History Webcomic / MenageA3

'''Gary:''' Well ... [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall it's mostly just a string of improbable-sounding coincidences]] --

'''Gary:''' Well ... it's mostly just a string of improbable-sounding coincidences --

Incidentally, this is constructed as a very traditional four-panel strip (the Western equivalent of a {{Yonkoma}}); there are always four panels, or occasionally some double panels, but as the print collections are printed in a [=2x2=] layout, these are always located in positions 1 and 2 or 3 and 4. Also, the great majority of strips end with some kind of comedy punchline, despite the fact that there is a continuing story.

In short, it's ''Series/ManAboutTheHouse''/''Series/ThreesCompany'', just with more nakedness, and no Don Knotts (too much comedy of errors as it is--plus, this is 21st-century Montreal, so even the crankiest landlord is unlikely to object to shenanigans so long as they don't interfere with rent payments). Or, ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'' in webcomic form. The writers themselves describe it as an "Creator/{{HBO}}-style {{rom com}}," which, if you take "HBO-style" to mean "unabashed nudity," is approximately accurate. Most of the characters embody various tropes familiar from American comics or Japanese manga, though sometimes with personal twists; see [[Characters/MenageA3 the Characters page]] for lists of identifiable tropes specific to individual cast members.

The comic is a RoommateCom in SexComedy mode; hence it has a {{sitcom}} atmosphere overlaid with lewder-than-most jokes, with a touch of SliceOfLife style at low-key moments. Almost all the main characters, [[MrFanservice males included]], get their naked shots, and many of the storylines revolve around characters' sexuality or relationships.

[[RRatedOpening Even the first page]] [[EstablishingSeriesMoment is NSFW]], but the site does include a [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/for_new_readers warning about that]] before it. '''This page should not have direct NSFW links.'''

!!''Questionable Content'' contains examples of:

!! ''Ménage à 3'' contains examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes A-F]]

