level knowledge of its jargon and technicalities. She even sets up a yaoi-oriented fan club -- though being Ruby, she runs it as a profit-making enterprise, and insists that it's all entirely "respectable". |
| 198 | * GoodIsNotNice: Ruby usually tries to do what's right, but she has never really learned how to be polite about it. |
| 199 | * GreenEyedMonster: Early on, there are at least hints that Ruby's frequent state of anger at Amber (which Amber notices but can't understand ''at all'') is at least partly driven by envy of Amber's ability to attract attention and jealousy of how their parents seem to Ruby to favor Amber. (However, she has other reasons for feeling angry at Amber, especially the latter's having caused her to lie to their parents for years.) Eventually, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/having-a-secret-or-two she admits to having been jealous of Amber's extrovert attractiveness]] (which hadn't really been hinted at as such before). |
| 200 | -->'''Ruby:''' She's been "the sexy one" since we were kids. It made me jealous for so long. |
| 201 | * HairTriggerTemper: In less subtle strips, Ruby can fly off the handle at minor provocations such as [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/pet-the-kitty being called "uptight".]] |
| 202 | ** Most of her biggest flare-ups are directed at Amber; she generally reins in her anger even when sorely provoked by Dillon. Amber may think that Ruby is generally short-tempered, but the evidence suggests that Ruby only usually allows herself to be on such a hair trigger with her sister. |
| 203 | ** However, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/do-my-best-to-satisfy-you she does flare up just as badly at Andy]] when she’s nervous at the prospect of having sex for the first time and he chooses his words badly. To give her credit, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/gotta-keep-fit she promptly apologizes.]] |
| 204 | * HeroicBSOD: Hero or not, Ruby seems to be prone to these. Sometimes, she just blanks for a moment, as when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/something-you-are-not-telling-me Amber asks if she is a lesbian]]. [[note]](Apparently unable to process the idea, she [[ComicallyMissingThePoint semi-comically misses the point]], and assumes that Amber is ''confessing''. Ironically, Amber is actually actively bisexual, but Ruby doesn't discover this until later.)[[/note]] However, greater stress can cause her full-on blue screens: |
| 205 | ** [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/banish-these-thoughts She suffers a pop art-styled mental crash effect]] after [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-curious-about-her-work Andy accidentally hits her]] with something that should be an insult but which actually [[ArmourPiercingQuestion penetrates]] some totally pointless mental armour she has erected. |
| 206 | ** Seconds later, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/your-expectations-of-me she suffers a more serious BSOD,]] which lasts for some time and multiple strips -- simply because of the prospect of her FirstKiss. |
| 207 | * HonestAdvisor: Ruby is forced into this role in relation to Dillon. She's a BadLiar who starts with no special liking for him, so she tells him the truth as she sees it when most of his friends just enable his bad habits and CloudCuckooLander tendencies. She knows that she's no expert on matters of love, and is downright annoyed to think that she might understand gay relationships better than a gay man, but a little intelligence and common sense, along with her dislike of seeing anyone suffer, mean that she delivers some useful advice. However, her YaoiFangirl tendencies may occasionally compromise the reliability of her advice. |
| 208 | * HormoneAddledTeenager: Ruby evidently averted the trope in her actual teen years, somewhat consciously on her part after her bad experience involving her sister's work. Her hormones seem to be kicking in quite strongly now, in her twenties, though, and she may end up living out the trope a few years late. |
| 209 | * HotLibrarian: Pretty well from the moment she walked through the door -- certainly as soon as her initial personality was established -- readers were assuming that Ruby was going to embody this trope. She can manage both the prim and prudish attitude and the glasses, she's cute enough, and she's going to ''have'' to unwind a little eventually if she isn't going to snap under the strain; in fact, she all but lampshades the trope just by existing. Whether she'll ever actually let her hair down [[note]](Metaphorically -- she actually wears it in a [[PowerHair short bob]]. However, she does look quite sexy [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-was-accidental when it gets tousled.)]][[/note]] remains to be seen; she'll have to learn how to act sexy before she can exploit her attractiveness. She might just consider that undignified even once she's relaxed a little, and so continually avert the trope. |
| 210 | * IdeaBulb: Played straight (with added WingdingEyes), albeit in a rather small image, when Ruby's business sense (previously an InformedAbility) [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/grabbing-a-show finally kicks in.]] |
| 211 | * IJustWantToHaveFriends: Ruby is a borderline case for ''both'', contrasting types. The ease with which she finds good friends in Dillon, Andy, and Zii verges on Type A -- but this is despite a previously FriendlessBackground that makes her pathetically grateful for friendships, which puts her in some danger of ending up as Type B. |
| 212 | * InformedAbility: Demonstrated but then averted. The intelligence that earned Ruby a BBA is kept off-stage in the comic's first volume; she's definitely a bookish type, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-is-complex Amber implies that Ruby makes her feel stupid]], but she shows little sign of being more cerebral than the rest of the cast, and she's sometimes painfully gullible. However, as she adapts to her situation, she manages flashes of smarts, and the trope begins to fade out early in volume 2 when she finds that she may understand more about gay sexuality than Dillon does ([[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/they-lied to her own annoyance]]). She remains terribly [[VirginityMakesYouStupid naive]] for a while, and she's sometimes just given the IdiotBall, but she turns into a competent PA for Dillon and Amber, and when she comes up with a business idea, she successfully manipulates several other cast members into assisting with it. |
| 213 | * TheIngenue: In the first volume, Ruby fits the trope in many ways; she's younger than most of the rest of the main cast, woefully naive (and at least one older figure has taken advantage of this in the past), virginal, and if not immune to sexual innuendo, certainly very bad at handling it. However, see DeconstructedCharacterArchetype above. |
| 214 | * IReadItForTheArticles: Ruby has been known to claim that she reads {{yaoi}} for the stories. This isn't terribly convincing (though she clearly does pay attention to the plots and characterization), and she becomes a bit more honest with herself as her CharacterDevelopment progresses. |
| 215 | * ItsNotPornItsArt: Ruby repeatedly insists that the {{yaoi}} she has come to love is “respectable”, and that she’s not just reading it for the erotic content. A PrintBonus strip that appeared after the end of the comic’s run shows her recognising that her tastes (and new sideline in calendar publishing) take her very close to porn, but she comes to terms with this. |
