SDB 18-12-18 Honest with friends

[LarsenSan]

In the wise words of Gandalf: "fly, you fool!"

[Milnoc]

I wonder how Dillon would react if he knew that Gary was being pegged by Peggy to the point she could probably fist him by now?

[Varanus]

Given his track record of quite casual cheating (that is boasting the belief he has caused a bunch of guys to break up with their girlfriends through behavior that certainly counts as cheating) and dating known largely unapologetic cheats (despite claiming to hate said cheating), I kind of find it hard to believe Dillon really "loves" any of the people he's been with or claims to love. Or at least he loves his own impulses more.

[JoybuzzerX]

This had me laughing.

[Spidrift]

Given his track record of quite casual cheating (that is boasting the belief he has caused a bunch of guys to break up with their girlfriends through behavior that certainly counts as cheating) and dating known largely unapologetic cheats (despite claiming to hate said cheating), I kind of find it hard to believe Dillon really "loves" any of the people he's been with or claims to love. Or at least he loves his own impulses more.

Dillon loves melodrama. He can never keep things simple.

Over-reading this a lot, you could say that he’s kind of sad; he seems genuinely to want affection and stability, but his melodrama addiction makes it almost impossible for him to sustain a vaguely stable, affectionate relationship. I guess that it’d be a sign that Gary has really mutated into an empathetic adult if he now says as much.

[Swiftwinged Doom]

On a tangent, I will never not be bummed that Yuki and Matt ended up together. State "symbiotic sexual dysfunctions" or whatever, it is sad that an emotionally vibrant if volitile Yuki ends up with the emotional black hole of the whorish, faithless Matt. Yuki has an artistic spirit, and Matt is a talentless piece of meat; there are less grounds for the pairing than Zii and DiDi, and their relationship is purely physical and mostly hollow.

I remember a comic from WAY back, where Zii was trying to re-direct Gary from Yuki, suggesting he try to either get with her mom or her brother. If I were a betting man, I'd say that during their trip to Japan, Matt ends up running into Yuki's mentioned, but unseen brother and tries to initiate something REALLY weird. Cue Yuki coming back from Japan by herself and refusing to talk about that incident. My guess is that we're going to have one final giant turn, where most of the current relationships come apart or change drastically and we end up with Gary and the girls coming full circle +2 with Yuki and Matt combusting and Sonia realizing the level of drama that comes from being with a secret agent who seems to always be under life threatening danger goes WAY beyond kink and more into, "I feel like I'm going to die of a heart attack every 5 minutes from all the stress"

[Fluffy]

I liked this strip. I feel it is nice Dillon finally put his cards on the table in front of Gary, with Gary not being able to file Dillon's antics under "just being Dillon." It shouldn't go anywhere, since Gary is comfortable where he is right now (presumably, since he isn't pining over Peggy leaving him for his revelation). Plus he knows what he is wanting and mk.2 Gary has learned how to express his feelings and to say 'no'.

Gary has matured - but Dillon hasn't. I don't see Dillon taking Gary's polite rejection very well, at all.

[Spidrift]

I remember a comic from WAY back, where Zii was trying to re-direct Gary from Yuki, suggesting he try to either get with her mom or her brother. If I were a betting man, I'd say that during their trip to Japan, Matt ends up running into Yuki's mentioned, but unseen brother and tries to initiate something REALLY weird. Cue Yuki coming back from Japan by herself and refusing to talk about that incident. My guess is that we're going to have one final giant turn, where most of the current relationships come apart or change drastically and we end up with Gary and the girls coming full circle +2 with Yuki and Matt combusting and Sonia realizing the level of drama that comes from being with a secret agent who seems to always be under life threatening danger goes WAY beyond kink and more into, "I feel like I'm going to die of a heart attack every 5 minutes from all the stress"

Anything is possible. But I would bet a moderate amount of money that we have neither the time nor the authorial inclination for all that to happen. The writers have put a certain amount of effort into creating a whole lot of closures; they’re not going to invert them all now. It’s just not how Ma3 works.

Nor do I expect Sonya to change her name.

[Ophelianime]

Well damn, I kinda didn't see that coming. Here's my two cents.
Dillion's fixation on Gary has always been obvious, but I always just assumed that it was just a massive crush on the one guy he was unable to seduce. That being said, I actually find it kind of believable that his feelings are real. The fact that Gary has always been so different from Dillion's other crushes is telling; it indicates that Dillion was attracted to him for deeper reasons. But it's kind of hard to draw any conclusions more concrete than that because to my knowledge, we don't have much backstory on them. We don't know how they met, how they became roommates, when the crush started, ect. Truthfully, I've always been curious about that.

[themacnut]

Even in the grossly unlikely event of Gary running out of the room in terror or punching Dillon in the mouth for all the past sexual assaults, it adds very little to anything.

Gary looks about ready to run in that last panel . Would serve Dillon right if he did, but I don't think he will, nor do I expect him to throw any punches. More likely, Gary will politely but firmly turn Dillon down, and like Fluffy said, Dillon will react badly, probably throwing a melodramatic fit. Which will probably end their friendship (but is it really a friendship when one "friend" has a massive crush on/feels strong lust for the other?).

