Worse Than A Death Camp!!!

[Gevin]

Ha! I beat meshuggeneh to the punch.
Awwwww, Poor Aggie. Why does Penny have to push Aggie so far away? It's obvious that she's pushing her away in order to avoid any sort of confrontation regarding what Sara has recently placed before her eyes,... but it's still sad. Aggie sucks up her pride & tries to be friendly & request some assistance from Penny. What happens? Penny denies her assistance (not surprisingly, mind you), makes a soft jab, then follows up with an even stronger jab. Granted, Aggie may have somewhat had it coming, but Penny is bigger than that. She's here, now, after totally/obviously already gotten over it, and just bringing it up just to further drive Aggie away.
Hopefully Aggie won't percieve this as Penny having a chip on her shoulder & will see it for what it truly is, an attempt to drive her away. Hopefully Aggie will strive to discover what the reason for that is. I'm pretty sure that she cares enough to learn (it should be obvious to her that this isn't normal Penny behavior) what the deal is.

..That's a lot of wishfull thinking..

[Iron Cross]

Why does Penny look so much like Martha Stewart in the third frame?

[Trajedi]

Cuz she's screaming Death Camp? Hmmmm....

Anyway. Penny def. decided to go total bitch on this one. But I get what she is saying. Aggie asking for advice on the short comings of another for a popularity contest... Sounds more like Penny thing (Well I doubt she'd ask anyone as so much investigate). I think Penny is disappointed in Aggie.

But due to the whole Sara issue instead of say to Aggie "Be yourself." she instead screamed "Death Camp!" I'm not sure if she is trying to drive Aggie away though.

[meshuggeneh]

Ha! I beat meshuggeneh to the punch.

:grumble: CURSES!!

...Aw, kidding.

Anyway. Penny def. decided to go total bitch on this one. But I get what she is saying. Aggie asking for advice on the short comings of another for a popularity contest... Sounds more like Penny thing (Well I doubt she'd ask anyone as so much investigate). I think Penny is disappointed in Aggie.

I got a slightly different impression of Penny's motives. Aggie's been nothing but antagonistic to Penny in the past. And now she's not only trying to be respectful, rational, and nonjudgemental in approaching Penny like a real person for help, but it could even be argued that maybe Aggie's letting her shell down a little bit. Being genuinely nice. Something Penny's not seen before. So she calls bullshit on it. "Twisted beyond recognition."

And to be fair, Aggie's not doingthis just out of the goodness of her heart. Penny's right to call her out on doing it for the poll numbers. But, I still think that it takes something inside of Aggie to resort to asking Penny for help, more than just this election. She is a very principled person, after all.... Although I guess she could view this as for the greater cause.

Anyway, I'm not really sure I believe that Penny's disappointed in Aggie. She certainly seems to be enjoying rubbing it in her face. It's funny how strongly people will react when their outer shell is at risk. I agree with the argument that, after Sara's confrontation, Penny's seen the non-sexual yet passionate connection between her and Aggie. And it's a threat. So she's pushing Aggie away before it gets anything worse. Heh, good luck with that, Penny. You really think that'll work? Not with T at the wheel.

[isobel]

While Penny had a good reason to do this, it's rather disappointing. She's hurting Duane with this little stunt too, and she couldn't do a better job of throwing away the maturity she displayed at Karen's party if she tried. Way to fail at showing class and being the bigger man, Penny. She's looking like the stereotypical bitchy high-school girl right now.

[Gevin]

]But due to the whole Sara issue instead of say to Aggie "Be yourself." she instead screamed "Death Camp!" I'm not sure if she is trying to drive Aggie away though.

Oh my gosh, I just thought of something tastey. & It'd be perfect, too, if it weren't for the fact that her eyes are looking calculating rather than kind,.. & that it'd be totally out of character (though that fact would only make it all the more delicious if it were the case).
If only Penny's screaching of Death Camp was not so much an attempt to antagonistically stab Aggie & drive her away, but was in fact an attempt to reach & relate to Aggie that she is willing to be just as crazy as Aggie can sometimes be. To meet with her upon the same plane. As in, a friendly reach.

But, no,... her eyes make it too obvious that this isn't even a possibility. Her eyes make it clear that she's just currently glad to have reobtained a firm handle on the situation & happy to have an upper hand.
*sigh* "if only.."

[Yuko no Slayer-Dryad]

This is a reverse of the time, for pity's sake, Penny tried to comfort Aggie when she was bawling over Marshall becoming an item with Karen. Remember how Aggie responed? I believe the one-word analogy would be 'karma.'

[zaiatzgeist]

http://www.pennyandaggie.com/d/20051014.html

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but would Penny's stunt today count as disrupting the school?