* FiveFiveFive: New character Annie Conda shows [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer the usual response to DiDi]] by, umm, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sorry_to_bother_you giving her a number here.]] In this case, the use of the 555 number must be a matter of dramatic convention rather than a sign that the number is invalid in-story.
* AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: Amber [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/leave_it_to_amber tries]] to barricade Dillon into his room when she wants some privacy. As he reminds her later, bedroom doors generally open ''inward.''
* AccentuateTheNegative:
** Jung plans to review a play:
--->'''Jung:''' Gonna blog about how horrible it was, the instant it's over!\\
'''Gary:''' But what if it's good?\\
'''Jung:''' If it's goo... Gary, that makes no sense.
** [[AvertedTrope The final verdict?]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/ruined Best. Play. EVER!!!]]
* AccidentalMisnaming: A common sign of distraction or dimness in this comic:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/didi!_you_are_in Zii gets Gary's name wrong shortly after meeting him.]]
** [=DiDi=] has so many boyfriends that she can't remember their names. For example, she calls Erik "Armand", "Philippe", "Derick" and "Jerry". In fact, this quickly becomes a RunningGag.
** Sonya mangles new character Peggy's name heavily [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/here_to_do_a_good_deed here]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/didi_haj_dibsh here]], simply because she's very drunk at the time. (This also generates an InJoke reference to Giz's past work on ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie''.) She still hasn't got Peggy's name quite straight [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_am_in_a_bind_-_start_of_vol_6 the next morning]].
* AdultsAreUseless: While the characters in this comic are all legally adults, the twentysomething main cast mostly act like teenagers at best. The occasional older characters are rather a hopeless bunch, with one or two small exceptions (such as Gary's sympathetic boss). Some, such as Nathan or the troll's parents, are enthusiastic adulterers, and when the lead characters mention their parents at all, they usually turn out to have caused them problems such as Gary's puritannical religious upbringing or Yuki's childhood exposure to her father's tentacle porn work.
* AirVoyance: Gary and Kiley race to the airport to prevent the unstable Yuki from flying home to confront her father -- but fail, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/seriously_strained invoking the trope,]] with an added BigNo. [[spoiler:This looks like the trope being played straight, but actually it's a {{Parody}} or at least an {{Aver|tedTrope}}sion, as Yuki was never at the airport, her father is in Montreal, and anyway she calms down and has a fairly rational conversation with him rather than assaulting him as Gary and Kiley feared]].
* AllIssuesArePoliticalIssues: Parodied in a {{flashback|Cut}} in which Yuki calls a banana flambé "oppressive" and the waiter who is trying to serve her this dessert a [[StrawFeminist "patriarchal phallocrat"]]. Note that she does this because of her phallophobia, not out of any genuine feminist conviction.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Ironically, given that the comic is comic is full of requited and actioned incidents of casual sexual attraction, anything longer-term or more serious, whether romantic or just infatuational, seems certain to be unrequited, or at least so unbalanced as to be doomed to failure. Zii's increasingly intense attraction to [=DiDi=] and Dillon's feelings for Gary hit the problem of IncompatibleOrientation; Dillon and Matt's romance fails due to Matt's compulsive promiscuity; Yuki and Sonya have stronger feelings for Zii than she has for them, leading them into StalkerWithACrush territory; Zii seems to return Erik's romantic interest, but the relationship collapses because of her lesbian interests, especially in [=DiDi=] -- and so on.
* AllMenArePerverts: Somewhat taken for granted, this being a farcical SexComedy.
** Men who aren't major characters are completely incapacitated if [=DiDi=] so much as walks past, let alone when she turns up (fully clothed) at a strip club.
** Gary varies things a little, though. He does have mildly kinky thoughts, but given his NiceGuy status he is rather tame about these things. [[spoiler:In fact, Sonya eventually discovers that he's far ''less'' kinky than she hoped, to a point that {{satir|e}}ises or {{subvert|edTrope}}s the trope.]]
* AllPartOfTheShow: Jung seems to think this about all the off-stage drama at the play he reviews, and other audience members may well think the same. ([[spoiler:In fact, the weird unplanned drama proves so popular that it is subsequently ''written into'' the play.]])
* AllWomenAreLustful: While both sexes are generally quite lustful in this comic -- and the men aren't as cerebral as this trope really requires -- the lead female characters do tend to be interested in sex in ways that cause them trouble, so the comic could be said to at least play with the trope.
** Zii might be called a poster girl for the concept [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_heard_the_tiny_angel here]]. Indeed, her enthusiasms sometimes cause her problems in ways that fit the trope. She tries to break these habits, but that only works until she gets drunk one night.
** Zii apparently inspired Amber to go into the porn business ''for the sex''.
** [=DiDi=]'s entire character arc eventually becomes a search for an orgasm.
** Peggy is actually something of an OnlySaneWoman by the comic's standards -- but within seconds of her first appearance in a strip, she gets into a flaming row with her boyfriend over her desire for oral sex, drops him, makes a pass at Erik, and gets dragged into the comic's usual shenanigans.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: Both [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/nothing_exciting_ever_happens "Giant-Size Man-Thing"]] and the infamous [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/cakewalk "Power Pachyderms"]] are perfectly genuine comics titles.
* AndThisIsFor:
-->'''Yuki:''' [''kicks Gary in the shins''] That's for lying to me, you jerk! [''kisses him on the cheek''] And that's for being my knight in spandex earlier.
* AnimalEaredHeadband: It's become taken as read that these headbands are beyond cute...
** Zii is obliged to cosplay as an anime CatGirl while at work. This may not initially be entirely to her taste, but she soon discovers that it has the pleasing effect of [[DistractedByTheSexy disabling most of the geek customers]].
** Then the cute kitten-ear headband becomes a prop in her seduction of Sonya and Sonya's boyfriend.
** Then Sonya acquires more animal-eared headbands in order to seduce Zii.
** Later, Jung incorporates this element into his designs for Zii's band's costumes, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/part_of_your_outfit_tonight which makes Zii happy]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/like_all_cute_little_bunnies scrambles Sonya's brain.]]
** A few days after that, Sonya and Yuki are trying competitively to seduce each other. When Sonya finds that a [[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn striptease]] isn't quite working, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_just_pushed_it_too_hard she just digs out the kitten ears.]] They seem to have become the sexual nuclear option...
* {{Animesque}}: Although the art style doesn't ''usually'' reference anime directly, hints of anime/manga influence are often visible in small details such as Gary's {{Nosebleed}}s when sexually over-stimulated (and also in plot elements such as his UnwantedHarem).
* {{Anorgasmia}}: Strangely enough in a {{sex comedy}}, this trope appears and is played as much for drama as for laughs.
** [=DiDi=] is unable to reach orgasm during sex for a large part of the comic's run. This is partly because men are overwhelmed with her beauty (and assets) and can only last a few seconds with her, but she does also have something of a block; on one occasion, Peggy performs cunnilingus on her until Peggy's jaw goes numb, without solving the problem. It doesn't help that she often fakes satisfaction to avoid disappointing her boyfriends. This is typical of her habitual niceness, but her desperate desire for an orgasm results in increasingly {{jerk}}ish behavior. When Kiley finally manages the impossible, [=DiDi=] declares she's in love and ultimately stays unthinking and selfish on the subject.
** Sandra also admits to problems reaching orgasm in an early strip, but this seems to be less of an issue for her; there are strong hints that she reaches climax okay when drunk, if only because that inspires her to bizarrely kinky sex. The problem hasn't been mentioned since she moved to ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks''.
* AnticipatoryBreathSpray:
** A stripper uses a spray before kissing [=DiDi=] and Sandra (strip #174, July 8 2009, NSFW).
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/get_a_better_look Yvan does the same before making a move on Zii,]] but she isn't impressed by the sight.
* {{Anticlimax}}: The writers like to keep a number of story options and character developments in hand at any time, some of which never come to much; they are also inclined to go for the quick joke rather than any sort of intricate long-term plot. As a result, some of their stories come to faster, less climactic resolutions than some dedicated readers expect. For example:
** Amber mistakes [=DiDi=] for Yuki, ''and'' forms some kind of plot to save Gary from her. Then Gary shows up at her front door, so she just jumps him. Later, Zii simply corrects the [=DiDi=]-Yuki confusion in casual conversation.
** Yuki, Zii, and Sonya wake up naked in bed together. Zii jumps to the conclusion that they've had sex (which many readers guessed would be wrong), then discovers that their clothes are missing, then finds the clothes in the bathroom with a smell on them that makes her think "Oh gawd!". Then it turns out that she was remembering that they'd jumped in a swimming pool fully dressed (so presumably the smell is chlorine), and the three of them simply dozed off after hanging the clothes up to dry.
** It's perhaps more of a wild plot twist than an anticlimax, but -- after three and a half years (real time -- 2-3 months comic time) of Gary trying to lose his virginity, [[spoiler:Kiley jumps him on a whim, with him barely registering what's happening]]. [[JustForPun At least it's still a climax.]]
* AnythingThatMoves: Because the characters tend to GenericCuteness, it's hard to say whether any of them manifest this trope or not. Some, certainly -- especially Matt and Zii -- are quite sexually omnivorous, but in practice, all their partners tend to be quite good-looking. Matt especially seems to be a sucker for good looks, and is a little sexually snobbish in his comments about Gary (who is actually far from ugly). It looks like everyone would certainly say that they had serious standards; it's just that a lot of other people meet them.
* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: [=DiDi=] was extremely frustrated (both sexually and ego-wise) that despite having spent ''days'' posing naked for Gary's drawing practice, he never noticed that she wants him ''badly.''[[note]]Well, Gary WAS in a committed relationship with Yuki at the time, and Yuki IS prone to violence. The fact that Yuki not only LET Gary see [=DiDi=] naked, but actually encouraged it could understandably be more than enough for him.[[/note]]
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: A trick occasionally used by various characters:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/thanks_for_the_juice Kiley pulls one on Sonya,]] with effects that verge on a Crowning Moment Of Awesome and vindication of her claims to be a competent psychologist.
** Later, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_had_an_epiphany Amber hits Gary with one.]]
** And Dillon follows that up with another (strip #668, November 6, 2012, NSFW), albeit an accidental one.
** Matt pulls one on Kiley [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_am_no_slouch_in_bed here]], or at least demonstrates the emotional perceptiveness that's a part of his characterization. Note the resulting classic SpitTake.
** Even [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/comfortable_with_sexy Gary manages a challenging question to Tracy,]] even if it is more or less accidental.
* ArtEvolution: The art style overall has remained pretty consistent for such a long-running comic, though the series slowly shifts away from a straightforward ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' style and occasionally incorporates a few manga features like enlarged eyes.
** Compare Zii from [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/totally_cute early in the comic]] to [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/cuddle_you_like_a_bebe a later incarnation]]. She seems noticeably younger now, although it's possibly due to her not wearing makeup in the second strip.
** Lita (Zii's cat) has gotten decidedly less grumpy and ugly-looking since her [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_said_i_could_move_in_anytime first appearance]]. Maybe hanging out with Gary is having an effect on her.
** Between Yuki's [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/pretty_intimately first appearance]] and her [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/psych later depictions]], there's an obvious difference in her eyes and facial shape.
** [=DiDi=] is defined to be an impossibly [[StatuesqueStunner statuesque and voluptuous]] sex goddess. In her early appearances ([[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/didi!_you_are_in e.g. here]]), this means that she looks like a giant inflatable living Barbie doll. Artistic evolution eventually makes her much more plausible ([[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/better_than_a_boring_old_spa as here]]), if still something of a fantasy figure.
** In her earliest strips, Sandra appears [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/a_decent_mood gauche, with an emphasis on her freckles and bubbly curls.]] Her appearance soon shifts a little, if only to reflect her more confident (and kinky) demeanor when she's drunk, but [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/video_game_hero her more recent appearances]] definitely make her new status as a trainee model fairly plausible (also, we should note that in the first strip linked to, she's being asked out by notoriously-snobbish Matt). (Her appearance in [[Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks her own comic]], with a completely different artist, is [[http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips-sotr/home_sweet_home almost unrecognizable.]] This becomes particularly noticeable when the original comic and ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' {{cross over}} and run in parallel, making it easy to [[http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips-sotr/just_get_dumped compare]] the [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/just_get_dumped characters.]])
** Even Gary's had some work done. In early strips he's gangly and a little goofy-looking with shaggier hair, but now he's {{Adorkable}} and Grade-A MrFanservice. Then again, part of that could be the audience (and a handful of characters) realizing that he looks pretty good naked.
* ArtifactTitle: Insofar as it refers to this being a "household of three", the title becomes artifactual whenever friends stay over in the apartment for a prolonged period of time.
* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: PlayedForLaughs in the form of HollywoodPsych with Kiley's various attempts to provide "therapy" for other characters. The only reason they aren't horrific breaches of psychological ethics is because she's not actually a licensed psychologist. In any case, sometimes they work implausibly brilliantly, in others they work more by luck than skill, and in others again, her approach verges on CloudCuckooLander territory. For example, the reason her work with Matt ''kind of'' works for a while is probably more because being in a stable relationship is good for both of them than Kiley having any idea what she's doing.
* AssuranceBackfire: This happens with [[HollywoodNerd Gary's]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_worst_therapist_in_the_world attempt to console Kiley]], she of the ACupAngst:
-->'''Kiley:''' ''(crying over phone)'' MY IQ IS SMALLER THAN MY BREAST SIZE!\\
'''Gary:''' ''(soothingly)'' Uh... Don't cry... I'm sure your IQ's much bigger than your breasts!
** Later, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_just_a_mild_craving Zii attempts to reassure [=DiDi=] about the nature of her feelings towards her]]. However, Zii's choice of words leaves a little to be desired. [=DiDi=] can be terribly distracting.
* AtrociousAlias: When Matt draws Gary into a planned foursome in which the participants will use masks and code-names, he names himself "Fastlane Dangerous" and Gary "Lothario Cad". [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/even_better_than_glasses Even Gary can see that this seems silly.]]
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Most of the cast are creatures of (mostly sexual) impulse, and some of them know exactly which points to suck or nibble on others to override their self-control. For example...
** Yuki knows just the right buttons to push to turn Zii into putty. Such as her [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/happy_fun_spot! "top secret super fantastic cream your panties happy fun spot."]] And [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/polish_your_pearl a light nibble of her earlobe]] was all it took to quell Zii's wrath and get her to "polish Yuki's pearl".
** Sonya too has Zii down pat and knows just the right buttons to push -- such as, again, her earlobe (July 17, 2012, strip 627, NSFW).
** In fact, everyone's earlobes seem to be highly active erogenous zones. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_was_gaming_night Matt knows to go for Dillon's]].
** Senna is shameless about going for ticklish points with kisses when she wants to throw someone off balance. She finds this works very well on Gary.
** Though [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_know_your_kryptonite Gary's general weakness was identified long before that, by Zii,]] (and exploited repeatedly by her).
* AuthorAppeal:
** Depending on your position on the sliding scale of prudery vs. perviness, Giz's id is either frighteningly skanky or CrazyAwesome.
** The comic, and at least the language of one character, contains authentic French. Look at the name of the artist!
* BarbieDollAnatomy is generally averted; readers either get to see nipples, or after a certain date, a SceneryCensor or SpeechBubbleCensoring is used to keep advertisers happy. (See the notes for NippleAndDimed for more details.) However, in strip #1179 (June 07, 2016, marginally NSFW), the art gives two female characters oddly nipple-free breasts.
* BareYourMidriff: Given the number of skimpy costumes seen in the comic, most of the women (and the men) inevitably end up flashing a little midriff from time to time. Deliberately midriff-baring designs come up less frequently, but are seen occasionally. A few examples:
** The anime-style "Magical Tralala" costumes created by Jung and seen initially on Zii, and later on three female cast members simultaneously [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/do_not_dress_as_anyone_else here,]] feature anime-style center sections.
** Two-thirds of the (rather oddly cutesy) [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/like_all_cute_little_bunnies costumes designed by Jung specifically for that band]] also flash midriff.
** Senna carries off the style with casual fashion model ease in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_mean_human-alone sequences such as this one.]] On that occasion, incidentally, she may be going for a "bohemian" look -- she tends to match her style to her location, and just there, she's in Usefulnotes/{{Montreal}}.
** All four of the costumes seen in the [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/in_their_sweet_ride female wrestling]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/about_to_get_bizzay tag team match]] exploit this effect.
* BasementDweller: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] Primarily, we have Gary, who has many of the signifiers associated with the trope, but who has at least left home and got a job; he's presented as neither totally hopeless nor despicable. (He still spends a lot of money on toys and collectibles that he may originally have meant to spend on things like art lessons, though.) We also have Jung, who apparently ''does'' still live in his mother's basement -- but who sustains not only a job but a certain amount of snarky {{geek}} cool.
* BeachEpisode: The only visit to an actual ''beach'' is in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_was_beautiful_once..._-_guest a non-canonical guest strip.]] However, there is [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/clout a park episode]] which serves a similar purpose, albeit with a little plot development (which isn't always part of beach episodes).
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Present fairly often in subtle forms.
** Notably, Gary [[spoiler:loses his unwanted virginity]] -- but remains Gary, a hopeless {{geek}}, and gets a more complicated and emotionally stressed life in consequence. For that matter, the girl who perhaps most resembles his fantasies, the daughter of his artistic idol, turns out to be an unstable bundle of bizarre psychoses.
** Likewise, [=DiDi=] and Sandra get the [[spoiler:experimental lesbian adventure]] that they've both fantasised about, only for it to be a disaster that threatens their friendship.
** And Zii, after lusting after [[spoiler:[=DiDi=]]] for months, finally gets an offer, just in time for it to imperil her big serious relationship with [[spoiler:Erik]].
* BedmateReveal:
** Gary wakes up in bed with Dillon after a nightmare.
** In strip #696 (January 17, 2013), Yuki calls Kiley, who's in bed. The last panel reveals that [[spoiler:her bedmate is Matt]].
** One could consider that Sandra gets two non-bed variants of this type of event -- first on a couch with [[spoiler:Matt (yes, he ReallyGetsAround)]], and later on a beach with [[spoiler:Senna]].
** In strip #901, after her band's first concert, Zii wakes up in bed [[spoiler:next to Sonya. Then, the last panel reveals that Yuki is in her bed too.]] That's enough to freak even Zii out.
** In #909, Gary wakes up to his phone ringing and a birthday wish from his mom. The last frame reveals [[spoiler: he spent the night with Amber]].
* BedTrick: Amber pulls a weird (and implausible, but hey, comedy) version when she first meets Gary and he mistakes her for Dillon in drag. She desperately wants to repeat the experience of having Dillon's "swirly-go-round" kiss applied to her crotch, and realizes that Gary has learned this technique -- so she tells Gary that she (as Dillon) will give him another kissing lesson, blindfolds him, and lies to him about what he's kissing... Don't think about it too much.
* BetaCouple: Various couples form and then split up in the course of the comic's plot, sometimes in the background as compared to other characters. However, any of them can move to the foreground for a while; there's no rigid "alpha/beta" pattern. For example...
** Matt and Dillon start the comic as secondary characters who are shacked up [[YourCheatingHeart at first]].
** Later, Zii and Erik fill this role in relation to Gary's relationships -- though that coupling moves to foreground/alpha status at times.
** Then, later, just as the three primary characters are going through various traumas and foreign trips, it turns out that [[spoiler:Matt and Kiley]] have got together, maybe somewhat seriously, maybe not -- a relationship which provided a few strips' worth of sub-plot.
* BiTheWay: It's practically a running joke that the entire cast are casually bisexual, with one or two exceptions (and even they may just need the right nudge). [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/enough_fun_for_a_week The joke is eventually explicitly lampshaded.]] Some examples:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/good_attention_vs_bad_attention Zii]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/not_very_ethical Matt]] definitely fit the trope definition, both being so relaxed on the subject that their friends and lovers don't tend to find out until the subject arises in passing.
** [=DiDi=] and Sandra think at one point that they are bi, but change their minds after a bad mutual experience. After that, Sandra seems to be confirmed heterosexual [[spoiler:until things get complicated in her own comic]], but [=DiDi=] remains ambiguous, with stray thoughts hinting at bisexual impulses even before [[spoiler:her drunken encounter with Peggy and weird "therapeutic" relationship with Kiley]].
** The trope may be {{subverted|Trope}} (or {{Jossed}}) by Gary. At one point, everything seems to be conspiring to put him in situations with [[CampGay Dillon]]. However, an ''ad hoc'' analysis session with Matt brings him to the conclusion that he isn't bi, he just has [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide an artist's eye for anything beautiful]], which can include attractive guys. He's ''relatively'' unworried by sexual contact with men, though.
** It's far from By the Way with Yuki. Zii, who knows her well, categorizes her as bi, but not actively so because of her psychological issues (which Yuki subsequently sets out to resolve).
** Sonya initially defines herself as straight [[IfItsYouItsOkay with an exception for Zii]]. It seems that she just doesn't want to identify as "lesbian" in any way. When someone finally mentions the word "bisexual" in her hearing, she decides it might suit her [[spoiler:perhaps reinforced by the fact that she's in close proximity to [=DiDi=]'s boobs at the time]], though she then seems to forget the idea. Oddly, she has never thought of this for herself -- but she's not the brightest character in the comic.
** Amber had a lesbian relationship with Zii in school, and certainly did whatever was required in her work as a porn star. She appears to be limiting herself to men for a while, in this comic and in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns,'' but then she starts a FriendsWithBenefits relationship with Zii. Her attitude seems to be "women for fun, but men for something more serious."
** Amber's friend and former colleague Chanelle defines herself as "Not Picky", though exactly where her off-duty preferences run remains unknown.
** Angele is a suburban wife and mother ... who proves very happy to have a one-night stand with Zii.
** The [[http://www.ma3comic.com/cast.html Cast Page]] has Senna down as bi, but all of her sexual activity seen so far in the comics has involved men. (Which, given her self-identification as female, counts as heterosexuality.)
** The [[http://www.ma3comic.com/cast.html Cast Page]] claims that Erik is "Straight, but cool with MMF threesomes". But in one ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' strip, [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/i_am_not_jealous Angel claims that he is bi, and he doesn't deny it.]] Choose your own definitions.
** Kiley is usually functionally straight, but implies to Matt that she maybe only avoids bisexuality because of her body image issues. (She's ''probably'' just paying Matt a subtle throwaway compliment there, though.) Later, a rather confusing encounter with [=DiDi=] ends up with the pair of them in a "therapeutic" sexual relationship, though that is traumatic for Kiley, and she follows this with a similarly bizarre "therapeutic" relationship with Sonya and Yuki, together...
** Peggy generally prefers men, but admits to lesbian experimentation in college, is quite happy to switch back for [=DiDi=], and isn't discomfited by the idea of sex with Sonya.
** Zii might be considered presumptuous for treating Isabelle's offer of a drink as promising, except that Isabelle soon declares that she is potentially interested in both Zii and Gary (together if necessary). Her focus on Zii is at least partially motivated by an interest in sleeping with a "famous" rock star, though, and she does call her attraction to Zii a "girl crush" even at that point, so she may actually be straight with [[IfItsYouItsOkay Zii as her one (possible) exception]], and she doesn't actually end up in bed with anyone. She subsequently claims to be a virgin, and may well be telling the truth.
** James launches into an enthusiastic relationship with Tracy -- but subsequently cheerfully admits to some possible interest in a sexual offer from a guy. [[spoiler:Later on, he receives what he thinks is mind-[[JustForPun blowing]] oral from Gary, but is actually a clever bit of subterfuge.]]
* BigNo: Happens on multiple occasions, such as:
** Zii's reaction when [=DiDi=] threatens to cut her hair into a mullet, and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/show-accuracy when Jung's revenge for a black eye reaches its climax.]]
** Kiley [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_wish_i_were_a_woman at least]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/seriously_strained three]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/english_os_restored times]].
** Yuki when Sonya tries sexting Gary with a picture of her own cleavage.
* BigWhat: {{Bilingual|Bonus}}ly:
-->'''Zii:''' I'm gonna sleep with Gary.\\
'''[=DiDi=]:''' Oh! He will vraiment like th-- '''''QUOI?!!'''''
* BilingualBonus:
** Some of [=DiDi's=] GratuitousFrench, although the majority is easy enough. (If you have a high-school knowledge of French, you should understand almost everything she says. Heck, any Romance language (Spanish, et al.;) will get you close enough to giggle.)
*** In [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/do_you_understand one strip]], she uses French-Canadian slang to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar bluntly tell Yuki what she wants]].
*** She even suffers bilingual hiccoughs. When she's drunk, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/for_your_own_good her hiccoughs are represented by "*hips*" -- something which is usually only found in French language comics -- whereas the rest of the cast go "*hic*"]], as is usual in English-language works.
** The title of the story Yuki's father wrote for her, "Yuki's First Snow", is a pun as "yuki" is the Japanese word for snow.
** The comic's title itself, which can also rate as GratuitousFrench. [[DontExplainTheJoke In case you don't get it]], ''"ménage à trois"'' literally means "household of three," referring to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin three people living together]] -- but the term often carries erotic connotations, referring specifically to ThreeWaySex, which can be taken as a reference to all the sex being had in this comic. Giz has said in an audio interview that the title was indeed intended to tease English-speaking readers who'd assume sexual implications, when it's a bit less of a loaded phrase in French.
** In an early appearance Yuki shouts "触手 (''shokushu'')!" This, of course, means "tentacles". She produces more Japanese speech bubbles in later strips, usually when in a psychotic rage.
** Senna can speak five languages, and most of her dialog before she reveals she can speak English is in Brazilian Portuguese. Later, she occasionally throws Portuguese phrases into some mostly-English dialogue (although the comic doesn't always get this right first time, leading to updates after bilingual readers offer corrections).
* BishieSparkle: The kind of thing that comes up in manga-influenced comics...
** ...is [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/can_i_have_your hilariously subverted here]] with Gary, who immediately [[HeroicBSOD goes into shock]] when he puts two and two together.
** It's also [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_conspired_with_the_occult played straight here]], except that the scene is a fantasy within the comic.
* BlankWhiteEyes: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/good_impression Sandra after being kissed by [=DiDi=].]]
* BlatantLies: Nathan the dubious producer attempting to explain away the fact that he's in a TransparentCloset:
-->'''Dillon:''' You know ... it's none of my business ... but someday you will have to tell your wife you're gay.\\
'''Nathan:''' Ho-ho-ho! Don't be silly! I'm not gay! That's why I have you wear the wig!\\
'''Dillon:''' I think it might be a ''little bit'' gay.\\
'''Nathan:''' Dilly... Straight married men have secret gay sex ''all the time''!\\
'''Dillon:''' That sounds made up.\\
'''Nathan:''' It's true! It's called "being on the down low". Saw it on ''[[TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]]''.
** And the best part? Not only does Nathan seem to buy it, but ''Dillon'' thinks it's credible because it was said by an in-denial guest on ''Oprah''.
* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: Yvan, the manager at the Montreal office of Dark Matter Games who interviews Gary for an artist job, finds out a little about Gary's dating history, concludes (correctly) that it's impressive and hence (very, very incorrectly) that Gary is an expert at dealing with women -- and hires Gary on condition that Gary helps him with his own, unsuccessful dating life.
* BlowingARaspberry: The tongue part only is [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/adult_conversation demonstrated by Sonya and Yuki]]. No, neither of them is terribly mature.
* BodySushi: In one guest {{omake}}, Zii and [=DiDi=] are eating sushi on a nude girl, when Zii realizes that something's wrong... [[CompletelyMissingThePoint The girl they're eating off is not Japanese but Korean!]]
* BombDisposal: Used as a metaphor for a ... delicate situation ... in which Kiley finds herself in strip #1082 (October 15, 2015; NSFW).
* {{Bookends}}: The comic makes a point of this trope:
** The first volume opens with Gary coming home early from work, having a soon-to-be ironic thought just before opening the door, and walking in on Matt sodomizing Dillon, which is when he finds out that they're gay. Matt and Dillon move out shortly afterward. It ends with Dillon coming home early from rehearsal, having a soon-to-be ironic thought just before opening the door, and walking in on Sandra sodomizing Matt. Dillon moves back in with Gary shortly afterward.
** The second volume opens with Gary having an EroticDream about Zii, which turns into an [[CatapultNightmare erotic nightmare]] when it's revealed it's a male version of Zii, because of the influence of Dillon's presence in the bed. It ends with Yuki in bed with Zii and having an erotic dream about a female Gary.
** The third volume opens with Sandra waking up on [=DiDi=]'s boobs, and ends with her waking up on Senna's.
** The fourth volume opens with Yuki surprising Kiley in the shower, and ends with [=DiDi=] surprising Yuki in the shower.
** The fifth volume opens with Dillon stunned to be called into a room where Chanelle is sitting naked and with thighs apart (apparently requesting oral sex), and an also naked Amber is standing around; he then gets kissed on the cheeks by the two women. The ''penultimate'' strip of the volume has Erik and Jim walking in on several naked women, notably Peggy with her thighs apart (receiving oral sex from Sonya); the last strip has Gary stunned to be called into a room which contains a naked Senna and clothed Sandra, both standing around, before he gets kissed on the cheeks by the two women. This breaks the pattern a little, in that the echo is spread across two strips, and none of the characters from the first strip recur (although Gary is ''mentioned'' in the first strip and appears in the last), but it's close enough.
** The sixth volume begins with Sonya getting home after an interesting evening and thinking about her situation, then being interrupted on the doorstep by Peggy, who has followed her home looking for a bed for the night. It ends with Gary getting home after an interesting evening and thinking about his situation, then being interrupted on the doorstep by Amber, who has followed him home looking for a bed for the night. The requirement for characters to be repeated has evidently been scrapped (except that both Sonya and Gary are ''thinking'' about Zii), but the visual and thematic echoes and contrasts are strong.
** The seventh volume begins with Zii waking up in bed and finding Sonya sleeping next to her; then, she's shocked to find Yuki there too. It ends with Kiley waking up in bed and finding Yuki sleeping next to her; then, she's shocked to find Sonya there too.
** The eight volume begins with a wrestling brawl between [=DiDi=] and Roxie; it ends with a wrestling ... something ... between Yuki, Sonya, and Gary, with three-quarters of the strip having near-identical pictorial composition.
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: This line from Zii:
-->'''Zii:''' Man, I miss those days. Music, sex, and music... and sex... and music '''while''' having sex!
* BreakingTheFourthWall: When Dillon finds Amber in the room where he's supposed to meet Nathan, he says "DID I SKIP A PAGE?!". Though this may not be breaking of the fourth wall so much as Dillon seeing his life as a drama, and looking for a metaphor for his confusion.
* BreakTheHaughty: The {{crossover}} arc between ''Ménage à 3'' and ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' proves painfully aggravating for Senna.
* BrickJoke:
** Jung's review of Dillon's play.
** Kiley reading a pamphlet about breast enlargement when she first meets Yuki, after her ACupAngst when she saw [=DiDi=].
** ''Whisper whisper'' '''badminton racket''' ''Whisper whisper'' '''Tabasco sauce''' ''Whisper whisper'' '''Paddington Bear'''...
** Gary's "Giant-Size Man-Thing".
** In strip #27 (July 16, 2008), Gary [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/two_airbags visualizes [=DiDi=] as a videogame princess]], tied up with game controllers. 585 strips later (i.e. in #612, 12 June 2012, borderline NSFW)...
** Early in the comic's history, Zii tells Gary that he'll be [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/gives_us_plenty_of_time "up to his armpits with nekkid girlies"]] by his thirtieth birthday. As of #909, July 17, 2014 (just about safe for work), Gary makes thirty, and his birthday celebration actually involves that promise more or less literally coming true, though not through any direct effort on Zii's part, and not fully satisfyingly for Gary.
* BrokenAesop: Zii's little speech about consent to sex would have all been well and good, except that she was lecturing Gary on it when he had just been TRICKED INTO GIVING A WOMAN ORAL SEX. Zii apparently did not think that Amber pretending to be Dillon to trick Gary into this was a problem at all. Frankly, though, the comic isn't big on morals; the characters are prone to situational morality at best. Anything that looks like an Aesop will probably be broken, subverted, or highly debatable.
* ButLiquorIsQuicker:
** Zii ends up in bed with both Erik and Adrien the waiter -- together -- after a stint of shared [[DrowningMySorrows Drowning Their Sorrows]] over [=DiDi=].
** Sonya tries to use this technique on Erik. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/make_his_a_double It doesn't go as planned.]]
** The technique is also used ''accidentally'' by Senna on Gary when they're on the 'plane to Paris. She doesn't seemingly set out to get him drunk -- his demolition of several cocktails is the result of a misunderstanding -- and she is probably too vain about her appearance to think that she needs to get a man drunk to have her way with him (and he has indeed previously shown multiple signs of finding her attractive). But given his confused but very conventional tastes, Senna's [[{{Transsexual}} non-standard anatomical arrangements]] ''might'' have proved a problem when the clothes came off, if he hadn't been too drunk to care.
* CallBack: The authors are fond of using a callback to the beginning of a volume to wrap it up. See {{Bookends}} above for more detail.
* CallingYourOrgasms: The characters are rarely quiet during sex, and occasionally get specific -- [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/counting_has_never_been_so_awsum notably here.]]
* TheCameo (note that some of these may be [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] rather than canonical cameos):
** In [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/worst_moment_to_pass_out_-_guest one guest strip,]] [=DiDi=] is shown to be friends with Cecania from ''Webcomic/SoreThumbs''.
** From ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'' (which shared some of the same creators):
*** The porn stars who Zii interrupts on set in one {{flashback}} (strip #74, November 10, 2008, NSFW) [[FakeCrossover look]] an awful lot like Stan, Jack and Rich. However, WordOfGod is that this '''isn't''' a crossover.
*** When Yuki goes on her [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/very_nice groin-kicking rampage]], Stan is unfortunate enough to get in her way, while a surprised Lisa looks on.
*** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/about_to_get_bizzay Roxie's wrestling partner, Brandy,]] definitely resembles Brandi Jones from ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie''. This may even be a full IntercontinuityCrossover, although the two versions' personalities are not especially similar.
** From ''Webcomic/CoolCatStudio'', another of Lagacé's previous works:
*** Liz may also appear, in strip #253 (January 22nd, 2010, NSFW).
*** Jeremy gets injured by Yuki, appearing with his girlfriend Belinda in the background of the same strip that Stan and Lisa from ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'' are in.
** From Giz's [[FakeCrossover other, more fantastic universe/continuity]] (defined by ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'', ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'', and ''Webcomic/DangerouslyChloe'')[[note]]There might be a tongue-in-cheek in-universe justification for these appearances. It's been [[{{Fanon}} suggested]] that, in this comic's universe, [[ShowWithinAShow the other setting may be a successful franchise]] -- so its characters might impinge on many people's imaginations.[[/note]]:
*** Blair shows up (as [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies an inanimate doll]]) in one strip (#230, November 25, 2009, NSFW).
*** Nina shows up (as [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/body_pillow a print on a body pillow]]) in a couple of strips (see also #564, February 18, 2012, NSFW).
*** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/body_pillow Jacqui, Melissa,]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/he_chose_me Layla]] show up as, apparently, the subjects of very good cosplay efforts by attendees at an anime convention.
*** Cerise [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_conspired_with_the_occult shows up here,]] albeit only in Senna's [[UnreliableNarrator fantastical description of past events]].
*** Likewise, Brooke shows up in her monstrous form as [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/too_much_with_the_lovemaking an imagined figure when [=DiDi=] is discussing horror movies.]]
** See also the CreatorCameo note below.
* CanadaEh: The comic is set in Usefulnotes/{{Montreal}}, and [=DiDi=] is francophone Québecois (hence the accent). Beyond that, it doesn't play much with ethnic stereotypes about the country -- but Yuki deliberately invokes the "politeness" part, in conjunction with JapanesePoliteness, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/double_polite here.]]
* CanNotSpitItOut[=/=]SustainedMisunderstanding: The comic depicts a wacky-hijinks world where characters are frequently prone to misinterpreting each others' motivations, and most of the time it's simply because they can't or won't take the thirty seconds necessary to clear up misunderstandings.
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: Pretty much the default assumption when romances break up in this comic. Zii finds it difficult to reject Yuki, who never accepted the break-up in the first place; Dillon can't refuse Matt, despite their breaking up due to Matt's infidelity; Yuki sacrifices her relationship with Gary because of her psychological problems, but then keeps yearning for him, while he still finds her cute despite her dangerously erratic behaviour; Erik breaks with Zii after catching her with [=DiDi=], but weeps over the memory of her...
* CastFullOfGay: For a while, it seemed like every major character who wasn't explicitly gay or bisexual was at least very deeply uncertain. This was scaled back somewhat when [=DiDi=] stopped identifying as bi, Sandra and Gary stopped questioning, and Kiley and Erik became more important as characters -- but then things got more complicated with all those characters in different ways. In any case, there's still a substantial majority of non-heterosexual characters. This is mostly PlayedForLaughs (and a fair bit of FanService), though; a modern SexComedy, in which characters actually have sex on a regular basis, has more options for jokes and surprises if almost anybody might end up in bed with anybody else.
* CastingCouch:
