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[1545] Love

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:41 pm
by paarfi
Fred has posted the comic to his Patreon. He'll post it to the main site and elsewhere probably tomorrow.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:55 pm
by Invisigoth
Between the genuinely amazing dialogue between Ping and hooker-granny, Megu winding back down from going feral killer.....there's Ashe...OMG Ashe <3<3<3

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:05 pm
by jkhartl
There are ninja littering the street.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:48 pm
by maldrul
jkhartl wrote:
Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:05 pm
There are ninja littering the street.
Normally TPCD would be cleaning that up, but I'm sure this was not a scheduled event ;>

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 4:35 pm
by eomdal
So, to have value, you must be loved or be a commodity? Fred did say in chat that certain dark aspects of human nature were going to be part of the story. (Mostly since November 2016) I wonder if we are seeing this now?

Or, I'm wrong and Ashe is probing the guy's intentions. Answer wisely, mister.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 4:57 pm
by Invisigoth
Ping first says that someone needs to play with her so that she can love them. That's not exactly the same thing as wanting to be loved. Ping wants to love and there's specific things that need to occur first for that to happen for her and apparently being loved isn't one of those things

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:31 am
by Olba
Invisigoth wrote:
Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:55 pm
Between the genuinely amazing dialogue between Ping and hooker-granny, Megu winding back down from going feral killer.....there's Ashe...OMG Ashe <3<3<3
The question here is: How much tail brushing does 22,500 yen get you?

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:53 am
by senjyu_kannon
Does Megumi have fox ears in that first panel??

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:58 am
by Yl33 D4 N00b
I can see Maldrul checking his wallet.... :lol: I see Granny's words are hitting home to Megumi, too. (I see fox ears, and it's either a tail or Ping's hair in the lower right corner)

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:10 am
by Invisigoth
The fox ears have persisted past the point of simple trolling by Fred IMHO. Even though they are gone in the last panel there's something going on here

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:52 am
by paarfi
senjyu_kannon wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:53 am
Does Megumi have fox ears in that first panel??
Looks that way. Same as the last panel of the previous comic.

I'm struggling to find the right words to say about this comic. Ping wants someone to love her, but then so do we all. Ping would fall for someone who "plays" with her and "makes the right choices", but again so might we all. Ping's issues here aren't fundamentally different than what we all face, and Grandma sees that. We all want to love and be loved.

But Ping's major flaw has always been her lack of self-esteem, and that lack is totally undeserved. As madbadger put it years ago: Ping is kind, helpful, brave, smart, compassionate, strong, honest, perceptive, and caring. She is by far the nicest, most innocent character in Megatokyo.. She deserves more than just someone who will push the right buttons and accept her love. She deserves to be loved back as the wonderful person she is.

Ping needs to see that herself. I think that's the point of Grandma's question, "What are you worth if no one loves you?". Ping is worthy as the wonderful person she is. Roger Ebert's review of Groundhog Day talks about Phil becoming a better person: There is a moment when Phil tells Rita, "When you stand in the snow, you look like an angel." The point is not that he has come to love Rita. It is that he has learned to see the angel. Someday Ping is going to find someone better who will see her for the angel she truly is, and she needs to find that person rather than settle for any old dumbass who's merely willing to play with her.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:57 pm
by Skorpion
Olba wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:31 am
Invisigoth wrote:
Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:55 pm
Between the genuinely amazing dialogue between Ping and hooker-granny, Megu winding back down from going feral killer.....there's Ashe...OMG Ashe <3<3<3
The question here is: How much tail brushing does 22,500 yen get you?
I'd want at least an hour for that much. And to touch those fluffy ears as well.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:01 pm
by Liminaut
This has all been really harsh on Megumi.

"What are you worth if no one loves you?" Megumi has been looking for a relationship, for love, and as far as we know has been unable to find any (the comic of Megumi being stood up, the way Megumi reacted to Junpei and Mugi).

That's a pretty big question in out world today. What are we worth? Do we need to be loved to have worth? Do we need to have a bank account to have worth?

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:04 pm
by Liminaut
I've started wondering about Mugi and how she got estranged from her family. She's been described as a difficult child. My assumption was that the friction between Mugi and her family was because of her early sexual activity. But now we find that the family has a business line in prostitution. Maybe the problem wasn't that Mugi was having sex at an early age, but that she was having sex and not getting paid for it.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:08 pm
by Roamer
paarfi wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:52 am
senjyu_kannon wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:53 am
Does Megumi have fox ears in that first panel??
Looks that way. Same as the last panel of the previous comic.

I'm struggling to find the right words to say about this comic. Ping wants someone to love her, but then so do we all. Ping would fall for someone who "plays" with her and "makes the right choices", but again so might we all. Ping's issues here aren't fundamentally different than what we all face, and Grandma sees that. We all want to love and be loved.

