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lol

Aaron wasn't being mean. He was being insensitively honest.

Zadie is going to loathe Sharon as much as Aaron.

And all for completely pointless reasons, given that the focus of their rivalry will be Julian.

Anyhow, though -- is it me, or are the characters in this strip motivated entirely by uncontrollable reflex lusts for each other? I mean, sure, we had a lot of that in the previous comics, but those characters sometimes seemed to have some other interests than getting into each others' pants, and weren't always shown leering at their lust objects as soon as plot allowed -- and the "incompatible orientation" gag was only used as a major plot point three times that I recall (Zii/DiDi, Dillon/Gary, and Gary/Yuki), and didn't involve so much determined Not Listening.

I dunno. I'm sure that people will tell me that Ma3 was just as bad, but it really feels to me like this comic has fallen into a rut...

Which is the kind of unhappy negativity that made me resolve to quit posting so much to these boards. So I probably ought to naff off for a while. Happy New Year to everyone, in case I manage to keep that resolution.

Spidrift wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:25 am

And all for completely pointless reasons, given that the focus of their rivalry will be Julian.

Anyhow, though -- is it me, or are the characters in this strip motivated entirely by uncontrollable reflex lusts for each other? I mean, sure, we had a lot of that in the previous comics, but those characters sometimes seemed to have some other interests than getting into each others' pants, and weren't always shown leering at their lust objects as soon as plot allowed -- and the "incompatible orientation" gag was only used as a major plot point three times that I recall (Zii/DiDi, Dillon/Gary, and Gary/Yuki), and didn't involve so much determined Not Listening.

I dunno. I'm sure that people will tell me that Ma3 was just as bad, but it really feels to me like this comic has fallen into a rut...

Which is the kind of unhappy negativity that made me resolve to quit posting so much to these boards. So I probably ought to naff off for a while. Happy New Year to everyone, in case I manage to keep that resolution.

Sandra and DiDi. By the time it got to Zii and DiDi, I don't believe there was an incompatibility issue. Also, I think Gary and Yuki were less sexual orientation issue and more an issue with a mental hangup.

Sadly, looks like Sharon is a terrible person. I guess however, if they were great people, they wouldn't have room to improve.

So she's a serial bed-hopper, eh? Or at least seems all too happy to drop whatever guy she's with the moment something shinier comes along. Hmm...

Spidrift wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:25 am

And all for completely pointless reasons, given that the focus of their rivalry will be Julian.

Anyhow, though -- is it me, or are the characters in this strip motivated entirely by uncontrollable reflex lusts for each other? I mean, sure, we had a lot of that in the previous comics, but those characters sometimes seemed to have some other interests than getting into each others' pants, and weren't always shown leering at their lust objects as soon as plot allowed -- and the "incompatible orientation" gag was only used as a major plot point three times that I recall (Zii/DiDi, Dillon/Gary, and Gary/Yuki), and didn't involve so much determined Not Listening.

I dunno. I'm sure that people will tell me that Ma3 was just as bad, but it really feels to me like this comic has fallen into a rut...

Which is the kind of unhappy negativity that made me resolve to quit posting so much to these boards. So I probably ought to naff off for a while. Happy New Year to everyone, in case I manage to keep that resolution.

Well, what else is there to say? These comics are all written by the same person/people, and the more you see a person's work, the more patterns emerge.

Sadly, by what I can see, the creators have chosen to stagnate. The more these works have gone on, the more the focus on sex and arousal jokes has come to the surface. I wouldn't be surprised if we get another joke about dildos in a man's ass for no other reason than that ass comedy is apparently HILARIOUS to some people. And that's when they don't assume they have more time than they do to work on a comic, resulting in some books that are full of filler because major plot points are meant to be touched upon later, only for them to either not get properly serviced or get hurriedly, even arbitrarily, wrapped up a volume or two early.

Spidrift wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:25 am

Anyhow, though -- is it me, or are the characters in this strip motivated entirely by uncontrollable reflex lusts for each other? Happy New Year to everyone.

Well, we do have Jung and somebody else (?) who are demisexual and at least one ace but I'm thinking that one may also be demi and just hasn't met her mind-blower yet. And we have whole groups self-identified as being aroused by BL comics/video when such is outside their possibility of connection because their gender is wrong, (the Yaoi Club). Also we are still in the character development stage of this comic which forces plot development to be hurried and sketchy if we want a plot that moves faster than a pre-warming glacier.

Part of the problem is trying to move the plot along in a comic that only updates twice a week. That doesn't leave much time for developing characters, or even developing a deep plot. It takes a different kind of writer to move things along even though the characters have only evolved a little bit past the cutout stage. Think the weekly Sunday-only Prince Valiant that takes years to cover an arc that the daily could do in six months. And the fact that the Sunday comic and the daily are on separate story lines so that people who don't get the daily don't get confuzzled by missing huge chunks of plotting and character development.

Sharon May be proving her brother right, but unless she’s as dim witted as he I think she’ll figure out Julian is gay before too long.

...just in time for Aaron to realize that Julian is sweet for him. Oh the agony.

You know, we might not be giving Aaron enough credit...

Opus the Poet wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:13 pm

Well, we do have Jung and somebody else (?) who are demisexual and at least one ace but I'm thinking that one may also be demi and just hasn't met her mind-blower yet.

Who’s the ace? Andy might technically qualify, but he’s (a) male and (b) partnered up, so you don’t seem to be talking about him. He's probably more demisexual, anyway, if one must apply labels.

I’d be a little careful about assuming that someone like Jung is full-on demisexual. He might be; he clearly doesn’t have the raging hormones of most of the cast — but he mostly looks to me like someone who likes preserving a bit of dignity and self-control. He may fancy the hell out of any number of other passing women, but if he reckons that acting on it would just make him look like a twit and a jerk, he’d prefer to hold back. I still reckon it was the sight of Gary’s suddenly explosive romantic life made him realise that nerds can find love too, if they just let themselves take a risk.

I’ve also realised the other problem with this comic’s reliance on the old, old Mà3 “complete failure of communication” comedy; it’s making the comic amazingly un-sexy for a story full of half-naked hotties of both sexes. Much of the time, we can see that things aren’t going to happen because of incompatible orientation, and when we do get actual sexual relations, as in this strip, the characters just look cold and manipulative and solipsistic, because they don’t care for their partners. Funnily enough, the sexiest relationship in PTC is the one between the two least conventionally attractive characters — and that’s been pushed into the background because there aren’t many jokes in it.

It’s also a funny thing that, because the Mà3 universe comics are all about failed communication, we rarely see the most significant sort of communication that does drive many of these stories; the process of seduction. We don’t really know how Zii got Sonya into bed, for example. The seductions we do see just involve booze or raging hormones, which can look a bit sleazy. Hmm. Any bets that we’ll cut to Roxie and Zadie in bed together on Tuesday, with Zadie going “Wuh?”

Anyhow, I really should shut up now. I hope that everyone is enjoying any seasonal festivities they celebrate.

Sharon is beginning to shape up to be DiDi if she knew perfectly well that she was loving and leaving everyone she hopped into bed with.

brasca wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 27, 2019 5:20 pm

Sharon is beginning to shape up to be DiDi if she knew perfectly well that she was loving and leaving everyone she hopped into bed with.

I was thinking a version of Zii if she had a figure closer to DiDi.

I was thinking female Matt with an even wider selfish streak.

All of which may well be true, but everyone is extrapolating a lot from just one strip.

(Which would be chancy enough if these comics were especially consistent.)