18-02-17 This is getting unhealthy

[Giz]

New strip! http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/this ... _unhealthy

[Opus the Poet]

This is getting painful to read. Didi thinks that enjoying wrestling makes her somehow less desirable to Kiley, or that somehow she's "cheating" on Kiley by enjoying wrestling.

[worldshaking00]

Indeed.

It also seems to me that Kiley is using her psychology lessons/tests more like a weapon on Didi. Those don't look like sweat drops on Didi's face - that's tears folks. In this instance (enjoying wrestling, which has F all to with Didi/Kiley's 'relationship') Kiley feels the need to put Didi on the spot? Is she just trying to appease her own ego now by pointing out the insecurities/fallacies/weaknesses in another? She looks smug to me. Very petty, especially for a burgeoning psychotherapist.

I might not like their relationship for many reasons, but that is just cruel.

Also side note: no shoulder avatars, but Didi seemed to show a lot more restraint... at least until the very end.

[Spidrift]

It also seems to me that Kiley is using her psychology lessons/tests more like a weapon on Didi.

This is hardly the first time that Kiley has weaponised her skills. Just ask Sonya. She'd probably call it being cruel to be kind, at worst. And let's face it, she really needs and is desperate for a way out of the DiDi fiasco.

[lordoffiling]

Nah. It's what I've been saying. All night, DiDi has been making these grand claims about her love and devotion for Kiley, and how nothing compares to her, not even wrestling.

Those feelings are not real. It can be hard to realize that, but that was what Kiley was helping her to discover. By choosing to go watch the match, she's admitting that all those claims about her devotion to Kiley weren't true. That's what's happening in Panel three. You're seeing her on the tipping point, and in Panel four she comes down on the right side of the fence.

[brasca]

Indeed.

It also seems to me that Kiley is using her psychology lessons/tests more like a weapon on Didi. Those don't look like sweat drops on Didi's face - that's tears folks. In this instance (enjoying wrestling, which has F all to with Didi/Kiley's 'relationship') Kiley feels the need to put Didi on the spot? Is she just trying to appease her own ego now by pointing out the insecurities/fallacies/weaknesses in another? She looks smug to me. Very petty, especially for a burgeoning psychotherapist.

I might not like their relationship for many reasons, but that is just cruel.

Also side note: no shoulder avatars, but Didi seemed to show a lot more restraint... at least until the very end.

DiDi could tap out at any time and just admit that wrestling interests her. It's not like she has her chained in the basement forcing her to cut off her arm if she wants to watch the wrestling match. It's really no different if any significant other set up a similar choice except Kiley is a psychologist so she's better at it and why she is really there.

And I must say I like how the facial expressions have gotten more detailed. My compliments to Ms. Lagace.

[Falaris]

Cruel, seriously? Didi is lying - to others and herself - that she isn't really interested in wrestling, when she clearly is. Kiley is just calling her on it. Didi's thinking isn't that if she watches wrestling she doesn't love Kiley, at least according to the shoulder consciences it's because she doesn't want to admit to liking wrestling because it's unladylike - a reason that is silly, and I don't see a problem with Kiley calling her on it.

Now, wether there's a bit of 'I love wrestling more than Kiley' realization going on..You can be interested in something and still have a girlfriend, after all. However, more may have been put into the contest than really intended/is healthy. We'll see.

[Spidrift]

Note also that DiDi is ridiculously sentimental and cries at the drop of a cute kitten. Kiley doubtless understands that well enough not to worry here.

[samtheman]

So Didi caves but I highly doubt she will end her "relationship" with Kiley. Here's hoping we snap back to Gary and Zii on Tuesday. If not, then maybe snap to the Yuki/Matt trainwreck.

[Cortez]

Nah, i want to see how this particular bit ends. Also, what interrupted the match.

[Spidrift]

Actually, this looks like a plausible moment for a snap back to Zii and Gary. Though I'm sure that we'll get some kind of resolution for both scenes in due course. And we're not getting full details on the match, just sketched-in outlines as required.

(I imagine the lights going out is something to do with the Night Sisters.)

Incidentally, I'll guess now that the reason for this interweaving is that the two scenes will eventually intersect for a shared climax/punchline. Maybe Kiley saying something to DiDi about inappropriate relationships being doomed from the start, immediately followed by Zii and Gary crashing through the door in mid-mmf-mmf-mmf.

[worldshaking00]

I know Kiley has used her psychology lessons as weapons. And when it is deserved (e.g. Sonya), I don't think is unfair for her use it as such.