But Ping's major flaw has always been her lack of self-esteem, and that lack is totally undeserved. As madbadger put it years ago: Ping is kind, helpful, brave, smart, compassionate, strong, honest, perceptive, and caring. She is by far the nicest, most innocent character in Megatokyo.. She deserves more than just someone who will push the right buttons and accept her love. She deserves to be loved back as the wonderful person she is.

Ping needs to see that herself. I think that's the point of Grandma's question, "What are you worth if no one loves you?". Ping is worthy as the wonderful person she is. Roger Ebert's review of Groundhog Day talks about Phil becoming a better person: There is a moment when Phil tells Rita, "When you stand in the snow, you look like an angel." The point is not that he has come to love Rita. It is that he has learned to see the angel. Someday Ping is going to find someone better who will see her for the angel she truly is, and she needs to find that person rather than settle for any old dumbass who's merely willing to play with her.
No. She needs to see herself as the angel. Ping is wonderful - but it doesn't matter how wonderful you are, without self-esteem, you'll never be able to seek out people who are worthy of you. I don't know if we've met anyone in MT worth her love who's available, but I'd love to see her find it. Sayuri, maybe?

Edit: Also, Megumi looks awesome with the fox ears in P1. I think the bow is some kind of charm or talisman to hide them, normally.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:22 pm
by Invisigoth
Too many are still missing Ping's point and that being that unlike a meat girl who wants to be loved Ping wants to be played with so that she can love. That makes things very complicated and just performing for pay isn't going to fulfill her needs

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:26 pm
by jkhartl
Ping would have been programed with low self esteem this would make it easier for her user, probably some one else with low self esteem, to interact with her.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:46 pm
by Roamer
Invisigoth wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:22 pm
Too many are still missing Ping's point and that being that unlike a meat girl who wants to be loved Ping wants to be played with so that she can love. That makes things very complicated and just performing for pay isn't going to fulfill her needs
I don't know that I agree with the conclusion you're drawing here. Ping's statement is that she's programmed to love "anyone who plays with her and makes the right choices" - that means that this is one path to love for her, but she's not saying that her programming has locked out any other paths. We've already seen her show initiative and choice where there was no code written for a situation, so I don't think it's impossible for her to modify her routines to allow her to reach love without someone playing her.

Also, there's the question of what qualifies as 'playing' with her. Do Piro's actions when he's acting as her owner count? She urges him to play with her at at least one point, so that seems to be a no. Does it have to be romantic? Who defines romance?

I think there's room for her to manuver here, if she wants it. Clearly she wants to love - but she's protective of herself, as well. Good.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:54 pm
by Invisigoth
Roamer wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:46 pm
Invisigoth wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:22 pm
Too many are still missing Ping's point and that being that unlike a meat girl who wants to be loved Ping wants to be played with so that she can love. That makes things very complicated and just performing for pay isn't going to fulfill her needs
I don't know that I agree with the conclusion you're drawing here. Ping's statement is that she's programmed to love "anyone who plays with her and makes the right choices" - that means that this is one path to love for her, but she's not saying that her programming has locked out any other paths. We've already seen her show initiative and choice where there was no code written for a situation, so I don't think it's impossible for her to modify her routines to allow her to reach love without someone playing her.

Also, there's the question of what qualifies as 'playing' with her. Do Piro's actions when he's acting as her owner count? She urges him to play with her at at least one point, so that seems to be a no. Does it have to be romantic? Who defines romance?

I think there's room for her to manuver here, if she wants it. Clearly she wants to love - but she's protective of herself, as well. Good.
Good points

I think that also indicates that her self esteem is a lot higher than she's being given credit for as well

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 4:35 pm
by paarfi
Roamer wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:08 pm
No. She needs to see herself as the angel. Ping is wonderful - but it doesn't matter how wonderful you are, without self-esteem, you'll never be able to seek out people who are worthy of you.
That's a big part of what I was trying to say. Obviously, I made a hash of it :P

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:41 pm
by chemi
MegaTokyo characters aren't supposed to have self-esteem! No wonder Ed was pursuing her so doggedly. Ping is clearly malfunctioning!

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:21 pm
by Hecatombe
So the guy don't mind all those fallen ninjas.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:10 pm
by Yl33 D4 N00b
Hecatombe wrote:
Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:21 pm
So the guy don't mind all those fallen ninjas.
I guess in MT, fallen ninjas, zombies, and zillas are just part of the landscape.....

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:11 pm
by Rapierman
More deep philosophical questions from Ping.

Rather unfortunate timing that Ashe holds up the display right when Ping says that. I would think she was worth more than 22.5K yen, if not PRICELESS.

Re: [1545] Love

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:39 pm
by Teddy-Werebear
I wonder if Admiral Akbar speaks Japanese...
<It's a trap!>
:lol:

Is this a third party negotiator, or a surrogate for the substitution Junko...
<SUBSTITUTION-NO-JUNKO!>
:D

Sooooo... that is what, about $230?