** Used by Nathan to get both Dillon and Amber into bed. Dillon is initially too naive to realize that he's being used; Amber, the former porn star, is surely cynical and worldly enough to know from the first (she later says that Nathan was her SugarDaddy). When they learn exactly what's going on, [[KarmicTrickster they are able to turn things around and come out well ahead on the deal]].
** It's revealed in {{flashback}}s that Zii had sex with many of the people who auditioned for her earlier bands before the comic's story began. She may not have thought of this as a casting couch process; whether any of the other parties involved did so is less clear. She does at least look embarrassed at the recollection when she's accidentally reminded of this while auditioning Sonya for her new band, but that's because she's trying to avoid being seduced by Sonya.
* CasualKink: It's at least hinted on occasion that several of the characters regard a little light BDSM as a perfectly normal part of sex.
** This is certainly true of Yuki, who positively enjoys being tied up at least once (strip #212, October 14, 2009, NSFW), and talks about candles in a way that worries Gary (strip #645, September 13, 2012, NSFW) -- and Zii doesn't seem to have been unhappy with that side of their past relationship.
** A more complicated instance appears when Yuki ties [=DiDi=] up and spanks her, for (supposedly) non-sexual reasons; to judge by her facial expressions and subsequent reactions, [=DiDi=] comes very close to discovering a submissive side there. (See strips 613 & 614, June 14 & 16, 2012, NSFW.)
** When Matt, Gary, and Peggy end up in a threesome, Matt takes it upon himself to teach the other two about the use of strap-ons, treating this as sophisticated bu not excessively weird.
** When Brandy meets [=DiDi,=] she instantly starts flirting (well, it ''is'' [=DiDi=]), and within minutes, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/show_her_the_ropes she ''happens'' to mention the fur-lined handcuffs in her nightstand.]]
* CatapultNightmare:
** [=DiDi=] suffers one when her over-active conscience notices her interest in Gary. (January 12, 2009, strip #96, NSFW.)
** Yuki has two regarding "Garii". (May 13 & October 29 2010, strips #300 & 370, NSFW.)
** Zii has one (actually two, in a DreamWithinADream) after Peggy comprehensively messes with her head. (February 06, 2014, strip #847, NSFW.)
* CatFight: Dillon and Sandra when Sandra taunts Dillon about her relationship with Matt. Not a real catfight, of course, but it looks like one, since Dillon is dressed, very convincingly, as ComicBook/BlackCanary.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: FlamboyantGay Dillon walks in on Zii having some alone time ... while calling out the name of her female roommate ... and watching ''[[ParallelPornTitles Perry Hotter, Part 16]]''.
* CelebrityParadox [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/all_your_comics The authors of the comic]] show up as the authors of their ''other'' comics and selling associated merchandise.
* CensorSuds: These may show up occasionally throughout the comic, but Amber puts on a truly astonishing demonstration of the trope in strip #662 (October 23, 2012), which probably has to rate as NSFW, despite the fact that nothing is actually showing. Similarly, Maura uses them to implausibly full effect in strip #1183 (June 16, 2016).
* ChandlersLaw: Applied in comedy soap opera form at the end of chapter 5 and beginning of chapter 6, when the story had perhaps fallen into a bit of a rut (or maybe the writers had got a little bored with things). First, Erik came through a door (and into the middle of a lesbian orgy) with a startled expression, and then, one strip later, it turned out that Gary had just come through an international plane flight with a {{transsexual}}, and now he came through a door -- in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}.
* ChekhovsGag: [=DiDi's=] ability to lift heavy weights easily is [[PlayedForLaughs used for minor gags]] in two early strips, and then comes back when she lifts Zii out of the way [[spoiler:so she can offer herself to Gary]].
* ChekhovsGun: The Swirly-Go-Round, a kissing technique which Dillon teaches Gary early on, later turns out to serve as an ''amazingly'' effective form of cunnilingus. It helps Gary satisfy various women, and then becomes crucial to several plot strands, to the point of causing Gary some difficulties due to the sheer number of women interested in experiencing it.
* {{Cliffhanger}}: The comic throws in a few of these, at the comedy/soap opera level. Two guys discover their girlfriends in a lesbian orgy, with one of the girlfriends just achieving orgasm and the other professing her undying love for one of the other two women present? Naturally, the next strip cuts to three completely different characters on a different continent...
* ClosetKey: A slightly variant version. When she first appears, Sonya thinks that she's straight, but Zii rapidly seduces her. She continues to insist that she's ''Not A Lesbian'' with [[IfItsYouItsOkay an exception for Zii]], but it's obvious to anyone who knows what the words mean that she's a functional bisexual -- with Zii as her closet key.
* CoitusEnsues: Some of the sex in the comic does come rather out of the blue -- notably Kiley jumping Gary and Zii's night with Angele. However, by and large, there's a bit of foreshadowing or character consistency involved. Whether Sonya and Yuki's hate-sex was foreshadowed to the point of inevitability, or completely unpredictable, might be an interesting question.
* CoitusUninterruptus: Most or all of the cast are pretty shameless at times, or have weird priorities. Some examples:
** Gary and Yuki walk in on Jordan while he's receiving a blowjob from an understudy backstage at the theater. Unfazed, he says: "Oh, hi! You must be Gary!" Then Yuki has one of her moments.
** Matt answers the phone while getting a blowjob from Jordan.
** [=DiDi=] calls Sandra to ask her to meet for a talk, and Sandra takes the call ... while she's having sex with Matt.
** The cabin crew interrupt Senna and Gary having sex on the private 'plane to tell them to return to their seats for landing. Senna tries to insist that the 'plane should circle while they finish.
* ComedicSpanking: During a disagreement about access to Gary, the somewhat deranged Yuki hogties [=DiDi=] with NES controller cords and tells her she'll only be released when she admits that Gary is Yuki's boyfriend; she doesn't, so Yuki spanks her. When [=DiDi=] seems to be getting into this, it perhaps becomes more KinkySpanking. (See strip #612, June 12, 2012, onwards -- NSFW).
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: An occasional source of comedy in this comic, especially perhaps with Gary in the early days.
* ComicBookTime: The comic has been running since 2008, but only a few months have passed within its universe. Mostly, the dates of events in the story are unstated and ambiguous, but there are occasional hints that the current date is close to the real-world date. For example, Gary is a "brony" -- a fan of comics that weren't being published yet in 2008.
* ComicSutra: The comic approaches this trope a couple of times, although there's little attempt to disguise the general nature of what's being discussed. The Swirly-Go-Round (a kissing technique re-purposed for cunnilingus) is the chief example; also, Amber offers Gary the "Amberlux Vacuum", a fellatio technique "never used on camera".
* ComplimentBackfire: Gary's line to Kiley is more of an AssuranceBackfire, but he's ''trying'' to be nice:
-->'''[[ACupAngst Kiley]]:''' MY IQ IS SMALLER THAN MY BREAST SIZE!\\
'''Gary:''' Uh... Don't cry... I'm sure your IQ's '''much''' bigger than your breasts!
* TheConscience: Mostly notable by its absence, as most of the cast are a little too frenetic and amoral (though not ''usually'' downright immoral) to either play this part or accept a Conscience's advice. Certainly, none of them act ''solely'' as the Conscience. However, during her first appearance, new OnlySaneWoman Peggy [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_hurt_by_dooooze suddenly if briefly starts acting as a Conscience.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: It's the kind of comedy that isn't afraid of this trope. This fact is, finally, lampshaded to hell and back in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/quite_the_dating_life this strip.]]
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Zii promised to watch all the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' cartoons after breaking one of Gary's most valuable Transformer models... Except that it isn't broken.
* CorruptTheCutie: Given that many characters in this comic are enthusiastic about sex and a bit amoral, while some others are cute but less experienced or more confused, it's not surprising if this is a fairly frequent source of character motivation, especially for one of the lead characters.
** Zii's offer to get Gary laid could be a case in point. It's not that Gary needed corrupting, exactly, but he needed help in getting to act on his impulses -- and Zii occasionally fantasised about him becoming rather more bisexual than he himself seemed to want.
** Zii also has hopes about [=DiDi=] early on, although her actions there are perhaps less systematic. In fact, it soon comes to seem that [=DiDi=] has been hanging out with Zii for too long, as her capacity for good-natured mischief increases, followed by her less good-natured active pursuit of an orgasm. Admittedly, given things like her pre-existing love of cross-dressing guys and horror movies, it may not have taken much.
** Zii probably barely thinks of her seduction of Sonya as "corruption"; she is just encouraging Sonya to express her bisexual side. However, the effects are more dramatic (and less fun for Zii) than she expects. Sonya not only takes to bisexuality and group sex, she becomes obsessed with Zii, and uses increasingly amoral tactics to catch her.
** Matt may initially hope to "corrupt" Sandra, though he soon discovers that she becomes every bit as kinky as he wants when she's had a few drinks.
** Senna made it plain from the first that her aim with regard to Gary involved making him question his sexuality -- by getting him into bed. Her problem for a long time was getting to be in the same city as him, and by the time she managed that, he was a little less inexperienced than at their first meeting. But he was still cutely confused by her, and not long after she caught up with him, she was semi-accidentally getting him drunk and then getting hot and heavy with him.
* {{Cosplay}}:
** The {{crossover}} with ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' involves some cosplay-related complications. After Sandra models as in-universe videogame heroine Carmen Chamelia in her own comic, she finds herself a {{geek}} idol, and recruits Gary as a consultant on geek culture. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/cosplaying_helped_too He explains cosplay to her,]] just as her [[BadBoss supervisor from hell]] Tatiana is forming a weird plan that involves making Sandra dress up in a white {{dominatrix}} outfit. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/did_you_just_call_me_dumb Gary interprets this]] as perfect [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Emma Frost]] cosplay, and others of her new fanbase agree when photos hit the Web.
** Jung occasionally manages to inflict cosplay or cosplay-style outfits on Zii in the shop where he functions as her manager. Eventually, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/do_not_dress_as_anyone_else he tries to get her whole band into "Magical Tralala" outfits on stage]] (cosplaying something that doesn't exist outside of this comic), but Zii objects that the band ''aren't'' cosplayers.
* CreatorCameo: Giz and Dave [=Zero1=] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/all_your_comics appear as artists at Otakuthon]], due other comics they create, ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' and ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'', existing (and apparently being popular) in the Ma3 universe. There even appear to be fans cosplaying Magick Chicks characters at the con.
* CreatorProvincialism: Gary's favorite porn star, the daughter of Gary's favorite manga artist, and the troll screwing with Zii, all ''happen'' to live in or fairly near to the same neighborhood of Usefulnotes/{{Montreal}}, Quebec.
* CrossOver: Two substantial instances with the {{spinoff}} comics:
** The June 4, 2013 strip (#750, NSFW), the {{Cliffhanger}} ending of volume 5, drops Gary into the context of ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks''. The crossed-over story then really gets underway with a double image of the same moment [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/nothing_interesting_in_there here]] and [[http://www.sandraontherocks.com/strips-sotr/strange_characters here.]] For a while then, alternate strips from each actually begin with a re-drawing of the last panel from the other -- though either comic can be read on its own and still make sense. Subsequently, the plot strands sometimes diverge a little more, though still running in close parallel for a time.
** Late in volume 6, Zii's band ("Zii and the Troublemakers") have their first booking, and Zii invites all her friends. This sets up a crossover with ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''; see the notes on GambitPileup for some idea as to the consequences.
* CrossPoppingVeins: Another stylistic trick occasionally borrowed from manga here:
** Demonstrated by Zii in a moment of extreme annoyance [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/two_votes_out_of_three here.]]
** And also seen [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/we_were_right here.]]
* CrushingHandshake: Demonstrated competitively by Zii and Angel in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/no_need_to_cry_for_me this strip.]]
* CutApart: A trick that the comic occasional exploits for comedy. See, for example, strip #209, October 7 2009 (NSFW), with Gary [[spoiler:apparently expressing understandable amazement at a naked [=DiDi=] -- and then turning out to be in a different room]].
* DangerouslyShortSkirt: Most of the female characters in the comic have [[ShesGotLegs good legs]] and aren't ashamed to show them, although as this isn't an action-oriented comic, they don't usually have to worry much about unintended flashes. Tatiana may evoke the trope most blatantly; she's supposed to be a quiet, reserved personal assistant, but she always wears a (very mini) miniskirt -- giving a large hint that there's a side to her personality that she's trying to keep hidden.
* DatePeepers: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/go_get_her_romeo After Zii has fixed Gary up with his first-ever date, with Sonya, she naturally wants to see how it goes - and she brings [=DiDi=] along.]] (Their disguises leave something to be desired.) By coincidence, Yuki and Kiley are also in the same restaurant.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: It sometimes seems that when any character in this comic isn't having sex, they're missing it, and often looking for some kind of substitute (though it's taken as read that it's a poor substitute at best). Examples:
** Gary, several times.
** Zii, watching all-male pornography while calling [=DiDi=]'s name. She doesn't notice the contradiction there (probably being too horny). Later, she acquires an electrical massager with a view to relieving her tensions after a (brief but passionate) kiss from Yuki.
** Then there's Yuki and [=DiDi=]'s discussion of ''batteries'' when both are suffering some degree of frustration, and Zii's suggestion to Sonya when she's got the same problem (though Sonya soon has a better idea)...
* DeathGlare:
** A [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/glare double one]], complete with UnsoundEffect, when Gary manages to annoy Sonya and Yuki simultaneously.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/here_to_do_a_good_deed Inflicted by Sonya on new character Peggy]], despite the fact that Sonya was proudly doing Peggy a favor at the time.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Two distinct instances so far, both involving Kiley:
** The conclusion of the Matt-Kiley WillTheyOrWontThey arc deconstructs the fundamental nature of the comic's wacky sexual hijinks, showing that they only work when the characters don't know what's going on behind their backs. Kiley enjoyed casual sex with Matt, but the moment she finds out he's using her to prove that his sexual prowess is greater than [[spoiler:Gary's]], she storms out and drops him like a hot potato.
** The arc involving the strange relationship between [=DiDi=] and Kiley slowly deconstructs [=DiDi=] herself, coming to a head in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/till_i_am_out_of_the_way strip #1272]]. As the arc shows, the comedic aspect of [=DiDi's=] character and the storylines featuring her only work if the other characters involved haven't gotten over her body. Once they do that and the comic actually looks into her personality, you realize that it's actually rather boring and shallow, and overall, she's ''toxic'' to be in a relationship with. In real life, wise people would stay away from such a person, or head out the door as soon as they were done having sex with her.
--->'''Kiley:''' Your next step toward becoming a complete human being is to step away from me.\\
'''[=DiDi=]:''' I... I cannot leave you.\\
'''Kiley:''' OKAY, I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO LEAVE THEN! BYE, GOOD LUCK!
* DelayedReaction: Gary suffers several hours' worth of delay ending in strip #784 (August 29, 2013, NSFW), when he realises that the gorgeous woman he had sex with (admittedly while he was drunk) the night before was in fact a pre-op {{transsexual}}, complete with a penis. He was actually fully aware of this all along, but only now does he suffer the sort of confusion that this would cause many men.
* DescriptionCut:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_can_not_wait When Zii gets her first laptop]].
** "As if a girl would ever come while looking at a picture of me." (strip #363, October 13, 2010, NSFW).
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_am_the_drummer "You better have someone solid in mind".]]
* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud:
** When Gary is trying to explain to Zii that he's not gay (while suffering from allergy):
--->'''Gary:''' DAMMBIT! I SLEEB WITH GIRLS!!! Or, ad least, I'd like to...\\
'''Zii:''' Oh! You're straight? Are you su... hey, wait, what was that last bit?\\
'''Gary:''' Wha' lasd bid?\\
'''Zii:''' "Or, at least, I'd like to?"\\
'''Gary:''' Wazzat oud loud?
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/more_like_mine Word for word from Yuki,]] after declaring that Gary is her boyfriend.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/thanks_for_the_juice Sonya: ''H-How can I be in love with Yuki?! I'm... I'm in love with li'l Zii!'']]
** Tatiana catches herself after [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/a_thousand_times_yes a moment of deranged excitement here.]] (It's not just what she ''says'', either; the {{slasher smile}} is also a minor catastrophe.)
** Sonya slips again [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/adventure_has_a_way_of_finding_you here,]] while understandably confused and distracted by the fact that she's enjoying some unexpected hate-sex with Yuki.
* DidYouJustHaveSex:
** A fine variant execution of the trope in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_lucky_dog this strip,]] after Gary has got laid for the first time.
** Somewhat later, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/stop_staring_at_his Zii (again) pulls a variant on Gary (again);]] the symptoms that her "{{Yaoi}} Sense" picks up tell her that he's just had an experience involving his butt...
* DiggingYourselfDeeper:
** Zii demonstrates the trope [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_just_a_mild_craving here]] while trying to reassure [=DiDi=] about her feelings for her.
** Kiley sometimes suffers from this problem when she's nervous, as in the first panel [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/shut_up_kiley here.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Zii gets trolled on the internet, so she drives to the kid's house, has sex with his mom, and convinces her to break up with the troll's father. (Note that the father had, as it turns out, been having affairs with his secretaries for years, so the break-up wasn't ''just'' Zii.)
* DistractedByTheSexy:
** [=DiDi=] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/dropped_a_fourchette causes]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/clout this]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/at_all_costs a lot]].
** [[YaoiFangirl Zii]] is easily [[GuyOnGuyIsHot distracted by]] the {{yaoi}}, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/no_time_to_waste as here.]]
** [=DiDi=] and Kiley show that the trope is still in operation [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/station_break here.]]
* {{Dominatrix}}: Any of the characters may imagine others into this role in moments of fantasy -- see, for example, Zii's idea of what Sonya might have done to Gary in strip #467 (June 20, 2011, borderline NSFW) -- but for one who's actually committed to the image, readers had to wait for the {{crossover}} with ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' and the guest appearance of Tatiana from that comic. However, when Tatiana attempted to cast Sandra in the role (while Sandra was sober), Sandra proved somewhat inadequate (strip #809, October 29, 2013, NSFW if Gary in minimal leather worries you).
* DontLookDown: Invoked in highly unusual circumstances [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/open_your_heart here,]] as the thing on which Kiley tells herself not to look down is [=DiDi's=] bust. Actually, symbolically, Kiley has it right; she's walking one heck of a tightrope in that scene.
* DopeSlap: [=DiDi=]'s {{Good Angel|BadAngel}} gives her one when she fantasizes about punching out Yuki to get Gary to give her an orgasm.
* DoubleStandard:
** Zii [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/being_pimped calls Gary out]] for offering her up for a threesome without asking. But this is not very different from ''many'' things Zii has done to other people over the years. This also comes just a couple panels after Zii ''didn't'' call out ''Amber'' [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale for tricking Gary]] [[QuestionableConsent into giving her oral sex]].
** After hearing Gary slept with Kiley instead of Yuki, Zii is ready to tear into him for cheating, despite the fact that Zii has had no apparent problem with breaking up ''established'' relationships before.
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Read over Tracy's attempt at getting Gary to perform on her cam show and see if it still qualifies as comedy if the genders are reversed.
* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: How would [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sensory_deprivation the "sensory deprivation" strip]] have been received if the genders were reversed?
* DramaticDrop: Being around the main characters can be a bad idea when you're holding something fragile. Allie for one has demonstrated the trope more than once, thanks to Sonya.
* DramaticIrony: Exploited for comic effect during Gary's visit to Paris early in volume 6, mostly at the expense of Senna and to a slightly lesser extent Tatiana. Senna's initial sense of superiority over Sandra depends on her ignorance of the plot of ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'', and her delusional belief that Gary is setting Sandra up for failure as a model depends on her ignorance of Gary's deep cluelessness -- all things well known to most readers. Likewise, Tatiana is slow to understand Sandra's Internet popularity, and her attempts to experiment on Gary's submissive nature depend on Sandra being less naive than Tatiana should know.
* DreamWithinADream: Zii suffers this effect after Peggy comprehensively messes with her head. (February 06, 2014, strip #847, NSFW.)
* DrinkOrder:
** Sandra will take Absolut vodka, often in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/gulk_gulk_gulk large quantities.]] Though she's not especially picky... Her characterization involves a dangerously close relationship with hard liquor.
** On a date, [=DiDi=] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_come_here_often%EF%BC%9F regularly orders chardonnay]] -- the drink of a fun-loving girl out on the town who isn't out to get drunk ''quickly''.
** Gary is unsophisticated and stuck in a pre-adolescent emotional state, so he not only tries to avoid booze (being [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/digging_this_new_flavor happy with a slush puppy]] instead), he even hates ''coffee''; he'll have a [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/adult_friends hot chocolate]] instead.
** Yuki is also not a coffee drinker; she'll [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_know_that_thing take a cup of tea]]. How Japanese. Oh, and when she does ask for alcohol, it's an "ichigo daiquiri" -- half-Japanese for "strawberry daiquiri", but with [[Franchise/FinalFantasy a bonus geeky reference]].
* DrowningMySorrows: After Erik and Adrien the waiter discover their shared experience of [=DiDi's=] casual unintended cruelty in relationships, they end up [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/to_didi! drowning their sorrows together.]] They also encounter Zii on a similar mission, after which [[ButLiquorIsQuicker things get complicated]].
* DrunkenMontage: Gary runs through one of these [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/too_much_man_for_them in a single strip,]] without getting up from his seat.
* DysfunctionJunction: As per RuleOfFunny, everyone is screwed up in some way or another. If someone ''appears'' normal and well-adjusted, that just means that they haven't had enough screen time yet.
* EarAche: When [=DiDi=] [[spoiler:insults Kiley]], Zii drags the former away by her ear.
* EasyAmnesia frequently appears in one specific form, pretty much as a recurring joke: whenever any character gets seriously drunk, which happens moderately often, they're likely (but not certain) to wake up the next morning with few or no memories of what they did the night before. (They're also likely to be in bed with someone else, which in this comic ''does'' mean that they probably though ''not'' definitely had sex with them.) Details vary, based on comedy requirements rather than anything else:
** All-too-experienced drinker Sandra never remembers any of the eye-wateringly kinky things she does when drunk.
** Conversely, Gary comes round from a fairly heavy bender with what appear to be dim memories of what he did with Senna.
** Likewise, Zii, Peggy, [=DiDi=] and Sonya all apparently remember their four-way drunken orgy...
** ...Whereas Zii, Sonya, and Yuki apparently remember nothing the morning after their band's first gig, until a significant odor triggers complete recall for Zii at least.
* {{Ecchi}}: The comic is probably slightly too explicit, too often, to qualify as a western version of ecchi. But anyway, Yuki specifically invokes the term in strip #905 (June 28, 2014, NSFW).
* EditorialSynaesthesia: A "splash" effect around a male character's speech bubble is used as visual shorthand for "has an orgasm while saying this".
* EiffelTowerEffect: The trope-naming structure appears in strip #750 (June 4, 2013; NSFW) to confirm that a (very surprising) sudden scene shift is, in fact, to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}.
* EmbarrassingCoverUp: When Yuki wants Gary to take a day off, she calls his boss and tells her that Gary needs to have a foreign object removed that he had inserted into his butt. ("Who'd make that up?") This eventually gets Gary into trouble when he ends up in a hospital for completely different reasons -- and meets his boss there.
* EnemyMine:
** A [[MeleeATrois three-sided conflict]] brews up over Gary during his trip to Paris (the {{crossover}} with ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks''), from about strip #795 (late September 2013) onwards, involving Sandra, Senna, and Tatiana. Everybody needles everybody else at some point, without any stable alliances forming.
** Yuki and Sonya can't stand each other, but when Angel challenges Yuki's ego, Sonya's competitiveness, and the woman they both love ... [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/when_time_comes_to_play Angel's mistake very quickly becomes clear.]]
* EroticDream:
** Gary has several about Zii and [=DiDi=] over time.
** Yuki has recurring ones about Gary at one point. Granted, he's ''a woman'' in those dreams.
* EthicalSlut: This generally seems to be assumed. Most of these characters may be promiscuous, may have sex for selfish reasons, and may even use it for manipulative purposes, but they usually seem to have some kind of ethical limits somewhere, even if they're dim and distant. Which said, the trope is [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] quite a lot:
** It's clear that [=DiDi=] genuinely does not want to hurt anyone, but she frequently does stupid things like double-booking dates and accidentally dumping people. (This may be because no guy will ever call her out on her behavior, so she assumes they feel as casually about relationships as she does.)
** Amber's ethics are a little confused -- she sexually scams Nathan into giving her and Dillon an apartment, and later tricks a blindfold Gary into giving her oral sex -- but quite powerful when they surface; she is outraged by Yuki's treatment of Gary, and resolves to do something about it. Her colleague and friend Chanelle presumably has similar attitudes.
** The trope is ultimately averted with Senna. She seems fairly ethical at first, but a later strip shows that she's fully capable of casual boyfriend-stealing, and her approach to Gary proves flatly amoral at best.
** Sonya is determined to be a manipulative seductress. Still, even she seems to want to have a mutually satisfactory good time with her partners.
* EuphemismBuster: Thanks to Gary's intermittent [[NoIndoorVoice lack of an indoor voice]], when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/adult_friends he busts Tracy's euphemism]] for the second job she does to pay the bills, he triggers an understandable FacePalm,
-->'''Tracy''': I do a little, ummmm, crowdfunded R-rated video performance.\\
'''Gary''': You're a SEX CAMGIRL?!
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: The sheer attractiveness of most of the female cast seems to have [[EveryoneIsBi quite an effect]]. Two cases in particular:
** [=DiDi=] not only gets keen attention from open bisexuals like Zii and Yuki, and the slightly more confused Sonya; she causes the seemingly straight Sandra to at least contemplate going gay. Furthermore, she is given her first orgasm by the straight [[spoiler:Kiley, who [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_might_be_gay earlier said]] that that the thought of sex with a woman scares her.[[note]]Actually, sex with [=DiDi=] scares Kiley plenty; she just can't avoid it, for various reasons.[[/note]]]] Gay men certainly ''notice ''her, too. Peggy makes the point completely explicit in strip #741 (May 14, 2013, NSFW):
--->'''Peggy:''' I guess I could fall on a one or a two on the [[JustForFun/KinseyScaleOfTropes Kinsey scale]]. But I mean, look at you! You can easily make any girl into a three!
** Zii is an extremely skilled [[{{Pornomancer}} seductress]] who sometimes seems able to get practically any woman into bed, regardless of whether or not they've ever shown any lesbian or bisexual tendencies before. Though she may just have [[{{Gaydar}} an unusually good sense for repressed bisexuality]], which seems to be rather widespread in the setting.
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex throughout the comic, aside from Gary's initial problems. Characters may suffer occasional dry spells, but they rarely last very long.
* EveryoneIsBi:
** It often seems that every single character who shows any sexual tendencies at all -- yes, even ''[[CampGay Dillon]]'' -- shows hints of of being attracted to both sexes. Though sometimes the hints remain just hints, and Dillon's one hetero-experiment was a bust, as it turns out. There ''are'' some quite solidly heterosexual or gay characters, but enough flexible or open-minded types that the trope can apply to a first approximation.
** Somewhat (hilariously) {{subverted|Trope}} by Sandra and [=DiDi=] when they agree that they are just two straight girls with poor boundary issues. Though [=DiDi=] later revises that position in her desperate quest for an orgasm, and Sandra later experiences at least one more twinge of experimental curiosity over in [[Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks her own comic]].
** Also {{subverted|Trope}} by Gary. Matt helps him realize that he isn't sexually attracted to men, though he does appreciate beauty in general.
** The point is {{lampshaded|Trope}} in the last panel of [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/enough_fun_for_a_week this strip.]]
* ExactWords: In strip #1079 (October 06, 2015, NSFW), Matt's vow to himself that he won't so much as look at another woman until he wins Kiley back would be a bit more authentically noble if [[spoiler:he wasn't bisexual]].
* [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Ex-Porn Star with a Heart of Gold]]: Early on, Gary imagines Amber (known professionally as Amber-Amber) as [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/shy_girl matching this trope to the stereotyped letter.]] When she becomes an on-screen character, it turns out to be more or less true -- although Amber has her self-serving flaws, and is much more pragmatic about certain matters than Gary's dream version.
* EyeTake: Rather beautifully demonstrated by Zii in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/brainlocking the last panel here.]]
* FacelessMasses: How large groups of anonymous people are drawn.
* FacePalm:
** Zii demonstrates [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/mffffffokay a resounding example,]] inspired by her own carelessness.
** Gary's tactlessness inspires an even better example from Tracy [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/adult_friends here.]]
* FailedASpotCheck: [=DiDi=] completely overlooks the labeling and color of a bottle of Tabasco sauce before pouring it on Matt, in an ''intimate'' situation.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Subverted. It seems like Gary never will lose his virginity, and then ... he has sex completely out of the blue. Which said, having actually had sex with more than one woman, he faces another problem; experience. He lasts all of 43 seconds his first time, and 45 seconds on other occasions not long after. Sonya even breaks up with him due to his complete satisfaction with doing almost nothing in bed but fondle her. Whether and how he -- or someone else -- can resolve this remains to be seen. He does appear to last longer when he has sex with Senna; being drunk may actually have improved his stamina there.
* {{Fainting}}: Early on, Gary tends to pass out in sexual situations, but he gradually gets over it.
* FanDisservice: A minor case: [[spoiler:[=DiDi=]'s first orgasm, which she achieves via manual stimulation by Kiley. Her O-face is grotesque, and she crushes Kiley's hand with her thighs.]] Still, readers on the comic's discussion boards generally implied that they found the expression more funny than anything else.
* {{Fanservice}}: Pretty much one of the driving forces of the comic, and quite often PlayedForLaughs.
* FanserviceWithASmile:
** [=DiDi=] and (originally) Sandra work in a restaurant that may deliberately offer Hooters-style experience -- or it may just be that those two would generate that effect wherever they worked.
** Zii works at a comic book store where she is obliged to {{cosplay}} as various characters. She is told before she starts that she'll be acting as "counter candy".
* FictionIsntFair: A trope that's mainly PlayedForLaughs in this comic, but which is certainly present:
** Several of the characters are routinely described as {{Karma Houdini}}s by outraged readers.
** Yuki suffered [[HollywoodPsych weird emotional traumas]] [[FreudianExcuse in childhood]] that [[AdultsAreUseless her family]] apparently never really noticed and certainly never had effectively treated, leading her in turn to commit a series of violent assaults on both friends and strangers, without ever being locked up.
** Nor did Gary ever seek treatment for his emotional problems.
* FlashStep: When Erik walks in on Sonya seducing Zii, Sonya not only executes a flash step, she takes Zii's jacket to cover herself on the way.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Present, and eventually interestingly resolved, between Sonya and Yuki. They get on very badly from the first, but it is always clear that Yuki recognizes that Sonya is very attractive; she mostly just treats that as another reason to hate her. Conversely, Kiley suggests quite early on that Sonya may feel some attraction to Yuki, although Sonya denies this. But eventually, for various reasons involving alcohol, [[spoiler:the two wake up naked in bed together, and start fighting -- and end up [[SlapSlapKiss kissing while pulling each other's hair]]. Not that this stops either of them from insisting that they hate the other, even in the middle of subsequent sexual scenes]].
* ForeignCussWord: When [=DiDi=] gets mad at Yuki for not listening to her, she finally explains that she wants to borrow Gary by saying "I want sa queue in my plotte!". The translation should be pretty obvious.
* FourLinesAllWaiting: The comic develops [[PlotThreads personal plots]] for several characters over time, and often features [[SoapWheel a bit of cutting back and forth]], but sometimes, several plots are running very much in parallel,
** The trope really kicks in at the start of volume 6 (strip #751 onwards). There's a certain amount of interweaving, but at one point at least, there are four geographically distinct scenes/locations for the story to cut between, before the focus finally shifts firmly to just one for a while:
*** Gary is in [[spoiler:Paris with Sandra and Senna]].
*** Zii [[spoiler:has just broken up with Erik]] and is worrying about her now-publicly known infatuation with [=DiDi=], while [=DiDi=] is worried about the same and about her possible bisexuality.
*** Sonya just starts thinking about her next move with regard to Zii when Peggy shows up asking for somewhere to sleep for a few days.
*** Kiley and Matt are working on mutual "psychotherapy" when Yuki comes along showing some progress with ''her'' problem and wanting more help.
** Similarly, by the end of the concert at the end of volume 6, the cast have scattered to four different locations, each with some kind of plotline running as volume 7 begins, and some fairly rapid inter-cutting -- although the geographical spread isn't quite so vast this time.
*** Zii, Yuki, and Sonya are at Sonya's place.
*** Gary, Amber, and eventually others are at his apartment.
*** Matt and Peggy are having a night of passion in a motel room.
*** [=DiDi=] and Kiley are making confused attempts at mutual therapy -- in what turns out to be a room in the same motel.
*** There are also other consequences of the night before playing out for Dillon and Ruby in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''.
** In the aftermath of the above, several longer-term plots run in parallel, albeit with occasional cross-connections:
*** Gary is pursuing a new job, which involves dealing with new character Tracy and then turns out to come with an unusual condition attached. This brings him back into contact with...
*** Zii, who meanwhile is distracted by confusion over the idea that his reputed sexual talent can be greater than hers.
*** [=DiDi=] is pursuing a weird relationship with Kiley, who is feeling cornered.
*** Sonya and Yuki are engaged in a relationship based on very good hate-sex. Sonya tries to avoid mentioning this to...
*** Peggy, who may also become entangled with Matt's attempts to prove himself sexually superior to Gary.
*** The band's career may also be a concern for some characters.
* FrameBreak: At one point, in a struggle to stop Zii from stripping him, Gary tries to get away by [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/just_the_shirt grabbing the edge of the panel and trying to pull away so hard it bends.]]
* FreudianCouch:
** Appears occasionally in routine use, if only in Kiley's fantasies about her future career as a therapist, as [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/wayyyyy_out_there here.]]
** [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] and somewhat {{lampshaded}} in the June 13, 2013 strip (#753, NSFW), which appears at first to show a classic Freudian therapy session, complete with couch. But it turns out that the characters have ... other uses for that couch.
* FreudianTrio:
** Gary, Zii, and [=DiDi=] fit this pattern to some extent; see the notes below on PowerTrio.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/nice_and_oily Sandra's subconscious is pictured as manifesting as a trio of figures.]]
* FridgeLogic shows up periodically in-universe in this comic, as a source of humor:
** [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/loving_love Here,]] Zii ponders who to bring to Dillon's play, and imagines Sonya, who would likely be very angry with her, having a blow-up and trying to strangle her. But then Zii stops and wonders aloud "Wait... why would she wait ''until'' we got to the play to get mad?"
** An example that some readers didn't pick up on for days: in strip #489 (August 20, 2011, NSFW), Gary ''thinks'' his gay ex-roommate is giving him kissing tips. [[TheFool Instead]], he has just used the "oral technique" to give three of the greatest orgasms ever to his favorite porn starlet. The comic had recently started titling individual strips, so if you read the name of the strip before you read the comic, it dawns on you before you even see it.
** When [=DiDi=] is trying to seduce Gary so that he uses the "Swirly-Go-Round" technique to give her an orgasm, she tells him that she will be showering alone and naked. Gary asks her how she normally showers.
* AFriendInNeed: Matt [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/be_that_guy cynically invokes this principle]] to ensure that Gary will agree to come back to his place to have sex with two attractive women. Umm... It's a long story, but what Gary doesn't know is that Matt is attempting to restore his own self-confidence by humiliating Gary.
* FriendlyEnemies: Yuki and Sonya, sort of and perhaps increasingly. Their acquaintance started with their fight over Gary, they can't stand each other, physical violence is not unknown -- but they play together in the same band, and if anyone insults the woman they both love (but who they don't, oddly, get to fight over much), they'll snap into a [[LesYay casually sexy embrace]] like a shot, and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/when_time_comes_to_play make their priorities clear.]] That relationship gets even more complicated later.
* FriendsRentControl: Justified in that the series takes place in Montreal, which is a better city for rents than some -- there's a lot of space.[[note]]The island of Montreal is nearly ''ten times'' the size of the classic crowded island city of North America (i.e. Manhattan) with only an about 13% greater population. Also, while Montreal is by all accounts a wonderful and very important city, it isn't the capital of everything like New York is. End result: bigger apartments, less competition for those apartments, leading to lower prices.[[/note]] Two examples:
** The lead trio are a call center worker who spends most of his spare cash on geeky collectibles, a comics shop assistant (hired without negotiation as "counter candy"), and a waitress. The apartment they share looks pretty nice, though, even if the landlady is a serious hard case, and the lease apparently permits her [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/indecent_exposure to enter the place any time she wishes, and apply surcharges to the rent for arbitrary reasons.]]
** Waitress Sonya can afford an apartment of her own, in a block with its own swimming pool.
* FriendsWithBenefits is a pretty common basis for relationships in this setting, but there are a few particular cases:
** Zii and Amber get into a specific friends-with-benefits relationship after Zii calls Amber in desperate need of stress relief. When Amber then gets into possibly-more-serious relationship with Ray (in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''), she cools things with Zii, who starts getting punch-the-wall frustrated as a result.
** Matt and Kiley refer to their rather passionate sexual relationship as a process of [[IntimateHealing mutual therapy]] between friends; Kiley wants to think of herself as a cool, objective therapist, and Matt doesn't see himself as a one-woman man. However, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/just_in_mutual_therapy it then becomes clear to readers that they are potentially becoming a couple,]] with strong hints of real mutual affection. Matt and Kiley, however, develop a bad case of shared SelectiveObliviousness, leading to disaster; Kiley breaks up with Matt over some stupidity on his part, leaving him with the unhappy realization that he had feelings for her, and her in a set of messy and confused "therapeutic" interactions with other women, despite her own heterosexual preferences.
** Zii's attempt to use Matt as a friend with benefits then and thus becomes a bit of an emotional disaster.
** Peggy calls on Gary for stress relief. Surprisingly, although she's using him as an outlet for her pegging fetish despite his (initial) discomfort with that, their subsequent conversation is not only friendly but unusually thoughtful and constructive. They develop an amicable pegging-with-benefits relationship.
* FullNameUltimatum: "Desirée Chastel! Were you spying?"
* FurBikini: Jung obliges Zii to wear what's basically a fur-trimmed bikini (plus AnimalEaredHeadband), and she discovers some specific advantages, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/terrified_of_me_again here.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes G-L]]

