12-03-19 Not tied at the hip

[VoxPopuli]

I really wish this Peggy storyline would end soon. She doesn't want to be with Gary because she needs her sexual freedom, we get it. Let's move on.

That's actually not how I read it. I think Peggy is more afraid that she would actually like a relationship, even though she wanted nothing but sexual freedom before that. You think you're not built for commitment and then suddenly you get a situation that might actually be attractive enough to give it a shot. That can come across as shocking to a person and it takes time to process that. I think Gary would be fine with them bringing somebody else into their bedroom now and then.

[Mutant for Hire]

My take on this is that Peggy has a very certain self-image of herself (sexual adventurer) and she's got this conscious disdain for being settled down and monogamous. And now she finds herself sliding into what she's always looked down on. To me, she's rattled by the fact that part of her wants to settle down with Gary but she can't accept that. If she wasn't tempted, she wouldn't be having issues here.

[worldshaking00]

I really miss how animated Yuki is portrayed. Her body language is always so energetic or expressive and she is 'drawn' with her emotions on her sleeves, as it were... much more than the rest of the cast. Years ago, I thought her and Gary had a good chance at happiness. But alas, that pairing wasn't in the stars. I especially love how she welcomes Peggy into the home and how she is pouting a bit in the third panel. Classic Yuki.

My previous suggestion for Gary waiting up for Peggy might need some revision. Unless Peggy picked Jane & Vince up for happy hour and she slammed her shots in rapid succession, it is reasonable to assume that it is pretty late at night now. I don't know if it matters; sex is the Ma3 universe waits for no one. But 'dinner' does tend to revolve around the earlier evening. Fanwank aside, I guess.

Yuki & Gary talked about Gary enjoying getting pegged, particularly by Peggy. Yuki was initially a little confused and revolted that Gary would find pleasure from it, but relented and came to acceptance that it brought the two of them pleasure sexually. She might not have the same 'kink' reaction to pegging as Peggy did initially/does now, but Yuki has her own therapy to flavor her strap-on usage. As an aside too, her getting an eyefull of Matt's junk in the previous strip at least shows that she trusts Matt's penis enough to not enter a tentacle rage. Progress.

The real danger I see from Peggy having her apparent-to-everyone relationship rubbed into her nose is that she will really turn sour on it, doing something to end it rash or impulsively... like punctuating ending their relationship with an upturned cranially-placed serving of pasta. It has happened in her past when she felt pressured. And without her being able to release steam via her desire for a threesome, she is apt to blow up or break down.

Matt is Gary's most recent and (arguably) most helpful sexuality instructor and Yuki was Gary's first true attempt at a girlfriend. Both of them want Gary to be happy, or at least shouldn't have a reason to sabotage him. Going to Matt's place is like going to a perverted Tibetan guru - go there expecting to be shocked and awed by the revelations. Depending on how long the creative team was planning on dragging out Peggy's dilemma, she might get some actual insight from Matt & Yuki... maybe enough to realize that he is a good fit and that her fear of losing her sexual freedom are misguided if she only were to explain to Gary what she fears. Yuki especially should be able to calm Peggy down and explain to Peggy how patient & caring Gary can be. He was in constant threat of getting his junk stomped or ripped off when the two of them initiated her sexual healing lessons. She used him for his SGR, sometimes to her chagrin. He has the depth of character to listen and respect her and help her work through anything.

I guess it really depends to Peggy now. Is she acting out trying to find sex wherever just to spite her relationship with Gary? Does she really find it super kinky to sleep with (veritable) strangers? Realistically, that is like playing Russian roulette... but that is injecting realism into this universe. Or, does she just think that she is losing the ability to be kinky? Maybe Matt can explain to her that couples can be kinky too.

Or maybe Gary is giving Kiley a phone call right about now...

[Spidrift]

My take on this is that Peggy has a very certain self-image of herself (sexual adventurer) and she's got this conscious disdain for being settled down and monogamous. And now she finds herself sliding into what she's always looked down on. To me, she's rattled by the fact that part of her wants to settle down with Gary but she can't accept that. If she wasn't tempted, she wouldn't be having issues here.

Agreed. Gary has politely and clearly said that he’s chill about keeping things casual, if that’s what Peggy wants, and there’s nothing to stop her from taking him up on that. The problem and the story and the joke is that she’s being horribly tempted to violate her moral principles and indulge in depraved degenerate ... domestic monogamy.

[cheshire86]

This feels like the kind of event that leads to a break-up... real-world, Gary's most likely on the road to a convo with Peggy that includes phrases like "you're a great guy," and "I'm sure you'll make someone really happy," and last, but not least, "it's not you, it's me."

Then again, it's a comic, so things will probably work out swell.

[Error of Logic]

Too bad, Peggy, but you are not the comic's original "harem" mc...