My issue with the Didi/Kiley 'sit down away from the wrestling match' is that it is not attacking the problem in their relationship head-on. Kiley's cowardice or self-indulgences into her own insecurity therapy are still in play. Kiley is grabbing onto Didi's new pastime and using that why? To see if Didi cares more for Kiley or wrestling. Is this a way for Kiley to potentially wiggle her way out from out of Didi's misplaced affection? Sure, I can see that happen. But why not just let her down by saying that enough is enough - and just like she did with Gary - break it off cold turkey for moral reasons as opposed to Didi's fondness for wrestling interfering with their faux relationship. Kiley doesn't have even a modicum of affection for Didi, compared to Gary making her feel special when she needed a quick shag. This should be very easy for Kiley to end their fake love affair. That is why I say Kiley is being cruel. But handling this delicately doesn't lend itself to comedy. Does dragging Didi through the wringer make for a longer & more interesting story for us? Yes. That doesn't make Kiley a saint here, to me.

And I agree: Didi does get very emotional at the drop of a hat. Her pulling at her hair and weeping are a bit much. And I also agree that (for the most part*) one can have a pastime & still have a significant other. Why Didi would think herself any less feminine (or that Kiley would think that Didi was less feminine) in a modern "girl-power" setting sits strange to me... especially with such fine female wrestling enthusiasts as Maura & Tess literally right there! Kiley should have been able to pick up on Didi's infatuation with her, combined with Didi's child-like wonderment of wrestling, and be more diplomatic & professional (see cold turkey above)... and even more polite around their house guests knowing that she was setting Didi up for a fall... potentially embarrassing her in front of them.

You don't have to be in wrestling to be a heel.

Edit: this strip's title is actually quite ironic. Only NOW is the relationship unhealthy? ROFLMAO

* YMMV. Consult a doctor before engaging in any new regimen. Not responsible for lost ghoulies.

[Spidrift]

I know Kiley has used her psychology lessons as weapons. And when it is deserved (e.g. Sonya), I don't think is unfair for her use it as such.

It's probably no more ethical, if you're going to worry about vaguely realistic ethics, though. Kiley really ought to only use her powers for good.

Fortunately, she does. Just with a bit of self-interest mixed in.

But why not just let her down by saying that enough is enough - and just like she did with Gary - break it off cold turkey for moral reasons as opposed to Didi's fondness for wrestling interfering with their faux relationship.

Because DiDi will not allow her to. DiDi has massive force of personality reinforced by massive delusions. Kiley needs to break those delusions to get out of this intolerable situation.

(Gary doesn't have any force of personality, so dumping him was easy.)

Why Didi would think herself any less feminine (or that Kiley would think that Didi was less feminine) in a modern "girl-power" setting sits strange to me...

DiDi is a delusional flake who thinks in old-fashioned cliches. There's a lot of that about in the Ma3 universe. Too much Archie comics influence permeating the structure of local spacetime.

[Osaru Sensei]

I'm hoping the "lights out" heralds the arrival of a third party in the wrestling ring...

[worldshaking00]

Because DiDi will not allow her to. DiDi has massive force of personality reinforced by massive delusions. Kiley needs to break those delusions to get out of this intolerable situation.

Kiley came over to Didi/Gary/Zii's apartment. She had all the power then.

Kiley: "Gee, Didi. Thanks for letting me squeeze between your cleavage. The therapy helped me overcome my own self-insecurity, a bit. I am glad I was able to help you reach orgasm, and hopefully I helped teach you how to achieve an emotional level capable of allowing you to reach said orgasm. I sense you are too emotionally attached to me, transferring misplaced love onto me. My bringing you to orgasm was therapy for you - not love. I am sorry for not stopping this sooner when you were thinking I was your lesbian girlfriend. I don't love you. I used you as a therapeutic aid. I am aspiring to become a psychologist; our relationship is unethical if I keep allowing your transference to continue, and for me to be selfishly thinking of my own insecurities by taking advantage of you. Please take this as my telling you that our therapy - and that is all it was - is now over." <Turn and walk away, maybe booking time at the ranch.>

Or barring something so verbose, the stereotypical "It's not you. It's me." As I said before though, these options and ones similar don't lend themselves to as much comedic mischief as we have been treated to.

I grant you, Didi is an amazon. Kiley might have a self-preservational reason to keep Didi happy. But we've seen nothing to indicate that she'd expect Didi to get violent. Kiley dug herself into this hole by looking at Didi just for her bosom {like just about everyone in Ma3 - don't feel too bad Kiley}, and it is her poor decisions that have placed her into the intolerable situation. Now if Kiley is able to take her newfound wrestling knowledge and blend it somehow into how their therapy-relationship actually is (and how Kley is not her lover but her therapist) then I guess it I can forgive her actions, mostly. I still wouldn't have done this with an audience in the house - very poor manners & potential distractions to the actual healing process (e.g. peer pressure in the form of Maura/Tess & embarrassment to name a few).