* GambitPileup: The first public performance by "Zii and the Troublemakers" is set up to be an epic pile-up, partly due to various characters' gambits, although in the end, there are fewer collisions than there might have been:
** Zii and Yuki mostly just want the gig to be a success. However, the other band playing, "Pretty Boyz with Electric Toyz", happen to be led by their old rival, Angel (on a guest appearance from ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''), and Zii isn't going to back down from any confrontation there. (Angel used to work with them, but the relationship broke down when Zii had sex with Jerzy, who was Angel's boyfriend, at least in Angel's eyes, at that time.)
** [=DiDi=] regards the gig as an opportunity to seduce Gary. [[spoiler:However, she thinks of giving that idea up for various reasons, then gets distracted.]]
** Sonya is in the band, but has brought Peggy along to seduce Gary -- but in [[PaperThinDisguise disguise]], as she also wants to preserve the fiction that she and Peggy are in a relationship, so as to make Zii jealous as part of a long-term seduction scheme. [[spoiler:Peggy gets diverted when she mistakes Matt for Gary.]]
** Amber, visiting from ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', regards the gig as an opportunity to seduce Gary. Initially she hopes that Dillon will be absent, clearing the way for this; later, Zii just points out to her that Dillon really should be over his own crush on Gary by now. [[spoiler:She keeps a fairly low profile, but actually does end up with Gary.]]
** Angel wants to crush Zii, and has summoned an old friend and former lover, Jerzy, to provide moral support. This leads to problems, but more in the ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' plot strands.
** Dillon, guesting in that ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' {{crossover}}, is there (disguised as a woman) to see what his boyfriend Jerzy is up to with Angel, but is also prone to being distracted by his crush on Gary, whatever anyone may hope. [[spoiler:In the end, his goofy ideas and poor impulse control lead to a crash and burn almost entirely by themselves.]]
** Ruby, also visiting from ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', doesn't initially want to be there, but Dillon brings her (disguised as a man) to provide him with some kind of cover. She does enjoy playing detectives and watching Dillon being embarrassed; she's less happy about various embarrassments and uncomfortable realisstions.
** Matt brings Kiley to meet his friends. Largely thanks to some slightly peculiar anonymized conversations, neither realizes that Yuki (who they both know) is in the band, that Kiley has already met Zii and [=DiDi=] briefly, and most importantly that Gary is the subject of both their sets of peculiar obsessions, which they've been helping each other work through. [[spoiler:They end up apart for most of the evening, and end up going off with [=DiDi=] and Peggy respectively for various reasons, so there are few big revelations.]]
** Erik is now managing Pretty Boyz with Electric Toyz; his feelings for Zii since their traumatic break-up are somewhat undetermined, but he's evidently not yet fully over her. [[spoiler:He mostly remains in the background.]]
** Gary was planning a guys' night out with Jung, and is largely oblivious to others' intentions. He enjoys the evening from start to end.
** Jung is there to deliver the band's stage costumes, hang out with Gary, and be snarky. He may not realize how good the opportunity is for the last[[spoiler:, but his costumes work fine]].
* GeekyTurnOn:
** Zii got a job in the comic book shop because comics fans tend to think that they have a chance with indie girls like her.
** When Zii and [=DiDi=] come home dressed in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''-style costumes (for complicated reasons), Gary instantly admits that this resembles one of his dreams. (See strip #190, August 14, 2009, NSFW.)
** It's not ''exactly'' a turn-on, but when Gary gives Yuki a bouquet of faux flowers he made out of drumsticks and [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario mushrooms]], she warms to him considerably and even starts showing genuine if platonic affection for him. Except in her erotic dreams, where he's morphed into a combination of himself and Zii.
** In fact, the mutual interest between Gary and Yuki seem to be powered at least as much by their geeky turn-ons as by their respective physical attractions (although neither is exactly ugly). At their first meeting, [[UptightLovesWild Gary sees Yuki as like a fantasy girl out of the anime he loves]], and then discovers that she's a wannabe manga writer with family connections in the industry; for her part, Yuki initially sees Gary purely as a potential professional partner, but she's pleased that he likes her father's non-porn work, and she subsequently falls for him partly because he puts up with her so well (him being a desperate and compliant nerd).
* GenderFlip:
** Dream sequences will frequently feature one, and it's usually Gary.
** The bonus strips in the [[WebcomicPrintCollection print edition]] of Volume 4 flip everyone who appears.
** In [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/fantasies_in_print this strip,]] Zii discovers a {{yaoi|genre}} comic which seems to [[YaoiGuys illustrate her gay male fantasies ... about herself]]. Even she is a little disconcerted by this.
* GenericCuteness: Giz seems to have difficulty drawing a really unattractive character, unless it's a [[{{Gonk}} total grotesque]] like Eulice. To certain extent, this is perhaps the point of the comic; it's an amiable SexComedy with a significant {{fanservice}} element. There are just a couple of borderline-case aversions:
** Jung, the comics-store-manager geek, could be considered pleasant enough in a well-fed way, and his nameless nerd customers are just gawky adolescents.
** Yvan would probably be regarded as quite passable, in a chunky, PermaStubble'd sort of way, in the real world -- but in this setting, it's almost understandable when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/get_a_better_look Zii gasps in shock at the sight of him.]] Admittedly, his use of AnticipatoryBreathSpray doesn't look good, and he is also [[CannotTalkToWomen socially clumsy]].
* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: When gym owner Gilbert discovers his employee Roxie tussling with [=DiDi=], [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_just_got_this_job he sacks her on the spot]], until [=DiDi=] intervenes. Probably {{Justified|Trope}} in this case, in that Roxie ''is'' fighting physically with a customer, and is also a recent hire who might not yet have job protection -- but the scene is written as a fairly classic instance of the trope in action.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan:
** Kiley does this to Yuki [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/calm_down here]] to stop her from tearing up every magazine with naked men in the store where she works. She even says this exact line. [[CaptainObvious Well, y'know, except for the "man" part]].
** Performed by [=DiDi=] on Zii when she considers sex (and then a threesome) as a way of apologizing for breaking Gary's rare toy.
* GilliganCut: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_sure_this_is_your_girlfriend Strip #1053]], [=DiDi=] talking about Kiley:
-->'''[=DiDi=]:''' I love her, and she loves me. No other girl will come between us!\\
''[cut to Kiley in bed with Sonya and Yuki]''\\
'''Kiley:''' ''[thinking]'' HOW DID I END UP BETWEEN TWO GIRLS?!!
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: This trope is also invoked in-setting from time to time:
** Zii lands her job in the comics shop by [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/cakewalk exploiting the effect ruthlessly.]]
** In strip #173, July 7, 2009 (NSFW), two clothed girls hugging distract a crowd of men from a naked stripper. Though the crowd's reaction may come more from CutenessProximity than from DistractedByTheSexy. (The stripper manages to regain the crowd's attention in the ''following'' strip by exploiting The Sexy.)
** Zii is reminded that Gary is likely to be highly susceptible to the effect [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_like_girls here]].
** When Kiley [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/help_you_with_at_least_half_of_that complains to Matt]] that she has to have sex with a woman, he responds: "As you should. That's hot."
* GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies: After seeing [=DiDi's=] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/gnap%21 reaction]] to a scene in ''Film/{{Night of the Living Dead|1968}}'', Zii wants to watch another scary movie with her; however, they end up watching ''Film/{{REC}}'', and both get ''seriously'' scared.
* GivingUpTheGhost: The comic shows its manga influences by borrowing this motif in strip #202, where Yuki [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_guess_i_misjudged_you almost kills Gary]] and #915 (August 2, 2014, NSFW), when Kiley is almost suffocated.
* TheGlomp: Yuki does this to Zii on occasion.
* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Both types can be identified, although the comic generally has a relaxed attitude to sex and to open relationships. (On the other hand, it has few married characters.) The general assumption seems to be that cheating (in marriage or other committed relationships) is bad, but if the wronged partner subsequently cheats themselves, that's forgiveable revenge. So Angele, who had been putting up with a cheating husband for years, is in effect rescued by Zii, whereas Nathan's adultery is just part of his general obnoxiousness. On the other hand, Sonya letting herself be seduced by Zii, despite being in a relationship, is treated as just something that happens, and Amber and Dillon aren't judged much if at all for sleeping with Nathan, even though they know that he's married.
* GoodAngelBadAngel: A standard comics trope that shows up here from time to time.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_heard_the_tiny_angel Zii has a pair,]] though her moral issues don't always reduce to Good vs. Bad.
*** The trope is occasionally subverted by [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/coop_lungeuhil%EF%BC%9F%EF%BC%9F the two]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_am_losing_him working together.]]
*** At other times, the devil has the angel BoundAndGagged, as in strip #57 (October 01, 2008).
*** At others again (strip #846, February 04, 2014, NSFW), her shoulder figures are simply a pair of naked women -- Zii isn't getting any moral or immoral ideas from anywhere, she's just being driven to the point of insanity by temptation.
*** And at perhaps [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_do_not_have_it_in_you her weirdest moment,]] the devil gives up without trying, knowing that it will lose this argument, giving the confused angel a nervous breakdown.
** Gary's shoulder angel is unsure how to handle the AttractiveBentGender Dillon; both it and his devil are [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/wowipop highly tempted to make out with their counterparts from Dillon's shoulders.]]
** [=DiDi's=] duo show up occasionally:
*** Her shoulder devil gets called up for the first time since the third grade when she contemplates a little manipulative lesbian adventuring in strip #261 (February 10, 2010), and is [[DistractedByTheSexy promptly impressed by her own bust]]. However, it's scared off by her gigantic [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/good_girl good angel]]. ([=DiDi=] sees herself as a very good person, at least at this point.)
*** Later, her angel -- operating at more normal size -- actually manages to smack her hard enough to sting for having bad thoughts. (Strip #585, April 07, 2012; borderline NSFW.)
*** Later still, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/we_can_pass_this_test_of_hers both angel and devil are shown in almost-rational conversation.]] Both are now the same size, which may or may not deliberately symbolize her [[CharacterDevelopment developing a more balanced personality]].
* AGoodNameForARockBand: A minor example is hastily adopted [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/a_little_rebellious here,]] after Zii has suddenly realised that her new band ''needs'' a name.
* GoThroughMe: Zii tries this when running interference for Gary and his apparent new girlfriend Kiley. [[BoobsOfSteel [=DiDi=]]] merely sets her aside (strip #554, January 26, 2012, NSFW).
* GratuitousFrench: The series ''is'' set in Usefulnotes/{{Montreal}}, the largest city of French Canada, though [=DiDi=] seems to be the only major character afflicted with the condition. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/nerf_ball At least one one-shot character]] also manifests the trope, though. In addition, the comic's title may count; see BilingualBonus.
* GratuitousJapanese: Yuki, being Japanese, uses Japanese idioms several times.
* GroinAttack: Yuki does this a ''lot''.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/chuk Poor Gary]], especially since it's NotWhatItLooksLike. Though [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_hard_way he had it easy]].
** Later, Yuki goes on an epic rampage after a psychotic breakdown when Sonya produced a strap-on -- right after Yuki ''almost'' got over her condition enough to go down on Gary. She almost calms down, then she overhears some guys talking about art her father drew of two characters based on her having tentacle sex together...
** And another groin assault is implied in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_touched_it another strip]]. Poor Gary.
** Much later, it's established that [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/goodie-goodie_facade Yuki is something of an equal-opportunity groin attacker]].
* TheGruntingOrgasm: Male responses in the comic's numerous sex scenes vary, but some occasionally make some noise. Notably, Gary's first time involves a very audible "virginnnnGhhggnnn", to Kiley's bemusement. (Strip #539, December 15, 2011, NSFW.)
* GuyOnGuyIsHot: Not only do we get [[CampGay Dillon]] and [[BiTheWay Matt]] as an early [[YaoiGuys homosexual couple]] and more than enough [[{{Fanservice}} random male homosexual couples making out to decorative effect]], we also get [[YaoiFangirl Zii]] proving obsessed with {{yaoi}} (though, to be fair, she does like bisexual and lesbian porn as well). [=DiDi=] doesn't exactly seem to mind yaoi either.
* HalloweenEpisode: A very minor example [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/spoooooky_candle here,]] but the strip's date is what it is.
* HandOrObjectUnderwear:
** Gary first tries to use a pillow, then, when [=DiDi=] takes it away from him (in her sleep), Lita (which, according to Zii is [[GroinAttack a really bad idea]]), then finally, when Zii startles him and he drops Lita, his hands.
** Matt mentions the end of a [[OrphanedPunchLine funny story]] about Gary where he ends up using a ''jar of pickles'' this way.
* HandSignals: Many of the characters are prone to use these, albeit often as much as signs to the readers of their reactions to events as attempts to communicate with each other. Many of the specific signs they use come from anime or manga; these act as a cultural BilingualBonus to readers familiar with that material.
* HappyPlace: Yuki has one. It contains three Ziis, all dressed as Franchise/SailorMoon. She [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/poppushikuru goes there]] when stressed from trying to give oral sex to Gary.
* {{Headdesk}}:
** Gary's [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/do_not_be_silly reaction]] to what Zii says about Yuki.
** Zii [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/where_it_all_began does this herself]] when she realises just how many ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' cartoons she's just promised to watch.
* HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath: "Heroic" is a debatable adjective for any character in this comic, but the writers seem to like using this effect for comedy, although the blue screen effect rarely lasts very long.
** [=DiDi=] can induce a BSOD in many people by walking into a room in a tight top. (Strip #10, June 06, 2008; NSFW, because it's [=DiDi=] in a tight top.) In one sequence of strips, when Zii is feeling especially susceptible and [=DiDi=] persistently fails to comprehend the problem and [[NoNudityTaboo keeps being careless about clothing]], Zii ends up in a series of incoherent blue-screen states; see, e.g., strip #854, February 22, 2014 (NSFW).
** The prospect of dating two girls at once is too much for Gary; Zii and [=DiDi=] find him lying on the floor in a TroubledFetalPosition. He also passes out entirely when he realizes that he had just [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/can_i_have_your been practicing the "swirly" technique by eating Amber out rather than kissing Dillon]], and suffers similar effects on other occasions -- such as [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/that_makes_things_easy here]], when a sexual prospect is combined with a tough choice in other respects.
** Zii seems to be suffering a brief blue screen as she realizes that [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/like_any_other Erik may be more than a quick fling to her]]. She also gets momentarily hysterical but then depressed and introverted (and maybe even thoughtful) when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/not_that_i_care Peggy gets inside her head.]]
** Allie occasionally suffers brief paralysis in the face of Sonya's odder behaviour, leading to reactions such as [[DramaticDrop dropped]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/mad%EF%BC%9F_mad%EF%BC%9F coffee jugs]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_take_the_initiative trays.]]
** [=DiDi=] suffers one [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_just_a_mild_craving here]] in the face of Zii's attempt to clarify her feelings for her. It's probably the "nothing to worry about" that makes Zii's speech confusing. Or maybe terrifying.
** When Gary returns to Montreal after his trip to Paris (with guest appearance in ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks''), he and Zii provide each other with brief summaries of events in the two places (though Gary's account, being more detailed, is a bit of a WallOfText). As a result, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/that_i_had_in_this_room_actually Zii induces a momentary blue screen in Gary,]] and then [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/famous_brazilian_fashion_model Gary completely stuns Zii.]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Dillon and Sandra have gone off to their own titles (''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' and ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' respectively), but both still make occasional appearances in this comic. Hence, when they do, they can be regarded as Heroes of Other Comics here.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Matt strong-arms Kiley and Gary into an orgy in an attempt to humiliate Gary. When Kiley finds out, she dumps him right away.
* HollywoodPsych:
** Yuki's "delusions" follow Hollywood logic. She's entirely sane (if [[{{Yandere}} abrasive]]) all of the time except for one very specific trigger, whereupon she becomes '''completely''' psychotic and violent, then snaps back to normal as if nothing has happened. It's the usual Hollywood combination of schizophrenia with dissociative identity disorder (and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder), while {{Flanderiz|ation}}ing psychosis (meaning out-of-touch with reality) into rampaging violence -- all frequently PlayedForLaughs, although the idea that Yuki is ''tragically'' nuts does sometimes arise.
** The way that various mostly-sane characters hallucinate Gary's face onto other people, often during sex, is something probably not much found in the annals of realistic psychiatry, either.
* {{Homage}}: When Kiley is attempting to investigate the nature of [=DiDi's=] emotional problem by the (yes, very questionable) method of making love to her, she needs to become very romantic. Her imagination promptly draws on ''Film/DonJuanDemarco'' -- a movie about a psychiatrist who becomes emotionally involved when treating someone with romantically-based psychological problems. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/open_your_heart Her imagination generates some appropriate (and cute) imagery, too.]]
* HomoeroticDream: Given the complex, flexible, and sometimes confused sexualities of most of the cast, it's not surprising that this trope is both played straight and played with every which way from time to time. For example, Yuki sometimes changes Gary's gender in her dreams in order to square her feelings for him with her self-image as lesbian, while the bisexual Matt dreams of gay sex with the straight Gary less as erotic than as a reflection of his own insecurities about Gary's sexual successes.
* HopeSpot:
** For a long time, every time it seems like Gary might get laid, StatusQuoIsGod comes into play, preventing him enjoying even the thought of a possibility of sex, if he even makes it that far. (Whenever [=DiDi=] or Zii guilt-trip themselves into the idea of giving themselves to him, one talks the other out of it; Amber wants to repay him with a threesome -- but with [[HoYay Dillon]]; Yuki and Sonya fight a tug-of-war over him, etc.). He finally succeeds when ''Kiley'' of all people pounces him after he consoles her over her failure to help Yuki.
** Further to that last, though -- Gary and Kiley seem made for each other, helping each other with their insecurities and problems. It seems they have overcome their woobie tendencies with each other, only to discover that Yuki never left the country, and so Kiley ends things for her patient's benefit.
** Also, for much of the comic's run, every time it seems like [=DiDi=] will finally get an orgasm, something prevents it, like guys just being unable to satisfy her, her first time with Matt being interrupted by Zii, or Yuki [[GroinAttack kicking]] Matt in her psychotic rage. Her first attempt to get Gary to use the Swirly-Go-Round on her is interrupted because there are other people in the house, while her next chance with Matt ends up in lots of pain for him over some "salad oil" that wasn't. Then, when she and Matt are actually ''in coitus'', she ruins the mood with a WrongNameOutburst, which also makes Matt hallucinate that he is in bed with a female Gary. But then, as with Gary, the problem goes away ... or rather, changes its nature.
* HospitalHottie:
** Thanks to a combination of GenericCuteness and the need to set up a gag, this trope is demonstrated by [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_demand_you_examine_this_man a male nurse here]].
** Peggy's good looks are generally treated as unrelated to her job as a nurse. However, in a 2015 PDF bonus story associated with a Kickstarter project, meeting her on duty at the hospital causes Gary to dream about her more or less falling out of her scrubs.
** Another bonus story has Peggy initially objecting to the trope, but then finding it amusing to get ''Gary'' dressed up in a "sexy nurse" outfit.
* HotLibrarian: The effect is demonstrated magnificently by [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_planned_treachery the evil version of Sandra here,]] with a healthy added dose of EvilIsSexy. Unfortunately, this strip is about Senna being an UnreliableNarrator.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/really%EF%BC%9F Jung chastises Zii for reading]] {{Yaoi|Fangirl}} when she's supposed to be working. She points out that ''he'' eats when ''he's'' supposed to be working.
** After Amber storms out after wildly accusing a groggy [=DiDi=] of maltreating Gary, Yuki gives us this gem:
-->'''Yuki:''' Zii, you need to stop hanging around crazy people.
* IAteWhat: A similar reaction to this is sparked when Zii asks Yuki if she washed the spatula she had used to spank [=DiDi=] before using it to make crepes.
* IBangedYourMom: Zii [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/no_need_for_formality makes this a valid claim]] as [[DisproportionateRetribution revenge on an internet troll]] [[{{Irony}} who has this as his sig]].
* ICallHimMisterHappy: In strip #760 (Jul 02 2013, not ''exactly'' NSFW, but let's not take chances), Kiley, Yuki, and Matt all refer to Matt's penis as "Mr. Pokey." No, we're not going to give you more context.
* IdealizedSex: A lot of characters in this comic have a lot of ''good'' sex, some of which may tip over into idealization...
** For example, in strip #780 (Aug 20 2013, NSFW), Gary manages an allegedly earth-shaking performance with Senna despite being very drunk, on an aircraft seat, and potentially distracted by Senna's {{transsexual}} anatomy. However, it's possible that Senna is piling on the flattery there, and also conceivable that Gary's previous SpeedSex problem has been ''mitigated'' by the booze.
** The trope is also {{discussed|Trope}} when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/wing*girl* Zii explains to Gary]] why porn is not a good source of information as to what women do and don't like.
** The idea is also exploited and averted for (slightly cruel) laughs after Yuki and Gary first have full intercourse. Yuki, who was in a partial fugue state at the time, convinces herself that is was passionate "Lovemaking to make the gods weep!" Actually, she was psychotically violent, and almost throttled Gary.
* IdiotBall: Keeps passing from one character to the next. Semi-serious fan theory has some of the cast being somewhere on the [[UsefulNotes/HighFunctioningAutism autistic spectrum]], but even the more socially adept ones can turn stupid when [[IdiotPlot the plot demands it.]] Sometimes, the idiocy tips over into sheer insanity, as for example when Senna interprets Gary's enthusiastic explanations of geek culture to Sandra as him attempting to sabotage Sandra's career as a favor to her.
* IdiotHair: Seen, in subtle forms, on Gary and Zii, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_can_not_wait here]] and elsewhere. However, in this comic, serious single-strand effects are mostly used to represent surprise rather than stupidity or weirdness, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sure_does_clean_up_nice as here.]]
* IDontWantToRuinOurFriendship: Specifically [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_encouraged invoked by [=DiDi=]]] the first time that she decides that she's bisexual, in order to reassure Zii that their [[JustFriends friendship]] will remain secure. Zii finds this very frustrating.
* IfItsYouItsOkay:
** [=DiDi=], whose sex appeal verges on the supernatural, seems to induce this in women. Early on, the straight Sandra seeks to have an affair with her (though that ends badly). Then Sonya, whose only previous lesbian interest has been in Zii (itself seeming to be a possible example of the trope, and probably making Zii her ClosetKey), is drawn magnetically to her breasts. Then Peggy offers her PitySex, but admits to being quite happy to do so; while Peggy's interest in lesbian sex is normally limited, it gets a lot stronger with [=DiDi=] in prospect. Later, when Kiley gives her an example of a hypothetical romantic proposition, [=DiDi=] is overwhelmed and proposes sex; Kiley accepts, though she hadn't shown any interest in women before.
** Conversely and ironically, [=DiDi=] herself, while sometimes unsure of her own sexuality, mostly pursues men. However, following that incident with Kiley, she decides that she's found the love of her life -- and hence that she is now a lesbian.
** Sonya generally [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday insists]] that she's ''Not A Lesbian'', with an exception for Zii. However, it's obvious to anyone who knows what the words mean that she's a functional bisexual (with Zii as her ClosetKey). How she adjusts her self-image when she starts having full-scale sexual relationships with other women remains to be seen ([[spoiler:though given that the first other woman in question turns out to be her arch-enemy Yuki, there's plenty of scope for weird denial]]).
** Back when Angel and Zii were friends, Zii believed that Angel was strictly into women, and she tends to be clear on stuff like that -- but then it turned out that Angel was (and still is) [[LoveMakesYouCrazy obsessed]] with Jerzy. (Strip #862, March 13, 2014, NSFW.) Ironically, Jerzy says at that point that they were never a couple and their one night together was a mistake ([[spoiler:though things get a little bit complicated in that respect in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'']]).
* IllBeInMyBunk: Zii and Gary ... play guitar and rub their earlobes in strip #319 (June 25, 2010, possibly marginally NSFW).
* ImaginaryLoveTriangle: One develops and dissipates within a few seconds [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/little_bumblezii here.]]
* ImagineSpot: Single-panel fantasy scenes, quite reliably delineated by a thought bubble, are used fairly frequently throughout this comic for comedy effect. For example, [=DiDi=] imagines herself as a superheroine after [[spoiler:her first orgasm]], Kiley imagines herself with a HookHand after getting her hand accidentally crushed, and Gary imagines both Senna (with Sandra VoodooDoll) and Tracy (with James, who realizes that they're being imagined and says Hi) while talking about his recent and possible relationships.
* ImAManICantHelpIt: Funnily enough, the male characters don't generally bother much with this excuse, at least on screen; Gary is just too passive and confused to make coherent excuses for his occasional, largely accidental, philandering, and Matt just knows that he's a bastard. Anyway, the female characters are just as openly controlled by their hormones. However, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/that_was_tight Zii does point out to Yuki that Gary may tend this way,]] which may be why Yuki isn't too surprised to find a couple of naked women in Gary's wardrobe later that evening.
* TheImmodestOrgasm: Very few of the cast are exactly quiet at moments of climax, and sexual activity usually seems to be audible through closed doors.
** The Swirly-Go-Round technique amplifies this, enabling Gary to induce the effect in Amber, and later in Kiley. And Yuki. And Sonya. And others.
--->'''Yuki:''' ''[[ItMakesSenseInContext TIRAMISUUUUUUUUU!!!]]''
** For a variant, [[spoiler: Didi's first]] orgasm, given to her by [[spoiler: Kiley]], is only moderately loud, but is intense enough for her to ''crush [[spoiler:Kiley]]'s hand''.
* ImplausibleDeniability:
