Either she’s going to climb into bed with Aoife, lay in her own bed, or she’s getting ready to perform some kind of ritual. Not a sacrifice mind you, but likely something related to her Bata Droichta.
@Delta: Glad you liked Áine’s face in panel 3. I was trying to go for a sort of semi-shy look. She needs to gather her nerves a little to do what she is about to do.
Well, there’s no doubt in my mind at least which of the three Aine is about to do. Although, yanno, it looks like there’s not a whole lot of room in Aoife’s bed for a second person.
@Kessy: True…those beds are fairly small singles. However, don’t forget that Aoife is fairly small compared to the other girls.
Our favourite bandeau-donning brunette is somewhat “Fun-Sized” (I’m not sure if the “Fun-Size” reference works in the US…please let me know if it doesn’t…it’s used with small chocolates in Ireland/UK)
Oh yeah, sometimes I forget that Aoife is small. The thing is that in my mind everyone is more or less the same size and it’s actually pretty jarring for me when something happens to make me notice height differences.
Yes, we have fun sized chocolates in the US. Well, assuming that you can call what they sell here chocolate. If you’ve never tried American chocolate, trust me, don’t. The stuff is foul. I heard a rumor that Hershey’s actually uses spoiled milk to make their milk chocolate. I don’t know if it’s true, but I could believe it.
One time I was chatting with an English friend online, and we had some minor disagreement, so I jokingly said that I bet her a chocolate bar that I was right about it. I lost, and much to my surprise she held me to the bet. I tried to warn her that she really didn’t want to try American chocolate, but she insisted. She considered herself a bit of a chocolate connoisseur and wanted to try chocolate from every country that makes it. So I went and bought a Hershey bar and mailed it to her. When she started telling me how awful it was, I was like, “I did warn you.” She said she took one bite of it and gave the rest to her brother (who she wasn’t fond of.)
@Willard: Good to know, thanks! Since the whole cast speaks Hiberno-English it’s good to know what does, and does not translate over to American-English. Especially since US readers make up about 90% of Bata Neart’s readership 🙂
@Kessy: I know exactly what you mean.
Many moons ago, while I still lived in Dublin, I did have the chance to taste American chocolate.
I was in the City Center one day, and while I waited for a bus I entered a nearby shop to buy a snack. To my surprise this shop had actually stocked some Hersheys bars, and despite the overly inflated price of them (at least 4-5 times what you’d probably pay for them in the US) my curiosity had gotten the better of me. My treat for the bus-ride would be a Hersheys Bar.
Needless to say, my disappointment of spending €5 on a very thin plate of chocolate was soon replaced by a furious disbelief that any company would dare call this brown matter ‘chocolate’. Thereafter I started to feel very sorry for everyone over in the US who’s idea of Milk Chocolate had been dominated for years by this particularly feckless brand. I can only imagine the surprise Americans may encounter after first tasting a European milk chocolate. (Especially the German ‘Milka’ Milk Chocolate…you could just pump that stuff into my blood and I wouldn’t mind).
To summerise, I fully understand your friend’s reaction to Hersheys, and in the end it does appear that she kind of ‘lost’ that bet 🙂
The thing that really baffles me is that it’s not that good chocolate is unavailable in the US. Toblerone is pretty widespread – even my local convenience store has it. Various kinds of dark chocolate are also readily available. But people keep eating that… stuff. Even as a little kid I didn’t really like straight up chocolate bars. (Chocolate on or in something was a different matter, though.) My only idea of why is that Americans just seem to have this cultural intransigence that people resent being told that there’s a better way to do things than what they’ve been doing. Which also baffles me. When someone tells me about something better out there or a way I could do better, I’m grateful. But Americans seem to react to it with fury. (shrugs)
Why do you think people go for a lot of Godiva & other Belgian chocolates.
Trust me, us Americans ain’t all that stupid BUT…..Hershey’s is ubiquitous & convenient & relatively cheap as versus the better chocolates.
A lot of go nuts for the Euro chocolates: in my house we swear by Godiva!
@James: Sorry, when I say that I’m baffled by something I generally just mean I don’t get it. Some people genuinely prefer Hershey’s. I can’t imagine why, but hey, if that’s what they like…
As for some Americans’ resistance to doing anything better, I don’t think of that as stupidity but as misplaced pride and stubbornness. Personally, I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a stupid person, just stupid actions. Although I admit that recent events have seriously damaged my faith in my fellow Americans’ ability to function as responsible adults.
