In two weeks, I’ll be in Bloomington, Indiana, again! I’ll have all five books and some character magnets and also my dumb face. Come find me at Vintage Phoenix Comics, which is downtown and not far from a pub that has, like, lobster macaroni & cheese, man. What heaven is this city.
Loading ...
LEAVE ROOM FOR
JESUSJEHOLOSAURUS YOU TWOshit, lobster macaroni?? what are plane tickets running nowadays??
Funny thing about the internet…”
…there’s no recipe for a David Willis a short distance away from said macaroni?
That’ll be harder for me to find. May I recommend Stalking™?
Better a Jeholornis, it will take less space
AWW YEAH, BECKY, GO GET DAT
ASSHATI thought the asshats were all in amazi-girl’s storyline
This is DoA. The asshats are everywhere.
Maybe Becky is secretly from Orko’s race. When he met and fell in love with a female of his species, taking of their headgear to see each other’s faces was an act of intimacy.
cute lesbian date 🙂
cute
lesbiandate 🙂And fixed 😛
Also Dina is adorable and Becky grew a head eyeball! O_O
And unfixed because I have no clue how to use HTML tags XD
Eh, it still works.
True. They are cute regardless.
<strike>
you probably just forgot to close the tag</strike>NOT HARD ENOUGHWell, that’s disappointing.
AW, IT PARSED OUT THE MARQUEE TAGS AROUND IT.
But you tried, and that’s what counts.
You know Becky, most people take off their hats to get a shower.
Quick, shower her with affection!
Backy’s fascination with Dina’s scalp is helping put the Victorian thing with ankles into perspective for me.
Whoops, *Becky* Accursed Typos! Must thou plague me eternal?
They’re so cute oh my god.
ask to borrow the hat and see if it looks good on you becky! do it!
Dina takes off the hat to reveal her backup hat.
It’s just dinosaur hats all the way down
It’s a dino-yarmulke.
Damn, Walky giving Mike the Stink-eye. Never knew anyone, let alone Walky, had it in them to do that to the King of Sass, Mike.
That may explain the look on Mike’s face.
Joyce gives some pretty good stinkeye.
Mike v. Walky, coming to theatres near you.
WAIT DID WALKY MAKE A SHIPNAME FOR BECKY/DINA
I love him.
S` good name, too.
I think it was already coined before in an alt-text but this is the first time it’s been mentioned in-story.
becky no scalps are a sin don’t do it
Those of us with naked scalps oppose your Puritanical beliefs.
Won’t someone think of the CHILDREN?!
Didn’t you read Beanie: 1:15!?
“Thou shalt not expose thy scalp, it is an abomination. if one is caught doing so, they shall be stoned immediately.”
Fitting thread from a Max avatar.
Don’t recognize the panel, though.
http://www.paranatural.net/comic/chapter-3-page-14 This one
Are you… scalp-shaming??
Acomophilia is not a sin, baby! Scalps want to be naked!
Pic a body part. Odds are somebody thinks it’s a sin if you show it or if you wear anything but approved clothing on it.
for example, hands are usually fine, but once you put socks on em all of a sudden its ‘oh dear’ and ‘whats with that guy’ and ‘please see urself out of the board room, i expect your resignation on my desk by morning’
I laughed and then totally imagined an out if touch guy in a suit supplementing his presentation with sock puppets XD
hmm Walky was not part of Mike’s high school friends so he seems less willing to put up with his bullshit
or maybe it’s being roommates that caused this (combined with the touchy subject of Billie)
Another example of how Billie is a pseudo-sister as far as Walky is concerned.
He’s very protective of her. It’s adorable.
Mike acknowledged that death glare, I’m predicting he’ll have some new respect for Walky if Walky blows up at him for that
New respect, plans for destruction, either way
Considering the last time he tried to destroy Walky was due to him farting loudly in the same room as him while he was trying to fall asleep, I’m gonna go with destruction. 😉
LOVE the glare from Walky there. Looks like it may actually have some effect, too.
Am I the only one happy that someone finally gave Mike a definitive THIS IS NOT OK reaction for once?
Nope, also super glad about that. I think I might have a longer rant in my comic reaction tonight.
Nope! I’m totally on board with this. It’s about time. I’m also glad it was Walky. (check out that character development!)
I’m just hoping Ethan punches him when he tries to pull his Asshole Seducer shtick.
Mostly because I can’t think of any way Ethan would go for a massive douchebag without him directly invoking Ethan’s fears that he’ll always be alone.
Nnnnope! My first reaction was to cheer that someone was finally calling Mike on his crap.
I’m really really happy with Walky for that look.
Damn straight.
Mike has been getting them more, recently. Ethan clashed with him on that, too.
Soon his journey to the Ass Side will be complete.
For me, at least, he look’s kinda of contrite about it.
This is perhaps the one time I am 100% on Walky’s side on something. Fuck you Mike. Fuck you.
It’d be nice if it was more than a dirty look. Mike would have long ago earned a “Shut the fuck up, go away, and don’t talk to me again you ass” from me.
Becky dreams of gently nibbling on the edges of Dina’s hat, moaning in ecstasy as she gently caresses the tag that says “100% cotton, cold wash only”
Omg no don’t talk about biting fabric that’s so awful
Becky is dreaming of sitting outside with Dina on a very, very windy day…
Becky? That stuff about textile-munching on the internet was metaphorical.
I bet Dina has cat ears or something under her hat.
It conceals the antenna that allows her to contact planet Zordox.
There’s a transparent dome within which can be seen a small velociraptor frantically working levers.
There’s another, identical hat underneath.
Argh! Ninja’d!
So does Walky come up with ship names for his friends often?
That’s his favorite hobby
aside from watching children’s cartoons at 3 AM
and let’s not forget watching children’s cartoons at 3 PM
SCANDALOUS
The best cartoons are during the morning.
CN and Disney XD now schedule their new episodes in primetime slots.