[Spidrift]

Dillion's fixation on Gary has always been obvious, but I always just assumed that it was just a massive crush on the one guy he was unable to seduce. That being said, I actually find it kind of believable that his feelings are real.

"Feelings" and "reality" become slippery concepts when someone like Dillon is involved. How real are feelings anyway? They're states of mind -- and Dillon's mind is mostly a mass of melodrama...

We don't know how they met, how they became roommates, when the crush started, ect. Truthfully, I've always been curious about that.

While they (and Matt) were roommates before the comic started, Dillon seemed to be fixated on Matt at that point. They both treated Gary as a joke, recording his masturbatory orgasms for their own amusement. I got the impression that Dillon's thing for Gary really started around the time of the play; that was when we got the earliest strong hint that I can recall. But I may be wrong.

... (but is it really a friendship when one "friend" has a massive crush on/feels strong lust for the other?).

It can be, but the situation requires delicate handling, and isn't stable. And Dillon doesn't really do delicate. On his own, he might well fly this situation into the ground. But Gary might show the maturity to deal with the problem.

[worldshaking00]

Gary has matured - but Dillon hasn't. I don't see Dillon taking Gary's polite rejection very well, at all.

He might. Sometimes the truth hurts. I don't see Gary changing his sexual paradigm just for Dillon. I also don't see Dillon wanting to upset Gary either, any more than this revelation has done. If someone loves another, they want what is best for the other and for that other person to be happy. Ideally, that would mean that both people would be together in order for them to mutually make the other happy. It is definitely a mature mindset - one which I don't really know if DIllon has.

Dillon left the apartment to distance himself from Gary and give him room to be himself, exploring his sexuality (while at the same time, allowing DIllon to go back on the market too). I'm sure there was some repressed Matt resentment/rebound there too, on Dillon's part. Dillon is a romantic, remembering Ray fondly, but cares for Amber enough to not pursue Ray behind Amber's back. And he was able to restrain himself from getting intimate with the guy he babysat (Julian). It might be difficult at first, but Dillon can restrain himself from boinking a friend (or the partner of a friend) unlike Matt. If Gary were to throw himself onto Dillon, Dillon probably wouldn't be able to resist Gary. But as long as Gary is able to remain sensible and sensitive to Dillon's admission, I still see them being able to be friends. No benefits though.

[JoybuzzerX]

I guess that Giz reckons that Dillon doesn't get adequate closure, enough to justify stopping the comic with his name on it, until he gets this out in the open. It still rather reinforces the impression of Dillon as an idiot with no middle gears, though, and I can't see it generating much plot. I mean, what next? A strip or two of explanation, Gary presumably accepts the idea, everything carries on much as before? Where's the interest in that? Even in the grossly unlikely event of Gary running out of the room in terror or punching Dillon in the mouth for all the past sexual assaults, it adds very little to anything.

I guess we could now have Dillon running around, over-sharing everything with everyone, and ending the comic friendless and alone. But we won't.

We also see more of Gary mk.2, the empathetic and even wise mature adult. The trouble is, it looks like a total rewrite of the code, rather than a stable upgrade.

Well, do we know how long after the events with Peggy and Gary this meeting with Dillion is?

For us it's been awhile, but with this comic, time is wonky.

[worldshaking00]

Not too sure. Enough time has passed that the idea of Zii & Angel touring together has cemented, even if they still want to throttle the other. I'd bet a week or so, although a month wouldn't be too far-fetched. Although, I'd assume that the tour would be gearing to get on the road by then.

There's a lot of story still left to be wrapped up between Gary & Zii, Gary & Peggy, and Zii & Didi. At four panels an update and 2 updates a week... less with the holidays falling on Tuesdays this year... it is conceivable that late February would be just about enough time to complete the wrap-up. At least, in my mind. I mean, the creative team could just say "They lived happily ever after. The End." and they'd not be lying in that (most) everyone got to their happy place.

[OllieOrOlly]

I remember a comic from WAY back, where Zii was trying to re-direct Gary from Yuki, suggesting he try to either get with her mom or her brother. If I were a betting man, I'd say that during their trip to Japan, Matt ends up running into Yuki's mentioned, but unseen brother and tries to initiate something REALLY weird. Cue Yuki coming back from Japan by herself and refusing to talk about that incident. My guess is that we're going to have one final giant turn, where most of the current relationships come apart or change drastically and we end up with Gary and the girls coming full circle +2 with Yuki and Matt combusting and Sonia realizing the level of drama that comes from being with a secret agent who seems to always be under life threatening danger goes WAY beyond kink and more into, "I feel like I'm going to die of a heart attack every 5 minutes from all the stress"

Anything is possible. But I would bet a moderate amount of money that we have neither the time nor the authorial inclination for all that to happen. The writers have put a certain amount of effort into creating a whole lot of closures; they’re not going to invert them all now. It’s just not how Ma3 works.

Nor do I expect Sonya to change her name.

Oh, come on, don't be a jerk about a typo. ;)
Other than the misspelled name, I found they made agreeable hypotheses. Those outcomes are plausible, if some more unlikely than others, plus despite a lack of time left, it could be easily portrayed in something like an epilogue.
Hell, if I could pick one thing that would be ideal, it would the believable way to destroy the mistake of a relationship between Yuki and Matt.