Shoot Your Shot

wow. stuck an interesting nerve there. good job, jeph!

jimbo

It makes it much harder for Jeph to draw.

Captain Button

I really wish Patreon handled this better, it does this stupid paging on single posts too!

Dustin

Here is a small bookmarklet app to download the comments on any Patreon post. It clicks the "Load more comments" link for you so you don't have to. It also gives you the option to get the comments as a CSV file. You can import it into a spreadsheet tool and sort the comments. https://codepen.io/weshead/full/jObWrbm

Borpo

I often endlessly replay chance encounters that didn't go as I'd hoped, looking to see if I misunderstood what someone said, or misread the situation or context, or said something that sounded fine in my head, but didn't work as intended when said aloud. Yes, I tend to not do well with such random and impromptu encounters, and always try to improve, but progress, over decades, has been slow. But not zero, thankfully. My "replay" for this one would be, rather than asking for a number, I would simply mention that I walk my dog along this route pretty much every day, and that it would be great to bump into each other again. If that were received *very* positively, I then *might* offer my number, but would not ask for one. Of course, this is what I think *after* seeing the above play out. I can't argue with the guy's initial instinct to "jump" to where he wanted things to be, without taking time to consider a better path. Been there myself way too many times: Shortest line between two points, ignoring context. I try to yank my own leash the moment I see myself becoming interested, *before* I say anything stupid. So I can avoid acting on incorrect instinctual initial reactions. So I can avoid adding to my list of things I'm going to regret or apologize for. I'm sometimes not quick enough, even now. It's like my brain goes "Ooooh! Shiny! Want!" and my IQ and situational awareness plummet. Sigh. Edit: Given how often I screw it up, one alternative is to wall myself off from every such interaction, to simply be minimally polite and exit the situation, rather than engage. I did that for years, with significant cost to my own mental health in the form of loneliness and depression. I can't live that way. Since my errors are verbal, never physical, I've decided that I can only improve with practice. I choose not to avoid the world, but that unfortunately includes the risk of future screw-ups. Yes, encounters that fail may encourage others to avoid me, but that's the same net effect as if I avoided the interaction. The simple fact is that I don't screw it up every time. I go into the world hoping there is enough forgiveness out there to tolerate those other times, when I become too "enthusiastic" during an interaction. Edit 2: I even edit my comments to death, because my fingers are just as able to get away from me as my mouth. Fortunately, there are "take backs" and "do overs" in the digital world. IRL is tougher.

BobC

As an autistic adult, this week's adventure with Brun really hit me hard. You have such a good understanding of the autistic mind here and it's got me emotional. Brun's little thought bubbles of her friend reminding her how to 'be normal' is something I get all the time. I think of what my wife would do in social situations. I'm legit sitting hear with tears streaming down my face because I feel so seen. Thank you.

Jared Cyr

And as no once else has said this, thanks Jeph for always being thoughtful in your comics, even if they're for entertainment. As you so often do, you brought up a sensitive subject in a way that contributes to the conversation, and has hopefully been eye-opening for at least some on the thread.

Chuck Dee

Dude was going to leave, but Brun demanded he stay, and made him uncomfortable (4244, panel 4). I feel like this is being overlooked and glossed over because Brun is a Main Character. And then there were 5 minutes of interaction between Dude and Brun that happened offscreen. Asking for her number didn't happen in a vacuum.

Trigon Manthree

I can't believe I read the same comment as you people. This comment section is nuts. He asked a question, she said no, he said okay. Nuff said. But if we are being stupid let's talk about she chose to detain him for 5+ minutes to pet his dog. Brun may be socially inept but that is still far more rude than asking for someone's number. It doesn't matter that he was irresponsible with his dog. Two wrongs don't make a right. Both of them are well meaning and doing the wrong things.

See, this is why I stopped even bothering years ago. An environment where you're not even allowed to ask in the first place is fucking toxic.