** Gary suffers badly in an early meeting with Yuki:
--->'''Gary''': YOUR DAD IS TAKERU "TENTACLE KING" OYAMA?! THE PREMIER TENTACLE HENTAI ARTIST OF THE DOUJIN WORLD?! ''(catches Yuki's [[DeathGlare look]])'' I... I mean... I have no idea who that is.
** In strip #317 (June 21, 2010), when Zii nibbles Gary's earlobe:
--->'''Zii:''' D'you just cream your--\\
'''Gary:''' No, but on an unrelated topic, I need to go shower right away.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Clear cases, slightly foggier ones, and aversions, are all present:
** Gary and Dillon were never meant to be, despite Dillon's hopes. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/polish_your_pearl Dillon admits this early on]], but can't stop hoping -- or refrain from pushing his luck with Gary.
** [=DiDi=] initially thinks she is entirely straight, to the frustration of bisexual Zii. Then she decides that she might be gay or more likely bi, but {{friend zone}}s Zii. Then she decides she is definitely straight. Then she gets experimental again, but is too terrified by Zii's ensuing declaration of passion to follow through there, especially once they had both sober up. But anyway, in all cases, the result is a frustrated Zii.
** Yuki and Gary seem for a while like another case in point, despite Zii's belief that Yuki is bisexual. However, Yuki starts having erotic dreams about a {{Gender Ben|der}}t rendition of Gary, and sets out to resolve the issues that keep her away from men. This leads in due course to a not-fully-consummated relationship, but that ends unhappily. Still, with Yuki again seeking therapy, that story may well not be over yet.
** After Amber experiences Dillon's version of the Swirly-Go-Round technique, she keeps angling for repeats for a while, despite Dillon's tendency to scream in terror at the request.
** Dillon had an experimental and totally unsuccessful threesome with two very willing girls back in his schooldays. [[ChickMagnet His tendency to attract women]] despite his lack of interest in them is a problem that recurs in [[Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns his own comic]].
* InelegantBlubbering: Most of the characters in this comic are more sentimental than they maybe want to admit, and can be provoked into dramatic crying at times (perhaps because of manga influences on the writing and art). For example, Matt demonstrates this tendency over [[spoiler:Kiley]], Adrien responds to a couple of traumas by weeping, though quietly and not forcefully enough to count as OcularGushers, and Kiley can get this emotional too despite her determination to act as a cool-headed therapist.
* InformedPoverty: Well, at least informed income mediocrity among many of the cast. For example, the lead trio share what looks like a nice apartment, rarely worry where the next month's rent is coming from, and seem to have adequate free time. See the notes on FriendsRentControl above.
* InHarmsWay: The comic is a comedy soap opera, with a fair number of break-ups and screaming arguments, and occasionally physical violence (usually when Yuki runs amok). But it has become clear that some of the characters ''like'' things that way.
** Sonya emerged from her original life as a naive waitress to become a {{competiti|onFreak}}ve adrenaline junkie who not only chases the exciting Zii but deliberately provokes Yuki from time to time, breaks up with Gary because she finds him too inexperienced, and seems to regard [=DiDi=] as ''interesting'' competition.
** Zii, who was developing a serious relationship with Erik, kept being tempted by her "irresistible poison" Sonya and by sex goddess [=DiDi=].
** Matt, though, is the one who ''really'' lives for danger; see [[Characters/MenageA3 the characters page]].
* {{Inherently Funny Word|s}}: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/my_begonias "Begonias"]] according to [[WordOfGod Dave Zero1]]
* InnocentInnuendo: "Dillon! What have you done to my giant-size man-thing?! It's... It's all STICKY!!!" Yes, this sentence can have an innocent meaning. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/nothing_exciting_ever_happens See here, and the following strips.]] It's the name of a [[AluminumChristmasTrees real]] [[http://marvel.wikia.com/Giant-Size_Man-Thing_Vol_1_2 comic book]].
* InsaneTrollLogic: Several characters demonstrate this at times. Yuki is especially prone, particularly when she's upset. She sometimes [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/any_physical_affection recognizes when she's being unreasonable,]] though it doesn't always stick:
-->'''Yuki:''' He kissed another girl! How can he possibly do that when he doesn't even know that I might possibly be considering liking him?! Oh, right... All that stuff I just said...
* IntercontinuityCrossover: A minor example; according to [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/worst_moment_to_pass_out_-_guest one guest strip,]] [=DiDi=] is BFF with Cecania from ''Webcomic/SoreThumbs''.
* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: The trope is kind of accidentally invoked when Yuki and Sonya's SlapSlapKiss turns out to have been [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/goodie-goodie_facade a particularly extreme case]].
-->'''Sonya:''' Oh you're into kinkier stuff than your goodie-goodie facade lets on. ''I'' had never been "fisted" before.
-->'''Yuki:''' Oh, ''that!'' Actually, [[GroinAttack I punched you in the vagina]] and my hand got caught. Sorry 'bout that, I guess.
* InterruptedIntimacy: Matt being interrupted during sex is a RunningGag. It also happens to [[spoiler:Yuki and Sonya.]]
* IntimatePsychotherapy: Kiley and Matt meet while both undergoing therapy from the same professional (for problems that have more in common than they realise), begin comparing notes constructively, and rather rapidly end up in bed together. They refer to this as "therapy", and do seem to get a lot of help from it.
* IntoxicationEnsues: When Senna notices that Gary is nervous about flying for the first time, she offers to get him a drink. He tries to tell her that he doesn't want anything alcoholic; she doesn't listen. She fetches him a Blue Curacao-based frozen cocktail, and tries to tell him that it isn't, as he thinks, a Slush Puppy; he doesn't listen. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/digging_this_new_flavor Things rapidly go downhill from there.]] [[KissingUnderTheInfluence A long way downhill.]] [[QuestionableConsent A very long way.]]
* IronicEchoCut: Demonstrated [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_sure_this_is_your_girlfriend here]]:
-->'''[=DiDi:=]''' No other girl will come between us!\\
'''Kiley:''' ''HOW DID I END UP BETWEEN TWO GIRLS?!!''
* {{Irony}}: Sandra's dialogue [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/hyster_cal_blonde in]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/dans_les_fesses%EF%BC%9F these]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/looks_like_a_man strips]], among other occurrences in this comedy comic.
* IsThatCuteKidYours: Sort of inverted when Sandra mistakes the adult (if petite) Zii for [=DiDi=]'s daughter.
* IThinkYouBrokeHim: See strip #82, November 28, 2008. NSFW; well, the breaking trigger ''is'' the offer of a threesome.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/our_arrangement_is_over This strip]] hints at an unusual variant of the trope (involving therapeutic ethics), and then lampshades the hint.
* ItsTheBestWhateverEver:
** Jung was prepared to give the play in which Dillon features a horrible review, but after all the entertainment from Sandra's fight with Dillon over Matt, he pronounces it the "Best. Play. '''Ever.'''"
** When Amber describes to Zii how wonderful she felt when Gary used the Swirly-Go-Round on her, she says it was the "Best. Orgasm. '''Ever.'''" Zii gets angry because she feels Gary has been holding out on her.
** Gary thinks Yuki is the "Best girlfriend ever" when she tells [=DiDi=] that she must stay naked around him all the time.
* IveHeardOfThatWhatIsIt: Punchline of [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/must_be_made_aware the July 6 2010 strip]].
* JizzedInMyPants:
** Gary responds when Zii nibbles his earlobe (strip #317, June 21, 2010).
** According to a flashback, someone called Dave apparently suffered similarly due to [=DiDi's=] charms (strip #125, March 16, 2009, NSFW).
** Yuki shows Gary what she can do to Zii by targeting her [[AffectionateNickname "super secret cream-your-panties happy fun spot"]] -- Zii's big toe. Yuki makes Zii collapse almost instantly by sucking on that. Zii swoons -- and Gary gets a {{nosebleed}}.
* JustFriends:
** Zii seems to have stuck Gary firmly into the {{friend zone}} from very early on, basically because he's such a hopeless geek. Her attitude towards him is mostly [[LikeBrotherAndSister sisterly]] at best, patronising at worst; she finds the idea of sleeping with him [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/vivacious_woman ridiculous.]] Gary accepts this; while both his confidence with women and his awareness of Zii's attractiveness grow through the course of the plot, he identifies her as a cool friend who is prepared to help him (and as unattainable, if only because she has made that clear). However, there have been very broad hints of a growing mutual attraction between them (and Zii is certainly intellectually curious about Gary's peculiar sexual talents); the problem is whether this can overcome their shared established assumptions.
** Even when she thinks [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_encouraged she may be bisexual,]] [=DiDi=] sees Zii as [[IDontWantToRuinOurFriendship too good a friend]] to risk a sexual relationship with her (except when she gets ''very'' drunk and desperate). Zii's opinion on the matter is different.
** Matt and Kiley hit the trope at a very odd angle. They quickly enter a strong FriendsWithBenefits relationship, which they both refer to as a process of [[IntimatePsychotherapy mutual therapy]]. Kiley wants to think of herself as a cool, objective therapist, and Matt doesn't see himself as a one-woman man. However, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/just_in_mutual_therapy it then becomes clear to readers that they are becoming a couple,]] with strong hints of real mutual affection. Matt and Kiley, however, develop a bad case of shared SelectiveObliviousness.
--->'''Matt:''' Don't worry, Kiley. We are just in mutual therapy, like you said. We're not a couple.\\
'''Kiley:''' K.\\
'''Matt:''' By the way, we're low on bread and milk.\\
'''Kiley:''' And bottles of laundry detergent. Let's stop by the market to pick up a couple.
* KarmaHoudini is a label sometimes thrown around by outraged readers of the comic, as most of the characters seem to get away with comedic stuff that veers into the morally questionable. (Zii starts out as a self-indulgent trickster, Matt is an unfaithful bastard, Yuki is psychotically violent...) However, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty things do tend to get more complicated for them eventually]]. The comic illustrates why the definition of KarmaHoudini generally requires that the work be finished before the trope is attached to any characters, though it's clear that "{{Karma}}" just doesn't work ''[[CallItKarma simply]]'' or [[FictionIsntFair reliably]] in this setting.
* {{Kayfabe}}: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/show_her_the_ropes Roxie and Brandy are both bemused]] to discover that [=DiDi=] is unaware of the idea, and [[TheDitz takes wrestling completely seriously]].
* KeepItForeign: In the French translation of the comic, [=DiDi=]'s GratuitousFrench is turned into GratuitousEnglish.
* KeyUnderTheDoormat: A trope used just once, when Sonya wants to get into the apartment with a view to seducing Gary; she knows that the residents keep a spare key hidden under a window ledge. (Strip #675, November 22, 2012, NSFW.)
* KinkySpanking:
** Zii is inevitably TooKinkyToTorture; see strip #188, August 10, 2009 (NSFW).
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/extra_credit "Extra Credit"]] -- an incident that perhaps started out more as ComedicSpanking, although it's not clear that [=DiDi=] ever actually intended to chastise the bound Yuki, who she thought was a burglar.
** Yuki hogties [=DiDi=] with NES controller cords and tells her she'll only be released when she admits that Gary is Yuki's boyfriend; she doesn't, so Yuki spanks her. That may be more ComedicSpanking, but then [=DiDi=] seems to be getting into it, until Zii comes in. (Strip #612, June 12, 2012, onwards -- NSFW).
** Tracy ropes Gary into assisting with one of her Webcam performances, which is all about spanking. After the show ends, she complains that he got carried away, apparently spanking her harder than he should have.
* KissingUnderTheInfluence: Typically [[UpToEleven turned up to 11]] in this comic, as characters rarely stop at a kiss.
** It's not their first time together, but Sonya finally gets Zii ''back'' into bed (well, on the floor to begin with) when they're both very blitzed (in strip #737, May 4 2013, NSFW).
** The trope also appears, with possible overtones of [[QuestionableConsent dubious consent]], when Gary (finally) gets to have sex with Senna while he's very drunk (strip #780, August 20 2013, NSFW).
* KnuckleCracking: When Dillon [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/twirl asks Zii out of the blue if she wants to make out with him]] (in strip #159, June 03, 2009), she stands up, wordlessly hands her guitar to Gary, does the neck variant of this, and jumps him.
* LaserGuidedKarma is actually rather rare in this comic, given the amount of karma-baiting engaged in by many of the cast, but there are occasional instances...
** After sending Sandra on [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/senna_and_sandra_-_part_2_-_1_and_2_of_7 a series of difficult and pointless errands]], and generally treating her badly, Senna gets hers [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/senna_and_sandra_-_part_2_-_3_of_7 here]], when a rich, famous, and handsome photographer decides that he wants Sandra to model for him instead. And then [[CallItKarma karma]], looking reliable for once in this comic, drives the point home when the photographer puts Senna in a [[LiteralMetaphor female]] [[VisualPun dog]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/senna_and_sandra_-_part_2_-_6_of_7 costume]].
** Karma of a sort finally catches up with Matt in the course of his WillTheyOrWontThey arc with Kiley, when she breaks up with him over his treatment of Gary. The guidance system has taken over a thousand strips to kick in, mind you...
* LastSecondWordSwap: Happens [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110201.html twice here.]]
* LateToThePunchline: Gary takes a while actually to see Zii as a ''girl'', rather than as a friend (strip #237, December 11, 2009, NSFW).
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Zii makes a reference to how much time she's spent as Gary's roommate. To express the frustrations she's caused him, he responds with [[WebcomicTime a time frame that matches up with the amount of years the comic had run at the time.]]
-->'''Zii:''' It's only been a ''month'' since I moved in!\\
'''Gary:''' Really? Feels like two years.
* LeftHanging: While unresolved PlotThreads aren't a major problem with this comic, the creators do occasionally set ideas running that evidently just don't work out. For example, at one point, Takeru acts as [[TheMentor mentor]] to Gary, while apparently expecting Gary to marry Yuki, and dangling the prospect of a job in his studio in front of Gary's nose. Then [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse he just disappears from the story]], presumably returning to Japan. Some such characters do occasionally return after long gaps, but it's not guaranteed.
* LegCling: Having a "big announcement" to make to the trio (actually just that he has some free play tickets to give out), Dillon's joking sense of the dramatic kicks in; [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_greatest_of_gifts he carefully sets up a leg cling tableau,]] with Zii on one of his legs and [=DiDi=] on the other. Typically, although Zii just looks confused by this, [=DiDi=] throws herself into the act with enthusiasm.
* LesbianJock: Three out of the five female professional wrestlers introduced so far qualify (Roxie, Brandy, and Lynn). Of the other two, Maura is straight (she {{fangirl}}ed [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_went_to_see_her_now hard]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/wash_it_off over Lynn]], which could be mistaken for attraction, but [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_made_me_do_it she wasn't willing to go all the way]]), and Tess is unconfirmed (she's only shown attraction to men so far, but [[EveryoneIsBi this is a Giz comic]] so one can never be sure). Also, new trainee [=DiDi=] currently identifies as lesbian, although her record is functionally bisexual.
* LetsWaitAWhile: Used in very limited forms, mostly for comedy, a few times:
** Gary takes this line with Yuki (strip #523, November 8, 2011, NSFW), less out of moral restraint than because her dangerous psychosis is clearly still active. He repeats the sentiment later (strip #688, December 22, 2012, NSFW), for similar reasons.
** (His earlier [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_learned_a_lot "shouldn't we go on a date first" lines]] to Senna were more of a defensive reaction to her very ''forward'' teasing.)
** Peggy initially falls in with Sonya's plans to make her Gary's new girlfriend, but, being less drunk (and generally saner) than Sonya, she has [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/here_to_do_a_good_deed mild second thoughts]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/gotsha when she gets the chance]], and suggests that she maybe ought to at least get to know Gary before having sex with him. Sonya is having none of that, however.
* LingerieScene: The female characters disrobe fairly frequently, and may turn out to be wearing bras. However, the comic's lingerie scenes don't tend to rate as especially erotic, because it has such a relaxed approach to toplessness (and rear-view nudity) at other times.
** Played more straight since the creators of the comic decided to stop showing female nipples to get more advertisements on their website. In recent strips, women often have sex while having a bra or a shirt on.
* LittleBlackDress: Several of the women in the strip employ this style from time to time:
** [=DiDi=] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110312.html wears one]] for her date with Sandra, and later, for a [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_perfect_evening date with Matt]].
** Sonya's use of the trope [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_real_woman is pretty much weapons-grade.]]
** Chanelle [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_am_not_picky knows how to wear one, too.]]
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Although the comic has, by definition, a primary cast of three, the writers have never been entirely averse to adding supporting characters, and it has been running for long enough to accumulate a fair-sized secondary cast, some of whom have {{ascended|Extra}} from bit-part status quite dramatically. Even members of the core trio can drop out of sight for many weeks of strips sometimes as the viewpoint focuses elsewhere.
* LongList: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100204.html [=DiDi's=] list of guys she considers inviting to a play]], and later [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/huzzabuh her list of past sexual partners,]] are both epics.
* LovableSexManiac: Many of the characters verge in this in their better horny moments, but see especially Yuki in relation to Zii, during her early appearances. Shortly after her introduction, she demands that Zii [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/grrr make love to her]] atop Gary's unconscious body. Later, she nearly succeeds in seducing Zii by targeting her [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/happy_fun_spot! "happy fun spot"]], and finally succeeds [[http://www.menagea3.net/strips-ma3/polish_your_pearl by nibbling her earlobe]]; after which Zii gives in and "polishes her pearl".
* LoveDodecahedron: You'll need an organization chart (a big one, with lots of horizontal dotted lines), especially since the comic spun off two other comics that occasionally cross over with this one. The Crib Notes for new readers:
** '''Everyone''' except Dillon is attracted to [=DiDi=], one way or another. Even Eulice comments on her attractiveness -- and even Dillon is ''impressed'' by her.
** [=DiDi=] was attracted to Sandra (but that seems to have ended); is attracted to Gary to a lesser but non-trivial extent, and became obsessed by stories of his sexual talent; dated Erik, Matt, and apparently half the other men in Montreal; had sex with [[spoiler:Peggy]]; almost had sex with [[spoiler:Zii]]; and proposed sex with [[spoiler:Kiley]] in a moment of deranged romanticism after the latter gave her an example of a hypothetical romantic proposition. Weirdly, this led to [[spoiler:Kiley giving her her first conscious orgasm, despite Kiley being straight]]. [=DiDi=] therefore fell in love with her, and trapped her in a weird relationship. Her feelings generally are ... somewhat enigmatic, often problematic, but usually very enthusiastic.
** Zii had a relationship with Yuki; had sex with Amber (years ago and again recently in a FriendsWithBenefits arrangement), [[spoiler:Jerzy]] (months ago), and Sonya (plus Sonya's then-boyfriend Jake, in the course of the story); had a relationship with Erik; is possibly attracted to Gary in a confused sort of way; and was so enthusiastic about an offer from [[spoiler:[=DiDi=]]] it made her gabble nervously. She can also have her brain briefly scrambled by Isabelle's flirtations -- [[spoiler:and so had sex with Matt to get Isabelle off her mind]].
** Yuki is attracted to Zii, leading to an on-off relationship; had a relationship with Gary, and remains attracted to him and determined to get back to that; was attracted to Sonya, despite hating her, leading to an angry sexual relationship that [[spoiler:blazed and died like a deranged comet]], involving Kiley along the way and ending with [[spoiler:a threeway with Gary]]; and ''notices'' [=DiDi=] as much as anyone else (and they've each ''chastised'' the other at different times, but that wasn't sexual, honest). She has also [[spoiler:persuaded Matt to have sex with her (with some difficulty) as training for that relationship with Gary]].
** Gary is attracted to Amber and Zii, and has given the former oral sex; lost his virginity to Kiley; had a weird relationship with Yuki, which isn't actually entirely dead and may well be restored; had sex and a short-lived relationship with Sonya (and was later induced to have sex with her again); had sex with Senna; hung out with Sandra and received a passionate goodbye kiss from her; got into an orgiastic encounter with [[spoiler:Amber, Chanelle, and a squad of porn stars]]; was passingly attracted to Isabelle; and had a threesome with Matt and Peggy (during which, he would say, he only did actual sex stuff with the latter -- though a print volume bonus strip shows what [[spoiler:Matt did to or for him, which is a whole other matter]]) -- leading to a ''relatively'' sane FriendsWithBenefits relationship with Peggy.
** Dillon had an actual relationship with Matt, a CastingCouch relationship with Nathan, and is attracted to Gary. He also gave Amber an orgasm through oral sex, more or less accidentally (it's a long story). He now has [[Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns his own comic]], where he has pursued a relationship with Jerzy [[spoiler:which went bad]] and showed interest in other characters.
** Matt had relationships with Dillon and Sandra; had sex with minor characters Jordan and (in a bonus [[WebcomicPrintCollection print]]-only story) Jake, and with Senna; dated [=DiDi=]; had sex and started a relationship with Kiley [[spoiler:which crashed and burned, but possibly only after turning serious enough to have some chance of resurrection]]; was seduced by Peggy, due to a misunderstanding; became obsessed with proving his sexual superiority over Gary, which oddly led to [[spoiler:a threesome with him and Peggy]]; had rather unsuccessful sex with [[spoiler:Zii]]; [[spoiler:had casual sex with Sonya]]; and agreed to [[spoiler:have sex with Yuki for therapeutic purposes, despite the danger this involved for himself]].
** Sandra had that relationship with Matt, thought she might be interested in [=DiDi=] despite being straight, went SkinnyDipping (apparently platonically) with Senna, is in a new relationship with Pierre in [[Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks her own comic]], became flirtatiously friendly with Gary while using him as a consultant on {{geek}} culture (and a way to wind up Senna); and occasionally gets into other flirtations, sometimes accidentally.
** Sonya was originally in a relationship with Jake; is in love with Zii, following some sexual encounters; was attracted to Gary until she found what he was really like; had the comic's standard reaction to [=DiDi=]; wasn't averse to trying to seduce Erik, largely as a means to an end but also for fun; briefly had sex with Peggy, though that relationship has now become a platonic friendship; and got into an ... [[SlapSlapKiss interesting relationship]] with [[spoiler:Yuki (who she still hates, but never mind)]], which also sometimes manages to involve [[spoiler:Kiley]]. She also [[spoiler:had sex with Matt]].
** Amber had sex with Zii back in school; worked in porn with Chanelle; had a CastingCouch relationship with Nathan; received oral sex from Dillon once in unusual circumstances; is much taken with Gary's oral skills, and at least considered some kind of relationship there; cheerfully entered a new FriendsWithBenefits arrangement with Zii in the meantime; and got into an interesting scene with [[spoiler:Gary, plus Chanelle and a squad of other porn stars]]. Her adventures continue in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns,'' where she's entered a relationship with Ray.
** Senna had sex with Matt, went SkinnyDipping (presumably platonically) with Sandra, subsequently chased, caught, and then lost Gary, flirted in passing with Pierre, and was last seen having sex with a nameless pilot.
** Kiley deflowered Gary, got into a slightly peculiar relationship with Matt, and despite being straight, ended up in a "therapeutic" relationship with [=DiDi=] that involves her giving [=DiDi=] a lot of orgasms and [=DiDi=] becoming insanely, romantically obsessed with her,[[note]]Even Kiley isn't clear how she found herself motorboating [=DiDi=].[[/note]] and is also providing therapy to [[spoiler:Sonya and Yuki]] that the uninformed would have difficulty distinguishing from a lot of three-way sex.
** Chanelle is a professional porn actress and "not picky" in her private life, gave Gary abortive oral sex, and joined a threesome (that then just grew) with him and Amber as a favor to the latter (and probably because she wasn't averse to exploring his skills), becoming very impressed by his oral talents.
** Peggy dumped Jim to make a pass at Erik; was persuaded to go after Gary instead until he turned out to be missing; introduced [[spoiler:[=DiDi=] to lesbian sex as an enjoyable [[PitySex act of sympathy]]]]; received brief but effective oral sex [[spoiler:from Sonya, almost by accident; and accidentally seduced Matt, confusing him with Gary]]. She was also curious about Gary's sexual reputation, despite never having met him, which enabled [[spoiler:Matt to draw the two of them into a masked threesome]], leading in turn to a FriendsWithBenefits relationship between her and Gary. (And ''she's'' an OnlySaneWoman.)
** A squad of porn stars had oral sex from Gary, and then mentioned in passing that they'd also done something similar with Zii at some point in the past.
** Isabelle has a {{fangirl}} interest in Zii, though how far she's prepared to go there seems uncertain, and flirted briefly with Gary and also with Yvan.
** Yvan found Zii attractive and didn't mind Isabelle flirting with him. His prospects of getting more than that seem slim.
** Roxie turns out to have some kind of thing going with [[spoiler:Brandy]], who is instantly attracted to [=DiDi=] on sight.
** Jung was for a long time widely assumed to be asexual, but then ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' threw in a shock reveal.
** Eulice and Rob are never in play.
* LoverTugOfWar: Giz makes no secret of her fondness for Archie comics, which sometimes shows up in things like use of this trope. Note that Gary's inability to resolve situations that lead to tugs of war indicates passivity rather than chivalry.
** Sonya and Yuki fight over Gary [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110412.html here.]]
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/geek_culture It happens to him again a few hundred strips later,]] with Senna and Sandra, the minor twist there being that Sandra wants his geeky advice rather than his affections.
* LuminescentBlush: Occasionally used in this comic as a visual sign that a characters is embarrassed. Perhaps a little unusually, the worst sufferer may be an adult male character -- Gary, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/a_like-minded_partner as for example here.]] This may sometimes be a CrushBlush, or rather the embarrassment may be triggered by badly-suppressed sexual desire -- the cast aren't especially prone to adolescent crushes as such.
* {{Lust}}: This has to be be distinguished from a simple [[EveryoneHasLotsOfSex liking for sex]], which most of the characters in this comic display very cheerfully. Characters afflicted with ''lust'' might include [=DiDi=] with her increasingly desperate quest for an orgasm, Matt with his need for excitement, and Erik with his need to prove himself - and maybe Zii with her need for independence and the thrill of the sexual chase. The lust-driven characters tend to suffer painful consequences for their desires.
* LustObject: [=DiDi=] is this for [[HelloNurse a lot of characters a lot of the time]], but notably, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_just_a_mild_craving Zii attempts to make the fact explicit here.]] It's just possible that Zii is fooling herself, and that [[LoveInterests her feelings run deeper]], but she's probably trying to be honest while effectively describing the trope.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes M-R]]