| 216 | * JerkassHasAPoint: When Ruby and Dillon overhear a conversation in which Angel runs Dillon down to Jerzy, Ruby is (forgivably) happy to point out to Dillon that Angel isn't lying. She previously also [[RightlySelfRighteous criticized Amber for lying to their parents for years]]. To the extent that Ruby is flawed as a person, this trope frequently tends to fit her. |
| 217 | * KindheartedCatLover: Ruby develops this trait fairly early on, possibly in an attempt by the writers to soften her initially abrasive image. |
| 218 | * LegFocus: As even Ruby herself is faintly aware, she's not bad looking -- and the comic occasionally emphasizes that her legs are her best feature. Both the miniskirts she wears on occasion and the designer jeans that Dillon buys her work just fine, and she's found herself flashing some leg when taking a selfie at least once, just because the results are so good (a totally private act over which she feels insanely guilty). |
| 219 | * LittleBlackDress: Ruby isn't a fancy dresser, but she understands the principles well enough; her attempts to drop (by her standards quite brazen) hints to Andy culminate in [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/gotta-keep-fit an LBD that really ought to have done the job]] (and which was apparently actually borrowed from Amber’s wardrobe, despite the fact that Amber has never been depicted in an LBD). |
| 220 | * LoonyFriendsImproveYourPersonality: It's a relatively mild version, but aside from Dillon's clearly conscious attempts to activate the GayBestFriend and ManicPixieDreamGirl tropes, Zii talks Ruby out of some of her repression, Angel expands her horizons a little, and Ramona reassures her that sex needn't be terrifying. |
| 221 | * LuminescentBlush: Ruby is capable of inflicting these on herself by dint of her over-active imagination, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/very-very-wrong as here]] and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/your-expectations-of-me here.]] This may occasionally be a CrushBlush when she's thinking about Andy, but even then it seems to be more the sexualised thoughts that she associates with him than her feelings for Andy himself which trigger it. |
| 222 | * MadonnaWhoreComplex: Early on, Ruby sometimes falls into this pattern of thinking, because her rejection of Amber's sexualized lifestyle makes her swing wildly in the other direction. However, she only really applies the idea to herself and Amber; she's not ''excessively'' judgmental about other people's sex lives -- and she eventually becomes more flexible. |
| 223 | * TheMatchmaker: Ruby becomes something of a {{Parody}} of a matchmaker regarding Dillon, though she's mostly more of a serial ShipperOnDeck. |
| 224 | * MeaningfulAppearance: Ruby’s choice of dress when she first appears, featuring [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/multitask-like-you a short, puffed-out skirt,]] is clearly unwise for someone seeking a serious business career. She’s naive and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/makes-me-look-professional has been manipulated by people she trusted.]] Dillon points out the problem, and she switches to something more practical. Then, in a subtle twist, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/no-compliment Ruby switches back to a short skirt]] when she starts working as Dillon and Amber's PA -- but then it's in a tighter, more businesslike style, symbolizing her growing self-confidence, verging on arrogance, and greater comfort with her own sexuality. |
| 225 | * NeatFreak: [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/likes-and-dislikes Ruby suffers from compulsive neatness]], though only as a minor aspect of her personality; it doesn’t actually get mentioned much, beyond her general tidy-mindedness, after her first evening in the apartment. |
| 226 | * NerdGlasses: Ruby goes for the classic "unflatteringly large" version -- though she can make them look a little bit cute. |
| 227 | * OnlySaneWoman: Ruby isn't really ''that'' sane, being jumpy, naive, and voyeuristic, but faced with Dillon's total disconnection from reality, she does what she can -- [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/take-you-to-the-gym sometimes with an audible sigh.]] |
| 228 | * ParalyzingFearOfSexuality: Ruby is [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/turn-around prone to this problem,]] early on, although she's so deep in denial she isn't always paralyzed. Then, after she's seen a few sexual scenes, her imagination starts running out of control at every opportunity (she clearly finds {{guy on guy|isHot}} ''very'' hot), and she keeps talking herself into looking more, despite her disapproval -- [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/very-very-wrong as here]] [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/a-little-solitude and here.]] Eventually, [[CharacterDevelopment she works through the issue,]] coming to see the possibility of sex with Andy as tolerable if worrying. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/do-my-best-to-satisfy-you She still doesn’t want anyone to think she’s too eager,]] but she does eventually admit to the impulse. |
| 229 | * ParrotExposition: Ruby [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/send-him-a-present engages in this here,]] and as a result ends up asking Andy out by accident, to Dillon's delight. She's a bit prone to this speech pattern, perhaps because she's so often out of her depth, socially. |
| 230 | * PowerHair: One might guess that Ruby has ambitions in this direction. |
| 231 | * QuakingWithFear: The trope is sort-of-inverted [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/Some-kissing-lessons here,]] when Ruby's knees shake due to lust rather than fear. |
| 232 | * ReluctantFanserviceGirl: A role occasionally imposed on Ruby, in fairly mild forms (i.e. stopping well short of public nudity), by other people. When she first appears, she's wearing an unwise miniskirt, thanks to some bad advice; later, Dillon buys her a pair of designer jeans, which ''do'' suit her very well, but which also allow him to use her as a straight guy detector. Dillon and Amber have also been known to walk in on her in the shower, so the readers get to see a little more than Ruby would consider respectable. |
| 233 | * TheResenter: Ruby resents Amber (although Amber isn't technically the hero of the story). This may have started out as simple SiblingRivalry, but things have become messier than that, and now [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/angry-with-herself Amber notes that Ruby frequently seems angry at her]]. For one thing, Ruby has apparently worked hard through school and university, without much of a private life, whereas Amber has a job and a nice apartment after leaving home to go into the sex industry -- and Ruby has become massively stressed by years concealing this from their parents. Amber seems to understand this just enough to feel a little guilty. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/shall-we-toast Ruby also believes]] that Amber benefits from ParentalFavoritism, although Amber denies this, and there are hints that Ruby resents the way that Amber generally attracts attention and gets given things that Ruby may want. Amber doesn't seem to grasp this, and it's likely that Ruby's perceptions are distorted by her resentment. |
| 234 | * RightlySelfRighteous: Ruby can be priggish and judgmental, but her comments on other people [[JerkassHasAPoint are often quite justifiable]] -- and although she's often confused, she mostly tries to live by her own moral code. |
| 235 | ** She criticizes Amber for her years of lying to their parents, which not only caused Ruby herself some emotional problems, but has simply stored up trouble for Amber. |
| 236 | ** She's prepared to call Dillon out for his hypocrisy in, for example, being possessive about his boyfriends while flirting with every cute guy in sight, when his more typical friends just enable him. |