Daryl Sawyer

I saw a few people ask how he should have asked. The only right answer in my opinion is he shouldn't. He could have politely said sorry and moved on. If he really had one of those tropey love at first sight moments he could have said something like "I walk Rupert here often and you'll never see him off leash again, but feel free to say hi and let him if you like", as an opening to someday meet up again. But even that could be considered creepy by some. The point is you have to acknowledge you as the man should be careful with your interactions.

Bruce

Brun is such a mood...

Gemma Hentsch

Brun's directness is refreshing

Todd Ellner

Yeah, Imagine the conversation here with the dude-men if the guy had been just a little less wholesome. IRL men would probably noticeably check her out. Just change where he looks in one of the panels and it becomes a lot more threatening. Dude has a giant dog running around unleashed. That's a coercive scenario in which you do not hit on women (or gay men, for that matter.) I imagine they would still defend him to the last, but yeah, he deserves to be called out and shamed.

THIS.

Danya Michael

This whole scene is really interesting in how much the QC-verse fantasy affects it. The general overall goodness of people means that some of these interactions are probably less scary than IRL. Brun being extra assertive almost certainly emboldened the dude who was both completely self-confident AND willing to be wrong when confronted about his dog AND fine to walk away when shut down. I love the fantasy world of the QC-verse where people are generally decent but occasionally you get scenarios here where someone might be the asshole in our world and not be part of The Problem in this world. This seems like one of them. I'm gonna go ahead and not judge this fella too harshly and then go and feel bad about the world we all have to live in.

Cerril

Your mileage may vary entirely, but I've used a lot of materials from Suzanne Clothier (https://suzanneclothier.com/) to very good effect when I was working with my (former, sad to say) dog. She calls it Relationship Centered Training, and the techniques are not as "hippy-dippy new-agey" as you might think from that title. It mostly focuses on training humans to speak and think in dog, instead of trying to force dogs to speak and think in human. There's a good amount of free articles available on her site to give you a taste for what the "not free" materials are like.

Quantum Cat

After a cursory scan, it seems like pretty much all of the folks jumping to dude-man's defense are... dude-mans. Guy probably isn't a monster, but at the very least he's inconsiderate, which is in keeping with the off-leash dog thing. I'll just paraphrase a concept I learned a long time ago: men being afraid of getting their feelings hurt is not equivalent to women being afraid of being attacked. This kind of interaction, and the expectations of possible outcomes, are vastly different from one side to the other. All that said, everybody should probably chill a little. It's a comic. We're supposed to have fun here.

Bo Blackstar

On a pretty extremely tangential topic: My wife and I are getting a puppy next month (a Bernedoodle - I know, adopt don't shop, but it is what it is). Anybody know good online references to learn how to train her well, and also help our existing household of cats adapt to their first canine sibling? I'm worried with social distancing that socializing will be hard and I don't want her to grow up dysfunctional and have it be all my fault. My level of 'experience' here is mostly just knowing stereotypes and pop culture about dog training.

Roger Judd

I would like to second this person's question.

Nope.

Richard Riley

I understand that most women have had shitty experiences with guys not taking rejection well, and almost all have friends who've suffered truly horrific things at the hands of terrible men. Yet if an individual dude is decent and gracious about being rejected, then after all is said and done the only harm one would suffer is discomfort over being asked out. That harm is real and genuine, I don't want to minimize or dismiss it. But there's also very real harm caused by social isolation, to the extent where it effects life expectancy stats. It is both men and women who suffer from the loneliness epidemic, and from my anecdotal experience not every women is made uncomfortable by a man respectfully asking for her number, if it is a majority it seems like a slim one. At what point does the possibility of defraying one harm outweigh the possibility of a causing a second harm? People mention tinder as an alternative to asking people out in person, but like... Tinder sucks. It's depressing and awful, it commodifies intimacy and is honestly much more of a soulless numbers game than cruising bars could ever be.

Sean Coker

Considering how calmly she handled the fire, I kind of wanna see Brun react to an explosion XD But safely - in Melon's company, perhaps? She seems to have mastered small level destruction.

