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15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:08 am
by Giz

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:31 am
by OllieOrOlly
Basically a complete role reversal? Gary is the sex champ, while Zii gets a "meh" for effort; even though it was never meant to be a contest, it seems as though Zii's self-assured nature never contemplated that Gary would be *better* at something in which she took such strong pride.
The contest is purely from Zii's imagination because of her shaken ego, so it seems unlikely that Gary would laud a *victory* he doesn't even think he has achieved... I'm not sure where my point was going... Never mind.
Final panel seems to signify the return of Zii's ugly wounded ego, which may undermine her epiphany that if she wants a successful music career, she has to actually put effort in; but whether a superficial sexual partner is more important than her dream job is yet to be seen, regardless of that sexual partner being her "dream girl."

I quite like the contrast between Peggy and DiDi's farewells to their respective lovers - Peggy has an affectionate, almost loving, gaze as she kisses Gary's cheek; while DiDi is looking straight down (true, Zii is a lot shorter, but DiDi is looking even lower than eye level, which emphasises how she cannot hide her disappointment over the loss of 100% f**k-rate).
Peggy and Gary seem happily non-committed but supportive, whereas the physically-dependent pairing of Zii and DiDi cracks almost instantly from the slightest failure to maintain a ridiculously high libido.
Granted, Peggy is a vastly nicer person than DiDi, and wouldn't say anything to hurt or undermine confidence, so whether Gary is actually as proficient as her lover as she claims isn't certain, although, I'm inclined to believe that it is a satisfying arrangement for both, especially since it seems to have a lot of her preferred kink involved.
Also, the "I guess?" remark from DiDi does fit her trait of being honest to a fault (well, her deluded version of truth, anyway).

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:47 am
by Fluffy
Didi - you insensitive b*tch. Four days without orgasm, and you're already making your lover feel like a failure. Good job!

That farce of a relationship can't end soon enough.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:34 am
by lordoffiling
To be fair, it was a little more than not giving her an orgasm. Zii literally fell asleep mid-act. Like, with her face between Didi’s legs.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:44 am
by Fluffy
Sorry - still doesn't justify putting Zii on the spot in front of their roommate like that.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:00 am
by ven
Well, if we want to see this as a competition, in terms of Didi Zii did win. Gary, swirly and all, didn't get anywhere with Didi, while Zii had that done without any effort it seems (yeah comedy and stuff, but that really was odd).

Zii lost in almost every other way, because she is an aweful selfcentered person. I don't know if this comic will reach a satisfying conclusion (no pun intended), but at this point Zii has exactly the relationship she wanted, and it doesn't seem she is happy about it. She sacrificed quite a lot for it too, Eric, Sonja, Yuki, her band was just taking off, all just for Didi. I think it wasn't worth it, but since emotional matter are not that easy to evaluate, I might be wrong.

Also, since I think Didi is just an imbecile, so I don't really hold her action against her, she doesn't know any better. Zii on the other hand...

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:04 am
by suranae
I'm fairly certain that both Zii & Did have put Gary in awkward spots before.

Didi may be acting like a brat but Zii kinda deserves part of this. Suzi has had a too charmed life on panel so this along with the Troublemakers' collapse is kinda payback for the shitty stuff done in the past.

Another part of this "problem" is literally the fact the writing staff will not kill a joke for the sake of a couple pages of open dialogue that would allow characters to vent or explain their problems.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:00 pm
by Spidrift
One thing to note; Gary picking up a social amber flag -- that "I guess". Okay, he's never been deaf, and he might have commented on it by accident at any time, but given that he looks genuinely curious about the matter, I think we can take it as a small symbol of him becoming a proper social being these days.

Even if he does still eat "fruity pebbles" as a breakfast cereal, the nerd. By the way, can anyone ID his T-shirt design? It looks almost gynecological.