| 237 | ** It may be a sign of CharacterDevelopment that when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/grabbing-a-show she calls Zii out]] for sneaking pictures of attractive men without their consent, she does so subtly and politely, leaving it to Zii's conscience to make the criticism sting. |
| 238 | * RockThemeNaming: With her sister; she and Amber are both named after gemstones. |
| 239 | * ScaryShinyGlasses: When Ruby's manipulative abilities and business ambitions begin to surface, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/improve-our-club she is depicted with shiny glasses]] to slightly unnerving effect. |
| 240 | * SecretKeeper: Ruby has known about Amber's career as a porn star for years, without telling their parents. Interestingly, she appears to have done so voluntarily, despite disliking the necessity and despising Amber for the fact; personal loyalty matters to her, and she presumably doesn't want to upset their parents. She eventually admits that she actually envies Amber for having some sexy secrets to keep; once she acquires one or two of her own, she can be a lot more relaxed about their relationship. |
| 241 | * SelectiveObliviousness: Ruby initially tries to deny that she has any interest in sex, or at least claims that she can repress any interest in the subject, but it soon becomes clear that she has a full set of (actually quite vanilla-heterosexual) sexual inclinations. Her denial is PlayedForLaughs, and her justifications for things like acquiring a stack of {{Yaoi}} manga become [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/shame-on-you increasingly baroque and transparent.]] |
| 242 | * SheCleansUpNicely: Hinted at by [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-is-complex Amber's comments when she gets Ruby into an "elegant" dress.]] However, intentionally or not, the effect was ambiguous at best for some readers, who felt that Ruby [[BeautifulAllAlong looked just fine]] in [[NerdsAreSexy her normal clothing]], and that Amber and Dillon's efforts verged on an UnnecessaryMakeover. |
| 243 | * ShipperOnDeck: As her taste for {{Yaoi}} develops, Ruby becomes very interested in Dillon's love life, treating it as live-action yaoi. |
| 244 | ** She is clearly disappointed when he acknowledges that he shouldn't be trying to seduce Ray (despite her having played TheConscience to him there), and encourages their kissing lessons so she can watch. |
| 245 | ** Then, when Julian shows up, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-sure-you-did she starts trying to push him and Dillon toward each other,]] despite Dillon's strong resistance. |
| 246 | ** Eventually, she switches to dreaming about Dillon’s never-viable interest in Gary, as supporting his actual relationship with Jerzy has moral problems in her eyes. |
| 247 | ** She’s also one of [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/do-your-parents-know several people who actively hope that Julian’s date with Jordan leads to something,]] because they’re both hunks. |
| 248 | * SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids: More or less Ruby's attitude at the start of her personal story in the comic. Her opinions do then evolve a little, though. |
| 249 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Ruby is the only glasses-wearer in the comic's primary cast. She's also the only character whose college-level education is significant to her characterization. |
| 250 | * SobriquetSexSwitch: When Ruby disguises herself as a man, she uses the pseudonym "Rudy". |
| 251 | * SourPrude: Ruby initially takes this role, moderated by her youth, nervousness, and BrokenBird status. Hence, she's just a mild case, only really applying her prudishness to herself and Amber; she ends up advising Dillon on his love life, without judging him for having sex with multiple men (unless this involves infidelity). She might merely be classed as TheComicallySerious. Also, as her own interest in sex develops, she does try to avoid hypocrisy. |
| 252 | * SpotlightStealingSquad: Ruby sometimes seems set to steal the spotlight single-handed. The comic initially seems set up to give Dillon a lead role, with Amber as his previously established room-mate and the odd guest appearance from other ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' regulars. Then Ruby shows up as a brand new character, and turns out to have complex problems of her own. By volume 2, she is not only helping Dillon deal with ''his'' problems, she's taking the lead position for long stretches while experiencing significant CharacterDevelopment. |
| 253 | * StereotypicalNerd: Played with. Ruby is a slightly unusual female nerd. She's not actually unattractive, her social ineptitude takes the form of abrasiveness rather than bumbling, she doesn't seem very interested in science or computers (her degree is in Business Administration), and we have no evidence about her physical fitness beyond her claim that she can swim quite well. However, the [[NerdGlasses glasses]], the opinionated attitude, and the privileging of intellect over social relationships, make her classic nerd. She also has a nerdish tendency to use the Internet to fill in the gaps in her knowledge of the world, through her smartphone; she seems to be a big fan of Website/{{Google}}. She just starts out as the sort of nerd who {{geek}}s despise. And in her case, [[NerdsAreVirgins nerds are definitely virgins]], [[spoiler:at least until the end of the comic’s run]]. |
| 254 | * StupidSexyFlanders: The heterosexual Ruby actually suffers this trope's effect at the sight of attractive ''men''. She's initially determined to deny that she's interested in sex, so the basically unremarkable [[DistractedByTheSexy effects that sexy guys have on her]] confuse and annoy her. The fact that the men in question are often gay complicates things a little. |
| 255 | * SurroundedByIdiots: Being reasonably rational about most things aside from her own emotions, and naively cynical about sex, Ruby sometimes seems to feel that Dillon and Amber have her surrounded with idiocy. This comes to a head when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/oprah-never-lies she has to explain the realities of gay sexual relationships -- to a gay man.]] |
| 256 | * SweetPollyOliver: Ruby disguises herself as "Rudy" for one evening, at Dillon's suggestion, to support him while he spies on Jerzy and Angel. He, meanwhile, [[DisguisedInDrag drags up as a woman]]. She probably opts for male disguise because the alternative would be to pretend to be "Dilla's" ''girlfriend'', and she doesn't want to be taken for a lesbian, or because she's carried away by the idea of playing detectives; she does throw herself into the game with more enthusiasm than might have been expected, and also claims that [[BecomingTheMask some of Rudy rubs off on herself]]. It's not perhaps the most convincing disguise ever, but Ruby does manage to fool her own sister from a moderate distance. |
| 257 | * TalkingInYourSleep: Dillon tells her that she talks in her sleep. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/hugging-me-kissing-me And then tells her]] [[CovertPervert what she said while doing so.]] |
| 258 | * ThinkingOutLoud: As a cerebral introvert in a comic strip, Ruby is prone to this habit. The presence of Minew saves her from looking too crazy when she's at home in the apartment on her own; she addresses her speeches to him. When she's out in public places, though, it can be a mistake -- [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-a-modern-woman as here.]] |