I’m actually suuuuuuper worried about Dina’s boundaries. maybe homegirl just don’t wanna take the hat off & that should probably be respected
Barring a few moments predicated on being Wacky Kooky Becky, she’s usually shown a pretty stringent belief in valuing other people’s consent.
If Dina says no then it’s not happening, and Becky will be fine with that.
I’d actually be super satisfied if that’s where this plot line went, where Becky asked about going hatless and Dina said no or said, not yet or not until later and Becky accepted that.
Cause good consent practices can’t be modeled enough in fiction.
She’s taken it off before. She let Ethan wear it to help him calm down. It does give her a confidence boost, she has stated so, but nothing suggests she can’t/won’t take it off. Honestly, if Becky is curious, she should just ask Dina about it, but where would the hilarious awkward relationship drama be in that? If characters acted reasonable, it wouldn’t be DoA
She took the hat off, but the hoodie still covered most of her head.
Also, she’s worn the hat sleeping, swimming, and while on her way to the shower. It may simply be that she really really likes that hat (it is really cute, after all) but it still seems significant.
I’m sure it’s plot significant and in no way related to the fact that Willis was bemoaning his lack of variety in hairstyles recently.
As an autistic girl I’d wager it’s simply a comfort-item she’s attached to. So not just an opportunity for boundaries, but also Your Girlfriend Ain’t Neurotypical. Me and my girlfriend definitely talk about being aware of how we react to stuff differently.
Like, very attached. Think Peridot in SU’s “Too Short To Ride”, for example, and her pad replacing the destroyed recorder (and how she had used the latter to ground herself in an unfamiliar setting).
Amethyst: “But we don’t hang out with you for who you ‘could’ be, we like -you-!”
Amethyst: “I know you just heard me! Stop playing with that thing! Ugh. GIMME THAT! *pulls away*”
Peridot: “NO!! D: ”
Amethyst: “Don’t! Need it!”
Peridot: “YOU DON’T KNOW THAT!!”
(Sidenote, pretty clear example of “Just be yourself! No, not like that.” *ahem*)
Yeah that whole end part I was just like “WTF Amethyst no stop that that’s terrible” and I was actually pretty peeved it turned out to be the “right” thing to do rather than the really shitty violation of boundaries it was.
In all honesty, that was one of the few moments of Steven Universe that I genuinely dislike.
Partly because as you two say, it ends up being okay for Amethyst to take control over Peridot because it has an acceptable outcome, partially because Peridot is now “better” because she has superpowers, rather than her original “flawed” self. It’s like saying that Peridot was completely correct in believing she was useless, and she had to be improved to matter.
That makes a lot of sense. It would also make it even sweeter of her to have let Ethan borrow it.
Joyce makes the mistake of ranting about it on the way to class. Three hours from now, after classes, while Becky’s still working up the courage to ask, Mike comes over, snatches Dina’s hat away, and does the “jump for it while I hold it out of your reach” douchery. Becky is…. conflicted.
I dunno. I kinda feel like Becky would straight-up murder him if he messed with Dina, especially by doing that.
I’m surprised Walky knows Sarah so well considering they’v only been in the same place twice and yet I don’t think they’ve had a single conversation with each other.
Well, he could know her by reputation from mutual acquaintances, and may have had insignificant interactions with her that we haven’t seen, especially during the timeskip.
And they’ve definitely been in the same place twice. The main ones would be Joyce’s room the morning after the party and during the dorm party, but they were both in the group that surrounded Joyce on her departure from the ER where her wrist was treated after punching Ross, and they also met in passing as Joyce was putting up whiteboards and just before Billie first saw Walky and Dorothy kiss.
And now I will be the lone person happy to see Mike 😉
I’ll support you. From over there. No, not there, over there there.
Yeah! I have cautious support from a distance! That’s just like real life ^_^
Seriously though. After seeing what Mike could become when he’s with the right person (through Shortpacked!), I want that to happen to him here now (preferably with the same person because they work so well together).
I liked him there, too. But here, dramatic personal growth or being launched into the sun would make me equally happy.
Agreed. I think part of the reason I’m so happy to see him is that I want him to have more screen time with
*alt universe spoiler that’s been previously spoiled in the comments
Amber. The more he pops up, the more likely that is to happen. When the two of them got together in Shortpacked, they just worked! They could handle each other’s darker side and became better and stronger because of their relationship. DoA Amber grates on my nerves in both her forms an unfortunate amount of the time. A lot of the stuff she does while in costume to channel her feelings are often illegal and at times she does more harm than good. She needs help and therapy most of all before she ends up in jail, but I also think Mike would be good for her (at least to get closer to if not to date) because he’s not afraid of anger, hate, or even violence, so she wouldn’t have to be as afraid of losing her temper like she was with Danny. Mike wouldn’t run if she cussed him out and flipped a table. If she went feral and started swinging (early in her treatment before it’s really started working), Mike knows enough about fighting to not get himself hurt or defensively hurt her (he hit Joe how many times without leaving any damage outside a small bruise?) until she calms down. That’s not excusing spousal abuse; I’m just saying that he could support her and protect himself physically and emotionally if necessary while she was getting help. I get that she’s had some growth recently, but that doesn’t change the fact that she still needs help (and possible medication for her anxiety and depression).
Mike’s also obviously attracted to her from comments he’s made to her both in and out of costume. Amber has yet to notice because he’s Mike, not to mention that when she was friends with him in high school, she was dating Ethan. Then it was months of helping Ethan out of the closet. Then she was with Danny. He’s never had a chance with her. Maybe that’s why he’s so pissy…
So I will keep my fingers cross that they become closer here and if not, I’ll just say it didn’t happen because Willis doesn’t want to draw another Amber themed Slipshine 😉
Considering the last thing he said to Amber, I don’t know how he’d get them to a point where I’d be able to stomach that.