[jish55]

Out of EVERY girl in this, I always preferred Tracy, and was sad when that didn't work out (as her and Gary worked so well together). With Peggy, I was digging the dynamic, felt it was a good shift, and would have been a decent way to finish this, but with how she's been acting lately, I just don't see it. Honestly, I feel bad that Gary is going through all this, to where, after EVERYTHING he's been through, is still having relationship hardships.

[Error of Logic]

Apart from the stupid cunnilingus orgy, I actually thought Amber LaRose was a decent fit for Gary. She was in the market for a steady boyfriend, she and Gary enjoyed what they could do for each other… Shame it didn't work out.

[Spidrift]

Sure, any girl who Gary ends up with at this point is going to look rather arbitrary. We’ve not seen any sort of great romance developing over hundreds of strips; we just have a long list of quite nice but flawed women (and one or two raging bad ideas, like Senna), any one of whom could provide him with a vaguely plausibly pleasant end state.

But this is only an issue because the writers decided that Gary should say that he wanted something serious, which was itself a bit arbitrary. The real point is that he doesn’t actually have a huge problem. He’s turned into a decent catch — a likeable guy with no crazy hang-ups — who could end the comic alone but with every prospect of finding that great romance from offstage, next week or next month. So it doesn’t much matter who he ends up with; “nobody” would actually be dramatically effective and not tragic, and might be the best narrative answer. Even the current plot is mostly just giving Peggy’s story one last ironic twist.

[Swiftwinged Doom]

I think Yuki still has a fair bit of feelings still unresolved for Gary. The response to Peggy's jibe feels like it traces back to when she caught them going at it after Sonya initiated their final hate-fuck and I think it not unreasonable to posit she's irked at Peggy for stealing Gary's attention and affection away. Of course the comic could say that this is all malarky and that Matt is now Yuki's dream man, but things just don't feel like they're adding up quite right.

As we travel on this strange and twisting road that Peggy seems to be on currently, it would make more sense to me from a character perspective that Matt actually works best as her ideal partner. He's adventurous, extremely non-committal and totally into ass-play. Bring Kily back into the mix and she could have a whole thesis built around the bizarre state of modern relationships in Montreal. As much as Gary seems to be seeking someone who's interested in a serious thing, it's actually funny to me that he and Yuki keep missing each other, as she wants to find a good man and Gary seems really interested in finding a girl that's into something bigger than just messing around. While Gary's arc has mostly been about developing himself socially into a more desirable person that can have genuine interactions and confidence with the opposite sex, Yuki's own path has been about confronting her fear of confiding in men, dealing with her admittedly messed up sexual compass and overcoming her nastier (ie violent) aspects because she found a man who she was genuinely into and who clicked with her at a level beyond just wanting to screw the hot Asian/Tentacle King's daughter.

Depending on what goes down, I could actually see the ideal situation being something akin to: Gary and Didi wind up moving out of the apartment at the end of the story to go on the road with the band. Gary Yuki and Zii and Didi forming a love square of sorts, with Zii as the common factor between the other 3. Gary could be their advertising designer and album cover artist, and gain the more exciting life he longed for at the start of the story, in addition to the 2 girls he's had the biggest thing for since the series began, not to mention a way to display his art to potentially millions of people. Zii and Yuki reconcile and the band goes back on track to become a smash and Didi receives the emotional and physical satisfaction that her previous relationships lacked.

Granted, this isn't super likely, but it's not entirely implausible given the track for weird and unexpected twists the comic has displayed thus far.

[rogermart]

Well, Giz put on Twitter that Ma3 has roughly a month, so I guess there's 7 or 8 strips left.

[Spidrift]

If that's correct, I can't see that there's much scope for more than "Peggy gets her shit together, tells Gary that they should go for it, a few cute wrap strips, the end". Or, just possibly, "Peggy thinks long and hard, tells Gary that they need to give each other some space and decide what they both want, a few cute wrap strips, the end". But I guess it's possible to cram a lot into eight strips if one really tries. I'd like to think we'll get a little more complexity, and maybe endings for a couple more minor characters; the whole Gary/Zii UST really needs some more work, too. But the Pixietrix crew do have previous convictions for rushed endings, and have also been known to deliver pleasant surprises. So we'll have to wait and see.

[samtheman]

Well, Giz put on Twitter that Ma3 has roughly a month, so I guess there's 7 or 8 strips left.

Where did you see Giz put this on Twitter? I don't see it on the Pixie Trix Comix Twitter feed.

Edit: if that is indeed true, we are so going to get a And The Adventure Continues/No Romantic Resolution ending.

[Error of Logic]

The way Peggy's been acting, I would have been surprised if she and Gary got into a serious relationship anyway. *shrug*

[samtheman]

The creative team is planning to return to Ma3 at a later date after the current volume wraps up so they have to keep Gary's side of the story open in some way. Gary has his career as an artist locked down but not his love life so that's where things are probably going to remain open. Think of it like the Cartwright Curse but instead of the love interests dying they simply drop Gary for whatever reason and move on with their lives. It's also a way they can make Gary the butt of a joke one more time.