@Kessy
Personally, I blame the horrible domestic beers for the irresponsible behavior of many allegedly adult Americans.
I too believe that all of the big confection companies in America only care about profit and not taste. Though the millions they spend on advertising makes people keep buying their inferior chocolates. Only See’s Candies makes decent chocolates but they don’t advertise much and are much more expensive than the waxlike Hershey’s.
@Armiture: I find myself very fascinated by the conversation here, and I’m learning some things I did not know.
Over here in Europe we do get a fairly detailed impression of life in the US thanks to near blanket coverage of US-made entertainment and TV shows over here. But I have always suspected that many of the day-to-day practicalities of American life had most been glazed over, and that there was more to learn that had been shown. It’s interesting to learn of a cultural rejection of new ways of doing things. I guess this is why the metric system still hasn’t stuck in the US despite government efforts (I don’t know how much effort involved though.)
However, that all said, you’d be surprised how stuck in our ways we can get over in Europe. There is a bizarre habit that many Irish, British and even the folk here in Scandinavia display whenever we travel to new and exotic lands. For example, in the popular tourist spots in Spain, despite a wide selection of excellent Spanish foods, drinks and treats (all at cheap local prices), many Irish will choose to purchase Irish treats, foods and drinks at a massive import premium. The British, Norwegians and Swedish do exactly the same thing. The Norwegians are especially crazy, since all food in Norway is very overpriced, that price becomes nearly 10 times the price of a Spanish equivalent item. Despite that, you have Norwegian tourists insisting on only eating the food from home.
I could never understand this behavior myself, and on a trip to the island of Majorca I was shaking my head at the amount of ‘Irish Breakfasts’ on offer. The Norwegians and Swedish had even managed to start colonizing Thailand with their foods.
It’s stubborn madness I feel, and I can’t help compare this to what you describe about folk in the US and their apparent marriage to the Hershey Bar.
*sings “Oh yes, they call her The Streak! Fastest thing on two feet.”
I yelled up: “Don’t look, Aoife!” But it was too late. She’d already got the free shot. 😛
Thank you, Ray Stevens. Now how about some Guitarzan?
What’s the big deal? Surely nobody expected her to go to bed wearing a damp towel! 🙂
Aaaaw, Aine looks so cute in Panel 3. ^^
Either she’s going to climb into bed with Aoife, lay in her own bed, or she’s getting ready to perform some kind of ritual. Not a sacrifice mind you, but likely something related to her Bata Droichta.
@Farren: One of the theories you wrote is correct….not going to say which one though 😛
@Delta: Glad you liked Áine’s face in panel 3. I was trying to go for a sort of semi-shy look. She needs to gather her nerves a little to do what she is about to do.
@Azreal: I need to get that “WHEEEE” sound-effect for that song to work here. Not sure how to draw that 😀
@Willard: As you wish!
Well, there’s no doubt in my mind at least which of the three Aine is about to do. Although, yanno, it looks like there’s not a whole lot of room in Aoife’s bed for a second person.
@Kessy: True…those beds are fairly small singles. However, don’t forget that Aoife is fairly small compared to the other girls.
Our favourite bandeau-donning brunette is somewhat “Fun-Sized” (I’m not sure if the “Fun-Size” reference works in the US…please let me know if it doesn’t…it’s used with small chocolates in Ireland/UK)
Short girls in the US call themselves fun sized, so it works.
Oh yeah, sometimes I forget that Aoife is small. The thing is that in my mind everyone is more or less the same size and it’s actually pretty jarring for me when something happens to make me notice height differences.
Yes, we have fun sized chocolates in the US. Well, assuming that you can call what they sell here chocolate. If you’ve never tried American chocolate, trust me, don’t. The stuff is foul. I heard a rumor that Hershey’s actually uses spoiled milk to make their milk chocolate. I don’t know if it’s true, but I could believe it.
One time I was chatting with an English friend online, and we had some minor disagreement, so I jokingly said that I bet her a chocolate bar that I was right about it. I lost, and much to my surprise she held me to the bet. I tried to warn her that she really didn’t want to try American chocolate, but she insisted. She considered herself a bit of a chocolate connoisseur and wanted to try chocolate from every country that makes it. So I went and bought a Hershey bar and mailed it to her. When she started telling me how awful it was, I was like, “I did warn you.” She said she took one bite of it and gave the rest to her brother (who she wasn’t fond of.)