Willis somehow got me to genuinely like (and not just ”love to hate”) Malaya, who I absolutely could not stand at first, so I imagine he can bring me around on Mike eventually.
Your link didn’t work, but I’m assuming you’re referring to this strip.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/ensnared/
If so, she kinda had started down the path of following in her father’s footsteps and she has done things since then causing her to spiral. I wish her hearing that would have made her realize she needed help which would have saved her a lot of pain since that conversation.
If it’s the one after that where she’s dressed as Amazi-girl, I imagine there are plenty of people who want to tie Mike up rather he enjoys it or not 😉
Oh yeah, because bursting into tears over almost swearing at your partner and now feeling that he’s better off without you is so totally Blaine’s MO.
Thank God Mike was there to shame Amber like she totally deserved.
The first one was it.
Even if it had been happening at the time, and Mike could possibly have seen enough of Amber & Danny’s relationship to see this, ”you’ve already become your abuser” is the most monstrous way to approach it.
What she needed to hear was that her she had a anger problem, yes, but much more importantly she needed to be assured that was something she could learn to manage, and that it didn’t mean becoming her father was inevitable. That could have helped her.
What Mike said there was not only hurtful, but damaging. All it accomplished was feeding Amber’s worst fears and insecurities, and played right into her harmful belief that Amber is horrible and people needed to be protected from her.
@ Spencer: I’m talking about her interactions with Sal until very recently, acting outside the law, beating her scumbag father to a pulp (and very well might have killed him if Danny hadn’t been there to stop her), antagonizing people she views as bad to try to get them to swing first, responding with violence like tossing the table… She’s starting to follow in his footsteps by giving into her rage more and more and instead of getting help and leaning on her support system, she is pushing everyone away.
@ Fart Captor: The problem is that her mom and friends have been trying to get her into therapy since the incident at 13, but her dad insisted on self defense classes (which was the exact opposite thing she needed after stabbing a would be robber in the hand after she had been caught). They have tried to get her help since to no avail. I can see Mike throwing his hands up and telling her she wouldn’t be the pushover, but the jerk when she starts talking about being afraid of being like her mom. Yes it was stupid to say and ended up causing her problems, but Mike has never been one to sugarcoat anything even when tact is needed.
Personal story short, my dad is extremely verbally abusive and also deals with depression. His dad was very physically and verbally abusive to him. He doesn’t think what he does to me is wrong and believes that even if he isn’t perfect, he’s nowhere near as terrible as his father was. The problem is that being a different flavor of asshole doesn’t mean you still aren’t an asshole. Even if I take into account my dad’s depression, low self esteem, and nightmare childhood, it doesn’t magically negate how crappy he is to me, the similarities between how he treats me and how his father treated him, or the fact he needs help (which I have tried and failed to get him to get). I’m not proud if it, but there has been times that I blew up at him because he was fussing about how tough his childhood was like a couple hours after cussing me out with creative insults. He needs help just like Amber needs help, but sometimes people run out of fucks to give and say the worst possible thing at the worst possible time.
Then again, Mike just might be an asshole with no feelings, but you never know.
@BlueWind:
That’s definitely a scenario I hadn’t considered, and I would certainly not blame him if that were the case.
In Mike’s case, we’re not really shown any sign of that frustration building, or any kind of hint that he had better motives behind it.
Mike’s also a hard read, and hasn’t shown up a lot, so I’ll grant it’s possible that there’s already a better person under there we just haven’t seen.
I think, however, that we’re more likely to see him grow and become a better person over time, rather than find out he was actually good and nice all along.
I’m totally open to the possibility of liking him in the future, but at the moment I can’t see past the butt opening he currently presents himself as.
Except:
– There’s never been any indication that anyone around Amber tried to get her therapy after the incident, and being a minor, Amber wouldn’t have any sway over doing so.
– Stacy O’Malley has been shown to be, charitably, neglectful of her daughter in this continuity.
– How the actual fuck does that permit Mike telling a mentally ill abuse victim that she was doomed to become her parent, and why the fuck do I need to put up with this bullshit all the time.
Seriously, Mike was not trying to impart some kind of magical lesson upon her that she needed to hear because Tough Love, he was trying to hurt her because he’s an asshole. It’s for the same reason he decided to hurt Dorothy by treating her like a slut, to hurt Sal by treating her like a dumb slut, and to hurt Ethan by making him dive into the closet and feel like shit for eating Chik-Fil-A. It’s what he fucking does.
There’s never been any indication that anyone around Amber tried to get her therapy after the incident,
By this I mean that after Blaine decided on self defense courses instead of therapy, and the matter was settled and her parents divorced, there was never any indication that Amber’s mom tried to take her to therapy.
I’m always happy to see Mike. It amused me to see his face react to Walky’s glare.
Probably because he’s not used to glares.
Agreed. Willis is great at creating expressive faces 🙂
At least not glares from anyone besides his intended target
“And yet here we are.”
Oh Sarah, dysfunctional and snarky though you are, I still love you.
Joyce is also giving Walky a nice bit of sass-back, with her eyes and all.
We already have Mike and walky, with Sarah that makes three cynical and snarky characters with their own type of rhetoric. It’s shame whatever Exchange they have on the way over to their classes will be very short.
That’s why we also have Joyce in the middle of the mix, to be bright and optimistic (and give anyone who starts the “don’t” look).
Joyce is the control rod of the snark reactor. Without her there …
I don’t think Walky is the same league with Sarah or Mike.
Mike is his own thing, no one is like him. Someone said hook him up with his shortpacked partner. I’d like to see him with Amber. Interesting.
Sahara is cynical because she took a major hit from her dorm floor because she did the adult thing and turned in her druggie roommate before the girl o.d. herself. Her friends were making no move to do so, so Sarah did. And she turned the girl in to her father, not to the school admin. Sahara made no bones of the fact that she would not allow her drugging to cost Sahara her scholarship. I am all for her and what she did.
