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Guilded Age
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exactly he could be panromantic/sexual biromant heterosexual theres literally so many types of attraction and labels that could be used and this comic makes me really happy bc its exploring some of them more
Your daily shades of the sky forecast:
Monday – Turquoise
Tuesday – Taupe
Wednesday – Robin’s Egg
Thursday – Turquoise-Taupe
Friday – Coal Dust
Saturday – Coal Dust with chances of Indigo in the late afternoon
Sunday – Void
If Danny can sit what midwesterners used to call “indian style” then he’s easily flexible enough. And length isn’t an issue – unless Ethan is sporting a “mini-gherkin” he’s plenty hung enough.
Ethan’s dick is known as “bootybreaker”. It’s not about flexibility. It’s about Danny not being a horse cause that’s basically what we are talking about here.
First off, all previous comments (apart from one which says “one of them”, which doesn’t specify) are about Ethan penetrating Danny, not the other way around. Note Kiapdx’s comment about the positioning of Danny’s legs.
Secondly, even if you want to reverse it, that still doesn’t require turning around. Ethan would just need to sit up and move forward a little.
“…The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’…
Part of her problems is that Ethan came out of the closet on their prom night. Doing this would turn her into a supervillian. One that has already stabbed someone
I forgot about Ruth for a moment. Thank you for reminding me.(Caps lock warning) “THERE ARE ALREADY TWO TOO MANY BROKEN MISERABLE CURVY WOMEN! STAHP WILLIS STAHP” (End of caps lock)
She’s kind of psychotic because of the way everyone around her has acted throughout her life, and especially within these last few weeks. :/
She is actually trying to sort out her problems though – and with Dorothy and Dina behind her, I’m sure she can, with time.
She’s not a terrible person though – she is always trying to focus her skills and anger on assisting people, and she has been hiding herself away until recently to sort herself out when she noticed that yes, she was messed up.
“Born of misty mountain air and shining sun combining.
This prismic force both foul and fair has a golden power worth mining.
So love from the heart, warm and clear.
Love for life and love for fear.
There’s beauty and there’s danger here, trust the color chart!
…beware the rainbow heart…”
Oh Danny Boy the peen, the peen is calling
From glans to glans and up through your insides
Ethan’s hot and all your rosebud’s puckering
It’s you, it’s you must turn while he must ride.
I don’t think even Mary deserves Blaine, mainly because he’s an abusive fuck and also because the age difference is enough to throw that power balance even further into the awful zone than any ship with Blaine already would be.
Yeah, the “abusive fuck” part is present in any and all Blaine ships, though, hence why I’d put it as the biggest obstacle to shipping because I wouldn’t ship him with anyone but getting hit with a large moving vehicle. There are people who Mary could, theoretically, be paired with that could sort of work,* but it’s absolutely impossible to have a healthy relationship when part of the equation is Blaine O’Malley.
But yeah, it’s a huge creepy age gap that amplifies the awful that would be involved.
* I mean, I can’t NAME anyone, but it’s a big enough campus that it’s POSSIBLE.
… I just made “getting hit with a large moving vehicle” a person. *Shrug* Eh, for him, planes and trucks would conglomerate into the world’s biggest combiner to give him a beatdown.
Exactly. Don’t get the poly triads mixed up. Although I might also lean towards Dorothy/Joyce/Sal. Maybe even Dorothy/Joyce/Sal/Billie/Ruth for maximum sapphic fun.
And it would be nice to see a poly relationship where two of the people in it aren’t sexually active with each other but they make it amorous aspects of it work and also share Danny nicely. BTW, I really am impressed by real life poly relationships that make it work because that kind of communication takes work!
Danny: “Uh… should we go back to your room?”
Ethan: “Why?”
Danny: “…no reason.”
Ethan: “Uh, okay?”
*enters room*
*sees shirtless Jacob*
*both flee room with embarrassed look*
Willis teases us and teases us. But the best part of this comic? The look of semi-horror on both their faces. Because I totes know they were thinking the same thing.
The title got me there for a second, so when I read the strip I reacted so loud I woke my dogs up. Maybe the only moment ever when I’m thankful my internet connection ain’t the fastest
Danny, It’s been 2 weeks. You’ve already crushed on a geek girl, nearly banged an ex-chearleader, Made out with a superhero who happened to be aforementioned geek girl, and now this? Did you just hit the Poon jackpot?
I’m really glad this story happened after Bring Back Roomies ended. Encouraging people to ship Danny with more and more characters would really undermine the ‘Danny is terrible’ narrative going on in the commentary.
A while ago, I don’t remember where, I asked Mr. Willis if a dude-on-dude Slipshine, and I politely requested that it be Ethan and Drew (from the Walkyverse), and not Ethan and Manny (also from the Walkyverse)–IMHO, Drew is hot and Manny is not. Mr. Willis said a dude-on-dude Slipshine was inderd forthcoming, but a pair that was yet to be revealed.
Is it weird to be sexually attracted to boys, but not want to go on a date with them or dance with them? My main attraction is to girls, but some boys occasionally show up in fantasies.
True ’nuff. I should point out I don’t really like straight as a label much either, but feel it’s ambiguous enough to my preferences that I’m ok with being identified as such. You’se can call me whatcha wants, I guess. I just probably won’t call myself such.
Although, admittedly, I do enjoy being able to say that I’m a high five on the Kinsey scale, because… come on… I’m a HIGH FIVE! I am a CONGRATULATORY GESTURE, PEOPLE!
I’m the same way. Made certain classes of Family Development and Human Sexuality I took uncomfortable enough to make me physically ill. My partner of almost five years is probably the only one I can look at without feeling ill. Just talked about conducting some biology lessons soon.
Nah. People think of sexuality as a strict line or spectrum, but really, it’s a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, sexy-wexy… Stuff. I have the occasional dude show up in a fantasy, but literally zero interest in them in the real world. Just a brain thing. Whatever works for you, man.
I’m exactly like that. I’m a male and I like having sex with men on occasion, but I don’t get the urge to kiss them or date them. Dancing is ok I guess, but I’m not even that big of a fan of it with women. I’m all for romance, kissing, dating and sex with women.
It may actually be “weirder” to be “completely” straight or gay than anything else. Or AS weird. Or maybe nobody is weird. I mean, okay, I’m weird, but not for that reason.
Romantic and sexual attraction is separate. You can be romantically attracted to girls while being sexually attracted to girls and boys(and possibly all the other people). So, no, it’s not weird. S’all good, dude.
That leaves me very conflicted. Although, not surprised. When the possibility first occurred to me, I thought, “Willis is the kind of guy who’ll actually do that, isn’t he? And then I’ll feel very conflicted.” And there it is.
For God’s sake, why does every vanilla or breeder assume that gay life is built around putting a stick into a hole at waist level? There are lots of other fun things to do besides ‘buttsecks’, involving hands or mouths or legs.
You know, holding hands, meals taken together, and long romantic walks.
They intend to be joking, yes, but it’s not a very funny joke.
Think about it — whenever a couple representing your sexuality comes up, the first thing people talk about is a form of sex that many of them find disgusting. That’s damned insulting — it reduces a complicated, painful, and, frankly, terrifying experience…oh, my God, I’m fantasizing about *him*…into something gross. When I refer to straights as ‘breeders,’ it does the same thing: it reduces you to a set of genitals.
no it wasn’t
by reducing straight people to their genitals, they meant that they were focusing solely on the reproductive capacity of straight people, disregarding the fact that there are plenty of straight trans people who don’t have that capability
(not to mention all the infertile/sterile cis people)
It is gender-essentialist, and it is bigoted, and it is vile. It’s fucking offensive on so many levels.
I have a problem, though. I want to make the majority stop and think about what those ‘jokes’ truly are. I behave offensively in the hope of shocking people into rethinking those assumptions, and I’ve found that it’s often the only way to make them think.
Can you suggest a better approach? I’m open to hearing it.
except the people who make those jokes aren’t going to care about that
all in all, maybe don’t use a word with racist and cissexist connotations to make your point to cishets
@JWLM: Except, the people who would listen to you already know that, so really you’re just being insulting and vile to people who don’t need to hear it.
Since it’s such a vile, horrible term, why are you using it? If your aim is to get people to stop and think about what they’re saying, then I propose not insulting them with a yet another bigoted term.
It’s very gender essentialist, and is often used in gay community spaces to insult and de-legitimize bisexuality/pansexuality. Plus it used to be used to refer to slave women, so it’s also got a pretty dang racist history going on.
Yup. It’s been used against me — in literal fact, my spouse and I have three biological children. I *am* a breeder, and that fact has been thrown in my face more than once.
I confess that using the term is also an attempt to reclaim the word. Yup, I’m a breeder. I’m here, I have kids, get used to it.
I mentioned yesterday that I vaguely watch the comments on “event strips” like this, and this is the fastest I’ve ever seen it hit 100. Ruth kissing Billie was close.
Y’know when I was commenting this I thought “Is this too much of a sore spot, or will people understand I’m kidding and let it slide”. I don’t at all think being gay or bi is a mistake or in any way bad.
I think that term is “butt pirate” because they’re “after yer booty.” (Although the term has been used by mean-spirited schoolkids enough that it doesn’t see use in kind company very often.)
A dingdong bandit likely steals a man’s dingdong virginty, instead. I’m… not entirely sure how one does that with a whiteboard. Maybe a whiteboard DRAWING of a dingdong bandit?
Imagine Amber’s reaction when she discovers both her love interests have a thing for each other. I’m picturing a Star Trek 2 reference, but with Amber instead of Kirk
Danny, don’t, it’d be really shitty to do that to Amber. And actually, it’d be shitty for Ethan to do that to Joyce, too. So yeah, don’t. No matter how happy it’d make the fanbase.
Joyce and Ethan’s relationship was founded on Joyce thinking she could “cure” Ethan and using him to hide from her own sexuality. That entire relationship’s existence is so shitty that ending it will be a mercy kill.
Yes, very. I mean, Ethan/Danny is super cute and all, but if something were to happen at right this moment there would be emotional fall out for lots of people. Amber especially. And also Joyce, but the whole Ethan and Joyce arrangement was doomed to terrible results from the start.
There are 36 (soon to be 37) mentions of “Amber” (see, there we go; 37) in this chain. Pretty sure folks are worrying, or wondering, or perhaps eagerly anticipating.
Like, I am honestly worried for her reaction about Danny, but let’s think about differently.
She was so broken because Ethan was hiding his homosexuality, repressing it and now “dating” a super duper Christian Joyce. Despite possibly losing Danny, she will witness what she wanted to see, since she supported him so much – Ethan accept himself and find some love.
I am pretty sure Amber can handle it, if she finally sees that Ethan accepted himself to himself and found love, and the fact that she hasn’t talked to Danny for a while.
So please, Ethan, do one thing for me?
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Yay for glorious representation of bisexuality (or could Danny be homosexual/panromantic?)! I’ll just stay in my bubble of completely ignoring all the potential for caused suffering a little longer.
Past sexual experience doesn’t really have much of a bearing on your orientation. Plenty of people who have had “straight” sex discover later that they’re gay or bi. It happens the other way around too. But, point taken.
I meant more that, at least with the heavy petting, Danny seemed more than happy that it happened (he was practically skipping the next day). But your point still stands as well.
I think it was established that he A) had sex with Dorothy pre-series and B) had that heavy petting with Amber/Amazi-Girl that was mainly stopped by the costume being difficult to remove, so I’m leaning towards bi or pan. Not that that’s a guarantee with either case, granted.
It would be interesting if Willis were to write a novel. He is excellent with setting up drama and emotional situations, then defusing the tension. The novel wouldn’t be DOA, I’d love to see it!
Yeah, I never really thought about these two being together before, but they’ve got some great chemistry. I dunno, I’m surprised at how much I like these two together: I think it’s currently my favorite ship.
Seriously. The last few days have been some of Danny’s most likable. Part of it might be the self-deprecation, but I think mostly it’s him being able to goof off and have someone who’s supportive of him rather than his parents and Joe. And it’ll help Ethan that they’re bonding, in part, over those geeky interests he wanted to be known for rather than just being “the gay guy”.
This could be very, very good for them once they each find out the other’s into them. (Which, knowing the angst potential and current circumstances, could be a bit.)
Whelp I was skeptical at first but I guess this ship is officially ocean bound. The S.S. Faz/Dina will be there soon. It’s just a series of broken planks of wood floating with a hankerchief sail.
Last few pages aside, this came out of /no where/ for me!
Go Danny Go!
or, or dont…Cause Ethan probably isn’t the best to experiment on, what with him repressing like hell and all.
Yeah, the little details on this strip are awesome. I think it might be my favorite just for those and because it’s a culmination of some good writing.
Wow, what a shitty thing to celebrate, considering what it’s bound to do to Amber, who’s clearly on the ropes already. I mean, yay for Ethan or whatever, but give me a break.
Seriously.
Though I don’t actually care so much about Joyce’s reaction. It’s not that I wish Joyce unhappiness, but dating Ethan really couldn’t end any other way (other than Ethan never getting to be in an actual relationship with a dude & Joyce never getting to be in an actual relationship with a dude b/c they stay together forever… which doesn’t sound good to me).
Love is basically a zero sum game. No one can get anywhere without burning a bunch of other people’s bridges to happiness. It’s just so naive to think otherwise.
If Danny was already my favorite character in this strip before this revelation went down, then I don’t even know what means of approval I could use to classify him now.
WELCOME TO THE QUEER KIDS TABLE, DAN. I AM SO, SO VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU HERE.
Welp, we have confirmed ship. Mazel tov, gentlemen. May you two be very happy together, and may your relationship somehow help get Amber into some much-needed therapy and less somehow get Joyce her much-needed reality check.
… Aaaaaand I just remembered what Sarah said about what Dorothy’s going to do if and when she finds out about the whole “fixing Ethan” thing. There is no way this is going to end anything less than catastrophically for Joyce.
Joyce: Ethan just dumped me, for a boy!
Dorothy: That’s too bad, but hey, at least yu’re respecting his sexuality and not trying to ‘fix’ him!
Joyce: heh heh, yes that is definitely something I am not currently doing. Heh heh.
Sarah *eyeroll*
Can you imagine it going that way? And lasting? Because that’s one badly-timed conversation away from being a reveal, if nothing else. (And I will ENJOY it.)
Eh, it’s a stupid acronym anyway. I’m not straight, but I’m not LGBTQ either. Or FABGLITTER, for that matter, and it’s ambiguous whether I’m QUILTBAG since there are multiple versions of that.
This is why I take a stand against enumerations. There will never be an enumeration for this that isn’t exclusionary. Gender and Sexual Minorities is the only suitable name I’ve ever heard.
We have Word of God that Ruth’s bi, but Billie’s the only person in either universe that she’s exhibited a definite attraction to.
She had a relationship with a guy in the Walkyverse, but her reaction to their first time was bad enough that I don’t think it really counts. It’s pretty easy to read it as Ruth not being as into guys as she assumed she should be, though I think the actual explanation is more Young Willis’s fucked-up notions about sexuality.
So from the evidence, it’s not hard to assume that she’s only into girls. Or maybe only into Billie.
Nah, Ruth’s reaction was just Willis’ issues about sexuality at the time. She had pre-marital hanky panky for fun! She must angst and be punished! Besides she was with a guy who was completely self absorbed and was likely justa bad lay.
You know, when I saw yesterday’s strip, I thought this was silly ship-teasing, like what happens with Joyce/Dorothy. I didn’t think anything would come of it. “He loves trolling the shippers,” I thought. Turns out he was trolling me as well.
P.S. Willis, if you’re going to make any other teased ships canon, please give us Joyce/Dorothy, pleeeeeeaaaasssse?
P.P.S. So conflicted now. I love Danny/Amber, but Ethan/Danny is so cute, and it’d be great for Ethan to have a healthy relationship. Arrrrrgh. Poly triad, maybe?
I will be upfront that I’m probably woefully ignorant on polyamory, but the first thought I have whenever someone brings that up is that wouldn’t it kinda suck for Ethan and Amber? Danny’s attracted to both of them, but Amber’s attraction to Ethan couldn’t be reciprocated. I’m not saying there’s no way it would work, but Amber and Ethan’s history seems like a bad start to things.
i was thinking that earlier as well, but maybe ethan is possibly bi/panromantic and just hasn’t realized? that could maybe open up the way for a poly relationship for the three of them. though i’m also not that well-versed on polyamory so this might just be wishful thinking
Ethan might not be physically attracted to Amber, but he might well be capable of romantic attraction with her, especially if the two of them have Danny as a mutual connection.
I’m always rooting for the poly triad in fiction, and I have to say this is a configuration that would make me happy if I were Amber. In a few of the longer-term, stable poly relationships I know (several of which have been going on for 20+ years), if two of the partners are not sexually involved they are best friends. Ethan is gay, but he still mentions having… what I’d call “non-sexual partner” feelings for Amber. I’ve had these kinds of feelings for several people I wasn’t attracted to – the desire to just live in an apartment and sit next to them on the couch during movies for the rest of my life, while also being married to someone else I did share attraction with.
This is Willis and it’s also the first year of college, so it’s not like a stable triad that ends in a multi-partner marriage would make sense. But if this were a story that covered multiple years, a relationship like that does not seem unlikely at all, especially since Ethan has pre-existing non-sexual-but-partnerish feelings for Amber, and Amber has shown that she’s strongly attracted to guys who don’t fit gender norms.
I’m a lot like Amber. In fact, literally every guy I’ve ever been seriously attracted to has either been LGBTQ or had mannerisms that made lots of people assume they were (and often they were relentlessly bullied because of it). The first person I ever had a crush on was also the first out bi guy I ever met, so my default position on relationships was “if flexibility would make them happy, then it’s no problem for me.” I’m glad Willis has taken the time to point out that one of Danny’s fundamental personality traits is being respectful towards relationships he’s in even if he’s not entirely sure of his status, because that really increases the chances of this ending well, and helps counteract some harmful stereotypes about bisexuality.
So yeah, as someone who BASICALLY WAS DoA Amber in terms of my sexuality, (including being attracted to guys who needed rescuing), I don’t think this automatically ruins things. I don’t think it even increases the likelihood that Danny and Amber won’t work out.
It’s funny. For years, I’ve used “I’m rooting for the polyamorous triad” as a self-deprecating joke, meant to reference the fact that my tastes are so far outside the mainstream that I’m not often involved in typical ‘shipping wars.’ But now here’s DoA, constructing a highly shippable triad with canon potential.
See, that’s the other thing. I was shipping Danny and Amber/Amazi-Girl before, but I had my worries. Danny needs someone who will challenge him, but he also needs someone who will give him affirmations that prevent him from falling into a spiral of self-hatred when he inevitably Dans something up.
The irony is that they are perfect for each other. Dan dans up situations and Ethan ethans up situations.
If anybody in the cast besides Ethan was secretly gay(or is it bi?), it would be Danny.
Its like when my brother told me he was gay, the signs are there, but sometimes you need a little hint to make it all fall into place, and then you think, “It all makes sense now.”
Why did the blush lines change from vertical in panels 1-2, to horizontal in panel 3 and the daydream? On both characters.
Also, mandatory ‘oh my god fuck yeah bisexual Danny’ comment here. Fantastic revelation.
Then I remembered both have girlfriends. And Ethan is part of why Danny is dating Amazi-Girl and not Amber. (Amber has clearly states she has compartmentalized her mind into seperate parts, so the two are in fact, seperate identities, and Amber has what I would say is likely trauma-inspired PTSD and DID).
Now now, it is -totally- possible to be attracted to someone besides your SO. And it’s even possible to be attracted to someone of a different gender than your SO.
Just because Danny’s discovered he has the hots for Amber’s Ex doesn’t mean he’s going to dump her for him.
Though chances are good Amber might have fanfic about this exact scenario already…
even if this were true, I’m sure a lot of the people are thrilled to have some bi male representation for once, which is why they’re freaking out
it’s why I’m freaking out, anyway
/feels well and truly represented
Because I want the Amber/Danny relationship to end, it’s unhealthy and based in a fantasy supported by lies and manipulation. Amber needs the support that Danny gives without the boyfriend angle.
Why? They’re not exactly a stable, healthy couple. Amber needs to sort herself out, latching onto anyone, especially someone as acomidating as Danny is bad for her.
I guess so, Willis did say that Walkyversy Danny is retroactively bi too. Which is kind of neat, since both he and Billie who he ended up with started out being written as straight but were eventually retconned to be bi (although I guess it isn’t exactly retconning if it was never outright stated that they were straight).
Maybe because he’s speant his entire adult life in a monogamous relationship with Billie? And he shifted out of the spotlight and into just making occasional cameos shortly after they hooked up for good?
This is THE WILLIS we’re talking about here. You won’t get any consummation. MAYBE you’ll get a kiss, like Billie & Ruth got, but then it will all go downhill.
And so what can go wrong with this picture? think its already been listed.
Ethan came out to Amber in their bed in the motel on prom night…confessed he could not do it. That’s a bit of a shock to anyone in that position. And Danny threw her to the curb when she was at her lowest point.
At a later date they realize they really shouldn’t have shit on her that way.
So, I don’t think Amber needs either of them. She has a good friend in Dorothy now, admirers who actualy applaud her, and she is standing on her own two feet. I think she may be upset if she stumbles over these two doin’ the hokey pokey in the grass…but don’t think it will kill her.
Her bastard father is a different story on he other hand.
And yeah, these two need each other. Ethan needs acceptance, and Danny needs a friend that doesn’t use him as a showcase to show off his own perfect self.
I think while she does have the admirers, she really needs significantly more than that considering the trauma she went through the previous weekend. Hell, the trauma she’s had for years, what with Sal. Especially considering this whole thing started in large part over their mutual concern for Amber’s mental health.
It’s not going to kill her, not alone, but it’s probably going to isolate her from two of the only people who could and want to help, and THAT could start another major spiral. Unless maybe Dina’s able to step up and provide some serious emotional support, which is possible but not all that likely. She’s still getting the hang of it herself.
I dunno if I’d call Dorothy a “good friend”. Amber gave an interview as Amazi-Girl, and Dorothy knows that her neighbor is Amazi-Girl, but that’s pretty much it. It’s not like they’ve hung out or anything, at least that we’ve seen.
I think at the time it was more of a characteristic Danny being kinda… Danny. Now that he’s learned of tendencies he might start to see Joe in a new light.
Based on the comments, I honestly believe this is the most highly supported ship in the history of this strip…Knowing Willis, it is for that very reason, completely doomed. Pre-emptive DAMN YOU WILLIS!
Still have this page open. Everytime I look at it, it makes me smile. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (even more now that I’m sipping my way through this beer).
Shalalalala
My oh my
Looks like the boy’s too shy
Ain’t gonna kiss the guy
Shalalalala
Ain’t that sad
it’s such a shame
Too bad, you’re gonna miss the guy
go on and kiss the girl (kiss the guyl)
I feel like this is kinda Willis writing slash fiction about parts of his own psyche. If Walky gets in on this it will be a full on “protagonist” orgy. (As much as you can them protags anyway) At the same time this is totally hot in that I was not expecting them both to be into it kind of way. I don’t even remember these two interacting in the other universe which makes it even hotter somehow.
you know, just because someone writes a character doesn’t make them part of the writer’s psyche. These two should be considered as people when talking about the story, not two parts of an evil whole.
I’m worried next strip will be Amber seeing this. And I worry this will send her back into a downward spiral when she just seemed to be getting happier with herself as amazi-girl a few strips back.
But I also totally want these dudes to kiss.
most of the people in my life are bi or ace
notable exceptions are my lesbian sister and my straight dad
otherwise, both my moms, my cousins, and my aunt, and my one non-family friend are all not straight
what’s realistic for you is not realistic for everyone
If we count this as putting Danny in the bi category we’ve got (of the major characters):
Gay: Ruth (maybe), Ethan
Bi: Billie, Danny, Ruth (if not gay)
Straight: Joyce (probably), Walky, Dorothy, Sarah, Sal, Joe, Amber, Mike (if not “your mom sexual” or “sexuality determined by usefulness in assholery”), Jacob.
Trans: Joyce’s Sister (cannot for the life of me remember her name)
Asexual: Dina?
So that puts us at 9 straight folks, 1-2 gay folks, 2-3 bi folks, and 1 transwoman and 1 possibly asexual lady. While that would likely overrepresent the trans people and asexual people, it about hits the higher estimates for gay and bi people (assuming everybody figured out their sexuality in the first year of college, which they don’t). I think Willis is, however, going out of his way to highlight people of non-straight orientation, for which I applaud him, however much I know this couple is going down in flames because Willis is still Willis.
Based on her line about how she and Billie “discovered I like girls together”, which suggests that Ruth realised it at the same time Billie did, i.e. when she kissed the latter, I suspect you’re right. Taking my inference entirely from the strip, and not whatever Willis may have said, that being extraneous information (which is why, even though I read the comments, I still insist that in the strip itself, the reader doesn’t know that Carla’s trans).
Well, Carla thought the perma-boner on her door was a hate crime at first, but I suppose without prior knowledge or context, readers could interpret that as her being lesbian instead of trans.
I left Carla out because I didn’t have any evidence one way or the other (I don’t always read all of the comments). Technically I should also eliminate Jacob from the list then, but I’m somewhat relying on information from outside of comic.
I mean, there’s the whiteboard penis thing, where Carla believes she may have been targeted for a bit. I feel like that’s at least as good evidence as Jacob, and better than Dina
Willis should statistically have more straight characters in the same sense that you should, statistically, know more Chinese people than any other ethnicity.
In other words, raw numbers and percentages don’t necessarily reflect what the world looks like in any given place, even in real life.
I’m not sure anybody implied Willis “should” have an accurate representation of actual sexualities in the United States anywhere (I’d rather he use whatever he finds useful to tell the stories he wants to tell — it’s worked so far), I think begbert was observing that the cast might not be representative of that distribution.
If there was a normative judgment one way or the other I must have missed it.
But individual groups don’t always represent the statistical norm. The statistical norm is just an average for what tends to exist when you account for everybody, it’s not a blueprint for how stories need to/should be written.
In lots of individual groups, you may have all straight people or all gay people. Or it could be that Willis’s campus does reflect the average stat, but he’s choosing to focus his story mostly on the GLBT portion of that population.
Despite her young age and abrasive attitude, Carla is actually one of the most skilled, accomplished and above all, subtle Romance Detectives at work in the world today. Virtually none of her subjects ever realize how she’s touched their lives, and that is exactly the way she wants it.
PS- This development is more rad than Lionizer’s partner.
Oh poo on Amber. The woman had a very good chance with Danny, and he would have definitely been there to help her through…whatever the fuck it is that she’s going through. Now she’s hopped right back into Amazigirling the fuck around (yes granted she has a fan base now), and just…man fuck Amber. I hate to say it like that, but Danny has been nothing but kind to her and her alter ego, and she can’t even give him the time of day, and Danny’s been put through quite a bit as well. Let him have this, Amber has friends now, and maybe she’ll see Ethan coming back out of the closet as a good thing and be supportive of it.
Bear in mind that it’s only been a few days since she saw Danny, and at least one of those days was her recovering from extreme trauma and not sleeping practically forever. It’s a good thing Danny is much more sympathetic than you are – even though he wishes he could be the one providing the support, he’s happy that she’s doing something. Just… if your significant other has two freaking incredibly traumatic experiences in a row, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to give them a couple days to sort it out.
Also, Amber has explicitly fantasized about having two guys she’s attracted to make out while she watches, as prelude to a threesome. This is actually a fairly common thing for girls to be totally cool with (though of course not everyone is). I think if Ethan and Danny were honest about their attraction, they could work something out.
Of course this is Willis and nobody is ever just like “hey, I’m going to be honest about my feelings and avoid all this complex drama!” I’m sure there will be a lot of angst, probably from Danny and Ethan over not wanting to upset her. But I know a lot of girls who are attracted to bi guys who would basically consider this whole deal “hitting the jackpot.”
I was late at checking the strip due to work. But what a surprise it is. I don’t usually (never, but never is too strong of a word) prefer yaoi shipping due to both of the characters (or at least on of them) that were shipped are not portrayed as homosexuals or bi. As of yesterday, I had my reservations with this ship due to only Ethan is gay and I don’t want a beautiful friendship ruined. But today’s strip changed my mind. As been said by others, Go for it Danny!
p/s The only other strip recently to reach 400 mark is about Billie and Alice being lesbians (formerly).
So… same sex relationship=rejoicing fandom=comment bait?
Referring to a romantic encounter as ‘yaoi’ in an american comic is kind of bizarre, cause I think that’s more for a genre of manga/anime?. More bizarre is your statement that Billie and Alice were ‘former lesbians’. That is uh… Generally not how that works?? And Billie is like, explicitly BI/pan. Like when I date dudes that doesn’t make me straight and dating a girl doesn’t make me gay. I stay pretty consistently bisexual.
Sorry if I confused you. What I meant is Billie and alice is formerly a lesbian couple. It make sense in my head when I typed it but just come out wrong.
billie can’t be in a “lesbian couple” if she’s bi
it’s only a lesbian couple if they’re both lesbians
please don’t erase people’s identities based on the people they are/were currently dating
Terminology is never my strong suite particularly in the area of sexual and gender identities (I won’t pull my second language card here). Thank you for correcting me Kerry. but for curiosity sake, what would you called it then? (other than just a couple, damn I just should have used that in my first post, being politically correct is hard on the internet)
Amber sees, and is just: “you know what, I ain’t even mad”
3 minutes and 17.6 seconds later, amazigirl is there, watching to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand… It ends awkward, but everyone enjoys the moment.
