07-03-19 I want to fool around

[samtheman]

I just don't get why people are butthurt over this update. If anything, it's just return to form for Ma3 as a raunchy and crass sex comedy with someone being the butt of the joke. I'm now thinking that's how the comic is going to wrap up and the "curve ball" was a lie or an exaggeration. Anyone hoping for a sweeping story of intrigue and suspense complete with a thought-provoking ending are deluding themselves myself included.

[Continuity]

(someone has to say it)

This will not END well.

[Lokitsu]

Peggy is heading towards DiDi and Matt levels of shittiness. Yes, she's not in a relationship with Gary but her actions have gone from an impulsive one night stand to actively looking for anyone other than Gary to have sex with. I know most of the cast have done far worse, but from the normally level-headed Peggy, this feels wrong. It'd be much classier if she just went back to Gary and said that she needed space and to cut off their FwB for the time being.
I dunno, this strip just left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Edit: my first line was undeservedly nasty, so I've removed it. Sorry, it's been a rough week for me IRL.

I don’t understand how this is shitty behavior for Peggy. She’s not in a relationship and she’s not promised to monogamy. She doesn’t owe Gary a conversation, especially if she doesn’t know where she stands. There is literally nothing wrong with what she’s doing. She’s trying to figure out if this, this being sexual freedom and threesomes, is what she wants. The only way to figure it out is to do it. She may come up against a revelation that she wants more, that she wants Gary more than these kinds of experiences, or she may learn that she’s not willing to give up her sexual freedom just yet, not even for Gary. And while I hope she chooses Gary, either choice isn’t wrong. She has no commitment to anyone but herself. And there’s nothing wrong with her actively looking for someone other than Gary to have sex with. The whole reason she’s doing that is to see if she enjoys sex without Gary more than she enjoys it with Gary. How can she do that with Gary involved? She can’t. And since she has no commitment to him, there’s no problem with her looking for sex with other people. No issue if it’s with friends or strangers.

And it doesn’t make her any less classy, especially if she’s not sure if she wants to end her friends with benefits relationship with Gary just yet. Let’s also remember that she doesn’t stop Gary from sleeping with anyone else either, so she’s not being selfish in her sexual freedom choices. Gary can go have a threesome too, if he wanted.

The first word in FwB is Friends. Peggy IS in a relationship with Gary, it's called a friendship. She doesn't owe him anything, true. But if she chooses not to show him respect then it won't be a friendship (or anything else) for very much longer.
Here's a question for you: was the foursome that Matt set up with Kiley a shitty thing to do or not? Why? Matt lied to her, sure, but he didn't owe Kiley anything. They weren't dating, she was his therapist. Kiley felt betrayed for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that they WERE romantically involved, but neither wanted to admit it. The consequence was that Kiley never talked to Matt again and he felt horrible. Guess what would have avoided the whole painful mess? Honest communication and respect for each other. Matt isn't an asshole because he cheats. Cheating is a symptom. Matt's an asshole because he has no respect for anyone- in your words: he doesn't owe them anything.
One more thing, Peggy doesn't know who the 'other person' is, but if she gets to Matt's, sees Yuki and goes ahead anways, then she is a DiDi level of asshole; because there is no way that she doesn't know that Gary and Yuki used to date. If a friend asks you if you'd like to become a couple and your response is the sleep with their ex, then maybe a simple "No thank you" would be kinder.

[worldshaking00]

Well put @Lositsu. It is indeed "Friends With Benefits". I don't mind her sleeping around. I do mind her not talking to Gary about his statement. It is the typical issue with Ma3 characters - no communication.

[samtheman]

(someone has to say it)

This will not END well.

Maybe the new strap-on that Peggy bought is a Japanese import and it looks like a tentacle so when Yuki sees that...

[sparky]

(someone has to say it)

This will not END well.

Maybe the new strap-on that Peggy bought is a Japanese import and it looks like a tentacle so when Yuki sees that...

That would be *so* cruel. And funny. And cruel.

[Spidrift]

I did wonder if Yuki will manage one last berserk fugue, at Peggy’s expense. But I think that it’s more likely that Peggy is going to be exposed to another happy (if in this case deranged) couple, to rub it in for her that she’s out of sync with the mood of the comic.

[Zellgato]

Random question.
How is this adventure of her's any different than when she met up with her Uni friend, with the intention on both sides to bangarang?
Because we're seeing it from her perspective not Gary's side?
or is it because she hasn't responded to what Gary said yet? Because this is kinda all about trying to figure out what all of that means to her.

I don't see this, currently, being any sort of corruption of their friendship yet. if she just up and disappeared or never addressed it yeah it would be. But currently this is functionally no different than two friends arguing over what brand of car is the best. and then one of them test driving both brands later.
or arguing over what Thai resturant is best. and then one going by themselves without telling the other one they're going to try it.

---------
On a personal level. I still prefer the "single Gary, focusing on being happy and enjoying his job/ or brand new webcomic based on all these shanangans he starts(cause meta jokes)" idea line.
(and I persanally am sad over where Yuki's character went in the end)

[UnsightlyWalrus]

I don’t understand how this is shitty behavior for Peggy. She’s not in a relationship and she’s not promised to monogamy. She doesn’t owe Gary a conversation, especially if she doesn’t know where she stands.