Walky is pretty close to normal more than any of many here. He’s bright, worried cause he is failing, cares about his friends, is irresponsible, fairly fearless, and not much cynical. imo
Dana’s drug of choice was marijuana – she wasn’t at risk of overdose.
I don’t think the drugs were really the issue. Dana was not in a good place, psychologically, and when waiting for her depression to clear up only let it spiral deeper, Sarah chose to try to involve an outside force that she hoped could help.
It’s the cyngularity!
Hahaha, good ol’ Mike comment.
I can’t help but note that what Becky’s trying to do is a one-sided version of the “Hat Game” a local improv troupe does (I forget where they got it from; it was via a visiting troupe).
Premise of the game is that both improvisers have a hat, and the first one to get it off the other one without them blocking/dodging wins, at some point after 60 seconds into a small space scene. The idea being that you get the other person so distracted by the scene they’re in that they let down their guard. (A swing and a miss is a loss for that person).
…and Mike is confirmed as horrible a garbage person.
What the hell is wrong with you, Mike?
nuh uh hes doing it to help walky grow as a person
somehow
Some people are just unpleasant. Mike is likely one of them given that his mom seems to be a nice person.
This is not “unpleasant”, this is nasty, deliberately targeted barbs driven into people who consider him their friend.
Yup, he’s… he’s the friend version of an abuser.
Just a toxic waste of space that you drag along with you, feeling like shit until you finally dump them and then wonder why you didn’t years ago before they made you feel like shit for years.
Justa big ol` ball of hateful snark. Forget he reason as to why in the other `verse.
Because he was killed, and then revived in service to Semme. His parents there are nice but impossible people, his father a sex maniac, his mother right behind.
Get him drunk and he was then a nice person.
By the way Mike is not ‘toxic’. He always has a reason behind his being a douche, and he goes after ones that need it. Usually he ends up teaching them a lesson. He ain’t nice, but he does have his own set or rules.
This is a completely different universe and a very different Mike.
What is the “lesson” he’s teaching Walky here by needling him about his suicidal best friend’s relationship?
There’s no evidence that he does that in this universe.
The people he’s gone after have often been the ones exact opposite of the ones who “need it”.
Also “going after someone to teach them a lesson” is kinda sorta reprehensible.
Seriously, it’s for the best if he’s just an asshole, because the alternative makes him a total scumbag.
The idea that Mike is only a jerk to those who deserve it/need a lesson is common, but its certainly not universally held. For example:
– What benefit could be held by drawing a penis on Joyce’s white board? It just seems like a petty mean thing to do
– What benefit could be held by giving away Walky’s DVDs (or at least claiming he did)?
I think Mike does things simply to amuse Mike. If by chance someone actually ends up better off at the end, that’s just luck, rather than part of Mike’s master plan.
nah, Joyce earned the Mike standing up to her once , to draw en erasable penis on the whiteboard.
Lots of lessons there. ( Dont Slutshame. its just just a penis.
Dont waste energy trying to control other peoples sexuality ( or Dinosaurs ) — a lesson she needed with Becky and Ethan. )
Switching the marker , was the Real uncalled for . Dick Move.
Up til that point Mike always pandered her and it backfired. Being a bad example that agreed with Joyce, didnt work.
Mike stood outside her door and repeatedly drew them over her protests.
How in the hell is that Mike standing up to Joyce?
What do you mean by “repeatedly” Spencer? Mike drew one erasable penis on Joyce’s whiteboard.
Repeatedly as in more than once, over her objections.
You know, the definition of the word.
Mike doesn’t have friends. He has people willing to stand near him.
None of these people consider him a friend. Sarah doesn’t have friends. Joyce knows him well enough to kick him and move past. Walky’s stuck with him as a roommate.
Um, what?
I mean, yes, obviously, but where were you the last half-dozen times he pulled crap like this? This isn’t confirmation, it’s confirmation a dozen times over.
One day Willis will come down to Australia for a convention… one day… in a million years…
I hadn’t paid attention to the date on his appearance think until now. And then I got a sad. It’s not that I’m getting older; it’s that everybody but one friend forgets my birthday every year. Dad remembers sometimes. My mother (who gave birth to me mind you) always forgot even when she was in my life (one of the times she kinda remembered she bought me a present in like March or something). My sister always forgets. None of my other siblings remembered when they were around. The only one who I could always count on was my mamaw (southern US for grandmother). She baked me a strawberry cake every year (even after she had a stroke when I was in my teens) until she got too old too, but she still remembered every year and gave me some kind of bought cake and a big hug. This will be my third birthday without her.
I am sorry about you missing out on people remembering your birthday. And I’m giving you condolences on the loss of you Grandmother.
I’m glad you have one friend who always remembers.
It’s sucked less as I’ve gotten older in a way. People forgetting your 16th is different than your 26th. Last year was bitter sweet. My SO of 7 years left me for a 21 year old right before my 30th. I lost a lot and had to stay with my dad. Dad found me crying because my ex had refused to give me my PS3 even though he had a PS4, PS2, and a Wii which was beyond trivial, so my dad went to the pawn shop, bought me one of the older PS3, and surprised me with it (and candy). It was beet up, but I didn’t care. And yes. I totally cried, but happy tears that time.
Thanks. Mamaw lived a long life, but I don’t think it could have ever been long enough for me. She was an awesome woman.
Honestly? She might forget this year. She’s getting married very close to my birthday and has a lot on her mind because of it and it would be selfish of me to expect it of her or remind her when she already has so much on her plate.
I wanted to post this here because I wanted to say it, but not under a newer comic. My best friend remembered. She gave me a call and then had to run because her wedding had last minute details to attend to (my birthday was the day before her wedding). Everybody else… well… I’m glad my best friend didn’t forget. Would I have loved someone to have remembered and made me a strawberry cake (box mix would have been fine or even a store bought cupcake) or gave me a card with a note inside or something? Yes. I think everybody wants that. But somebody I care about remembered. And I guess from now on I’ll have to bake my own cake.