* TheMakeover: Seen more than once in weird non-standard forms:
** Zii makes some rather erratic attempts to smarten Gary up after she's promised to improve his prospects with women. Notably, the bonus strips with the first [[WebcomicPrintCollection print collection]] show her attempting to improve his wardrobe. (It doesn't take.)
** New character Tracy [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/more_of_a_tease provides a makeover]] -- or at least a dramatically new hairstyle -- for the {{Gonk}}-ish Eulice, of all people. Actually, as 80-something gargoyles go, SheCleansUpNicely, especially because she looks unusually ''happy'' with the change. It even makes her slightly less {{cranky|Landlady}}.
** When Matt inveigles Gary into a sexual foursome, he prepares by attempting to spruce Gary up considerably, including manscaping, an enema, and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/even_better_than_glasses a complete change of clothes.]]
* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces:
** Matt appears to be very fond of using the sofa in any residence where he gets the chance, even if a perfectly good bed is available. He also persistently neglects to lock the door. His story seems to be that he enjoys spontaneity, but it looks like he really gets off on the risk of getting caught.
** In the [[WebcomicPrintCollection print volume 3]] bonus strips, Zii and Sonya eventually progress from heavy make-outs to oral sex in the backroom of the restaurant where Sonya works as a waitress. (The strip in question eventually appeared as the "guest" strip for November 30, 2013; NSFW, strangely enough.)
** Senna and Gary have drunken sex [[MileHighClub on an aircraft]] -- specifically, on a private jet while the cabin crew are around. Senna gets quite annoyed when they tell her to sit down and buckle up for landing. Later, after Gary dumps her, she is glimpsed apparently having rebound sex with the pilot of the same plane, ''presumably'' either on the ground or while the co-pilot is at the controls.
** See also NaughtyUnderTheTable.
* MangaEffects: Giz is known to have an interest in manga, and while this comic is mostly drawn in a realistic western style, it includes some distinctly manga-style touches. See, e.g., LuminescentBlush or SweatDrop.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: The plot and style of this comic mean that this trope was bound to appear and recur quite frequently, but simply because it is such a natural part of the story so much of the time, it ends up being deconstructed, perhaps accidentally. Zii is the primary candidate for the role, and it's likely a large part of her self-image. She shakes up the lives of Gary, Sonya, and Angele, and to a lesser extent [=DiDi=], and it's clear that Erik sees her very much as some kind of manic pixie fantasy. However, her manic pixie actions eventually have consequences, largely in the form of Sonya, who becomes [[StalkerWithACrush infatuated with her]]; there are hints that her past relationship with Yuki may have followed a similar path. She also starts to suffer emotional twinges at the sight of her past conquests apparently moving on with their lives.\\\
Gary, for his part, is practically manic pixie bait, attracting not only Zii (as a friend) but also the dangerously deranged Yuki, the ditzy Sonya (briefly), and the {{narcissist}}ic Senna. However, although he's the sort of man who dreams of having a manic pixie make his life more interesting, he has two problems; first, none of those girls get the trope quite right, but second and more seriously, he seems to be totally incapable of learning the sort of life lessons that a ManicPixieDreamGirl is supposed to teach.
* AManIsAlwaysEager: Well, both sexes tend to be reliably eager; it's that sort of SexComedy. But, notably, Gary's response to discovering that he's been tricked into giving Amber oral sex is "I AM TOTALLY OKAY WITH THIS SITUATION!!!" (Strip #495, September 3 2011, NSFW). Okay, she ''is'' his favorite porn star...
* ManlyTears: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/no_need_to_cry_for_me He sure misses the good times.]]
* MarshmallowHell is often a serviceable joke in this kind of semi-{{slapstick}} SexComedy. Some examples:
** Some of the most notable early instances occur between Zii (the "victim") and [=DiDi=] and her, umm, [=DDs=]. [[http://www.menagea3.net/d/20080614.html It's played for laughs]], of course, but the events [[http://www.menagea3.net/d/20080731.html and Zii's reactions]] could easily be seen as fuel for, if not straightforward instances of, LesYay. Well, Zii does eventually turn out to be bisexual, so it's not surprising if she doesn't seem to mind.
** "SNEAK ATTACK!!!" (strip #51, September 17, 2008, NSFW).
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/better_than_i_thought Sonya on Zii]] when the former has stirred up some drama from Yuki.
** Senna executes an attack on Gary [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_mean_human-alone here]]. It's a relatively mild example, but it serves Senna's usual purpose of keeping Gary off balance.
** And getting back to [=DiDi=] (who ''is'' well-equipped to implement the trope, especially as she DoesNotKnowHerOwnStrength) -- [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_can_confront_him this accidental attack on Kiley]] would be less cruel if it weren't for the latter's crippling ACupAngst. But anyway, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/if_it_has_to_be_someone_else things soon turn downright painful for Kiley.]] Though [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/what_comes_naturellement she does achieve a sort of psychological compensation shortly afterwards.]]
** It also turns out that [=DiDi=] can weaponize the effect when she wants to -- as she demonstrates in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/break_in_a_new_student_-_start_book_8 the first strip of volume 8]].
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage:
** Yuki is ''definitely'' in this category. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110407.html She whips off her shirt]] to compete with a rival, and immediately goes into {{Tsun|dere}}-Tsun mode.
** After the competition between Yuki and Sonya [[{{Pun}} climaxes]] with Yuki's "penis = tentacle" problem being revealed, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/never_want_to_see_you_again we get this exchange]].
* TheMatchmaker is a role at which nobody in this comic ever excels, but that doesn't stop them trying:
** Early on, Zii volunteers to play Cupid for Gary. Unfortunately, she apparently keeps forgetting about this. Her one serious effort, introducing him to Sonya, is ''also'' intended to help Sonya find a new relationship -- probably well-meant, but also serving the double purpose of getting the increasingly infatuated Sonya off Zii's neck. (Which doesn't work out too well.) Later, as Gary stumbles into various relationships largely by accident, Zii evidently decides that her [[WithFriendsLikeThese help]] is no longer needed -- until the night when she realises that Gary is currently unattached, and resolves to help [=DiDi=] get him. [[ZanyScheme Which also doesn't work out as intended]].
** Sonya, very drunk, slightly irritated, and maybe bored [[spoiler:because her attempts to seduce Erik are going nowhere]], gets talking to Peggy, who's just dumped her boyfriend Jim, and promptly decides [[ZanyScheme to help Peggy's love life]] by introducing ''her'' to Gary, on the logical basis that Peggy wants cunnilingus and that's the one thing that Sonya knows Gary is good for. Funnily enough, this is the same night as Zii decides to bring Gary and [=DiDi=] together, as mentioned above. In the end, it turns out that Gary isn't home, and things kind of go downhill from there.
** Peggy, being kept awake every night by Sonya talking in her sleep about her soap-operatic issues with Zii, decides in sleep-deprived desperation to solve the problem by bringing the pair together properly. Unfortunately, she perhaps misunderstands the nature of Sonya and Zii's actual relationship, and decides that an OperationJealousy scheme will do the trick. HilarityEnsues -- although as it turns out, Peggy may be the most competent social manipulator in the comic, and might just pull this off.
* {{Metaphorgotten}}:
-->'''Gary:''' Trolling's a fishing term. It means to lure a fish in with bait. He baited you until you bit, and then you were hooked, which got you caught, and then you were banned like a halibut.
* {{Mii}}: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/include_your_friends When Gary is setting up Sandra's new game system, he constructs Miis of her and her "friends".]] Tatiana's reaction there implies either a lack of self-awareness or some kind of desperation. The Mii software proves [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_really_is_wonderful amazingly good at understanding Gary and Tatiana.]]
* MileHighClub:
** In a guest strip (August 2 2010, between #333 and #334, NSFW), Dillon claims to have joined it ... in the cockpit.
** After having sex with Senna on a private jet, Gary asks if they've joined the club. (Strip #780, August 20th 2013, NSFW funnily enough. And the answer would be "yes"; penetration occurred, and although the aircraft was on its landing approach before they really finished, they must have been at least a mile high when they started.)
** Subsequently, on the rebound from Gary, Senna is seen (strip #821, December 03, 2013, NSFW) having sex with one of the crew on that same aircraft. Altitude at the time unstated.
* MilhollandRelationshipMoment: Zii confesses to Gary that he broke his rare Transformers figure ... which he immediately puts back together, good as new.
* MistakenForGay: Amber thinks Gary is gay when he comes to her and Dillon's apartment so that the latter can teach him more about his Swirly-Go-Round kissing technique (mostly because of Dillon's unreliable descriptions of Gary). This changes to "bi-curious" when Gary mentions that he wants to use the swirly with girls, and she decides to trick him into doing it on her.
* MistakenForServant: When Gary and new character Isabelle bring a drunken Zii home to the apartment, Isabelle, who has a delusional impression of Zii's level of rock stardom, decides that if Gary lives there but isn't in a relationship with Zii, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/obvious_you_two_are_not_dating he must be Zii's butler.]]
* MistakenIdentity: It's a comedy...
** Amber [[RuleOfDrama inexpli]][[RuleOfFunny cably]] assumes that [[spoiler:[=DiDi=]]] is Gary's abusive girlfriend "Yuki" when she meets them, then leaves before this can be clarified. This is cleared up later, though, with only a few minor comedy consequences along the way.
** Due to some minor confusion in a club, Peggy thinks that Matt is Gary, who Sonya has suggested she seduce. As a result, they end up in bed together -- to Peggy's entire satisfaction, even when she discovers the mistake, but with more stressful results for Matt.[[note]](Characters in this comic are oddly unwilling to use proper names much, which leads to such accidents.)[[/note]]
** For various reasons, Gary wants to give his new boss Yvan the idea that he (Gary) is an expert at picking up women, and Zii suggests [[ZanyScheme a plan whereby she will pretend not to know Gary but to be impressed by him]]. Unfortunately, the indie music bar she suggests as a venue for this turns out to be [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/what_i_was_looking_for full of women who share her fashion sense]].
* MobySchtick: Kiley suffers a rather strange dream in strip #914 (July 31, 2014, NSFW).
* ModestyBedsheet: Actually mostly averted for much of the comic's run, with the art being quite relaxed about bare breasts. However, around 2015, the creators reduced the level of explicitness in an attempt to [[MoralGuardians increase advertizing revenues]], leading to a particularly egregious instance of the trope in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sonya_kidnapped_us this strip,]] with a sheet of apparently limitless extent shifting around arbitrarily to avoid exposed nipples.
* MomentKiller: Something of a standard feature for a SexComedy -- even one like this one, where people do actually fairly often succeed in having sex. For example...
** In early strips, it seemed to verge on a RunningGag that Zii was prone to constantly — and ''usually'' unintentionally — cockblocking Gary.
** Sonya arrived (due to Zii trying to [[ThrowTheDogABone throw Gary a]] [[{{Pun}} boner]]) just as Yuki was volunteering to model at least topless for him.
** It seemed at one point that everything in the world was conspiring to keep Matt from giving [=DiDi=] a toe-curling orgasm, from nosy roommates to [[GroinAttack Japanese girls afraid of penises]] and accidents with chilli sauce.
** Yuki and Sonya challenge each other to seduce each other, despite the fact that (a) they're already having semi-regular sex, and (b) they can't actually stand each other. (It's a long story.) This leads to some almost-deliberate moment killers...
--->'''[[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/forget_the_daddy_stuff Yuki:]]''' ''ICK!'' I have that same pair of panties at home! Guess I'll have to burn them now!
** And when Zii and Matt have sex, Matt contrives to kill the moment because Zii suddenly reminds him of [[spoiler:Kiley, with whom he's recently broken up]], so that he breaks down in InelegantBlubbering.
* MostWritersAreWriters: Gary is a wannabe comics artist, and Yuki is a wannabe comics writer (and the daughter of a manga creator), and sometimes collaborates with him. On top of that, Yuki, Zii, and Sonya are in a band — and Giz used to be a professional musician. (Sonya, the band's bass player, even looks a bit like Giz, who played bass.)
* MrFanservice: most of the males in the strip are good-looking and get their {{shirtless scene}}s.
** Even Gary, supposedly a total geek, is usually described as cute by both other characters and readers, with or without a shirt. His bleary eyes and bed hair when he woke up in Paris for the first time (strip #783, August 27 2013, borderline NSFW) inspired some comments on the comic's discussion boards.
** Domenico Pedrazzini, as seen [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/senna_and_sandra_-_part_2_-_1_and_2_of_7 here,]] verges on a {{parody}} of the trope.
* MyGirlIsASlut: Erik seems to be quite attracted by Zii's history of free-spirited promiscuity (see. e.g., strip #738, May 07, 2013, NSFW), although he maybe thinks more about her lesbian adventures, and he apparently wants or prefers her to be monogamous ''now''.
* NakedApron: Something of a favorite gag/sexy effect in this comic:
** Dillon wears one for Zii (strip #154, May 22, 2009, NSFW).
** One strip (#191, August 17, 2009, NSFW) has Matt wearing one for Sandra, though the badminton racket might be a partial motivator there too.
** [=DiDi=] wears one during her date with Sandra (starting with strip #431, March 28, 2011, NSFW).
** Peggy employs one while trying to make Zii jealous over Sonya (strip #835, January 09, 2014, NSFW).
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: While the quite frequent nudity in this comic is largely a mixture of {{Fanservice}} and a fairly [[TruthInTelevision realistic]] depiction of people having sex, it is sometimes used for flat-out comedy, especially when someone walks in on [[HelloNurse the frequently confused [=DiDi=]]] or the [[ButtMonkey frequently embarrassed Gary]].
* NaughtyNurseOutfit:
** Worn by a stripper (not a real nurse!) in strip #184 (July 31 2009, NSFW).
** In a 2015 bonus story associated with a Kickstarter ([[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/at_tcaf_-_dr_didi_ks_bonus_preview previewed here]]), some female cast members show up in "medical" outfits that show unprofessional amounts of cleavage, or more. However, this is a dream sequence.
** Peggy, a nurse who is usually depicted in realistic scrubs when on duty in the comic, is shown in a blatant naughty nurse outfit on [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/kickstarter_2015_-_help_us_fund_volume_7 the cover]] of [[WebcomicPrintCollection the print collection volume 7.]] However, this doesn't represent anything that actually happens within the story.
%%
%%* NaughtyTentacles:
%%** Yuki's father is renowned for his work creating hentai containing these. It helped cause Yuki's [[FreudianExcuse issues]].
%%** There's also Gary's earlier DreamSequence (January 10, 2009).
%%** Yuki has a dream [[spoiler:where she sees Gary as a female tentacle monster]].
%%
* NaughtyUnderTheTable: Yuki and Gary take this to the extreme when she insists that he use the Swirly-Go-Round on her while they are in a restaurant.
* NippleAndDimed: A rarity among webcomics, this one actually contains a fair bit of nudity, including nipples (and areola, which is even rarer). It still uses a SceneryCensor or SpeechBubbleCensoring to hide anything full frontal, however.
** In fact, the trope was played straight early on; only later did the authors decide it was too much work and start showing nipples. You wouldn't notice going through the archives though, as they [[OrwellianRetcon edited away]] some of the more dubious instances of [[SceneryCensor censorship]].
** However, later strips (from around 2015 on) dial back on the bare breasts in an [[invoked]] [[WordOfGod acknowledged]] [[http://www.pixietrixcomix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15&start=1965#p550157 attempt]] to recover some more [[MoralGuardians advertising revenue]]. The amount of (mildly) unconventional sex going on in many of those same strips makes this quite ironic; advertisers apparently don't mind characters having masked bisexual foursomes, so long as you can't see the women's nipples.
* NoBisexuals: Despite the EveryoneIsBi effects mentioned above, some of the characters seem to ''think'' that this trope applies, sometimes in defiance of all the evidence.
** Dillon classes himself as gay, even though he does stuff like rolling around naked with Zii, and he slept with two girls back in high school.
--->'''Dillon:''' ... but that was a threesome, so it only counts as one!
*** We do see this "threesome" later in the comic, and it's not as impressive it sounds.
*** Also, note thar he rolls naked with Zii ... in a pile of photos of naked guys. His pictures, that were wrinkled from him doing this so much. So really, yes, he's gay.
** [=DiDi=] doesn't seem aware of the concept of bisexuality until Zii sets her strai-- explains it to her.
** ...And she in turn later mentions it to the obviously bisexual Sonya, who latches onto it briefly because it allows her to be in love with Zii without being a ''[[QueerAsTropes lesbian]]''.
* NoNameGiven: Some of the cast's surnames remain persistently unrevealed. This doesn't seem to be a matter of systematic secrecy; it's just that characters are usually referred to by their first names or nicknames, except in situations where their surnames would just naturally be used. See [[Characters/MenageA3 the Characters page]] for individual examples.
* NonNudeBathing: Justified when the {{bi|TheWay}}sexual Zii finds herself developing an obsessive sexual crush on InnocentFanserviceGirl [=DiDi=], which is unnerving for both of them. Zii comes up with a simple solution; [=DiDi=] just can't get naked, ever, in case it drives Zii crazy. She'll even have to shower in swimsuits. The first problem with this turns out to be that [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/just_wash_yourself_in_swimsuits DiDi isn't much less desirable in her choice of swimsuits than she is naked...]]
* NoNudityTaboo:
** [[InnocentFanserviceGirl [=DiDi=]]] has little or none, at least to the point of assuming that everyone sleeps in the nude. Her own "bathrobe" consists of a skimpy babydoll and a thong.
*** Of course, her assumption is right, at least in that household -- even Gary, who for a time kept finding a gay man in his bed, didn't slip into a pair of sweats.
*** After she modelled naked for Gary at Yuki's request, Yuki asked her to be naked around Gary ''all the time''. She acted innocent while agreeing, saying that she'd do it if it would help his art, although clearly she was still hoping to seduce him.
** Matt and Senna don't bother with putting any clothes on when Sandra walks in on them having sex, although they do for Gary (in order to keep him from lapsing into a coma). Much later, in strip #815 (November 12, 2013, NSFW), Senna casually strips naked (with astonishing speed) rather than have Gary see her in unfashionable underwear.
* NoodleImplements: In strip #161 (June 08, 2009; NSFW), Matt suggests to Sandra that they have a sexual encounter including a badminton racket, Tabasco sauce and Paddington Bear. Funnily enough, the first two of these do appear in later strips, as does a Paddington Bear-style hat -- and all in sexual situations.
* NoSparks: After [=DiDi=] receives an unusually passionate kiss from Zii and a totally spark-free kiss from Gary, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/passionn%C3%A9 she naturally concludes that she's a lesbian.]] Eventually, Zii feels obliged to tell her that Gary is a clueless virgin, so her problem was with him rather than with men in general.
* NotADate: When Sandra offers to take [=DiDi=] out for a dinner as friends, she interprets it as a date. Sandra, who is unaware that [=DiDi=] has a crush on her, doesn't catch on, even when she learns that they will go to a romantic restaurant; she thinks that [=DiDi=] has "so few female friends, she thinks girls' night outs are like her regular dates". When [=DiDi=] kisses her at the end, she's utterly shocked.
* NotWhatItLooksLike:
** On her first appearance, Yuki [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/pretty_intimately sits astride Gary's face]] and then [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/emergency_handcuffs get handcuffed to him.]] That part isn't his fault; admittedly, he does then deliberately [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/too_much_anime grope her breast]] while she's unconscious, but he's honestly convinced that she must be a figment of his imagination at the time. Then he finds himself [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/chuk lying on top of her, panting,]] just as she recovers consciousness. Much of this happens ''in public,'' but the real problem is Yuki's psychotic ''issues''; this incident almost gets Gary killed.
** Another spectacular case occurs in the strip #671 (November 13, 2012, NSFW). When Chanelle walks into a room to discover Amber and Gary both naked, and Dillon also present (but dressed), she instantly concludes that Amber must have got back into porn work. (Don't ask about the absence of cameras or film crew.) This probably wouldn't matter much, if she didn't also instantly volunteer to serve as Gary's fluffer, and start acting on the offer.
** Later again, the trope is played with when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/there_is_nothing_strange Matt and Peggy encounter [=DiDi=] and Kiley in a motel corridor.]] Kiley and Matt are sort of in a relationship of sorts, and Kiley and [=DiDi=] were both previously regarded as probably straight, but to be fair, everyone has an excuse of sorts at this point. Still, despite Kiley's MotorMouth blathering, the fact is, everything ''is'' almost exactly what it looks like.
* OcularGushers
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100220.html Yuki finds Gary at his job]] and drags him off to work on their {{doujin|shi}}. Unfortunately for Gary's coworker (and possibly Gary himself), it sounds like Gary has this three-girl harem going on.
** Yuki does this herself when she can't bring herself to seduce either Gary or Zii despite being ''very'' much in the mood.
* OhCrap:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20080823.html Poor]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/pulverize_your_world Gary.]]
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/looking_for_me Mr. Oyama is in Japan, right? Right?!?]]
* OhNoNotAgain: [=DiDi=] has a recurrent problem...
** When [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/pom-poms Amber can't resist]] checking out if her breasts are really not implants:
--->'''Sandra:''' Does this happen often?\\
'''[=DiDi=]:''' Surprisingly, oui.
** Later, Sonya does indeed do much the same thing, even more flagrantly (strip #676, November 24, 2012, NSFW). And for that matter, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/this_is_purely_therapeutic so does Kiley,]] for very slightly different reasons. [=DiDi=] continues to permit this with very little protest.
* OldShame: Occurs in-universe. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/halibut Gary feels this way]] about his past as an [[{{Troll}} internet troll]]. Also, Zii suffers at least a brief twinge of guilt when she recalls her past borderline-CastingCouch approach to recruitment for her band, and hastily changes the subject (strip #605, May 24, 2012, somewhat NSFW).
* {{Omake}}: Occasional guest strips depict (generally non-canonical) incidents, in the comic's early days, some material appeared on pay site Slipshine with more explicit full-frontal nudity and sexual situations, the [[WebcomicPrintCollection print collections]] regularly feature one new story or "What if?" filling a half-dozen or so pages, other such short pieces have been published in PDF form as the result of stretch goals being met when Website/{{Kickstarter}} has been used to fund those same print collections, and the creators have also produced a couple of figurines of cast members and some stickers and other spin-off mementos.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation:
** Gary meets Zii and [=DiDi=], who thus meet Gary's old roommates Matt and Dillon, and then Gary meets Yuki who is Zii's stalker and who ends up liking him, [=DiDi=] works with Sandra who becomes Matt's girlfriend and then Dillon becomes roommates with Amber who happens to be Gary's favorite porn star and then Sandra and Gary meet Senna who is Matt's ''friend'' and then Erik who is [=DiDi=]'s ex-boyfriend falls in love with Zii and then Gary performs ''oral sex'' on Amber and Sonya who Zii seduced is set up to date Gary in competition with Yuki so together they decide to three-way him but Yuki needs to deal with her tentacle/penis fear and gets Kiley to help her which leads Gary to meet Kiley when Yuki leaves her phone lying around and [[Film/AustinPowers oh no, I've gone cross-eyed]] ... and then Kiley jumps Gary ...
** ... and Zii was Amber's first lover in high school, and at some point bagged [[spoiler:Jerzy]]. And Sandra goes to Usefulnotes/{{Brazil}} with Senna and then to UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, where Gary and Senna encounter her, while Kiley meets Matt at a ranch which may or may not be Erik's family place, and Sonya meets Peggy and tries to introduce her to Gary but Peggy ends up in bed with [=DiDi=] instead before she begs couch space for a few nights from Sonya and then accidentally targets Matt.
** And Yuki says something that causes [=DiDi=] to ask Kiley for therapy, which gets downright ''weird''.
** Meanwhile, over in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', Dillon sometimes dates Jerzy, who has slept with Angel, who is Zii's old musical partner turned bitter rival when she too seduced Jerzy...
* OneeSama: Challenged to seduce Sonya deliberately after they've already been having hate-sex for a while, manga fan Yuki [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/weird_cultural_thing asks for permission to address her by this term]] -- appropriately enough in that Sonya is the taller of the two. Sonya has to have the term explained, so the trope is very briefly {{Discussed|Trope}}.
* OneSteveLimit:
** {{Averted|Trope}} by the presence of Sandra, Sonya, and Senna. (And a Suzi, but everyone calls her "Zii".)
** There are also two Adriens, but one only appears in one strip, and the other is also a minor character.
** However, the limit was later enforced belatedly after [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/those_lively_curls one strip]] introduced a new character named "Jim" when that name had already been used once. In the [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/a_way_with_words next strip,]] the new Jim is addressed as "James", and the tags attached to both strips were changed accordingly.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname:
** Zii notes in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_just_blew_it an early strip]] that her real name is Suzi, but nobody ever calls her that. Strictly speaking, "Zii" is just a contraction of Suzi, but it's unusual enough to count. Her ''last'' name is only revealed [[http://www.menagea3.net/d/20090804.html much later.]]
** Everybody calls [=DiDi=] solely by that nickname -- except Sandra, who usually calls her Desirée. Again, "[=DiDi=]" is a sort of contraction of her real name, but it's both slightly unusual and [[GagBoobs highly descriptive]].
** A one-character-only version; Yuki originally referred to Gary solely as "Violator-San". However, after he gave her flowers (made out of [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mushrooms]] and drum sticks), she started [[FirstNameBasis calling him by his real name]]. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110407.html Or not.]]
* OnlySaneMan:
** Junghan and Amber have both played this part. However, Junghan never became as well-established a cast member as was probably intended, while Amber has her own eccentricities, and anyway she later mostly moved to the {{spinoff}} comic, ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''. Allie sometimes looks like an only sane woman when she's talking to her colleague [[TheDitz Sonya]].
** Gary might be this if he wasn't so often the ButtMonkey ''and/or'' the AccidentalPornomancer. However, he has his own issues that might exclude him from the role anyway.
** New character Peggy [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_hurt_by_dooooze demonstrates how this trope is performed here]]. A little later, in the May 09, 2013 strip (#739, NSFW), she perhaps realises that she's got the job. Her first scenes (including dumping a bowl of pasta over her boyfriend's head in the course of breaking up with him) suggest a degree of flakiness of her own, but by the standards of the comic, she seems to be a beacon of sanity.
* OperationJealousy: One is executed with uncommon skill -- indeed, with manipulative genius by the [[ZanyScheme usual standards]] of this comic -- by Peggy on behalf of Sonya, under the name ''Operation [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/hey_jealous_zii "Hey, Jealous Zii."'']] Unfortunately, she's running on flawed prior intelligence, but her plan may work even so; she wants to get Sonya and Zii together, and Zii proves susceptible to her mind games. Weirdly, all Peggy actually wants is to improve Sonya's love life enough that Sonya stops having loud soap-operatic dreams, because they're currently platonically sharing a bed, and Sonya is keeping Peggy awake. (Peggy may also feel that she's working off a debt of gratitude to Sonya.) Switching Sonya's bass guitar for a snow shovel, pulling off a {{naked apron}} show, and baking high-quality cupcakes, are all far less zany elements to the scheme than they sound. The only snag, apart from her unreliable prior information, is that [[SurroundedByIdiots she has to work with Sonya]].
* OrphanedPunchline: "And then Gary comes out of the bathroom... wearing only a jar of pickles!" (Strip #458, May 30, 2011, NSFW.)
* OrwellianRetcon: See SceneryCensor.
* PaintedOnPants: Most of the female characters (and for that matter, several of the male characters) [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/better_than_a_boring_old_spa wear tight-fitting clothes]] from time to time, if only by way of FanService; [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/your_blushing_bride Sonya is perhaps the primary exponent of the style.]] Two of the [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/like_all_cute_little_bunnies stage costumes that Jung designs for "Zii and the Troublemakers"]] certainly respect the trope.
* PairTheSmartOnes: At one point at least, Matt and Kiley appear to be fumbling their way towards a somewhat serious relationship, despite their shared SelectiveObliviousness to the fact. This may be related to the fact that they are among the few characters in the comic with some level of social intelligence, and an interest in and willingness to ''talk'' to other people (and listen to what the other person says).
* PantyShot: Gary [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20090404.html gets]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20090407.html one]], followed by the [[{{Fainting}} predictable]] (for him, at that time) [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20090409.html reaction]].
* ParallelPornTitles: ''[[Franchise/HarryPotter Perry Hotter,]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20081118.html Part 16]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/KimPossible Kim Pussyble]]'' and ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187512/ Spank Her, She's French-Canadian]]'' (both November 13, 2012, NSFW), ''[[Film/{{Barbarella}} Boobarella]]'' (September 29, 2012, NSFW), ''[[Franchise/ArchieComics Elizabeth And Veroniqe]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/all_of_them XXX Part 12]]'', ''[[ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Sabrina the]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/all_of_them Barely Legal Witch]]''. The first is a gay porn film, the second and third feature Chanelle, ''Boobarella'' involves both her and Amber, and the last two are again part of Amber's [[{{Pun}} body of work]].
* ParentalAbandonment: Almost seems to be the norm in this comic. Logically, most of the cast of twentysomething characters would be expected to have living parents, and occasionally to talk to them, visit, receive visits from family, or whatever. But the only cast members with whom the subject has been raised are Gary, who describes himself as having escaped an oppressive religious upbringing and who receives a 'phone call from his (actually perfectly pleasant-sounding) mother at one point, Sandra, who makes a ''very'' brief reference to a visit by her mother, and Amber, whose parents are said in passing to be wealthy doctors, and who has admitted that she hasn't yet been able to tell them about her porn career. (In the {{spinoff}} comic ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', her sister has shown up, and her lack of communication with their parents has become a minor plot point -- though Amber is said to be arranging to have dinner with them at one point.) The rest of them just seem to be floating free.
* PassThePopcorn:
** See strip #17, June 23, 2008 (NSFW).
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/soaps_in_brazil See also Senna listening to Gary's story while eating chips.]]
--->'''Senna:''' This is better than the soaps in Usefulnotes/{{Brazil}}!
* PinchMe:
** When Gary wakes up handcuffed to Yuki, he deduces that he's dreaming, so he tries to wake himself up by supplying his brain with a sensation that it can't replicate from memory -- groping her breast. Then he realizes that he's awake. This moment has FridgeBrilliance attached; he HAS groped breasts before, but not when he was awake -- only when Zii and [=DiDi=] slept in his bed after he'd already passed out.
** Later, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/dreams_do_not_pinch Amber invokes the trope in a small way, to convince Gary that he's not just dreaming of her.]] Gary seems convinced, though he does point out a problem with the test in this case.
* PitySex:
** {{Lampshaded}} when [=DiDi=] decides to deflower the hopeless virgin Gary. Various mishaps prevent her from doing so; later, Zii explains to her that she shouldn't do that, because Gary would associate sex with being pathetic.
** Much later, the trope is played straight by [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/pretend_this_is_college Peggy, who offers [=DiDi=] sex]] out of pity for the latter's failure ever to achieve orgasm.
** Later again, Matt eventually succumbs to [[RejectionAffection Yuki's repeated approaches]], despite knowing that she may well become dangerously violent during sex, when she explains her hallucination problem, with which he sympathises.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Much of the plotting around the time of the band's first gig was built around this trope. For example, Kiley and Matt had an affair that included mutual therapy sessions in which each dealt with some problems they'd had with other people -- without ever mentioning those people's names, which would have allowed them to discover that they had several shared acquaintances. Then they went to the gig and met those people. Likewise, [=DiDi=] and Peggy managed to have a conversation about the former's previous and current boyfriends, without ever mentioning their names, with hilarious results. If they could all use personal names a bit more often, life would be much easier for them.
* PornNames: Amber previously worked as Amber-Amber, and Chanelle is Chanelle Numberfine.
* PornWithPlot[=/=]PornWithoutPlot:
** These twin tropes are discussed in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/cheesy_scripts this strip]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sticky_facial the one immediately following]]; Gary and Zii agree that they prefer porn ''with'' plot (although Zii for one seems to be amused by the sheer badness of porn plots), while implicitly acknowledging that some doesn't have any.
** The subject is later also evoked in gags about Amber's past career; some of her work seems to have had plots, if only because the references can be made funnier that way -- see, e.g., strip #652 (September 29, 2012, NSFW).
* PostKissCatatonia:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/comics/mat20101007.png Sandra, after [=DiDi=] unexpectedly kisses her]].
** And [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/what_the_hell_was_that%EF%BC%9F Dillon, after Gary kisses him]] (under threat of violence from Yuki, note).
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110224.html Gary (now the victim), courtesy of Senna.]] (As she says, his life is better than a Brazilian SoapOpera.)
* PowerTrio:
** While it may be trying too hard to fit this trope to the comic's central characters, the fact remains that the ''menage'' fits the BigThinShortTrio pattern ([=DiDi=], Gary, and Zii respectively), and has strong hints of the FreudianTrio, with Zii as the self-indulgent Id, [=DiDi=] as the undirected Ego, and Gary as the consciously moralistic Superego. (Or, perhaps, [=DiDi=] as the vital but unthinking Id and Zii as the ''relatively'' balanced Ego.)
** Also, the band (eventually named "Zii and the Troublemakers" when they finally suddenly realise that they need a name) is a classic RockTrio (qv.). It doesn't quite match other types of power trio, except perhaps a twisted version of WithAFriendAndAStranger (Zii having very accidentally recruited her old friend Yuki and slightly newer problem Sonya).
* PracticeKiss: Gary, who has never kissed a girl, asks his (CampGay) friend Dillon for help. Dillon obliges by offering a practice kiss while cosplaying as Gary's favorite porn star, Amber-Amber, to help Gary get over his gender. This gets ''strange'' when Gary actually meets Amber and [[MistakenIdentity mistakes her for Dillon]], and she, to recreate the orgasm Dillon previously gave her (long story), blindfolds him so she can get him unknowingly "practising" between her legs.
* PreachersKid: The sexy-diabolic version of the trope is [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20081023.html briefly invoked by Zii]] (with an admixture of the CatholicSchoolGirlsRule) before Gary shuts down that fantasy:
-->'''Gary:''' Think an entire community committed to keep you from having sex. Telling you that everything you feel is distracting you from spiritual fulfillment.\\
'''Zii:''' So no flirting with a hot-to-trot preacher's daughter? oo! In a short pleated skirt!\\
'''Gary:''' All the girls my age seemed to delight in playing mind games with me.
* PricelessMingVase: The rare Transformers figure that Zii breaks.
* PrisonRape: When Gary is afraid that Yuki will turn him in for accidentally molesting her, he says to Dillon: "Just remember me fondly as I get butt-raped daily in jail."
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality:
** Some of the things Zii does might be considered dickish or even constitute sex crimes if she wasn't one of the three main characters. The comic tends to treat most of what she does as harmless antics, though, and [[KarmaHoudini hardly anybody calls her out on anything]]. [[BrokenBase Some fans are fine with this, and some are not.]]
** Likewise, Yuki would almost certainly either be in jail for multiple assault offenses or forcibly institutionalized if she wasn't a main character. She doesn't just attack people she knows; she's been known to run down the street kicking every man she sees in the groin.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Gary. Is. Mine." (Strip #611, June 09, 2012, NSFW.)
* PunnyName: A pun on ''menage a troix'', roughly French for "threesome".
* PutOnABus: Or rather, a plane, to Usefulnotes/{{Brazil}}, which leaves at the end of volume 3:
** Sandra is on that plane. WordOfGod had her probably set to come back to Montreal, but only after "several weeks". Given the short timeframe of the events in the strip, that always looked likely to take a while. In the end, after appearing in a few strips (mostly drawn by a guest artist), she got her own comic, ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks''. However, she reappears in the original comic in a crossover story starting at the very end of volume 5.
** Likewise, Senna is on the same plane, and also appears in those guest strips. She has a promise of a date with Gary, and occasionally sends him letters (and boudoir photographs of herself) to remind him, but this date too is a long time coming. Then she reappears alongside Sandra, before a flashback reveals that she has specifically claimed that date, and [[TheBusCameBack she re-enters the main plot of the comic]] with a bang (so to speak).
* QuestionableConsent:
** ''Everything'' involving Amber and Dillon's producer, Nathan, if only because he exploits his money and power so shamelessly. He certainly uses the CastingCouch to get sex, but the wannabe actors who fall for this aren't being flagrantly coerced. They are rather gullible, but so are a lot of this comic's cast.
** Zii convinces two drunken straight men to perform an unspecified sexual act on each other; she talks about them "getting it on" the morning after, although Erik, at least, is [[SexEqualsLove anything but bothered]]. Zii also seems to have used borderline CastingCouch methods when recruiting musicians for her past bands, though as with Nathan above, the people who fell for that weren't actually being ''coerced''.
** Amber, thinking Gary is Dillon's boyfriend, and him thinking she's Dillon in a costume, blindfolds him and has him PracticeKiss her loins.
** Senna [[KissingUnderTheInfluence has sex with Gary for the first time while he's very drunk]] (in strip #780, August 20 2013, NSFW). This can be considered more irresponsible than abusive (to be fair, she's pretty drunk herself), but he ''is'' quite far gone there.
* QuietCryForHelp: A comedy version appears when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/so_glad_you_found_me Kiley meets Peggy and Matt while being carried around by [=DiDi=].]] The joke here is that [=DiDi=] is seeking medical help for the lightly injured Kiley -- but Kiley wants to be saved ''from [=DiDi=],'' having just done her a huge favor. [=DiDi=] can be terribly over-enthusiastic, and doesn't know her own strength.
* ReactionShot: Gary's appeal to three different women is illustrated through [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/did_you_guys_you_know their reactions to his tactless gabbling here.]]
* ReadyForLovemaking: Demonstrated by Sonya, with a bit of prior camouflage but an entirely NSFW execution, in strip #641 (September 04 2012).
* RealityEnsues:
** See how Gary loses his virginity, and the resulting emotional fallout. Similarly, see Zii's failure as Gary's wing-girl.
** Kiley's relationship with Matt. Using your partner to prove you're a better lover than the other guy will only make her leave you.
* ReallyGetsAround:
** Zii has been around and then some.
** Dillon has been around almost as much as Zii, but not on-camera.
** The trope gets a non-standard treatment with [=DiDi=]. Her harem of boyfriends runs into the dozens (none of whom satisfy her sexually), she may shrug and say "I've had him" at a male stripper in a randomly chosen club without surprising anyone -- but she is in many ways the purest of all the major characters. If someone called her a slut as if it was an insult, she'd be extremely confused. And unfortunately for her, [[JustForPun she doesn't come around]].
** Matt initially seems to have a different partner every time we see him, although he later gets into a couple of slightly more stable relationships.
** Implied with Jordan.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Matt is a sexual narcissist who harbors a pathological obsession to dominate the other person and cannot tolerate even the possibility that someone might be better than him at sex. Kiley says as much at the two last strips of the foursome arc.
* RecurringExtra:
** Various geeks are seen repeatedly at the comics store. One, Aaron, eventually gets a name and a few lines.
** The guy who works at the desk next to Gary in his first job is usually a background figure, though he gets occasional speech and thought bubbles.
** A cross-comics example; there is a French-speaking mother and daughter pair who are apparently also seen in ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' in Paris, and in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns''; the young daughter has a talent for [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/if_you_hurry_you_can_catch_her seeing embarrassing incidents,]] leading to very similar verbal exchanges each time.
* RejectionAffection: Yuki's sexual pursuit of Matt, despite his flat refusal, is PlayedForLaughs for a couple of strips. He eventually succumbs out of {{pity|Sex}} when he discovers the nature of her problems, despite the fact that he's been refusing because he knows that she's likely to turn psychotically violent during sex.
* RelativeError: Zii makes this mistake, then, panicked, tries to cover herself under it. (Zii is unused to monogamy.) Erik is [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/in_for_a_good_time sweetly understanding]].
* RightThroughTheWall: Pretty much taken for granted as part of sex in the setting. It seems that every coupling includes at least one character who is prone to [[CallingYourOrgasms calling their orgasms]] -- or [=DiDi=], who seems to be in the habit of ''faking'' orgasm [[TheImmodestOrgasm just as loudly]].
** Gary and Zii have to listen to [=DiDi=] and Erik; they eventually escape into a coffee shop.
** A frustrated and eventually angry Gary hears Zii and Yuki.
** In the strip's past, Matt and Dillon not only ''had sex'' to the sound of Gary masturbating, they '''tape recorded it for future use.'''
** [=DiDi=] comes home to an earful of Kiley's second orgasm and unrehearsed testimony as to Gary's prowess.
** Zii and Sonya hear [[spoiler:Yuki's very intense orgasm, once again serving as testimony to Gary's skill]].
** And for a variation, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/rubbing_them_against_my_lips Tracy gets to listen to James]] as he ''apparently'' receives a very effective blowjob from Gary.
* RockTrio: The band (eventually christened "Zii and the Troublemakers" when they finally suddenly realise that they need a name) has Zii on guitar, Sonya on bass, and Yuki on drums, with the first two apparently sharing vocal duties.
* RomanticComedy: The creators describe this (partly) as a rom-com, and there are certainly aspects of the genre here. The comedy part is definitely present, and most of the plots involve quasi-romantic relationships, but the comic has a slightly cynical view of love, which can be hard to distinguish from sexual obsession or deranged stalking here, and no relationship has yet proved convincingly permanent.
* RoommateCom: A three-roommate version with significant supporting cast. The mandatory gay lead character is replaced by a gay secondary character and a ''lot'' of possible or actual bisexuality among other characters; the mandatory band membership comes up late in the day, but becomes quite important then.
* RRatedOpening: The comic is pretty mild-mannered and good-humored, really, but it's definitely rated R -- and the first ever strip features NSFW gay sex, so no one can say that they were suckered in under false pretenses.
* {{Rule 63}}: Sometimes invoked in various characters' fantasies:
** Yuki is especially prone, because she combines a basically bisexual nature with severe phallophobia. "Garii" is one figment of her imagination.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/5th_level_bride Yuki also dreams]] Zii into the role of Anime/CaptainHarlock, and Gary into that of [[VideoGame/SpaceChannel5 Ulala]], inverting their genders.
** There are also "official" manifestations of the trope as bonus stories associated with the series' fourth and seventh book collections.
* RuleOfSexy: Much of the comic's world runs on this. [=DiDi=]'s enormous breasts, completely natural and free of sagging, are a key example, though far from the only one.
* RunningGag:
** People walking in on Matt having sex on the couch is the comic's primary example. It quickly got to the stage of being {{lampshaded}}, in the sense that Matt and his partners will comment on his failure to use door locks.
** [=DiDi's=] inability to keep track of her boyfriends would also count, though it faded slightly after a while.
** People hallucinating Gary in place of other people's faces has threatened to fall into the category.
** Dream sequences often feature at least one character getting gender-flipped, usually Gary.
** Sonya blurting out "But [[NoBisexuals I'm not a lesbian]]" has achieved memetic status among the fanbase.
** People dreaming about having a sexual partner who is a mixture of two actual people, or who is one person who morphs into another.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes S-Z]]

