12-06-15 Good memories

[JoybuzzerX]

Gary is a ****ing irrelevance to this comic, which was explicitly created so the writer could get away from him. If you want to complain about your role model's self-hosing tendencies, you'd do better to take it to discussions of the comic where he's actually a title character.

Really? Did the writer say they wanted to get away from Gary? If that's all they wanted, they could have easily written Gary out of the M3 comic, as it doesn't have his name attached to the title.

Also, a little testy for a comment, when the comics are a shared world and thus such comments are going to be made. It's not even like SotR where it takes place in not only a different city but a different country, but takes place in the same city.

Now, I didn't think Gary got screwed over, my thought was, if Gary learned this from kissing Dillion, and now Gary did, why didn't Matt.

[Spidrift]

Really? Did the writer say they wanted to get away from Gary?

Basically, yes. Or rather, they wanted to get Dillon away from Gary and the interminable questions about when Gary would get laid again.

If that's all they wanted, they could have easily written Gary out of the M3 comic, as it doesn't have his name attached to the title.

Gary is an integral part of the concept of Ma3; writing him out of that would be a bit extreme. And more to the point, he does have his own following, and the Pixietrix crew aren't stupid; getting shot of him from there would endanger the Ma3 market too much.

But Sticky Dilly Buns exists in part to be an Ma3 universe comic in which Gary is not central, even if he does wander in and out once in a while for passing effect.

Also, a little testy for a comment, when the comics are a shared world and thus such comments are going to be made.

A little testy? Maybe. But there are four characters in this particular strip, all of them worth some kind of comment. Ignoring them to talk about a character who isn't there, and who doesn't feature much in this comic, seems downright weird; complaining that said character is hard-done-by because his long queue of potential girlfriends has been shortened by one seems downright ... unimpressive.

(Those four? Ruby has learned a bit but suffered some moral slippage; Dillon is preserving his honourable attempt not to resent Amber getting Ray, although he did rather use Ray; Ray is doing okay for himself, but either not noticing or not complaining about the way he's been treated as a bit of a sex toy by the other three; and Amber seems to have all the luck in this comic, but may yet have problems with her lack of experience in normal relationships. Like I said, plenty to talk about in this cast.)

Now, I didn't think Gary got screwed over, my thought was, if Gary learned this from kissing Dillion, and now Gary did, why didn't Matt.

Note that Dillon made conscious, overt attempts to teach both Gary and Ray. If Matt experienced the swirly kiss - and I imagine he did - then it was strictly as a recipient. He'd presumably have had to ask "How did you do that?" - and given his appalling sexual vanity, I can't see him admitting that he could learn anything from anybody.

There, simples. Now, Ruby, Dillon, Amber, or Ray?

[wiseguy]

looks like we got a 3rd SGR person(technically and possibly 4 as Ruby videotaped the session and as far as we know Amber was just beneficiary but never was instructed on the how) But we do not know how they measure

right now I see it as possibly(using Dillon the creator as the standard 100) as Dill 100, Ray 98? 105? (Amber is not saying if Ray is better than Gary and/or Dillon) and Gary as 125

[brasca]

We get it, you love Ruby and hate Gary.

Actually, I kind of love what Ma3 is doing with Gary just now. But we know that this comic was created largely so that Giz could get away from Gary and his obsessive fandom, so it strikes me as kind of insulting to try and turn this strip into a story about Gary.

Obsessive fandom? From what I gathered from this message board Gary's appeal seems to be mixed. I identify with him to a point, but typically defend him as well as any other character when the criticism is unfair.

I started reading this comic a few weeks back and it's alright so far but I do like Ruby though she's funny and cute. Dillon and Amber get on my nerves sometimes but oh well.

For an upright, moralistic character, Ruby has stolen this comic like a professional thief.

