2019-07-01 The End

Discuss SOTR here!

Moderators: Dave Zero1, Giz, Eisu

Post Reply
User avatar
brasca
Posts: 3848
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:04 am

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by brasca »

Thank you Eisu for saying what I really wish I could. I had hoped to read a similar post from Dave or Jason once Dangerously Chloe ended, but alas no words of rebuke aimed at the haters.

I really did enjoy these stories, but I'm finding the message board increasingly tedious. It's still not enough to deliver an epic exit speech since I'm still following Pixie Trix Comix.

User avatar
Valkog
Posts: 207
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2017 3:19 am
Contact:

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by Valkog »

The haters are in your head. They always have been.
**== **== **== **==

User avatar
Alex_84
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:03 am

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by Alex_84 »

LarsenSan wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:30 pm
I'm sorry, but if you consider this "consistent quality" then your standards must be very, very low.
Do you have empathy?

Itrogash
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:37 am

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by Itrogash »

Cortez wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:06 pm
LarsenSan wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:30 pm


But making Sandra become Cammi's girlfriend has been the most blatant pandering of girl-on-girl fans. A character that was emphasized she was straight, not being able to make out with another woman while being drunk. But no, let's throw that out of the window just to have a girl kissing in the last panel.
Except even before this Sandra admitted that she found Cammi attractive, even when sober. In the end that scene with DiDi just means she wasn't into DiDi and vice versa.
Yeah. I don't think you can judge somebody's sexuality based one one failed encounter. The point that was made in the comic itself.
Not to mention that somebody saying they are straight was never a 100% sure indication of somebody's sexuality in the real world, and even less in Ma3verse. Just ask Sonia.

I can agree that this arc could use more work. This subplot of Sandra overcoming her denial and eschewing the need for alcohol to do anything was something I hoped for since her first appearance in Ma3, so the fact it was cut short and we never got to see how she actually got over her issues fills me with regret and longing for more. But saying that this whole ending came out of nowhere is a huge reach for me.

Also, this bonus comic everybody is talking about is available for like $1 on Gumroad. I recommend giving it a go, it really fills some gaps.

User avatar
True_Avery
Posts: 428
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:26 pm
Location: Los Angeles, California

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by True_Avery »

brasca wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:42 pm
Thank you Eisu for saying what I really wish I could. I had hoped to read a similar post from Dave or Jason once Dangerously Chloe ended, but alas no words of rebuke aimed at the haters.

I really did enjoy these stories, but I'm finding the message board increasingly tedious. It's still not enough to deliver an epic exit speech since I'm still following Pixie Trix Comix.
Allow me to try:

I'll be honest, fast or not, if a girl who has been shown to be at the very least questionably sexually fluid really bothers you that she ended up with a girl then I really don't think Pixie Trix comics was ever for you. I've seen this complaint leveled at a great deal of the Pixie Trix stuff and I think some of you needed to realize a decade ago that if you were looking for typical straight guy meets straight girl romance stories that this was absolutely not your comic series. As a lesbian I personally find it rather frustrating that these arcs are just seen as male-pandering when historically this forum and the pixie trix line has had a lot of queer fans. I understand this forum has really distilled over the last decade, but if a gay ending is at all shocking and offensive to you then you probably have a much better line of webcomics to follow that is out there ready for you. Trust me, straight romance comics are out there for you to enjoy.

Does it take away that this felt a little rushed? No, I agree, but this has been set up and a quick reread of the series will tell you this has been flagged on the sails for literally years. I am sad a lot of characters ended up being forgotten, but the series also hit a deadline and the mainline MA3 series has ended. To assume this was malicious and not a matter of circumstance is taking this perhaps more seriously than necessary.