Tl:dr: sexy times naow, drama later plz Willis? :p
And still going. At this rate I’m not surprised if it reached 600 post. making this the most successful strip (comment wise) in DOA history (please correct me if I’m wrong)
notice both this strip and the ones with joc have ethan in them
coincidence?
clearly we need more ethan
(personally voted for carla, since we actually need trans ladies more, but)
Both of the strips contains revelations of something not expected or have been speculated for some time. But it seems that Ethan is the catalyst of both event.
Has it been noted than Danny looks a lot like Jocelyn in her closeted state? (I do not know how to phrase this question, so I may be doing it disrespectfully by accident.)
LITERAL EXPLOSION OF PURE JOY IN MY HEAD. THAT’S RIGHT, OUTRIGHT FUCKIN JOY! HOW DOES ONE CONTAIN THIS! KISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!
I mean, yes Danny, but I do hope this serves as a bit of a wake-up call for Ethan. While his arrangement with Joyce serves him in a number of ways, it seems like there’s a pretty large part of him that wants to pursue a happy same-sex relationship. Seems like a good time to reevaluate what he gains and loses with his current approach and deciding if that’s still worth it to him.
I suspect he’s still learning a lot about himself even now. Didn’t know he was gay until last summer and then he was mostly preoccupied with the communal backlash against that revelation. Don’t get the impression his summer was filled cute boys to flirt with and the like. He might just now be realizing the role that this sort of stuff serves in his pursuit of happiness.
This is a minor incident on its own, but it just seems like a trend is starting to form here.
It’s interesting how so many people are like BUT POOR AMBER and nobody is mentioning how this is going to mess up poor Ethan. You know, mr “I am dating Joyce because I need to be in control” Ethan? By all means, I’m more than happy to see this happen and I think somebody as gentle and understanding as Danny is perfect for him but I get the feeling a lot of the drama in the coming strips will be coming FROM ETHAN, rather than the supposed love triangle with Amber….
Oh…does anyone see the forshadowing? The DoA title bar is Amber with lightning behind her, judging all hellfire and damnation on this beautiful union……
Bring it on bongo!
A. Violently murder them.
B. Point at them while laughing hysterically with tears running down her face.
C. Take a picture. For science.
D. Run away crushed.
First she takes a picture, and then runs away laughing hysterically crying and pointing… And then she breaks and murders both of them, grinning even creepier than Faz could ever.
All three actually. Amber needs to pull away from looking for a relationship and focus on getting her own head straight, and maybe seeing her old friend happy and opening up will soften the blow of losing probably the only guy in her life that would be there for her both romantically and in a supportive friend role as well.
I am not sure Amber can come to terms with Ethan taking Danny away. On the other hand, she needs to realize that Danny is in love with Amazi Girl and not Amber. Someday, Amazi Girl might disappear but Amber won’t. She needs somebody who will love Amber and not Amazi Girl. But whether this realization will dawn upon her at any point is quite unclear.
While I find this strangely charming (it’s Danny’s blushing cheeks; they’re adorable), I’m sort of disappointed-worried for how this will affect Amber; Danny seemed a good fit with her, and my optimistic desire to see it end well for her fit well with Danny being completely unthreatening and an overall nice person.
(I’m vaguely peeved by the comments that say something to the effect of “yes now Danny isn’t annoying/pointless/stupid anymore”, as if being presumably heterosexual was somehow less qualifying than being definitely bisexual…)
I think what’s causing the whole “He’s not annoying anymore thing” is that Danny is pretty conservative and that might bug some people, but him being bisexual seems somewhat to go against that and it’d be interesting to see how someone as conservative as Danny would react to this realization?
Just my thoughts on why people react this way. It was definitely my first thought, wondering how he’d react I mean.
I suspect Amber’s takeaway is going to be ‘I TURNED ANOTHER GUY GAY WHAT’.
But I think this is probably just what Ethan and Danny both need. Of course, they’re both battling their own issues so much that I figure this will stretch out oh, indefinitely.
While I want this just as much as (if not more than) everyone else here, I don’t think it will actually happen.
A. Ethan is still trying to de-gay-ify himself with the help of Joyce, so unless he is super super caught up in the mood I don’t see him leaning in.
B. Danny might lean in simply for the novelty of these new feelings, but more likely I see him being frightened for the same reason. Also, Amber is still probably right in the front of his mind, and he wants her, not this dude he just met.
Well, ALTERNATELY, this could lead to a poly-relationship with Danny, Ethan, and Amber in the same bed together. Now everyone wins, but less drama for Willis to jerk us around with.
I’ve been Danny in a situation remarkably close to this actually. I managed to get both their tops off in a near threesome, but they couldn’t go any further than that. Too many emotions.
Wait, how does somebody do a boy like he’s a lesbian? I can maybe see how one would do a girl like she’s a gay guy, in a limited fashion, but I don’t see how the inverse would work.
as the seven-zillionth commenter to this post, CAN I JUST SAY PLEASE that this is some of the most realistic pre flirting and lead up I’ve ever seen in fiction? Somehow, SOMEHOW, Danny is totally redeemed for me. It’s like, he’s finally NOT a child, he’s finally working toward not Danning it Up (the progression of which I feel all began when he spat on Blaine), and it’s a relief and a delight to watch.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! The feels!
Somehow it feels like all of Danny’s relationship failures (hardships? at lease I hope his relationship with amber is not yet a failure) with other girls were leading up to this.
It would be interesting if it turned out he were a bit more equipped to approach a relationship with a man in a healthy manner.
Back when he had that incident with Billie, Joe did point out that sexist attitudes are likely a part of what interferes with his romantic endeavors.
I do wonder for example whether he would’ve run into the same problems with Dorothy if she’d been a man, or if he would’ve been more ready to accept that they’re both fully autonomous human beings with hopes and dreams of their own that aren’t necessarily secondary to what he views as their joint dreams. Would he have so carelessly remarked about the possibility of Dorothy changing her mind about leaving this school? When he started considering quitting school to be with her, would there have been a voice in his head that said “Wow, I’m a sap. Why would she even want to be with somebody who has nothing of his own to offer?”.
Not saying it necessarily would’ve fixed everything, just think it could be interesting to see exactly how his views on women have been colouring his views on relationships.
His plan was to follow her like a lost puppy forever. I don’t think he viewed himself as having independent dreams any more than he saw them in Dorothy. I don’t think there was sexism involved; he was just basing his worldview on his own pathetic nature.
Was that a defense of Danny or a condemnation? I really can’t tell.
yes! lets stop this romance crap and go back to Amazi-Girl! hopefully by the time we get back to her she’s done with the investigation part of the story and get to the action part with epic bouts, heart stopping action, wonderfully rendered explosions and Christian Bale impersonation!
I’m kind of indifferent, I think? I’m not particularly cheering for these two to end up together, though I admit that the buildup did give them a fair bit of chemistry unlike (IMO) Billie and Ruth which felt truly unhealthy. But neither am I against them being together at all — it’s just ‘eh, Danny’s bi, they might end up together, that’s nice’.
It took an hour of skimming and scrolling to the bottom! I completely forgot what I was going to say. IMPROVISED THOUGHTS GO!Before finding out about who was confirmed as bi, I was super hoping for this to mean Danny was bi. My first year in my college’s theater department, I made some really good friends. Cody was the one friend who was gay and fully came out during the second semester, during my first musical at Richland,”Once On This Island”, I got to meet some of Cody’s friends from the music and choir departments. Some gay,some not, but not quite accepting of bisexuality for whatever reason. Cody was accepting of bisexuals though,even dated one for a while, one day a choir student saw him and asked”So is he gay or what?” my response was along the lines”Last time he mentioned anything about it,he is bi.” I hear a confusing response from the choir student “He THINKS he bi.”, it confused me a whole lot since this was one of the gay choir students and with how discrimination can be these days, I thought he would be more likely to accept someone being bi rather than saying something that sounded similar to people not being very respectful to someone who is gay. I also found out that some of my friends from church thought the same way about bisexuals. Cody told me reason why a gay person would feel like that to bisexuals, not fully coming out or not fully knowing or denial. This was something that got stuck in my head for the longest time because it felt like seeing a cycle of dislike(hatred in other cases but no one in this situation wanted bisexuals die off or horrible stuff) in a very different light or paying attention to its existence for the first time, not fully sure. It made me look at hatred for someone who think,acts,and is practically different from you should not be hated just because you are oppressed. If you fight against hatred and discrimination,what is the point if you behave the same way? Would anyone realize they were doing it or not? A lot of crazy questions and ideas and answers and such,but it also helped me learn more about different perspectives and such. Not shades of gray or black and white,just angles or approaches. I completely forgot where this point was going after typing and re-typing and having very little sleep,all I can honestly remember wanting to say at this point is a big thank you to David Willis for making Danny bi.
Signed, Logan, someone who constantly questions if he is straight with possible exceptions,bi,or overanalyzes his sexuality too much in an attempt at trying to be someone who doesn’t want to be hateful towards anything other than Michael Bay movies. Hopefully this makes more sense than Marville.
@ your anecdote:
The amount of people I have seen deciding bi doesn’t exist frustrates me. Bi, gay, straight, asexual, pan, cis, trans, queer, agender etc. are just labels. And therefore simplifications. If your friend was romantically or sexually involved with both guys and girls, likes both guys and girls that way, and chooses to act acordingly, then “bisexual” is just the label used to simplify his behavior. A behavior that was readily apparent. Grr.
@ you:
I just want to say, there’s nothing wrong with not being sure who you are or not having a label for yourself yet. If you don’t want a label for yourself, this is also a viable option. I often feel that the only label I want is my name. Also, I don’t feel that there is such a thing as overanalyzing too much, take as much time as you want or need to figure out who you are and want to be.
Your comment on bisexuality reminded me of this comic page. I’m not bi so I can’t help you much, but imo labels aren’t RIGID. It is possible for a straight person to fall for a similar gender or a gay person to fall for another gender or for an ace person to feel sexual attraction, it’s all there and it’s real regardless of permanence or like if you like one dude for every 30 non-dudes.
Also keep in mind that there’s more love other than romance. I know I absolutely love my best three friends or so. It’s not romantic at all but I’d be devastated if I didn’t spend my life by their side. Idk, jsyk.
Actually I would rather have Danny and Amber. Danny and Ethan just seems like it would’t be very much fun.
Beaides, if anymore crap is dumped on Amber she’ll be the offical ‘Jeri’ ( from.Digimon Tamers) stand-in for this universe. All she needs is to start dating some guy named Leo & he ends up getting transferred, drafted, sent off to a peace conference…etc…
Y’know, this is cute and all, but all I can think about is Amber and how close she is to snapping these days. Girl needs herself a break. Make some cash, get herself a day for herself at a spa. Murder a few people, get her nails done, shop a little. Y’know, girl stuff.
btw, danny is freakin’ cute, I’m mad
also, I really need danny in a poly relationship with both amber and ethan, because as adorable as this is, this was also pretty great too
Today’s comic and comment section got me thinking about my sexuality a bit. I don’t really get a boner for either guys or girls, or feel what I’d call sexual desire for any gender. I also usually do not feel that someone is “beautiful” or “sexy” based on outward appearance – I don’t think about people in those terms. I might call someone cute or adorable based on behavior, of feel that someone I am in love with is pretty, though that is pretty new.
However, recently, I’ve noticed that I can feel that guys I don’t know are pretty. Like, some guy walks past and I’m all “ooh, pretty…”, or I see a fussy guy with very careful and deliberate movements and I am all “GOD, he’s ADORABLE, WANT.” on the inside. Which isn’t a physical characteristic exactly, I realize, but those are not thoughts I am used to thinking.
I don’t feel shame or anything like that about it, but It does surprise me a bit, because I thought I just didn’t react that way to physical appearance. Physique is certainly not very involved in who I fall in love with, a slow process that’s taken between 3 months to 2 years to happen after I first meet someone, and the only thing any of the people I’ve fallen in love with so far have had in common is that they were all intelligent, in my opinion.
So yeah. Suddenly I can think “pretty boy, want.”, or at least similar thoughts. I have no idea what that means yet.
If APersonAmI would like a moniker, they might also consider “questioning”. Because it sounds like this person is discovering new things, and there’s still a lot to discover, hooray!
@ Kerry:
Thanks. I’ll consider those words, as I am looking at what fits a description of what I know so far and what does not.
@Leorale:
Thanks. You are completely correct! I am still discovering things. I guess one way I’ve looked at that is the thought process: “Okay, this old label no longer fits, what about this new one”, again and again to this day. The only label I’ve chosen for myself that seems to stick is my legal first name. I think I’ll keep looking for labels though, because it is a way to make me think about it and find out more things about myself, even while I am saying “nope, not me” about the label itself.
As a Wilcox who didn’t realize my gay potential until the college years, I’m super here for another (fictional) bisexual Wilcox. Yer gonna stew in this revelation for possibly weeks, Danny! Hahaha!
Wait.
So Ethan was a protagonist of Shortpacked!
And Danny was a protagonist of Roomies.
If Danny and Ethan hook up, you’ll have two protagonists hooking up together.
But Joyce is the protagonist of Dumbing of Age. And she’s dating Ethan. So you already have a protagonist hook up. Danny makes it somewhat of a protag-love triangle.
Walky, meanwhile, was the protagonist of It’s Walky! And he hooked up with Joyce in that canon.
So we have alternate universe protag-hookup.
Are all of the protagonists and Point of View characters involved in some sort of hook up party or are there more characters that I’m not considering?
So they stare at one another awkwardly, smile sweetly/good nature-idly (sorta heh-look-what-happened) and then back to the awkward looks? Wow. Just…so much awkward. And Danny is Danny-ing it up in his mind. Damn you Willis! Soon Danny will learn the hard way that when Ethan said guys got between him and Amber…he meant on his side not her’s. As if she had enough trauma. I cannot wait to see where this goes. *evil laughter*….*cough*.
seriously. they’ve been flirting for a while now, and to me it’s felt more natural than most of the other canon couples, AND Danny’s always spoken well of Ethan (Willis pointed this out), AND he’s always been bi (again something Willis talked about on his tumblr).
Huh, didn’t know he’d always been bi. Thought this was rather tacked on, to begin with. My views on this development have softened somewhat now, though.
My objection was more that this seemed to be an easy, tacked-on way out of Danny’s crisis of his lack of a traditional masculine identity which he seems to be having; he comes out, sees it’s not so much of a big deal, and thus his problems are fixed. But, hell, that was likely a pretty stupid bit of conjecture anyway. I have no idea where Willis will take the character now, which is good.
Didn’t really see that as flirting. But maybe I’m just unobservant :p.
I do think that this ship is in character for Danny. He has always been very complimentary of Ethan and he has never explicitly stated he was only into girls. This post has a good set of Danny’s interactions in regards to Ethan and how he conducts himself.
Let’s see:
-dumped by his high school girlfriend
-pursued by an unstable but well meaning lady
-ultimately hook up with the last person we thought he would because they had chemistry on panel
Willis, I really admire the way you’ve written so many bisexual folks into your comic. Speaking as a bi man who has felt marginalized by parts of society because they assume I’m half in the closet, it’s just wonderful to see my people accurately reflected. I am not confused. I am not curious. I am not being ‘greedy’. I am bisexual. And I am not invisible.
1. Squeee!!!! Before the last few days, this wasn’t on my radar, but now Willis has me wishing so hard for this ship!
2. Amber (instead of Ethan) got Mike in the other universe, so it would be cool if Ethan got Danny this time. However, I hope a clean split happens between Amber and Danny before Ethan/Danny really gets going.
3. Willis, you have once again proven yourself to be a masterful storyteller. The slow build-up, the looks, the amazing use of comic panel mechanics — you sir are a writing/drawing genius.
4. This could potentially leave the door open for Amber/Mike, who are my favorite couple from the other universe.
5. Sigh, but we’ll probably just be teased with this pairing for months and maybe, if we’re lucky, a few years from now, something will actually happen. (but I hope I’m wrong about that!)
Thank you, Willis! You add awesomeness to the world every day!
Yeah, I know. It probably shouldn’t go there again and I am greatly enjoying the new and different relationships that are happening, but some part of me still ships them so hard.
I didn’t really like Amber/Mike the first time around and while these versions are different I really hope it never happens. I didn’t hate them as a couple but I’d rather Amber find someone else and Mike remain a minor character, he works best that way.
On the one hand I think this is is awesome and I ship it so badly. I didn’t know how much I wanted this until I saw it! On the other hand, I just feel so bad for Amber. She is finally getting some validation in her life, and now her ex-boyfriend is stealing her current boy-toy.
Because I know much drama is coming, I am going to say this now: DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!!!!
Ha! Danny, if you haven’t found a church yet, might I suggest you look for a liberal one.
(For what it’s worth, this comic is wringing my heart like a dishrag because I ship the shit out of Danny/Amazi-Girl. But okay, fine, let’s see what happens, it’s Dumbing of Age.)
People are getting excited for nothing. We don’t have any reason to think they’re both gay (or rather bi, in one case). In the next panel, our boy-toy will probably realize why he and Amber split up.
What do you mean we are getting excited for nothing?
It has been explicitly stated that Ethan is gay, and this strip along with alt text and word of creator establishes that Danny is bisexual. We should be excited for bisexual dude representation, even if a relationship doesn’t happen there is always hope it will.
I’m so confused at your comment seeing as we know for a FACT Ethan is gay and Danny… Dany is currently imagining kissing Ethan so I think we can safely assume he is bi right now.
Suddenly, Danny and Billie’s relationship over Walkyverse way is more interesting.
I had an interesting thought the other day: gay couples are pretty rare in webcomics I read. Lesbian couples are pretty common: EGS, QC, DoA, Shortpacked, Something Positive, Gunnerkrigg Court, GWS all have principal characters in lesbian relationships. Of these, all of them but QC and DoA have featured at least one girl that previously pursued a man realize she’s interested in women (or one woman, at least). Sinfest recently joined this list with Monique beginning a relationship with devil-girl Abby.
Gay male characters, on the other hand, aren’t unusual, but they rarely have front-and-center on-panel relationships. Ethan from Shortpacked!, Martin’s dad from QC, Goldenloin and Blackheart from Nimona are it.
This pairing would represent the third time that I can think of that I’ve seen a man realize he’s into men, and the first time a principal character realized it about another principal character.
Now, admittedly my data is biased by my current preferred reading list, which does not include all of the hundreds of webcomics I’ve read in the last fourteen years, like Avalon High, Fans!, College Roomies from Hell, Sluggy Freelance, Monster Heart, A Modest Destiny, Camp Weedontwantcha, Zebragirl, Elf Life, Return to Sender, Sporkman, Kid Radd, Matriculated, Joe Loves Crappy Movies, Jackie’s Fridge, Crap I Drew On My Lunchbreak, Hark! A Vagrant, XKCD, SMBC, The Wotch…
Either way, this feels like a momentous relationship moment in webcomics.
You can check out the Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal, but that might not be exactly what you mean, as the relationship of the two main characters is the entire focus of the webcomic. (As opposed to being a romantic interest in a world has another bigger and more far reaching plot) But it’s there!
EGS is heading towards one right now, it seems. And it has been increasingly queer in how it treats gender identity. It’s a quirky little comic — in a good way.
This better not be some kind of inception style fake out where tomorrow you reveal that Danny’s thought bubble is actually inside Ethan’s thought bubble, then on Monday you zoom out and show it’s all in one big thought bubble by a freaking out amber witnessing the whole thing.
You know, I figure that this might NOT break Amber into pieces. If they give Danny time to figure himself out, sort out his relationship with Amber, and all that, maybe break up on good terms, then I think that Amber would find this hilarious.
If they skip to romance and make things super awkward, then… well, that would probably break a few hearts. Maybe even a femur or two.
1) From personal experience, coming to terms with one’s own unsuspected bisexuality can be emotionally traumatic. (It does not often immediately lead to mansecks.) Poor Danny . . .
2) I can’t imagine that Danny’s ultra-judgmental parents would likely be supportive of this. Poor Danny . . . but at least he’d have that in common with Ethan?
3) On the other hand, to quote Ethan, THIS IS “A VALID WAY TO FEEL”! Also, Ethan, take your own advice!
He also didn’t reply, and the alt-text on this strip indicates that this is a new development for him anyway.
But really, I think the reason Lanval posted the link was to point out that Amber was worried about this -exact thing-, which is probably going to be dramalicious.
I fully expect AG to stumble across them in the next strip.
I could probably write 2000 words on the fandoms misplaced, projected or deferred latent gender/sexuality biases toward Danny ( until today ).
( hes Always been Bisexual. Willis has stated he wrote him as bisexual since the story started. )
But today I just want to relish that sweet, loyal, kind , insecure innocence of the character is brought completely into the light for us all to see and enjoy.
I feel validated reading this today.
Im hoping he can openly claim his feelings and the happiness he shared with us in panel two, in a way few of us got to in his situation.
You are now , not just writing a reflection of society but shaping what is possible.
( I wish the fandom would recognize the enormous burden he is under, and probably always has been. He has the same right to his feelings and his happiness as every other character. )
I am hoping for A 3SOME with Ethan-AmazingGirl-Danny. It would be cathartic for Amber, allow Ethan a way to share with her what she wanted, and give Danny the courage to fully be himself.
For Danny-lovers, “Dannying it Up” means something completely different
I may be alone on this, but I see any potential relationship they might have resembling that of Strangers with Candy’s Chuck Noblet and Geoffrey Jellineck. Both being firmly in the closet while engaged in a torrid love affair.
While I’d love to see it happen, Amber couldn’t handle it. Actually, I think Amber needs to back the hell off and focus on herself and trying to sort out her feelings. It’d be the healthy thing to do, but when you find out your other part’s boyfriend has the hots for your ex boyfriend who turned out to be gay.. well. ITs a mess. And Amber is gonna break.
I think Amber might well be able to handle it; at least hypothetically, in some future limbo where such a relationship were to be considered as a possibility. Seeing Danny and Ethan together might be an emotional blow for her even with her involved, but then again, we’ve seen Amber fantasize about threesomes like that before—and even if it wasn’t that kind of poly relationship, we know she still thinks guy on guy is very hot.
Danny is the one I really think couldn’t handle it. He’s, like, the poster child for single-minded loyalty in relationships. I could be wrong, but from what I’ve seen so far I’d think the idea of dating more than one person at a time would be basically the ultimate turn-off for Danny. He’d worry too much about the potential of multiple partners getting hurt at one another’s expense.
I forsee a great battle massing on the horizon. Where Danny/Ethan shippers take arms against both Amazifans and Danny haters. Armies will gather. Blood will be spilled. The internet will burn with the fires of their flames, and all will fall into darkness.
I mean, it’s nice to see him discovering something, because he doesn’t do that very often, but that doesn’t erase all the dumbass shit he’s pulled in the past.
I’ve been on vacation and just caught up and I’m telling you, this strip is the best thing to finish my catch-up on. My happiness can not be contained.
Man, am I the only one who doesn’t want Danny to be a gay/bi ship?
I get that he’s a sort of uninteresting character to some, but I like that he’s one of the few characters in the Willis multiverse that is just a straightforward dude without anything special going on.
He’s not a genius like Walky, or a dick like Mike, or a perv like Joe.
He was just good old reliable, white bread Danny.
I have nothing against bisexuals or gays, but people like Danny exist in the real world even if you find them boring, and I always thought he added a touch of grounding because of that.
With the exception of him being a sexual target for anything with a pulse. I never really got that.
And someone could be offended and read something like “being bi makes someone wacky or weird” in my feelings about this.
That is NOT the case.
But bi or gay people are only about 1/6 the population and can face a lot of persecution, often leading to a large effect on a persons identity, so I do feel this trait is special enough to alter the motivations of his character. An example being in the effect on Ethan’s character.
what the…
but… there are real bi people… who are like danny…
bisexuality is not a personality trait?
it’s not like he’s going to become an entirely different person now…?
I guess you can have that opinion if you want…
seriously though, heterosexuality is not sacrosanct
as a bi person, I love that a character like danny is queer
we don’t get these types of characters all that often, so it’d be cool if you could just… not
I don’t like the change in character.
I’m not being rude or dismissive to your feelings on this, so I ask that you stop being rude and dismissive towards mine.
the very fact that you think that a character would be better off straight says something about your feelings that is frankly messed up
I am not obligated to treat opinions with such inherently bigoted premises with respect
Know what?
It doesnt matter.
You have a valid reason for wanting this and I’m not going to argue it.
That said I feel I have a valid reason for my oppinions as well.
You wont agree to it and thats fine.
o…k?
so?
that doesn’t change the fact that lgbtq+ people rarely get this kind of character
the fact that you can only give me one example is telling
(also ethan and danny aren’t clones of each other)
Kerry, I totally agree with you. It’s really nice to have an average guy be bi. So often media portrayals of GLBT+ people have that trait be THE defining crux of their character. It’s really nice to have a portrayal of an average guy who just happens to also be bi.
And even if Jinxed44’s point was more along the lines of “I identified with Danny and now that’s been taken away from me”, I’m sorry but I don’t have much sympathy because media is completely chock-full of portrayals of average white, hetero guys. Let us minorities have a chance to be represented for once.
I was. I mean, it broadened my porn horizons, but I can honestly say that my personality and motivations weren’t greatly influenced by realizing I was bi.
I know I’m going to be called homophobic.
I dont like the change in chacter for reasons I feel arent homophobic.
I’ve been a long time reader of both continuities and shortpacked and this is the first issue with the storytelling or sexuality.
If I am scum for feeling as such then so be it.
For what it’s worth, jinxed, I think I know what you are trying to say. It sounds like you wanted someone you could relate to….a way to interject yourself into the story…people do that all the time as a way to feel more invested and more connected to the story (and as a way to escape their own life…but I digress.) . Maybe you identified with Danny and if Danny is bi or gay its harder for you to place yourself in the story so you were just expressing grief over that bit of disconnect from something you care about.
Homosexuality, obviously and unfortunately is a sensitive subject espcially via text when things like voice inntonation and facial expression are lost (and there is a ton of negativity also in text on the internet over it.)
I am bisexual…but I wasnt offended by what you said at all. I think I understand what you mean….maybe the words you chose just………wait for it………JINXED yourself…..eeehhh?….eeeehhhhhhhh?
I believe the issue is that your opinion (Danny should be straight because he’s normal whitebread) makes people who are Bi/queer sad because they hardy if ever get any representation. You don’t have to be crazy and wacky to be queer. Danny can be whitebread.. and like boys too. Willis handles stuff like this positively and I doubt it’ll become something HUGE. I mean, Amber beat the shit out of her dad and there were no reprecussions. We’ll see what it does.
But no, seriously, sure its cool to have that opinion, but your opinion makes people who have that orientation feel like it isn’t normal (“whitebread”) to be Bi. And that inherantly isn’t cool. Bigots/extremists also argue their opinions are innocent and be respected, but when your opinion invalidates a person’s life/feelings/career then it becomes a nono.
I’m not trying to say gay or bi is wrong or bad.
At the same time, this is one of the first characters and a sudden change in his state.
Willis may have intended for him to be bi the whole time, but he got through an entire universe without looking at another man.
I think its valid to not instantly and totally agree with a potentially huge change in his character as his character is one of the ones who has defined the comic(s) for me
And willis may handle it fabulously, Danny will still mostly be Danny, but when you change one of the things of a character to represent a societally charged topic, that character can get muddled.
Again. Your sexuality is great.
I dont care what it is.
I like the character Danny is and has been, and dont want to see it bend under the weight of a heavy topic.
Its like superman being changed into a woman.
Being a woman is great. Good for you if you are.
But its still a huge change on a character many of us have grown attached to.
But in this case, it’s not a character change. It just that the readers didn’t know about it. In ongoing series, you don’t find out everything about characters in episode one, you learn more and more about the characters as time goes on. It’s not the writer’s fault that your assumptions weren’t in line with who the character is.
It’s true you cant easily identify sexuality, but Danny has passed through years of strips without any sign of this. I think that a history this large should count as some basis for understanding this character.
And there was NOTHING in the years that came before that to contradict the idea that Danny can be attracted to dudes. The guy had, what, a grant total of two whole relationships with women in the Walkyverse? Danny’s the sort of character that doesn’t form attractions casually, and even more rarely acts on them. The fact that none of his previous partners were male doesn’t exactly exclude the possibility that Danny could have been attracted to one at some point, if any guys in his life had actually the opportunity to get close enough to register on his emotional radar.
That’s a point, but at the same time the relationships he did form were central to the plot, and plenty of men did have the chance to get close to him.
It’s not like fate had a hand in this either. Willis could have done this at any time during the set up of the character but hasnt until now. It’s been how many years? I feel like we get to form some basic understandings during that time frame.
this sounds like the argument for not making iconic characters queer, or poc, or ladies, or w/e
the thing is, back then, willis was not the kind of guy to have an openly bi male mc
it’s not that simple to just create a character out of thin air that everyone (least of all willis) will like and be attached to
willis explains it in this post pretty well – it pretty much had to be an existing character he was already emotionally invested in
and what men has danny gotten close to, really?
joe was his childhood friend, and howard was… howard
I went into the late 20s of my life before I felt any serious attraction to anyone of my same gender, and it as some time still before I admitted it outwardly to anybody.