@Willard: Good to know, thanks! Since the whole cast speaks Hiberno-English it’s good to know what does, and does not translate over to American-English. Especially since US readers make up about 90% of Bata Neart’s readership 🙂
@Kessy: I know exactly what you mean.
Many moons ago, while I still lived in Dublin, I did have the chance to taste American chocolate.
I was in the City Center one day, and while I waited for a bus I entered a nearby shop to buy a snack. To my surprise this shop had actually stocked some Hersheys bars, and despite the overly inflated price of them (at least 4-5 times what you’d probably pay for them in the US) my curiosity had gotten the better of me. My treat for the bus-ride would be a Hersheys Bar.
Needless to say, my disappointment of spending €5 on a very thin plate of chocolate was soon replaced by a furious disbelief that any company would dare call this brown matter ‘chocolate’. Thereafter I started to feel very sorry for everyone over in the US who’s idea of Milk Chocolate had been dominated for years by this particularly feckless brand. I can only imagine the surprise Americans may encounter after first tasting a European milk chocolate. (Especially the German ‘Milka’ Milk Chocolate…you could just pump that stuff into my blood and I wouldn’t mind).
To summerise, I fully understand your friend’s reaction to Hersheys, and in the end it does appear that she kind of ‘lost’ that bet 🙂
The thing that really baffles me is that it’s not that good chocolate is unavailable in the US. Toblerone is pretty widespread – even my local convenience store has it. Various kinds of dark chocolate are also readily available. But people keep eating that… stuff. Even as a little kid I didn’t really like straight up chocolate bars. (Chocolate on or in something was a different matter, though.) My only idea of why is that Americans just seem to have this cultural intransigence that people resent being told that there’s a better way to do things than what they’ve been doing. Which also baffles me. When someone tells me about something better out there or a way I could do better, I’m grateful. But Americans seem to react to it with fury. (shrugs)
Why do you think people go for a lot of Godiva & other Belgian chocolates.
Trust me, us Americans ain’t all that stupid BUT…..Hershey’s is ubiquitous & convenient & relatively cheap as versus the better chocolates.
A lot of go nuts for the Euro chocolates: in my house we swear by Godiva!
@James: Sorry, when I say that I’m baffled by something I generally just mean I don’t get it. Some people genuinely prefer Hershey’s. I can’t imagine why, but hey, if that’s what they like…
As for some Americans’ resistance to doing anything better, I don’t think of that as stupidity but as misplaced pride and stubbornness. Personally, I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a stupid person, just stupid actions. Although I admit that recent events have seriously damaged my faith in my fellow Americans’ ability to function as responsible adults.
@Kessy
Personally, I blame the horrible domestic beers for the irresponsible behavior of many allegedly adult Americans.
I too believe that all of the big confection companies in America only care about profit and not taste. Though the millions they spend on advertising makes people keep buying their inferior chocolates. Only See’s Candies makes decent chocolates but they don’t advertise much and are much more expensive than the waxlike Hershey’s.
@Armiture: I find myself very fascinated by the conversation here, and I’m learning some things I did not know.
Over here in Europe we do get a fairly detailed impression of life in the US thanks to near blanket coverage of US-made entertainment and TV shows over here. But I have always suspected that many of the day-to-day practicalities of American life had most been glazed over, and that there was more to learn that had been shown. It’s interesting to learn of a cultural rejection of new ways of doing things. I guess this is why the metric system still hasn’t stuck in the US despite government efforts (I don’t know how much effort involved though.)
However, that all said, you’d be surprised how stuck in our ways we can get over in Europe. There is a bizarre habit that many Irish, British and even the folk here in Scandinavia display whenever we travel to new and exotic lands. For example, in the popular tourist spots in Spain, despite a wide selection of excellent Spanish foods, drinks and treats (all at cheap local prices), many Irish will choose to purchase Irish treats, foods and drinks at a massive import premium. The British, Norwegians and Swedish do exactly the same thing. The Norwegians are especially crazy, since all food in Norway is very overpriced, that price becomes nearly 10 times the price of a Spanish equivalent item. Despite that, you have Norwegian tourists insisting on only eating the food from home.
I could never understand this behavior myself, and on a trip to the island of Majorca I was shaking my head at the amount of ‘Irish Breakfasts’ on offer. The Norwegians and Swedish had even managed to start colonizing Thailand with their foods.
It’s stubborn madness I feel, and I can’t help compare this to what you describe about folk in the US and their apparent marriage to the Hershey Bar.