| 259 | * TookALevelInCheerfulness: Ruby is a lot more authentically cheerful by the end of volume 2 than she was on her first appearance in volume 1. Achieving success on her own terms, coming to terms with her sexual feelings, and beginning to repair her relationship with Amber, all understandably make her more comfortable in her skin. Still, she only reaches her most cheerful state in a post-volume 2 PrintBonus strip. |
| 260 | * TooMuchInformation: Ruby has ''difficulty'' with information about sex. At first, she just finds virtually any information about sexuality to be Too Much, being [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/turn-around overwhelmed and horrified by the sight of two men having sex]] and changing seats in Jerzy's truck when [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/right-where-i-am-sitting she finds out what he and Dillon did on that spot.]] She is also briefly but badly affected when she realizes what Amber got up to with Zii. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-will-always-be-my-favorite-girl ("Hanging around you two is like tuning my TV to the 'Uncomfortable Realizations Channel,' 24-7".)]] However, she also becomes increasingly fascinated by the subject, and [[YaoiFangirl specifically gay male sex]], leading her to [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/between-two-men ask Angel flat out]] how she can have gay sex with a man when identifying as male. The problem is, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/now-is-good Angel's answer is still Too Much for her.]] |
| 261 | * VirginityMakesYouStupid: Ruby is inexperienced, but she's a university graduate who is perfectly aware that sex exists, having a sister who is an ex-porn star. Nonetheless, she finds anything to do with relationships confusing, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/makes-me-look-professional believed one of her teachers]] who told her that a short skirt made her look "professional and distinguished," is totally nonplussed the first time she sees two gay men kissing (strip #36, May 13, 2013, marginally NSFW), and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/now-pucker-up has trouble understanding the difference between mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a kiss.]] Even [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/it-is-complex her speech patterns shift]] from [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/pretty-for-your-date "educated sarcastic"]] to [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/knock-yourself-out "naive pre-teen"]] when she has to deal with matters of love or sex. This is largely SelectiveObliviousness, but it can make her look rather stupid.\ |
| 262 | How she got through university with this world-view is unclear; blame [[FreudianExcuse early trauma]] for her impenetrable ignorance, and also the fact that her role in the comedy is to be shocked by everyone else. However, sharing an apartment with Dillon gives her a crash course in human relationships; [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/that-is-improper her facial expressions]] show her coming to understand ''him'' all too well. On the other hand, once she becomes a YaoiFangirl as an outlet for her repressed sexuality, anything to do with gay male sex can cause her IQ to plummet once again. |
| 263 | * WhenSheSmiles: Ruby is slim, with good legs and an expressive face -- but she goes through a lot of the comic in a state of anger or stress, and her face expresses ''that'' all too well. Hence, her occasional sincere smiles are ''interesting.'' But they do need to be sincere; hysterical laughter or forced grins don't work so well on her, and her reactions to cute kittens are arguably too extreme to be attractive. She may actually be at her best, or at least most {{Moe}}-ish, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-like-someone-else in her sleep.]] |
| 264 | * YaoiFangirl: Ruby denies it fervently at the time, but [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-do-not-speak-japanese Angel's suggestion that she has fujoshi tendencies]] is clearly accurate, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/a-little-solitude she soon succumbs to temptation,]] sublimating her awakening libido in yaoi. She initially finds her own reactions ''excruciatingly'' embarrassing, swearing Dillon to silence when he discovers them; then, on a visit to a comics shop, she encounters Zii of ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', another fujoshi, who [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/spying-on-what-dillon-gets-up-to reassures her a little,]] which may explain how she comes to accept the idea enough that she can [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/what-is-the-password set up a yaoi fan club]] (as a commercial venture). See also the notes on CovertPervert above. |
| 265 | |
| 266 | [[/folder]] |
| 267 | |
| 268 | !!Secondary Characters |
| 269 | |
| 270 | [[folder:Andy]] |
| 271 | [[quoteright:214:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/andy_sdb_colour.jpg]] |
| 272 | |
| 273 | -> ''"Andy, girls, and guys like Dillon, make passes at you daily. You '''never''' reciprocate, no matter how shameless--"'' |
| 274 | |
| 275 | A good-looking, heterosexual (or at least hetero-romantic), and amazingly oblivious young lifeguard at the local swimming pool, who keeps getting dates with Ruby despite her best efforts. |
| 276 | ---- |
| 277 | * CluelessChickMagnet: [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/help-you-measure According to his colleague, girls (and guys) make passes at Andy every day,]] but he either never notices or maybe willfully ignores any hints that do get through. |
| 278 | * TheDitz: Andy seems completely incapable of picking up social cues or noticing when he's being exploited, and takes the dumbest advice from whoever offers it, to the point of treating Dillon as an oracular source of heterosexual dating advice. If it wasn't for his apparent competence in his job as a lifeguard, and his previous lack of a romantic life, his looks would make him a BrainlessBeauty. However, [[spoiler:there may be an element of ObfuscatingStupidity in this; Andy eventually admits that he's been blocking Ruby's hints because he's nervous about sex]]. |
| 279 | * {{Expy}}: Andy -- gawky, socially clumsy, bow-tie-wearing -- appears to be at least a visual expy for [[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie Andrews]]. (Archie comics are a known influence on the art style here.) He even ends up [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/we-will-sit-here trapped between a blond and a brunette]] in one sequence of strips, in classic Archie style. |
| 280 | * HiddenDepths: For most of the comic’s run, Andy appears to be an amiable but amazingly oblivious ditz — ridiculously so, perhaps, but as he’s a minor character in a comedy strip, nothing too far off the scale. However, when Ruby gets stressed out enough to actually ''talk'' to him about the situation, his obliviousness is given an explanation of sorts; [[spoiler:he’s simply incapable of responding to, or even perhaps noticing, most conventional sexual cues, which makes him nervous about the whole subject. However, he’s quite willing to essay a sexual relationship with Ruby, which seems to work out quite well. (Technically, he might be classified as “demisexual” or perhaps a flexible heteroromantic asexual.)]] This all makes him a more complex (and slightly less annoying) character, but was never detectably foreshadowed before — so even if Giz had his character planned this way all along, it looks a bit like a rushed late characterisation fix. |
| 281 | * IgnoreTheFanservice: Andy has a startling ability to ignore women (and men) coming on to him — including, for example, Ruby working hard to be flirtatious in a LittleBlackDress. For a long time, it seems he’s just too {{oblivious|ToLove}} to live, and then there’s a suggestion that he might be asexual — but as it turns out, he’s [[spoiler:a bit nervous, but also he’s just not wired to respond to visual cues]]. |