Hey, um—since it looks like the comments are being pretty heavily moderated at this point, and with good reason—does having a thread or sub-thread (apparently) frozen from further replies constitute a warning of some kind? I don’t mean to cause anyone on this forum any kind of discomfort via commenting, so if I’ve inadvertently said/argued something inflammatory, then I sincerely apologize and would like know if there’s anything I need to do avoid that in the future, like, forever. I don’t want to be out of compliance with the rules I respect them a lot!
Goddamnit Willis. This pisses me off in so many ways.
First, Danny was the one character that I could truly identify with, and have since the beginning of Roomies! He was the original main character, he shares my name, and he’s just a likeable idiot that falls into a lot of the same mistakes that I do. Now suddenly, out of literally nowhere, he’s got this trait that completely alienates him to me. Not intentionally, but subconsciously I just can’t see him in the same way anymore. This also flips some triggers. I don’t have a phobia of gay people, but I do have a phobia about suddenly becoming gay or realizing that your body’s gay while your mind isn’t. People talk about that moment of sudden realization and I really don’t want that to happen to me. Illogical, I know, but phobias often are. So for this to happen to Danny, the character I identify with, flipped all the triggers. It also sucks for Danny as a character, because things were just doing splendidly for him for the first time in forever, and now this happens to throw a wrench into his relationship with Amber/Amazi-girl. He had an awesome girlfriend, who was also a superhero, and she loved gaming with him, and she liked him back, and they were adorable together, and then this happens. His brain has always known to be interested in girls and now his own body is against him. If you can’t trust your own body to be on your side, what can you trust? And poor Amber. Yet again, another guy she’s attracted to turns out to be gay. And I know a lot of people are saying, he’s bi, it’s still okay for Amber, but unless this turns out to be some crazy menage a trois scenario a la Rikk*Rumy*Ally, Amber is going to get shafted. Why? Because this happened second. In writing, the new relationship always seems to screw over the old one, especially if it’s a different orientation. Things won’t go back to normal between Danny and Amber after this, or at least if they do I’ll be surprised. I know a writer often has to be cruel to his characters, but haven’t Danny and Amber suffered enough?
Whooooaa this is some old school, hardcore cognitive gymnastics here. Mr. Willis, your stories are brilliant but I think the most fascinating thing I saw here today was a guy saying “I hate this not because I’m afraid of gay people, I’m afraid that I might be secretly gay,” without a HINT of irony.
wow
1. danny is bi, not gay, and he always has been (since the beginning of doa anyway) – he hasn’t “become gay”
2. I guess it’s cool you outright admitted you can’t relate to/empathize with non-straight people
3. you have some pretty fucked up views of how sexuality works
4. it’s still possible for him to end up with amber, especially if they manage to make a poly relationship work out (I know it’s a long shot, but I still hope)
5. thanks for equating discovering your sexuality with suffering
4. it’s still possible for him to end up with amber, especially if they manage to make a poly relationship work out (I know it’s a long shot, but I still hope)
Wait, no. Stop.
Being bi doesn’t always mean threesomes and poly and screw anything that moves. Most straight guys don’t stop finding other women attractive just because they start dating someone; they choose not to act of that attraction out of love and respect for the partner. A person doesn’t stop being bi when they enter into a monogamous relationship, they remain faithful to their partner, regardless of gender.
It is perfectly normal behaviour for Danny to get together with Amber and have a happy and fulfilling relationship, while maybe occasionally fantasizing about a dude.
I know it doesn’t
bi poly people still exist though – hell, both of my moms are bi, and they’re poly
also, I ship both danny/amber and danny/ethan, which is the main reason for me wanting them to be poly, not because he’s bi
I’m guessing that if danny only ends up with one person, it will ultimately be ethan, though I can’t know that for sure
I’d like both of these ships to be realized
I know, right? And just so you know, just because I’m pissed off about this doesn’t mean I want you to change anything you’re doing for my sake. Danny is YOUR character, not mine. Just because I’ve identified with him for ten+ years doesn’t make him mine or give me ANY say in what should happen to him. This is just me venting to no one in particular. About triggers, about characters that I maybe have too much investment in, etc. I just needed a little catharsis after that trigger. I am in no way surprised that this little outburst of mine exploded the comment section the way it did, and honestly I don’t blame them. I don’t expect anyone else to have the same reaction I did, and my reaction is personal.
O yeah, and a big “fuck you” to whoever doesn’t think that my phobia is a real thing.
Look up HOCD- it isn’t the same as homophobia… I know exactly where this guy is coming from. Just because you *know* people can’t just ‘turn gay’ doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid of it.
More people should see this comment. I had no sympathy for lightsabermario until I looked up HOCD, and then suddenly . . . I still don’t agree with him, but I absolutely see where he’s coming from now. I’ve never had the luxury of getting used to characters in my orientation, but other than that it turns out I’ve absolutely been in his position. If I simply imagine a less amatonormative world, where I do have different expectations from characters, I’m right there with him, offensive though I find him.
As somebody who was not on lightsabermario’s side, I really think this is the defense, or at least the explanation, he needed.
I’m so into this comment, I’m reloading the page over and over just so I can see the other replies here. This is the comment equivalent of being with friends when they watch one of my favorite movies for the first time, and I keep looking back at their faces to make sure they comprehend how awesome it is.
Same here. It’s taken a long time for my mind to be OK with being gay, but that’s another issue entirely. Can’t trust your body to be on your side? I…but…what?
I think maybe things won’t go back to normal between Danny and Amber because he found out she has massive violent issues that she doesn’t want to talk about with him.
I mean…
…just…
…maybe that is a bigger obstacle here than him finding out he might fancy dudes too.
Also if I were to give the simplest advice possible here, it would be this: Regardless of what’s in someone’s pants, what kind of people they fancy, or how they present themselves to the world, everyone has to navigate the human experience. Some will have it easier than you, some will have it harder, but learning to relate to people who aren’t like you is something we all have to deal with, and the sooner you stop trying to put people into little boxes and deal with them as, well, people, the happier you’re going to be. You’ll run out of definitions that fit long before you run out of people you meet. Simple respect goes a long way, as does not sweating this stuff until you actually hit a problem.
I get it. Sometimes I worry that if I bump into a table just right, I’ll accidentally toggle my gay switch and start macking on my coworkers. It’s really inconvenient.
Nice sarcasm. Except what the fuck JUST happened to Danny? He jumped, accidentally made Ethan fall on him, and all of a sudden, something he knew about himself for his whole life is changed forever. Also, nice making fun of someone for their phobias, that’s tolerance.
Yes, I do. Did I say I have anything against gay people? If I made it seem at all to the contrary, let me be perfectly clear: I have absolutely nothing against gay people. They are perfectly fine people. Hell, I’m pro-gay-marriage. Just because I have trouble figuratively stepping into their shoes doesn’t mean I realize that they are cool people regardless of their orientation. As far as I’m concerned, they can do anything they want, and they can even be my friend if they want. But I do NOT want to be gay, ever. I can’t even believe that I have to explain and defend my phobia to people, even after I’ve already said that phobias are often illogical.
Which actually brings me to another point that I’ve been wanting to bring up. For the most part, the term homophobic is a misnomer. When you are arachnophobic, you are afraid of spiders, and despite realizing that it’s an irrational fear, you squirm and cower and do anything you can to get away from such things. The same go for fears of heights, or being on planes, etc. That’s not the same with “homophobia”. What such “homophobics” really have is homomisia. A hatred of gay people, and intolerance for their way of life. That’s intolerance, and it is something you choose to be. I am firmly against that, and I am firmly against anything that treats other fellow humans as anything less than equal fellow humans. My fears are entirely internal to myself, so I don’t want to hear anyone accuse me of being intolerant. I thought you were smarter than that, Willis.
Btw, don’t put words in my mouth. My single greatest fear is the finality of death, not of becoming gay. Becoming gay doesn’t even come close to that fear.
“i have nothing against gay people and i’m totally for gay marriage (WOW! CONGRATULATIONS!) and i think they’re perfectly fine people honestly i swear, so long as those people aren’t me” is pretty damn homophobic, dude. That’s why you have to explain and defend this shit, because it’s intrinsically patronizing and offensive.
Does it really offend you that I have an irrational fear of suddenly becoming gay? Is it that offensive to the point that you have a problem with the way I view myself?
See: irrational. I never said it made sense to be afraid of it, given that I know in my brain that I like girls. But phobias don’t care about facts, so when you tell a person that more people die in car accidents than on planes, that doesn’t stop them from being terrified of dying in a plane crash.
Of course, you can’t be a dick to a plane accident by saying you have nightmares about being one. Plane accidents aren’t already-marginalized human beings.
If I may share my two cents…
This feels less like a fear of gay people and more like a fear of identity crisis. Assuming Lightsabermario is telling the truth (Which I have no particular reason to doubt,) it sounds like he’s afraid of his own personality changing to something which is alien to him, and losing his self-image.
It’s definitely a little irrational, but I don’t think it equates to Homophobia in the traditional sense.
“I am what I am, and I don’t want to be anyone else.”
O my god thank you, Maxy. You really nailed it, especially with that last quote. Honestly I feel a huge relief to hear it described accurately by somebody else. It makes me feel, I don’t know, a little more normal, and less hurt then when people were ganging up on me for my phobia. Thank you again, Maxy.
even so, since danny has been bi the entire time, he HASN’T changed
it seems weird that you specifically locked on to a fear of “becoming gay” rather than a fear of change, which is what people were responding to the most
…You called same-sex attraction a betrayal of the body against the mind. You basically said that if you were saddled with the identity that some of us have come to terms with having, have accepted as just another facet of our perfectly loveable selves, it would be the worst thing that your body could do to the conscious, elevated part of your brain- that it would lessen you in some way, even if it’s just in your own damn esteem. And if you can’t see how that is inherently insanely offensive, then… well, okay. Sure. Whatever.
“Gay” isn’t a personality trait. Neither is “bisexual,” which is more accurate here anyway. They describe a few important aspects of yourself- what you find sexy, what to expect in your browser history, who you’re likely to foster romantic and sexual relationships with, pretty much jack shit else. If you’re scared of personality change, I’d be more wary of brain injury than mackin’ with dudes.
Sorry, if you feel your fear of homosexuality is getting you called out as a homophobe, buuuuut really dude, you kinda brought this on yourself.
Not to take up a sword (Metaphorically speaking, of course) to defend someone I barely know on the internet, but a couple more things I would like to say:
Kerry: Sexuality is, from my observations (Which could be completely wrong, I’ll admit,) one of the largest parts of a person’s personality in terms of how people see them. If I had to make a list of things instantly used to judge a person with no details to work on, it’d be gender, age, and sexuality. (Follow that up with religion, politics, and career.) But, while society will generally teach you that gender is concrete, and age will continue ticking along at an even pace no matter what, Sexuality is liable to ‘change’.
I’d also like to take this moment to point out that it IS an irrational fear which doesn’t make much sense, and that LightSaberMario did make some rather stereotypical assumptions about bisexuals in his original post. Not denying that in the slightest.
Vibbles: He didn’t say that homosexuality was the betrayal of the body against the mind, he said that he was afraid HIS body would rebel against HIS mind. (Or, at least, that’s my interpretation. Once again, my perspective could be full of crap, but I prefer giving people the benefit of the doubt.)
Compare it to, say, religion. For the sake of the argument,we’ll say I’m an Atheist. I’m not a Christian. I don’t want to BE a Christian. I disagree with Christian philosophy, mainly because I don’t believe in God. That being said, if you are a Christian that’s your choice, your opinion, and I am completely fine with that. It’s a perfectly legitimate belief, and while I don’t agree with it I’m not going to mind what you believe if it comforts you, makes you feel better, or makes you a better person. (This isn’t a perfect metaphor, and there are definitely Atheists who don’t share this philosophy, (And also I’m a Christian), but my point is that you can disagree in taste without hating someone for disagreeing.)
He’s not afraid of homosexuality. He’s irrationally afraid of losing control over his own desires, and sexuality is the basest and most wildly unpredictable desire a human can have, so the irrationality centers around that. In my opinion, which could be wrong.
lightsabermario, I know you got jumped on a lot here in the comments, but I would like to reiterate that if you have a phobia (and it sounds like you have multiple phobias? Did I read that right?), you should get therapy for it/them. Phobias can be overcome. Good luck!
Hi, Mr. Willis. I thought your comments were kind of hurtful and I’d like to explain why, if that’s ok?
I am on the asexual spectrum, but as a kid I didn’t know that was a thing. All I knew was that I was different from my peers and that was *terrifying*. Other kids eventually decided that if I wasn’t into boys I had to be into girls, which caused all sorts of bullying. I knew I wasn’t interested in women, but I knew boys weren’t all that interesting either. This was a huge source of confusion and anxiety.
As an adult, I’m still terrified that my sexual/romantic isn’t what I think it is. I’ve been sexually attracted to two people in my entire life (hence asexual spectrum, not purely asexual) and both of them have been men, but that doesn’t stop the worry that I could be “faking” my sexual/romantic orientation. This doesn’t just apply to homosexuality either- I’m afraid I could be secretly interested in anything that could be considered a stimulus. It’s actually a big trigger for my OCD.
This has nothing to do with homophobia or internalized “gayness” or any other of the silly accusations in this thread. It has everything to do with a fear of not knowing who I am, of finding out my identity is a lie. Seeing you attack someone who struggles with something that I do is hurtful and almost seems ableist (not a term I’d ever use lightly). I don’t know if lightsabermario suffers from OCD like I do or if it’s just a phobia for them, but I do know that no one deserves to be mocked because of a fear they *cannot control*. I know identities are not light-switches that can be turned on or off, I know you don’t just ~become gay~ at the drop of the hat, and I bet lsm knows these things too. Anxiety tends to ignore reason.
the entitled, offensive way lightsabermario expressed himself, however, is entirely on him
that said, willis did post a comment I took issue with that he later removed on at his own behest, so I don’t think he’s entirely thoughtless about the issue
all in all, I get the whole irrational fear thing, as an ocd sufferer, especially when it comes to sexuality, but the way lightsabermario went about commenting on it was frankly terrible, as I explained in my first reply to him
I just want to say that you’re not alone. I’m right there with you (and frankly quite surprised to see somebody else here with basically the same exact fear as me). I spent years convincing myself that yes, I really am sure I’m asexual, so that now I can tell myself that I no longer worry about my orientation and usually not call myself out on that being a blatant lie. But it’s still tough, just in a different way than it used to be.
I wanted you to know because we aces and more-or-less-aces have to stick together. We’re too invisible to expect anybody else to stick with us.
To be totally honest, though, for me there is a little bit of allophobia, I guess you’d call it, to all of that for me. I’m certainly not proud of it, but there is a bit of instinctive disdain that I can’t seem to get rid of. So perhaps my experiences are not suitable for defending lightsabermario against accusations of homophobia.
I understand that this triggers a special place in your psyche, but most people can identify with characters who don’t share every single exact trait with themselves. I, personally, have identified with many characters who don’t share my sexuality, ethnicity, gender, etc. and I know I am far from being the only one to do so.
Seriously, I think your phobia indicates that you really do have some GLBT feelings inside that you’re not willing to deal with and you may need therapy. Someone may disagree with me on this, but I don’t really think your body can be gay and your brain not. I think that would just be your brain trying to suppress your gayness. Sorry to be blunt, but I really think you need some help. Good luck to you! May you overcome your personal demons!
I pretty strongly identify with Danny, for better or worse. I try to do what I think is the right thing, often without realizing I’m inadvertently being a jerk about it. I’m awkward, especially around people I like. I’m passive about things in general. I’m hard on myself, even for things beyond my control, to the point of annoying others, especially those that care about me.
Danny being bi doesn’t change any of that. (And, being honest with myself, I don’t feel like I can 100% rule out being attracted to dudes; it hasn’t happened, I don’t think it will, but if it does -shrugs- I mean, I’ve never thought dongs did it for me, but that still leaves being biromantic, and I could see that happening [wait, is biromantic/heterosexual a thing?]).
Oh, and I identify with Dorothy a lot (especially her interaction with her parents), which probably sounds really weird after saying I identify with Danny.
You can identify with people not exactly like you; a lot of people just don’t get to identify with certain parts (i.e. sexuality/race/religion) of themselves because there’s so little representation of it.
You say that he “suddenly realizes that his body’s gay while his mind isn’t.” and yet the strip clearly shows his MIND is the one that has the fantasy of him and Ethan kissing.
Bisexual Danny, what a twist! I predict he gets mad uncomfortable around shirtless Joe back in their room. And/or Joe gets offended that Danny never had sexy thoughts about HIM.
But seriously, wether or not they get it on, my hope is that Danny learning about himself and dealing with it will help Ethan by seeing somebody handle it in a positive way, accept themselves, and grow stronger from it. Whether that’s realistic…
I have no idea how this will affect Amber really, nothing is ever easy for that poor girl in this ‘verse
Just because Danny is bi doesn’t mean he’s attracted to every guy. Joe might not be his type, or he might just be too close to him. I know my best friend is like a brother to me, and I couldn’t imagine thinking of him sexually.
But is your best friend a 10? That is the real question.
(Rather, is your best friend egotistical enough to DESCRIBE himself as a 10, and then get at least partially or jokingly offended when you don’t describe him as such?)
Mixed feeling here. One of my favorite things about this series is how it includese everyone and shows that it’s the person not their stereotype that matters. I dont like that Danny’s revelation came seemingly from nowhere compared to other universes. I know that sexuality is a gradient rather than static categories. Infact romantic connection and physical attraction are separate.
As far as ships go, I prefer cannon to fantasy, and they are very cute. Ethan does deserve a main character partner to a secondary made up for him… But dammit, regardless of your orientation there is so much wrong about being in a relationship with someone and then ditching them for their ex that they’re still friends with have feelings for. I would lose so much respect for both of them if they cheated before breaking things off.
According to Willis, this was planned since the start of DoA. Looking back, someone made a fantastic tumblr post of scenes that show little things that, now that we know, were pretty good hints (I posted a link way up if you want to take a peek). And it’s not something that’s just going to completely change who he is, we just happen to know he likes dudes now (and he might be realizing; we actually don’t know for sure this is him realizing it, though I think it’s pretty likely).
We also know that Danny is loyal to a fault. He told Amber they couldn’t hang out anymore because he was starting to have feelings for her and he didn’t want to cheat on Amazi-Girl. He’s loyal to Joe, even when Joe is being a bit of a jerk to him. He’s not going to just go “Oops, I like dudes now, who’s Amber?”
I am a fan of Danny accross the comics because of his loyalty. It also gets him into trouble such as when he indulged his old feelings for Sal while he is with Billy (forget which comic it was by that point). He’s a romantic, moral and he can be wishy washy. I loved the story arch where Billie challenged him to grow a backbone. It seems to be a running theme for Danny is the conflict between those aspects of himself. He did seem a little more feminin in this reality than in roomies but I chalked it up to evolved art style and story telling. I’ll check out the link you mentioned. Im also going to reread Dumbing of age when i get time.
I know several people who didn’t figure out they were bi until they met someone of the same gender who was interested in them.
Heck, it took me a long time to figure out I liked guys. I’m mostly straight, but I’m not attracted to very many people, period. Seeing a hot guy with his shirt off makes me shrug my shoulders until I get some impression of his personality. If I know someone’s not my personality type, no amount of rippling muscles or adorable haircuts are gonna make me lust after them. I actually thought I might be asexual until I was sixteen, because all my friends were talking about boys and I hadn’t been attracted to anyone. When a character realizes they’re bi because they finally meet someone of a specific gender who is both emotionally and physically attractive to them it makes sense to me, because that’s how I figured out I was a sexual person AT ALL.
If I were Danny, I would totally be attracted to Ethan and I’d probably feel no attraction to someone like Joe. Dan has shown that he needs romantic investment to be really interested in someone. The excuse he gave for not having sex with Billie was that he didn’t want her to regret it, and he said he wasn’t interested in Sal because she was “out of his league.” As someone who can recognize the objective hotness of a person without being actually interested in them, I used to use similar excuses all the time to cover up for the fact that I wasn’t sure WHY I didn’t want to immediately hop into bed with some ostensibly attractive person.
After Billie and Sal both brought up the subject of sex, he didn’t consider hanging out with them to be temptation, while he specifically told Amber that she would be, because she was trying to engage him emotionally.
So I don’t feel like this comes out of nowhere. I’m honestly surprised that Willis managed to capture how I felt when I first met a dude I liked, since I realize most people don’t require emotional attraction to jump-start realization of their physical attraction.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. It didn’t occur to me that Danny would need that connection to recognize his attraction. After reading through some of the other posts and links I’ve realized how many clues were there from the start that I missed.
Ahhhh. Nah, Dorothy is the optimum choice here. She’s already got a thing for Amazigirl, she used to be into Danny, and she’s…met Mike. Also, if Walky ever found out he would beat the stuffing out of Mike, so there’s another parallel for ya.
wait… I’m confused now
I thought amber and ethan were the same people in this analogy, but danny replaced mike, and…
…I mean, I guess it would have to be someone who was into danny for it to technically fit, but if you interpret it somewhat loosely, it could work with joyce too since she’d basically feel that way about ethan…?
/overthinking it
There’s so much angsting to look forward to! And later I’m hoping to get to watch Danny go into the opposite direction and shove his new made boyfriend into the faces of his parents, Dorothy and Joe.
…And then I’m expecting some angst again, when Ethan gets uncomfortable about that.
Wonder if we’ll get any interaction between Joyce and Danny out of this?
So self-depreciating humor and one-liners that are probably meant as a joke about dating clichés (“You’d better buy me dinner first”) are flirting now? I’m not sure I understand all the people who say this is the best flirting they’ve ever read.
It’s somewhat amusing that, in my mind, Danny is “Danning it up” again by obliviously and, most likely, completely unintentionally sending romantic signals to Ethan, but everyone loves it when they usually all hate him for it.
This is my first Willis comic, but I have to say that sometimes it feels like 99% of the world is NOT heterosexual in the Willis-verse. At times like that, I just remind myself that your average university has a few thousand students enrolled at any given time and we’re only following a couple dozen of them.
So…carry on. I look forward to the orgy comic on Slipshine a few years from now…
This page is so dang close to 1000 comments. Will it make it before the day is out? Seems so.
Overall this strip pleases me. Deeply. And Dan with Ethan is just so damn likeable. But I like a lot of people do wonder how Amber would take this if anything came to pass between these two.
OK. I expected something like the first three (2.5?) panels. I expected the thought bubble. I didn’t expect whose thought bubble it would be.
Then I saw his face.
Now I’m a believer.
The obvious stuff first:
Bisexuality? Awesome.
Queer!boy makeouts (even imaginary ones)? Awesome.
Epic Queer!boy drama? Awesome.
Epic Queer!boy drama involving a relationship that would actually be pretty good for both of the boys involved? Super awesome.
But the strip itself is awesome in so many ways. The layout and the fantasy-fading-into-sketch effect is awe… inspiring. But really, I love the way this strip works, the way it plays with expectations. Because of yaoi cliches, we expect falling over together to be followed by epic gayness; because of obliviously flirty Danny and obviously infatuated Ethan, we expect fantasies of makeouts… everything about this strip is completely expected — and then we notice where the thought bubble’s coming from, and OH SNAP!
So seriously, this is a fantastic strip — plays masterfully with the audience. Good job, great and mighty Willis.
… But I’m still not Patreoning you, ’cause I’m a dick.
Yes yes yes yes yes commenting for the first time to say that it’s my birthday and of course it’s just a coincidence but this feels like a gift and it’s making me very happy so thank you.
Ahhhhhhhhhh I love this strip so much that after “read”ing it sixish times I have to scroll alllllllllll the way down and comment because it gives me all the feels.
I still have some love for Amber x Danny- after their moment after Amber bludgeoned Blaine, they just seemed so damn cute. And… unlike a lot of my fellow shippers, I just can’t see Amber as poly, and the idea of a threesome with these guys does not work for me. I love her, but I think the jealousy and uncertainty would chew away at her; especially at this point in her life. I… just don’t see her being able to work through those emotions. So nope. Danny and Ethan going anywhere in their cuteness would kill Amber x Danny and bury Amber’s trust in the two people keeping her a teeny bit sane and I love her so much D=
But Danny being bi makes me happy (representationnnnnn), and him and Ethan are fucking adorable, and gaaaaaaaaaaaah all my shipper’s feeeeeeels
Amber and Dorothy must now become best friends forever so she has some support beyond her old and new relationship drama.
And now Danny working through understanding his own sexuality. =D Is it just me, or do bisexual peeps in comics tend to just appear already out of the closet and comfortable with themselves? I’m so stupidly excited to see Danny coming to terms with himself, and figuring out what he wants and his own place along the spectrum, and coming out to a world that doesn’t always think bisexuality even exists, and… and… arrrrrgggghhhhablagh this is exciting. =D
I’ve posted about this several times, but each post has been thematically different, and I just have SO MANY FEELS.
I can see Amber as poly, if only with this specific combination. I have a very similar personality to hers, and I’d only be fine with poly if I felt like I had a strong connection with both other participants. I’m kinda jealous and insecure myself, and if people in a poly relationship gave me reason to feel like a ‘third wheel,’ it’d be terrible, but there’s absolutely no reason to think Danny and Ethan would do that to her. And while the fact that Danny “rejected” the Amber version of Amber/Amazigirl might seem like a betrayal, I’ve realized now that it wasn’t – it was Danny not wanting to commit emotional infidelity.
I also can’t imagine Danny and Ethan going any further than a kiss without talking to Amber first about things. They’ve both spent the past two days talking about how much they care about her, it’s not like mutual attraction instantly erases all morals. Amber has shown herself to be sexually progressive in a fannish way, so I don’t think she’d think a kiss (which hasn’t even happened yet) was a faith-destroying betrayal.
There is also CRAZY foreshadowing that she’d be fine with this specific triad (and it’s perfectly reasonable to find yourself in a triad even if you never considered yourself inherently poly). She’s fantasized about a MMF three way where the guys focused on each other. When she flipped out about Joyce, part of it was because it hurt her to see Ethan with another GIRL. The implication there being that she wants Ethan to be able to express his sexuality, but if he’s not going to do that and he’s going to have a girl in his life for mostly-platonic relationship-esque companionship, why can’t that girl be her?
So to lay it all out, I don’t think Amber is inherently poly, but she’s already expressed that
1) she’s into the idea of an MMF threesome
2) she wants Ethan to accept who he is and find someone he can be sexual with who also respects him as a person
3) she’d be jealous of any other girl who got to be part of a platonic partnership with Ethan.
Now, all those things could be true and she could still not be able to handle the reality of a poly relationship. But from my perspective, it looks more likely that a relationship like that would be very good for her.
Honestly, I’m more worried that Amber will find out about this, think “Oh, in order to let Ethan really express who he is, I should let him focus on Danny,” and unnecessarily remove herself from the equation based on angst and self-sacrifice. But we shall see. We shall see.
I think it could be interpreted differently, just as panel 3 part of the fantasy. I looooove the idea that they made actual cute smiles at each other, and despite the blurring in the top corner, the rest of the panel looks realistic and real-life-y.
in panel 2, they’re also bringing their faces closer to each other for the subsequent kiss (ethan’s lowering his head, danny’s raising it)
plus, y’know, the frames
I’m pretty sure the first three panels are all danny’s fantasy
I can’t believe it took me several hours before I made the connection: this is almost exactly how *I* realized that I’m bi! Admittedly the gay end of bi, but still, it was like so . . .
(unsuspecting, unsuspecting, unsuspecting, “Gee my friend over there looks really hot now that he’s taken his shirt off”, unsuspecting, unsuspe- “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!”)
And slowly, I came to realize that all of the signs were there, especially the same-sex celebrity crush–MacGyver, if you all must know.
I have caught up with the comic and now I’m just sitting here staring at this wishing desperately that Ethan could be happy and kiss boys and I am totally okay with Danny being one of those boys, and then I remember Amber and I’m like goddammit
These comments really aren’t going to help me stop joking that bisexuals and aces are natural enemies. Because I am totally jealous that they get this, and I never get anything. Well, except for that one time in that one story, but frankly that’s worse since now I know what I’m missing.
I mean, nothing against Carla, but she’s not exactly a main character, plus she’s ONLY ace and not also arom.
Me if I ever see Tony Hawk: Hey you’re Tony Hawk the famous skateboarder. That’s right I recognise you. Won’t be able to get any content out of this will you, you piece of shit
How to read all 28 issues of my Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane run on Marvel Unlimited:
1: The first four issues were published as the miniseries "Mary Jane."
www.marvel.com/comics/serie...
today in #9chickweedlane i learned we have to be shown children learning and relearning what sex is, for Reasons, even though they already clearly know and have prepared nuanced questions about it!
also that Gran must hate, if she's still alive, how Old Juliette is the same but with gray hair
one of my favorite things is when a commenter explodes WHEN DO THESE CHARACTERS GET THERAPY but directed towards a character who canonically has a regular therapist
Hot Toys Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 1/6 Scale Darth Vader Deluxe ($495) & Standard ($315) is up for preorder at Sideshow - shrsl.com/4wcx6 #ad
If you preorder make sure to hit the Exclusive versions since they include a commemorative plaque and cost the same.
btw if you're one of those rando bluesky weirdos who doesn't know me but sees me in the wild being sarcastic and don't know i'm being sarcastic because you haven't taken like 30 seconds to, like, maybe look at my user profile or something, keep walking, you're not going to score internet points here
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 3d
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 2d
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 3d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 12d
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FUCK
Hey, give them time.
