Less Than a Duck

[Abadon XXX]

one crazy school this is

[Atticusblackwolf]

It makes me kinda sad Yumiko's relationship with her sister is in shreds. Then I started thinking about all the stuff you can do with straps *imagination runs wild*

[Chaos Priest]

It's pretty obvious.

The girl's clearly a werewolf.

OK, I admit, that one made me lol.

[Xuanwu]

Yumiko should try throwing herself at her onee-sama.

No, wait, Yumie kinda ruined that tactic...

Too bad Yumiko's not the sort to use her own state of undress to her advantage. I mean, could you walk away from her when she's (un)clothed like that?

[BigKwell]

(views latest strip)

Geez... why don't someone tell Yumiko's grand souer about Yumie?

[Chaos Priest]

Yumiko should try throwing herself at her onee-sama.

No, wait, Yumie kinda ruined that tactic...

Too bad Yumiko's not the sort to use her own state of undress to her advantage. I mean, could you walk away from her when she's (un)clothed like that?

If I saw her go crazy and try to harm innocent students? Yes, yes I could, as psychopaths don't really turn me on. I feel that while Yumiko's grand souer may not know everything that happened, she is entirely justified in her reaction. Yumiko is a dangerous, mentally unbalanced woman.

I still feel a little sorry for her, though.

[BigKwell]

Yumiko should try throwing herself at her onee-sama.

No, wait, Yumie kinda ruined that tactic...

Too bad Yumiko's not the sort to use her own state of undress to her advantage. I mean, could you walk away from her when she's (un)clothed like that?

If I saw her go crazy and try to harm innocent students? Yes, yes I could, as psychopaths don't really turn me on. I feel that while Yumiko's grand souer may not know everything that happened, she is entirely justified in her reaction. Yumiko is a dangerous, mentally unbalanced woman.

I still feel a little sorry for her, though.

No, Yumie would be the unbalanced one. Yumiko's quite stable - provided she keeps her glasses on.

[Chaos Priest]

Yumiko should try throwing herself at her onee-sama.

No, wait, Yumie kinda ruined that tactic...

Too bad Yumiko's not the sort to use her own state of undress to her advantage. I mean, could you walk away from her when she's (un)clothed like that?

If I saw her go crazy and try to harm innocent students? Yes, yes I could, as psychopaths don't really turn me on. I feel that while Yumiko's grand souer may not know everything that happened, she is entirely justified in her reaction. Yumiko is a dangerous, mentally unbalanced woman.

I still feel a little sorry for her, though.

No, Yumie would be the unbalanced one. Yumiko's quite stable - provided she keeps her glasses on.

...

You're joking, right?

[Arvanna]

I'm getting the impression perhaps this isn't the first time she's seen Yumiko's personality problems and that after all this time she hasn't apparently done anything about it aside as use it as an excuse for letting her ID ie Yumie run about causing havok and giving Yumiko an excuse for it "Oh it wasn;t me it was Yumie."

[SailorPtah]

No, Yumie would be the unbalanced one. Yumiko's quite stable - provided she keeps her glasses on.

...

You're joking, right?

I sense an intriguing difference of opinion.

Any chance you two could lay out your full perspectives on Yumiko/Yumie? (I obviously have my own theories, but I'd love to hear, in detail, how you see her.)

[BigKwell]

No, Yumie would be the unbalanced one. Yumiko's quite stable - provided she keeps her glasses on.

...

You're joking, right?

I sense an intriguing difference of opinion.

Any chance you two could lay out your full perspectives on Yumiko/Yumie? (I obviously have my own theories, but I'd love to hear, in detail, how you see her.)

Just what I've seen in the mangas. Yumiko seems to be well-adjusted, although somewhat timid, one who would rather enjoy a quiet tea than confront terrorists, demons and 'heathens'. Yumie, on the other hand, is fanatic, homicidal, and doesn't care who dies - just so long as the job is done.

[Chaos Priest]

I sense an intriguing difference of opinion.

Any chance you two could lay out your full perspectives on Yumiko/Yumie? (I obviously have my own theories, but I'd love to hear, in detail, how you see her.)

Just what I've seen in the mangas. Yumiko seems to be well-adjusted, although somewhat timid, one who would rather enjoy a quiet tea than confront terrorists, demons and 'heathens'. Yumie, on the other hand, is fanatic, homicidal, and doesn't care who dies - just so long as the job is done.

