[1480] Bumpy Ride

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Invisigoth » Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:37 am

mistersaxon wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 4:20 am
Small Pink Mouse wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 2:24 am
Invisigoth wrote:
Mon Jun 12, 2017 11:31 am
I told you people, that was her "I can feel your boner" face in the last strip and now she's going for it
Well, it's not like there's much else to do when a passenger and I have heard it said that some people are turned on by proximity to danger. That said, it might be wiser to wait until the crisis is over before...celebrating. :)
Well let's hope he can wait to . . er . . . celebrate. Oh, no, that's Largo, isn't it with the premature celebration issues.
You are correct, sir! Funny how so many people want to ignore that little shortcoming of Largo's though :D

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by paarfi » Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:50 am

Invisigoth wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:37 am
Funny how so many people want to ignore that little shortcoming of Largo's though :D
The only person's opinion who really matters there is Erika. And she seems fine with it. :)
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Invisigoth » Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:52 pm

paarfi wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:50 am
Invisigoth wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:37 am
Funny how so many people want to ignore that little shortcoming of Largo's though :D
The only person's opinion who really matters there is Erika. And she seems fine with it. :)
Maybe, maybe not. Can you imagine Fred doing the dialogue of Erika really dumping her frustration to Kimiko? After all we all know that the first thing that Erika did the next day was to tell Kimiko all about it which elicited sympathy for Largo. After all he is "so serious"https://megatokyo.com/strip/994

So maybe Erika isn't too concerned at the moment but things may change if Kimiko shows up on day 2 of a 3 day grin and proceeds to tell her all about Piro's performance. Erika already has issues about her past poor choices in relationship partners afterall

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Ningen » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:07 am

paarfi wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:50 am
Invisigoth wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:37 am
Funny how so many people want to ignore that little shortcoming of Largo's though :D
The only person's opinion who really matters there is Erika. And she seems fine with it. :)
I don't recall seeing any in-comic suggestion that it was an ongoing problem.

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Invisigoth » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:25 pm

Ningen wrote:
Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:07 am
paarfi wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:50 am
Invisigoth wrote:
Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:37 am
Funny how so many people want to ignore that little shortcoming of Largo's though :D
The only person's opinion who really matters there is Erika. And she seems fine with it. :)
I don't recall seeing any in-comic suggestion that it was an ongoing problem.
Exactly what do you want, every 8th strip for Erika to complain to Kimiko that Largo is still unable to actually get it on so she's still having to content herself by seeing BOB on the side?
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by iffy » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:49 pm

A non big deal even the one time, not likely a frequent thought if at all by them now, and apparently by all indications nothing that continues. High-level Idol Erika puts the moves on inexperienced unsuspecting Largo who hasn't noticed the vibe or behaviors? What else was going to happen. Maybe she thought she should have known better or not moved so fast, but it seemed not a big deal to her. What she's said later hasn't appeared to have anger or detail. He made sure he picked up an education, and she's given no sign she's anything but happy with what was learned.

darrin wrote:
Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:58 pm
So... Kimiko wasn't pretending to be dead Miho, she was pretending to be Miho pretending to be dead? And now she is pretending to be Miho no longer pretending to be dead, but (pretending to be Miho) stopping for a snog with Piro?
What was explained, she is supposed to be Miho and Miho is supposed to be dead. Acting the role. Kimiko took over being Miho, to give everyone the death they needed to have, the ending they craved. Miho, the ongoing not dead threat to society and stability was defeated, killed. Pacemaker failed, heart stopped, struck down by the gods in her prime. Carried away because people can't be checking, no need for a body anyway of course. Piro takes her away, crushed and broken in his utter failure to save her. Fin. If that was supposed to be all of it, it didn't work.

It isn't clear at all what Kimiko is doing right now or why or who she's supposed to be doing it or in what context. But that the story continues (in many ways as if nobody has died) is pretty clear.