A little side note. I told dad today that yesterday was my birthday and I wished I had gotten a strawberry cake. He said I should go buy the shit and make my own if I wanted one. It’s moments like that that make me miss mamaw more, but he was right in a twisted way. There is nobody left to make me a cake but me, so I might as well enjoy a yummy pink treat and think of when I shared it with someone I loved.
Maybe somebody will see this when they reread the archive and know that it’s okay to feel shitty when people forget a day you feel is important. I think that would be great because it can feel selfish even when it’s not. The good thing about it is that at least I can try to give other people a happy birthday. 🙂
It’ll be juuuuust after they start their sophomore year.
I prefer Dinasaurus Becks.
The dot eyes go really weird when they’re looking off at extreme angles.
That must be why Amber wears glasses; to keep them contained where they belong. No idea how the Amazi-Mask adds sclerae, though.
…. you know, I WAS about to call out Walky for getting digs on Sarah and Joyce here, but then I realized he’s just in a snitty mood because of Mike.
So instead I’ll call him out for misdirecting his anger.
(It’s not Mike’s fault, of course. He can’t help himself. It’s just his nature. Don’t hate the truth-speaker! … okay, just threw up in my mouth a bit.)
He was just trying to study?
I suppose there’s only so much you can do with dot eyes, but it’s really creepy seeing Becky’s eyes migrating to her forehead like that.
Kinda impressed by Walky, here. Partially for learning/growing enough to get mad at Mike for that comment… but mostly because it looks like he actually set Mike back on his heels a bit with that glare.
Walky doesn’t usually express anger like that in Mike’s experience. Now he has to reevaluate, and may conclude that Billie is a subject that should be treated seriously with Walky.
Time will tell if that means being tactful, or if Mike now knows exactly how to get under his roommate’s skin.
I always have mixed feelings about Mike. Because he is kinda evil at face value, but he’s also sharp and funny as heck. I guess I’m kinda used to having someone that abrasive in my life, and then disarming them with positivity and needling in return.
Comic Reactions:
Panel 1: Uggggggh, let’s lance the boil that is Mike in this universe. So, yeah, in other universes, Mike is a force of destruction, an uncontrollable ball of chaos that cannot be tamed, merely endured.
Mike in this universe is not that. He’s a guy. And he’s not just any guy, he’s that shitty ass edgelord friend who thinks a pose of detached apathy makes his shitty little downward punches anything other than the conceited behavior of an overprivileged asshat taking advantage of social niceties and existing oppressions to not get his shit pushed in.
Cause, here’s the thing. There’s no joke here from him. The “joke” is “ha ha, Billie has sex”. And well… that’s not the first time that’s been the “joke”. Where he’s just slut-shamed some woman because he can, because as a guy, that gives him an axis of power he can exploit. He did it to Sal over Jason’s obscene breach of professional ethics. He did it to Dorothy, straight up harassing her by posting her photos of her cuddling with her boyfriend on Facebook with the specific hope of harassing her over her political aspirations. And he’s doing it now to Billie.
And that’s kind of insufferable, because punching down is all he does. He’s planning to fuck with Ethan. Why? Because Ethan doesn’t have much power to fuck with him back. Every chance he’s had to go after someone with some measure of institutional power, he’s backed out. Every guy he’s attacked outside maybe Joe, he’s gone after by going after the women in his life.
And it’s becoming clear that in this universe, he’s not some badass of destruction people should fear. He’s a channer bully using a slight air of menace to avoid any real consequences for his very real microaggressions and bullshit.
I don’t think Mike is completely irredeemable. He’s at the age when I was still growing out of my shittier behaviors, so it’s possible he could do the same.
Maybe he’ll realize what a gigantic turd he is, change his ways, and grow into some kind of turd blossom that will at least look nice if you hold your nose.
I don’t think he’s irredeemable either. But it’s going to require him to change the path he’s on and grow.
Or at least redirect him to griefing the brohiems and other more-deserving targets.
Well shit can be used as fertilizer.
With proper processing, so could Mike.
But I think there’s a legality issue there.
I don’t know, we haven’t really seen much of the backstory to DoA Mike, so I”m gonna’ hold my opinions until I find out if he’s brought the ‘nice drunk’ aspect over from Shortpacked.
Plus I ship Mike/Ethan so boo to you all.
– Punching downwards
– Slutshaming
– Targeting someone in a bad place (both Billie and Walky in this case)
Yup. Classical Mike. I’m with Walky in panel 2. Just shut up or find yourself different company.
Huh, I’d missed the slutshaming aspect. I figured that with Dorothy, he was just targeting a perceived weak point in her concern for public perception of a presidential candidate, amd with the other two it was more about the breaking of rules than the sex itself.
His method of getting back at Walky during Gender Studies was to call Dorothy a massive slut who debased herself to kissing Walky, and he insinuated that the only reason Sal was able to improve her grades was by sleeping with a teacher (this was before he found out Sal tried to improve her grades by sleeping with Jason, mind).
wait how did he find out Sal and Jason had a liason? I thought it was a secret and they’re both smart enough to keep it under wraps
He didn’t know. He just called Sal a dumb slut for no reason, and when Sal thought he was spying on her he basically just admitted that he just happened to guess right.
Panel 2: So hallelujah to Walky here for not having any patience for his typical bullshit, his standard “I’m not touching you” style of bullying. And it’s especially moving because we know how Walky has handled bullying before. Simply absorbing it, turning it into a joke and deflecting it and never daring push back in any real and meaningful way.
But this is a line he just can’t stomach. Billie is suicidal. Her and her girlfriend could have been in real danger of dying off in a room somewhere with Walky too late to discover it. And while he couldn’t muster up the power to defend himself, to defend his romantic partner, Billie is family. Family he could very well have lost. Family he’s known his entire life. Who was his sister when his sister was gone.