They have 23 hours, 58 minutes
Dale is a patient man.
I called it, yup. yesterday, totes called it. … still cant decide wether to call it Danthan or Ethanny.
I vote Ethanny.
Nods, Ethanny it is. OTP. it is mine willis, let me have this.
EthDan
your gravatar seems perfect for this situation
I assume you are referring to the ice bucket challenge >.>. And they will be naked!
pretty sure thats a scrubs reference
Our time or their time?
Because if our time, that’s months away
Of course a time-traveler would know what comes next. Can this please become a fixed point in time and space?
Well great… not Amber pretty much has two guys turn gay on her.
Given that he’s appeared definitely interested in Amber/Amazi-Girl, it’s safe to say he’s not gay. There are more than two specialities.
…SEXUALITIES. Curse you Autocorrect!
exactly he could be panromantic/sexual biromant heterosexual theres literally so many types of attraction and labels that could be used and this comic makes me really happy bc its exploring some of them more
Eh, still kinda works.
Bisexuality IS a thing, ya know.
Balls are touching, I repeat BALLS ARE TOUCHING!
If they’re not they will be soon.
I don’t think that’s how gay sex works.
I’m not convinced. We need pictorial evidence – for Science!
Pics or it didn’t happen.
Wait for the slipshine.
That’ll be the day I actually dish out the money for a Slipshine membership.
I would pay sooooooooo much for that slipshine comic.
Sex means ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN TOUCH
REPEATEDLY AND RAPIDLY
vigorously, even
with ample lubrication.
Or without.
That would be a baaaad idea.
Fist and faaaace?
gay sex can work many ways, anally, orally, handily….
And, as we learned today, Dannily
Of course I did accurately peg Danny as a bottom, it seems
Nice word choice there. Pegging bottoms. Heh.
Was thinking the same thing.
That’s a bit like pegging the noon sky as blue, so no points for you.
The noon sky may also be grey!
or jet black, at one or the other of the North and South Poles
Your daily shades of the sky forecast:
Monday – Turquoise
Tuesday – Taupe
Wednesday – Robin’s Egg
Thursday – Turquoise-Taupe
Friday – Coal Dust
Saturday – Coal Dust with chances of Indigo in the late afternoon
Sunday – Void
The sun is in the sky. The moon is also in the sky. They are battling for supremacy of the sky above us. Welcome to Night Vale.
I’m pretty sure Walkyverse Billie told us that already.
Pretty sure they still have their pants on.
THIS IS WHAT I SAID
TROLL’D
i just wanted to say i called it
seems amber is a magnet to gay who didnt relize yet that they are gay
There is also a thing called ‘bisexuality’. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?
Oh no… neither one realizes that the other might be attracted to him. FUCK
Omg danny…..
MAKE OUT ALREADY
Oh Noes, Danny Caught Ethan’s Gays! Just Kidding, I’m Quite Looking Forward to Bearing Witness to Danny’s Journey of Personal Discovery.
Huh…
Oh my. ~ Takei
It’s ok to be Takei!
I wonder if one them is wearing “Eau My”: http://eaumyfragrance.com/
… I’m broke currently but I feel that it would be reasonable to sell a kidney now that I know that this exist.
It’s okay to be gay.
It’s friggin’ awesome to be Takei.
+1
Agreed!
Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman and/or George Takei.
++1
Do it. . .
indeed. You know you want to.
Search your feelings, young Wilcox. You know it to be true.
Lord Palpatine: Good boys good… Now kiss… Come on and kiss…Do it
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccck
eeeeaaaach oooootthhhheeeerrrrr aaaaaalllllrrrrreeeeaaaadddddyyyy
ooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn thhhhhheeeeeeeeee grrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaasssssssssssss
dddddooooooo eeeeeeeeeetttttt
fffffffffooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ttttttthhhhhhheeeeeeeeee vvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnneeee
Hhhhhhhhhhot.
Add in Amber for the perfect Threesome.
Because what this situation needs is more awkwardness.
More like more AWESOMENESS. Amirite?
u r rite m8
u r rite
Joe Gravatar makes this that much better.
Awkwardness makes it kinky.
“So do you have, like, a fantasy? Because we could… try some new things.”
“Well… I think awkwardness is really kinky. How about we talk about each other’s parents while we’re doing it? That’d be really hot.”
Now that’s moving into the gross and incest catagories.
Awkward would be talking about your exes. Or politics.
He didn’t say “talk dirty about our parents”.
“Oh, yeah, right there. Nnnh….My parents have crippled my self esteem my entire life by comparing me to my older brother.”
“Ah! My mom called me a disappointment because I was gay!”
“Oh my god, considering that I am stroking your penis, that is -incredibly- awkward!”
“Such good awkwarrrd….”
why did you do this heavensrun
Because I’m eeeevil.
Still hoping for a triad.
What does the Chinese mafia have to do with this?
(alternate joke: What would the Legion of Superheroes be doing there? Recruiting Amazigirl for a time-travel storyline?)
Erm…
AND LO, THERE WAS BUTTSEX! AND IT WAS…. a dream as well….
One of them needs to be facing the other way before THAT can happen.
Actually, you can easily have buttsex in that position.
…
What?
Would you need to be super well hung to reach that target?
Nah, Danny’s legs need to be up over Ethan’s shoulders basically
If he’s flexible enough that is.
If Danny can sit what midwesterners used to call “indian style” then he’s easily flexible enough. And length isn’t an issue – unless Ethan is sporting a “mini-gherkin” he’s plenty hung enough.
Trust me, it isn’t that difficult.
Ethan’s dick is known as “bootybreaker”. It’s not about flexibility. It’s about Danny not being a horse cause that’s basically what we are talking about here.
First off, all previous comments (apart from one which says “one of them”, which doesn’t specify) are about Ethan penetrating Danny, not the other way around. Note Kiapdx’s comment about the positioning of Danny’s legs.
Secondly, even if you want to reverse it, that still doesn’t require turning around. Ethan would just need to sit up and move forward a little.
I think he meant how… stretchy… Danny is
Because one needs some training to take Ethan
At least that’s how I understood Insanenoodlyguy’s latest comment
I learn so much about mansex in these comment threads…
Straight people can have sex in the same position, they just get lazy and do things the easy way.
I could link you to plenty of “educational” Tumblrs…
I’m down.
Not necessarily… I’ve seen some porn that shows it is possible.
You have absolutely the PERFECT Gravitar for that comment. Not even Joyce would have been better.
Not if Danny’s flexible.
FUCK YES BISEXUAL DANNY
YES
YES
MY COMPUTER IS SO EXCITED IT DOUBLE POSTED FOR ME
OMG MINE DID TOO
It’s alright! I’m giving it all of my Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes yesxinfinity!
I know that was a double post and all but you should know that I read it in the voice of the cartoon M Bison.
I love your Fallen London Urchin avatar!
Fanks!
YES
THIS SHIP IS ONLY A FEW WEEKS OLD AND IT IS SAILING
ITS ONLY LIKE A WEEK OLD I THINK
It’s as if Catwoman and Talia Al Ghul were just all “forget Batman”, and just started making out.
I want to fav that comment.
you misspelled fap…
I would be all about that.
are you implieng danny and ethan gonna become amazigirls super villiains?
Takei Force, featuring Chiseled Mangod and Danny Boy.
More like a rival superhero team, I think.
Though for her romance life, she may consider them enemies..
“…The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’…
…And I’ll look down and whisper, ‘Oh my.'”
Oh cool, it’s George Takei
It’s more like Lois Lane and Lana Lang…went….that…kissing…buh.
Wait, what day is it?
So I went looking for the earliest mention of the word “ship” in reference to these two in the comment section, and looks like it started with this strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/evasive/ , which was June 9th. And who was the first to say it? (cackles triumphantly)
Gold Star 4 you
Aw dangit, I found older ones. Like, literally the first time they interacted.
what else can be expected from the comment-base of DoA?
Bad puns and running gags… oh, wait, you were speaking rhetorically, weren’t you?
I might just need to take your femurs for not understanding a rhetorical question on a written forum
but gags can’t run without femurs
Seems like in addition to an “F-Bomb” counter, we need a “ship counter” =p
We call those things either torpedoes or iceburgs.
Oh you.
Well,, Surface to surface missile have taken the job from torpedoes nowadays, unless submarines were involved.
Here’s one from alert reader Cassidy waaaay back in 2010: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/gay/
MOTHER FUDGEPACKER, IT’S FRICK-FRACKIN THERE. HOLY DINGUS.
Technically Ethan’s been complimenting his appearance for quite a while now. It just became like really obvious to most people this last week.
They’ve been “you’re the prettiest” “no you’re the prettiest”-ing each other the whole time.
It’s a yacht now.
Pretty sure it’s a Battleship by now.
nay, it is an Aircraft Carrier! A Spaceship even!
YES BISEXUAL DANNY FTW!!!
Goddamn I am so excited for this development.
Too early to ask for a slipshine of it?
a slipshine between 2 of the main male cast is lined up, so it is possible.
Wait, just 2? So… no Ethan/Danny/Amber threesome.
Two of the main /male/ cast, so technically Amber could be slipped in.
So very very yes.
YES I’M GLAD SOMEONE ELSE IS THINKING IT TOO
IT IS ALL I HAVE EVER WANTED
*Mimicking “1980-Something Space Guy” from Lego Movie*
*Having a trance*
WORTH IT!
*Kicks a trash can*
WORTH IT!
*Pushes a guy to fall on a grass*
WORTH IT!
*Pushing heads of two arm wrestling buff dudes to kiss*
WORTH IT!
DANTHAN!
*Shoryukens two random dudes*
DANTHAN!
DANTHAN!
*Shoryukens two random dudes*
DANTHAN!
whoa, doublepost what
even the site cant contain my excitement
/screaming quietly
I already saw it on Patreon but omg this strip makes me so so happy
Having to keep it a secret after seeing it on Patreon was one of the most painful things I’ve had to do.
And we all thank you both for your restraint!
Imagine being my wife having known about it for 4 years!
Wow. Your wife has the restraint of a nun (at least for not spoiling plot points, I have no idea what her restraint is like in the rest of her life).
Hmmm… So the secret to knowing what happens next is becoming a woman, hunting down your wife, and taking her place…
Let me just call up this plastic surgeon here… for completely unrelated reasons, I assure you.
I know that is supposed to be a joke but… man.
Not cool.
Not funny.
After seeing tomorrow’s, I can’t wait to see the reaction of folks round here in a couple of hours.
SO MUCH TEMPTATION
LITERALLY. CAN’T. EVEN. JUSTGOFORITDANNY AAARRRRRGHHH!
the only thing is, at this point at least, that would be a really really shitty thing to do to Amber.
WHO CARES AMBER IS KIND OF A SHITTY PERSON
#GOFORITDANNY
well that’s all well and good bu-u-WHAAAAAAAAAAAA?!??!
Wait, what? Why?
she’s kinda psychotic. Like, she reeeeaaaallly needs to sort out her own problems before dating.
Part of her problems is that Ethan came out of the closet on their prom night. Doing this would turn her into a supervillian. One that has already stabbed someone
Besides, we already have one broken miserable curvy woman. We don’t need two
Only one? Ruth’s plenty curvy enough.
I forgot about Ruth for a moment. Thank you for reminding me.(Caps lock warning) “THERE ARE ALREADY TWO TOO MANY BROKEN MISERABLE CURVY WOMEN! STAHP WILLIS STAHP” (End of caps lock)
That doesn’t make her a shitty person, though!
Doesn’t mean she should be given worse problems before she gets sorted!
She’s kind of psychotic because of the way everyone around her has acted throughout her life, and especially within these last few weeks. :/
She is actually trying to sort out her problems though – and with Dorothy and Dina behind her, I’m sure she can, with time.
She’s not a terrible person though – she is always trying to focus her skills and anger on assisting people, and she has been hiding herself away until recently to sort herself out when she noticed that yes, she was messed up.
I was going to disagree with all of you, but then I saw this (http://itswalky.tumblr.com/image/95321876487).
We have discovered Amazi-Girl’s true superpower. Any guy she likes turns gay.
That’s Iron Man / Captain America slash fic she read? Her enjoyment of it turned it canon. Just you wait for the Unrated version of Avengers 2.
That… Would have to be the absolute worst… superpower… ever!
It can be weaponized.
Only for a straight person.
My sister totally has this power. It annoys her but is really funny for everyone else.
Yeah, um, hi, I want that superpower. Desperately. DESPERATELY, I TELL YOU!
Agreed!
Amber is like Elsa, only instead of ice magic she has gay magic.
Pretty soon she’ll sing Let It Go after covering the campus in gay and creating a gay castle to stay in.
Oh. My. God. Now I can see this happening.
“I don’t care, what they’re going to say. Let the gay rage on, I’m never gonna get laid anyway!”
“Do you wanna fuck a snowman?”
oh god no, I just imagined Elsa’s sister singing that and… ew
also, that sounds kinda painful and cold.
Really gives a new meaning to “Love is an Open Door”, doesn’t it?
It’s been done. Just see Oglaf-dot-com (Definitely *NOT* safe for work!)
Ice Bucket Challenge Level : Grandmaster!
You guys and/or gals are brilliant.
“Do you wanna be a gay man?”
“Born of misty mountain air and shining sun combining.
This prismic force both foul and fair has a golden power worth mining.
So love from the heart, warm and clear.
Love for life and love for fear.
There’s beauty and there’s danger here, trust the color chart!
…beware the rainbow heart…”
The castle is actually a huge pile of men in a very intricate sexual position.
Yeah the fallout from this is gunna hurt..
oho!
The Gaydar readings are over 9000.
WHAT, 9000?
YES over 9000 *crushes gaydar*
There’s no way that can be right. CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN IT???
I use a Gaydar Thermometer.
And it just burst…
I wonder what a Gaydar Thermometer would look like.
It would double as a dildo, I’d imagine.
Gonna have to slow clap that one out.
So we are talking about a rectal gaydar thermometer?
penis shaped, with white mercury
No, not white mercury…
Freddy Mercury!
Pink and with glitter?
It’s just called a Gaymometer, sheesh!
All gaydar thermometers are clearly one-time use only.
My gayger counter is detecting intense levels of gaydiation.
IT TOOK ME UNTIL I READ THE HOVERTEXT TO REALIZE IT WAS DANNY HOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY
SAME HERE
Oh Danny Boy the peen, the peen is calling
From glans to glans and up through your insides
Ethan’s hot and all your rosebud’s puckering
It’s you, it’s you must turn while he must ride.
Yes.
*”Grazing in the Grass” is still playing on the Muzak*
JUST KISS ALREADY!
OH MY FUCKING FUCK WHAT
YESSSS
Think of Amazi-girls bewbies Danny!
NO THIS MUST HAPPEN
NOW KISSSS
Right, because having an even bigger boner will improve this situation. XD
Ok then Danny think of Amazi-girl going to town with her tiny fists of fury on your face!
Knowing Roomies Danny, I’m sure that’s probably his fetish. It’s also mine.(Danny getting beaten up by ladies that is)
What we do know is that it’s Mike’s fetish.
Think of Ethan’s boobies, Danny.
But Danny doesn’t know that Ethan is gay??
I don’t know whether he knew before, but I think he’s catching on fast.
A comedy of misunderstandings? Surely not
FUCK
RIGHT NOW
Willis you bastard.
p.s. he looks so happy, it’s cute
EXPLOSIONS!!!!!!!!!
*cough*
Nice to see Mr. Torgue is a DoA fan.
Oh, uh, and we’re gonna need a bigger bunk, I think.
Hmm yes quite
An infinitely-expanding bunk to fit all the fanpeoples squealing
or something
Is there a couple you DON’T make me ship, Willis?!
You guys don’t haft to ship every last couple you think of.
Let’s see him try Blaine and Mary
I… I want to ship it, but at the same time, I hate Mary. More than I hated the original Danny even.
Yeah, but it’s Blaine. BLAINE.
I don’t think even Mary deserves Blaine, mainly because he’s an abusive fuck and also because the age difference is enough to throw that power balance even further into the awful zone than any ship with Blaine already would be.
Hmmm… Very well, I ship it now. So long as we never have to see either of them again. Unless there’s a coffin involved.
Um also there’s the huge age differential. Oh you just said that.
Yeah, the “abusive fuck” part is present in any and all Blaine ships, though, hence why I’d put it as the biggest obstacle to shipping because I wouldn’t ship him with anyone but getting hit with a large moving vehicle. There are people who Mary could, theoretically, be paired with that could sort of work,* but it’s absolutely impossible to have a healthy relationship when part of the equation is Blaine O’Malley.
But yeah, it’s a huge creepy age gap that amplifies the awful that would be involved.
* I mean, I can’t NAME anyone, but it’s a big enough campus that it’s POSSIBLE.
… I just made “getting hit with a large moving vehicle” a person. *Shrug* Eh, for him, planes and trucks would conglomerate into the world’s biggest combiner to give him a beatdown.
It was shipped with Ruth too, wasn’t it?
That’d imply people actually wanted that to happen.
There’s always at least one. :<
My favourite Blaine ship is “Blaine/in a crate, to Abu Dhabi.”
“Blaine sent back in time to 1912 and stranded on the Titanic.”
Blaine/big rig going over 65 mph OTP
launching a new ship: dinaXmike
That ship sailed ages ago, it’s already an alternate canon.
Now Mike/Mary, on the other hand…
I refreshed the site at least 3 times just waiting for the new comic and this was everything I could have hoped for
only 3???
If you know it’s coming at 12:01 and you start refreshing at 12:00, you only have to refresh so many times before it shows up.
I reiterate–only 3??
Meanwhile Ethan is thinking ‘what is poking me?’
“Is that a rolled-up Robovac comic in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
Oh, wait…I’m laying on a stick.
but Ethan is on top…
…ooooohhh
How long do I have to scream “YEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!” at my screen (in a public place, yet) to make that thought balloon canon?
BUT IT IS
THEY’RE BOTH BLUSHING THE SHIP WILL HAPPEN YESSSS
Guys, is it hot in here?
Come ooooonnn – do it.
DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT
PLEASE BE A THING!!!!
Sweet.
Ethan, you suck!
Wait, no that won’t work
How does Ethan suck? Danny’s the one thinking it.
It’s not an insult! It’s a command!
Only in your world
…YOU’RE MAKING ME ROOT FOR A DANNY SHIP. THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.
I literally screamed when I saw this on Patreon. I’ve been waiting 24 hours to read these comments.
This strip became much more exciting when I realized who the thought bubble was coming from.
I did a double take when I realized, and thought “no way”, but then I read the hovertext.
Yeah, I skim read it and thought “whatever”, then followed the balloons and was like woah
Huh. I did not see that coming. Bravo, Willis. Way to keep me guessing
This is one of those times when only internet-speak can express my discombobulation…:
OMG wat.
SCREAMING AND FLAILING FOREVER.
I’m telling you! Amber and Ethan share him and everyone wins! Yes, even Danny!
especially Danny lmao
Don’t forget Joyce!
omg yes I’m so hoping for polyamorous ethan/danny/amber at this point
And Dorothy in the Mix hopefully.
Dina, surely!
If in no other way than watching and commenting how weird mammals are.
No no no, Dorothy’s over in the Walky/Dorothy/Joyce threesome. Or so I surmise from the general direction of the comments.
Exactly. Don’t get the poly triads mixed up. Although I might also lean towards Dorothy/Joyce/Sal. Maybe even Dorothy/Joyce/Sal/Billie/Ruth for maximum sapphic fun.
Hey, there can always be a six-way orgy. You don’t know!
Hear, hear! I am so hopeful for that at this point – I just want to see the three of them snugglehugging at some point.
Of course, it won’t happen, because that would mean they’re happy, and Willis feeds on the tears of his characters (and readers).
And it would be nice to see a poly relationship where two of the people in it aren’t sexually active with each other but they make it amorous aspects of it work and also share Danny nicely.
BTW, I really am impressed by real life poly relationships that make it work because that kind of communication takes work!
No one can resist that chest. NO ONE.
Another thing Amber and Ethan have in common.
I now want this to be canon:
Danny: “Uh… should we go back to your room?”
Ethan: “Why?”
Danny: “…no reason.”
Ethan: “Uh, okay?”
*enters room*
*sees shirtless Jacob*
*both flee room with embarrassed look*
Danny would just Danny it up
bisexual danny confirmed. praise the willis.
I’ll assume bicurious for now.
http://www.itswalky.com/2013/09/23/its-bi-visibility-day/#comment-190495
Bisexuality confirmed! Carry on, dudes.
Praise him!
Willis teases us and teases us. But the best part of this comic? The look of semi-horror on both their faces. Because I totes know they were thinking the same thing.
“Did I just imagine kissing a guy!?”
“Why’s he looking at me like that?”
“Ew, gross. I don’t wanna kiss a DANNY. I’d rather kiss a JOYCE. A JOYCE. BLEGH”
Ethan could easily be gay only for Jacob… Danny? “Adorable” but pass
TRAGIC
Amber will go crazy if both the guys she dated go gay for one another.
Amber goin’ crazy’s a done deal already. I mean, Amazi-Girl’s awesome, but she’s totally loony-tunes.
Maybe she’d go crazy, but not in the way you think.
Wonderful catch!
All Ethan has to do is dress up as Nightwing and he’s got Danny in the bag.
Just kiss already! You know you want to.
On an unrelated non-yaoi-fanboy note, I dig the “sketch-like, WIP” look of the thought bubble. Great effect!
yeah, that’s a really nice touch!
Now then, BACK TO THE YAOI FANBOYING
YES YES I approve of this development.
This is even better than I could have imagined.
Wow. Y’know if someone hadn’t made that Tumblr post lining out everything, I might be doing a double take these past few days.
“Oh hey, it’s been 5 minutes let’s see if this has any comm-”
*drowns*
You don’t know us very well, do you
WELL PLAYED WILLIS
WELL
PLAYED
The title got me there for a second, so when I read the strip I reacted so loud I woke my dogs up. Maybe the only moment ever when I’m thankful my internet connection ain’t the fastest
Now if you’ll excuse me
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—
It’s a good thing I’m the only one here right now, cause I yelled really loud when I saw where that thought bubble was going.
Best gravitar/comment pairing in the thread so far (8 minutes after strip posted)
And I’m just now noticing the fading effect on panel 2 and the overflow on panel 3.
All we need now is for Mike to take an Instagram of this moment.
OH
Danny learned that looking at Ethan up close sets off the A-Team theme in his head.
Think about it.
6 minutes and over 70 comments might be a new record.
It looks like over 200 in under 20 minutes.
322 by 12:50 AM.
13 hours and over 800 comments. I wonder how many comments are going to be about how many comments there are?
DO EEEET
Only 2 days since Joe told him to cool it, and he’s already got another love…
Danny, It’s been 2 weeks. You’ve already crushed on a geek girl, nearly banged an ex-chearleader, Made out with a superhero who happened to be aforementioned geek girl, and now this? Did you just hit the Poon jackpot?
Pretty sure this doesn’t qualify as getting poon unless Ethan’s been keeping an even bigger secret in two universes.
I’m gonna leave here. Seems appropriate.
I’m really glad this story happened after Bring Back Roomies ended. Encouraging people to ship Danny with more and more characters would really undermine the ‘Danny is terrible’ narrative going on in the commentary.
Just realized that thought bubble is coming from Danny
My ship, my ship <3
This was a nice strip.
This is a fairly momentous occasion, as Danny rarely learns anything about other people, let alone himself.
Learning is contradictory to Danny’s personality.
Remember what I said a phew strips back?
What the fuck is a phew?
In most contexts, a sigh of relief.
Is there a way to like a comment on this thing
Okay so there are enough intersecting relationships now that Willis can just publish an orgy slipshine and call it a day, right?
An orgy is just one more slipshine story. If it’s a whole bunch of sequential couplings… more slipshines to sell!!!$$$
A while ago, I don’t remember where, I asked Mr. Willis if a dude-on-dude Slipshine, and I politely requested that it be Ethan and Drew (from the Walkyverse), and not Ethan and Manny (also from the Walkyverse)–IMHO, Drew is hot and Manny is not. Mr. Willis said a dude-on-dude Slipshine was inderd forthcoming, but a pair that was yet to be revealed.
I think we all can see where this is going . . .
Fastest rate of commenting ever! Achievement unlocked: “Set The Internet A-Buzz!”
And we have hit 100 comments at 12:08, beating the unofficial 12:10 record from when Ruth kissed Billie. Well done,,boys.
And this kiss is only fictional! Imagine if they actually DID kiss.
I saw it’d hit the 230s by 12:26, I didn’t know it hit a hundred THAT fast.
Impressive.
Once again…
OH…MY!!!
YES!
I didn’t click the patreon email last night because I wanted the anticipation and it so paid off.
Is it weird to be sexually attracted to boys, but not want to go on a date with them or dance with them? My main attraction is to girls, but some boys occasionally show up in fantasies.
not at all, actually. Most people express at least some degree of bisexuality.
Thanks – I didn’t know that.
Nah, just do whatever’s comfortable for you.
Only if it’s wierd that I love girls but find their junk gross. I like everything about em but then I get to crotches and I’m like…nope nope nope.
perhaps you’re heteroromantic asexual?
Maybe. But I don’t like labels. I’s just straight, yo!
Word!
Straight is not a label the same way male is not a gender.
+1
+ another 1
True ’nuff. I should point out I don’t really like straight as a label much either, but feel it’s ambiguous enough to my preferences that I’m ok with being identified as such. You’se can call me whatcha wants, I guess. I just probably won’t call myself such.
Try “I’m a person”
It works for me.
Although, admittedly, I do enjoy being able to say that I’m a high five on the Kinsey scale, because… come on… I’m a HIGH FIVE! I am a CONGRATULATORY GESTURE, PEOPLE!
Kinsey five!
*snap*
this reference makes me happy
Funny enough, the term “pomosexual” (a shortening of “post medern sexuality”) was coined for people who do not wish to identify their sexuality.
I’m the same way.
I’m the same way. Made certain classes of Family Development and Human Sexuality I took uncomfortable enough to make me physically ill. My partner of almost five years is probably the only one I can look at without feeling ill. Just talked about conducting some biology lessons soon.
Nah. People think of sexuality as a strict line or spectrum, but really, it’s a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, sexy-wexy… Stuff. I have the occasional dude show up in a fantasy, but literally zero interest in them in the real world. Just a brain thing. Whatever works for you, man.
Sounds like you’re a heteroromantic bisexual.
I’m exactly like that. I’m a male and I like having sex with men on occasion, but I don’t get the urge to kiss them or date them. Dancing is ok I guess, but I’m not even that big of a fan of it with women. I’m all for romance, kissing, dating and sex with women.
It may actually be “weirder” to be “completely” straight or gay than anything else. Or AS weird. Or maybe nobody is weird. I mean, okay, I’m weird, but not for that reason.
Romantic and sexual attraction is separate. You can be romantically attracted to girls while being sexually attracted to girls and boys(and possibly all the other people). So, no, it’s not weird. S’all good, dude.
See Ethan, when you repress your homosexuality it builds up and leaks into other people.
…and suddenly I am A-Ok with him having the wrong thing going on with Joyce. Seep some more!
Omg, It’s contagious, how could I have been so blind. No wonder Joyce has been straying from the path of righteousness.
…or TO the path of righteousness, because I wouldn’t exactly call crippling and harmful sexual repression ‘righteous’
I died XD XD
okay now that I’ve calmed down…
look at the stress-line underneath Danny’s eyes in the last panel. Methinks this ship will take a while to sail into canon.
You REALLY want them to have a threesome with Amazigirl for your SMUT, eh Willis?
At least he has a decent setup behind it.
actually the next slipshine will be guy-on-guy, no threesome.
Well I guess I won’t read that one.
Or if I do I’ll skim it.
You’d have to pay to do that )=p
[pretty sure the free Slipshines were a one-time thing–or you shouldn’t *count* on that happening again]
That leaves me very conflicted. Although, not surprised. When the possibility first occurred to me, I thought, “Willis is the kind of guy who’ll actually do that, isn’t he? And then I’ll feel very conflicted.” And there it is.
Ethan and Danny bang. Amazigirl comes to apologize to Danny. Sees them. Joins in. Uses an amazi-strapon. It really writes itself.
YESSSSSSSSS <3
This strip alone makes me want to buy a physical copy.
Over 100 comments in under 8 minutes, that’s gotta be some kind of record.
For God’s sake, why does every vanilla or breeder assume that gay life is built around putting a stick into a hole at waist level? There are lots of other fun things to do besides ‘buttsecks’, involving hands or mouths or legs.
You know, holding hands, meals taken together, and long romantic walks.