The entire goal we'd been presented was supposed to be a plan to end "the story"; remove Miho from play, give the audience emotional closure, purge all anticipations for that proper and expected ending. What was supposed to last night be her heart going out when confronted by her rival for the emotive but insecure artist from her past. Or whatever. Dying tragically and thus giving the proper feelings to all needing them, and also restoring the order of things and giving stability by providing a finish. A foretold event, a required occurrence - Miho's demise. Yet after supposedly just that exactly, nobody much at all has gone away. The TPCD and other authorities are still providing area security, the Otaku are still monitoring what's going on, Junpei is providing cover. A number of people are quite aware this is a living Kimiko - besides her, at least Largo, Erika, Piro, Junpei, Megumi. Which thus also quite a few people know Miho's existence continues. How does what Kimiko is doing now fit into any of that, or even does it? IDK

Whatever parts of whatever stories are attached to either Miho or Kimiko within Megatokyo, many are psychically aware of this, and perhaps that's why things are unended. From our particular viewpoint, we know it's Kimiko playing Miho, we know neither is dead, and we know the story for neither is over. For those in MT they can't see it that way, most would only be able to see the outside or small parts of the inside. What do they believe in the some or all of it that they know or think they know? There are likely a near infinite number of possibilities.

In a confusingly open unanswered and incomplete backdrop, what is Kimiko thinking and doing now and here. Who is she, what is she trying to accomplish, where is she going and where does that end, and where if anywhere does it fit. Much like similar questions about Miho, ???????? Kimiko in the escaping vehicle, under a blanket, kissing Piro's shirt while Megumi drives them to someplace else, it's another large set of questions. We don't know the answers, but we do know at least one story continues. Does whatever Kimiko is doing fit into the 'Miho is dead, story over' narrative? Or? Does Kimiko channeling Miho give us a new story. Is Kimiko taking an opportunity that doesn't appear to match past behaviors signify some continuation of the story that Miho's death was supposed to diffuse and didn't. Was Erika correct and Kimiko isn't a good enough actress yet to make everyone feel that Miho is dead. Are we mistaken in what the goal of Kimiko playing Miho was. Is this still part of a demonstration of what Miho is all about. Has the story of Kotone been rewritten once again.

It's not that we're suggesting we know what Kimiko is doing why, but that we have no idea what that is until more happens.

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by darrin » Mon Jun 19, 2017 2:44 pm

Invisigoth wrote:
Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:25 pm
Exactly what do you want, every 8th strip for Erika to complain to Kimiko that Largo is still unable to actually get it on so she's still having to content herself by seeing BOB on the side?
I think you're begging the question that Erika has such a strong frustration in the first place. Every 8th strip would be excessive, but Ningen's right that no such frustration has been expressed in-comic so far; Fred's had ample opportunity to at least allude to it, and so far has implied the opposite. Even way back in the one (994) you quoted above, Erika was at least as sympathetic to him as Kimiko was: "It's my fault... I came on a little too strong." Here she seems, and claims to be, quite content. That was a day ago, but the last time we saw her (well, her face anyway :P) she still looked quite happy being with him. Granted they are still "playing one of Largo's games" instead of hers, but she doesn't seem particularly frustrated by that.

I see two possible explanations for this lack of frustration. One is they have already made a (more or less) successful second attempt at "playing one of her games", and Fred has chosen not to mention or even obliquely allude to it in-comic. I consider this unlikely given how important it would be to their plotline and development, but it's at least technically possible.

The other possibility is that they've had a week or so to get even more comfortable with each other, and she is (justifiably IMO) confident that, when such a second attempt is made, she will be much more successful at controlling the pacing. Has everything happened yet that she'd like to? Probably not :D but she does not strike me as the one to harbor pent-up frustrations. When things are not going the way she wants she is quick to let you know. Even in a situation where she is required to put up such a facade she will find a way to let the people close to her know what is really going on inside.

EDIT:
iffy wrote:But that the story continues is pretty clear... It's not that we're suggesting we know what Kimiko is doing why, but that we have no idea what that is until more happens.
Well, sure, I'm certainly not one of the ones arguing they're out of the woods yet. I just see slim to no evidence of some of the theories being bruited about. No worries though, it just means the next half dozen strips are likely to be a blast. :lol:

EDIT2:
Invisigoth wrote:People who claim that Largo's PE was a one time occurrence
I'm not making a strong claim about that, just that whatever is going on between Erika and Largo, Erika has not expressed any explicit frustration about it.
Last edited by darrin on Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Invisigoth » Mon Jun 19, 2017 2:53 pm

Umm, I'm not the one begging the question. It was established in strip 994 that Largo was unable to perform. I am simply going on established canon when I say that the problem is ongoing based on the fact that there's been nothing to indicate otherwise.

