28-03-19 Tried to avoid facing something

[Giz]

New strip! http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/trie ... something/

[Opus the Poet]

Yay, Peggy finally made up her mind. Now will Gary fall back into the buttmonkey role, or step up to the plate?

[OllieOrOlly]

Now a throwback I'm okay with. Typical Gary being oblivious to the feelings of those around him, when they regard him; in a way, I suppose a fitting method to close the arc with another old gimmick, except context here makes it work better.
I appreciate that Peggy isn't trying to dismiss her behaviour, but rather is sharing it along the way to expressing her true inner feelings; fear and denial had driven her actions in previous drunken, then spite-fuelled day(s), yet now she is finally at a point at which she is her usual Peggy self of being honest.
She is being direct, too, although not direct enough for the often thick-skilled Gary, nevertheless is being refreshingly honest for a character in this series.

The art is sublime. Get a palpable sense of Peggy's emotions and can see the emotional - for lack of a better word - journey that she took to arrive at this point. From the somewhat subtle need for reassurance in the hug in panel 2, to her contemplative expression on panel 3, and her loving gaze in panel 4 (as well as her seemingly affectionate amusement in the last bubble).

My troubles with this arc have been no secret, however, I really enjoy the beauty of the presumably end of it on display in today's update. I don't necessarily think "confirmed pairings" need to happen at all, but I'm more or less okay with the way this one has developed. (.... A brief flashback, I will never be okay with the Matt/Yuki thing and for more reasons than simple disdain for Matt, so bleh) I mean, we're nearing the endgame, so it seems unlikely that anything major is going to happen, at least in regards to current goal posts of relationships so near to the web comic's conclusion. Who knows, maybe later stories in another venue may develop or unravel (hopefully especially for some) the status quo being built up, but until then...

[lordoffiling]

As far as the Matt/Yuki thing...

I think I could have seen that pairing, if they’d spent more time setting it up and developing it and all.

When you’re crazy, you have two choices: Get a therapist to fix your crazy, or find someone who matches your crazy. Y’know, like you’re two jigsaw pieces, with weird curvy edges but when you put them together you can see the picture on top?

Matt and Yuki fit that bill nicely, I’m just a little sad their arc got left on the cutting room floor in the interest of getting this comic rushed into its coffin.

[worldshaking00]

While part of me would have preferred Gary actually having dinner ready and/or had stayed up late specifically to be there for Peggy, I think it is also fitting that Gary is acting relaxed and stereotypically male... sitting on the couch with remote in hand. Portraying the scene this way also makes Peggy's question more prompted from her recent denial as opposed to having any extra push. I also like Gary trying to offer some comfort or (cumfort even) on his own... his assumption being that she had a rough day and might appreciate the release/relaxation.

The Panel 4 gag had to creep in and mess up with their tender moment, but I'll be fine with it as long as our next strip has Gary realize that she wants to be with him. I wonder if we will get each of them being more articulate/less dodge-y in their confessions of love... followed of course with some rampant sex. And I also wonder if our chapter end will be themed similarly to this chapter's beginning or to the series's start.

Almost forgot to say it, but good on Peggy for breaking through her fear.

[Spidrift]

Ah, so Giz & Dave are going for the simple ending -- no shock revelations when Peggy walks in, just a rational conversation (and an old gag about Gary still being a bit Gary, because Gary). It's a bit anticlimactic, but I guess that it moves the comic towards the looming ending without too much mess. I mean, I know that this isn't the last strip, but if they stopped dead right here there wouldn't be anything major left hanging -- it'd just feel a bit feeble.

(So is this technically a "Last Girl Wins" plot, in them there anime terms?)

And yeah, the art is predictably great.

[Swiftwinged Doom]

I can't agree with the whole Matt/Yuki thing for 2 reasons: 1 being that it was entirely sloppy and rushed in its execution and left a lot of threads dangling. These were 2 characters with perhaps the least amount in common or even shared comic time and the whole thing came off as 'lets pair the inconvenient spares to create a happy ending'. Secondly, the whole relationship feels indicative of the squandered potential of Yuki and Gary's overall arc. If they weren't supposed to be a major thing, then the comic could easily have dropped the whole thing after the disaster of the date at Dillon's big play years ago and moved on to other things. Instead, what we actually got were years of an actual nice romance/will they won't they arc, wedged in between a lot of the comic' token humor. Yuki's problems were recognized as something actually traumatic and not treated as a plot contrivance for yuks and we also learned the Gary was interested in her on a deep enough level to try and work through her problems. Bigger points still in that sex issues aside, these 2 actually got along well and had character development that showed their relationship grow from antagonistic to genuinely affectionate. Yuki actually found Gary's super geeky hobbies and habits to be a turn on and they both had to approach the issue of sex as virgins (Gary in the literal sense, Yuki having previously been women only).