Anyhow, I wouldn't interpret Zii's irritation in panel 4 as being especially due to competitiveness, though seeing Gary getting a better review than herself certainly won't be helping. She doesn't need to draw comparisons to remember that (a) sex was always one thing she was supposed to be good at, and (b) the relationship with DiDi was supposed to be her supreme achievement. Now, the sex isn't that great and -- despite the heart in DiDi's last speech bubble -- the relationship isn't being all that and a bag of chips. Even without Gary for the comparison, she'd be heading somewhere fairly dark at this point.

The art runs though a few expressions this time, and is generally pretty good, though the stylised "angry Zii" expression has never worked for me. And Gary seems to be losing his slump, which is another apt symbol but a bit of sad loss, if you ask me.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:10 pm
by rogermart
OllieOrOlly wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 9:31 am
Granted, Peggy is a vastly nicer person than DiDi, and wouldn't say anything to hurt or undermine confidence, so whether Gary is actually as proficient as her lover as she claims isn't certain, although, I'm inclined to believe that it is a satisfying arrangement for both, especially since it seems to have a lot of her preferred kink involved.
Peggy is nice, but she is not gonna tell a big lie just for niceness. If she wasn't satisfied she would've said a normal bye, like "I'm late for work, see you later". No need for a lie...Besides, she let Gary sleep in her bed, and when he apologized for that she said "don't be, the sex was good", like saying "i don't mind you in my bed, you earned it".

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:12 pm
by LegendaryKroc
What was that you guys were saying about Peggy's speech bubbles to Gary not having hearts in them?

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:55 pm
by worldshaking00
Spidrift wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:00 pm
By the way, can anyone ID his T-shirt design?
I think it is UFO Robot Grandizer (or Grendizer... spelling differs), one of the early mecha anime.
Image

I hope that Gary and her have a talk. The scene opens rough for Zii but as @Spidriftpointed out, Gary is aware that something is amiss. Politeness demands he at least ask if she is OK. Zii might snap back at him, which wouldn't be out of character; or, she might open up if the delivery is well received.

Here's hoping Gary can be smooth.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:04 pm
by rogermart
For direct comparison:

Image

Image

Definitely Grendizer. That brought back memories...

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:34 pm
by lordoffiling
Fluffy wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:44 am
Sorry - still doesn't justify putting Zii on the spot in front of their roommate like that.
Definitely not, you’re absolutely right. All I’m saying is there’s a little more going on than “boo hoo I didn’t get an orgasm.”

Zii didn’t just underperform, she dismissed Didi completely. You don’t generally see that in a brand new relationship.

Having said that, might sleep be Zii’s defense mechanism? Like, now any time she’s called upon to perform sexually she’ll feel the urge to go to sleep? This is the second time we’ve seen that reaction.

I really feel like we’re leaning into a possible future Kiley arc.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:57 pm
by DarkAsh
LegendaryKroc wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:12 pm
What was that you guys were saying about Peggy's speech bubbles to Gary not having hearts in them?
I think the heart in this case is to emphasize that Peggy is thinking about the sex fondly.

Re: 15-03-18 Thanks for last evening

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 3:17 pm
by Spidrift
LegendaryKroc wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:12 pm
What was that you guys were saying about Peggy's speech bubbles to Gary not having hearts in them?
Mmm. Evidently some affection there. I’d certainly take that as implying that the sex really was damn good, minimum.

Though I think that those hearts sometimes just mean that the speech was accompanied by a kiss. “See you later” <peck on cheek>. Detailed semantic analysis of the use of heart icons in speech bubbles across twelve hundred strips of Ma3 is a postgrad supervisee project for the summer vac.
worldshaking00 wrote:
Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:55 pm
I think it is UFO Robot Grandizer (or Grendizer... spelling differs), one of the early mecha anime.
Thanks; looks like a positive ID. Does anything in that anime relate to the current plot, or is it just that Gary is one humongous sex machine of a man these days?
Here's hoping Gary can be smooth.
I guess it’s a sign of something that someone can type that line these days without automatically looking painfully sarcastic...