People who claim that Largo's PE was a one time occurrence are begging the question as what we have seen is Erika and Largo pursuing a wide variety of shenanigans outside of any potential intimacy and usually centered around yet another bit of hilarious miscommunication. "Are we going clubbing?" ..."Oh yeah, clubs are a good idea!" You can look that strip up for yourself, it follows the debacle Largo created at Meimi's dinner party when he was trying to help Yuki escape.

BTW, wonder what Erika would think if she realized that Largo was so fixated on a teen Magical Girl and trying to make things better for her while Erika was stressed that the party was going to go badly?

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Yl33 D4 N00b » Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:13 pm

You know, I think Erika was a being a little presumptuous of Piro's virginity in 994. Who knows, he may have had a Miho sock puppet, back in the day....
;)

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by iffy » Mon Jun 19, 2017 5:32 pm

darrin wrote:
Mon Jun 19, 2017 2:44 pm
One is they have already made a (more or less) successful second attempt at "playing one of her games", and Fred has chosen not to mention or even obliquely allude to it in-comic. I consider this unlikely given how important it would be to their plotline and development, but it's at least technically possible.
It's beyond that IMO. Since he got his answers and returned with his intention to not quit but instead become well acquainted with the entirety of what she introduced him to, their behaviors appear to tell their own story somewhat directly. How they talk to and interact with each other since then seems its own explanation. There's not much more there to get, given that we're not going to see any examples, and they're not going to give a class on or have a soliloquy about the subject. Going to dinner, on a dual support and rescue mission, out adventuring, all with a common focus and language. What they do and how they talk to each other. A bit fantastical and in the perceptional vision sense of course, metaphor and code, shared expression and avatar. She's seemed pretty clear in what she's said to him and others on top of the train, in the ninja car, at the school and hospital.
Well, sure, I'm certainly not one of the ones arguing they're out of the woods yet. I just see slim to no evidence of some of the theories being bruited about. No worries though, it just means the next half dozen strips are likely to be a blast.
I get an impression Kimiko is heading down a path, and it's neither her own nor Miho's. Likewise matching how not quite right what she's doing appears so far. It reminds me of how Erika seemed drawn into the teacher scolding the note-passing students narrative at the school. That Kimiko has potentially already become the role she's in or nearly so, which might be forcing her in a direction that creates its own validity even where none exists. Not like she's replaced Miho exactly, but is at least slightly immersed within another persona of some sort. Be that Kotone or another character, but to what extent? If she's moving to becoming an Analogue, it could be a sort of a zombieish state or the like, not be able to actually consciously handle whatever power might be here now. Or it could be that it's an abnormally strong physical reaction to the anxiety and tension of this danger that's turned her super freaky. Or she's just kissing his shirt and is going to hug him next as they careen down the road, and there's nothing more to it. Whatever happens next is what will, and we'll need to see it to get a better idea. But for now tentatively, I get this Miho-ish manipulation of the situation. Just by somebody inexperienced in such things. It really sort of depends on how meta this bumpy ride is. How much it's like the difference between Largo and Piro getting out of jail perhaps. That would seem to have a large conceptual correlation to our other subject of contention, similarly lacking something approaching clear obvious answers, lacking much of anything that tends to show something approaching some sort of objective and detailed information that might to some constitute some sort of "proof".

Invisigoth wrote:
Mon Jun 19, 2017 2:53 pm
It was established in strip 994 that Largo was unable to perform.
Not that pe is much an inability to perform, but that depends on the person whose viewpoint it is, and the performance that's expected by them. Not that much was premature about it really, how and what she did was almost certainly going to result in exactly what and when it happened. Whatever we call it, it didn't work out for either of them at the time for what they expected (she more, him nothing). That's not necessarily a big deal later to anyone all the same.
I am simply going on established canon when I say that the problem is ongoing based on the fact that there's been nothing to indicate otherwise.
Established canon from perceptions about the subjective as establishing fact, that's an interesting way to put it. Well, fair enough, but others believe much of what she has (and he has and they have) been saying and doing over the last few days/months indicates quite a bit about it neither ever having been a problem nor being ongoing.