Between MA3 and SotR, I am frankly shocked that a webcomic series started by a woman is ending with accusations of pandering to male fans with gay romances and kisses after all these years. The fanservice is annoying? MA3 had near full nudity for 7 years, and SotRs pushed it pretty far with the creative censoring - but a kiss on the last page is too far when we've literally had oral sex on the page. The pandering and fanservice is a feature. The romance with Cammi may had came to a result suddenly, but this is not a brand new thing that appeared out of nowhere from a previous straight girl - she has been all over for a long time. I kinda agree settlings on "labels dont matter" is vague, but this is not new and its frankly a weirder interpretation to say that drunk Sandra is a completely different person; thats not how any of this works.

I'm not down to say this was perfect, but christ I cannot believe Pixie Trix users are beating down a consistently lgbt comics ring for daring to "pander to the girl-on girl crowd". I feel like I'm back in fucking 2009 where plenty of you never fucking left when this same complaint was being rained down on Zii. Here is a shocker for some of you - the comic before MA3 way back when ended with a girl-girl romance as well. Sometimes a comic series is not aimed towards you - the consistent amount of gay content in this comics ring should of long, long ago told you this stuff wasn't for you. If this is pandering to men, then you're the men still here - you realize that right?

I got introduced to pixie trix by a lesbian, I have chatted with irl and internet lgbt friends about these series, the comics ring is run by a woman who enjoys stories with sexually fluid character, and may just happen to MAYBE like drawing sexy girls. Why some of you are still here expecting the straight lives of Friends astonishes me, and why there is still a lingering assumption that pixie trix and its romances are designed to pander to a male audience exclusively is just.. ugh.

The same people bitching that Sandra is daring to kiss a girl after being "straight" are the ones here, years later, who were moaning in threads about how emasculating it was that Gary liked to be pegged. I agree that another arc or two could of sorted a lot out and built Sandra/Cammi more, but ffs they nearly fucked in a shower when she was stone cold sober - don't act like Eisu and Dave are destroying Giz's character as if they stole her property and rewrote her without her permission. Sober Sandra was never exclusively attracted to men, and Drunk Sandra was not just a throwaway gag, and Sober Sandra at multiple points in this series showed interest in Cammi as well as a predilection to jumping headlong into relationships like plenty of the MA3 -verse cast. Maybe we were all reading a completely different series but I feel like for some of you Sandra only ever showed interest in Pierre that was the end of the story, or else holy hell are some people's gaydars really broken to not pick up on -anything- that would assume Sandra to be something other than 100% straight. What the hell is a "girl crush"? One of those friendly, perfectly normal things straight girls do when they sexually lust after another woman? Are you listening to what you are typing out?

It is the death of this place that we're left with so many remainers who stick in a Pixie Trix comics circle to whine with each other about how Pixie Trix is too gay and is just now too risque, too emasculating, or how "shit" the writing is - the same complaint they've made for years despite logging in once a week to say it. There is questioning and dislike, and then theres just outwardly being terrible to the creators. This is not aimed at anyone who thinks Cammi and Sandra just don't work in chemistry, but those of you saying "bleh more girl-on-girl" can kiss my gay ass. I found this series back in 2009 at a time when my High School's lgbt club was being shut down by a megachurch down the street that was leading the charge against gay marriage in California - when our house was being vandalized for daring to put pro-lgbt signs out for support. I'm sorry Pixie Trix was never typically straight normal Gary and his harem of straight girls doing christian straight girl things so you can feel good about your own mascilinity, but it really never was. Plus, "Another" girl-on-girl romance shouldn't shock anyone who's been following Giz's work - its a theme that has played out in a lot of her work, not something she is trying to irritate you personally with.

