19-09-17 Mrow

[Giz]

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

[Passing Through]

I'd have been more surprised if she hadn't quit. Sonya just doesn't count as a person to Zii and Didi does she?

[Spidrift]

Poor Gary. Still, price you pay for making interesting friends. Also, poor Lita. Still, price you pay for cultivating multiple emotionally susceptible feeders.

So Zii is starting to learn the price she has to pay - angry friends and threatened dreams. I suspect that her first response to both will be "Aww, they don't really mean it" -- if she can fool herself long enough to finish the sentence. But it's not going to work this time. And -- just two strips to the end of volume. I suspect we're about to see the band emotional politics getting complicated, with Izz being the character carried over to #1350.

Also, I'm kind of sorry that Sonya didn't go for the cold fury approach, but that would probably have been too much to ask of her under the circumstances, and she does anger so well. Plus, is Gary actually dumb enough to follow her instructions exactly? Almost certainly not, but I'd love to see him try.

I'd have been more surprised if she hadn't quit. Sonya just doesn't count as a person to Zii and Didi does she?

Back in her earlier days, when Sonya was the board's favourite hate object, I had a lot of sympathy for her, and a big sense that her problem was that she wasn't really accepted as part of Zii's in-group of cool friends. As an outsider, she never received the in-group's full sympathy. Then, when she was recruited to the band, that problem faded. However, she never made a friend of DiDi (too much mutual rivalry), and Zii kept a certain distance out of fear of her clinginess. Now, though, she has a real friend in Peggy, she's also built a deeply weird but functional friendship with Yuki, and she even has a working thing with Gary. Zii can't get away with treating her as an outsider any more.

[uzivatel]

Cats are well known to land on their feet when falling from even small heights. Does it work when thrown horizontally, though? Google does not provide fast answer...

[Milnoc]

Not the kind of "pussy" Gary wanted in the morning!

[OllieOrOlly]

Go, Peggy, give those narcissists a reality check! Hopefully, she won't let them off. Also, what an utter slime Zii is: when Peggy stated that she should at least be considerate of Sonya's feelings, the bitch passively dismissed the issue and pulled a BS "woe is me" line - f**k your feelings, Zii; she only has feelings when it is congruent to her lust. She has to be facing a reckoning soon. Might sound overly aggressive, yet I'm just that tired of her egocentric, self-serving crap again and again.
Presumably, Peggy would get around to Zii and DiDi's "feelings," but first is attempting to stand up for - in proxy - her friend, Sonya (as dysfunctional and often one-sided against Peggy it may be), and trying to get Zii to finally face a problem she made, rather than fleeing again; perhaps she is underestimating how much of a weasel Zii is, however, part of me thinks that Peggy has kind of figured her out enough to have solid judgment.

Poor Lita, again! Lesser extent Gary's face, but eh, more worried about the forsaken feline. At least she is home again, albeit as a projectile.

Wonder if Sonya is really quitting or is simply bluffing in another attempt to elicit some kind of humanity out of Zii? I'm a bit fuzzy about the details, but it I recall the band being formed because Sonya and Yuki had been unwilling and/or unable to move on from Zii, so just seized an opportunity to be near her - *luckily* they happened become a really talented band.
I kind of hope Sonya does *break free* of her obsession, although that might mean she returns to being an antagonist, rather than a supporting character and occasional frienemy.

I guess it has often been said, "Gary is Gary," but he seriously doesn't have anything else to say about DiDi and Zii hooking up, and Zii's obnoxiously nonchalant return to the apartment? Suppose he realises Peggy is dealing with it, and went to answer the door either to leave her to it... or maybe hope it would be someone who would defuse the *scawy situwation*. Regardless, here's hoping Peggy can keep up the confrontation.

[vampire hunter D]

Is Lita declawed? Or is Gary suffering severe lacerations and blood loss right now?

Good thing a nurse is on hand

[Spidrift]

Presumably, Peggy would get around to Zii and DiDi's "feelings," but first is attempting to stand up for - in proxy - her friend, Sonya (as dysfunctional and often one-sided against Peggy it may be) ...

That friendship isn't as warped as all that (and is actually one of the more appealing and interesting relationships in the comic, in my opinion). Yes, Sonya imposes on Peggy sometimes, throws weird drama queen antics, and keeps her awake in assorted ways - but that seems almost to be why Peggy likes her. Remember, Peggy once told Sonya that excitement finds her - and I took that as almost envious. Peggy needs the sex and drama and insanity as stress relief from her job; Sonya brings it, in spades.

I'm veering dangerously towards headcanon fanfic here, but I think that Peggy understands that Sonya is at heart a decent, very creative person with a lot of potential. Watching that develop , and helping a little along the way, would be reward enough for a good person like Peggy. They look like chalk and cheese, but actually they're yin and yang.

