17-03-18 Let go a little

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Giz
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17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by Giz »


OllieOrOlly
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by OllieOrOlly »

The third panel, while being more honest than she usually is, still seems like some routine Zii deflection tactics - perhaps she does feel like she cannot discuss her sudden low libido, since her relationship with DiDi is based and dependent upon it, however, she deflects the deeper truth because she didn't admit that she and DiDi don't talk about *anything* really, other than some superficial day-to-day updates one could find on a personal calendar.

Back stepping a bit: it seems as though Zii denying making a pass at Gary or Peggy was a tad unnecessary. It makes sense because she panicked at the prospect of actually confronting her further personal issues, although Gary's initial reaction didn't indicate that he thought she was making a pass at all, but rather he was genuinely surprised that Zii would be jealous of him.

Finally, I suppose a Beavis & Butthead laugh at the crude subject can work well from time to time. Heh

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lordoffiling
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by lordoffiling »

If I'm going to read too deeply into all this--and I must, otherwise what is the point in posting on a forum about a webcomic?--I don't think they're laughing at the crude subject in the final panel.

I think this is more of a "shared laugh of realization". I think it just hit the both of them how much things have changed since they met.

Gary, the hopeless virgin, is having all the hot sex he can handle, doing things he never thought he'd do. Zii, the casual sex queen, is in a steady relationship, and having problems with her libido--and confiding in Gary of all people, who just a few months ago would have fallen into a bloody-nose coma at the very *idea* of Zii and Didi canoodling.

We shall see how close I am on Tuesday.
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worldshaking00
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by worldshaking00 »

Gary did not poke or prod into why Zii mentioned not having a low sex drive, which would have been easy to exclaim "WTF? You?" or something like that. That would have put Zii on the defense. Instead he countered by bringing up his own issues, which expertly deflected having Zii feel even more shitty about her problem. It helped to bring them together, which if I must say, was rather smooth and empathetic of Gary. Good boy.

It also illustrates that, in a serious relationship, you have to be vulnerable. That's something Zii doesn't do well and probably one of the biggest reasons she hasn't done monogamy well. And that if your partner is to respect you in return, they have to be considerate of your needs too. Peggy does seem to give Gary a fair amount of... consideration... but leans heavily into pegging him (no puns intended). He is OK with it, but it isn't his favorite form of sex. We really don't know how much of Gary's sexual desires are being met by Peggy, so I'll just leave that alone. Didi and Zii don't communicate, and Didi really only wants Zii for sex; that's the obvious issue.

As brought up in a previous strip, Gary is acting much more mature. That's something that shows he's grown up a bit. He's got more to do, but great development.
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Spidrift
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by Spidrift »

Whatever they're actually supposed to be laughing at, though, this strip reads to me like a couple of characters laughing at the writers' joke. Which is a really bad sign in a comedy, and a rookie error that this comic has always avoided. So I'm kind of unhappy with this strip.

(Presumably, Gary had to unclench - let go - a bit to release that plug, which I assumed was what they were laughing about. Yeah, hilarious.)

Aside from which, the strip just leaves me bemused at shifts in the English language. Gary and Peggy are having sex regularly, live in the same house, and hold rational conversations about subjects of mutual interest. That is a relationship, if only in a mathematical sense. I mean, sure, it's a casual, aromantic, pragmatic relationship, but damnit, they relate to each other. It feels like these days people have a strange terror of the R-word -- they'll happily agree that they're fucking like bunnies, but heavens forbid that they have a re... re... rel... Nope, can't say it.

Like I said, I'm old. Which is probably why I find this weird.
worldshaking00 wrote:
Sat Mar 17, 2018 10:56 am
It also illustrates that, in a serious relationship, you have to be vulnerable. That's something Zii doesn't do well and probably one of the biggest reasons she hasn't done monogamy well.
Insert my fanwank theory here that Zii had her heart broken when she was young, and has been running scared of commitment ever since.
worldshaking00 wrote:
Sat Mar 17, 2018 10:56 am
As brought up in a previous strip, Gary is acting much more mature. That's something that shows he's grown up a bit. He's got more to do, but great development.
It's certainly a development. My only issue with it is that it seems a bit sudden... Geeks like Gary can sometimes learn to be tactful -- quite suddenly, even. (Hell, I went through that stage a bit myself, decades ago.) But learning empathy is usually a long, hard road. Gary seems to have managed it in one bound.
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LarsenSan
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by LarsenSan »

Image

mulrich88
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by mulrich88 »

I still ship Gary and Zii.

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DarkAsh
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by DarkAsh »

This is the first Zii's told Gary that her sex drive has waned, right? I find it uncharacteristic of her to be sharing that with everyone who's not Didi. It makes sense she told Izz, because she would have been unrelenting about how it is best for the band otherwise. This just sounded weird like it was already common knowledge. Maybe David didn't want to have to rehash it again for brevity's sake.

Also, I totally didn't get the joke in the fourth panel at first. It was a little funny.

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brasca
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by brasca »

I think it’s a sitcom trope where people laugh exaggeratedly and then there’s a freeze frame. Of course this being a webcomic everything is a freeze frame.

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TheFoolishOne
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by TheFoolishOne »

and remember, Gary has been doing the butt stuff so he could get onto Zii's radar

leann123
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by leann123 »

They (Gary and Zii) still have the best chemistry of anyone in this whole comic.

gormadoc
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by gormadoc »

How is having hot nurses doing things to his butt "not Gary"? It's been happening for eight years!

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Spidrift
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by Spidrift »

DarkAsh wrote:
Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:08 pm
This is the first Zii's told Gary that her sex drive has waned, right? I find it uncharacteristic of her to be sharing that with everyone who's not Didi.
Zii has always been quite open and upfront — not a great person for secrets. Okay, this one is highly embarrassing for her, but on the one side, it’s apparently getting her down to the point where she doesn’t give a damn any more, and on the other, this is Gary — with whom she is now friends, in a way that’s quite a bit of character development in itself.
This just sounded weird like it was already common knowledge. Maybe David didn't want to have to rehash it again for brevity's sake.
Pretty much, I reckon. This is a four panel comic with at least one gag per strip. Repeating boring bits of a plot exposition is an unacceptable waste of time and space.
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-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
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lordoffiling
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by lordoffiling »

gormadoc wrote:
Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:03 pm
How is having hot nurses doing things to his butt "not Gary"? It's been happening for eight years!
Oh snap!
"Rather than simply enjoying these comics, we log in to these forums to argue about them. [...] We are some strange people, and I guess we have nothing better to do." - lordoffiling

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Vitocap
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Re: 17-03-18 Let go a little

Post by Vitocap »

Ouch.

You might remember that, when talking about last strip, I examined the good and not so good points of the many women around Gary. As it came to Peggy, I said:

"Peggy is adorable, sweet, pretty, easy to get along with, kind to everyone, courageous, with a good head on her shoulders... she's everything a man could ask for."

As it happens, in this strip, Gary too has an opportunity to extol Peggy's qualities. So what is it that he has to say?

"Hot nurse."

Ow ow ow. Ouchies.

This does not bode well for the future of the ship. :(
We, the old ghosts of Pizen Bluff, who still roam about this dead forum screaming imprecations at the characters and whatnot.

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