I don't care how many PM's I get from Alexander or whomever about this later, but having lurked this place for 10 years and at the end of the line for the series I followed I am willing to go out saying that this forum would of been healthier in the long term if a good number of people who bitched for years about the gay content, Gary and the pegging, never letting them live down Eerie Cuties, constantly assailing threads with how shit you think everything is for literal years and are now sitting here chewing out Eisu, Dave, and Giz for daring to have a girl/girl romance ending should of been banned years ago or should have just left when they realized the series was not for them. There is constructive criticism, and there is just being a dick because you didn't get the ship end you wanted - welcome to my world. Some of the people here feel like they are barely fans and aren't even interested in the series - some just log into a forum account to spit on the creators once a week when something drops as if reading the comic for years somehow justifies it instead of doing the sensible thing and just not reading anymore. For fucks sake, plenty of you are still openly moaning about how Eerie Cuties ended and that literally WAS YEARS AGO. Eerie cuties has been done for years - I get you weren't happy with the ending, but its time to let that go.

This place has been disgustingly toxic in waves over the last decade and couldn't even let a rushed, but fair ending in the time they had sit without shitting all over Eisu who has been working at this comic between having another fucking job - you're allowed to not be pleased with the ending, go for it, but the last few months of this forum have been gross and exceedingly entitled. I know for a fact that the constant negativity and combativeness of this entire forum drove off good fun people - plenty of people should of been banned years ago, and that is the truth.

Every one of you who is sitting there thinking "ugh pandering to girl-on-girl fans", kiss my gay ass and go back to 2009 where culture will proudly hug your brave stance that girl/girl romance can ONLY possibly be aimed at titillating men and the gays are ruining your fiction. Statements like that made being a gay teenager shit and 10 years later I am not going to be shamed for thinking a kiss might be nice and romantic and not to just give you a boner. Some of the "girl-on-girl crowd" are people with lives, and some of us have actual girlfriends who enjoy media we happen to find lines up with us - you're the one still reading comics in an lgbt comic circle wondering where all your straight romance is. Maybe some wires got crossed, but SotR's never felt to me like the Pixie Trix comic that was going to give you the great male/female love story of the ages

Want Yaoi? Go read yaoi. Want some solid straight guys doing straight guy stuff without fanservice and gays getting in the way? Penny Arcade still has a website and a forum waiting for you and your quality "constructive criticism". Hate seeing women kissing and "yet more girl-on-girl relationships"? Then literally the rest of fiction is waiting out there for you to indulge in.

I don't know how this forum became a haven of asshole straight guys complaining about pegging and same-sex couples, but you sure drove everyone else away and that is pretty sad.

As for Eisu:

Eisu, you were only ever nice to me in PM's, you have been open and nice for years on this forum despite undo blame being tossed on you multiple times, and as a fellow artist I'm sorry the comic you worked on for years had to be cut down due to scheduling and the finale with your happy ending you put your heart into is being torn down. I loved your art, both the old and the new style, and this series consistently made me smile and laugh more than any other webcomic in my rotation. This will be one I go back and read years later. There are loose ends open, but this was still a lot of fun and I'm happy to have been a reader for all these years - I hope whatever you do next is as fun as this was.
Last edited by True_Avery on Wed Jul 03, 2019 2:05 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Play Kindred Spirits on the Roof! Play Starlight Vega! Play Ladykiller in a Bind!

User avatar
ven
Posts: 113
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:46 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by ven »

I guess I might give some more in deep thoughts about this comic and his ending, since I don't think there will be much to writhe about in the near future anyway (not that I did writhe a lot in the past). Sandra was one of the better comics, I was most interested in Magic Chicks, and most disappointed with that ending, since the setup had so much more potential in my book.

A rushed und unfulfilling ending is something you get used to at Pixie Trix after a while. so this one was rushed and some of the lose end not getting tied up makes is unfulfilling for me, then again compared to some other endings of PT comics, this one isn't even that bad.

In this one, those two girls end up together, I wasn’t invested in that pairing, didn’t really think it was a pairing, sure they interacted a little here and there and for some awkward reason Sandra acted all jealous at one point, but that two really being an item was surprising, I really thought all of it was just for the sake of comedy. I should note the relationship between Sandra and Pierre didn’t really excite me either, so in the end, sure, let those two be a happy couple, whatever.

