.gif s are animated image files. They have become shorthand reactions in some parts of the internet, with humor either deriving from having a gif that exactly expresses the emotion you are feeling, or from one that expresses a different emotion being forced to fit in an ironic way. (similar to how surprising rhymes can work in rap).
Particularly well-known gifs can simply have an image name typed out and get a similar reaction, especially in contexts where people can’t share images, such as webcomic comments or similar.
Amber is saying the image name here, knowing that AG will know which particular .gif Amber is referencing, a shot of Jennifer Lawrence being particularly sarcastic when agreeing with someone.
TheMoreYouKnow.gif
Shane
So, how is “.gif” pronounced? EvilRaccoon.gif >:-]>
Rognik
The only non-controversial way to answer this question is Gee-Eye-Eff.
Personally, though, I’d say the one where it doesn’t sound like a peanut butter brand.
Bicycle Bill
Since the term stands for “Graphics Interchang Format” and the words ‘graphics’ has a hard ‘G’ rather than a ‘J’ sound, I suppose it should be as Rognik says ….
Although then people probably won’t be sure you’re not talking about the green Amphibiosan dude who was Gen. Zapp Brannigan’s poor put-upon lieutenant from “Futurama”.
Tan
That’s Kif.
Ryek Hvek
Kif is for inhalation, as opposed to pronunciation.
It is with Soft-G like Giraffe. Conversationally it become a noun, and the noun is pronounce the way the inventor of the noun said it should be pronounced, with a soft-g. However if you are talking in technical terms and want to for example compare standards, you’d refer to the acronym by spelling out the letters G, I, and F; or you could say the full words (Graphics Interchange Format).
Back in 2016, I was writing short character descriptions for a LARP set at a music festival. One of them was for a dude who wanted to be That Dude Who Can Totally Set You Up :
“Oh, yeah, you’re totally hooked up. Someone backstage needs themselves something a little… shady? You can get it for them, no sweat. You’ve got all the “in”s for that kind of thing. (Note : jennifer_lawrence_thumbs_up_oh_yeah.gif.)”
I was kinda proud of some of the stuff I came up with that year.
One time in about 1990 I had to write about fifty player characters for a “flexiform” that was a thriller/police-procedural set in 2100. They all had to be different and they all had to be detectives. I was getting a bit trippy by the time I was done.
William A Egbert
Christopher Walken, but a detective. Adam Sandler, but a detective. Jigglypuff, but a detective. …
Hephaistos Fnord
Pikachu, but a detective, but he sounds like Deadpool.
… so there’s a copy of that gif in my reactions folder that’s been there since at least 2015 and I was Today years old when I realised that it’s Jennifer Lawrence and not Taylor Swift.
Goddamn face blindness!
They’re basically the same person. Both have played at least one member of the Justice League on television.
Jim
You actually had me second-guessing myself; I had to actually Google Taylor Swift’s bio to see that her only acting credit on TV is on an episode of CSI and an episode of New Girl.
I freaking love this. I think this is the first time we’ve actually seen them talk to each other? Amber, this is a good way to acknowledge you need THERAPY.
Yeah, that was before the freak-out stabbing, and before Amber started trying to repress AG, and they stopped sharing memories. The fact that they’re talking now is actually a good sign.
thejeff
Though it’s a fair answer to “I think this is the first time”. Before that they didn’t seem to need to talk to each other, so then it was a bad sign. Now it is a good one.
Acknowledging she needs therapy would first require her to acknowledge that therapists provide something of value. IIRC, she has a negative view of therapists.
It was Sal that had a negative view of therapists, IIRC, due to her experiences with them after the gas station incident. Amber wasn’t allowed to go to therapy; her dad put her through self-defense classes instead.
Yeah, how does this work? Does only one cheek blush come on when they’re talking to each other, or do they flash on and off like a car’s hazard lights depending on who’s talking?
It’s like that Gollum scene in the Lord of the Rings movies. They alternate camera angle. Only Willis doesn’t have the screen space or budget for that.
191 thoughts on “Complicated”
Ana Chronistic
ref: https://giphy.com/gifs/jennifer-lawrence-thumbs-up-ok-Fml0fgAxVx1eM
Ryek Hvek
last seen as marking a strikeout {K} on baseball in-progress game forums
Rose by Any Other Name
Thanks. I guess?