And gentle, tender sex together, too.
whoa, what? Most of the comments to that effect are joking.
I Don’t think they ment to post it here
No, it looks like the comment filter deleted the comment I was originally responding to, and so my response got attached to another comment entirely.
woah chill
They intend to be joking, yes, but it’s not a very funny joke.
Think about it — whenever a couple representing your sexuality comes up, the first thing people talk about is a form of sex that many of them find disgusting. That’s damned insulting — it reduces a complicated, painful, and, frankly, terrifying experience…oh, my God, I’m fantasizing about *him*…into something gross. When I refer to straights as ‘breeders,’ it does the same thing: it reduces you to a set of genitals.
And it’s insulting.
could easily be they thought that “buttsecks” meant vigorous butt-rubbings
like what Joyce wants
yeah, but “breeders” is also pretty gender essentialist, so it’d be cool if you didn’t use it, thanks
That’s the exact point JWLM was making.
no it wasn’t
by reducing straight people to their genitals, they meant that they were focusing solely on the reproductive capacity of straight people, disregarding the fact that there are plenty of straight trans people who don’t have that capability
(not to mention all the infertile/sterile cis people)
It is gender-essentialist, and it is bigoted, and it is vile. It’s fucking offensive on so many levels.
I have a problem, though. I want to make the majority stop and think about what those ‘jokes’ truly are. I behave offensively in the hope of shocking people into rethinking those assumptions, and I’ve found that it’s often the only way to make them think.
Can you suggest a better approach? I’m open to hearing it.
except the people who make those jokes aren’t going to care about that
all in all, maybe don’t use a word with racist and cissexist connotations to make your point to cishets
@JWLM: Except, the people who would listen to you already know that, so really you’re just being insulting and vile to people who don’t need to hear it.
@JWLM
Since it’s such a vile, horrible term, why are you using it? If your aim is to get people to stop and think about what they’re saying, then I propose not insulting them with a yet another bigoted term.
It’s very gender essentialist, and is often used in gay community spaces to insult and de-legitimize bisexuality/pansexuality. Plus it used to be used to refer to slave women, so it’s also got a pretty dang racist history going on.
Yup. It’s been used against me — in literal fact, my spouse and I have three biological children. I *am* a breeder, and that fact has been thrown in my face more than once.
I confess that using the term is also an attempt to reclaim the word. Yup, I’m a breeder. I’m here, I have kids, get used to it.
Then why insult people with that very same term?!
I know right!?
I mentioned yesterday that I vaguely watch the comments on “event strips” like this, and this is the fastest I’ve ever seen it hit 100. Ruth kissing Billie was close.
Just to make it more awkward than it needs to be.
Danny Performs a (Butt) Sex. And For a First Time He Didn’t Dan it Up. (Except Up the Butt)
Naw man. Danny will never not Dan it up. He’s Danning up being straight right now.
That is… technically correct? The best kind of correct?
ok yoto i know you hate danny but dont make it sound like him realizing he’s bi is some kind of mistake pls
Yeah, do not present “realizing one is bisexual” as “fucking up”, please.
Y’know when I was commenting this I thought “Is this too much of a sore spot, or will people understand I’m kidding and let it slide”. I don’t at all think being gay or bi is a mistake or in any way bad.
Apparently the only thing that got Danned up in this section of discussion was your joke. Does that qualify as being very meta?
They can’t all be gems. I’ll be the first to admit I ain’t exactly PC. I Danned it.
You Dan bad.
I just remembered this storyline’s title contains the phrase “Dingdong Bandit.”
Make if that what you will…
…omg… ETHAN’S GONNA STEAL DANNY’S DICK.
FROM AMBER, WHO IS CURRENTLY INVESTIGATING!
Maybe the dingdong bandit is in fact a slang term for a guy who takes someone’s butt virginity.
I think that term is “butt pirate” because they’re “after yer booty.” (Although the term has been used by mean-spirited schoolkids enough that it doesn’t see use in kind company very often.)
A dingdong bandit likely steals a man’s dingdong virginty, instead. I’m… not entirely sure how one does that with a whiteboard. Maybe a whiteboard DRAWING of a dingdong bandit?
Imagine Amber’s reaction when she discovers both her love interests have a thing for each other. I’m picturing a Star Trek 2 reference, but with Amber instead of Kirk
She’ll start dating Billie to get back at Danny. At least, that’s what I hope.
Two young ladies with amazing racks and problems with self-worth what could possibly go wrong
ETHAN!! ETHAAAAAAAN!!!!!!
I’m assuming Amazi-Girl is about to arrive on the scene.
I’m calling it now. The rest of August and September is just going to be teasing Danny/Ethan, only to have it not happen.
Too late! Someone already called it in one of the previous comics. Yesterday’s, I think.
I *did* say “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING” would happen.
Technically…
THE SHIP IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE
That’s what they said about the Titanic. Who’s up for a looming iceberg?
No that would break my heart.
Wait this is a Willis comic nevermind
I can think of a pretty damn big iceberg in a blue mask right about now.
Amber just doesn’t get a break does she?
At least she’ll be happy that Ethan is finally going with who he truly is. Also, Danny is bisexual, and Sal is extremely hot.
Thank you for making a crappy day have a better ending (this updates at 11:01 PM for me)
The comments are the best part about this. THE BEST.
1 – Amber or Amazi-Girl is standing right there.
2 – Danny caves to peer pressure homophobia.
3 – Joyce is standing right there.
D – All of the above.
I like how you went from ‘3’ to ‘D’
That’s because when Varius wants the D VArius goes and gets the D.
Do I know you?
we all know each other on the DoA comment board
dontforgetyourhereforever.gif
The ride never ends!
Danny, don’t, it’d be really shitty to do that to Amber. And actually, it’d be shitty for Ethan to do that to Joyce, too. So yeah, don’t. No matter how happy it’d make the fanbase.
Joyce and Ethan’s relationship was founded on Joyce thinking she could “cure” Ethan and using him to hide from her own sexuality. That entire relationship’s existence is so shitty that ending it will be a mercy kill.
Danny, though, Danny’s point is valid.
Agreed. Very much agreed.
Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god!!! Even tho he’s not real, oh my god!!!! That was Danny’s cloud thing!
Maybe, he read too many opf how’s fan mails that Joe scared after doing so many yahoo fan girls over the years?
So, I can see the exact point where your excitement overwhelmed either the language centers of your brain, your autocorrect, or both.
It’s okay, just take a deep breath, and then continue commenting.
Is Danny bi?
yes. oh-so-very-much yes.
Isn’t anyone worried about how Amber might take this?
Yes, very. I mean, Ethan/Danny is super cute and all, but if something were to happen at right this moment there would be emotional fall out for lots of people. Amber especially. And also Joyce, but the whole Ethan and Joyce arrangement was doomed to terrible results from the start.
Oh dear God yes. If this happens/goes further, or she sees it…I mean, she has hella issues already.
There are 36 (soon to be 37) mentions of “Amber” (see, there we go; 37) in this chain. Pretty sure folks are worrying, or wondering, or perhaps eagerly anticipating.
Like, I am honestly worried for her reaction about Danny, but let’s think about differently.
She was so broken because Ethan was hiding his homosexuality, repressing it and now “dating” a super duper Christian Joyce. Despite possibly losing Danny, she will witness what she wanted to see, since she supported him so much – Ethan accept himself and find some love.
I am pretty sure Amber can handle it, if she finally sees that Ethan accepted himself to himself and found love, and the fact that she hasn’t talked to Danny for a while.
So please, Ethan, do one thing for me?
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now!
On one hand she might take it very poorly to have last another love interest which continues to involve the last one she lost.
On the other, she might consider this to be primo spank bank material.
*cough* lost another *cough*
Hmm…now which is preferable, happiness for Amber or happiness for Ethan?
(I suppose a magical problem-solving threesome would be too much to expect. =P)
What makes you think he be happy if Ethan keeps switching constantly ?
Yay!
Yay for glorious representation of bisexuality (or could Danny be homosexual/panromantic?)! I’ll just stay in my bubble of completely ignoring all the potential for caused suffering a little longer.
Well, Danny isn’t a virgin, and there was the ‘heavy petting’ with Amazi-Girl.
Past sexual experience doesn’t really have much of a bearing on your orientation. Plenty of people who have had “straight” sex discover later that they’re gay or bi. It happens the other way around too. But, point taken.
I meant more that, at least with the heavy petting, Danny seemed more than happy that it happened (he was practically skipping the next day). But your point still stands as well.
I think it was established that he A) had sex with Dorothy pre-series and B) had that heavy petting with Amber/Amazi-Girl that was mainly stopped by the costume being difficult to remove, so I’m leaning towards bi or pan. Not that that’s a guarantee with either case, granted.
Yeah, I think I agree there. Not that it’s of huge consequence. =) (also, yay)
danny is bi
even bigger YAY =)
“BI” THE WAY
DANNY AND BILLIE ARE A BI COUPLE
WOOHOO
Kerry, your pure joy over this is giving me so much life. XD As soon as i saw this i was looking for your reaction ha ha
aw, ty <3
OMG, you’re right! This opens the door for Walkyverse Slipshine orgies!
Wait WHAT?!!?……Poor Amber
Remember when Danny assured Amber that she wouldn’t leave her because he was gay?
God Dannit, Damny!!!
oh shi—-
Eh, we’re fiiine. He’s still not gay, after all. Which I’m sure will keep Amber from being upset.
To be fair, when it first came up, he never said he was straight, either. And it wouldn’t be because he was gay, it’s because he’s bi.
Still not going to be a pretty conversation if things go that way.
It would be interesting if Willis were to write a novel. He is excellent with setting up drama and emotional situations, then defusing the tension. The novel wouldn’t be DOA, I’d love to see it!
Who wants Willis to write a fiction novel? Show of hands!
Or a video? Like what I did last time?
DoA is already approaching novel length, plus pictures. Why ruin a good thing?
I mean…. I’d buy it. I’d read it between Sanderson novels.
Only if he ever felt that he had a story to tell that felt as thought it wouldn’t be something that’d work out if he did it in a comic style.
…I think I messed up that sentence, but I hope I got the sentiment across.
so cute, so much Danning ahead, I can’t take this
As a person who has a tendency to dan things, I have to say that sometimes – SOMETIME – things work out!
So, Danny’s bi. Huh.
I NEED THIS. I didn’t know it until just now but I think I really needed this to happen.
Then it’s official: Willis is the Steve Jobs of comic strips!
Yeah, I never really thought about these two being together before, but they’ve got some great chemistry. I dunno, I’m surprised at how much I like these two together: I think it’s currently my favorite ship.
Seriously. The last few days have been some of Danny’s most likable. Part of it might be the self-deprecation, but I think mostly it’s him being able to goof off and have someone who’s supportive of him rather than his parents and Joe. And it’ll help Ethan that they’re bonding, in part, over those geeky interests he wanted to be known for rather than just being “the gay guy”.
This could be very, very good for them once they each find out the other’s into them. (Which, knowing the angst potential and current circumstances, could be a bit.)
pretty sure that’s exactly what Danny was just thinking!
See yesterday’s comment.
IT’S JUST LIKE ONE OF MY JAPANESE ANIMES
sekai ichi hatsukoi?
hopefully less sexual assault than that
METAL GEAR AWESOME 2 UGH!
Sailor Moon?
Cue Joyce emerging from the food court with Walky to see this in
3…
2…
Then we will see one of the most epic Joyce reaction faces EVER! >:D
even more epic than triangle smile?
LEAVE ROOM FOR JEEZUS
…is what my sister says jokingly whenever our parents are holding hands in our vicinity.
and is probably not what Joyce will say. I’m expecting her to go full Yandere if she sees this.
Well here’s another thing Danny and Billie have common besides not being the best at interpersonal relationships.
This is the best thing ever.
Ouga Chaka Ouga Ouga…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-qweh7nbQ
Yes, excellent. I am pleased we’re on the same page.
OOGA CHAKA, OOGA OOGA OOGA CHAKA!
I fail to see what Guardians of the Galaxy has to do with this.
You do realise that this song existed long before that movie came out right?
Yes, but bringing Reservoir Dogs into it just raises further questions!
Boobs to the left of me
Boners to the right
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with you
And we brake the 200 comment mark! Go Fanbase! WOOOOOOO!
Whelp I was skeptical at first but I guess this ship is officially ocean bound. The S.S. Faz/Dina will be there soon. It’s just a series of broken planks of wood floating with a hankerchief sail.
Fuck yes.
Just gonna set this out here:
http://www.itswalky.com/2013/09/23/its-bi-visibility
goddammit Willis really is an evil genius
He plays the long game, and this person did a good job of spotting some early hints:
http://wendyandmarvin.tumblr.com/post/95218218070/you-know-i-was-initially-inclined-to-write-off
Thats awesome
He’s totally been checking Ethan out the whole time without knowing it.
Dang
Last few pages aside, this came out of /no where/ for me!
Go Danny Go!
or, or dont…Cause Ethan probably isn’t the best to experiment on, what with him repressing like hell and all.
Ah! Now the comments are all trippy.
I don’t get it. Does the last panel go back to the first or did they smile then go back to the same expressions? Also, knew he’d be bi.
Panels 1-3 were all in Danny’s head. Thus the alt-text and thought bubble-ness.
Aaaah I get it. I knew the bubble part was in his head obviously but I didn’t think the rest was. I see the border differences now.
Yeah, the little details on this strip are awesome. I think it might be my favorite just for those and because it’s a culmination of some good writing.
Danny Wilcox?
More like Danny WANTSCOX!
oh snap
Seeing the alt-text for this comic makes it EVEN BETTER.
*slow, admiring golf clap*
Wow, what a shitty thing to celebrate, considering what it’s bound to do to Amber, who’s clearly on the ropes already. I mean, yay for Ethan or whatever, but give me a break.
Oh, and Joyce, too.
Seriously.
Though I don’t actually care so much about Joyce’s reaction. It’s not that I wish Joyce unhappiness, but dating Ethan really couldn’t end any other way (other than Ethan never getting to be in an actual relationship with a dude & Joyce never getting to be in an actual relationship with a dude b/c they stay together forever… which doesn’t sound good to me).
Amber is the one ignoring Danny. If she had just gone to the comic book store with Danny, none of this would have happened.
ah yes, very good point.
The only thing I love more than lgbt representation is painful interpersonal drama. I’m having a good day.
I agree. This is why I’m celebrating more than I already was.
Love is basically a zero sum game. No one can get anywhere without burning a bunch of other people’s bridges to happiness. It’s just so naive to think otherwise.
And I think Amber can take care of herself.
I love this… May I use it?
ok, but poly relationships exist friend
Are you saying that polyamorous people burn less bridges to find happiness than… non-polyamorous people do? I’d like to think otherwise, friend.
Somewhere along the line the phrase “Pleased to meat you” will be used.
*Pulls Danny’s pants down* “Pleased to meat you”
whoa this ship is more about the romance than the secks I thought
I was raised on late 60s-70s Britcoms filled with all sorts of ‘in-your-end-dohs’ hence my pungeon master tendencies.
“Oh hey, we have a winner/wiener. “
^_^
I ASKED FOR SHOUJOU SPARKLE IMAGININGS.
I GOT SHOUJOU SPARKLE IMAGININGS.
I LOVE YOU WILLIS CLAUS
Also this is me being 1000% delighted that I’m Ethan on my phone and Danny on my computer.
Danny – I’m not sure what to think about my current boner….
Oh my fucking God. Willis is actually doing it.
NEW WEBCOMIC MVP
/Excellent/.
~Air-guitar’s with sound effects!~
I was going for more Mr. Burns.
It’s the little smiles in panel 2 that really make this for me.
If Danny was already my favorite character in this strip before this revelation went down, then I don’t even know what means of approval I could use to classify him now.
WELCOME TO THE QUEER KIDS TABLE, DAN. I AM SO, SO VERY HAPPY TO SEE YOU HERE.
Honestly, at this point, the queer kids table is much larger than the other one. Esp if you include Joyce’s sister, the author.
THIS IS NOT A BAD THING
and with that… i ship it.
im dead
Break the 300 mark! And I mean now!
Even better, it broke the 1,000 barrier.
Bi times at Indiana U.
300 coments!
Welp, we have confirmed ship. Mazel tov, gentlemen. May you two be very happy together, and may your relationship somehow help get Amber into some much-needed therapy and less somehow get Joyce her much-needed reality check.
… Aaaaaand I just remembered what Sarah said about what Dorothy’s going to do if and when she finds out about the whole “fixing Ethan” thing. There is no way this is going to end anything less than catastrophically for Joyce.
*Gets the popcorn*
Joyce: Ethan just dumped me, for a boy!
Dorothy: That’s too bad, but hey, at least yu’re respecting his sexuality and not trying to ‘fix’ him!
Joyce: heh heh, yes that is definitely something I am not currently doing. Heh heh.
Sarah *eyeroll*
Can you imagine it going that way? And lasting? Because that’s one badly-timed conversation away from being a reveal, if nothing else. (And I will ENJOY it.)
$100 trillion if Danny initiates the kiss.
If they’re going to kiss, I want it that way.
He almost did! Check out how he lifts his head in panel two. He was GOING FOR IT!!
And what happened then?
Well, in DOA-land they say
That Danny discovered
Bisexuality that day
That day, Ethan was amazed to discover that when he was saying “Booyakasha!” what he meant was, “I love you.”
His boner grew three sizes that day?
Yay non-heterosexual Danny! This makes me wonder if Walkyverse Danny ever realized he might not be 100% straight.
I like how far people go to ignore bi being a possibility (and not even Danny; people still not seeing Billie or Ruth as bi and not just lesbians…)
It’s like LG_TQ…
tbh, it’s mostly lgq
Eh, it’s a stupid acronym anyway. I’m not straight, but I’m not LGBTQ either. Or FABGLITTER, for that matter, and it’s ambiguous whether I’m QUILTBAG since there are multiple versions of that.
This is why I take a stand against enumerations. There will never be an enumeration for this that isn’t exclusionary. Gender and Sexual Minorities is the only suitable name I’ve ever heard.
I always assumed Billie was Bi and Ruth was Lesbian.
We have Word of God that Ruth’s bi, but Billie’s the only person in either universe that she’s exhibited a definite attraction to.
She had a relationship with a guy in the Walkyverse, but her reaction to their first time was bad enough that I don’t think it really counts. It’s pretty easy to read it as Ruth not being as into guys as she assumed she should be, though I think the actual explanation is more Young Willis’s fucked-up notions about sexuality.
So from the evidence, it’s not hard to assume that she’s only into girls. Or maybe only into Billie.
Nah, Ruth’s reaction was just Willis’ issues about sexuality at the time. She had pre-marital hanky panky for fun! She must angst and be punished! Besides she was with a guy who was completely self absorbed and was likely justa bad lay.
This is simply brilliant, in every way. Willis = my hero.
I promise I will care about Amber’s impending nervous breakdown when it happens, but for now, I am shipping the fuck out of this.
You know, when I saw yesterday’s strip, I thought this was silly ship-teasing, like what happens with Joyce/Dorothy. I didn’t think anything would come of it. “He loves trolling the shippers,” I thought. Turns out he was trolling me as well.
P.S. Willis, if you’re going to make any other teased ships canon, please give us Joyce/Dorothy, pleeeeeeaaaasssse?
P.P.S. So conflicted now. I love Danny/Amber, but Ethan/Danny is so cute, and it’d be great for Ethan to have a healthy relationship. Arrrrrgh. Poly triad, maybe?
I will be upfront that I’m probably woefully ignorant on polyamory, but the first thought I have whenever someone brings that up is that wouldn’t it kinda suck for Ethan and Amber? Danny’s attracted to both of them, but Amber’s attraction to Ethan couldn’t be reciprocated. I’m not saying there’s no way it would work, but Amber and Ethan’s history seems like a bad start to things.
it’s not like there’d be a shortage of love…?
if they actually did this, danny would find time for both of them
signed, a person with poly parents
i was thinking that earlier as well, but maybe ethan is possibly bi/panromantic and just hasn’t realized? that could maybe open up the way for a poly relationship for the three of them. though i’m also not that well-versed on polyamory so this might just be wishful thinking
ethan is gay, willis has confirmed this multiple times
you can be poly without dating all the partners of your partners
oh right, i forgot that he’d actually said that
okay, thanks for the correction ^-^
Thanks, Kerry, for bringing that up. I often forget to do so myself, since it kind of catches me off guard that it needs to be said at all.
no prob :>
Ethan might not be physically attracted to Amber, but he might well be capable of romantic attraction with her, especially if the two of them have Danny as a mutual connection.
I’m always rooting for the poly triad in fiction, and I have to say this is a configuration that would make me happy if I were Amber. In a few of the longer-term, stable poly relationships I know (several of which have been going on for 20+ years), if two of the partners are not sexually involved they are best friends. Ethan is gay, but he still mentions having… what I’d call “non-sexual partner” feelings for Amber. I’ve had these kinds of feelings for several people I wasn’t attracted to – the desire to just live in an apartment and sit next to them on the couch during movies for the rest of my life, while also being married to someone else I did share attraction with.
This is Willis and it’s also the first year of college, so it’s not like a stable triad that ends in a multi-partner marriage would make sense. But if this were a story that covered multiple years, a relationship like that does not seem unlikely at all, especially since Ethan has pre-existing non-sexual-but-partnerish feelings for Amber, and Amber has shown that she’s strongly attracted to guys who don’t fit gender norms.
I’m a lot like Amber. In fact, literally every guy I’ve ever been seriously attracted to has either been LGBTQ or had mannerisms that made lots of people assume they were (and often they were relentlessly bullied because of it). The first person I ever had a crush on was also the first out bi guy I ever met, so my default position on relationships was “if flexibility would make them happy, then it’s no problem for me.” I’m glad Willis has taken the time to point out that one of Danny’s fundamental personality traits is being respectful towards relationships he’s in even if he’s not entirely sure of his status, because that really increases the chances of this ending well, and helps counteract some harmful stereotypes about bisexuality.
So yeah, as someone who BASICALLY WAS DoA Amber in terms of my sexuality, (including being attracted to guys who needed rescuing), I don’t think this automatically ruins things. I don’t think it even increases the likelihood that Danny and Amber won’t work out.
It’s funny. For years, I’ve used “I’m rooting for the polyamorous triad” as a self-deprecating joke, meant to reference the fact that my tastes are so far outside the mainstream that I’m not often involved in typical ‘shipping wars.’ But now here’s DoA, constructing a highly shippable triad with canon potential.
See, that’s the other thing. I was shipping Danny and Amber/Amazi-Girl before, but I had my worries. Danny needs someone who will challenge him, but he also needs someone who will give him affirmations that prevent him from falling into a spiral of self-hatred when he inevitably Dans something up.
See, everyone’s posting more explicit references to sexy stuff, but this was the comic that made me experience human emotions:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/04-the-whiteboard-dong-bandit/valid/
The irony is that they are perfect for each other. Dan dans up situations and Ethan ethans up situations.
If anybody in the cast besides Ethan was secretly gay(or is it bi?), it would be Danny.
Its like when my brother told me he was gay, the signs are there, but sometimes you need a little hint to make it all fall into place, and then you think, “It all makes sense now.”
They have both spent the entire comic looking for pretty much the exact same thing.
According to the criteria that Ethan told Mike, Danny seems perfect for Ethan recruit that Danny is not Jewish (that I know of).
Why did the blush lines change from vertical in panels 1-2, to horizontal in panel 3 and the daydream? On both characters.
Also, mandatory ‘oh my god fuck yeah bisexual Danny’ comment here. Fantastic revelation.
Then I remembered both have girlfriends. And Ethan is part of why Danny is dating Amazi-Girl and not Amber. (Amber has clearly states she has compartmentalized her mind into seperate parts, so the two are in fact, seperate identities, and Amber has what I would say is likely trauma-inspired PTSD and DID).
The daydream starts in panel 3.
Ack. Panel 2.
This is SO CUTE!! I honestly didn’t even think it was possible for me to ship Danny with ANYBODY. But it’s happened. It’s actually happened.
Now now, it is -totally- possible to be attracted to someone besides your SO. And it’s even possible to be attracted to someone of a different gender than your SO.
Just because Danny’s discovered he has the hots for Amber’s Ex doesn’t mean he’s going to dump her for him.
Though chances are good Amber might have fanfic about this exact scenario already…
This will only end in pain, I tell you!
Well, I’ll be Danned. This is the first time Danny might not Dan something up…excellent.
If he Dans this up I am going to be so angry. I want this to happen forever.
i’m sooooo excited for the drama and pain this will bring
thank u willis
of course a ghost-type would be excited for pain and suffering.
of course a ghost-type would be excited for pain and suffering.
I just did a 5 minute long fangirl squeal.
Quick, somebody get me an inhaler.
YESSSSS. I did not know I wanted this – but now I so, so do.
Much like Danny!
If these two don’t kiss passionately within the next 3 pages I am going to be very upset.
but it’s only been 2 days since he started going out with Amber/Amazi-Girl.
I thought they broke up…technically.
More like two days since he found out he had been dating Amber.
Everyone is gay for Ethan, and if you say “No” you are a damn liar!
360+ comments @ 1:13 AM
Aaaaaaand Danny just went from one of the least popular characters, to right up there at the top of the chart! cc;
Yep, called it. Danny and Ethan does a sex confirmed.
He’s dating Amber. Why do you all want him to cheat on Amber. If this was a girl you’d be screaming he’s Dannying it up.
What if I want to see Amber’s face when her ex boyfriend is boning her boyfriend? What if it’s because this will end badly I want it?
I’m guessing some people just want to see what happens if Amber were to well and truly snap
I’m picturing machine guns
I don’t think he’s dating Amber anymore, given that he was with her alterego and now she’s kinda avoiding him
even if this were true, I’m sure a lot of the people are thrilled to have some bi male representation for once, which is why they’re freaking out
it’s why I’m freaking out, anyway
/feels well and truly represented
It is pretty great, isn’t it?
People were saying Danny was danning it up when he intentionally was not cheating on his girlfriend.
So…
No matter what Danny does, someone will say Danny is danning it up.
Danny can choose between danning Ethan and danning Amber.
Meanwhile, looks like Ethan wants to Ethan Danny.
Because I want the Amber/Danny relationship to end, it’s unhealthy and based in a fantasy supported by lies and manipulation. Amber needs the support that Danny gives without the boyfriend angle.
He’s fallen for him. Literally! *Flails Uncontrollably*
I… I’m ashamed no one has said that yet.
aww man, I really need to brush up on my punnery skills.
OMG it took me this long to realize the thought bubbles were coming from Danny’s head.
nearly 400 comments and it’s only been an hour and a half. Impressive.
nearly 400 comments and it’s only been an hour and a half. Impressive.
It was over 300 comments just a half hour in.
WHHHYYY I HATE THIS SHIP OMG!!! I’m probably the only one who does. I need Amber with Danny xc…
There is a way for both to happen…
Why? They’re not exactly a stable, healthy couple. Amber needs to sort herself out, latching onto anyone, especially someone as acomidating as Danny is bad for her.
And this comic post officially gets the fastest amount of comments in the shortest amount of time.
Wait… You said that everyone’s sexuality in the Dumbiverse is the same as the Walkyverse.
Walkyverse Danny is bi?!
I can’t remember a SINGLE hint at that throughout the R/IW/J&W/SP archives!
Holy shit!
I guess so, Willis did say that Walkyversy Danny is retroactively bi too. Which is kind of neat, since both he and Billie who he ended up with started out being written as straight but were eventually retconned to be bi (although I guess it isn’t exactly retconning if it was never outright stated that they were straight).
It’s like with Gail Simone and Catman, she always felt he was bi but never expressed it while writing him, so it doesn’t show up in canon.
That’s what we call bi invisibility, bruh.
Maybe because he’s speant his entire adult life in a monogamous relationship with Billie? And he shifted out of the spotlight and into just making occasional cameos shortly after they hooked up for good?
I didn’t know I wanted it, but I guess I did.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Oh, you shippers. Will you never learn?
This is THE WILLIS we’re talking about here. You won’t get any consummation. MAYBE you’ll get a kiss, like Billie & Ruth got, but then it will all go downhill.
MARK MY WORDS! DOWNHILL, I TELL YOU!
since the next slipshine pairing is m/m, I doubt it
…unless it turns out to be danny’s wet dream or something
that would be disappointing
Word of Willis? Because that would be joyous.
that is in fact Word of Willis
also your grav is so very fitting for your comment
Joyceous, you might say.
haha yes
I’d say “don’t give Willis ideas!” but knowing him he’s already got everything leading or not to that drawn already
I never said it was the next one! Just that it was coming.
welp, looks like I’m wrong then
I still think it’s going to be ethan/danny
D:
And so what can go wrong with this picture? think its already been listed.
Ethan came out to Amber in their bed in the motel on prom night…confessed he could not do it. That’s a bit of a shock to anyone in that position. And Danny threw her to the curb when she was at her lowest point.
At a later date they realize they really shouldn’t have shit on her that way.
So, I don’t think Amber needs either of them. She has a good friend in Dorothy now, admirers who actualy applaud her, and she is standing on her own two feet. I think she may be upset if she stumbles over these two doin’ the hokey pokey in the grass…but don’t think it will kill her.