Their dysfunctions aside, they were still trying to make things work and only got torpedoed by the active malicious behavior of Sonya trying to break them up for kicks and even after, the comic kept implying that there was a lot of unresolved feelings and tension still not spoken. And then Peggy the 6th Ranger pops up and the whole thing gets flushed to make way for a speedy resolution because 'oops, ran out of time!' So we took the 2 characters that had a huge bulk of romantic interaction up to this point, split them and paired them off to out of the ball park choices. Peggy went from guest character to sudden Mother to Gary's Ted and Yuki got thrown to Matt because fuck it, gotta get this thing done. Nevermind that their pairing makes zero sense, it torpedoes Yuki's arc of trying to actively confront and deal with her problems and at the same time rewards Matt's shithole behavior and justifies his selfish nature as a partner, It's one of the biggest non-solutions and disappointments I've had to see unfold as a reader since the comic's early days. I get that there's a crunch on and stuff's gotta get done, but this was not the most ideal way to do it.

[DocMesa]

Sometimes the deepest secrets of the universe can only be divined by slapping a man across the ass.

[themacnut]

Regarding the Matt/Yuki thing; Yuki faces years of therapy before she could have sex with Gary without threatening to castrate him every time. This is not good for Gary, both due to the obvious danger to his genitals and also since he gets no thrill from that danger. Matt does, and so is perfect for Yuki, at least as she is now.

Yes, that means their relationship is likely on borrowed time until Yuki finally gets past her phobia of male genitals, but that is not, and shouldn't be, Gary's problem. Bottom line, Gary and Yuki each ended up with the best partners they could get considering their issues.

[brasca]

Well Gary didn't find someone else while Peggy was out so there's still hope for this relationship.

[Zellgato]

Either scene shift.
or somehow naked zii/dee dee will fall into the room while they cuddle talk~
wonder if this is effective end of their story line (well probably one more panel. Baring Gary saying no randomly)
---
matt/yuki.
That is another reason I don't really enjoy that pairing actually.
They're not shown, on panel, to ever just "enjoy each other" Its almost always a preamble to sex. Granted. Everyone is different and sex is important to diferent people differing amounts. So it could just be the basis for the relationship entirely... but so much of ...what.. everyone elses storylines in this comic? Is about trying to find more than just a sexual connection. Then we have matt and Yuki which feels like it is nothing but.
I can not think of any quiet "less than crazy" moments with them. it has been implied I guess, but never "felt" for me. Plus it just felt like she is more crazy, and less aware of the world/empathetic than before--and I just don't enjoy characters like that.
but that is more of a personal opinion on how I've read this up to now. It being a sexcomedy about trying to find something emotional/mental piece of mind/something stable in life. and everyone experiences stories differently~

[samtheman]

Looks like the creative team is playing it safe and we're getting an ending that won't upset too many readers. I'm predicting that Peggy tells Gary she does want to be with him but she still wants excitement and therefore invite other people into their bedroom for threesomes and even foursomes. Gary will hesitate at first because he wants monogamy and romance but then he'll remember his own words while talking to Zii that Peggy's happiness matters more to him so Gary will compromise on his end and accept Peggy's terms for the relationship.

I could still see the bookend be Gary and Peggy in bed talking about inviting a third person into their bed for a threesome and we get the third person's reaction in the last panel. I'm hoping it's Kiley. Then the comic "ends". I'm still getting this gut feeling that the creative team's next project that also takes place in the Ma3verse is the comic transitioning to a monthly paid (but still digital) format.

[Spidrift]

I never had strong feelings about the Matt/Yuki pairing. It’s obviously a convenience for the comic’s hurried ending, of course, but whatevs; the idea of two dangerous lunatics finding happiness in shared insanity has a certain perverse sweetness. Joker/Harley without the mass murder, one might say. (It wasn’t like DiDi/Zii, where a raging solipsistic sociopath with no capacity for sincere human feeling suddenly turned into a romantic lead, and we were required to believe that nonsense.) I could just live with it.

But now, I’m beginning to like it. The sheer frothing rage that it induces in segments of the fanbase, with ranting anger spilling into thread after thread even after they’ve wandered off-screen, is hilarious. Fanboy tears have the taste of dry vermouth.

Oh, and what's the betting that one day Matt gets to bang Yuki’s mom?

[Opus the Poet]

So, show of hands. Who thinks the comic after MA3 will be Matt/Yuki slapstick/sexytimes? Who thinks it will be Zii/Didi? Gary/Peggy in domestic bliss with "guest stars"?

My opinion is the Matt/Yuki comic has the most potential for comedy, the Gary/Peggy one the most potential for introducing new characters to the universe or bringing back characters from P&A or CCS but I don't see how that can work for Pixie Trix as a company.

[VoxPopuli]

So, show of hands. Who thinks the comic after MA3 will be Matt/Yuki slapstick/sexytimes? Who thinks it will be Zii/Didi? Gary/Peggy in domestic bliss with "guest stars"?

My opinion is the Matt/Yuki comic has the most potential for comedy, the Gary/Peggy one the most potential for introducing new characters to the universe or bringing back characters from P&A or CCS but I don't see how that can work for Pixie Trix as a company.

None of this. I think the next comic will focus on Sonya and her new spy boo doing all sorts of insane, dramatic things.