| 282 | * NiceGuy: Andy mostly seems to be persistently nice in a slightly dim-witted way. He's always eager to please Ruby. |
| 283 | * ObliviousToLove: Andy apparently gets flirted with ''constantly'', but is completely immune to it. |
| 284 | -->'''Gina''': [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/help-you-measure ...no matter how shameless WE are]]. |
| 285 | ** This even appears to extend to [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/gotta-keep-fit broad hints from Ruby,]] ''even though they've recently agreed to discuss the possibility of getting physical.'' When Ruby and Amber discuss the matter, Ruby has difficulty believing that anyone could be ''that'' clueless, given how heavy her hints were — and she has a point. Eventually, [[spoiler: Andy admits that he's been [[ObfuscatingStupidity willfully ignoring at least some of Ruby's hints because he's nervous about sex]]; he also turns out not to be terribly responsive to purely visual stimulation]]. |
| 286 | ** His apparent obliviousness is taken to the extreme to provide a punchline for [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/you-attracted-to-me this strip.]] |
| 287 | --->'''Ruby:''' Do you want to take my ''clothes off,'' Andy?!\ |
| 288 | '''Andy:''' Like, now?\ |
| 289 | '''Ruby:''' Like, ''now.''\ |
| 290 | '''Andy:''' ...Okay.\ |
| 291 | '''Ruby: ''Let's do this.'''''\ |
| 292 | '''Andy:''' So we're going swimming? |
| 293 | * VirginityMakesYouStupid: If Andy isn't a virgin [[spoiler:when he first appears]], his sexual experience is so rusty that he might as well be. He seemingly totally fails to notice all the men and women hitting on him, or his female colleague using a skimpy excuse to get her hands on his junk, he asks gay men for dating advice, and in general, he comes across as a likable [[TheDitz male ditz]] at best. It turns out that [[spoiler:his sexuality is wired a little oddly]], though he could surely try a bit harder to notice hints. |
| 294 | |
| 295 | [[/folder]] |
| 296 | |
| 297 | [[folder:Angel]] |
| 298 | [[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angel_ma3.jpg]] |
| 299 | |
| 300 | -> ''"I'm so emo right now, I could write my next two albums."'' |
| 301 | |
| 302 | Jerzy's old friend and sometime lover, who is determined to get Jerzy back and hang onto him, by any means necessary. Angel is also a professional musician, a bitter enemy[=/=]rival to Zii in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', and something of a mystery in certain respects to some other characters -- a mystery that is reduced for the readers when Angel is determined to be gender fluid. |
| 303 | ---- |
| 304 | |
| 305 | * AmbiguousGender: Anatomically female, but... In fact, Angel may be consciously aiming for an AmbiguousGenderIdentity much of the time, and very successfully. |
| 306 | ** In early strips at least, most characters encountering Angel for the first time assume that this is simply a CampGay man. Readers too tended to make the same assumption, and then the point became distinctly ambiguous for some time. |
| 307 | ** Although the ambiguity has now been removed for readers and for at least some of the other characters, Angel may continue to present ambiguously when first meeting new people. |
| 308 | ** In [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/zie a 2018 strip,]] Dillon has “dug up” the gender-neutral pronoun “zie” because he can no longer keep up with Angel's gender identification changes. |
| 309 | * AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Angel identifies as "gender fluid" (but has not, so far as is known, had any surgery or hormone treatment), leading to a certain amount of in-setting confusion and keeping things ambiguous for the readership until the big reveal which apparently happens [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/missed-opportunity here,]] albeit with some latent ambiguity, slightly more definitely [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-whoever-you-want-me-to-be here]], and more or less definitively [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/carried-away here.]] |
| 310 | * AmbiguouslyBi: The full range of Angel's sexual interests is unclear. In ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', Angel implies to Ruby that she identifies as a straight woman when in female guise and as a gay man when male, and has a sometimes-sexual relationship with Jerzy and some kind of interest in Richie. However, a flashback in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' shows that Zii at least believed that Angel slept with women, and later in that comic's run, when Sonya turns on the sex appeal when pitching for the role of bassist in Angel's band, Angel appears to respond (though that could simply be Angel's reaction to the chance to recruit a competent bassist who'll look good on stage and annoy Zii). |
| 311 | * {{Bifauxnen}}: Angel is a western manifestation of this trope, although that "gender fluid" self-identification goes beyond the standard bifauxnen androgynous look. Angel's AmbiguouslyBi presentation (see above) confuses the issue further. |
| 312 | * CampGay: When Angel presents as a gay man, he dresses to this trope much more than the sartorially quite restrained Dillon. |
| 313 | * CrazyJealousGuy: When presenting as male, Angel is perhaps more subtle about "his" jealousy regarding Jerzy than Dillon is, but that's not saying much -- and Angel is also perhaps more vicious about it, needling Dillon at every opportunity and gloating when Dillon makes a fool of himself. Hence, this trope fits Angel all too well. |
| 314 | * DiggingYourselfDeeper[=/=]ShuttingUpNow: Angel puts on a classic demonstration of these twinned tropes [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/your-reward-date while on what's supposed to be a platonic date with Richie.]] Evidently, she finds him more attractive than she feels she should. |
| 315 | * DramaQueen: Angel insists on bearing a persistent grudge over Zii's past seduction of Jerzy, despite Jerzy denying being Angel's boyfriend and Zii not even knowing that Angel was into men at the time; won't even let Jerzy mention Zii's name; and throws an epic sulk when Zii's band proves popular with an audience. |
| 316 | * {{Emo}}: Although the Pretty Boyz' primary stylistic reference is GlamRock, Angel periodically claims to be feeling emo, [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/write-a-song certainly has some emo moments,]] and goes in for [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/one-person-cares moody sulking]] when sufficiently provoked. |
| 317 | * EtTuBrute: Angel [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/a-fuller-sound invokes the trope]] (in a ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' strip) in a typical moment of emo megalomania and unintended comic irony. Having just invoked Julius Caesar as an example of world-conquering glory, Angel is outraged when [[spoiler:Sonya quits the band to go off to Europe, Yuki declares a willingness to rejoin Zii’s band, and Terry says some uncomplimentary things about Angel]]. (The facts that [[spoiler:Sonya is a known flake who mostly joined Angel’s band to annoy Zii, Yuki is perfectly willing to continue also playing with Angel, and Angel previously treated Terry very badly]] are apparently not relevant.) So now, Angel feels like Caesar betrayed. |
| 318 | * EvilFormerFriend[=/=]RivalTurnedEvil: Zii sees Angel this way (they used to work together, and Angel turns what could still be a fairly amicable musical rivalry into actual enmity), although Angel may or may not be considered to be truly evil -- this could just be seen as someone with an understandable grudge, or a tragic obsession. (Zii did have sex with Jerzy, who Angel claimed as a boyfriend of the time, though Zii claims that she didn't know this.) Angel sees Zii the same way, and shows much more contempt about it. |