[SAGG]

Penny, you idiot...

[Tangent]

While Penny had a good reason to do this, it's rather disappointing. She's hurting Duane with this little stunt too, and she couldn't do a better job of throwing away the maturity she displayed at Karen's party if she tried. Way to fail at showing class and being the bigger man, Penny. She's looking like the stereotypical bitchy high-school girl right now.

I must agree with you. I am very disappointed in Penny right now.

Yes, she's scared about her own sexuality and the like. Yes, she is freaked out by the words of one of her best friend. Sure, Aggie has been a complete spaz in the past. But this doesn't give Penny a pass for acting like a complete and utter idiot herself.

In fact, for what may be the first time I recall... I feel like (excuse my language) bitch-slapping Penny.

Idiot girl.

*laughter* You know, I feel like Aggie's dad did when he found out about Aggie's... blowup against Penny. Aggie's dad was disappointed because he knows Aggie is better than that. Well... I know Penny is better than this... and she's in a way betrayed that trust I put in her.

But then again... that's what being human is all about. And while this might not be mature and while I'm very disappointed in this reaction... I also must admit that T did a superb job here of humanizing Penny.

I think the princess has slipped off her pedestal, if only slightly.

[andrael]

I'm not sure why people are disappointed? Personally, as soon as Sara dropped her "Penny and Aggie are gay for each other" bombshell, I was kind of expecting one of two things to happen: either 1) Penny, thinking that Aggie was suffering from (unrequited?) attraction, would feel sorry for her and possibly be a little nicer to her, or 2) (far more likely) Penny would do the exact opposite and smack Aggie down as harshly and as publicly as possible, so as to allay any notions that she is soft on Aggie in ANY way. I was actually expecting worse than this; I was wondering if Penny might finally decide to play the "your mom" card.

[Rincewind MoG's Ghost]

I'm not sure why people are disappointed? Personally, as soon as Sara dropped her "Penny and Aggie are gay for each other" bombshell, I was kind of expecting one of two things to happen: either 1) Penny, thinking that Aggie was suffering from (unrequited?) attraction, would feel sorry for her and possibly be a little nicer to her, or 2) (far more likely) Penny would do the exact opposite and smack Aggie down as harshly and as publicly as possible, so as to allay any notions that she is soft on Aggie in ANY way. I was actually expecting worse than this; I was wondering if Penny might finally decide to play the "your mom" card.

I'm thinking that that might come by the end of this conversation.

[Starline]

This is a reverse of the time, for pity's sake, Penny tried to comfort Aggie when she was bawling over Marshall becoming an item with Karen. Remember how Aggie responed? I believe the one-word analogy would be 'karma.'

Totally agree with this. People are forgetting that when Penny did try to be nice to Aggie, Aggie just put her down.

[recklo]

I'm of the opinion that she's gone insane. Or at least out of control. There can't be any rational sense to this. Maybe she didn't think this particular sort of behavior through. It's just how she's come to react to whatever feelings she's having. Craazy.

[betsynoire]

This is a reverse of the time, for pity's sake, Penny tried to comfort Aggie when she was bawling over Marshall becoming an item with Karen. Remember how Aggie responed? I believe the one-word analogy would be 'karma.'

Karma deals with random events. This is two people. This is not karma. This is revenge. And a little bit out of place.

Aggie and Penny were alone in the mall. Aggie only got uppity when Penny turned condescending and started belittling Aggie's problem. What Aggie said in no way affected Penny's life or relationship with other people.

Now, they're in a public place, and Penny's intentionally hurting something that Aggie truly cares about right now.

Aggie was hurt and acted out. Penny is upset and she's acting it out. It's understandable. But please, oh please, don't call this karma, not even as an 'analogy'.

[Kia Purity]

I'm just confused... it feels so suddenly out of place. =/

I'm not sure how Penny's attitude exactly fits in.

[Saint_37]

Yeah, Penny's acting like a crazy bitch to keep Aggie away and/or get back at her like the usual tirade. The whole episode between them isn't even funny or entertaining anymore, although I did get a good laugh from the "Give up now, peasant!" line. I just hope the comic starts getting back to putting in some humor into the storyline because lately it's been about as entertaining as a daytime soap opera. BLEH.

[Yuko no Slayer-Dryad]

http://www.pennyandaggie.com/d/20051014.html

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but would Penny's stunt today count as disrupting the school?

Scrub, Penny, Scrub! Scrub, Penny, Scrub! Scrub, Penny, Scrub! Scrub, Penny, Scrub! Scrub, Penny, Scrub! WIIIGIIII!

[trudyscousin]

http://www.pennyandaggie.com/d/20051014.html

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but would Penny's stunt today count as disrupting the school?