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by arimareiji » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:08 pm

Yl33 D4 N00b wrote:
Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:13 pm
You know, I think Erika was a being a little presumptuous of Piro's virginity in 994. Who knows, he may have had a Miho sock puppet, back in the day....
;)
Whether she was correct or not, Seraphim asserted he only has experience with 2D girls. (But then again, I guess you could count fapping to Miho's picture while talking on the phone as 2D, and some would consider that a form of sex. Sock puppet indeed.)
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Invisigoth » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:41 pm

Fred is going to have to go Blurred and some people will still deny that anything is happening

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by mistersaxon » Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:31 am

Um, Iffy? Kimiko said she wanted to persuade people to want Miho to live. So dying was probably not helpful for that and the story needs to continue past that point or it is just the same old, same old.

As for what Kimi wants for herself - she asked Piro if he'd be upset if she died for real. I am pretty sure she meant her actual self, not "herself as Miho" and then when Piro apologised for all Miho's terrible, weird fans she recalled the heroic Piro who trashed memory cards and cowed a rabid pack of fanbois all for her sake. And she decided to let him know she cherished that part of his character with a little *chu*.

Of course YMMV - this is MegaTokyo and these are the Forums and this is SD specifically so a unified PoV would be both strange and disturbing.
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by darrin » Tue Jun 20, 2017 11:25 am

mistersaxon wrote:
Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:31 am
Kimiko said she wanted to persuade people to want Miho to live. So dying was probably not helpful for that and the story needs to continue past that point or it is just the same old, same old.
I thought the last time we saw Kimiko talking to Miho about it, the plan was for Kimiko to "act out a good enough death scene" to convince the fanboys Miho was gone (and presumably stop pursuing her for the time being).

It was Piro who thought they could convince the fanboys that "the story where [she lives] is a better story."
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by iffy » Tue Jun 20, 2017 2:08 pm

mistersaxon wrote:
Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:31 am
Um, Iffy? Kimiko said she wanted to persuade people to want Miho to live. So dying was probably not helpful for that and the story needs to continue past that point or it is just the same old, same old
At one point earlier in her education maybe, although I always got the impression Kimiko wasn't aware of most any of that aspect of things. Kimiko hasn't seen much of what Piro or Yuki have been around to find out. Didn't experience any of what happened at the school with The Horde either. Really, Kimiko hasn't been in on most any of it, what we've seen of all that and more, like what Ed and Ibara and Dom know about Miho, the past of Masamichi and Meimi that we know some of, or any of what we've seen and heard when Miho has been alone. Of what Kimiko has seen and heard, most has been normal or explainable as such too. When it's been potentially illuminating, it looks like Kimiko has more like blocked it out, and even better than Piro usually seems to. Such as at Piro's Endgames-time story, Kimiko appeared to take it as seriously as she did Miho's real-Kotone story. Not at all.
Either way, lots of Kimiko's outlooks have changed in various ways as the situations have and she's learned more. Her whole relationship with Piro from when she first met him to her plans for their future. Sight or otherwise. Her attitude when she thought she bombed in the audition, upon first changing the character later, the fans at AM, with Miho at the diner and at Ikebukuro, listening to Piro about the laptop and Endgames, working on Sight with the NPC guarding her, at the CoE. Last night at the apartment, mumbling about Piro's behavior, making plans, finding Miho hiding in fear, hearing the Kotone story, seeing the collapsing, CPR, surgery. But the big change, how she thought of it before arriving at the hospital versus after she figured out a number of things in the hospital room and ran to where Miho was. The talk with Komugiko seems like it was akin to Junko seeing Robot Ping smash a car or Megumi seeing there was actually a Ninja.
The open questions there seem to be if what she learned is an actuality and if the plan she came up with is both valid and will function. Still, helping Miho seems to have morphed from story to person. Even if to Kimiko, that story was something more like a weird but fairly average girl of ill health attempts to vainly hold on to her old cyber boyfriend, poor dear.
As for what Kimi wants for herself - she asked Piro if he'd be upset if she died for real. I am pretty sure she meant her actual self, not "herself as Miho" and then when Piro apologised for all Miho's terrible, weird fans she recalled the heroic Piro who trashed memory cards and cowed a rabid pack of fanbois all for her sake. And she decided to let him know she cherished that part of his character with a little *chu*.
That sounds possibly what it might be like, yes. Except for that extra vibe, which might not amount to anything anyway, regardless of how odd it seems to Piro. A somewhat similar overall PoV, quite amazing for SD. ;)