Cole Blackblood

Anyone else read the dog situation as an allegory for the guy? Yes, the dog ended up being friendly and while Brun was not fazed by the barking, Millefeuille was. It scared her. Brun was able to brush off the guy hitting on her but the same action could frighten someone else. As Brun said, the dog should not have been off the leash in a place that was not a dog park. If they were in a dog park, that behavior would have been more expected. However, the park they were in was not the appropriate place for the dog's actions. Millefeuille should not have been put in a situation where she became frightened by an unknown dog off its leash. Likewise, Brun should not have been put in a situation where she would have to deal with an unknown guy asking for her number because it was not the right time or place for that interaction.

They've been killed for saying yes, too.

FuryoftheStars

This comment section really shows how the blind spots in a lot of guys’ radar work. I won’t even pretend like it wasn’t working in mine on this one. Yeah, this guy is outwardly looking like a decent dude, sure. But as it’s been pointed out by multiple women here, Brun does not know him, nor is she obligated to. And a dude’s entire demeanor can change at the drop of a hat; the facade can drop at the slightest provocation. So yeah, don’t take it as a slight against YOUR SPECIFIC intentions, but women have been killed for saying “no” before.

VGreenGoblinV

To be fair, we didn't see what happened in the five minutes she was petting his dog.

FuryoftheStars

A lot of guys on this thread seem to think that women don't ever want to be hit on. That's not the case. What we generally don't like is being hit on by a complete stranger. If DogBro had talked with Brun for a bit, introduced himself properly, asked her about herself, and gauged her reactions for any sign of interest, not one woman here would fault him for asking for her number. Hell, my bestie met her husband in a bar. But they talked for a good half-hour, and she knew his name and where he worked before he asked for her number. Y'all can shoot your shot - but if you're a total stranger to her, don't be shocked if she slips her car keys between her fingers and starts looking for the exits.

Krista Elliott

Because maybe RomComs don't present a realistic guide for social interaction in a world where people *can* be dangerous, and behave in ugly ways? This is like taking the Lucy episode in the factory as a literal guide to workplace behavior.

I’m sorry, but the scene just played out is the basis of every RomCom ever, and the MeetCute is enough of a thing to have been parodied inside of a TV show. How did this scene turn into a funhouse mirror of those same scenes and turn into “Brun barely escapes a life of terror being stalked by a man with a carnivorous death hound”?

Zach Elwyn

It might help if it was a crowded dog park with more people visible in the background. If they were the only three people around this could be threatening. If there are twenty other dog walkers in earshot, does that change the picture?

RoofPig

This guy is being potentially threatening, because when a stranger asks a woman for her number, she has no way of knowing how he'll react if she says no. He could be polite about it, like this guy, or turn abusive or physically confrontational. That's why some people here are having such a visceral reaction to it.

Jeph Jacques

I don't think the guy's a jerk or predator, but the unleashed dog + hitting on Brun like that paints him as pretty clueless and self-centered.

Krista Elliott

I once read a sentence I really like: "Every asshole is a person". Most of the time it's near imposible to judge someone you don't know based solely on what they do/say in the moment. For example, if I messed up with my dog like this guy did. I would be embarrased enough that I would prefer to just get out of there. So when the person that (correctly) reprimanded me goes all "No you are not free to go. I want to pet your dog" with a deadpan voice... I would think she is being rude and intimidating. Of course, Brun's reactions to people are different than most... But I wouldn't know that, right? So where exactly I am going with this? Simple: We don't know the guy with the dog. He seemed decent enough to apologize, put the dog on a leash, let a stranger pet the dog despite him feeling uncomfortable with the situation and he simply asked for a number and took the rejection like you are supposed to take it. I think it's shitty to call him a fuckboy, rude, etc. I'm disappointed.

Rodrigo Ourcilleon

Jeez, dog dude. You've known her for all of 5 minutes, you don't even know her name, she's given absolutely no indication that she's even the tiniest bit interested in you, but sure...put her in the position of having to turn you down, which is never uncomfortable and nerve-wracking.