And he’s got zero chill left for Mike’s typical flavor of sexism and bullshit. And in Mike’s eyes, I think he gets it. I mean, I’m sure he’ll rationalize it, justify a future attack on Walky to keep him terrorized for reasons I’m sure he’ll believe aren’t because he’s using a protective barrier of being utter scum to distract him from the bankruptcy of his life and outlook. But I think the part of him not invested in the charade gets that he’s quickly running out of people who will politely tolerate his bullshit and not just cut him out entirely for their own good.
Panel 3: Speaking of no patience for games, that Joyce look. She’s like, yeah, Sarah, ya gotta problem with that Walky? And I kind of love that little edge she’s retaining from pissed off at life and God Joyce even as she tries to reclaim her sunny outlook on life.
And Sarah, you’re trying and that matters.
Panel 4: Yay, Beckasaur!!! And, oof, still waiting for that last line to be interesting irony if it turns out Dina is actually bi/panromantic ace (or half-irony if she turns out to be some flavor of demi or grey as some have predicted).
Panel 5: Oh, sitting next to you, imagining all the things we could do. Me and your head together in bed. Me, your follicles, and you.
I didn’t notice how intense Beck’s stare was till my third readthru.
Wow, I just realized I used to know a real version of mike… I mean I knew the actual person was like that I just hadn’t made the connection to this character before.
I think you’re underestimating Mike’s humanity a bit.
I mean, not blaming you for that. Mike’s… I’ve been reading Willis’ stuff since his It’s Walky! days, he’s a fucking weird character that’s hard to really get your head around.
But I do think Mike gets that he went too far there. It’s not that he’s not WILLING to go that far, but accidentally going that far is different. Who knows, we might see a rare pet-the-dog moment for Mike…
I honestly would love to see a pet-the-dog moment for Mike, because I feel the movement to a more realistic universe has greatly complicated the character of Mike. Like, in other universes, he’s kind of a fascinating force of nature with glimpses of complexity.
But here, the problem becomes that he’s only too human. And I’ve encountered plenty of humans like him. Which is why I desperately want him to grow, because otherwise, he’s just a toxic pit that I want all the other characters to escape.
I’ll just reiterate how much it has always skeeved me out that people pushed so hard for Dina, the autistic asian girl, to be asexual without any canon mention thereof – apparently completely unaware of where that’s coming from. And how much I sincerely hope Willis doesn’t do that.
I was very pleased to have her be confirmed sapphic in the comic and hoped it’d put a break on that shit, and it has to some degree, but, y’know.
all the underrepresenteds pinning their hopes on this character, that this character will be someone Like Them.
(not just Dina, she’s just the local example.)
my privilege, and I acknowledge it, is to be able to stand back and watch it play out.
I’m not just talking headcanons; I’m talking headcanons right in line with common racist and ableist portrayals. Not to mention it already being a problem in-comic of people treating her as a child, and therefore desexualizing her (clearly something wrong w Becky!). Both on account of her being a small Japanese woman and autistic. Neither of which have anything to do with asexuality.
DoA really could use a new asexual character aside from ace lesbian Carla, though, since trans women generally don’t have the most uncomplicated, non-traumatic relationship w sex. Just.. preferably someone w/o complicating factors & skeevy fandom stuff.
I understand the complicated history of desexualizing asian and autistic peoples and I definitely do not mean to be coming across as cheering this particular interpretation for that reason, because that would be genuinely awful.
Rather it is because of comics like this one:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/overstepped/
And lines like “lacking that particular inclination” which very strongly resonates as an ace person.
However, it’s also worth noting that by this interpretation, it’s still heavily hinted that Dina is curious and interested in sex and in other scenes has been very against the idea that because of her raise and neurodivergence, she should be expected to be neutered and child-like without any relationship to sexual actions.
So I think if she ends up being some flavor of ace spectrum, she’s definitely going to be the type who is still very much into sex and its explorations. And thus be a much different flavor of asexual than Carla whose other world counterparts have been very sex-repulsed.
Which I’ve been excited about, because as an asexual person who has sex and has a similarly curious worldview as that implied in that Dina comic, I’d love to see that flavor of asexuality show up on occasion.
Understood… though my own brand of perversity makes me want to argue that, IMO, well/realistically-portrayed/defined/characterized characters will always have “complicating factors”, because people are complicated.
Not in the sense of the majority of a demographic having experienced sexual abuse, or being vilified as innate predators, or being thought to exist primarily for others sexual gratification whilst simultaneously being disgustingly untouchable monsters.
Because that’s already Carla’s deal; hence why I think it’d be good to have someone not from such a vulnerable and -complicating- place when dealing w one’s sexuality. In that aces come from different places, too. Like how the comic has Carla, who lives openly as a woman and is well-off, but also Jocelyn, who does not and has freelance writer money and won’t have a loving family apart from Joyce, etc. Not going the same route of complicating trauma possibly influencing your identity prevents a character from being The Token Representative. 🙂
Damn. Did Mike actually get shot down?
Oooh… Walky death stare.
Is this the first time “Beckasaur” has appeared in comic? Is it a newly canon nickname?
Because, yeah, Walky would be the one to come up with it.
Willis beat us all to it the hovertext when they first smooched:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/safe-2/
Just as an aside (because I ended up there because of you)… I love the title-text in this one a few strips later. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/ruthless/
Getting sucked into old strips has also reminded me that Becky and Dina are directly responsible for me liking Danny:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/ambster/
Becky and Dina have it all figured out
Wow, they really do, don’t they.
And the excellent touch that Billie does not join in.
combined with everyone looking at her in the following panel
You’re right–I had forgotten that Willis originally coined the term.
But my question is whether this is the first time it’s showed up “in comic.” Maybe I should’ve said “in universe.” In other words, is the the first time a character in the comic has actually called them that?