I immediately started reading because I have a thing for the librarian look, but I like Ruby because even though she is upright and moralistic she is not irritatingly judgmental. Amber is the exception, but since she is her sister it is a different matter. She may not have the highest opinion of the things other people do, but she keeps it to herself and only advises when asked.

[Spidrift]

I wouldn't have said that Gary had many fanboys myself, but the fact that one of the reasons this comic was created was to tell stories that didn't have to come back to Gary says to me that there's a perceived issue - perceived where it matters most.

And Ruby is a complex character by the standards of these comics (which are, admittedly, four-panel sex comedy strips with a punchline guaranteed at least 80% of the time). She's got some serious flaws, especially regarding her badly fossicked-up relationship with her sister, but I really do want to see where she's going. She's likeable for the way she changes, rather than starting out all sweet and cuddly. Plus, she does remind me of a couple of people who I know (possibly including myself, sometimes).

[Cortez]

I wonder if there be a tipping point between Ruby and Amber.

And Spidrift has a point, this comic isn't about Gary, so Ray learning the swirly doesn't really affect Gary.

[Artemisia]

I suspect it's a tipping point between Ruby and Dillon.

[Cortez]

Really? Because for the most part Ruby and Dillon get along great.

[Spidrift]

I wonder if there be a tipping point between Ruby and Amber.

Presumably you mean a point where their relationship tips over to a new and better state.

(Has to be better, really, because it can't feasibly get much worse.)

The problem at the moment is that they're just not communicating, at all. Ruby is too stubborn to try and work with Amber, and Amber is too ... not exactly dumb, but incapable of understanding Ruby's mindset, to get through from her side. And there's nothing driving them together. If they were just a little closer, I'd expect Amber to start playing big sister a bit better, advising Ruby on stuff, so that they bonded that way - but that doesn't seem to be on the cards either.

The scene I keep expecting is for one of Amber's films to be released, the press to start yelling "Ex-Porn Star Goes Legit!", and Amber to suddenly desperately need assistance dealing with their parents. But I've been guessing that for so long that I'm now sure that it'll never happen.

[Cortez]

Change for the better, yes. Though i assume whatever causes it might not be easy for either of them.

[Milkmaid79]

Gary is a ****ing irrelevance to this comic, which was explicitly created so the writer could get away from him. If you want to complain about your role model's self-hosing tendencies, you'd do better to take it to discussions of the comic where he's actually a title character.

Then why did they keep bringing him up (and the rest of the Menage cast) in "this comic" in a way similar to how television pathetically attempts to boost rating by stunt casting celebrities in guest roles? Perhaps because whiny Dillon and hypocritical Ruby simply aren't interesting enough? Oh wait, the sexless wonder has discovered the fine art of taking pictures of unsuspecting people so they can be used as sexual aids for a couple of voyeurs! That'll make things exciting!

For an upright, moralistic character, Ruby has stolen this comic like a professional thief.

What "upright, moralistic character"? All I've seen is a self-righteous prude who is shedding her chrysalis and becoming a pervert with a willingness to violate someone's privacy for a cheap thrill.

I wonder if there be a tipping point between Ruby and Amber.
And Spidrift has a point, this comic isn't about Gary, so Ray learning the swirly doesn't really affect Gary.

Right, because it's not like the Amber/Gary/Dillon plotline ever came up or anything.

Maybe they should stop 'stunt casting' with Menage then, actually see if these three are actually interesting enough to hold the comic on their own.

I immediately started reading because I have a thing for the librarian look, but I like Ruby because even though she is upright and moralistic she is not irritatingly judgmental. Amber is the exception, but since she is her sister it is a different matter. She may not have the highest opinion of the things other people do, but she keeps it to herself and only advises when asked.

How is it different? It's okay to slut-shame Amber since she's family who 'forced' Ruby to keep a secret that warped that poor little girl who was apparently already a social outcast into becoming a self-righteous prude? I love that the conflict had to be written as "you made me keep a secret from our parents" because a strictly "you ruined my life with the career you chose as an adult" would likely ring hollow to most of the readers.

