heteronormativity

Can’t wait for the next update. :) Off to re-read the whole thing again to tide myself over until then…

Agreed, the laughter definitely isn’t offensive; they’re just laughing at the unexpected. “Gorgeous” isn’t a word that either men or women typically use to refer to a man; “handsome” would be more conventional to refer to a man (and unusual to refer to a woman). Breaking that convention got a good laugh.

I do think the comic chose it intentionally, to play off of Al’s surprise and concern (which may come up again later), but I don’t think the audience would even begin to think that Brendan is gay because of that comment; they’ll just get a laugh out of it. (Now, on the other hand, an astute audience member might think something about the look on Al’s face, but they still couldn’t draw any certain conclusion from it.)

True, but I think it’s good-natured laughter, not mockery or disgust. Maybe it’s just the surprise of having their expectations flipped. I don’t know how visible gay people are in this story’s universe, but if they are still a smaller percentage of the population as they are in ours I can see why the audience might default to assuming it’s more likely that Brendan is straight. And then being wrong :)

Agreed (and good spot on the photo!) Brendan’s got such a natural flair for performance – Al’s pretty much the opposite. The spotlight might just miss him entirely, and the crowd will be so dazzled by Brendan that they won’t even notice. I hope Al doesn’t become the invisible ‘techie’ in the back. He always seems like he needs a confidence boost.

I loved Brendan’s joke though. The utter horror on Al’s face!