I've figured Lisa out.

[CJ]

I'm sorry, but...what strip is this? I really don't recall Lisa crying and I'm sifting through the archives looking for it.

More sniffling than out-and-out weeping, but close enough.

Ah...I took that more of a joke, because it seemed kinda random to be suddenly "upset," so she was making a joke as if just being friends who kid around would be SO HARD but not really.

[Michael Ezra]

Yes, but look at Lisa's face and tentative "fist-bump" stance in the first panel. She's clearly shaken by Aggie's anger (and maybe her own) and uncertain whether the two of them are cool now. So yeah, I definitely read the second panel as her getting teary. It's an emotional moment. As Mr. Cales says, Lisa may not care about much, but she cares very, very deeply about her friendship with Aggie. Notice also how she stutters as she and Aggie hug. Yeah, she's at least a bit teary.

[Mr. Cales]

NOBODY SPECIAL, YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL BASTARD AND I LOVE YOU

On-topic.

Yeah, Lisa's clearly a bit emotional after chewing Aggie out/getting chewed out by Aggie.

[Michael Ezra]

Now how ever did I miss NobodySpecial's fic? My bad.

You have mastered the art of bait-and-switch shipping, my pupil. Soon you will start a dojo of your own. *Bows*

[NobodySpecial]

I thank you both for your validation and appreciation of my humble efforts. I can only say I learned at the feet of masters to gain my simple level of skill.

And no applause, just throw money.

[Mr. Cales]

Given the general mood of assent and consent I've seen in this thread, does that mean I've hit the nail on the head? 'Cause I was kind of hoping someone would disagree with me in a well-thought-out post so that I could go back to hating Lisa, but if I'm right, well, that's fine too.

[Michael Ezra]

Hey man, like don't hate. Love. <3 <3 <3

(Well, except for Karen, Tharqa, Cyndi, Samantha, Bob and Elmer, I guess.)

[Mr. Cales]

Tharqa and Cyndi are my only two current Hates. Tharqa's a thug, and Cyndi's a psychopath. The others on that list fall into "Severe Dislike" category.

[sun tzu]

Given the general mood of assent and consent I've seen in this thread, does that mean I've hit the nail on the head? 'Cause I was kind of hoping someone would disagree with me in a well-thought-out post so that I could go back to hating Lisa, but if I'm right, well, that's fine too.

Welllll...I'm not 100% certain you're correct (you might be reading too deeply into it), but your interpretation does seem entirely plausible.

[NobodySpecial]

Given the general mood of assent and consent I've seen in this thread, does that mean I've hit the nail on the head? 'Cause I was kind of hoping someone would disagree with me in a well-thought-out post so that I could go back to hating Lisa, but if I'm right, well, that's fine too.

Let me put it this way. I find more than one interpretation of the phrase 'I'm not! ...usually.' I may think you're right, but there's a point at which I entertain reasonable doubt.

[Mr. Cales]

I feel kind of proud of myself- I have a reasonable wild guess!

[Rhodesaw]

Tharqa and Cyndi are my only two current Hates. Tharqa's a thug, and Cyndi's a psychopath. The others on that list fall into "Severe Dislike" category.

But that's exactly why Cyndi is amazing.

[Michael Ezra]

To me, Cyndi is a "love to hate" character because damn it, she's just so brilliant in her manipulativeness. Tharqa, Bob and Elmer, on the other hand, have no subtlety or cleverness or anything other than basic scumminess about them; these I simply hate/dislike without even the most grudging bit of respect.

Karen, as far as my reactions go, is somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, her villainy showed a considerable degree of planning, forethought and leadership skills, especially at the beginning of "The Popsicle War," so to me she doesn't quite fit into the "simply hate" category. On the other hand, as the War progressed she increasingly found herself caught off-guard and panicked by things that didn't follow her "script," and thus had to rely on her co-conspirators for direction; also, her insecurities eventually led her into overkill (like kicking Aggie when she was down, thus giving Aggie and Penny further impetus to team up against her) and into going after Duane, who wasn't remotely a threat to her, just for the purpose of keeping her clique together, and thus apart from the spiked popsicles her downfall was her own fault. So she doesn't fit the "love to hate because she's so clever" category either.

Then there's the matter of sympathetic aspects, actions or backstories versus the lack of them, but that's a whole other scale of measurement. (One where I'd have to group Cyndi along with the dimbulb thuggish villains because we have yet to see a single aspect of her that's sympathetic in any way.)

[Freemage]

First off: This interpretation of Lisa is soddin' brilliant. Even if it's not spot-on what T. was going for, it's solid enough to have a good standing of becoming the standard interpretation of the character.

Key note is that it covers all the bases, without leaving anything in particular unaddress or contradicted. In fact, it actually goes so far as to explain several scenes that, individually, probably could've been passed over by a less thorough analysis without raising a fuss.

Second: "Hi, Omar!" Magnifique.

[Mr. Cales]

I've been complimented by Freemage! Holy shit!

I... Thank you so much Freemage! That was great of you! Thanks!

...Hot damn, I got complimented by Freemage!