Her bastard father is a different story on he other hand.
And yeah, these two need each other. Ethan needs acceptance, and Danny needs a friend that doesn’t use him as a showcase to show off his own perfect self.
Good luck Danny and Ethan. You’ll need it.
I think while she does have the admirers, she really needs significantly more than that considering the trauma she went through the previous weekend. Hell, the trauma she’s had for years, what with Sal. Especially considering this whole thing started in large part over their mutual concern for Amber’s mental health.
It’s not going to kill her, not alone, but it’s probably going to isolate her from two of the only people who could and want to help, and THAT could start another major spiral. Unless maybe Dina’s able to step up and provide some serious emotional support, which is possible but not all that likely. She’s still getting the hang of it herself.
I dunno if I’d call Dorothy a “good friend”. Amber gave an interview as Amazi-Girl, and Dorothy knows that her neighbor is Amazi-Girl, but that’s pretty much it. It’s not like they’ve hung out or anything, at least that we’ve seen.
Besides, they are cute together.
The cutest!
YES!!!!!!!! I’M SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS SHIP!!!!
Sooooooo…
Is this the basis for a future “Danny and Ethan Perform a Sex”?
the Willis has said things to that effect, yes.
oh my god
I’ve never seen this many comments
WILLIS
I’m just waiting for Danny to suddenly get awkward whenever Joe is in his underwear.
he already has. I’m not much good at archive-fu, but there has been at least one strip where Danny was uncomfortable with Joe in his underwear.
I think at the time it was more of a characteristic Danny being kinda… Danny. Now that he’s learned of tendencies he might start to see Joe in a new light.
Doubt it. They’ve been friends since kindergarten; it’d be like if Walky and Billie magically stopped seeing each other as pseudo-siblings.
Billie totally wants to be the meat in a Walkerton sandwich.
that works on more levels than it should.
And now we wait until Amber and Ethan fight over Danny
Based on the comments, I honestly believe this is the most highly supported ship in the history of this strip…Knowing Willis, it is for that very reason, completely doomed. Pre-emptive DAMN YOU WILLIS!
Okay. Props. I did not see that coming.
Still have this page open. Everytime I look at it, it makes me smile. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (even more now that I’m sipping my way through this beer).
David, keep up the good work.
There you see him.
Lying there on the grass.
He is just about to ask
‘Cause there’s something about him.
He don’t know why.
But he’s dying to try.
He’s got to KISS THE BOY!
Sha la la la la la! My oh my!
Come on don’t be shy!
Go on an kiss the boy!
Woah woah!
Sha la la la la la! Don’t take long.
Don’t be alone.
Go on and kiss the boy.
I worried about what you might try to rhyme with “grass” . . .
Shalalalala
My oh my
Looks like the boy’s too shy
Ain’t gonna kiss the guy
Shalalalala
Ain’t that sad
it’s such a shame
Too bad, you’re gonna miss the guy
go on and kiss the girl (kiss the guyl)
hang on… that thought bubble… is coming from danny.
oh.
Oh my.
It took me one second to notice the thought bubble was coming from Danny’s head… things just got more interesting xD
DO IT ALREADY!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAH!
AAAAAAAwhatarewescreamingaboutAAAAAAAAAH!
I feel like this is kinda Willis writing slash fiction about parts of his own psyche. If Walky gets in on this it will be a full on “protagonist” orgy. (As much as you can them protags anyway) At the same time this is totally hot in that I was not expecting them both to be into it kind of way. I don’t even remember these two interacting in the other universe which makes it even hotter somehow.
you know, just because someone writes a character doesn’t make them part of the writer’s psyche. These two should be considered as people when talking about the story, not two parts of an evil whole.
Blaine being part of Willis’ psyche would be worrying.
I mean, Willis is evil, but in a completely different way.
willis said blaine was based off of the voice in his head that constantly criticizes him or something to that effect
I dunno, both Ethan and Danny have been the mains and POVs of their own separate comics.
I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW
DAVID WILLIS I LOVE YOU
And across campus, Amazi-Girl perks up.
“Yaoi-Sense. TINGLING.”
The next strip will reveal that Ethan was thinking of Danny thinking about this.
I’m worried next strip will be Amber seeing this. And I worry this will send her back into a downward spiral when she just seemed to be getting happier with herself as amazi-girl a few strips back.
But I also totally want these dudes to kiss.
It went there!
IT WENT THERE!
*gleeee*
Also. That’s some great panel comic making there. [not sure how to say it – comic panels using to great effect(?) ]
I’m starting to get the impression that Willis’s universe may have a slightly different straight-bi-gay demographic breakdown than real life does.
Well, unless all those stuffy religious people actually are gay. In that case it probably lines up.
most of the people in my life are bi or ace
notable exceptions are my lesbian sister and my straight dad
otherwise, both my moms, my cousins, and my aunt, and my one non-family friend are all not straight
what’s realistic for you is not realistic for everyone
If we count this as putting Danny in the bi category we’ve got (of the major characters):
Gay: Ruth (maybe), Ethan
Bi: Billie, Danny, Ruth (if not gay)
Straight: Joyce (probably), Walky, Dorothy, Sarah, Sal, Joe, Amber, Mike (if not “your mom sexual” or “sexuality determined by usefulness in assholery”), Jacob.
Trans: Joyce’s Sister (cannot for the life of me remember her name)
Asexual: Dina?
So that puts us at 9 straight folks, 1-2 gay folks, 2-3 bi folks, and 1 transwoman and 1 possibly asexual lady. While that would likely overrepresent the trans people and asexual people, it about hits the higher estimates for gay and bi people (assuming everybody figured out their sexuality in the first year of college, which they don’t). I think Willis is, however, going out of his way to highlight people of non-straight orientation, for which I applaud him, however much I know this couple is going down in flames because Willis is still Willis.
I’m pretty sure Ruth is bi. Carla is also trans, as well as homoromantic and asexual.
Based on her line about how she and Billie “discovered I like girls together”, which suggests that Ruth realised it at the same time Billie did, i.e. when she kissed the latter, I suspect you’re right. Taking my inference entirely from the strip, and not whatever Willis may have said, that being extraneous information (which is why, even though I read the comments, I still insist that in the strip itself, the reader doesn’t know that Carla’s trans).
Well, Carla thought the perma-boner on her door was a hate crime at first, but I suppose without prior knowledge or context, readers could interpret that as her being lesbian instead of trans.
I left Carla out because I didn’t have any evidence one way or the other (I don’t always read all of the comments). Technically I should also eliminate Jacob from the list then, but I’m somewhat relying on information from outside of comic.
jacob isn’t bi though…?
oh whoops, read the list wrong, don’t mind me
I mean, there’s the whiteboard penis thing, where Carla believes she may have been targeted for a bit. I feel like that’s at least as good evidence as Jacob, and better than Dina
Mike should also be in the bi listing. He and Ethan had sex in shortpacked and for a liitle while both Ethan and Amber were persuing him
Willis should statistically have more straight characters in the same sense that you should, statistically, know more Chinese people than any other ethnicity.
In other words, raw numbers and percentages don’t necessarily reflect what the world looks like in any given place, even in real life.
I’m not sure anybody implied Willis “should” have an accurate representation of actual sexualities in the United States anywhere (I’d rather he use whatever he finds useful to tell the stories he wants to tell — it’s worked so far), I think begbert was observing that the cast might not be representative of that distribution.
If there was a normative judgment one way or the other I must have missed it.
But individual groups don’t always represent the statistical norm. The statistical norm is just an average for what tends to exist when you account for everybody, it’s not a blueprint for how stories need to/should be written.
In lots of individual groups, you may have all straight people or all gay people. Or it could be that Willis’s campus does reflect the average stat, but he’s choosing to focus his story mostly on the GLBT portion of that population.
Despite her young age and abrasive attitude, Carla is actually one of the most skilled, accomplished and above all, subtle Romance Detectives at work in the world today. Virtually none of her subjects ever realize how she’s touched their lives, and that is exactly the way she wants it.
PS- This development is more rad than Lionizer’s partner.
I really want this to not happen. Like, really badly. Think of what might happen to Amber if this actually happens.
Oh poo on Amber. The woman had a very good chance with Danny, and he would have definitely been there to help her through…whatever the fuck it is that she’s going through. Now she’s hopped right back into Amazigirling the fuck around (yes granted she has a fan base now), and just…man fuck Amber. I hate to say it like that, but Danny has been nothing but kind to her and her alter ego, and she can’t even give him the time of day, and Danny’s been put through quite a bit as well. Let him have this, Amber has friends now, and maybe she’ll see Ethan coming back out of the closet as a good thing and be supportive of it.
This is exactly what I’ve been thinking
Pretty sure she’d be fucking delighted if Ethan came out again. Of course she’d be supportive.
There would probably be some deserved snark, but supportive deserved snark!
Bear in mind that it’s only been a few days since she saw Danny, and at least one of those days was her recovering from extreme trauma and not sleeping practically forever. It’s a good thing Danny is much more sympathetic than you are – even though he wishes he could be the one providing the support, he’s happy that she’s doing something. Just… if your significant other has two freaking incredibly traumatic experiences in a row, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to give them a couple days to sort it out.
Also, Amber has explicitly fantasized about having two guys she’s attracted to make out while she watches, as prelude to a threesome. This is actually a fairly common thing for girls to be totally cool with (though of course not everyone is). I think if Ethan and Danny were honest about their attraction, they could work something out.
Of course this is Willis and nobody is ever just like “hey, I’m going to be honest about my feelings and avoid all this complex drama!” I’m sure there will be a lot of angst, probably from Danny and Ethan over not wanting to upset her. But I know a lot of girls who are attracted to bi guys who would basically consider this whole deal “hitting the jackpot.”
Wellp. Amber’s life sucks.
BEEP BEEP
HOP ON THE BI-TRAIN
DOUBLE THE STOPS BUT DOUBLE THE FUN
I was late at checking the strip due to work. But what a surprise it is. I don’t usually (never, but never is too strong of a word) prefer yaoi shipping due to both of the characters (or at least on of them) that were shipped are not portrayed as homosexuals or bi. As of yesterday, I had my reservations with this ship due to only Ethan is gay and I don’t want a beautiful friendship ruined. But today’s strip changed my mind. As been said by others, Go for it Danny!
p/s The only other strip recently to reach 400 mark is about Billie and Alice being lesbians (formerly).
So… same sex relationship=rejoicing fandom=comment bait?
Referring to a romantic encounter as ‘yaoi’ in an american comic is kind of bizarre, cause I think that’s more for a genre of manga/anime?. More bizarre is your statement that Billie and Alice were ‘former lesbians’. That is uh… Generally not how that works?? And Billie is like, explicitly BI/pan. Like when I date dudes that doesn’t make me straight and dating a girl doesn’t make me gay. I stay pretty consistently bisexual.
Sorry if I confused you. What I meant is Billie and alice is formerly a lesbian couple. It make sense in my head when I typed it but just come out wrong.
billie can’t be in a “lesbian couple” if she’s bi
it’s only a lesbian couple if they’re both lesbians
please don’t erase people’s identities based on the people they are/were currently dating
Terminology is never my strong suite particularly in the area of sexual and gender identities (I won’t pull my second language card here). Thank you for correcting me Kerry. but for curiosity sake, what would you called it then? (other than just a couple, damn I just should have used that in my first post, being politically correct is hard on the internet)
same-sex couple, same-gender couple, and f/f couple all work fine
also, y’know, just couple, like you said
omg you’re my faaaavorite!!
ty! ; w ; <3
Agreed. You are awesome.
And yes, I’m a manga fan. Most of male and male shipping I encounter is from manga/anime.
just gonna leave this here, as it’s hilarious
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/image/95321876487
I read the second panel In the “French narrarator” voice from Spongebob Squarepants.
Prediction:
Amber sees, and is just: “you know what, I ain’t even mad”
3 minutes and 17.6 seconds later, amazigirl is there, watching to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand… It ends awkward, but everyone enjoys the moment.
Tl:dr: sexy times naow, drama later plz Willis? :p
An Amazicondom falls out of a tree. They look up, no one to be seen, but they know, a silent guardian watches over them.
Five hundred comments and counting, holy crap.
I’ll just throw my applause on the pile and be on my way.
let it be known that at 2:52 AM EST, this strip’s comment section hit 500 comments.
And still going. At this rate I’m not surprised if it reached 600 post. making this the most successful strip (comment wise) in DOA history (please correct me if I’m wrong)
I’m pretty sure the jocelyne strips had more
over 1000 comments
yep, writer has 1,411 comments
booyah, jocelyne can have it, she is the best
notice both this strip and the ones with joc have ethan in them
coincidence?
clearly we need more ethan
(personally voted for carla, since we actually need trans ladies more, but)
Both of the strips contains revelations of something not expected or have been speculated for some time. But it seems that Ethan is the catalyst of both event.
Has it been noted than Danny looks a lot like Jocelyn in her closeted state? (I do not know how to phrase this question, so I may be doing it disrespectfully by accident.)
it’s ok to say people resemble people of other genders
jocelyne also looks a lot like joyce
(not meant to impy joc and joyce are different genders btw, just giving an example of this same character resembling another woman)
past the 600 mark. Although I’m wrong (thanks kerry), lets take this strip further than any strips before it! what ever number it is.
Amber certainly has a type.
I note that no-one seems to have commented on the fact that Ethan is still closeted… This ship sails on rough and choppy waters.
Delicious.
he seems to be blushing pretty noticeably tho *shrugs*
LITERAL EXPLOSION OF PURE JOY IN MY HEAD. THAT’S RIGHT, OUTRIGHT FUCKIN JOY! HOW DOES ONE CONTAIN THIS! KISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKISSKIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!
I mean, yes Danny, but I do hope this serves as a bit of a wake-up call for Ethan. While his arrangement with Joyce serves him in a number of ways, it seems like there’s a pretty large part of him that wants to pursue a happy same-sex relationship. Seems like a good time to reevaluate what he gains and loses with his current approach and deciding if that’s still worth it to him.
I suspect he’s still learning a lot about himself even now. Didn’t know he was gay until last summer and then he was mostly preoccupied with the communal backlash against that revelation. Don’t get the impression his summer was filled cute boys to flirt with and the like. He might just now be realizing the role that this sort of stuff serves in his pursuit of happiness.
This is a minor incident on its own, but it just seems like a trend is starting to form here.
Dan it all, you people are so much more articulate than I! I agree with you completely!
OMG IT’S COMING FROM DANNY’S HEAD. FUCKING DO IT DON’T BE A PUSSY. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
It’s interesting how so many people are like BUT POOR AMBER and nobody is mentioning how this is going to mess up poor Ethan. You know, mr “I am dating Joyce because I need to be in control” Ethan? By all means, I’m more than happy to see this happen and I think somebody as gentle and understanding as Danny is perfect for him but I get the feeling a lot of the drama in the coming strips will be coming FROM ETHAN, rather than the supposed love triangle with Amber….
Plus I really doubt that Danny is going to take his self-realization quickly and gracefully. Drama is gonna come from EVERYONE.
Oh…does anyone see the forshadowing? The DoA title bar is Amber with lightning behind her, judging all hellfire and damnation on this beautiful union……
Bring it on bongo!
Oop, nevermind, it changes on the refresh ^_^
I saw that, too! It changes, yes, but when the Amazi-girl header does come up above this strip, it is perfect.
Mine is Sarah, but she doesn’t approve either
Hm… Maybe these are deliberate. Dorothy and Walky are looking a little shocked and dumbfounded.
And then Amazi-Girl/Amber stumbles upon them.
What would she do?
A. Violently murder them.
B. Point at them while laughing hysterically with tears running down her face.
C. Take a picture. For science.
D. Run away crushed.
E. All of the above.
But not in that order.
First she takes a picture, and then runs away laughing hysterically crying and pointing… And then she breaks and murders both of them, grinning even creepier than Faz could ever.
If you bet against Faz’s creepy, you lose.
Danny x Ethan might be the best thing to happen for both of them.
All three actually. Amber needs to pull away from looking for a relationship and focus on getting her own head straight, and maybe seeing her old friend happy and opening up will soften the blow of losing probably the only guy in her life that would be there for her both romantically and in a supportive friend role as well.
I am not sure Amber can come to terms with Ethan taking Danny away. On the other hand, she needs to realize that Danny is in love with Amazi Girl and not Amber. Someday, Amazi Girl might disappear but Amber won’t. She needs somebody who will love Amber and not Amazi Girl. But whether this realization will dawn upon her at any point is quite unclear.
Jesus Christ, I guess Willis found out how to make people like Danny. Make him bi!
I know this would really upset Amber (my favourite character) but screw her I want them to make out!!!
While I find this strangely charming (it’s Danny’s blushing cheeks; they’re adorable), I’m sort of disappointed-worried for how this will affect Amber; Danny seemed a good fit with her, and my optimistic desire to see it end well for her fit well with Danny being completely unthreatening and an overall nice person.
(I’m vaguely peeved by the comments that say something to the effect of “yes now Danny isn’t annoying/pointless/stupid anymore”, as if being presumably heterosexual was somehow less qualifying than being definitely bisexual…)
I think what’s causing the whole “He’s not annoying anymore thing” is that Danny is pretty conservative and that might bug some people, but him being bisexual seems somewhat to go against that and it’d be interesting to see how someone as conservative as Danny would react to this realization?
Just my thoughts on why people react this way. It was definitely my first thought, wondering how he’d react I mean.
I suspect Amber’s takeaway is going to be ‘I TURNED ANOTHER GUY GAY WHAT’.
But I think this is probably just what Ethan and Danny both need. Of course, they’re both battling their own issues so much that I figure this will stretch out oh, indefinitely.
While I want this just as much as (if not more than) everyone else here, I don’t think it will actually happen.
A. Ethan is still trying to de-gay-ify himself with the help of Joyce, so unless he is super super caught up in the mood I don’t see him leaning in.
B. Danny might lean in simply for the novelty of these new feelings, but more likely I see him being frightened for the same reason. Also, Amber is still probably right in the front of his mind, and he wants her, not this dude he just met.
And of course, it’s the Dotty grav with the logical conclusions *le sigh*
I only hope for the best.
Well, ALTERNATELY, this could lead to a poly-relationship with Danny, Ethan, and Amber in the same bed together. Now everyone wins, but less drama for Willis to jerk us around with.
THIS IS WHAT I WANNNNT but totes won’t happen :(:(:(
I’ve been Danny in a situation remarkably close to this actually. I managed to get both their tops off in a near threesome, but they couldn’t go any further than that. Too many emotions.
What would Joyce win?
Or alternatively a poly-relationship with Danny and Ethan romantically or sexually together, and Danny and Amber romantically or sexually together.
Ethan should probably sort out his thing with Joyce, though.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/burn/
It WOULD be close to one of Amber’s wet dreams…
Ethan won’t succeed in degayifing(?) himself partly cos it doesn’t really happen in real life and partly cos it’s a Willis comic.
Cue Joyce or Amber walking out and seeing this.
Awwww Danny and Amber have the same taste in men!
Awwww so do Ethan and Amber!
this comment makes me so happy
I don’t even know why it just
aghghghghhh
So… Amber likes the kind of men who like the kind of men that Amber likes? :/
Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls who do boys like they’re girls who do girls like they’re boys always should be someone you really love.
Wait, how does somebody do a boy like he’s a lesbian? I can maybe see how one would do a girl like she’s a gay guy, in a limited fashion, but I don’t see how the inverse would work.
omg that is a glorious comment. if there was a “like” button for these comments i would give you a LOVE XD
Imagine the three-somes
why imagine, thats why we have Slipshine….
as the seven-zillionth commenter to this post, CAN I JUST SAY PLEASE that this is some of the most realistic pre flirting and lead up I’ve ever seen in fiction? Somehow, SOMEHOW, Danny is totally redeemed for me. It’s like, he’s finally NOT a child, he’s finally working toward not Danning it Up (the progression of which I feel all began when he spat on Blaine), and it’s a relief and a delight to watch.
It’s like Standard Fiction Flirt Situation #27 and yet it is somehow perfect for this.
yeah. wow. such good writing. JEEZ, WILLIS
Well hmmm. This is interesting.
Now I’m really really really curious as to where things will go.
OH! I thought it was ethans thoughts!
Oh god poor amber
And now we have a way that both Amber and Ethan can be turned on at the same time.
It’s time for a threesome of psychological healing.
Ethan gay, Danny bi. Got it.
Both in a relationship of sorts with girls.
Blue! So much blue! The balls will be.
I mean, Danny didn’t stop being interested in women. There’s no reason he couldn’t be in a sexually satisfying relationship with a woman.
Given that this could lead to Danny fucking both ethan AS WELL AS amber, his balls are probably gonna be more red than blue.
Joyce on the other hand will be suffering from such blue balls that her ovaries will start producing x-rays.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! The feels!
So hot, so cute, so much want.
Cue three way with amber
9 more comments ’til we reach 600, everyone!
c’mon, we can do this!
jk, 7 comments
Somehow it feels like all of Danny’s relationship failures (hardships? at lease I hope his relationship with amber is not yet a failure) with other girls were leading up to this.
It would be interesting if it turned out he were a bit more equipped to approach a relationship with a man in a healthy manner.
Back when he had that incident with Billie, Joe did point out that sexist attitudes are likely a part of what interferes with his romantic endeavors.
I do wonder for example whether he would’ve run into the same problems with Dorothy if she’d been a man, or if he would’ve been more ready to accept that they’re both fully autonomous human beings with hopes and dreams of their own that aren’t necessarily secondary to what he views as their joint dreams. Would he have so carelessly remarked about the possibility of Dorothy changing her mind about leaving this school? When he started considering quitting school to be with her, would there have been a voice in his head that said “Wow, I’m a sap. Why would she even want to be with somebody who has nothing of his own to offer?”.
Not saying it necessarily would’ve fixed everything, just think it could be interesting to see exactly how his views on women have been colouring his views on relationships.
His plan was to follow her like a lost puppy forever. I don’t think he viewed himself as having independent dreams any more than he saw them in Dorothy. I don’t think there was sexism involved; he was just basing his worldview on his own pathetic nature.
Was that a defense of Danny or a condemnation? I really can’t tell.
Ohh….ohhhhhhhhh….that explains….nothing really.
Oi! The fate of all the whiteboards in the world is at stake here!
yes! lets stop this romance crap and go back to Amazi-Girl! hopefully by the time we get back to her she’s done with the investigation part of the story and get to the action part with epic bouts, heart stopping action, wonderfully rendered explosions and Christian Bale impersonation!
I’m kind of indifferent, I think? I’m not particularly cheering for these two to end up together, though I admit that the buildup did give them a fair bit of chemistry unlike (IMO) Billie and Ruth which felt truly unhealthy. But neither am I against them being together at all — it’s just ‘eh, Danny’s bi, they might end up together, that’s nice’.
But that’s about it.
That’s ’cause Ruth & Billie was unhealthy (and frankly, any relationship involving either of them is bound to be unhealthy in their current states).
So when are Ethan and Danny going to appear on Slipshine?
hmmm, a 3some with ethan, danny and amber….. hmmmmmm
…A wild Joyce appears
It took an hour of skimming and scrolling to the bottom! I completely forgot what I was going to say. IMPROVISED THOUGHTS GO!Before finding out about who was confirmed as bi, I was super hoping for this to mean Danny was bi. My first year in my college’s theater department, I made some really good friends. Cody was the one friend who was gay and fully came out during the second semester, during my first musical at Richland,”Once On This Island”, I got to meet some of Cody’s friends from the music and choir departments. Some gay,some not, but not quite accepting of bisexuality for whatever reason. Cody was accepting of bisexuals though,even dated one for a while, one day a choir student saw him and asked”So is he gay or what?” my response was along the lines”Last time he mentioned anything about it,he is bi.” I hear a confusing response from the choir student “He THINKS he bi.”, it confused me a whole lot since this was one of the gay choir students and with how discrimination can be these days, I thought he would be more likely to accept someone being bi rather than saying something that sounded similar to people not being very respectful to someone who is gay. I also found out that some of my friends from church thought the same way about bisexuals. Cody told me reason why a gay person would feel like that to bisexuals, not fully coming out or not fully knowing or denial. This was something that got stuck in my head for the longest time because it felt like seeing a cycle of dislike(hatred in other cases but no one in this situation wanted bisexuals die off or horrible stuff) in a very different light or paying attention to its existence for the first time, not fully sure. It made me look at hatred for someone who think,acts,and is practically different from you should not be hated just because you are oppressed. If you fight against hatred and discrimination,what is the point if you behave the same way? Would anyone realize they were doing it or not? A lot of crazy questions and ideas and answers and such,but it also helped me learn more about different perspectives and such. Not shades of gray or black and white,just angles or approaches. I completely forgot where this point was going after typing and re-typing and having very little sleep,all I can honestly remember wanting to say at this point is a big thank you to David Willis for making Danny bi.
Signed, Logan, someone who constantly questions if he is straight with possible exceptions,bi,or overanalyzes his sexuality too much in an attempt at trying to be someone who doesn’t want to be hateful towards anything other than Michael Bay movies. Hopefully this makes more sense than Marville.
@ your anecdote:
The amount of people I have seen deciding bi doesn’t exist frustrates me. Bi, gay, straight, asexual, pan, cis, trans, queer, agender etc. are just labels. And therefore simplifications. If your friend was romantically or sexually involved with both guys and girls, likes both guys and girls that way, and chooses to act acordingly, then “bisexual” is just the label used to simplify his behavior. A behavior that was readily apparent. Grr.
@ you:
I just want to say, there’s nothing wrong with not being sure who you are or not having a label for yourself yet. If you don’t want a label for yourself, this is also a viable option. I often feel that the only label I want is my name. Also, I don’t feel that there is such a thing as overanalyzing too much, take as much time as you want or need to figure out who you are and want to be.
It made sense to me
Your comment on bisexuality reminded me of this comic page. I’m not bi so I can’t help you much, but imo labels aren’t RIGID. It is possible for a straight person to fall for a similar gender or a gay person to fall for another gender or for an ace person to feel sexual attraction, it’s all there and it’s real regardless of permanence or like if you like one dude for every 30 non-dudes.
Also keep in mind that there’s more love other than romance. I know I absolutely love my best three friends or so. It’s not romantic at all but I’d be devastated if I didn’t spend my life by their side. Idk, jsyk.
Wow. If this happens, would Amber go insane?
Or should I say more insane?
Amber: I should be upset about this but my vagina is having too much fun imagining it.
Actually I would rather have Danny and Amber. Danny and Ethan just seems like it would’t be very much fun.
Beaides, if anymore crap is dumped on Amber she’ll be the offical ‘Jeri’ ( from.Digimon Tamers) stand-in for this universe. All she needs is to start dating some guy named Leo & he ends up getting transferred, drafted, sent off to a peace conference…etc…
Wow, the placement of a bunch of thought balloon bubbles makes a lot of difference, eh?
I know what you mean, it took me about 20 seconds to realise that Danny was the daydreamer not Ethan.
Y’know, this is cute and all, but all I can think about is Amber and how close she is to snapping these days. Girl needs herself a break. Make some cash, get herself a day for herself at a spa. Murder a few people, get her nails done, shop a little. Y’know, girl stuff.
640 comments – wow… is that a record????
I think it’s a record for any DoA strip comments that aren’t just one huge flamewar over misogyny…
It still has a ways to go if it wants to challenge the Title Holder…
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/writer/
http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/95287709332/dumbing-of-age-we-can-ship-it
Well, according to Willis’s tumblr the first part of Ambers reaction to this if it happens will be “wait what”
And Danny has a face that truly says “WHY BONER!?”
btw, danny is freakin’ cute, I’m mad
also, I really need danny in a poly relationship with both amber and ethan, because as adorable as this is, this was also pretty great too
Today’s comic and comment section got me thinking about my sexuality a bit. I don’t really get a boner for either guys or girls, or feel what I’d call sexual desire for any gender. I also usually do not feel that someone is “beautiful” or “sexy” based on outward appearance – I don’t think about people in those terms. I might call someone cute or adorable based on behavior, of feel that someone I am in love with is pretty, though that is pretty new.
However, recently, I’ve noticed that I can feel that guys I don’t know are pretty. Like, some guy walks past and I’m all “ooh, pretty…”, or I see a fussy guy with very careful and deliberate movements and I am all “GOD, he’s ADORABLE, WANT.” on the inside. Which isn’t a physical characteristic exactly, I realize, but those are not thoughts I am used to thinking.
I don’t feel shame or anything like that about it, but It does surprise me a bit, because I thought I just didn’t react that way to physical appearance. Physique is certainly not very involved in who I fall in love with, a slow process that’s taken between 3 months to 2 years to happen after I first meet someone, and the only thing any of the people I’ve fallen in love with so far have had in common is that they were all intelligent, in my opinion.
So yeah. Suddenly I can think “pretty boy, want.”, or at least similar thoughts. I have no idea what that means yet.
you sound demiromantic/sexual and/or gray-asexual to me, if that helps any
If APersonAmI would like a moniker, they might also consider “questioning”. Because it sounds like this person is discovering new things, and there’s still a lot to discover, hooray!
You both made me smile.
@ Kerry:
Thanks. I’ll consider those words, as I am looking at what fits a description of what I know so far and what does not.