Krista Elliott

You automatically assume that if 2 people are together in public that they are on a date? Weird.

Wolfger

Men-hate because she's not interested? Men-hate because it happened to be a man she told off?

I for one am just glad to get confirmation that the harpoon is not her first option

Bagge

Holy crap. Ever since Brun first appeared in QC I've had a nagging thought that I once knew somebody Just Like Her. And it just came to me that it was a friend from college, 40 years ago. Now if only I could remember enough of his name to Google him. He was extremely literal on the outside, with an awesome creative cacophony on the inside that he had trouble expressing. I fell somewhere between him and the "normals". Interacting with him was so refreshing, totally free of pretext, innuendo, and all those other things I can have trouble parsing. I lost track of him soon after introducing him to the D&D group on campus. I wasn't much of a player myself, but I heard he became an awesome DM.

BobC

RUDE AF

Dylan T

Bruh, she's on a date! Rude.

Meghan

Dat robutt

Simon Green

Back off! Brun already has a date

Bagge

and for taking no for an answer without being weird about it

Bagge

Hats off to this guy who asked Brun out w/in 5 minutes of knowing her, Clinton and Elliot should take notes.

Shawn K. Younkin

I think at that point you're getting into a polycule.

TwoRavens

brun is too hot it’s her very sexy curse

dylan

I have question that has suddenly become very important. I know a throuple is a three person relationship but what is the name for a four person relationship? Quadple? Fourple?

There was no right or wrong thing about how he asked. He was screwed because he believes the free running dog is fine and Brun very much doesn't. Simple deal-breaker for her.

Mark Thomas

I have to admit, if I was the one asking, I would APPRECIATE the clear communication. But maybe that's just the ADHD talking.

Yohannon

I wouldn't say crashed and burned, it's pretty much as well as it could've gone, things considered.

Brent

Emily is still my fave, but Brun is steadfastly closing in!

This meeting started off with a dog off the leash before Brun ever knew the but existed. He was mostly screwed before he entered the picture. Him then admitting that he did it intentionally and tried to defend it instead of it being an escaped for incident was merely the final nail in the coffin.

Mark Thomas

How should he have asked?

Captain Button

Some classic men-hate going on right here. Classy.

MikeT

"Can't right now, busy with RoboBooty"

MikeT

I like this comic for it's depiction that Brun, as atypical as she is, still obviously knows how to turn down folks she doesn't want to date because she was a bartender so she obviously had to learn how to deal with that.

Thomas Halpin

I'm tossing around the difference between her meeting Clinton and this guy. A few minutes conversation in a familiar environment ( the bar)? The fact that Clinton didn't do anything she found offensive? Maybe the same kind of vibe from the guy Renee brought home and started started hitting on her?

Michael Boettger

oh come the fuck on, he asked, she declined, he took it with grace, the fuck else do you want?

least_rectangles

Too soon to tell. Potentially, yes, but he might just be okay overall. He didn't act like an ass.

Sorastro

No, that did look like trying to hit on Brun. I think Brun knows the difference between “Hey, would you like to dog-sit Rupert?” and “Hey, can we date because I think my dog likes you?”

Miyaa

Too bad. I hope we see more Rupert anyway.

Todd Perkins

lets be real i think its just because she doesnt like him

Tamara Macadam

What a fuckboy

Evan

*damn*

Tamara Macadam

Yeah, I've been thinking this is the direction the story's heading for a week or two, now.

Cliff

Ooh. So maybe Brun is less likely to want a relationship other than friendship? Does that change all the shipping going on?

Miyaa

But does Brun realize he was asking for a date, or does she think there was some other reason, like having her on file as a possible compatible dog-sitter fro Rupert?

Captain Button

cant you see she's on a date buddy?

runrin

The man crashed and burned but did it in proper fashion at least

Rejected!!

Andrea Andrew

Nice to see a random dude not be a total asshole. Hopefully he learns his lesson and keeps Rupert leashed from here on out.

Alexander W Couzens