Some people did talk about the plothole, one year in Canada without trying to get in contact, let’s just call it a comic and not everything must make sense, I really can live with that plot convenience. I mean modern communications and common sense often just get in the way of comedy.

This comic was funny and entertaining for the most part, so one can forgive some minor issues easily, it didn’t really lose it’s way, and if they had more time and wouldn’t have rushed on to close things down around here, it could have been much better.

The pairing I was kind of invested in was Alex and Marie and that’s were the unfulfilling part comes in. Anyway, I think it’s better not to have a spinoff of that, since knowing this site, it ends with Marie and some Didi-ish creature with way too large breasts and Alex ends up with Christoph. I wouldn’t like that at all.
Image

JoybuzzerX
Posts: 1411
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2011 5:02 am

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by JoybuzzerX »

Yes. A year is a long time. And it wouldn't be implausible for her to move on. I just think it's sad to think people think it's impossible for her not to.

JoybuzzerX
Posts: 1411
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2011 5:02 am

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by JoybuzzerX »

Itrogash wrote:
Wed Jul 03, 2019 8:07 am
Cortez wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:06 pm
LarsenSan wrote:
Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:30 pm


But making Sandra become Cammi's girlfriend has been the most blatant pandering of girl-on-girl fans. A character that was emphasized she was straight, not being able to make out with another woman while being drunk. But no, let's throw that out of the window just to have a girl kissing in the last panel.
Except even before this Sandra admitted that she found Cammi attractive, even when sober. In the end that scene with DiDi just means she wasn't into DiDi and vice versa.
Yeah. I don't think you can judge somebody's sexuality based one one failed encounter. The point that was made in the comic itself.
Not to mention that somebody saying they are straight was never a 100% sure indication of somebody's sexuality in the real world, and even less in Ma3verse. Just ask Sonia.

I can agree that this arc could use more work. This subplot of Sandra overcoming her denial and eschewing the need for alcohol to do anything was something I hoped for since her first appearance in Ma3, so the fact it was cut short and we never got to see how she actually got over her issues fills me with regret and longing for more. But saying that this whole ending came out of nowhere is a huge reach for me.

Also, this bonus comic everybody is talking about is available for like $1 on Gumroad. I recommend giving it a go, it really fills some gaps.
It was all rushed. One can assume she had to over come her alcohol use to become the success she's become.

Though if the comic did it, especially with how late the comic always was, it'd be a year played out over a decade, so Sandra coming back for Cammi, even if just a year in comic time, would have the readers going, "But it's been 10 years!"

:p

My question is, why did they need to rush it this much. Couldn't they have kept it going to working to this end a bit longer? Or was it all just a matter of "We want to quit doing this comic now."

User avatar
rogermart
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:04 pm

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by rogermart »

True_Avery wrote:
Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:59 am
I'm not down to say this was perfect, but christ I cannot believe Pixie Trix users are beating down a consistently lgbt comics ring for daring to "pander to the girl-on girl crowd". I feel like I'm back in fucking 2009 where plenty of you never fucking left when this same complaint was being rained down on Zii. Here is a shocker for some of you - the comic before MA3 way back when ended with a girl-girl romance as well. Sometimes a comic series is not aimed towards you - the consistent amount of gay content in this comics ring should of long, long ago told you this stuff wasn't for you. If this is pandering to men, then you're the men still here - you realize that right?

I got introduced to pixie trix by a lesbian, I have chatted with irl and internet lgbt friends about these series, the comics ring is run by a woman who enjoys stories with sexually fluid character, and may just happen to MAYBE like drawing sexy girls. Why some of you are still here expecting the straight lives of Friends astonishes me, and why there is still a lingering assumption that pixie trix and its romances are designed to pander to a male audience exclusively is just.. ugh.
I posted previously that how Sandra feels about Cammi reminds me of how Riko feels about Miyako in a yuri manga called Yagate Kimi Ni Naru (or Bloom into You), and after reading your post, I was also reminded of some people talking crap about that manga because "everyone is gay there? and there's one asexual dude? no straight representation?" (and there are straight people in that manga, but seriously? complaining about that in a yuri manga???).
That's what i do... i drink and i know things...