@Leorale:
Thanks. You are completely correct! I am still discovering things. I guess one way I’ve looked at that is the thought process: “Okay, this old label no longer fits, what about this new one”, again and again to this day. The only label I’ve chosen for myself that seems to stick is my legal first name. I think I’ll keep looking for labels though, because it is a way to make me think about it and find out more things about myself, even while I am saying “nope, not me” about the label itself.
So yeah, I got discovering to do. Hooray!
I love everything about this.
As a Wilcox who didn’t realize my gay potential until the college years, I’m super here for another (fictional) bisexual Wilcox. Yer gonna stew in this revelation for possibly weeks, Danny! Hahaha!
Nosebleeds for everyone!
Nosebleeds for everyone!
*is resurrected*
*dies again*
NO!, LIVE DAMN YOU, LIVE!!!!
Wait.
So Ethan was a protagonist of Shortpacked!
And Danny was a protagonist of Roomies.
If Danny and Ethan hook up, you’ll have two protagonists hooking up together.
But Joyce is the protagonist of Dumbing of Age. And she’s dating Ethan. So you already have a protagonist hook up. Danny makes it somewhat of a protag-love triangle.
Walky, meanwhile, was the protagonist of It’s Walky! And he hooked up with Joyce in that canon.
So we have alternate universe protag-hookup.
Are all of the protagonists and Point of View characters involved in some sort of hook up party or are there more characters that I’m not considering?
Thus the seeds are potentially sown which may pull Joyce into another love-shape with Danny.
Danny and Joyce the relationship that universally may never be.
you just wait.
Don’t forget Mike, protagonist of LAWsome!
But he hooked up with Ethan once in Shortpacked! I was right; it’s a protag hook-up party!
Ahhh, UST. Now on to the long, agonizing process of wondering and ruminating and self-reflection that preceds any possibility of acting on it.
Somehow… I knew danny would be the one to Imagine the kiss…. but how did I know this thing…
Don’t worry Danny, I know how you feel.
Danny used “bisexuality”
It’s super effective!
DoA should just be renamed “Amber is getting really messed up and you’ll find it fun, it seems” gah so many mixed feelings
So they stare at one another awkwardly, smile sweetly/good nature-idly (sorta heh-look-what-happened) and then back to the awkward looks? Wow. Just…so much awkward. And Danny is Danny-ing it up in his mind. Damn you Willis! Soon Danny will learn the hard way that when Ethan said guys got between him and Amber…he meant on his side not her’s. As if she had enough trauma. I cannot wait to see where this goes. *evil laughter*….*cough*.
I fully endorse this ship! *flies Danthan flag*
Eh… not wild about this. Don’t really see this fitting with Danny’s character and development thus far at all.
what does this even mean
seriously. they’ve been flirting for a while now, and to me it’s felt more natural than most of the other canon couples, AND Danny’s always spoken well of Ethan (Willis pointed this out), AND he’s always been bi (again something Willis talked about on his tumblr).
Huh, didn’t know he’d always been bi. Thought this was rather tacked on, to begin with. My views on this development have softened somewhat now, though.
My objection was more that this seemed to be an easy, tacked-on way out of Danny’s crisis of his lack of a traditional masculine identity which he seems to be having; he comes out, sees it’s not so much of a big deal, and thus his problems are fixed. But, hell, that was likely a pretty stupid bit of conjecture anyway. I have no idea where Willis will take the character now, which is good.
Didn’t really see that as flirting. But maybe I’m just unobservant :p.
Average Fan- “Danny sucks.”
Average Fan (after reading this strip)- “Danny is amazing! Danny + Ethan Forever!!!”
Well played, Willis. Well played.
This seems like a good time to dig up this old Tumblr ask.
http://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/76879173521/now-youve-done-walky-dorothy-and-leslie-robin-will
This seems a little to easy, I think he’s gonna turn around and bang Joe.
meh I’m not crazy bout this ship, really not in character for Danny and it all feels somewhat forced to me.
I do think that this ship is in character for Danny. He has always been very complimentary of Ethan and he has never explicitly stated he was only into girls. This post has a good set of Danny’s interactions in regards to Ethan and how he conducts himself.
This answer from Willis also explains that this is a natural development for Danny.
how is it not in character for danny…?
Well I guess it HAS been a while since a commenter said an in-comic development was unrealistic.
Let’s see:
-dumped by his high school girlfriend
-pursued by an unstable but well meaning lady
-ultimately hook up with the last person we thought he would because they had chemistry on panel
Sounds like Danny to me.
holy shit, this is perf
Dang, those are some pretty crazy parallels.
Willis, I really admire the way you’ve written so many bisexual folks into your comic. Speaking as a bi man who has felt marginalized by parts of society because they assume I’m half in the closet, it’s just wonderful to see my people accurately reflected. I am not confused. I am not curious. I am not being ‘greedy’. I am bisexual. And I am not invisible.
That really annoys me that so many people assume bisexuality to be a “fake” sexuality.
Yes! This is a better relationship for Danny, go for it pal!
http://ryanbalis.tumblr.com/post/95287293540/this-makes-todays-strip-so-much-better
There *will* be 700 comments on this strip. Wow. A testament to the web of feelings Willis has inspired!
716, as of 07:20 Pacific time.
*hyperventilates*
Your Gravatar certainly works well with your comment!
OMG. So many comments to make!
1. Squeee!!!! Before the last few days, this wasn’t on my radar, but now Willis has me wishing so hard for this ship!
2. Amber (instead of Ethan) got Mike in the other universe, so it would be cool if Ethan got Danny this time. However, I hope a clean split happens between Amber and Danny before Ethan/Danny really gets going.
3. Willis, you have once again proven yourself to be a masterful storyteller. The slow build-up, the looks, the amazing use of comic panel mechanics — you sir are a writing/drawing genius.
4. This could potentially leave the door open for Amber/Mike, who are my favorite couple from the other universe.
5. Sigh, but we’ll probably just be teased with this pairing for months and maybe, if we’re lucky, a few years from now, something will actually happen. (but I hope I’m wrong about that!)
Thank you, Willis! You add awesomeness to the world every day!
I’d prefer it if we didn’t get Amber/Mike again…Shortpacked it was good but please let DoA do its own thing!
Yeah, I know. It probably shouldn’t go there again and I am greatly enjoying the new and different relationships that are happening, but some part of me still ships them so hard.
I didn’t really like Amber/Mike the first time around and while these versions are different I really hope it never happens. I didn’t hate them as a couple but I’d rather Amber find someone else and Mike remain a minor character, he works best that way.
Yeah, that’s valid. I should probably give up that ship.
I love you and I hate you, Willis.
On the one hand I think this is is awesome and I ship it so badly. I didn’t know how much I wanted this until I saw it! On the other hand, I just feel so bad for Amber. She is finally getting some validation in her life, and now her ex-boyfriend is stealing her current boy-toy.
Because I know much drama is coming, I am going to say this now: DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!!!!
Ha! Danny, if you haven’t found a church yet, might I suggest you look for a liberal one.
(For what it’s worth, this comic is wringing my heart like a dishrag because I ship the shit out of Danny/Amazi-Girl. But okay, fine, let’s see what happens, it’s Dumbing of Age.)
People are getting excited for nothing. We don’t have any reason to think they’re both gay (or rather bi, in one case). In the next panel, our boy-toy will probably realize why he and Amber split up.
I’m trying to figure out whether I’m misreading your comment or not.
What do you mean we are getting excited for nothing?
It has been explicitly stated that Ethan is gay, and this strip along with alt text and word of creator establishes that Danny is bisexual. We should be excited for bisexual dude representation, even if a relationship doesn’t happen there is always hope it will.
I’m so confused at your comment seeing as we know for a FACT Ethan is gay and Danny… Dany is currently imagining kissing Ethan so I think we can safely assume he is bi right now.
I love how, only yesterday, everybody was like “Oh man, fuck Danny,” but now everybody’s like, “OH MAN! FUCK DANNY!!!”
10 internets for you.
20, even!
Ah yes. This certainly LOOKS promising. But I just remembered that this is a Willis comic.
So, I’ll be over here waiting on that good ol’ iceberg to come into view and sink this ship.
DAMN YOU WILLIS
STOP TOYING WITH US
You want him to end the comic?
Seems like Ethan + Danny + monthly bonus comic = Patreon $$$. Also you need a new stretch goal very soon.
Suddenly, Danny and Billie’s relationship over Walkyverse way is more interesting.
I had an interesting thought the other day: gay couples are pretty rare in webcomics I read. Lesbian couples are pretty common: EGS, QC, DoA, Shortpacked, Something Positive, Gunnerkrigg Court, GWS all have principal characters in lesbian relationships. Of these, all of them but QC and DoA have featured at least one girl that previously pursued a man realize she’s interested in women (or one woman, at least). Sinfest recently joined this list with Monique beginning a relationship with devil-girl Abby.
Gay male characters, on the other hand, aren’t unusual, but they rarely have front-and-center on-panel relationships. Ethan from Shortpacked!, Martin’s dad from QC, Goldenloin and Blackheart from Nimona are it.
This pairing would represent the third time that I can think of that I’ve seen a man realize he’s into men, and the first time a principal character realized it about another principal character.
Now, admittedly my data is biased by my current preferred reading list, which does not include all of the hundreds of webcomics I’ve read in the last fourteen years, like Avalon High, Fans!, College Roomies from Hell, Sluggy Freelance, Monster Heart, A Modest Destiny, Camp Weedontwantcha, Zebragirl, Elf Life, Return to Sender, Sporkman, Kid Radd, Matriculated, Joe Loves Crappy Movies, Jackie’s Fridge, Crap I Drew On My Lunchbreak, Hark! A Vagrant, XKCD, SMBC, The Wotch…
Either way, this feels like a momentous relationship moment in webcomics.
You can check out the Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal, but that might not be exactly what you mean, as the relationship of the two main characters is the entire focus of the webcomic. (As opposed to being a romantic interest in a world has another bigger and more far reaching plot) But it’s there!
< Epic is a great story, but a bit of warning: It gets very NSFW about halfway through. So you might not want to pull it up at work.
EGS is heading towards one right now, it seems. And it has been increasingly queer in how it treats gender identity. It’s a quirky little comic — in a good way.
EGS has certainly improved in droves over the last few years.
The art and everything else!
This better not be some kind of inception style fake out where tomorrow you reveal that Danny’s thought bubble is actually inside Ethan’s thought bubble, then on Monday you zoom out and show it’s all in one big thought bubble by a freaking out amber witnessing the whole thing.
You know, I figure that this might NOT break Amber into pieces. If they give Danny time to figure himself out, sort out his relationship with Amber, and all that, maybe break up on good terms, then I think that Amber would find this hilarious.
If they skip to romance and make things super awkward, then… well, that would probably break a few hearts. Maybe even a femur or two.
This is almost exactly the same way *I* realized I was bisexual. Except instead of college it was gym class in middle school.
I’m guessing in a game of dodgeball?
’cause that’s the only time I think someone would knock someone else over to protect them in gym class.
‘Grats, Dan, on learning more about yourself. Always interesting, that.
OMG REALLY???!!!!?? Danny is not as straight white boring as we believed….
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
My own thoughts:
1) From personal experience, coming to terms with one’s own unsuspected bisexuality can be emotionally traumatic. (It does not often immediately lead to mansecks.) Poor Danny . . .
2) I can’t imagine that Danny’s ultra-judgmental parents would likely be supportive of this. Poor Danny . . . but at least he’d have that in common with Ethan?
3) On the other hand, to quote Ethan, THIS IS “A VALID WAY TO FEEL”! Also, Ethan, take your own advice!
I kind of want to see Danny flip his shit when he sees how Ethan’s parents treat him and his sexuality.
p…protective…danny…
/faints
now all we need is for joyce to become a pansexual.
The gay is strong in these two! *ships so very hard*
Just read the tumblr…Damn you Willis you are a writing genius!
I’mma just leave this here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/screening/
But he’s not gay tho…Danny is bi.
Technically, Amber only asked if he was closeted: Danny might still dump her for a dude.
He also didn’t reply, and the alt-text on this strip indicates that this is a new development for him anyway.
But really, I think the reason Lanval posted the link was to point out that Amber was worried about this -exact thing-, which is probably going to be dramalicious.
I fully expect AG to stumble across them in the next strip.
It is indeed why I left it here! It is eerie accurate and makes Danny’s MLP slightly funnier in retrospect to me though, that’s subjective.
Saw this hours ago and my brain is still having trouble forming comments other than “SQUEE” and “DO IT” and “Poor Amber”.
YES. Thank you, Mr. Willis.
To quote the movie “Fools Rush in” —
“This is everything I never knew I always wanted.”
Which I’m realizing applies to Ethan, Danny, and me and oh-so-many DOA fans. XD
Clearly the only option here is polyamory.
I’m conflicted on this. Part of me is all like: “Kiss damn you! Kiss!” The other half of me is like: “Oh God no! Not while you two have girlfriends!”
Oh, what a wonderful day. Now, who wants some hard tacos?
Aaaand… we’re going to check off that box now…
I feel like this is a little too good. What future horrors does Willis have in store for this ship? And now for the obligatory “Kiss him you fool!”
This better not end up as queer baiting…
when has willis actually queer baited ever tho
even joc, though het, turned out to be trans
It’s hard to queer bait after he’s already confirmed Danny is bisexual and this has been planned for four years now.
Thank-You Willis.
( First time comment er, long timeish reader )
I could probably write 2000 words on the fandoms misplaced, projected or deferred latent gender/sexuality biases toward Danny ( until today ).
( hes Always been Bisexual. Willis has stated he wrote him as bisexual since the story started. )
But today I just want to relish that sweet, loyal, kind , insecure innocence of the character is brought completely into the light for us all to see and enjoy.
I feel validated reading this today.
Im hoping he can openly claim his feelings and the happiness he shared with us in panel two, in a way few of us got to in his situation.
You are now , not just writing a reflection of society but shaping what is possible.
( I wish the fandom would recognize the enormous burden he is under, and probably always has been. He has the same right to his feelings and his happiness as every other character. )
I am hoping for A 3SOME with Ethan-AmazingGirl-Danny. It would be cathartic for Amber, allow Ethan a way to share with her what she wanted, and give Danny the courage to fully be himself.
For Danny-lovers, “Dannying it Up” means something completely different
Shouldn’t Ethan ask Joyce for permission in having open-minded relationship?
What?
Somehow I seriously don’t think Joyce will say yes as she got into this relationship in the (hopeless)hopes of curing him.
THE SHIP HAS SAILED. PLEASE DONT CRASH IT
OH SHIT
Did not expect this!!
Amber’s reaction when she eventually finds out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=221NeZe3cos
Aw, c’mon.
At this rate everybody will have been ‘shipped with everybody within a year.
this strip is the gayest thing to happen since gay came to gaytown and set up a half-price gay store for the gay community.
well done, sir!
tbh, this strip is pretty bi
Oh hey, you’re right. It technically doesn’t get gay until the last panel.
hells yeah
I may be alone on this, but I see any potential relationship they might have resembling that of Strangers with Candy’s Chuck Noblet and Geoffrey Jellineck. Both being firmly in the closet while engaged in a torrid love affair.
Oh my god, this is going to be the worst love triangle ever.
if by ‘worst’ you mean ‘most awesome’ then yes, you are correct.
Oh mannnn please let this happen I will be the happiest camper
Ultra Carla: Matchmaker
Yesss, more bisexual characters PLEASE.
Another thing to consider: healthy non-monogamy? THAT WOULD BE AMAZING.
Roz?
While I’d love to see it happen, Amber couldn’t handle it. Actually, I think Amber needs to back the hell off and focus on herself and trying to sort out her feelings. It’d be the healthy thing to do, but when you find out your other part’s boyfriend has the hots for your ex boyfriend who turned out to be gay.. well. ITs a mess. And Amber is gonna break.
I think Amber might well be able to handle it; at least hypothetically, in some future limbo where such a relationship were to be considered as a possibility. Seeing Danny and Ethan together might be an emotional blow for her even with her involved, but then again, we’ve seen Amber fantasize about threesomes like that before—and even if it wasn’t that kind of poly relationship, we know she still thinks guy on guy is very hot.
Danny is the one I really think couldn’t handle it. He’s, like, the poster child for single-minded loyalty in relationships. I could be wrong, but from what I’ve seen so far I’d think the idea of dating more than one person at a time would be basically the ultimate turn-off for Danny. He’d worry too much about the potential of multiple partners getting hurt at one another’s expense.
Alrite, now we are talking.
I forsee a great battle massing on the horizon. Where Danny/Ethan shippers take arms against both Amazifans and Danny haters. Armies will gather. Blood will be spilled. The internet will burn with the fires of their flames, and all will fall into darkness.
Well -done-, Willis.
except that Danny haters are practically nonexistant with this strip now.
I still hate Danny.
I mean, it’s nice to see him discovering something, because he doesn’t do that very often, but that doesn’t erase all the dumbass shit he’s pulled in the past.
My takeaway from panel two, in addition to it being adorable, is this:
Ethan likes Danny’s hair.
Danny likes Ethan’s hair.
Ethan’s hair likes Danny’s hair.
I’ve been on vacation and just caught up and I’m telling you, this strip is the best thing to finish my catch-up on. My happiness can not be contained.
this is the biggest dumbest smile i’ve had since this comic started.
well played.
Man, am I the only one who doesn’t want Danny to be a gay/bi ship?
I get that he’s a sort of uninteresting character to some, but I like that he’s one of the few characters in the Willis multiverse that is just a straightforward dude without anything special going on.
He’s not a genius like Walky, or a dick like Mike, or a perv like Joe.
He was just good old reliable, white bread Danny.
I have nothing against bisexuals or gays, but people like Danny exist in the real world even if you find them boring, and I always thought he added a touch of grounding because of that.
With the exception of him being a sexual target for anything with a pulse. I never really got that.
people that are whitebread -and bi- also exist in the real world, you know.
I wonder if the term multigrain applies here.
And someone could be offended and read something like “being bi makes someone wacky or weird” in my feelings about this.
That is NOT the case.
But bi or gay people are only about 1/6 the population and can face a lot of persecution, often leading to a large effect on a persons identity, so I do feel this trait is special enough to alter the motivations of his character. An example being in the effect on Ethan’s character.
what the…
but… there are real bi people… who are like danny…
bisexuality is not a personality trait?
it’s not like he’s going to become an entirely different person now…?
You think he’s just gonna be the same guy after suddenly becoming aware of his feelings?
No he’s going to go into a crisis.
And have to deal with that crisis.
And that will be one of his things from now on.
Look at Ethan.
He’s an everyman.
Started as an everyman.
He was closeted and then was made aware of it.
Then he eventually got over it.
Now in this universe he is fighting against it trying to date a woman.
Because that crisis has become one of his traits.
The dude’s gone through like four or five crises in the last two weeks. A crisis doesn’t exactly make him a whole new person.
That’s a valid point.
But I think one’s sexuality goes a bit deeper than being dumped or worrying about someone.
Like a crisis of identity is bigger than a social crisis, and will have a much greater effect on the character.
I guess you can have that opinion if you want…
seriously though, heterosexuality is not sacrosanct
as a bi person, I love that a character like danny is queer
we don’t get these types of characters all that often, so it’d be cool if you could just… not
I don’t like the change in character.
I’m not being rude or dismissive to your feelings on this, so I ask that you stop being rude and dismissive towards mine.
the very fact that you think that a character would be better off straight says something about your feelings that is frankly messed up
I am not obligated to treat opinions with such inherently bigoted premises with respect
You think the character is better off bi, how is that different?
because one barely exists in media, and the other is EVERYWHERE
like I said, we never get lgbtq+ guys like this
it’s not an equal playing field
Ethan?
what about ethan?
Know what?
It doesnt matter.
You have a valid reason for wanting this and I’m not going to argue it.
That said I feel I have a valid reason for my oppinions as well.
You wont agree to it and thats fine.
Ethan is a gay everyman.
o…k?
so?
that doesn’t change the fact that lgbtq+ people rarely get this kind of character
the fact that you can only give me one example is telling
(also ethan and danny aren’t clones of each other)
Kerry, I totally agree with you. It’s really nice to have an average guy be bi. So often media portrayals of GLBT+ people have that trait be THE defining crux of their character. It’s really nice to have a portrayal of an average guy who just happens to also be bi.
And even if Jinxed44’s point was more along the lines of “I identified with Danny and now that’s been taken away from me”, I’m sorry but I don’t have much sympathy because media is completely chock-full of portrayals of average white, hetero guys. Let us minorities have a chance to be represented for once.
why is him having a crisis over being bi any different from his numerous crises over other things?
like… what
I was. I mean, it broadened my porn horizons, but I can honestly say that my personality and motivations weren’t greatly influenced by realizing I was bi.
…uh
good to know bi people can’t be everymen?
note:
if you start a sentence with “i don’t have anything against bisexuals or gays but” YOU PROBABLY FUCKING DO
also this
I know I’m going to be called homophobic.
I dont like the change in chacter for reasons I feel arent homophobic.
I’ve been a long time reader of both continuities and shortpacked and this is the first issue with the storytelling or sexuality.
If I am scum for feeling as such then so be it.
*First issue I’ve had.
Typing this on a phone.
For what it’s worth, jinxed, I think I know what you are trying to say. It sounds like you wanted someone you could relate to….a way to interject yourself into the story…people do that all the time as a way to feel more invested and more connected to the story (and as a way to escape their own life…but I digress.) . Maybe you identified with Danny and if Danny is bi or gay its harder for you to place yourself in the story so you were just expressing grief over that bit of disconnect from something you care about.
Homosexuality, obviously and unfortunately is a sensitive subject espcially via text when things like voice inntonation and facial expression are lost (and there is a ton of negativity also in text on the internet over it.)
I am bisexual…but I wasnt offended by what you said at all. I think I understand what you mean….maybe the words you chose just………wait for it………JINXED yourself…..eeehhh?….eeeehhhhhhhh?
Ok I’ll go now….
They can be.
Danny won’t be one.
I believe the issue is that your opinion (Danny should be straight because he’s normal whitebread) makes people who are Bi/queer sad because they hardy if ever get any representation. You don’t have to be crazy and wacky to be queer. Danny can be whitebread.. and like boys too. Willis handles stuff like this positively and I doubt it’ll become something HUGE. I mean, Amber beat the shit out of her dad and there were no reprecussions. We’ll see what it does.
But no, seriously, sure its cool to have that opinion, but your opinion makes people who have that orientation feel like it isn’t normal (“whitebread”) to be Bi. And that inherantly isn’t cool. Bigots/extremists also argue their opinions are innocent and be respected, but when your opinion invalidates a person’s life/feelings/career then it becomes a nono.
I’m not trying to say gay or bi is wrong or bad.
At the same time, this is one of the first characters and a sudden change in his state.
Willis may have intended for him to be bi the whole time, but he got through an entire universe without looking at another man.
I think its valid to not instantly and totally agree with a potentially huge change in his character as his character is one of the ones who has defined the comic(s) for me
And willis may handle it fabulously, Danny will still mostly be Danny, but when you change one of the things of a character to represent a societally charged topic, that character can get muddled.
Again. Your sexuality is great.
I dont care what it is.
I like the character Danny is and has been, and dont want to see it bend under the weight of a heavy topic.
Its like superman being changed into a woman.
Being a woman is great. Good for you if you are.
But its still a huge change on a character many of us have grown attached to.
But in this case, it’s not a character change. It just that the readers didn’t know about it. In ongoing series, you don’t find out everything about characters in episode one, you learn more and more about the characters as time goes on. It’s not the writer’s fault that your assumptions weren’t in line with who the character is.
It’s true you cant easily identify sexuality, but Danny has passed through years of strips without any sign of this. I think that a history this large should count as some basis for understanding this character.
Willis has been planning this since 2010.
And there was NOTHING in the years that came before that to contradict the idea that Danny can be attracted to dudes. The guy had, what, a grant total of two whole relationships with women in the Walkyverse? Danny’s the sort of character that doesn’t form attractions casually, and even more rarely acts on them. The fact that none of his previous partners were male doesn’t exactly exclude the possibility that Danny could have been attracted to one at some point, if any guys in his life had actually the opportunity to get close enough to register on his emotional radar.
That’s a point, but at the same time the relationships he did form were central to the plot, and plenty of men did have the chance to get close to him.
It’s not like fate had a hand in this either. Willis could have done this at any time during the set up of the character but hasnt until now. It’s been how many years? I feel like we get to form some basic understandings during that time frame.
this sounds like the argument for not making iconic characters queer, or poc, or ladies, or w/e
the thing is, back then, willis was not the kind of guy to have an openly bi male mc
it’s not that simple to just create a character out of thin air that everyone (least of all willis) will like and be attached to
willis explains it in this post pretty well – it pretty much had to be an existing character he was already emotionally invested in
and what men has danny gotten close to, really?
joe was his childhood friend, and howard was… howard
I went into the late 20s of my life before I felt any serious attraction to anyone of my same gender, and it as some time still before I admitted it outwardly to anybody.
Hey, um—since it looks like the comments are being pretty heavily moderated at this point, and with good reason—does having a thread or sub-thread (apparently) frozen from further replies constitute a warning of some kind? I don’t mean to cause anyone on this forum any kind of discomfort via commenting, so if I’ve inadvertently said/argued something inflammatory, then I sincerely apologize and would like know if there’s anything I need to do avoid that in the future, like, forever. I don’t want to be out of compliance with the rules I respect them a lot!
Replies no longer thread deeper once they get a certain number of “steps” in. It’s automatic and has nothing to do with content.
you’re fine, minder, threads just have reply limits so they don’t go too far off to the side of the page
But but but… Amber…
I don’t think the comments have been this excited since Billie and Ruth smooched. By which I mean BRACE FOR IMPACT, PEOPLE
“Captain, we’re entering the same sector that our last ship took serious damage. Should we move forward?”
Full speed ahead!
FINISH HIM!
(reads hovertext)
So, did something grow three sizes that day?
Goddamnit Willis. This pisses me off in so many ways.
First, Danny was the one character that I could truly identify with, and have since the beginning of Roomies! He was the original main character, he shares my name, and he’s just a likeable idiot that falls into a lot of the same mistakes that I do. Now suddenly, out of literally nowhere, he’s got this trait that completely alienates him to me. Not intentionally, but subconsciously I just can’t see him in the same way anymore. This also flips some triggers. I don’t have a phobia of gay people, but I do have a phobia about suddenly becoming gay or realizing that your body’s gay while your mind isn’t. People talk about that moment of sudden realization and I really don’t want that to happen to me. Illogical, I know, but phobias often are. So for this to happen to Danny, the character I identify with, flipped all the triggers. It also sucks for Danny as a character, because things were just doing splendidly for him for the first time in forever, and now this happens to throw a wrench into his relationship with Amber/Amazi-girl. He had an awesome girlfriend, who was also a superhero, and she loved gaming with him, and she liked him back, and they were adorable together, and then this happens. His brain has always known to be interested in girls and now his own body is against him. If you can’t trust your own body to be on your side, what can you trust? And poor Amber. Yet again, another guy she’s attracted to turns out to be gay. And I know a lot of people are saying, he’s bi, it’s still okay for Amber, but unless this turns out to be some crazy menage a trois scenario a la Rikk*Rumy*Ally, Amber is going to get shafted. Why? Because this happened second. In writing, the new relationship always seems to screw over the old one, especially if it’s a different orientation. Things won’t go back to normal between Danny and Amber after this, or at least if they do I’ll be surprised. I know a writer often has to be cruel to his characters, but haven’t Danny and Amber suffered enough?
Whooooaa this is some old school, hardcore cognitive gymnastics here. Mr. Willis, your stories are brilliant but I think the most fascinating thing I saw here today was a guy saying “I hate this not because I’m afraid of gay people, I’m afraid that I might be secretly gay,” without a HINT of irony.
wow
1. danny is bi, not gay, and he always has been (since the beginning of doa anyway) – he hasn’t “become gay”
2. I guess it’s cool you outright admitted you can’t relate to/empathize with non-straight people
3. you have some pretty fucked up views of how sexuality works
4. it’s still possible for him to end up with amber, especially if they manage to make a poly relationship work out (I know it’s a long shot, but I still hope)
5. thanks for equating discovering your sexuality with suffering
maybe even ‘bi’ isn’t the right word, as he’s never shown those qualities to like men as well as women. probably queer is more accurate.
he is bi
Yes! Mr. Willis, god of this universe, agrees with me that Manny is a boring blank slate! I feel vindicated!
. . . Ethan’s beau in Shortpacked is “Manny”. That is one letter from “Danny”. Willis, did you do that on purpose in anticipation of all this? <_<
Nope.
Wait, no. Stop.
Being bi doesn’t always mean threesomes and poly and screw anything that moves. Most straight guys don’t stop finding other women attractive just because they start dating someone; they choose not to act of that attraction out of love and respect for the partner. A person doesn’t stop being bi when they enter into a monogamous relationship, they remain faithful to their partner, regardless of gender.
It is perfectly normal behaviour for Danny to get together with Amber and have a happy and fulfilling relationship, while maybe occasionally fantasizing about a dude.