Was Walky the one who came up with it–in the DoA universe?
To the best of my knowledge, yes. That is the case.
“her, um, urges.”
. . . This is really not a good way to phrase that, Walky. Points for panel two, but. :\
I believe he was referring to the smooching of girls. He knows Becky planted one on Joyce, right?
Yep. real gross, dude.
Maybe, just maybe, that isn’t a hat. Maybe that IS the top of Dina’s head and those eyes can see into your soul. Maybe lifting the ‘hat’ will expose Dina’s brain to the light and she’ll revert to her original reptilian form. Then she might eat Becky in a way she wouldn’t like. Hey, it could happen.
Ooookay, Mr Trump. Your two minutes are up.
(Terribly sorry for the huge offense, it was just funny because of all the maybes that get thrown around when Trump says something racist or sexist)
Becky soooooo wants to see under that hat. It’s rather quite adorable.
Also: lobster mac & cheese sounds amazing. Doesn’t help that I’m super hungry right now.
Man, fuck you Mike. Fuck you for verbally disparaging a severely depressed girl with alcohol problems about her relationship. And Walky, good on you for giving Mike a “if you fucking do that again I will kill you” look.
Fuck you, you fucking fucker and your fucking fuckery ways!
Tim Minchin did a song very much like that, about the previous Pope. Search “fuck the pope minchin” on Youtube. NSFW!
Becky was the first person to treat Dina like an equal and a peer
(redundancy yay!)wasn’t she.It would almost be Sarah except for her “ew, don’t put the moves on Dina” reaction.
Becky just saw “Adorable dinosaur chick! Must. Have.“
I was mostly thinking of Sarah’s “ew, don’t put the moves on Dina” reaction. I forgot that she was pretty good with Dina outside of that.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s why Dina started hanging out with her. Their run-in with Raidah is certainly one of the biggest reasons I like Sarah.
I forgot about Amber, though. She’d have beaten both of them to it if not for a similar reaction.
Amber’s pretty good to her, I think. She only ever offers any type of comment to Dina when she explicitly asks for one, and her whole idea is trying to assist her with problems Amber herself had when she was younger.
Her problem is, like Sarah, she’s uncomfortable with the idea of perceiving Dina as sexual.
It annoys me that Mike is such a fucking prick in this ‘verse. Before he was always “an asshole, that’s the joke.” Now he’s “an asshole. A real fucking asshole.”
I’ve mentioned it before, but this strip is if not totally grounded, at least closer to reality than Shortpacked. It takes away from the distance, makes Mike less of a joke and more of a serious threat.
That’s certainly a part of it.
“Someone who actually reciprocates her urges”?
That’s kind of weird to hear, I don’t know.
I kept trying to read “reciprocates” as “raptor”
Joyce’s idiolect is in flux right now.
“Y-Yeah, I’ve learned a lot today, but it might be a while before my vocabulary synchronizes.”
She doesn’t have a lot of experience in talking about “urges”. Chastity Churchmouse didn’t cover this.
Which doesn’t explain why Walky was saying that.
D’oh!
Is it just me, or does Walky out-Mike Mike here? The third panel text could have come from Mike, and the “Beckasaur” doesn’t look like it was spoken in a tone very different from Mike’s, either.
But then they are off to math, Walky’s current Big Hurdle in college life. No reason why he should show a sunny mood.
Neither Dina nor Becky is currently suicidal, nor is Walky’s remarks disparaging Becky for the urges in question.
Walky’s comment was unnecessarily lewd, and not the most sensitive thing to say, but it’s not even in the same ballpark as Mike’s comment.
Isn’t ‘unneccessarily lewd’ SOP for college kid conversation?
I think Beckasaur is Walky’s ship name for Becky+Dina.
Beckasaur is definitely in a different tone. If nothing else, Walky has made it abundantly clear that he thinks Becky is totally awesome. At least that’s my chosen interpretation of it:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/forevers/
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/kidding-2/
I would like to see some back story on Mike in this universe. He was a lot more complex in the Shortpacked verse. I like him because of the character he was.
But, he is hitting below the belt on Billie. And unusual because his comments are usually face to face, not behind the back. Mick is nothing if not a confronter.
As to Becky and Dina, couldn’t get any better. They are just perfect together. I hope it stays that way for them.
So where do we go from here I wonder. More on Sarah trying to be social, Walky failing his classes, Billie going to AA, Amber and Sal getting a real friendship going to benefit of both. Ethan and Danny maybe. A backstory for Mike?
Just to get off topic a little bit since Billie was brought up here, I’ve been wondering about the relationship between Walky and Billie. It kind of feels like Walky holds Billie in the same regard as Sal does Marcie. The only few differences is I wonder if Billie doesn’t cherish that bond on a mutual level with Walky as Marcie does with Sal.
Whenever walky comes to a realization that Billie might be in danger he puts everything else aseemed a second priority. But I’mean not sure Billie how she would react if there was a issue going on with Walky.
She did try to get him and Dorothy together when she found out he had a crush on her (they obviously didn’t need her help but that doesn’t cancel out the fact that she tried). I think she’s been struggling to get past the whole “I was a cheerleader in high school and therefore popular and Walky is a dork so if I show that I care about him I’LL ALSO BE UNPOPULAR” thing, and once she stood up to Alice or whatever her name was (her ex-friend from high school they once saw in the cafeteria) she finally started moving past all that.
Billie is currently really wrapped up in her own issues, and probably doesn’t have the emotional bandwidth to be supportive to anyone besides Ruth (who she was supporting in the most dysfunctional way possible). I’d like to hope that a few months from now (comic time), she might be in a better place to reciprocate.
The two of them were close when they were little, but then Billie got wrapped up in her mean girl cheerleader clique towards high school, and couldn’t be seen hanging out with nerds.