Thanks for the reminder with that URL. Five hours alone together...that would be interesting.

(No, not that kind of interesting...)

[Bobthespirit]

'Worse than a death camp' I saw as her way of showing her how she felt at the 'Because he's black' comment. She felt that now that she was trying to win an election she'd understand the effect it had on her social standing. 'Eye for an eye' sort of logic.

Aggie's trying to be popular, but she's trying to be popular as herself. It's very difficult to be popular without projecting on aura of BS in high school.

[Kitsuiko]

"Right on Aggie, it's so totally right for you to be constantly mean to Penny regardless of what she does, says or tries for you! You're so rad!"

"Boo Penny! How dare you be mean back to Aggie once when she's clearly just trying to use you after she's only been constantly, constantly mean to you and tried to hurt you just on general principle of your popularity."

*eyeroll*

[Hyel]

I don't deny that I find Penny irritating and would take Aggie's side on just about any debate, but on the other hand I can't deny Aggie's been the aggressor most of the time, seeking confrontation with Penny. She could have just left Penny alone.

Sometimes her speaking up is justified - like when she saw her cruelly blow off the Scrabble guy - she was speaking up for Duane and other boys Penny's said no to perhaps too bluntly. Of course that didn't end too smoothly... Nor was it Penny's fault about Duane (though it was about the Scrabble guy). And then there were all the times she clearly just wanted to annoy Penny.

But then, Penny is annoying. Socially aware girls are often annoyed by bombshells who waste their talents and time on playing Barbie. It's not doing too many favours to the cause of feminism.

...Which, I think, must be the true heart of their "seething, roiling bond". Each has an opposite value system from the other.

I'm trying to see what would annoy Penny about Aggie, but I lack the imagination. I'm too Aggie-like to get that far into Penny's headspace. All I can say is I understand, from the story, that she's not a bad person as such, and has a sense of decency or at least certain things she will not do; on some level she seems to try to be a good person (being nice to Duane, not using Aggie's mom's death to hurt her, etc.), and much of her cruelty and the apparent shallowness of her friendships could be put down to wanting to keep people from getting too close - protecting herself, which implies vulnerability - the Gendo Ikari complex someone mentioned. Maybe the only reason Aggie annoys her is that she sees her as a threat - not so much as someone likely to get close to her, but because she is vulnerable to such constant aggression and dislike that Aggie is showing, and can not back down from a fight.

Gee. You can tell I only just read all the archives, can't you?

[Sebastian]

I don't deny that I find Penny irritating and would take Aggie's side on just about any debate, but on the other hand I can't deny Aggie's been the aggressor most of the time, seeking confrontation with Penny. She could have just left Penny alone.

Sometimes her speaking up is justified - like when she saw her cruelly blow off the Scrabble guy

???
That wasn't cruel at all, "i rather make out with an actual horse ass than touch you with a ten foot pole" is cruel, "I can get out on a date with you because you are the captain of the scrabble team and I ... am not" is, at worse, confusing, but certainly not cruel.

[Tangent]

"Right on Aggie, it's so totally right for you to be constantly mean to Penny regardless of what she does, says or tries for you! You're so rad!"

"Boo Penny! How dare you be mean back to Aggie once when she's clearly just trying to use you after she's only been constantly, constantly mean to you and tried to hurt you just on general principle of your popularity."

*eyeroll*

*snorts* Actually, I hold both of them up to higher standards. I do this because I know they are better than this. And yes, sometimes I wonder just what is behind Aggie's rampant dislike of Penny, and why she can't leave her be.

Penny is slightly more understandable. Aggie has caused problems for Penny on multiple occasions. Even when Penny tries to be nice, Aggie lashes out. So Penny sees Aggie as an irritant. Still... I do wonder about Sara's observation. There is a bond between them. Today's comic showed that even further, with Penny being flustered after having successfully blown Aggie off. But why? Why flustered instead of triumphant? Why even care?

At times there does seem to be a love/hate relationship between these two. It's amusing sometimes... and annoying at other times. Imagine... what could these two do if they worked together? Heck, look at Karen; Karen was able to create a new self with Penny's help and Aggie's insight. The result is someone who is now able to stand on her own, even if she's turned on both Penny and Aggie. Imagine them what these two could do if they cooperated and worked together on something.

I wonder... they're in at least one class together. It would be rather interesting, T, to see a story where they are partnered together for a school project. Perhaps their teacher would do this partly to teach them of the benefits of cooperation. And maybe it's also because she knows that Aggie wouldn't let Penny just slide through it, but pull her own weight, so that the end result would be Penny trying her best and Aggie learning how to work with those she doesn't necessarily get along with.

[Saint_37]

..followed by some hot lesbian tongue action, right?