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: This trope is repeatedly evoked but then deconstructed, mostly by Gary's relationships. He is "savvy" in the sense of being deeply knowledgeable concerning geeky matters, but not by any other definition of the word, while virtually any woman in the comic is energetic in comparison to him.
** His relationship with Yuki seems to fit the trope, but hits the problem that Yuki isn't just energetic, she's flat-out and dangerously crazy.
** His affair with Sonya rapidly collapses because she is passionate, with a love of excitement and novelty -- things which Gary very much lacks by her standards, leading her to dump him out of sheer boredom.
** Senna energetically drags him onto a flight to Paris and seduces him, but she has no respect at all for his brand of savviness.
** His so-far-platonic friendship with Sandra (mostly depicted in ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'') actually invokes the trope quite strongly, in that Sandra respects and needs Gary for his savviness in the geek world, and energetically pushes him into pursuing a career in video games (and into Domenico's drinks cabinet).
** The exceptions are Gary's brief fling with Kiley and FriendsWithBenefits arrangement with Peggy; both are ''far'' more savvy than him.
** And for variety -- Erik seems to see his relationship with Zii in terms of this trope, but fails to anticipate the implications.
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100710.html "Yoink!"]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/didi_haj_dibsh "Yoink!"]]
* SayingTooMuch:
** After Zii breaks one of Gary's Transformers and learns that it was a very rare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overlord_%28Transformers%29#Toys Overlord]], she tries to pin the blame on a cleaning woman she invented: "Tragic, I know. Poor Overlord ... never knew what hit him!" Gary than asks how she knew it was Overlord.
** Kiley tends to demonstrate the trope any time she comes under any sort of stress.
* SceneryCensor: Flat-out abused at times, although the most obvious examples were [[OrwellianRetcon edited out]] of the archived versions of the strips. Breasts and buttocks are fair game, though.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/till_i_am_out_of_the_way strip #1272,]] after dozens of increasingly cringe-making strips, Kiley, having had enough of her bizarre relationship with [=DiDi=], finally finds a sustainable excuse to run, and slams the door in [=DiDi's=] face.
* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Subverted. Gary starts the story as a desperate virgin, and for a long time his personal story seems to be emulating this standard plot type. But then the story twists around (or the writers get bored with keeping Gary frustrated), and it becomes clear that Gary's real problem isn't that he's a virgin, it's that he's ... Gary. (In terms that he himself would understand, his virginity is at most a DiscOneFinalBoss.) And characters who have sex, perhaps even regularly, can have just as many problems, and be just as desperate, as virgins.
* SexComedy: A lot of the point, a lot of the time, though handled with some lightness of touch and irony. For example, the central protagonist's quest to get laid sometimes seemed to be forgotten -- and then, when he succeeded, sex proved ''not'' to be as much of a rite of passage for him as anyone expected.
* SexEqualsLove: Largely averted, but occasionally played with.
** Most of the cast have sex-for-fun quite often, and are clear that this doesn't have to mean that they're in love with the other person. However, this may sometimes mean that they underestimate the emotional significance of the act.
** Zii repeatedly suffers from this confusion; Yuki, Sonya, and Erik all become infatuated after flings with her, and whether or not this is due to her talent in bed, all three definitely think of it as love. Zii doesn't seem to return the feeling with Yuki or Sonya, but the only way that she can deal with the problem is by running and hiding from them. She ''does'' consciously feel something for Erik, but can't then handle her attraction to other people, leading to trouble. Then, eventually, Peggy's OperationJealousy attack triggers an outburst from Zii that implies that she ''does'' want to feel that all her past conquests still love her; she just doesn't know how to handle the associated complications.
** It's also eventually revealed, thanks to Kiley's attempts to analyze her problem, that [=DiDi=] has real problems with the distinction between sex and love. She apparently thinks of the lust she inspires in all the men she dates as love, but doesn't expect it to be a lasting emotion. When Kiley talks about romantic feelings (actually in the abstract), and then gives her the first-ever orgasm which she's been desperately seeking, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/what_do_you_like_about_this_girl she thinks that they're predestined romantic lovers.]]
* SexForServices: Amber and Dillon manage to extend their interactions with Nathan beyond a simple CastingCouch arrangement when Amber arranges matters so that she and Dillon come out of the deal with an apartment as well as three film roles each.
* SexGod[=/=]SexGoddess: A number of cast members embody and deconstruct this trope in various ways; see [[Characters/MenageA3 the Characters page]].
* SexIsCool: This appears to be a theme of the comic, what with [[EveryoneHasLotsOfSex every major character except the hapless geek having lots of sex]] and generally ''thinking'' that they're cool and all, but the trope is actually {{averted|Trope}} over the course of the story. Sexually active minor characters like Nathan can be uncool, the seemingly sexless Jung can be an OnlySaneMan, some characters are unhappy with their sex lives, and when the hapless geek gets laid -- repeatedly -- it doesn't make him any cooler at all.
* SexIsGood: Generally ''assumed'' by most of the characters, and the comic generally portrays sexual relationships in a positive light. However, they can sometimes lead to difficulties and messy complications -- although these are generally treated in light comedy style.
* SexWithTheEx: More than one character in this comic has [[ButIWouldReallyEnjoyIt difficulty controlling their urges]] when around someone they've long fancied, even after bad break-ups or while in relationships with other people.
** Matt [[YourCheatingHeart cheats on Dillon]], leaving him angry and heartbroken -- but Matt only has to show up at Dillon's dressing-room door with a puppy-dog smile and they're on the floor together within moments.
** Zii tells Sonya that their relationship is over, and she wants to be faithful to Erik. Sonya keeps trying. Guess how this ends.
* SexyShirtSwitch: Used to indicate that Zii [[spoiler:slept with Angele]].
* [[SheCleansUpNicely She or He Cleans Up Nicely]]:
** The trope appears in a very variant form when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/terrified_of_me_again Gary finally notices that the lad-ette Zii is attractively feminine]] when she's walking around in a cosplay outfit (based on [[UruseiYatsura one of his favorite characters]]) that's essentially a [[FurBikini fur-trimmed bikini]].
-->'''Gary:''' ''Jung!'' Z-Z-Zii's a '''''GIRL!!!'''''
** Returning the compliment, it's later explicitly invoked by Zii [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/sure_does_clean_up_nice here,]] when Gary puts a suit and tie on. However, it seems almost odd for Zii to mention the fact at that point, given that she and several other characters have been acknowledging that Gary isn't bad-looking almost since the comic began.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: [=DiDi=]'s personal [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100211.html bad angel]]. "Wow! I don't think you've called on me since the 3rd grade... Holy crap! Check out the rack on me!" And that's nothing compared to her good angel, which has grown into a [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100213.html towering amazon]] -- which is saying something, given [=DiDi=]'s already considerable height.
* ShipSinking: Sandra and [=DiDi=] showed enough interest in each other to launch a very large fan ship. Then they actually tried sleeping together, and the ship sank catastrophically with all hands. Other possible relationships within the comic have perhaps been [[ShipTease teased]] with varying levels of plausibility, but that one was comprehensively annihilated.
* ShipTease: With a cast of often-bisexual characters on a relationship merry-go round, most conceivable ships show up in the fanbase eventually -- and many are teased, accidentally or deliberately, sooner or later. In particular, Zii gets a few teasing moments with Gary, mostly early in the comic's history, and then again much later, as their interactions take a complicated turn, with Zii obsessed with the reputation of Gary's "swirly" and Gary feeling drawn to Zii's stage persona. Zii certainly has to deal with increasingly complex emotions developing around Gary, such as major satisfaction when he tells her that he find's her sexy and would absolutely have sex with her, or, while she's horny and rattling through potential partners for a roll in the hay, involuntarily fantasizing about him -- see StupidSexyFlanders.
* ShirtlessScene: Everyone, frequently. (Not just the men, but this is defined as a males-only trope.) Matt maybe gets the most; he is an underwear model, after all.
* ShockParty: Zii's "Surprise 6-some" (seen in a FlashbackCut) for Yuki (strip #248, January 11, 2010, NSFW).
* ShoutOut: There are ''lots'' of these -- see also TheCameo entries above:
** As a sign of Gary's geekhood, he wears a lot of shirts with various significant symbols or logos on them. The chosen shirts may often subtly reflect current plotlines in the comic, too.
*** Just for a start,there are the [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100220.html 2/20/10 strip]] [[WebVideo/DragonBallAbridged with a ghost-Nappa shirt]] and the [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20091121.html 11/21/09 strip's]] [[WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko Eye of XANA]].
*** A [[Series/DoctorWho Come Along Pond]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/oddly_specific shirt also appears]], along with [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_truly_are_an_actor one referencing]] ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''.
*** And Gary [[Wrestling/ZackRyder is also a total Broski]], as seen [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/crossed_a_line here]].
*** ''And'' [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20110628.html Gary is a]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Brony]] (with a #savederpy shirt).
*** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_mean_human-alone The sequence starting with strip #770]] has Gary wearing a shirt with WebVideo/JonTron's animated WebVideo/GameGrumps face. This may have been done not only to reference WebVideo/GameGrumps, but to honor/mourn Jon's departure, since he had left the channel just days before the strip appeared.
** In [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20080821.html one early strip]], Gary regains consciousness muttering [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf "Nyan-nii-chuan"]]. And later on, he has [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20091103.html a dream sequence]] with the female form of Ranma and Princess Lum kicking his ass -- a shoutout to [[Manga/MaisonIkkoku three]] [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf famous]] [[Manga/UruseiYatsura works]] of [[Creator/RumikoTakahashi a famous mangaka]], in fact.
** There are numerous ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' references in the comic, from the "Gotham Musical" to Gary imagining Zii and [=DiDi=] as {{InUniverse}} [[LesYay Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy]]. Gary even has Dick Grayson's old hairstyle.
** The "'Gently Caress' you" arc is likely a reference to the forum software at Website/SomethingAwful replacing a certain curseword with "Gently Caress". As in [[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gently%20Caress "Gently Caress you too, Buddy!"]] Given that Website/SomethingAwful is a {{Troll}} breeding ground, it makes sense that an arc about trolls would involve it.
** ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' references include mentions of Primus, RIBFIR[=/=]FIRRIB t-shirts, and Gary [[GeekyTurnOn dreaming about]] Zii and [=DiDi=] cosplaying as [[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated Animated]] Bumblebee and Arcee.
** There are a number of references to the universe of Gisèle's other webcomics, ''Webcomic/EerieCuties''. See under TheCameo, above; also...
*** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20091117.html "My Begonias!"]] refers to a (rather more innocent) scene there.
*** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/in_their_sweet_ride Tess and Maura]] not only resemble [[Characters/CharybdisAcademy Cess and Laura]] from the other comic visually, and may have somewhat similar personalities and plot roles; they are trainee pro wrestlers with the ring names "Frosti and Pyre" and an ice-and-fire visual schtick -- and Cess and Laura are a snow fairy and an incendiary ifrit.
*** Likewise, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/trying_not_to_be_noticed snake-themed wrestler "Annie Conda"]] is a clear reference to snake-girl shapeshifter Brooke Lynn in [[Characters/CharybdisAcademy that same comic]]. Later strips reveal that Annie's real name is actually... Lynn Brooks.
*** Other female wrestlers who subsequently appear in the same plot arc are all also blatant shout-outs to other characters from ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' or its spin-off, ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'', complete with vampire or magic motifs.
** For that matter, late-introduced character Peggy has a name which many readers assume is a callback to ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', on which Giz formerly worked. Especially as a drunken Sonya garbled it appropriately.
** Gary's former roommates are named Matt and Dillon. [[Series/{{Gunsmoke}} Matt? Dillon?]] Huh... Funnily enough, nobody in the comics universe ever notices that until Ruby, who seems to have a taste for old TV series, [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/magnet_bringing_us_closer sees and hears them together]] in a ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' strip and lampshades the gag.
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20100213.html One strip]] directly mentions ''Manga/CandyCandy''.
** Zii wants to be called "[[Film/StarshipTroopers Rico]]" when she's getting spanked (strip #188, August 10, 2009, NSFW).
** {{Deadpool}}'s wave of WolverinePublicity got referenced when Gary tried to explain picking up a "girly" comic with "It's a Deadpool variant!"
** Aside from the art, the ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' references are also numerous: BettyAndVeronica get mentioned ("Archie's marrying Betty AND Veronica?"), Sandra has been compared to Archie, and the comics themselves occasionally appear on-panel. Possibly a nod to Giz's sometime employer: she's drawn issues for ''Archie''.
** Yuki sings "[[Anime/BubblegumCrisis Konya Wa Hurricane]]" under the shower (strip #600, May 12 2012, NSFW), and sports a ''Manga/KOn'' [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/%2Amumble_mumble%2A_me t-shirt]].
** One of the chapters is named ''Theatre/BabesInToyland''. Given the music references thrown around, though, it's probably a reference to the band of that name.
** Gary's words when Eulice approaches are [[Film/ANewHope "I sense something... A presence l've not felt since..."]] She also throws a vaguely Darth Vader-like shadow.
** All of the characters seem to use snippets of real songs as ringtones on their mobile 'phones, providing shout-outs to the bands in question. These ringtones often seem to be personalised to the specific callers, which can make for subtle jokes or callbacks to earlier strips. For example, Erik discovers Zii's liking for Cheap Trick the first time they meet, takes her to a gig shortly afterwards, and sets his 'phone to plays their "I Want You to Want Me" when she calls.
** [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Chiyo-Chichi]] and [[Manga/MagicKnightRayearth Mokona]] are seen in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/body_pillow this strip]]
** Operation [[Music/GinBlossoms Hey, Jealous Zii]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/hey_jealous_zii is go!]]
** In an in-character invocation of {{Rule 63}}, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/5th_level_bride Yuki dreams]] Zii into the role of Anime/CaptainHarlock, and Gary into that of [[VideoGame/SpaceChannel5 Ulala]]. Actually, they both look good that way.
** InUniverse video game character Carmen Chamelia. [[Music/CultureClub Say it out loud.]]
* ShowerOfLove: Oddly, given the general tenor of the comic and all its {{shower|Scene}}s, anything like this keeps getting {{averted|Trope}} or {{subverted|Trope}}. For example:
** Zii's hoped-for soapy hug from [=DiDi=] is intercepted (strip #186, August 05, 2009, NSFW).
** Sandra's stint in the shower with [=DiDi=] was much more innocent than anyone eavesdropping their conversation would have believed (strip #240, December 18, 2009).
** Gary's shower with Amber comes closest, but is interrupted just as it's getting ''really'' interesting (strips #662-666, October 23-November 01, 2012, NSFW).
** Zii is working hard to restrain her lust for [=DiDi=]. Then the latter, who knows about the problem, nonetheless disregard Zii's feelings it in her haste to shower for work, leaving Zii making strange noises. (Strip #853, February 20, 2014, NSFW ironically enough.)
* ShowerScene: Too many to count, and frequently notable for featuring uninterrupted views of breasts and butts. While they usually serve mildly erotic or fanservice-y purposes, Zii for one sometimes uses ''cold'' showers as a way to control runaway sexual feelings.
* SkinnyDipping:
** Senna went skinny dipping with Sandra ... in Usefulnotes/{{Brazil}}, using a private jet.
** Curiously, Zii, Yuki, and Sonya all forgot the "skinny" part while celebrating their band's first gig. Well, they were pretty drunk at the time. (Strip #907, July 03, 2014, marginally NSFW.)
* SkinshipGrope: The female characters seem to end up sharing showers or just blundering in on each other in there fairly often, sometimes leading to invocations of this trope, usually with [=DiDi=] and usually ''fairly'' innocently. (It couldn't possibly be {{fanservice}}, could it?) See, for example, July 30, 2008 (strip #33, amazingly enough NSFW). It's a lot less innocent for Zii than for [=DiDi=] there, mind. [=DiDi=] also suffers from other women who just can't resist checking whether they're ''real'' in other circumstances; both Amber and Sonya have done so, and she implies it's happened before.
* SlapSlapKiss:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/never_want_to_see_you_again Sonya inflicts one textbook example on Gary.]]
** One could argue part of the reason Gary liked [[spoiler:Kiley]] so much is she's about the only woman in his dating life who ''doesn't'' manifest this trope.
** Yuki and Sonya build a whole weird sexual relationship on the InterplayOfSexAndViolence:
*** After the band's first concert, they wake up in bed next to each other, with neither remembering how did they get there. Yuki accuses Sonya of taking away her "precious innocence", and they start fighting ... which leads to passionate kissing and more.
*** Quite how violent their sexual interactions can get [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/goodie-goodie_facade it later becomes clear.]]
*** Sonya deliberately invokes this effect when she insults Yuki, quite possibly ''hoping'' that the ensuing fight will lead to sex again. It does.
*** And then in the end, Kiley persuades them to admit to their feelings for each other and to make love tenderly -- after which, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero they find that the spark has gone]].
*** However, Sonya wants it to end with a more more dramatic bang, so that the they can both walk away with no regrets. Hence, she decides to make Yuki as angry as possible... by having sex with Gary and making sure that Yuki catches them in the act. Which works, but leads to a few unexpected consequences.
* {{Slapstick}}: Not actually a terribly common source of comedy in this comic, but used occasionally, perhaps especially in early strips; see, for example, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/short-legged this one.]]
* SleepCute: One or two of these occur between Zii and Gary, mostly early on in the story and largely by way of ShipTease.
* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: Zii and [=DiDi=] are both very promiscuous, but for much of the comic's run, neither of them will sleep with Gary (or with each other, despite Zii's fervent wishes). Both come close, only to step back, primarily because they don't want Gary to think desperation is the key to getting laid. However, for much of that time, the only person giving Gary any sort of tutoring on the practical side of sexual interaction seems to be [[CampGay Dillon]], which made some readers feel that Zii is useless in her self-appointed "wing-girl" status, cementing the applicability of this trope in their minds.\\\
[=DiDi=]'s feelings on the matter change after [[spoiler:she overhears Gary make Kiley lose her mind]], but complications ensue -- although Zii encourages her to pursue the option at times. Zii may occasionally be tempted to change her position on this as Gary becomes more clearly a sexually active being, but makes it clear in conversation with Amber that she sees Gary as too much like a brother, or perhaps as just too geeky. Gary, naturally, is always completely clueless.\\\
Zii's hopes of bedding [=DiDi=] are rekindled at least once, but it becomes clear to her that [=DiDi's=] interest in lesbian experimentation is a product of desperation, so Zii seems to give up on that dream. [[spoiler:Then [=DiDi=] announces her relationship with Kiley, leaving Zii punch-the-wall frustrated at apparently having missed her chance]].
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: The comic's regularly-appearing glasses-wearers are Gary (a {{geek}} and an artist, who knows a bit about computers), Erik (who mostly seems to want to wear shades all the time, but who is also fairly bright), and Takeru (a successful professional artist). The spin-offs add the very cerebral Ruby, Cammi (another shades-wearer), Tatiana (a highly organized PA), Tristan (a successful computer games designer), and Alex (another {{geek}}). The correlation isn't perfect -- the very bright Kiley doesn't have glasses -- but it does seem that glasses serve as a handy indicator of someone who's willing to use their brain in this setting.
* SmashCut: When [=DiDi=] suggests a day at the park, Gary and Zii are uncertain. But then, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/dropped_a_fourchette DiDi drops a fork,]] and -- smash cut.
* SoapWheel: In its later volumes, the comic has multiple PlotThreads running, often in SoapOpera style, and hence sometimes uses this plotting technique -- although Gary may show up in multiple threads. For example, in strips around early 2015, there are plotlines involving Gary's new job, which may involve separate interactions with Tracy and Yvan; Gary and Zii's dealings with Isabelle; a peculiar situation involving Sonya and Yuki; [=DiDi's=] interactions with Kiley, which in turn effects Kiley's interactions with Matt; Matt's peculiar plans for Peggy and Gary; Sonya's attempts to get Zii back, possibly aided by Peggy; Zii's attempts to work out what she wants from life; and somewhere in the background, the band's career. Each gets different amounts of attention over varying numbers of strips from time to time.
* SoCalization: Appears in one of the standard forms when Isabelle acts seductively toward Zii, and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_right_romantic_moment Zii says that she hopes that Isabelle is over 18.]] The age of consent in Canada is 16. This is a little odd, in that the comic normally does a good job of {{avert|edTrope}}ing the trope, maintaining a subtle but distinctive {{Canad|aEh}}ian flavor; it might be excused, though, in that even if the ''legal'' age of consent is 16, doing it with someone who's still a minor in every other respect ''is'' kinda creepy if you aren't very close in age (and as Zii is likely in her mid-20s, no, they aren't).
* SpeechBubbleCensoring:
** Strip #750 (June 4, 2013; nonetheless NSFW) uses this. It's maybe doubly necessary and doubly funny here because Senna is a {{transsexual}}, and casual readers may not realise exactly what they're not seeing.
** Strip #756 (June 20, 2013, probably NSFW) also uses this. The added twist here is that Yuki can apparently see the thing which is covered by the speech bubble (confirmed in later strips), which would previously just have meant chaos, but which actually leads to an interesting character development for her.
** Strip #780 (August 20, 2013; again NSFW) is another example, again with the twist that it's Senna whose "modesty" is protected.
* SpeedSex:
** Allegedly the only kind of sex [=DiDi=] has ever had, though this seems to be contradicted by at least one strip, and things are certainly different with at least one of her later partners. Still, it's a big problem for her.
** Gary's first time lasts for 43 seconds. Later, he allegedly gets up to 45.
* SpitTake:
** Gary when Zii asks him point-blank about being a virgin.
** Eulice when Gary blurts out Zii has no job.
** The on-line {{Troll}} upon finding out who Zii is.
** Kiley when Matt figures out why [[spoiler:she's seeing Gary's face on other guys]].
** And [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_can_see_why_you_like_him Matt when Kiley slips in a sly joke at his expense]].
* {{Squee}}:
** Dillon does this when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/squee he finds out he's going to appear in a movie.]]
** Tatiana ''thinks'' a Squee! while fantasising about Domenico in the "Sandra Interlude" guest strip #1 (April 02, 2013, marginally NSFW).
** Gary is usually relatively reserved, or at least un-shrill, for a hopeless geek, but every now and again he slips, notably when [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/video_game_hero Sandra models a videogame character]], demonstrating all the symptoms except the specific sound effect -- and one can guess that's present in his tone of voice.
* StalkerWithACrush: Attraction and infatuation all too easily leads some of these characters into behavior that, in the real world, would justify a call to the police:
** Dillon is prone to sneaking secret photos of attractive, unsuspecting straight men -- including Gary, towards whom his behavior becomes increasingly manipulative and infatuated for a while. His behavior toward Jerzy in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' gets a bit weird, too.
** Having sneaked away from her in the middle of the night, Zii wants Yuki to leave her alone, but Yuki is very persistent, and Zii eventually gives up, and has sex with her. While Gary is on a pseudo-date with Yuki. Loudly, all night. While Gary can hear.
** Yuki, being an all-round {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, later also takes to [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_thought_this_would_help stalking Matt]] -- not because she likes him, but because she wants to practice heterosexual sex with someone she ''doesn't'' care about, while she's still prone to violent fugues.
** Around the time when Yuki realizes that she's attracted to Gary, and leaves Zii alone, Sonya realises that she's in love with Zii, and takes over the function. Unfortunately, by then, Zii is trying to maintain a monogamous relationship with Erik. This doesn't stop Sonya, who deduces from Zii's treatment of herself when they first met that Zii didn't take boyfriends seriously (despite Zii's insistence that this case is somehow different), and her actions become increasingly [[LoveMakesYouEvil morally dubious]] as she not only exploits Zii's hot buttons, but also tries unsuccessfully to seduce Erik. She does realize that she had neglected to tell Zii that she loved her as well as wanting her for sex, until it was too late, leading to an odd little PetTheDog moment (February 19 2013, strip 710, NSFW). But she tends to bounce back from setbacks; this doesn't stop her, and nor does the prospect of competition from [=DiDi=] for Zii's affections. She does begin to wonder how she could get past Zii's "playing hard to get", but then Peggy [[OperationJealousy comes to her assistance]].
** It's more a ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' plotline, but [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/no_need_to_cry_for_me as seen here,]] Angel is worryingly obsessed with Jerzy, to at least borderline-stalking levels.
** And then [=DiDi=] becomes infatuated with Kiley, and starts [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/eagerly_awaiting_me showing up unexpectedly at her place of work on what she calls a date.]]
** And ''then'' -- new minor character Isabelle initially shows up with just a {{fangirl}}[=/=]groupie attitude towards Zii, but her interest rapidly becomes quite extreme, probably coming closest to actual, insane, real-world stalking. (The broken-and-replaced lock on the apartment door [[Film/SingleWhiteFemale and wanting to be called "Izz"]] seem like ''real'' bad signs.)
--->'''Isabelle:''' I need to add her address in my contacts. Do you know her full name? Including middle name, and her mom's maiden name?\\
'''Gary:''' S-somehow it's never come up.\\
'''Isabelle:''' And do you know her cell number? That would be really useful. Any siblings? Cousins? Pets? What's her favorite food?
* StatuesqueStunner:
** Definitely [=DiDi=].
** To a (slightly) lesser extent, Sonya and maybe Sandra -- and don't underestimate Peggy either. Basically, female characters in this comic either fit this trope to some extent or are cutely petite.
* StealthPun: Sonya and [=DiDi=], two women who consider themselves straight but have shown attraction to their own gender, hide in Gary's ''closet'' in the 2012 December story arc.
* StrawberryShorthand: Amber and Chanelle help Gary celebrate his thirtieth birthday by turning up in his bedroom wearing nothing but strawberries held on with whipped cream.
* StupidSexyFlanders: Zii increasingly finds Gary interesting, especially in later volumes, while ''also'' increasingly trying to dismiss him as a hopeless geek or more like a kid brother. (The results also serve as a ShipTease, qv.) For example, in strip #1073 (September 22, 2015, marginally NSFW), she feels in need of a hookup, and runs through a list of possibilities; first Sonya, then Yuki -- and then she involuntarily imagines Gary naked. She promptly bolts for a cold shower, screaming "Too Gary! Too Gary!"
* [[AttackItsWeakPoint Suck Her Weak Point]]: Yuki knows perfectly well that if she wants Zii to stop struggling, her big toe is the way to go. Ears work, too, with Gary and Zii.
* SuddenlySexuality:
** Zii apparently has an aura which warps everyone around her into bisexuality. Can she really be ''that'' good? Noted cases include Sonya (a random waitress who ended up transformed into a major second-string character) and an Internet {{Troll}}'s mother.
** {{Lampshaded}} (and {{parod|y}}ied) in the "Bonularity" guest strip (incidentally, considered one of the better guest strips); the three lead characters are apparently going to be the focal point of an event causing every single person in Montreal to have sex with everybody else.
* SuggestiveCollision:
** Something of a perpetual hazard of existence for [=DiDi=], as it seems; indeed, she suffers such an accident on [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/goosh her very first appearance.]]
** A collision among Gary, Zii and Yuki somehow ends up with Gary on his back, Zii sitting on his groin, Yuki sitting on his face, and the latter two facing each other.
* SuppressedRage: Demonstrated [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/the_new_yuki here]] by Yuki, when she reveals that Sonya can still, quite easily, provoke her.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Kiley. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/have_we_met "It's not like I've been spying on you from a phone or anything!"]]
* SweatDrop: Used quite frequently as one of the manga-esque effects.
* TakeAThirdOption:
** Gary becomes the object of both Sonya's and Yuki's attentions. To settle which one should get him, they decide to have a "sex contest", in which they date him for a month, then have a threesome with him, and he then picks one. This fails to resolve the problem, but then Gary accidentally takes a third option by losing his virginity to ''Kiley'', Yuki's "therapist," who pounces him after he tries to console her about messing up with Yuki.
** PlayedForLaughs a bit more when Gary and Senna meet Sandra in Paris. Senna and Sandra argue over whether to involve Gary in real (Senna) or {{geek}} (Sandra) culture. Gary suggests that both can be accomplished, by going to Brussels. (He has his own logic there.) Neither of the women takes it well.
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: When Gary heads out to Paris in a hurry, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/just_wash_yourself_in_swimsuits he pulls off an on-paper version of this trope, possibly by accident.]]
* TeamMom: Whenever [=DiDi=] or Zii slide into {{Jerkass}}itude the other leans toward this. Later, new character Peggy seems to reflexively take this job.
* TearJerker: An in-universe instance in strip #669 (Nov 8th, 2013: NSFW), when Gary talks to Dillon and (a topless) Amber about his relationship with Yuki.
-->'''Amber:''' Do ''you'' want to spend the rest of your life with ''[[TheRival her]]''?\\
'''Gary:''' Sure... I guess...?\\
'''Amber:''' You ''guess?''\\
'''Gary:''' Well, it's not like any other girl ever wanted to share my life. ''(Next panel has Dillon and Amber, on the verge of InelegantBlubbering, hugging Gary)'' Okay... what's with the hugging?
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Zii and the Troublemakers, the comic's resident rock band, more or less runs on this to begin with. Yuki and Sonya can't stand each other (though Sonya quite enjoys provoking Yuki), and Zii finds both of them stressful to work with for various reasons -- but they all enjoy being in the band. This tips Yuki and Sonya towards FriendlyEnemies status, and then [[SlapSlapKiss more]].
* TemptingFate:
** Sandra gets carried away in an argument with Senna [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/little_freckled-faced_fool here,]] and suffers the comedy consequences.
** When Angel thinks that Zii is beaten ... well, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/when_time_comes_to_play provoking Yuki and Sonya simultaneously really isn't a good idea.]]
** And shortly after the above -- Jerzy, desperate to cheer Angel up, says that Zii's band aren't much good. Given that [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/to_the_finish_line they're in the middle of an audience cheering that band to the rafters at the time,]] that isn't so much tempting fate as sheer denial of reality.
** Roxie's [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/flawless_entrance self-confident internal monologue]] on entering the wrestling ring is quickly interrupted by the disruptive [=DiDi.=] Ironically, [=DiDi=] came to ''support'' Roxie.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Zii's {{flashback}}s to previous escapades sometimes include two recurring characters, members of the band she used to be in. They generally go unnamed, although their names (James and Martin) can actually be deduced with a little digging, especially if one has access to the bonus strips in the [[WebcomicPrintCollection print collections]] of the comic.
* [[AThreesomeIsManly A Threesome Is Hot/Manly]]: See the examples listed for ThreeWaySex below, many of which are [[FanService viewed as more or less hot]], and with the DoubleStandard often {{averted|Trope}}.
** Occasionally, this trope and the double standard may deconstructed or subverted; for example, Amber offers Gary a threesome, and he's open to it until he realises that it'll involve Dillon rather than a second woman, and he'd be expected to ''do things'' with the other man, at which he goes from nervousness to HeroicBSOD.
** Conversely, Matt effectively invokes this trope, straight, in order to [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/be_that_guy bounce Gary into joining him for a foursome.]]
* ThreeWaySex: Occurs from time to time, with the DoubleStandard ''definitely'' {{averted|Trope}}; most possible permutations can and do happen. The men involved in the M-M-F groupings are sometimes twitchy about doing anything sexual with another man involved, but may get over it. Many but not all cases involve the often-busy Zii. Some go badly, some don't.
** Flashbacks shows Zii's foursome with (male) triplets (exhausting) and her threesome with two male former band-mates (abortive due to male-male hang-ups).
** Another flashback shows Zii's abortive attempt to organise a surprise six-way orgy for Yuki, which ran into the problem of the latter's phobias.
** Zii gets a threesome with Sonya and Jake. The night ends badly, but no one is objecting at the start -- and Jake subsequently develops an excessive taste for (mostly off-screen) group sex.
** Matt manages to bag two cast members (one male, one female) from Dillon's play, simultaneously.
** Nathan organises an encounter between himself, Amber, and Dillon (in drag), though he mainly just watches.
** Zii gets Erik and Adrien into bed simultaneously, the first night that they all meet.
** Amber offers Gary a threesome, and he fantasises about her and Chanelle. Unfortunately, she means with her and Dillon, which isn't to Gary's tastes, so that fantasy quickly ends.
** Yuki and Sonya's "sex contest" for Gary's favors ends in a (pre-arranged) three-way encounter which ends when Yuki's issues kick in, again.
** Zii, Sonya, [=DiDi=], and Peggy, wind up in what has to be called a lesbian orgy, although that's mostly about two pairs at any given moment.
** When Amber wakes up with Gary, and discovers that it's his birthday, she [[spoiler:tells him that she should get him a present, goes out, and comes back with Chanelle (both of them naked but for some whipped cream and strawberries). Things subsequently get even wilder]].
** Later, Matt sets up a foursome with Peggy, Kiley, and Gary. [[spoiler:It ends up as a threesome after Kiley storms out.]]
* TitleDrop: Finally happens on September 3, 2011 (NSFW), and again on December 4, 2012. However, it's debatable whether either of those instances quite fit this trope; they're more just casual uses of the phrase. [[BilingualBonus The title is literally just a French description of the situation in the apartment, after all]]; see BilingualBonus.
* TooKinkyToTorture: A recurrent joke in this comic, applied to various characters:
** Zii (see strip #188, August 10, 2009, NSFW).
** Yuki shows strong shades of this from the beginning with the "emergency handcuffs" she always carries. Later, when [=DiDi=] mistakes her for a burglar and ties her up with bedsheets, she tells [=DiDi=] to tighten the knots and asks Gary for some clothespins. Zii confirms that this is typical Yuki.
** [=DiDi=] as of strip #614 (June 16, 2012; NSFW).
* TooMuchInformation: Judging by Sonya's expression in the last panel of [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/goodie-goodie_facade this strip,]] Yuki tells her more about their recent SlapSlapKiss interlude than Sonya quite realised...
-->'''Sonya:''' Oh you're into kinkier stuff than your goodie-goodie facade lets on. ''I'' had never been "fisted" before.\\
'''Yuki:''' Oh, ''that!'' Actually, [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence I punched you]] [[GroinAttack in the vagina]] and my hand got caught. Sorry 'bout that, I guess.
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: Seen increasingly often (frequently combined with a ModestyBedsheet) after the comic dials back the [[NippleAndDimed visual explicitness]] in pursuit of advertising revenue, from around mid-2015 on.
* TradeSnark: A minor one: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/d/20090602.html Dillon's "open mouth Swirly-Go-Round" kissing technique]].
* TranslationConvention: Used with [=DiDi=]'s French and Yuki's Japanese (brackets around English text). {{Averted|Trope}} with Senna's Portuguese (the forum-provided translations of which have been copied to the [[Trivia/MenageA3 trivia page]]).
* TransparentCloset: At different times, both [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/oprah_never_lies Nathan]] and [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/lovers_quarrel Sonya]] fervently deny being gay, despite enthusiastically engaging in completely consensual gay sex and not hiding the fact very well from the people to whom they're talking. Actually, both seem to be functionally ''bisexual'', but... It's PlayedForLaughs, of course.
* {{Troll}}
** Zii runs into one on a forum, and [[DisproportionateRetribution proceeds to]] [[IBangedYourMom humiliate him]].
** In the course of the same storyline, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/halibut Gary confesses that he used to be one.]]
* TroubledFetalPosition: Demonstrated [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/cela_est_excitant here by Gary]], when he realises what he's just been bounced into by Yuki and Sonya.
* TwinkleInTheEye: Didi in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/break_in_a_new_student_-_start_book_8 this strip]] as she breaks out of Roxy's wrestling hold.
* TwinThreesomeFantasy:
** Zii -- not only in reality, but actually as a triplet foursome.
** Nathan tries to invoke it by having Dillon dress up as Amber-Amber and inviting Amber herself to their "session". He says he doesn't want to make [[{{Twincest}} two actual sisters have sex]] -- a case of EvenEvilHasStandards, apparently -- but he seems to think that this is just as good.
* TwoDecadesBehind: For a comic about 21st century twentysomethings, some of them playing in a band, this one makes an awful lot of references to '70s/'80s hair-rock/GlamRock acts. And while the characters use mobile 'phones and even computers, at least one of them uses snail mail when e-mail would do the job fine.
* {{Underboobs}}:
** [=DiDi=] when she wears a shirt she borrowed from Sandra, as it's too small for her.
** Angele when wearing Zii's shirt, which on Zii only leads to BareYourMidriff.
* UnkemptBeauty: This tends to appear as a result of the art style. There are occasions when Zii or Gary wake up hungover and frazzled, and some of the fans get ... enthusiastic. Senna, who usually wears her hair in a heavily styled bob, can be even more distracting for some with bed hair or fresh from the shower. See for example strip #783 (August 27 2013, borderline NSFW).
* UnsettlingGenderReveal:
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/looks_like_a_man "Wow! Dinah looks like a man without her wig!"]] ...Wait a minute... Technically speaking, this strip doesn't really fit the trope definition, because sexual attraction wasn't directly involved; however, several characters are nonetheless unsettled by the reveal in various ways. It's complicated.
** A variant treatment of the trope subsequently appears with regard to the {{transsexual}} Senna, who presents as a ''very'' attractive woman -- with a penis.
*** On her first appearance, in strip #400 (January 14, 2011) onward (all definitely NSFW), both Sandra and Gary are startled to see her naked; Sandra merely needs a stiff drink, but Gary, who clearly finds Senna highly attractive, especially when she starts flirting heavily with him, is rendered nearly comatose.
*** Much later, in strips from [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/i_mean_human-alone #770]] onwards, Gary gets into a relationship with Senna, has sex with her while he's drunk, but subsequently, after he sobers up, freaks out over her anatomy more than once -- sometimes quite dramatically when he's suddenly reminded (e.g. strip #815, November 12, 2013, NSFW).
* UnsoundEffect:
** [[GroinAttack Knee-CROTCH!]]
** [[GroinAttack Kok-KIKKK!]] being a [[WrittenSoundEffect Sound]]/UnsoundEffect hybrid.
** [[DeathGlare GLARE!!!]]
** [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_conspired_with_the_occult SWOON!]] (Followed a frame later by [[WrittenSoundEffect THUD in appropriately chunky capitals]], and some BishieSparkle for bonus points.)
* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: ''All'' of the characters in this comic are flawed in one way or another, and most of them will do morally questionable things to get something that they want badly enough, lack much self-control, or are just too dim to anticipate the consequences of their actions. This leads to a certain amount of dissonance for some readers, who describe it as a comic about horrible, unsympathetic people. Others say "fallible" rather than "horrible", and claim to find almost all the cast ''more'' sympathetic as a result. There may be a certain amount of [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful]]/DracoInLeatherPants involved in this, too; this is an uncommonly good-looking collection of characters, and the ones who are shown most critically are perhaps the slightly less good-looking ones.
** Gary partly averts this by virtue of being a mild-mannered geek and frequently seeming like a NiceGuy, but his passivity and tendency to self-pity manage to annoy many readers regardless.
** [=DiDi=] seems at the start to be sweetly innocent, in her way, and hence sympathetic, but she seemingly [[TookALevelInJerkass changes for the worse]] as her sexual frustration overwhelms her. Then again, she treats her boyfriends casually badly from the first, and always has difficulty understanding other people's feelings; the "change" may just be these tendencies coming to the fore. At the worst, she's mixed up and has been driven crazy by frustration. But she's definitely imperfect.
* UnusualEuphemism: In general, this comic doesn't bother much with euphemisms; it's not ''unduly'' crude, but if characters are talking about sex, they call it sex. But...
** There are occasional moments like "[[http://www.menagea3.net/d/20100626.html Rubbing my earlobe]]". ItMakesSenseInContext.
** And then, Matt and Kiley started providing each other with informal psychotherapy -- while at the same time, very frequently banging each other's brains out, allegedly as part of the process. Hence, "therapy" and "therapist" rapidly became joke euphemisms in relation to those two.
* UnwantedHarem: Gary ends up in a version of this situation (although how unwanted some of this is might be debated, given his initial sexual frustration and obliging nature). In fact, given the comic's extensive and conscious use of manga tropes, his plot strands in later volumes can be seen as a tribute to or {{parody}} of the HaremGenre. Because of all the comedy confusions and general lack of communication (especially by Gary), a lot of these women end up as each others' {{unknown rival}}s from time to time.
** At one point, he seems to have [[UptightLovesWild feelings primarily for Yuki]], but there are multiple problems with this. Eventually, he finds that he can't tell her that he loves her with any conviction, and she drops him (possibly temporarily) because she recognises that she can't offer him satisfactory sex -- but things are still somewhat open there, as Yuki's attempts to make the relationship viable continue. This drama runs in parallel with his interactions with other women (and men).
** Sonya wants him, initially because of how Zii talks him up and later to annoy Yuki, and because of what she hears about his oral skills. She eventually gets him into bed, but soon drops him because of his general cluelessness, there and elsewhere. However, she later cheerfully exploits him for a booty call (actually as part of a scheme involving Yuki).
** Kiley impetuously deflowers him, and looks at first to be heading for a relationship with him. She stops it before it really starts, for Yuki's sake, but later comics show that she hasn't entirely forgotten him.
** [=DiDi=] and Amber both express strong interest in him, the former because she's heard about his oral sex skills, the latter because she's experienced them. Eventually, Amber closes the deal, but just the once, as it seems.
** Chanelle's first personal interaction with him involves abortive fellatio; her second involves Amber in ThreeWaySex, as a favor for the latter (though she is soon very impressed by the Swirly-Go-Round).
** Senna, fascinated by by his {{adorkab|le}}ility, sweeps him off on a date in Paris (joining the MileHighClub on the way).
** Peggy is pointed his way at one point, and eventually gets into a masked ThreeWaySex session with him. This leads to what she politely makes clear is a non-serious but very active FriendsWithBenefits relationship (involving a lot of butt play).
** The keen {{dominatrix}} Tatiana, guesting in a {{crossover}} with ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'', identifies him as "the perfect sub" within about five minutes of meeting him, and proceeds to investigate this phenomenon.
** In the same crossover, Sandra becomes friendly with him while using him as a consultant on {{geek}} culture and a way to annoy Senna, although this may not develop beyond friendship.
** Even Zii clearly feels twinges of curiosity about his oral skills, and eventually starts having to take cold showers after thinking about him -- and while he mostly sees her as a friend, he is impressed and attracted when he sees her on stage. There are strong hints of ShipTease here, and very possibility more.
** And Dillon pursues him, despite supposedly knowing that [[IncompatibleOrientation it's hopeless]]. For that matter, Jordan teases him flirtatiously, and Matt, despite having little respect for him in sexual matters, keeps hallucinating his face and then finds it amusing to tease him with sexual contact and shared showers.
** Or, to put it more briefly; the design for a poster promised as a stretch goal for [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixietrixcomix/menage-a-3-volume-6 the Kickstarter used to finance the printing]] of [[WebcomicPrintCollection the comic's volume 6,]] entitled "Gary's Harem", features Gary, ten women, a guy in drag, and a cat. And it still misses out the woman who spanked him in Paris, and five unnamed female friends brought into his birthday celebration by Chanelle.
* VanityLicensePlate: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/to_borneo It would seem that Zii's van's plates read "ZII"]].
* VaporWear:
** It seems that [=DiDi=] hardly ever bothers with a bra. It's amazing she can walk, let alone jog... She's shown to be wearing one [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/okay-sized in one strip,]] but she's in disguise there. Later, she's shown putting one on, but it turns out to be too small for her (strip #854, February 22, 2014, NSFW).
** Zii seems usually to go braless as well, as does Kiley, but they're both notably small-busted and really don't need support.
* VomitDiscretionShot: [=DiDi=] and Sandra get drunk together and at least one of them ends up puking, judging by sound we [[WrittenSoundEffect see]] [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/she_needs_me coming out of Zii's cellphone.]]
* VoodooDoll: It's only in a one-panel ImagineSpot, but Senna has what can safely be assumed to be a Sandra doll [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/who_is_your_ideal_woman here,]] showing that Gary knows something about her, at last subconsciously.
* VulgarHumor: Borderline. The comic's attitude toward sex can be described as "puerile shallowness" with much invocation of the RuleOfFunny. But its fans tend to class this as frankness, and the approach tends to be good-natured and not usually reliant on the idea that someone somewhere might be shocked ... then we get moments like accidental face-sitting or Gary peeing out the window.
* WebcomicTime:
** As per [[WordOfGod Giz]], [[http://www.pixietrixcomix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15&p=129801#p129787 only 4 weeks passed in the first two years the comic was running]]. There are subsequently a few faster time-jumps, but the trope is definitely strong here.
** Gary is 29 when the comic starts. He turns 30 in strip #909, more than 6 years later.
* WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture: The process of portmanteau word creation is parodied in strip #756 (June 20, 2013, probably NSFW).
* WhamEpisode: The comic has a few of these, to various levels of Wham. Some fairly clear examples:
** Zii gets a boyfriend who initially seems to have been set up as a one-night stand -- and promptly embraces the idea of monogamy.
** Gary loses his virginity -- to someone whom he met barely an hour before.
** A double instance near/at the end of volume 5: first, [=DiDi=] finally gets an opportunity to try Gary's oral talents -- only to find not only that he's not home, but all his clean clothes are missing [[AdultFear and no one knows where he's gone]]. Then, a few strips later, readers discover where he's gone; [[spoiler:he's in ''UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}'', for initially unclear reasons]]...
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: Several characters have been known to come round from binges with dim and worrying memories of the night before...
** ...but [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Sandra]] is a natural sufferer from the problem. She even invokes the trope title in strip #302 (May 17, 2010, NSFW).
** Also, Zii, Yuki, and Sonya wake up in a very confused state with uncertain memories the morning after their band's first gig, which leads to some complications. They actually [[spoiler: just jumped in a pool and then ditched their wet clothes. By the time Zii puts this together, Sonya and Yuki are having sex anyway.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: The comic features a few of these, in highly variant forms, as it's a bit short on heroes:
** [=DiDi=] gets one from Zii when [[spoiler:she tries to scare Kiley away so that she can get a chance at Gary, forgetting about Matt as well as being unfair to Gary and Kiley]].
** She gets another from the same source, in short form, [[spoiler:when Yuki accuses her of trying to steal Gary]].
** Chanelle points out Amber's mistake in letting Gary go when she had a chance there.
** Dillon calls out Gary for nearly cheating on Yuki with Amber after finding out that Gary and Yuki are dating. (After being cheated on himself, Dillon doesn't want Gary to do that to Yuki.) He also calls out Amber for trying to seduce Gary. (The implications get a little complicated there, though. Amber protests that Yuki isn't a good girlfriend to Gary, but Dillon dismisses her, saying that ''of course'' Gary wouldn't be dating Yuki if they didn't love each other. [[spoiler:Gary then stuns both of them by admitting that he doesn't know, since no one has ever asked him that before.]])
* WigDressAccent: {{Parod|y}}ied at least twice:
** First [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/making_the_love_of_my_life_jealous here,]] when Sonya wants to take Peggy to a concert where she can seduce Gary, without giving away the fact that Peggy isn't in a relationship with herself. (It's complicated...) Sonya, not the brightest character in the strip, suggests a (horrendous) wig and (too-)dark glasses. Peggy, suffering from being the OnlySaneWoman, {{lampshade|d}}s the problems with the idea.
** Also in strip #930 (September 20, 2014, NSFW), when a squad of porn stars, offered one swirly each by Gary, decide that they want more.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Gary and pretty much anyone, especially Zii, [=DiDi=], Sonya, and Yuki. Sometimes, this is eventually answered, and sometimes it isn't. At some points, the trope manifests in the relationships between [=DiDi=] and Sandra and [=DiDi=] and Matt, too.
* WingdingEyes:
** Yuki's eyes become spirals when she goes into "TENTACLLLLES!" mode.
** Hearts appear in various characters' eyes at various times. In this comic, they ''sometimes'' indicate raw lust rather than love, as [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/my_favorite_customer here.]]
** Stars sometimes appear to show that a character is starstruck by someone else ([[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/make_it_in_one_piece as here]]) or dreaming of stardom.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: It's probable that without Zii in his life, Gary would still be surrounded mostly by gay men (though logically he might eventually have had a run-in with Amber, and maybe even Senna). However, some of the things Zii does (such as preventing [=DiDi=] from having PitySex with him) raise the question of whether she ever actually intends to go through with her promise of getting him laid. At best, she tries when she remembers, but gets distracted rather often. [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/twice_a_day (Although she does eventually make herself useful.)]] In fact, when he does make progress, the encounters are often NOT set up by Zii: First Senna, then Amber, and crucially Kiley -- while Sonya, who Zii does throw at Gary, quickly dumps him as not her type (especially as she's more interested in Zii).
* WrongNameOutburst:
** [=DiDi=], who has trouble keeping track of her countless boyfriends, is prone to calling them by the wrong name at any time, including moments of passion. They generally forgive her, because she's [=DiDi,=] but it's rough on them. See, for example, strip #462 (June 08, 2011; NSFW).
** [[TheCasanova Matt]] is peculiarly prone to having his sexual partners call out Gary's name, somewhat to his cost in mental stability:
*** First, [=DiDi=] does this, traumatizing him so badly that he requires professional treatment. (Strip #590, April 19, 2012; NSFW.)
*** Peggy later does the same, due to a genuine if weird case of comedic MistakenIdentity. This time, he [[spoiler:decides it's an auditory hallucination]], until they discover the mistake. (Strip #898, June 12, 2014; NSFW.)
* [[TheyKnewTheRisks You Knew What You Signed On For]]: When Yuki wallops Gary with a plushie for feeling up Sonya, and he asks Zii for help, Zii drops this on him.
* YourDoorWasOpen: Matt, despite his habit of having sex in his front room with [[AnythingThatMoves just about anyone]], has the [[Film/BowlingForColumbine Canadian habit]] of leaving his front door open. This often leads to people, including Matt's current lovers, finding out about his latest sexual relations while they're happening.
* ZanyScheme: A recurrent comedy device in this comic. Some examples by character:
** Zii likes to think of herself as a great manipulator, but most of the time, [[IndyPloy she just improvises her way out of difficulties]], and sometimes she makes things worse rather than better. For example, she brings Yuki into band rehearsals to disrupt Sonya's attempts to seduce her, but that of course brings Yuki into the band -- which Zii had been ''specifically'' trying to avoid. Her schemes aren't usually ''wildly'' zany, but they're rarely as clever as she thinks.
** Sonya is, as she says herself, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/is_he_single fulla great plansh...]] uh, full of bright ideas -- except that she's none too bright. Putting Peggy in a heavy wig and dark glasses to seduce Gary would just be one notable example.
** For that matter -- Peggy's OperationJealousy scheme on behalf of Sonya may be quite well-designed in itself, but it has to involve ''Sonya''.
** Tatiana's experiment to determine whether or not Gary really is "the perfect sub" tips over the edge into lunacy. It actually sort-of-works on its own terms, though, despite her failure to cover some details.