| 319 | * GlamRock: The primary stylistic reference for Angel's band, "Pretty Boyz with Electric Toyz" (later [[ArtistAndTheBand "Angel and Their Electric Toyz"]]). |
| 320 | * HairTriggerTemper: When Angel discovered Zii having sex with Jerzy (in the comic's past), it instantly led to a violent feud between them, at least as far as Angel was concerned. Angel is also shown reacting with obvious anger to any encounter with Zii or love rival Dillon. And later, when Angel unexpectedly comes face to face with Zii and Dillon, a brawl breaks out -- and it is [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/sad-little-drama-queen apparently Angel who starts the violence.]] Even when the fighting stops, Angel repeatedly flares up verbally [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/out-of-whack at Zii and Dillon for looking at Ramona like a freak]] -- and also [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/not-tomboyish-at-all at Ramona, for her choice of words for her own condition,]] despite the fact that Angel is highly protective of Ramona. It's not surprising that Ruby suggests anger management therapy, and Ramona, who returns Angel's affection, nonetheless says that [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/fend-for-myself Angel needs to control that temper.]] |
| 321 | * {{Hypocrite}}: |
| 322 | ** Angel's [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/most-important-person description of Dillon as "creepy and obsessive"]] is hypocrisy of a high order, even if Angel is [[JerkassHasAPoint completely correct]]. |
| 323 | ** Angel subsequently sabotages Dillon's relationship with Jerzy, partly by telling Jerzy how Dillon "unfaithfully" flirted with Richie -- then catches Jerzy on the rebound. Then, a couple of days later, while still in that restarted relationship with Jerzy, Angel offers to go on a date with Richie -- although Angel does say that the date "can't get too serious". |
| 324 | * JerkassHasAPoint: |
| 325 | ** Angel attempts to undermine Dillon's relationship with Jerzy ... mostly by telling Jerzy the truth about Dillon. His later description of Dillon as [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/most-important-person "creepy and obsessive"]] may be {{hypocri|te}}sy of a high order, but it's also, well, true. |
| 326 | ** Angel also does things like angrily correct Dillon when he's being an ass about Angel's gender. Neither of them like each other, and Angel is often a {{jerkass}}, but many people would say that Dillon was just plain wrong there. |
| 327 | ** And in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', Angel is happy to poach Sonya and Yuki from Zii’s band — but when Zii comes round to complain, Angel quietly points out that Zii alienated both of them by her behavior, so that Angel didn’t have to do anything to achieve this. |
| 328 | * LadyLooksLikeADude: Angel is anatomically female with a lot of talent for passing as male. |
| 329 | * LittleBlackDress: Angel has a taste for this general style of dress when presenting as female (and does look good in it). |
| 330 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: Angel definitely has long hair, and often presents as a (pretty) boy -- but see above. |
| 331 | * OstentatiousSecret: The question of Angel's actual gender falls into this category at a meta-level for much of the first volume; see the notes on AmbiguousGender. The writers are careful to avoid pronouns, substantives, or adjectives that would give away the secret, and things remain very unclear until some way into the second volume. |
| 332 | * RejectionAffection: After sleeping with Jerzy once, Angel pursues him very persistently, despite repeated (but perhaps insufficiently forceful) rejections, until Jerzy succumbs [[ButLiquorIsQuicker after a few too many drinks]]. |
| 333 | * RemovingTheRival: Angel improvises one or two schemes to remove Dillon as a rival for Jerzy's affections. Mostly, though, Dillon is the source of his own problems, so Angel doesn't have to try too hard. |
| 334 | * {{Sarashi}}: What [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/your-concern-is-touching Angel wears]] when choosing to present as a male. |
| 335 | [[/folder]] |
| 336 | |
| 337 | [[folder:Chanelle]] |
| 338 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chanelle_sdb_colour.jpg]] |
| 339 | |
| 340 | -> ''"Now either make him your man or give me his number! Or both. I'm not picky."'' |
| 341 | |
| 342 | Amber's former colleague from her porn days, friend, and occasional drinking buddy. Chanelle also makes a brief appearance in ''Webcomic/PixieTrixComix'' when Roxie is making a video and needs a couple of actresses who look more like Barbie dolls than wrestlers. |
| 343 | ---- |
| 344 | * CoitusUninterruptus: Chanelle is clearly a mistress of this. (See strip #10, February 8 2013, marginally NSFW.) |
| 345 | * HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Okay, actually “Porn Star with a Heart of Gold”: It's a weird sort of niceness, but Chanelle always seems more than happy to help Amber out in various ways. [[{{Filth}} They do tend to involve sex or nudity, admittedly]]. |
| 346 | * PunnyName: The surname she uses, "Numberfine," is surely a {{Porn Name|s}} rather than her birth name, but it's also a pun ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanel-No.-5 "Chanel No.5",]] geddit). |
| 347 | * WhatTheHellHero: In one ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' appearance, Chanelle dryly [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/i-am-not-picky points out Amber's mistake in letting Gary go]] over a point of principle that clearly wasn't ''that'' important. |
| 348 | |
| 349 | [[/folder]] |
| 350 | |
| 351 | [[folder:Jerzy]] |
| 352 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jerzy_sdb_colour.png]] |
| 353 | |
| 354 | -> ''"I know what will put back a smile on your face. A great big Jerzy hug!"'' |
| 355 | |
| 356 | An occupant of the apartment next to Dillon's. Being both quite hunky and gay (or maybe bi), he is naturally of great interest to Dillon. Unfortunately, he comes with some baggage attached. |
| 357 | ---- |
| 358 | * BearHug: Jerzy's [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/most-important-person "Jerzy Hug"]] is very much in character for [[ManlyGay him]]. |
| 359 | * IfItsYouItsOkay: Jerzy claims to be exclusively gay these days, then decides to make one exception for the anatomically female Angel. However, given that he's had other relationships with women in the past, and that he initially strongly denies having any interest in Angel, he may not be a reliable witness regarding his own inclinations. |
| 360 | * ManlyGay: And [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-just-want-to-kiss-you he knows it.]] |
| 361 | * NiceGuy: Jerzy seemingly tries to be nice to everyone, at least to their faces. He may occasionally overdo this, as when he keeps trying to cheer Angel up when it ''might'' be more helpful simply to tell Angel to snap out of a ridiculous moody sulk. |
| 362 | * NoBisexuals: Jerzy directly invokes the trope when he says "Bi today, gay tomorrow." He really should know better. |
| 363 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Only a little, but... Readers probably all assumed that Jerzy, like most of the cast, was somewhere in his 20s. However, late in the comic’s run, the adult Jaxon showed up and turned out to be Jerzy’s godson. The writer has admitted that she didn’t think about this much, but that it logically places Jerzy well into his 30s. |