darrin wrote:
Tue Jun 20, 2017 11:25 am
I thought the last time we saw Kimiko talking to Miho about it, the plan was for Kimiko to "act out a good enough death scene" to convince the fanboys Miho was gone (and presumably stop pursuing her for the time being).
Indeed, after hearing what Komugiko was saying etc, it seems to be about moving from thinking fictionally (whatever the plot and narrative) to rescuing an actual doomed person from the clutches of fate. What exactly Kimiko has thought about Miho previously, was sympathetic and understanding, but without a true notion that it was more than just some person who happened to have been involved with Piro in the past. Say, that Piro had anger, feelings of failure and that he could have done better, with emotional abandonment issues with that he had to fix before he could fully move on. Or that Miho was stalking him although he was rather disgusted with her and clearly wouldn't go back. Whatever. Regardless if Kimiko thinks that or if it's anywhere near the truth or not; whatever Kimiko believes and thinks of it is unclear exactly, except perhaps in what we each imagine it means.
All in all though, it often seemed Kimiko was essentially unaware there was a story, at least not in the sense of anything like eternal powerful Analogue the real thing and so on. That it wasn't just some other female mostly is a more recent thing. That previously, Kimiko considered most all of what she saw and was told metaphorically or with a grain of salt. Conceptually, now it is more like how Ed goes from dismissive to stricken by fear. Or, oh Largo beat some guy dressed like a ninja at a video game, no there is a Ninja who changes his own orders and stops sniper bullets with his hand. There's more to Miho and this story, time to make the audience happy by "dying". Regardless of how literal that death of Miho's was supposed to be. Regardless of how much different today is than when CPR was being done.
It was Piro who thought they could convince the fanboys that "the story where [she lives] is a better story."
Or that he could magically fix everything by substituting all the existing fans with brand new ones that thought differently. Apparently both removing fans and adding new ones were notions so ridiculous that his own conscience gave up and vanished. But the point is the same, yes, Piro wanted another story, one involving life for Miho. If Kimiko even thinks so in a way that's anywhere similar, that seems it would have been only recently either at the apartment or in the hospital or somewhere in between.

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Zandra » Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:31 pm

Kimiko is CRawwling on piros skin..... his woounds she can not heal....fear is why piro falls...confusing what is real..

LOL. Little filk correct?
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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Teddy-Werebear » Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:29 pm

iffy wrote:
Thu Jun 15, 2017 4:46 pm
Teddy-Werebear wrote:
Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:49 pm
And Iffy is here... New forum, same old wall of text...
My first new board post in SD was in (New Forums! (this is fine...) ), and it was only 8 words long....
:o
You must have been running late for work...

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Sackett » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:21 am

Wow, nice new forums.

Anyway, I know this is a bit old now, but I got to say that no one has mentioned my first thought on reading this comic.

Which is that Piro is lying on his back on broken glass, so this is really not the time or place for... whatever it is Kimiko is doing.

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Re: [1480] Bumpy Ride

Post by Yl33 D4 N00b » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:11 pm

Sackett wrote:
Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:21 am
Wow, nice new forums.

Anyway, I know this is a bit old now, but I got to say that no one has mentioned my first thought on reading this comic.

Which is that Piro is lying on his back on broken glass, so this is really not the time or place for... whatever it is Kimiko is doing.
In Piro's case, beggars can't be choosers...... :lol:

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