[[/folder]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: Zii gets trolled on the internet, so she drives to the kid's house, has sex with his mom, and convinces her to break up with the troll's father (of course, he'd been having affairs with his secretaries for years, so it wasn't ''just'' Zii).

** The arc involving the strange relationship between [=DiDi=] and Kiley slowly deconstructs [=DiDi=] herself, coming to a head in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/till_i_am_out_of_the_way strip #1272]]. As the arc shows, the comedic aspect of [=DiDi's=] character and the storylines featuring her only work if the other characters involved haven't gotten over her body. Once they do that and the comic actually looks into her personality, you realize that it's actually rather boring, shallow, and overall, ''toxic'' to be in a relationship with. In real life, wise people would stay away from such a person, or head out the door as soon as they were done having sex with her.
-->'''Kiley:''' Your next step toward becoming a complete human being is to step away from me.\\

** The arc involving the strange relationship between DiDi and Kiley slowly deconstructs DiDi herself, coming to a head in [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/till_i_am_out_of_the_way #1272]]. As the arc shows, the comedic aspect of Didi's character and the storylines featuring her only work if you haven't gotten over her body. Once you do that and actually look into her personality, you realize that she's ridiculously boring, shallow, and overall, ''toxic'' to be in a relationship with. In real life, people would stay away from such a person, or nope out the door as soon as they're done having sex with her.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: On #1272, after hundreds and hundreds of increasingly cringe-making strips, Kiley, having had enough of Didi, finally slams the door on Didi's face.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread:
%% http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1333977314005030600

%% Note that this comic also has a Characters page at
%% http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MenageA3 -

* {{Deconstruction}}:
** The comic deconstructs itself at the conclusion of the Matt-Kiley WillTheyOrWontThey arc. As the arc shows, the comedic aspect of this comic only works when characters don't know what's going on behind their backs; when they do, they respond exactly as you'd expect from actual people. While Kiley may enjoy casual sex with Matt, the moment she finds out he's using her to prove that his sexual prowess is greater than [[spoiler:Gary's]], she storms out and drops him like a hot potato.
** The comic deconstructs itself again on #1272. As the arc shows, the comedic aspect of Didi's character, and the storylines featuring her, only works if you haven't gotten over her body. Once you have, and once you actually look into her personality, you'd find that she's ridiculously boring, shallow, and overall, ''toxic'' to be in a relationship with. In real life, people would stay away from such a person, or nope out the door as soon as they're done having sex with her.

** The comic deconstructs itself again on #1272. This arc shows just how ''toxic'' a character like Didi is, and how miserable one would be to be in a relationship with her. Once you get over her body and actually look into her personality, you'd find that it is really in your best interest to stay away from such a character.

'''[=DiDi=]:''' I... I cannot leave you.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The comic deconstructs itself at the conclusion of the Matt-Kiley WillTheyOrWontThey arc. As the arc shows, the comedic aspect of this comic only works when characters don't know what's going on behind their backs; when they do, they respond exactly as you'd expect from actual people. While Kiley may enjoy casual sex with Matt, the moment she finds out he's using her to prove that his sexual prowess is greater than [[spoiler:Gary's]], she storms out and drops him like a hot potato.

* IThinkYouBrokeHim: See strip #82, November 28, 2008. NSFW; well, the breaking trigger ''is'' the offer of a threesome.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/our_arrangement_is_over This strip]] hints at an unusual variant of the trope (involving therapeutic ethics), and then lampshades the hint.

** There's also an "official" manifestation of this trope as a bonus story in the series' fourth book collection.

*** Later, her angel -- operating at more normal size -- actually manages to smack her hard enough to sting for having bad thoughts.

** [=DiDi's=] bad angel gets called up for the first time since the third grade (due to her contemplating a little manipulative lesbian adventuring) in strip #261 (February 10, 2010), and is [[DistractedByTheSexy promptly impressed by her own bust]]. However, it's scared off by her gigantic [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/good_girl good angel]]. ([=DiDi=] sees herself as a very good person, at least at this point.) Later, her angel -- operating at more normal size -- actually manages to smack her hard enough to sting for having bad thoughts.

* GilliganCut: [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/you_sure_this_is_your_girlfriend #1053]], [=DiDi=] talking about Kiley.

** Zii likes to think of herself as a great manipulator, but most of the time, she just improvises her way out of difficulties, and sometimes she makes things worse rather than better. For example, she brings Yuki into band rehearsals to disrupt Sonya's attempts to seduce her, but that of course brings Yuki into the band -- which Zii had been ''specifically'' trying to avoid. Her schemes aren't usually ''wildly'' zany, but they're rarely as clever as she thinks.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: PlayedForLaughs. The only reason Kiley's "therapy" with Matt isn't a horrific breach of psychological ethics is because she's not actually a psychologist. And while the therapy ''kind of'' works, it's more because being in a stable relationship is good for both of them than Kiley having any idea what she's doing.

*** Likewise, [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/trying_not_to_be_noticed snake-themed wrestler "Annie Conda"]] is a clear reference to snake-girl shapeshifter Brooke Lynn in [[Characters/CharybdisAcademy that same comic]]. A later strip reveals that Annie's real ''first'' name is actually Lynn.

** Gary's former roommates are named Matt and Dillon. [[Series/{{Gunsmoke}} Matt? Dillon?]] Huh... (Funnily enough, nobody in the comics universe ever notices that until Ruby, who seems to have a taste for old TV series, [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/magnet_bringing_us_closer sees and hears them together]] in a ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' strip and lampshades the gag.)