| 364 | * OnlySaneMan: Jerzy [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-just-want-to-kiss-you finds himself in this position,]] explaining to Andy that asking gay men for dating advice regarding Ruby is probably a bad idea while also giving Dillon a small dose of reality. Unfortunately, his sanity isn't reliable; his relationship with Angel shows far less rational judgement. |
| 365 | * StraightGay: Certainly by contrast with Dillon. Jerzy is open about his sexuality, but shows few camp mannerisms (as well as working in construction and driving a pickup truck). |
| 366 | [[/folder]] |
| 367 | |
| 368 | [[folder:Minew]] |
| 369 | [[quoteright:97:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minew_sdb_5128.png]] |
| 370 | |
| 371 | -> ''"Minew!"'' |
| 372 | |
| 373 | Ruby's pet kitten, sold to her by Richie. Ruby doesn't always feel able to talk to the other human characters, and Minew seems to be a good listener. With Ruby often carrying him around with her, Minew heads into AnimalCompanion territory. |
| 374 | ---- |
| 375 | * BilingualBonus: Amber suggests the name "Minew". "Minou" (pronounced "Me new") is a French Canadian term that means "kitty." It also seems to match the noise that Minew most often makes. |
| 376 | * CuteKitten: Minew's cuteness is originally mostly an InformedAttribute -- he just sits there -- but he [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/this-is-an-emergency does eventually display considerable amounts.]] And even before then, the chance to pet him can instantly suppress Ruby's [[HairTriggerTemper short temper]]. |
| 377 | * PokemonSpeak: Minew's vocalizations are always rendered as just "minew". As this isn't a talking-animal comic, he's obviously simply making small cat noises -- but Ruby often ''treats'' him as having said something coherent. She's using him as a sounding-board, of course. |
| 378 | |
| 379 | [[/folder]] |
| 380 | |
| 381 | [[folder:Ray]] |
| 382 | [[quoteright:145:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ray_sdb_4899.png]] |
| 383 | |
| 384 | -> ''"I want to look into someone's eyes and instill powerful emotions."'' |
| 385 | |
| 386 | An old school friend of Dillon's who is retiring from professional sports and looking to become an actor. Ray turns up in Montreal to ask Dillon for tips and lessons and to chase work. (He seems to share some of the widespread and peculiar tendency to [[HeroWorshipper hero-worship]] Dillon.) He was actually Dillon's first big crush at school, but on his first appearance, he identifies as entirely straight, and has never realized that Dillon is gay. |
| 387 | |
| 388 | At that point, he's relaxed enough about his sexual identity to act gay for a moment when he has cause, but feels [[LiquidCourage the need for a drink]] before he kisses Dillon in the course of an acting lesson; discovering that Dillon is gay, and that he himself may have some ambiguous feelings, is naturally confusing for him. Later, he becomes more relaxed about his bisexuality, in a very confused way. He also starts dating Amber, who thinks that this may be a serious relationship. |
| 389 | ---- |
| 390 | * AllGaysLoveTheater: When he first appears, Ray appears to be straight (and in fact a jock). Then he declares the intention to becomes an actor. Shortly afterward, he turns out to be a latent bisexual. The two things aren't ''explicitly'' linked... |
| 391 | * AmbiguouslyBi: For a while, at least. Ray self-identifies as straight until a passionate kiss from Dillon gives him confusing feelings. [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-am-freaking-out He initially worries that he may somehow suddenly have become gay]], but [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/a-lot-alot Dillon reassures him that he isn't]], though he may have bisexual tendencies. Later, he comes to accept this side of himself, in a way -- though he still thinks of himself as "straight", putting himself in more of a TransparentCloset. |
| 392 | * BoyfriendBluff: Ray plays the gay boyfriend for a moment on [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/just-like-you his first present-day appearance in the comic]], to help Dillon get away from a girl who's trying to flirt with him, because he can see that Dillon isn't interested. This is somewhat confusing for Dillon. |
| 393 | * CareerEndingInjury: Ray is quitting his career in "hockey" (probably ice hockey, this being Canada) due to a knee injury. He doesn't seem to be suffering much {{Angst}} over this; either he's had time to get used to the idea, or he's been bitten hard by the acting bug. |
| 394 | * TheDitz: Ray doesn't ''look'' like a DumbJock, and sometimes seems quite alert, but he never notices that Dillon is gay until Dillon tells him, is totally unaware of his own bisexual tendencies until Dillon kisses him, and even once he knows that Dillon is gay, apparently fails to guess that Dillon is using acting lessons as an excuse to kiss him again, or to notice that Ruby is sneaking pictures. Nor does he ask why "acting lessons" have to feature extensive tongue-work. Then he [[spoiler:falls for Nathan's dubious and obvious seduction tactics]], to an extent that makes him look dumb as a rock. |
| 395 | * EntertaininglyWrong: Ray initially believes that Dillon is straight, and is [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/enough-fun-for-a-week rather easily accidentally convinced]] that he's [[TheCasanova a successful ladies' man]]. Dillon goes to some effort to MaintainTheLie until [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/this-is-an-emergency his conscience, reinforced by Ruby's comments, begins to trouble him]]. |
| 396 | * LovableJock: Ray has a career in sports and a lot of the mannerisms of a jock, but he's pleasant enough as a person (and Dillon is quite infatuated with him). He also handles the discovery that Dillon is gay better than a typical JerkJock would. |
| 397 | * OldFriend: Ray and Dillon were evidently [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/i-like-someone-else fairly close at school]], though not close enough for Ray to have realized that Dillon was gay. (Dillon does seem to have been quite slow to accept the fact himself.) |
| 398 | * TransparentCloset: Ray turns out to be quite willing to have gay sex -- provided that he and the other guy both identify as straight, so he can label it "being on the down low". |
| 399 | |
| 400 | [[/folder]] |
| 401 | |
| 402 | !!Minor Characters, Crossover Guest Stars, and Characters With a Larger Role Elsewhere |
| 403 | |
| 404 | [[folder:Felicia]] |
| 405 | [[quoteright:124:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/felicia_227.png]] |
| 406 | |
| 407 | -> ''"YES! YES! YES!"'' |
| 408 | |
| 409 | Jerzy's sister, who shares his apartment (next door to Dillon and Amber's). The other cast members all seem to like her. |
| 410 | ---- |
| 411 | * TheGhost: She's periodically mentioned, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/about-four-more-seconds heard at least once,]] but the readers are never allowed to see her. |
| 412 | |
| 413 | [[/folder]] |
| 414 | |
| 415 | [[folder:Helena]] |
| 416 | [[quoteright:131:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/helena_of_sdb.png]] |
| 417 | |
| 418 | ->''"Not the first time, probably not the last."'' |
| 419 | |
| 420 | Nathan's secretary or PA. |
| 421 | ---- |
| 422 | * BeleagueredAssistant: Helena is used to being [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/that-off-my-mind called out late at night to deliver a stack of documents to Nathan's apartment]], and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/got-the-part on occasion, has to keep talking over the sound of her boss]] exploiting the CastingCouch. |
| 423 | |
| 424 | [[/folder]] |
| 425 | |
| 426 | [[folder:Jacob]] |