I was gonna say that helped with context, but no, I don’t think it did actually.
Viktoria
.gif s are animated image files. They have become shorthand reactions in some parts of the internet, with humor either deriving from having a gif that exactly expresses the emotion you are feeling, or from one that expresses a different emotion being forced to fit in an ironic way. (similar to how surprising rhymes can work in rap).
Particularly well-known gifs can simply have an image name typed out and get a similar reaction, especially in contexts where people can’t share images, such as webcomic comments or similar.
Amber is saying the image name here, knowing that AG will know which particular .gif Amber is referencing, a shot of Jennifer Lawrence being particularly sarcastic when agreeing with someone.
TheMoreYouKnow.gif
Shane
So, how is “.gif” pronounced? EvilRaccoon.gif >:-]>
Rognik
The only non-controversial way to answer this question is Gee-Eye-Eff.
Personally, though, I’d say the one where it doesn’t sound like a peanut butter brand.
Bicycle Bill
Since the term stands for “Graphics Interchang Format” and the words ‘graphics’ has a hard ‘G’ rather than a ‘J’ sound, I suppose it should be as Rognik says ….
Although then people probably won’t be sure you’re not talking about the green Amphibiosan dude who was Gen. Zapp Brannigan’s poor put-upon lieutenant from “Futurama”.
Tan
That’s Kif.
Ryek Hvek
Kif is for inhalation, as opposed to pronunciation.
Ana Chronistic
Jay-feg: https://sgpsketch.tumblr.com/post/164316916259/sgp-00-lost
Delicious Taffy
Guh-JIFE-uh
Pylgrim
Yes officer, this person right here. Threw a grenade into a crowded room, I saw it with my own two eyes.
CC
“yiff”
(ref)
Vombatidae
https://mashable.com/2013/05/21/jif-not-gifs-pronunciation-steve-wilhite/
djhash
It is with Soft-G like Giraffe. Conversationally it become a noun, and the noun is pronounce the way the inventor of the noun said it should be pronounced, with a soft-g. However if you are talking in technical terms and want to for example compare standards, you’d refer to the acronym by spelling out the letters G, I, and F; or you could say the full words (Graphics Interchange Format).
ValdVin
Thanks, Ana.
I am aware of all internet traditions (I was even in on the ground floor of that one) but this JLaw one slipped by me.
McBogue
Or maybe this one is more appropriate?
bibulb
Back in 2016, I was writing short character descriptions for a LARP set at a music festival. One of them was for a dude who wanted to be That Dude Who Can Totally Set You Up :
“Oh, yeah, you’re totally hooked up. Someone backstage needs themselves something a little… shady? You can get it for them, no sweat. You’ve got all the “in”s for that kind of thing. (Note : jennifer_lawrence_thumbs_up_oh_yeah.gif.)”
I was kinda proud of some of the stuff I came up with that year.
Agemegos
One time in about 1990 I had to write about fifty player characters for a “flexiform” that was a thriller/police-procedural set in 2100. They all had to be different and they all had to be detectives. I was getting a bit trippy by the time I was done.
William A Egbert
Christopher Walken, but a detective. Adam Sandler, but a detective. Jigglypuff, but a detective. …
Hephaistos Fnord
Pikachu, but a detective, but he sounds like Deadpool.
SDGlyph
… so there’s a copy of that gif in my reactions folder that’s been there since at least 2015 and I was Today years old when I realised that it’s Jennifer Lawrence and not Taylor Swift.
Goddamn face blindness!
Delicious Taffy
They’re basically the same person. Both have played at least one member of the Justice League on television.
Jim
You actually had me second-guessing myself; I had to actually Google Taylor Swift’s bio to see that her only acting credit on TV is on an episode of CSI and an episode of New Girl.
RacingTurtle
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that was Taylor Swift
Doctor_Who
There’s no way this didn’t happen exactly like a Takedown in one of the Batman Arkham games.
…I would totally play one of those starring Amazi-Girl.
auroki
Now that’s something the game modding community needs to jump on!
C.T Phipps
I love the Resident Evil 2 vs. Thomas the Tank Engine mods.