I don't think it's so much differing theories, as it is differing definitions. BigKwell, you seem to be of the opinion that they are different people. The problem though is that they are the same person. I'm not saying that Yumiko doesn't seem like a nice person (outside of ties to an organization like Iscariot), but that does not make her sane. She has multiple personalities. The last time I checked that is not a sign of a healthy, well-adjusted mind. She is wicky in the wacky woo. Even worse, her alternate personality is absolutely psychotic, which makes her crazy and dangerous. One nice personality + one violent personality does not equal one safe person and one dangerous person. It is still just one dangerous, mentally unbalanced person.

The only thing I can think of that would mean Yumiko is sane is if Yumie was a case of possession or something, but I have yet to see anything that would suggest that. On the contrary, her very presence in Iscariot suggests that is very unlikely, as we all know what their stance is on using monsters to fight monsters.

Now if you want to get into theories, how's this one? How do we know that Yumiko is the one in charge? If the glasses are just a sign of the change then this is all incorrect, but as far as I can tell, losing her glasses seems to be the trigger for the change. Have you thought about how unlikely it is that Yumiko can go throughout her life without taking her glasses off? Sure, she might conceivably sleep with her glasses on, but take a shower? Clean her glasses off if they get something on them that obscures her vision? Heck, as somebody who has had glasses since the age of 6 I can comfortably say that there is no way she can always keep them on outside of that. Glasses are very easy to knock off somebody's face. Now then, after her glasses are off, how easy is it for Yumie to keep them off? I'm just going to go out on a limb and guess it's a whole lot easier. Really, Yumiko isn't giving Yumie permission to come out, it's the other way around. The dominate personality for her is the psychopath, not the sweet nun.

[SailorPtah]

The problem though is that they are the same person. I'm not saying that Yumiko doesn't seem like a nice person (outside of ties to an organization like Iscariot), but that does not make her sane. She has multiple personalities. The last time I checked that is not a sign of a healthy, well-adjusted mind. She is wicky in the wacky woo.

You've got about half of this right.

Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is not a form of insanity. In fact, it's a complicated way of preserving sanity, just as a fever is ultimately a way of preserving health.

(Although I must admit that the phrase "wicky in the wacky woo" cracks me up every time I reread it.)

One nice personality + one violent personality does not equal one safe person and one dangerous person. It is still just one dangerous, mentally unbalanced person.

Part of the reason Yumie can be so violent is because she is dissociated from her own conscience. That's in Yumiko -- who is a timid, tearful pushover, because all her ability to defend herself is over in Yumie.

Given enough support and therapy, Yumiko and Yumie could be integrated into one functioning personality, who would be able to defend herself when necessary without going overboard. She would not necessarily have other mental health issues.

I suspect Iscariot has been exacerbating her disorder. The more unbalanced she is, the more use they can make of her.

Now then, after her glasses are off, how easy is it for Yumie to keep them off? I'm just going to go out on a limb and guess it's a whole lot easier. Really, Yumiko isn't giving Yumie permission to come out, it's the other way around.

In the first Cross Fire story, Yumiko refers to Yumie as "asleep", and Heinkel repeatedly says "Wake up, Yumie!" before knocking off the glasses.

It would make sense if Yumie were asleep some (most?) of the time, and if during those times Yumiko could safely remove her glasses.

(The glasses could just be a visual sign of her switching. I like to think she's been hypnotically conditioned to make them a convenient trigger.)

Also, Yumie is not just a one-dimensional killing machine. We've seen her bantering with, and griping to, Heinkel, when they're off duty. If there are no dangerous heathens around, it would probably be safe to let her out to shower.

[Xuanwu]

If I saw her go crazy and try to harm innocent students? Yes, yes I could, as psychopaths don't really turn me on. I feel that while Yumiko's grand souer may not know everything that happened, she is entirely justified in her reaction. Yumiko is a dangerous, mentally unbalanced woman.

See, I love psycho chicks (for oggling and fanboying purposes, not necessarily in real life), so the presence of Yumie doesn't faze me. I prefer Yumiko to Yumie, though, thanks to the glasses. If only she could go pyscho with them on!

[BigKwell]

I happen to like Erin's theroies about Yumiko/Yumie. If there was someway she could integrate the two personas, Yumiko/Yumie could be possibly a halfway decent person.

[Xuanwu]

Yumiko fanservice! Yay!

And it looks like Yumiko's been sucked into the shoujo-drama vortex that dictates all anime girl-girl relationships. Sakura petals / lily blossoms in 3...2...

[Shadowfax272]

SOAP OPERA MOMENT

[BigKwell]

(views latest strip)

Oh man! That gotta be the gutsiest thing Yumiko has done! Could a little of Yumie be in her?

[BigKwell]

BTW - I wonder what's happened to Anthy? Did she make it out - and what about Timothy?

[Atticusblackwolf]

BTW - I wonder what's happened to Anthy? Did she make it out - and what about Timothy?

I'm kinda wondering about that too.