A little testy? Maybe. But there are four characters in this particular strip, all of them worth some kind of comment. Ignoring them to talk about a character who isn't there, and who doesn't feature much in this comic, seems downright weird; complaining that said character is hard-done-by because his long queue of potential girlfriends has been shortened by one seems downright ... unimpressive.

What list? His entire existence has been about getting screwed over.
Yuki, Kiley, Amber- those are the only three I could even fathom being placed into the girlfriend category.

But enough about Gary, back to Hidden Cam Violations!

Ye Gods, QUINTUPLE POST! The DAMNed

[Spidrift]

Change for the better, yes. Though i assume whatever causes it might not be easy for either of them.

Well, plots tend to be driven by comedy stress in these comics, so there'll probably be a certain amount of hysteria in anything that happens. And given that these two are currently running on fairly minimal communication, it'll probably take something moderately traumatic to drive one of them to ask the other for help, yes.

What that might be, remains to be seen. I'm a little surprised that Dillon isn't trying to play peacemaker between them - it'd fit his Magic Gay Friend self-image - but I guess that would require asking each of them what the problem is, which would mean sitting down and talking to someone, which we all know characters in these comics Do Not Do.

Then why did they keep bringing him up (and the rest of the Menage cast) in "this comic" in a way similar to how television pathetically attempts to boost rating by stunt casting celebrities in guest roles? Perhaps because whiny Dillon and hypocritical Ruby simply aren't interesting enough?

Gary appeared in a couple of strips during the crossover sequence, and the top of his head may have been visible in a follow-up strip - I forget. If you're coming here for the Gary guest appearances, you're probably doomed to tragic disappointment. And if you find the title character and the chief scene-stealer boring, I'm not sure why you come here at all.

What list? His entire existence has been about getting screwed over.

No, it just hasn't... Ah, the heck with it. *plonk*.

[Zippy]

I agree with (b) - it'd be odd. But on the other hand, a lot depends on the perceived and proven market for the spin-off comics. It's just possible that it'd be easier to sell a combined volume now than two separate volumes a long way down the line.

And I do hope that we won't have to wait for Ma3 volume 8 to get print volume 2s for SDB and SotR. They should hit that point fairly early next year, whereas Ma3 won't reach another volume break for some months after that... Sigh. On consideration, I guess it's pretty well inevitable. A separate Kickstarter process just for those two books would be too much to hope for (and too much like work for me to wish it on Pixietrix).

Oh well, let's wait and see. The horse might learn to sing.

SotR #150 was Aug 1, 2014
SotR #225 was Jun 12, 2015

At the current average of 1⅔ strips a week, SotR will take about 90 weeks to do 150 strips. Meaning it would finish around mid-late April 2016 (SDB is - obviously - similar, having reached #150 and #225 at around the same time).

Meanwhile, on the Ma3 side:
Ma3 #900 was Jun 17, 2014
Ma3 #1034 was Jun 11, 2015

At the current average of 2⅚ strips a week, Ma3 will reach #1050 on the 23rd of July 2015, and #1200 around mid-late September 2016. Yeah, that's four months after the end point of the spin-off vol. 2s - more if they get closer to two strips a week! - but considerably more efficient than Kickstartering them eight months in advance!

(For completeness, if Chloe keeps up the two strips a week the substitute artist has managed - and presuming a 200-strip vol. 1 - it would finish a 150-strip vol. 2 on Aug 14, 2016 and a 200-strip vol 2 on Jan 5, 2017. Obviously, any skips for Xmas/cons/etc would affect that.)

[Spidrift]

Yeah, I think you're right. We'll likely get a Kickstarter for Ma3 volume 8 and SDB and SotR volumes 2 next year.

[christopheftw]

Oh well, let's wait and see. The horse might learn to sing.

Mote in God's Eye reference? Marry me, str8 boy!