ValdVin
Webcomic villainous henchmen: They get annoyed at Twitter’s interface just like us!
ruhrow
I don’t think he’s villainous…just one of Robyn’s bodyguards for Becky.
Reltzik
That… might actually make him a villain’s henchman.
SuperZero
He’s not villainous, though.
Shane
These are the authorized bodyguards of a Congressperson!
King Daniel
This is one of the bodyguards Robin hired to protect Becky (note the shirt and uggs), so do they really count as “villainous”?
Bicycle Bill
I’m not sure they even count as ‘bodyguards’ as opposed to merely being a ‘warm body’, as the term is/was used in the military.
ValdVin
Yeah, I guess I’m just recalling Beef’s previous adventures from way back.
Well, I’d apologize to him but he can’t hear me now.
“Hawaiian shirted and Ugg-booted bodyguards get annoyed at Twitter’s interface just like us!”
timemonkey
That’s not Beef.
Deanatay
Honestly, how would we know? Beef never talks, so he’d never be tagged, right?
thejeff
Nah, non-talking characters get tagged. Beef’s been tagged before.
timemonkey
He also looks different.
King Daniel
The only character who deliberately never gets tagged is Bloodrose.
ValdVin
…and mistaking this guy for Beef, too. Although in this light, can you blame me?
Jamie
That was also my first instinct on seeing the first panel, but it cleared up for me as I read along. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Savail
On first glance, I was very confused as to why Beef was saying something other than “grunt.” Then I checked tags and was like “oh, okay.”
Ryan the Cool
Sunglasses guy is a mood
Stephen Bierce
He’s the bodyguard I dubbed “Chuckles” earlier.
auroki
Only 60 times? Come on that’s just base freak out stabbing!
Marisa Mockery
I freaking love this. I think this is the first time we’ve actually seen them talk to each other? Amber, this is a good way to acknowledge you need THERAPY.
Hugo Bedward
Agreed, but with the time progression of this webcomic it would take way too long so we know it’s not gonna happen
Nono
They were talking to each other when hiding from Robin in the privacy chair cube.
Nono
Oops, hiding from Sal, not Robin.
King Daniel
They were also talking to each other when Amber tried to get rid of their supersuit, as I recall.
Deanatay
Yeah, that was before the freak-out stabbing, and before Amber started trying to repress AG, and they stopped sharing memories. The fact that they’re talking now is actually a good sign.
thejeff
Though it’s a fair answer to “I think this is the first time”. Before that they didn’t seem to need to talk to each other, so then it was a bad sign. Now it is a good one.
Stephen Bierce
“Two minds but with one single memory.”–Max Headroom
Reltzik
Acknowledging she needs therapy would first require her to acknowledge that therapists provide something of value. IIRC, she has a negative view of therapists.
C.T Phipps
Yes, they tell her that she has value and isn’t responsible for Blaine’s evil.
Cheshrin
It was Sal that had a negative view of therapists, IIRC, due to her experiences with them after the gas station incident. Amber wasn’t allowed to go to therapy; her dad put her through self-defense classes instead.
Needfuldoer
Yeah, how does this work? Does only one cheek blush come on when they’re talking to each other, or do they flash on and off like a car’s hazard lights depending on who’s talking?
Stephen Bierce
It’s like that Gollum scene in the Lord of the Rings movies. They alternate camera angle. Only Willis doesn’t have the screen space or budget for that.
UnfeignedShip
I remember reading a subreddit where it was pointed out that the Arkham series was like ‘The Predator’ from the NPC point of view.
Screwball
*Growls and clicks while stalking targets…*
https://giphy.com/gifs/predator-mXvtq7Xz4Y9eU
StClair
*wumf*
Radiance
Keep expecting the last panel to be an animated gif with the blush stickers fading in and out.
Suet
Jennifer Lawrence Dot Gif? I’d prefer the Michael Scott Cringe Dot Gif kind of weird!
Bicycle Bill
You want weird? How about Ozzy Osbourne licking peanut butter off of Annette Funicello’s finger kind of weird?
Suet
That’s worth a Caddyshack Double Take Dot Gif.
Mra
Not nearly as weird as it is now.
Jabberwocky
Dubbing this guy Duke
Keulen
Is his last name Nukem?
Needfuldoer