User avatar
Spidrift
Posts: 13180
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:11 pm

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by Spidrift »

Sorry, TA, but a rushed and clumsy ending with a girl-girl romance is still a rushed and clumsy ending. And fanservice which pleases lesbian readers and male girl-on-girl fans is still fanservice -- and sure, it's hardly reasonable to complain about fanservice in Pixietrix comics, that's part of the deal, but let's accept that "fanservice" is therefore a perfectly good one-word explanation for many things that happen in those comics. And the comics' treatment of Sandra's sexuality had become an incoherent mess on which this was just the capstone.

Her date with DiDi in Ma3 seemed to establish clearly enough that she was straight -- fair enough, it wasn't like that comic lacked bi (and eventually lesbian) female characters -- and her reason for staying in Paris, i.e. Pierre, was consistent with that. Then we got hints that she might have at least bisexual twinges, which looked a bit inconsistent, but the "Beside Herself" PDF seemed to establish a working retcon for that -- she's hetero-romantic, but can enjoy a wide variety of hot mindless sex when she's drunk. But now, we get another hasty plot kludge to give her a quick happy ending with Cammi, ignoring not just one, but two different versions of her characterisation. Saying "Oh, it's another Pixietrix ending, they're always a bit feeble" is fine, but you're then admitting it's a bit feeble.

Tangential to that, somebody asked "Why is there so much lesbianism in these comics, to the point that even two characters who were clearly established as straight in one story both end up with female partners by the end of the comics' run?" (or words to that effect); and if you can offer a convincing explanation for that which doesn't boil down to "Fanservice", please do. Like I said, nothing wrong with fanservice, but let's not pretend that's not what it is.

Which kind of reminds me... All the pegging...

In the past, when male readers complained about that, apparently out of some male insecurity about butt stuff, I was quite ready to come in and say "It's what some people like, doesn't make the guy gay, deal with it". I mean, it's not my kink, but each to their own. But looking back over the comics' runs, including "Beside Herself", I have to say that there really was quite a lot of it. I reckon, in the Ma3 universe, it's several times more common than missionary position sex. I mean, I don't know how common that kink is in reality (does anyone have numbers?), but it's not something I seem to see discussed anywhere much but these comics. Yeah, maybe I've led a sheltered life. I do end up wondering what's going on, though. Is it another, more niche instance of fanservice? Is it someone on the writing team's kink? Or is it just that somebody there reckons that guys having things pushed up their butts is hilariously funny?
---------
Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.

User avatar
christopheftw
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2015 3:27 pm

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by christopheftw »

With respect, Spidrift, it may be beyond your experience, but the fits and starts, tentative reaching out, contradictory self-definitions, being less inhibited under the influence, two steps forward one step back is a very common developmental reconciling oneself to their sexuality and coming out process for many lesbian, gay, and bi people.

My real life experience with pegging indicates, anecdotally, that it is much more common than most people would think but much less common than in the ma3verse. I just think Giz & co. Like it because it represents a type of sexual role fluidity consistent with the rest of the sexually modern and uninhibited take of these comics. There might be some both ironic and opportunistic recognition of its punchline ability amongst those uncomfortable with their idea of what it might represent.