| 427 | [[quoteright:149:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jacob_sdb_2461.png]] |
| 428 | |
| 429 | -> ''"Someone wants, like, a gadjillion crickets!"'' |
| 430 | |
| 431 | Richie's kid stepbrother, who Richie employs in his pet shop. On his first appearance, Jacob inveigles Dillon into doing his job for him, and temporarily loses that job as a result. |
| 432 | ---- |
| 433 | * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Jacob is loud, sometimes obnoxious, and manipulative, and tries to avoid some of his duties in the shop. However, Richie is stuck with him, as he runs to his mother (Richie's stepmother) when Richie tries to fire him, and [[ParentalFavoritism she orders Richie to take Jacob back]]. Richie is apparently [[ExtremeDoormat too spineless to stand up to her]]. |
| 434 | * CreepyChild: His repeated compliments towards Dillon (which he uses to manipulate Dillon into doing his job) are rather creepy. At other times, he merely displays a childish [[NoSocialSkills lack of social graces]], for example [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/hot-pepper talking loudly about Richie "loving Angel."]] |
| 435 | * GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: So far, Jacob has been fired for blatant incompetence, reinstated, fired again for being childishly annoying, and [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/well-see-ya-around instantly reinstated again.]] Apparently, [[ParentalFavoritism his mother won't let Richie get rid of Jacob]] from the shop. |
| 436 | * PuppyDogEyes: Used by this cute (if rather {{creepy|Child}}) kid [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/a-gadjillion-crickets here.]] |
| 437 | * WiseBeyondTheirYears: Present in an obnoxious and limited form. |
| 438 | ** Jacob not only manipulates Dillon through cuteness and flattery, but seems to recognise Dillon's attraction to Richie well enough to exploit it -- although he seems to think of it in terms of manly comradeship rather than sexual attraction, as he assumes that Ruby is Dillon's girl and doesn't understand when Dillon talks about "hitting on" Richie. |
| 439 | ** Later, he guesses correctly and remarkably quickly that [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/hot-pepper Richie's blushes are caused by Richie fancying Angel]] -- although he doesn't understand Angel's gender fluidity, and [[NoSocialSkills isn't wise enough to keep quiet about what he's guessed]]. |
| 440 | |
| 441 | [[/folder]] |
| 442 | |
| 443 | [[folder:Jaxon]] |
| 444 | [[quoteright:101:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jaxon_sdb.jpg]] |
| 445 | |
| 446 | -> ''"I was asking Jerzy to be best man for my wedding..."'' |
| 447 | |
| 448 | Jerzy's godson, who shows up to facilitate a plot point late in the comic's run. |
| 449 | ---- |
| 450 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: Before Dillon knows who he is, just seeing him talking to Jerzy triggers Dillon's jealousy -- and perhaps some twinges of sexual attraction. |
| 451 | |
| 452 | [[/folder]] |
| 453 | |
| 454 | [[folder:Nathan]] |
| 455 | |
| 456 | [[quoteright:143:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nathan_5429.png]] |
| 457 | |
| 458 | -> ''"Don't be silly! I'm not '''gay!''' That's why I have you wear the wig!"'' |
| 459 | |
| 460 | Nathan Horn is a lecherous producer who is first seen in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', trying to exploit Amber and Dillon; he ends up giving them an apartment. He's definitely at least bisexual, [[TransparentCloset whatever he says]]. He subsequently shows up in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', as he has a business connection to the productions in which Dillon and Amber are working, and he also still has a personal interest in Dillon. He then switches his primary interest to Ray. |
| 461 | ---- |
| 462 | * CarpetOfVirility: A fairly minor case, but Nathan is one of the few guys in the comic with significant chest hair. |
| 463 | * CastingCouch: His seduction method of choice, it seems. The effectiveness of this strategy is sometimes undermined by his desperation. |
| 464 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: He wouldn't actually want to traumatize real twin sisters by getting them to enact his {{Twincest}} fantasy -- so he goes to some lengths to get Amber and Dillon to fake it. |
| 465 | * HanlonsRazor: It's hard to tell if Nathan is {{evil|IsPetty}}, [[TheDitz moronic, or simply insane]], but he is perhaps the most romantically toxic character to grace the setting.[[note]]Yvan in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' might challenge him, but Yvan is sexually unsuccessful whereas Nathan gets laid.[[/note]] Case in point: his [[InsaneTrollLogic "explanation"]] for cheating on Dillon and Amber and his wife all at the same time, to say nothing about his [[InsaneTrollLogic "explanation"]] about how he's not gay or bisexual, despite starting each day out by having anal sex with one of his male subordinates. |
| 466 | * JerkAss: His appearances tend to involve a string of minor but slimy acts of exploitation and self-deceit. |
| 467 | * MeaningfulName: A sleazy, lecherous producer named '''Horn'''? Rather appropriate, wouldn't you say? |
| 468 | * SugarDaddy: Exactly what [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/sticky-dilly-buns/never-stoop-that-low Amber refers to Nathan as having been to her in their initial relationship.]] How much she extracted from him apart from [[CastingCouch acting jobs]] and eventually the apartment is unclear. |
| 469 | * TransparentCloset: He has Dillon dress in drag before they have sex, therefore it's totally not gay, honest. Also, he claims that "straight married men have secret gay sex all the time. It's called 'being on the down low'. Saw it on ''Oprah''." Dillon is actually convinced by this, believing if it was on ''Oprah'' then it must be true. |
| 470 | [[/folder]] |
| 471 | |
| 472 | [[folder:Richie]] |
| 473 | [[quoteright:152:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0f698bbb5abc972d9d8cc22f78150494.png]] |
| 474 | |
| 475 | -> ''"I can't cover for you '''every day,''' Jacob!"'' |
| 476 | |
| 477 | The manager at the pet store where Jacob (his kid stepbrother) and later Angel work. A good-looking guy (making him the subject of at least casual passing interest from both Dillon and Angel), and a enough of a salesman to convince Ruby to buy Minew despite Ruby's restricted finances. Other times, he's less self-assured. |
| 478 | ---- |
| 479 | * ExtremeDoormat: It may only be in one respect, but anyway -- although he's a grown man, Richie is apparently incapable of standing up to his stepmother over her demands that he employ Jacob in the shop. |
| 480 | * LuminescentBlush: The combination of his confusion over his attraction to the gender-fluid Angel with Jacob's blundering oblivious comments causes Richie to blush quite a lot at times. |
| 481 | * StupidSexyFlanders: Richie suffers from a slightly unusual case regarding Angel. He's evidently heterosexual, and he knows that Angel is anatomically female. However, when he first gets to know her, she presents a masculine aspect, and he has no problem with her. Then she comes in for work in a dress, presenting as an attractive woman, and he suddenly responds to this -- and is flustered and confused by the fact. [[spoiler:They eventually start dating (with Angel presenting as female when they’re out together), so Richie evidently gets over his issues]]. |
| 482 | |
| 483 | [[/folder]] |
| 484 | |
| 485 | For Erik, Gary, Jordan, Jung, Matt, and Zii, see [[Characters/MenageA3 the characters page for]] ''Webcomic/MenageA3''. |
| 486 | |
| 487 | For Julian and Ramona, see [[Characters/PixieTrixComix the characters page for]] ''Webcomic/PixieTrixComix''. |
| 488 |
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