When I was a teenager, I spent a week as a counselor-in-training at a summer camp. One particular kid was a real brat, and frequently refused to go where he was supposed to go or do what he was supposed to do. At one point, we were in the lake, and swim time was over, and he refused to leave. This was not merely a disagreement about scheduling or missing dinner - the lifeguard was actually no longer there, I simply couldn't let any children stay in the water. I tried to reason with him, I yelled, I pleaded, I threatened, and eventually I had to grab him by the upper arm and physically drag him away from the sand and back up to where the cabins were.

And all of a sudden, the kid got super serious and said "I don't appreciate when people touch me like that."

Now, in retrospect, sure, I know he was full of shit. But at the time, that accusation cut me to the core. That kid had managed to pronounce the word "touch" so that it sounded like "abuse" or "rape" or "kidnap". I believe that was my last year at that summer camp. I never went back.

Reframing something as a matter of violation and nonconsent has a way of sucking all the air out of the room - and definitely all of the fun. People with differing ideas about what does and does not require explicit consent are always going to make each other uncomfortable. I've dealt with people who felt I violated their autonomy or dignity or personal space for things like swearing in their presence or looking at them weird. Generally, I find the safest response to that sort of prospective victim is to simply avoid them altogether - ideally, for the rest of your life.

That being said, once someone has deployed the C-word, that's the nuclear option. Regardless of how irrational or unreasonable you may feel they are, as soon as there's a disagreement about consent, you should always defer. The person dropping the C-bomb is the one in the right. It's just the safest course of action.

Most people I've talked to think that Max was clearly and obviously in the wrong in regards to taking that picture. The thing is Max doesn't think she was in the wrong. Max was happy and she was having fun. Max was celebrating, and, in panels 1 and 2 here, she is teasing her friend. As soon as the C-word context is added, Max defers, because she fundamentally respects Jamie and Ellen.

Interacting with human beings who are different from yourself is like that.

As a side note, you will notice how Max's phone-dodge powers work on Ellen the same way they did with officer O'Reilly - Ellen reaches for and looks at where Max was. You will note, as well, how Jamie looks at where Max is. His Dexterity score is higher than hers. He was, however, instructed to sit there and look pretty - hence the Charisma check instead of the opposed Dex check. Regardless of which of your stats is higher, that is also usually the correct course of action.