My perspective on this is that she's not shitty for seeking other partners in an open relationship. She's shitty because she seeks other partners because she wants to destroy the relationship with Gary. Right now, right this moment, she seeks other partners in order to actively stop herself from having feelings for Gary. Gary, who has expressed his interest in her.

She's not only trying to deny HERSELF her own developing feelings for Gary, she also trying to deny a wholesome relationship TO Gary. This a bizarre case of self-destructive behaviour that also intends to take another to the metaphorical "grave".

Basically, she wants to end her relationship with Gary in the most roundabout way possible instead of being honest about it.

[Milnoc]

What if Peggy plunges her strap-on into Matt only to discover he isn't anywhere near as "deep" as Gary has become?

Maybe the new strap-on that Peggy bought is a Japanese import and it looks like a tentacle so when Yuki sees that...

Bad Dragon does make a tentacle model called the "Tako" (Japanese for "Octopus")!

[JoybuzzerX]

I don’t understand how this is shitty behavior for Peggy. She’s not in a relationship and she’s not promised to monogamy. She doesn’t owe Gary a conversation, especially if she doesn’t know where she stands.

My perspective on this is that she's not shitty for seeking other partners in an open relationship. She's shitty because she seeks other partners because she wants to destroy the relationship with Gary. Right now, right this moment, she seeks other partners in order to actively stop herself from having feelings for Gary. Gary, who has expressed his interest in her.

She's not only trying to deny HERSELF her own developing feelings for Gary, she also trying to deny a wholesome relationship TO Gary. This a bizarre case of self-destructive behaviour that also intends to take another to the metaphorical "grave".

Basically, she wants to end her relationship with Gary in the most roundabout way possible instead of being honest about it.

Right now, isn't it less that she's trying to end her relationship with Gary and more, trying to avoid being in one?

Right now they're just friends and roommates who have sex. Gary wants a relationship. Peggy is afraid of a relationship.

Though, part of the fear seems to be due to her last relationship being such a bad one for her.

[Spidrift]

Again I ask: What is the evidence that her last relationship was "such a bad one"?

[EvilSnack]

I just don't get why people are butthurt over this update.

I fully understand why Matt is getting butthurt over this update.

[worldshaking00]

Again I ask: What is the evidence that her last relationship was "such a bad one"?

I agree with you in principle. I didn't see her ex as that bad of a guy. But there is apparently something deeply rooted in Peggy's psyche that has her believe that their relationship was 'bad'. The medical argument that she gave about oral sex being healthy, and apparently getting oral sex, are important to her. Orgasms in general too, but then this is Ma3 and such things are to be expected.

I noted that her latest freak out concerned curtains, sex-night schedules, and babies. We can assume that some mundane household minutiae got out of control between her and her ex. Or perhaps petty home details frustrate her considering her busy/tiring line of work. She apparently likes spontaneity and sex-on-demand, otherwise that wouldn't have been brought up. We can infer that her ex and her led relatively busy professional lives and he suggested personal time for them be planned, in order to maximize opportunity for some sort of sex life. Lastly, having a family is a major undertaking. Peggy is waxing romantic about her college 'free spirited and experimental' days. Hence the writer's introduction of Bianca and Peggy's reference to college way back when she was trying to bring Didi to orgasm via scissoring and other lesbian 'tricks' picked up when she was younger. She's not ready for commitment, or perhaps is not ready to think she is ready for settling down. And a baby will certainly ground most people.

Logically she knows Gary is a stable guy who enjoys most of what turns her on. To be honest, I can't think of anything she enjoys that Gary wouldn't like to participate in, with the one exception of gay interaction, which in-and-of-itself doesn't seem to turn her on as much (if at all) as it does Zii or Ruby. The idea of a threesome completely turned her on, and a foursome also made her giddy. Sexual experimentation, pegging in particular, was fresh and new. Look how well she took to that kink! She also knows he is sensitive and caring and would never hurt her... the 'beautiful thing' reference she debated over. Her ex probably also thought he was being compassionate and thoughtful, with the exception of not going down on her for unsanitary reasons.

I think it is all in her head, her 'trauma'. Why hasn't she explained to Gary what she would consider cementing a relationship with him meant and what it would entail? She knows intimately what he likes/wants. Other than FWB, she hasn't opened up to him. Whatever the feminine equivalent of 'sowing your wild oats' might be the life-phase Peggy is currently in. Relationships are two way. She isn't high maintenance, but perhaps there are some things that are total deal-breakers. Compromise.

[samtheman]

I say let some other woman swoop in and hook up with Gary while Peggy is having her commitment issues. That way Peggy is forced to make a choice instead of simply avoiding the commitment issue by hooking up with whoever is available. Or at the very least Peggy should have a talk with Gary instead of leaving him in the dark about her commitment issues. But with Ma3 returning to form near the end proper communication between Gary and Peggy about their relationship is unlikely at this point.