Now, you could say that Peggy's worst decision in the comic was encouraging and enabling Sonya's obsession with Zii. Once Zii made it clear that the feeling wasn't returned, a really good friend would have helped Sonya make a clean break; it would have hurt less sooner rather than later, But, well, that wouldn't have got Peggy the good night's sleep she needs so badly. And supporting Sonya is the price Peggy pays for all this live-action drama.

Wonder if Sonya is really quitting or is simply bluffing in another attempt to elicit some kind of humanity out of Zii?

I doubt that Sonya has a clear end-game in mind; like any good drama queen, she's an improviser. But the drama has to be real, and the rage certainly is -- and she surely knows at heart that a threat has no power if you aren't willing to carry it through. So, for now, she's really quitting.

(And by the way, I'll provisionally withdraw my comment that Izz isn't a good enough guitarist yet to take Zii's place in the Troublemakers, or some new band that Sonya might assemble. I mean, I'm sure she isn't -- but I could see Sonya at least trying to recruit her anyway. Later, well, when things shake out, they'd have to find a way to sideline Izz again and bring Zii back.)

(Now, if this comic re-merged with SDB, we could have Sonya allying with Angel, while Ruby backs up Peggy's lines to Zii. But that would probably be too messy.)

I kind of hope Sonya does *break free* of her obsession, although that might mean she returns to being an antagonist, rather than a supporting character and occasional frienemy.

Sonya was never really an antagonist, though she was trouble at times. And she needs to shake her obsession with Zii; it was never reciprocated, and it was pretty clearly just down to (a) good sex and (b) Zii becoming the symbol of the more exciting life to which she'd introduced Sonya. But if and when they can then restore some kind of friendship, the Troublemakers can reform; they do seem to be good at what they do.

I guess it has often been said, "Gary is Gary," but he seriously doesn't have anything else to say about DiDi and Zii hooking up, and Zii's obnoxiously nonchalant return to the apartment? Suppose he realises Peggy is dealing with it, and went to answer the door either to leave her to it... or maybe hope it would be someone who would defuse the *scawy situwation*. Regardless, here's hoping Peggy can keep up the confrontation.

It would be too much to hope that Gary would actually swing in as hard as Peggy; he's just not that assertive. Which in itself isn't a terrible thing; not everyone can be as forceful as her, and she is doing an adequate job here. What I wouldn't mind seeing, as I've said before, is Zii and DiDi appealing to him for support, and him then nervously agreeing with Peggy; it'd be nice to see his enfeebled moral sense twitch again, and if Gary is willing to say that you're in the wrong...

And I doubt that Peggy will let Zii off in the near future, though this may interrupt the current thread of the argument. Peggy is Sonya's friend, and will continue to argue her part. ("She... she's quitting the band? She can't!" "She can. And what did you expect?")

Is Lita declawed? Or is Gary suffering severe lacerations and blood loss right now?

After a brief impact like that, Gary is unlikely to have suffered worse than superficial scratches (hopefully not to the eyes). Odds are, Lita bounced off, landed on her feet, and wandered off in a huff.

Aaaannd... my Media Player queues up Garbage's "Why Do You Love Me?" followed by the Pretenders' "Hold a Candle to This"...

[SailorDh]

Zii looks like she's about to scream "GET OUT!" at Peggy.
If she does that will Gary actually grow a set and remind her who the main renter really is?
Zii started off as a freeloader, Peggy at least has no problem making payments.

Seriously want to go thru that fourth wall and slap the taste outta Zii's mouth.

[Artemisia]

Do not throw cats. Even if you're upset with someone. Do not throw cats!

[Opus the Poet]

Poor Lita, tossed around like a plushy instead of treated like a living thing. And Gary gets the worst of it even though all he did was answer the door.

[samtheman]

Poor Lita. And with Sonya quitting the band it looks like Izz will now be learning how to play bass. I'm now predicting the bookend being Izz trying to play bass but being horrible at that too which annoys either Zii or Yuki.

[Spidrift]

Given Zii's general air of befuddlement and current tendency to distraction, and the difficulty of teaching someone who's unreliable on one instrument how to play a different instrument from scratch, I somehow find it easier to imagine that Sonya will recruit Izz to a rival band - or perhaps more likely, that Yuki will follow Sonya, and they'll take Izz with them. Which doesn't make much sense, though, because Izz idolises Zii. But then again, Izz has that scary-stalker wish to become Zii...

I dunno. Image hazy, please try again later. I reckon we'll see Izz kissing someone somewhere in two strips' time, though.

[Cortez]

Poor Lita, she didn't deserve that.

[brnleague99]

Sonya. Throwing the pussy in Zii's face...yet again.