Since her DUI got her booted from that clique and barred from cheerleading, she ended up becoming close with Walky again, and realizing she didn’t want to be that mean girl anymore, when she ran into that jerk Alice who reopened a old wounds and tore down all the growth and progress she’d made in one fell swoop and kicked off Billie’s downward spiral.
I do not like Alice.
Wow! In panel 2, Mike actually seems daunted! I wonder if maybe it’s because he’s never seen a genuinely angry Walky before. It’s a new experience for him and maybe one he isn’t entirely sure how he should handle. It’s good to see that, goof or not, there are lines that Walky simply will not tolerate people crossing.
Oddly enough, then he turns right around and uses Mike’s preferred “It’s cruel but it’s true” to needle Sarah for her antisocial ways and, in an offhand way, accuse Joyce of being at least partly responsible for Becky’s unhappiness.
Meanwhile, I think Becky is trying to build up enough courage to steal Dina’s hat.
I still don’t think Mike is daunted, just surprised. Remember that ledger of weak points he had? I think he’s mentally revising Walky’s entry.
Today’s strip is good, especially seeing Sarah getting out with the gang, and the whole changes this may bring.
But I cannot stop laughing on the image of the Wrecking ball Carla smashing on Billie’s face, and Ruth hanging on that foot like an anchor. Amazing picture, simple amazing! 😀
I love Joyce in team-mom mode. Between Becky dreaming wet dreams of hats, Sarah being kranky and Walky being put it a foul mood by a mean spirited bully, she has a LOT of team momming to do.
Becky:
‘”Oh no, a wasp got stuck in your hat, better take it off…” No…’
‘”Look what rade plumes that dinosaur has, what if you take off your hat to…” No…
‘”I’ll show you mine of you show me yours!” No, she has already seen it. Curse you, hi-vis hair color and rad hairstyle.’
‘”While I respect your choice to wear a hat I wonder if it is perhaps time to take the next physical step in our relationship and…” Too wordy.’
Keep on pining, sweet Dofus. You will get there in time. 🙂
Ah how I missed Mike and have realized that we really need to see more of him
I was thinking that the stare was just than an empty threat to Mike but then again Walky did beat Mike’s ass in the other universe.
He’s more than a little bloody-minded here, too. His cartoonish ideas about masculinity and relationships did lead him to suggest that Charles beat up the dean, and I’m still not sure whether he was joking.
I’m 95% certain Walky was joking there.
That was a powerful death glare from Walky in panel 2. Also, Becky and Dina are still most adorable couple in DoA.
Definitely the right avatar for that comment.
Slipshine ensues.
I’m wondering if we’re at the start of a character arc for Mike, of all people. After Ethan (who is the closest thing to an old friend that he has) warned him off of Danny and now Walky suddenly finding a spine, I’m wondering if Mike is going to start viewing his behaviours differently, possibly as something for which there are personal and lasting consequences, something that he had never considered before.
FWIW, I’m sticking with my feeling with Mike being pan. I suspect that a plausible arc could be that he tries to seduce Ethan for shits and giggles and ends up falling in love with him, just in time for Ethan to figure out the scam and drop him like a hot coal.
what if she has another hat under that hat
She’ll find a manufacturer’s label saying: “Warranty Void if Hat Removed”
Can I make the joke? Becky’s horny like a Stegosaurus!
Stegosaurii did not have horns. Your comment insults Dina. Did you mean Styracosaurus?
They didn’t have horns but they were “spiky” right?
Holy smokes. I have Walky’s hoodie! I bought it off of a random targeted ad on Facebook, so I’ve never seen it anywhere else before. Certainly caught me by surprise.
Yeah, look at Becky’s urges being reciprocated! Reciprocate those urges, hat! Reciprocate them all!
Sweet, sweet urges.
Did Walky just manage to stare down Mike without any immediate retaliation?
Walky’s really gotten mouthy today. What’s up with him?
Emboldened by his Manly Chest Hair!
His sister-in-all-but-blood was ready to die and he somehow managed to miss all the warning signs. Additionally, he’s got grade angst and academic performance anxiety to deal with. Overall, I suspect that he lacks the emotional energy left to let Mike’s shit roll off of his back.
Note: In the Walkyverse, there was at least one occasion when Walky nearly beat Mike to death because of his vile attitude. As I recall, Mike just passively took it, which raises huge questions about whether his behaviour is the world’s most elaborate attempted suicide-by-lynching.
That was one of the few occasions where Mike didn’t deserve it. He was just a convenient target for Walky to take out his anger over something out of both of their control on. And by just taking it until Walky realized he didn’t deserve it, he fucked with Walky more than fighting back would have.
I took that bit as Mike believing Walky when he blamed him for Dina’s death, and honestly wanting to die.
Is anyone else quietly shipping Mike & Sarah? Obviously not long-term, but a one time regret-fling is possible.
Sarah likes to hit people who annoy her; Mike likes to be annoying AND is a sexual masochist. It’s perfect.
You know, even after everything that’s happened, I still ship Billie and Walky together. I think it’s mainly brought about by the amount of care he’s always had for her and her well-being, no matter what her attitude towards him was. Walky’s shown greater concern for Billie than he has for his actual girlfriend, or his actual sister. It’d be nice if she ever returned the favor.
(Plus, it’d probably be healthier for Billie than having to constantly deal with Ruth).
I think they have a great dynamic, and that if the stars aligned and it somehow became a romantic relationship then I would be down with it because I do actually sorta ship it (though I wonder if that’s more due to some antipathy to both of their actual partners), but I think they have to have their quasi-antagonistic sibling relationship for them to actually function as Walky and Billie need to.
Although that artwork Yotomoe drew sure did a lot to try and convince me otherwise, lemme tell you.
Pretty much everything Yotomoe has drawn has made ship something that I hadn’t before.
Willis, any plans on doing a signing in the Columbus area any time soon?
I hope they all team up and beat up Mike. I hate Mike.
Y’know, I kinda ship Mike/Sarah.