User avatar
Lokitsu
Posts: 627
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 2:11 am
Location: New England

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by Lokitsu »

I'm not sure how much lgbt predjudice there was in the forums (there were many points when I just abandoned the forums altogether), but here are some highlights that IMO weren't bad because of the gay angle but despite it.
I LOATHED Didi and Zii not because I wanted either in a straight relationship, but because I loathed Didi as a character. I really think Zii got shorted any kind of real romantic ending. I would've rather had a romance between Zii and Amber, especially if it had tied into the SDB plotline.
Yuki and her violence against penii honestly didn't bother me in the least. It was an odd joke but violence is part of humor whether some folks like it or not. That she ended up with Matt irritated me both because a) it was a really superficial pairing and b) it incorporates an old joke about lesbians just needing to meet the right guy. In retrospect, Gary/Yuki would've been a bad ending for the latter reason as well, but at least they had some chemistry as a couple. A Yuki/Sonya arc that was about them finding affection beyond the hate-fucks would've made me happy.
Frankly, I don't think the Pixie Trix crew do romance very well at all. The best romantic pairing in ALL the series- and the one that was just dropped last minute, was the Faith/Tiffany pairing. A close second (or maybe it should be first) was the Cerise/Callie tragedy.
The Ace Problem-- frankly, I found it amusing at first until the bonus comics where it got creepy and upsetting. The final straw was when I showed the bonus strips to some trans friends of mine and they were Quote: "God-damned offended" Unquote. Way to serve the trans community Pixie Trix.
As far as fanservice, I've got no problem with it, no matter which fans its targetted at until it gets in the way of good writing. I liked Cammie from the beginning. I think she and Sandra make a cute couple but I would've liked to see them work their way into the love rather than a few drunken gropings. I always thought that Pierre was a boring character and I don't miss him. HOWEVER, I find the whole Alex/Marie section offensive because it uses one of homophobes' own arguments: that anyone can be tricked into turning gay. And to then drop the Alex character without any explanation of what happened to him is piss-poor writing.

User avatar
Spidrift
Posts: 13180
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:11 pm

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by Spidrift »

To be fair re. Yuki, she was at least explicitly labelled as “bi, but with mental issues regarding men” from very early on. From some points of view, though, the treatment of mental illness issues with her (turning them into a goofy joke) may have been worse than any of the comics’ treatments of variant sexualities. I’ve known one or two people with mental health problems, and unlike sex in general, they really aren’t funny.

You’re probably right about Pixietrix just not doing romance very well. Treating romance seriously means accepting the idea that a basically sexual relationship may have a serious emotional element, which does kind of clash with the comics’ cheerfully frivolous, comedy treatment of sexuality. Ma3 came close to addressing that with Gary towards the end, when he began looking for a more serious relationship because just being used as a human vibrator wasn’t fun for him, but that just looked odd after all the consequence-free shenanigans everyone else enjoyed. And DiDi’s need for an emotional connection with her partner just looked like a weird compulsion rather than a serious need for romance, because DiDi just looked so damn shallow. Ruby kind of approached the subject from another direction — not that she was looking for romance as such, but being a serious-minded introvert, she wanted a single partner who respected her as a person rather than just a random shag — which actually looked right to me.
---------
Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.

User avatar
cheshire86
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 2:35 am

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by cheshire86 »

Not for nothin', but if some of y'all didn't see the pairing of Sandra and Cammi coming since, oh I dunno, they met, then I'm beginning to wonder what comic you were actually reading. :D It was not a hasty pairing at all!

Also, I do hope to see Marie, Sandra, Cammi, and the crew appear in the future, be it in a spinoff or in the flagship strip. That is, if the scalding butthurt running riot in this forum isn't enough to make the creative team swear off comics and pick up a new career, such as "directing a Star Wars film." The screeching responses might be less in that line of work... ;)

User avatar
rogermart
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:04 pm

Re: 2019-07-01 The End

Post by rogermart »

Lokitsu wrote:
Wed Jul 03, 2019 9:38 pm
The best romantic pairing in ALL the series- and the one that was just dropped last minute, was the Faith/Tiffany pairing.
That's my favorite couple in the C-verse. Interestingly enough, I was shipping them since I saw Faith trying to seduce her the first time, and at that time Faith didn't see Tiff as an equal, so I didn't think it could happen, that is until the aftermath of the Layla incident.
That's what i do... i drink and i know things...

Post Reply