I know it doesn’t
bi poly people still exist though – hell, both of my moms are bi, and they’re poly
also, I ship both danny/amber and danny/ethan, which is the main reason for me wanting them to be poly, not because he’s bi
I’m guessing that if danny only ends up with one person, it will ultimately be ethan, though I can’t know that for sure
I’d like both of these ships to be realized
jesus christ dude
I know, right? And just so you know, just because I’m pissed off about this doesn’t mean I want you to change anything you’re doing for my sake. Danny is YOUR character, not mine. Just because I’ve identified with him for ten+ years doesn’t make him mine or give me ANY say in what should happen to him. This is just me venting to no one in particular. About triggers, about characters that I maybe have too much investment in, etc. I just needed a little catharsis after that trigger. I am in no way surprised that this little outburst of mine exploded the comment section the way it did, and honestly I don’t blame them. I don’t expect anyone else to have the same reaction I did, and my reaction is personal.
O yeah, and a big “fuck you” to whoever doesn’t think that my phobia is a real thing.
it sounds more like internalized homophobia, tbqh
Look up HOCD- it isn’t the same as homophobia… I know exactly where this guy is coming from. Just because you *know* people can’t just ‘turn gay’ doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid of it.
More people should see this comment. I had no sympathy for lightsabermario until I looked up HOCD, and then suddenly . . . I still don’t agree with him, but I absolutely see where he’s coming from now. I’ve never had the luxury of getting used to characters in my orientation, but other than that it turns out I’ve absolutely been in his position. If I simply imagine a less amatonormative world, where I do have different expectations from characters, I’m right there with him, offensive though I find him.
As somebody who was not on lightsabermario’s side, I really think this is the defense, or at least the explanation, he needed.
chill, man: not everything is about you.
Dude, you’re messed up in so many ways that I can’t even be insulted.
I’m so into this comment, I’m reloading the page over and over just so I can see the other replies here. This is the comment equivalent of being with friends when they watch one of my favorite movies for the first time, and I keep looking back at their faces to make sure they comprehend how awesome it is.
Aw, thanks
I don’t how it works for that dude, but im pretty sure my mind is as gay as my body. Like 100% super gay.
Same here. It’s taken a long time for my mind to be OK with being gay, but that’s another issue entirely. Can’t trust your body to be on your side? I…but…what?
You may wish to seek therapy.
See, now I’m going to think ‘100% super gay’ whenever I see Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Which is awesome.
Chris Hemsworth is often what reminds me im 100% super gay.
well played, sir.
You know, I don’t think those phobias can be actual things.
I think maybe things won’t go back to normal between Danny and Amber because he found out she has massive violent issues that she doesn’t want to talk about with him.
I mean…
…just…
…maybe that is a bigger obstacle here than him finding out he might fancy dudes too.
Also if I were to give the simplest advice possible here, it would be this: Regardless of what’s in someone’s pants, what kind of people they fancy, or how they present themselves to the world, everyone has to navigate the human experience. Some will have it easier than you, some will have it harder, but learning to relate to people who aren’t like you is something we all have to deal with, and the sooner you stop trying to put people into little boxes and deal with them as, well, people, the happier you’re going to be. You’ll run out of definitions that fit long before you run out of people you meet. Simple respect goes a long way, as does not sweating this stuff until you actually hit a problem.
I get it. Sometimes I worry that if I bump into a table just right, I’ll accidentally toggle my gay switch and start macking on my coworkers. It’s really inconvenient.
Nice sarcasm. Except what the fuck JUST happened to Danny? He jumped, accidentally made Ethan fall on him, and all of a sudden, something he knew about himself for his whole life is changed forever. Also, nice making fun of someone for their phobias, that’s tolerance.
your single greatest fear is being gay, so i don’t think you get to play the tolerance card here, dude
Yes, I do. Did I say I have anything against gay people? If I made it seem at all to the contrary, let me be perfectly clear: I have absolutely nothing against gay people. They are perfectly fine people. Hell, I’m pro-gay-marriage. Just because I have trouble figuratively stepping into their shoes doesn’t mean I realize that they are cool people regardless of their orientation. As far as I’m concerned, they can do anything they want, and they can even be my friend if they want. But I do NOT want to be gay, ever. I can’t even believe that I have to explain and defend my phobia to people, even after I’ve already said that phobias are often illogical.
Which actually brings me to another point that I’ve been wanting to bring up. For the most part, the term homophobic is a misnomer. When you are arachnophobic, you are afraid of spiders, and despite realizing that it’s an irrational fear, you squirm and cower and do anything you can to get away from such things. The same go for fears of heights, or being on planes, etc. That’s not the same with “homophobia”. What such “homophobics” really have is homomisia. A hatred of gay people, and intolerance for their way of life. That’s intolerance, and it is something you choose to be. I am firmly against that, and I am firmly against anything that treats other fellow humans as anything less than equal fellow humans. My fears are entirely internal to myself, so I don’t want to hear anyone accuse me of being intolerant. I thought you were smarter than that, Willis.
Btw, don’t put words in my mouth. My single greatest fear is the finality of death, not of becoming gay. Becoming gay doesn’t even come close to that fear.
“i have nothing against gay people and i’m totally for gay marriage (WOW! CONGRATULATIONS!) and i think they’re perfectly fine people honestly i swear, so long as those people aren’t me” is pretty damn homophobic, dude. That’s why you have to explain and defend this shit, because it’s intrinsically patronizing and offensive.
Does it really offend you that I have an irrational fear of suddenly becoming gay? Is it that offensive to the point that you have a problem with the way I view myself?
Idk, If you spend so much time wondering if you’re gay or not that it becomes a phobia, then you might already know the answer.
See: irrational. I never said it made sense to be afraid of it, given that I know in my brain that I like girls. But phobias don’t care about facts, so when you tell a person that more people die in car accidents than on planes, that doesn’t stop them from being terrified of dying in a plane crash.
Of course, you can’t be a dick to a plane accident by saying you have nightmares about being one. Plane accidents aren’t already-marginalized human beings.
If I may share my two cents…
This feels less like a fear of gay people and more like a fear of identity crisis. Assuming Lightsabermario is telling the truth (Which I have no particular reason to doubt,) it sounds like he’s afraid of his own personality changing to something which is alien to him, and losing his self-image.
It’s definitely a little irrational, but I don’t think it equates to Homophobia in the traditional sense.
“I am what I am, and I don’t want to be anyone else.”
O my god thank you, Maxy. You really nailed it, especially with that last quote. Honestly I feel a huge relief to hear it described accurately by somebody else. It makes me feel, I don’t know, a little more normal, and less hurt then when people were ganging up on me for my phobia. Thank you again, Maxy.
even so, since danny has been bi the entire time, he HASN’T changed
it seems weird that you specifically locked on to a fear of “becoming gay” rather than a fear of change, which is what people were responding to the most
…You called same-sex attraction a betrayal of the body against the mind. You basically said that if you were saddled with the identity that some of us have come to terms with having, have accepted as just another facet of our perfectly loveable selves, it would be the worst thing that your body could do to the conscious, elevated part of your brain- that it would lessen you in some way, even if it’s just in your own damn esteem. And if you can’t see how that is inherently insanely offensive, then… well, okay. Sure. Whatever.
“Gay” isn’t a personality trait. Neither is “bisexual,” which is more accurate here anyway. They describe a few important aspects of yourself- what you find sexy, what to expect in your browser history, who you’re likely to foster romantic and sexual relationships with, pretty much jack shit else. If you’re scared of personality change, I’d be more wary of brain injury than mackin’ with dudes.
Sorry, if you feel your fear of homosexuality is getting you called out as a homophobe, buuuuut really dude, you kinda brought this on yourself.
Not to take up a sword (Metaphorically speaking, of course) to defend someone I barely know on the internet, but a couple more things I would like to say:
Kerry: Sexuality is, from my observations (Which could be completely wrong, I’ll admit,) one of the largest parts of a person’s personality in terms of how people see them. If I had to make a list of things instantly used to judge a person with no details to work on, it’d be gender, age, and sexuality. (Follow that up with religion, politics, and career.) But, while society will generally teach you that gender is concrete, and age will continue ticking along at an even pace no matter what, Sexuality is liable to ‘change’.
I’d also like to take this moment to point out that it IS an irrational fear which doesn’t make much sense, and that LightSaberMario did make some rather stereotypical assumptions about bisexuals in his original post. Not denying that in the slightest.
Vibbles: He didn’t say that homosexuality was the betrayal of the body against the mind, he said that he was afraid HIS body would rebel against HIS mind. (Or, at least, that’s my interpretation. Once again, my perspective could be full of crap, but I prefer giving people the benefit of the doubt.)
Compare it to, say, religion. For the sake of the argument,we’ll say I’m an Atheist. I’m not a Christian. I don’t want to BE a Christian. I disagree with Christian philosophy, mainly because I don’t believe in God. That being said, if you are a Christian that’s your choice, your opinion, and I am completely fine with that. It’s a perfectly legitimate belief, and while I don’t agree with it I’m not going to mind what you believe if it comforts you, makes you feel better, or makes you a better person. (This isn’t a perfect metaphor, and there are definitely Atheists who don’t share this philosophy, (And also I’m a Christian), but my point is that you can disagree in taste without hating someone for disagreeing.)
He’s not afraid of homosexuality. He’s irrationally afraid of losing control over his own desires, and sexuality is the basest and most wildly unpredictable desire a human can have, so the irrationality centers around that. In my opinion, which could be wrong.
Sorry that my comment ended up so long. I have a really high WPM count and I get really wordy.
lightsabermario, I know you got jumped on a lot here in the comments, but I would like to reiterate that if you have a phobia (and it sounds like you have multiple phobias? Did I read that right?), you should get therapy for it/them. Phobias can be overcome. Good luck!
Hi, Mr. Willis. I thought your comments were kind of hurtful and I’d like to explain why, if that’s ok?
I am on the asexual spectrum, but as a kid I didn’t know that was a thing. All I knew was that I was different from my peers and that was *terrifying*. Other kids eventually decided that if I wasn’t into boys I had to be into girls, which caused all sorts of bullying. I knew I wasn’t interested in women, but I knew boys weren’t all that interesting either. This was a huge source of confusion and anxiety.
As an adult, I’m still terrified that my sexual/romantic isn’t what I think it is. I’ve been sexually attracted to two people in my entire life (hence asexual spectrum, not purely asexual) and both of them have been men, but that doesn’t stop the worry that I could be “faking” my sexual/romantic orientation. This doesn’t just apply to homosexuality either- I’m afraid I could be secretly interested in anything that could be considered a stimulus. It’s actually a big trigger for my OCD.
This has nothing to do with homophobia or internalized “gayness” or any other of the silly accusations in this thread. It has everything to do with a fear of not knowing who I am, of finding out my identity is a lie. Seeing you attack someone who struggles with something that I do is hurtful and almost seems ableist (not a term I’d ever use lightly). I don’t know if lightsabermario suffers from OCD like I do or if it’s just a phobia for them, but I do know that no one deserves to be mocked because of a fear they *cannot control*. I know identities are not light-switches that can be turned on or off, I know you don’t just ~become gay~ at the drop of the hat, and I bet lsm knows these things too. Anxiety tends to ignore reason.
the entitled, offensive way lightsabermario expressed himself, however, is entirely on him
that said, willis did post a comment I took issue with that he later removed on at his own behest, so I don’t think he’s entirely thoughtless about the issue
all in all, I get the whole irrational fear thing, as an ocd sufferer, especially when it comes to sexuality, but the way lightsabermario went about commenting on it was frankly terrible, as I explained in my first reply to him
I just want to say that you’re not alone. I’m right there with you (and frankly quite surprised to see somebody else here with basically the same exact fear as me). I spent years convincing myself that yes, I really am sure I’m asexual, so that now I can tell myself that I no longer worry about my orientation and usually not call myself out on that being a blatant lie. But it’s still tough, just in a different way than it used to be.
I wanted you to know because we aces and more-or-less-aces have to stick together. We’re too invisible to expect anybody else to stick with us.
To be totally honest, though, for me there is a little bit of allophobia, I guess you’d call it, to all of that for me. I’m certainly not proud of it, but there is a bit of instinctive disdain that I can’t seem to get rid of. So perhaps my experiences are not suitable for defending lightsabermario against accusations of homophobia.
He was put in a situation where he was confronted with his attraction to dudes. Same thing happened to me, sort of.
And when you in the same post admit that you can’t relate to gay people you deserve to get the fuck mocked out of you.
The hell Willis? Every time I reply to someone you beat me to it by 10 seconds.
This is not sudden at all if you look back at the older comics. There were hints.
I understand that this triggers a special place in your psyche, but most people can identify with characters who don’t share every single exact trait with themselves. I, personally, have identified with many characters who don’t share my sexuality, ethnicity, gender, etc. and I know I am far from being the only one to do so.
Seriously, I think your phobia indicates that you really do have some GLBT feelings inside that you’re not willing to deal with and you may need therapy. Someone may disagree with me on this, but I don’t really think your body can be gay and your brain not. I think that would just be your brain trying to suppress your gayness. Sorry to be blunt, but I really think you need some help. Good luck to you! May you overcome your personal demons!
I pretty strongly identify with Danny, for better or worse. I try to do what I think is the right thing, often without realizing I’m inadvertently being a jerk about it. I’m awkward, especially around people I like. I’m passive about things in general. I’m hard on myself, even for things beyond my control, to the point of annoying others, especially those that care about me.
Danny being bi doesn’t change any of that. (And, being honest with myself, I don’t feel like I can 100% rule out being attracted to dudes; it hasn’t happened, I don’t think it will, but if it does -shrugs- I mean, I’ve never thought dongs did it for me, but that still leaves being biromantic, and I could see that happening [wait, is biromantic/heterosexual a thing?]).
[totally is a thing]
Oh, and I identify with Dorothy a lot (especially her interaction with her parents), which probably sounds really weird after saying I identify with Danny.
You can identify with people not exactly like you; a lot of people just don’t get to identify with certain parts (i.e. sexuality/race/religion) of themselves because there’s so little representation of it.
um… are we the same person?
I feel like we’ve done this before.
It appears we have. Huh.
I feel like this is where we’re supposed to have a musical number now, but that might make things weird.
your comment is very kind! good job!!
You say that he “suddenly realizes that his body’s gay while his mind isn’t.” and yet the strip clearly shows his MIND is the one that has the fantasy of him and Ethan kissing.
His body is not imaging that. HIS MIND.
i did not see that coming…
*don’t cast your body to into the cragged shame pits of the lustwolves danny!*
It might be just a bit too late for him.
Bisexual Danny, what a twist! I predict he gets mad uncomfortable around shirtless Joe back in their room. And/or Joe gets offended that Danny never had sexy thoughts about HIM.
But seriously, wether or not they get it on, my hope is that Danny learning about himself and dealing with it will help Ethan by seeing somebody handle it in a positive way, accept themselves, and grow stronger from it. Whether that’s realistic…
I have no idea how this will affect Amber really, nothing is ever easy for that poor girl in this ‘verse
omg yes, I could totally see Joe being like “dude, wtf?” about Danny not having sexy-thoughts about him.
I mean, Joe is a self-described 10.
Just because Danny is bi doesn’t mean he’s attracted to every guy. Joe might not be his type, or he might just be too close to him. I know my best friend is like a brother to me, and I couldn’t imagine thinking of him sexually.
But is your best friend a 10? That is the real question.
(Rather, is your best friend egotistical enough to DESCRIBE himself as a 10, and then get at least partially or jokingly offended when you don’t describe him as such?)
Mixed feeling here. One of my favorite things about this series is how it includese everyone and shows that it’s the person not their stereotype that matters. I dont like that Danny’s revelation came seemingly from nowhere compared to other universes. I know that sexuality is a gradient rather than static categories. Infact romantic connection and physical attraction are separate.
As far as ships go, I prefer cannon to fantasy, and they are very cute. Ethan does deserve a main character partner to a secondary made up for him… But dammit, regardless of your orientation there is so much wrong about being in a relationship with someone and then ditching them for their ex that they’re still friends with have feelings for. I would lose so much respect for both of them if they cheated before breaking things off.
According to Willis, this was planned since the start of DoA. Looking back, someone made a fantastic tumblr post of scenes that show little things that, now that we know, were pretty good hints (I posted a link way up if you want to take a peek). And it’s not something that’s just going to completely change who he is, we just happen to know he likes dudes now (and he might be realizing; we actually don’t know for sure this is him realizing it, though I think it’s pretty likely).
We also know that Danny is loyal to a fault. He told Amber they couldn’t hang out anymore because he was starting to have feelings for her and he didn’t want to cheat on Amazi-Girl. He’s loyal to Joe, even when Joe is being a bit of a jerk to him. He’s not going to just go “Oops, I like dudes now, who’s Amber?”
I am a fan of Danny accross the comics because of his loyalty. It also gets him into trouble such as when he indulged his old feelings for Sal while he is with Billy (forget which comic it was by that point). He’s a romantic, moral and he can be wishy washy. I loved the story arch where Billie challenged him to grow a backbone. It seems to be a running theme for Danny is the conflict between those aspects of himself. He did seem a little more feminin in this reality than in roomies but I chalked it up to evolved art style and story telling. I’ll check out the link you mentioned. Im also going to reread Dumbing of age when i get time.
I know several people who didn’t figure out they were bi until they met someone of the same gender who was interested in them.
Heck, it took me a long time to figure out I liked guys. I’m mostly straight, but I’m not attracted to very many people, period. Seeing a hot guy with his shirt off makes me shrug my shoulders until I get some impression of his personality. If I know someone’s not my personality type, no amount of rippling muscles or adorable haircuts are gonna make me lust after them. I actually thought I might be asexual until I was sixteen, because all my friends were talking about boys and I hadn’t been attracted to anyone. When a character realizes they’re bi because they finally meet someone of a specific gender who is both emotionally and physically attractive to them it makes sense to me, because that’s how I figured out I was a sexual person AT ALL.
If I were Danny, I would totally be attracted to Ethan and I’d probably feel no attraction to someone like Joe. Dan has shown that he needs romantic investment to be really interested in someone. The excuse he gave for not having sex with Billie was that he didn’t want her to regret it, and he said he wasn’t interested in Sal because she was “out of his league.” As someone who can recognize the objective hotness of a person without being actually interested in them, I used to use similar excuses all the time to cover up for the fact that I wasn’t sure WHY I didn’t want to immediately hop into bed with some ostensibly attractive person.
After Billie and Sal both brought up the subject of sex, he didn’t consider hanging out with them to be temptation, while he specifically told Amber that she would be, because she was trying to engage him emotionally.
So I don’t feel like this comes out of nowhere. I’m honestly surprised that Willis managed to capture how I felt when I first met a dude I liked, since I realize most people don’t require emotional attraction to jump-start realization of their physical attraction.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. It didn’t occur to me that Danny would need that connection to recognize his attraction. After reading through some of the other posts and links I’ve realized how many clues were there from the start that I missed.
Ya know, my first thought yesterday was going to be “Holy cow, Danny’s Bi in the DOAverse.”
… Wow.
I kinda imagine that the next few (months) of pages are going to involve Danny freaking the hell out about this, but who knows?
One can only hope.
(From a purely drama-loving perspective, of course.)
Why would he freak out? What makes you think he wasn’t already aware of this personality facet?
check the stress lines under his eyes. There’ll be some awkwardness yet.
There’s also the alt text (‘and Danny learned something about himself that day’).
Danny? Being aware of things? *laugh track ensues*
I applaud you Mr. Willis.
You know, it occurs to me that Amber can turn this whole situation into a win. If she plays her cards right….
http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1804
Ok, who would be the character peeking in and going ‘WHAT?’ in DoA?
joyce
Ok, yeah, that was obvious.
Dina, actually. She and Mike had a thing for awhile. It..ended badly.
::cries::
pretty sure he was asking who would stand in for her in the dumbiverse tho
Ahhhh. Nah, Dorothy is the optimum choice here. She’s already got a thing for Amazigirl, she used to be into Danny, and she’s…met Mike. Also, if Walky ever found out he would beat the stuffing out of Mike, so there’s another parallel for ya.
wait… I’m confused now
I thought amber and ethan were the same people in this analogy, but danny replaced mike, and…
…I mean, I guess it would have to be someone who was into danny for it to technically fit, but if you interpret it somewhat loosely, it could work with joyce too since she’d basically feel that way about ethan…?
/overthinking it
There’s so much angsting to look forward to! And later I’m hoping to get to watch Danny go into the opposite direction and shove his new made boyfriend into the faces of his parents, Dorothy and Joe.
…And then I’m expecting some angst again, when Ethan gets uncomfortable about that.
Wonder if we’ll get any interaction between Joyce and Danny out of this?
So self-depreciating humor and one-liners that are probably meant as a joke about dating clichés (“You’d better buy me dinner first”) are flirting now? I’m not sure I understand all the people who say this is the best flirting they’ve ever read.
It’s somewhat amusing that, in my mind, Danny is “Danning it up” again by obliviously and, most likely, completely unintentionally sending romantic signals to Ethan, but everyone loves it when they usually all hate him for it.
This is my first Willis comic, but I have to say that sometimes it feels like 99% of the world is NOT heterosexual in the Willis-verse. At times like that, I just remind myself that your average university has a few thousand students enrolled at any given time and we’re only following a couple dozen of them.
So…carry on. I look forward to the orgy comic on Slipshine a few years from now…
And now Joyce and Amber become lesbians?
Yes! Everyone is gay for everyone else. EVERYBODY BACK TO THE PILE!
http://vimeo.com/44050826
Joyce and Dorothy, or Dorothy and Amazi-girl. Duh. Get with the fleet, man.
This page is so dang close to 1000 comments. Will it make it before the day is out? Seems so.
Overall this strip pleases me. Deeply. And Dan with Ethan is just so damn likeable. But I like a lot of people do wonder how Amber would take this if anything came to pass between these two.
It depends on what side of her mind will end up winning the internal conflict. The Woman? or the Shipper?
…That’s not who I expected that thought bubble to be coming from…
Well played, Mr. Willis. Well played.
It actually took me a while to realize who the bubble was coming from… I thought people just got really excited because of the fantasy. I’m an idiot.
But now that I caught up! Go get him Ethan… or Sal… or Amber…
Danny: Launcher of A THOUSAND ships.
Did too. Ethan/Danny will be an interesting matchup.
Wow, was Not Expecting That…but I’mma Role with It Anyway! The Undertones have Officially Become Overtones at Last.
oh WE KNOW where that speech bubble is originating from.
HAPPY 1000TH POST!
that’s gotta be a new personal best for willis.
still hasn’t beaten writer
Joyce is gonna blow a valve.
OK. I expected something like the first three (2.5?) panels. I expected the thought bubble. I didn’t expect whose thought bubble it would be.
Then I saw his face.
Now I’m a believer.
hhoottt hot hot hot hot hot hothot hot
friends I would like to point out the perfect artistry of captain cederberg’s comment, it is perfect, captain cederberg you are perfect
OK, I audibly gasped when I read this strip. Then I forgot to breathe momentarily. I actually teared up a little too…
I have nothing against gays or bisexuals, except for occasionally, if I get lucky, and they decide to come in and dance real close.
A+
With extra credit.
I had to re-read this a few times. It was worth it.
Vegeta, what does the scouter say about the comment count?
IT’S OVER ONE-THOUSAAAND!
Danny right now https://40.media.tumblr.com/0843ac4d2d4ff5781e8ff08a9bf9477b/tumblr_mx3qv92Ay41rpp884o1_400.jpg
+1
So it looks like Joe was right. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/romance/
So Danny is maybe bi-curious. BFD. I would feel bad for Amber if she saw this, not really so much for Joyce.
There’s no “maybe” about it and he’s not just curious. He’s full blown bi.
Dear god, everything about this strip is awesome.
The obvious stuff first:
Bisexuality? Awesome.
Queer!boy makeouts (even imaginary ones)? Awesome.
Epic Queer!boy drama? Awesome.
Epic Queer!boy drama involving a relationship that would actually be pretty good for both of the boys involved? Super awesome.
But the strip itself is awesome in so many ways. The layout and the fantasy-fading-into-sketch effect is awe… inspiring. But really, I love the way this strip works, the way it plays with expectations. Because of yaoi cliches, we expect falling over together to be followed by epic gayness; because of obliviously flirty Danny and obviously infatuated Ethan, we expect fantasies of makeouts… everything about this strip is completely expected — and then we notice where the thought bubble’s coming from, and OH SNAP!
So seriously, this is a fantastic strip — plays masterfully with the audience. Good job, great and mighty Willis.
… But I’m still not Patreoning you, ’cause I’m a dick.
Congrats all on hitting the 1000 comment mark! Most impressive.
Over a thousand comments for four panels with no dialogue. Now I know where the bar is set.
Arguably only 3 panels!
……Dammit! You’re right!
Yes yes yes yes yes commenting for the first time to say that it’s my birthday and of course it’s just a coincidence but this feels like a gift and it’s making me very happy so thank you.
God I just really hope Joyce and Amber will be okay ;w; <3
(totally thought lightsabermario was joking at first 0.0)
Ahhhhhhhhhh I love this strip so much that after “read”ing it sixish times I have to scroll alllllllllll the way down and comment because it gives me all the feels.
I still have some love for Amber x Danny- after their moment after Amber bludgeoned Blaine, they just seemed so damn cute. And… unlike a lot of my fellow shippers, I just can’t see Amber as poly, and the idea of a threesome with these guys does not work for me. I love her, but I think the jealousy and uncertainty would chew away at her; especially at this point in her life. I… just don’t see her being able to work through those emotions. So nope. Danny and Ethan going anywhere in their cuteness would kill Amber x Danny and bury Amber’s trust in the two people keeping her a teeny bit sane and I love her so much D=
But Danny being bi makes me happy (representationnnnnn), and him and Ethan are fucking adorable, and gaaaaaaaaaaaah all my shipper’s feeeeeeels
Amber and Dorothy must now become best friends forever so she has some support beyond her old and new relationship drama.
And now Danny working through understanding his own sexuality. =D Is it just me, or do bisexual peeps in comics tend to just appear already out of the closet and comfortable with themselves? I’m so stupidly excited to see Danny coming to terms with himself, and figuring out what he wants and his own place along the spectrum, and coming out to a world that doesn’t always think bisexuality even exists, and… and… arrrrrgggghhhhablagh this is exciting. =D
I’ve posted about this several times, but each post has been thematically different, and I just have SO MANY FEELS.
I can see Amber as poly, if only with this specific combination. I have a very similar personality to hers, and I’d only be fine with poly if I felt like I had a strong connection with both other participants. I’m kinda jealous and insecure myself, and if people in a poly relationship gave me reason to feel like a ‘third wheel,’ it’d be terrible, but there’s absolutely no reason to think Danny and Ethan would do that to her. And while the fact that Danny “rejected” the Amber version of Amber/Amazigirl might seem like a betrayal, I’ve realized now that it wasn’t – it was Danny not wanting to commit emotional infidelity.
I also can’t imagine Danny and Ethan going any further than a kiss without talking to Amber first about things. They’ve both spent the past two days talking about how much they care about her, it’s not like mutual attraction instantly erases all morals. Amber has shown herself to be sexually progressive in a fannish way, so I don’t think she’d think a kiss (which hasn’t even happened yet) was a faith-destroying betrayal.
There is also CRAZY foreshadowing that she’d be fine with this specific triad (and it’s perfectly reasonable to find yourself in a triad even if you never considered yourself inherently poly). She’s fantasized about a MMF three way where the guys focused on each other. When she flipped out about Joyce, part of it was because it hurt her to see Ethan with another GIRL. The implication there being that she wants Ethan to be able to express his sexuality, but if he’s not going to do that and he’s going to have a girl in his life for mostly-platonic relationship-esque companionship, why can’t that girl be her?
So to lay it all out, I don’t think Amber is inherently poly, but she’s already expressed that
1) she’s into the idea of an MMF threesome
2) she wants Ethan to accept who he is and find someone he can be sexual with who also respects him as a person
3) she’d be jealous of any other girl who got to be part of a platonic partnership with Ethan.
Now, all those things could be true and she could still not be able to handle the reality of a poly relationship. But from my perspective, it looks more likely that a relationship like that would be very good for her.
Honestly, I’m more worried that Amber will find out about this, think “Oh, in order to let Ethan really express who he is, I should let him focus on Danny,” and unnecessarily remove herself from the equation based on angst and self-sacrifice. But we shall see. We shall see.
oh my god I see what you are saying and now I am so absurdly ridiculously hopeful I cannot even TELLLLL YOUUUUU
Can I just say I love their little smiles in panel two? Because they don’t just match and they’re so clearly nervous and it’s pretty dang cute.
Panels 1-3 are all part of Danny’s fantasy.
I think it could be interpreted differently, just as panel 3 part of the fantasy. I looooove the idea that they made actual cute smiles at each other, and despite the blurring in the top corner, the rest of the panel looks realistic and real-life-y.
in panel 2, they’re also bringing their faces closer to each other for the subsequent kiss (ethan’s lowering his head, danny’s raising it)
plus, y’know, the frames
I’m pretty sure the first three panels are all danny’s fantasy
I actually hope they become a thing. Here’s to DannyxEthan! May their ship sail true
Danny is bi? I’m okay with that guy. What I’m not okay is the revelation possibly breaking Amber. D:
RAAAAAGH WHY ARE THERE STILL ELEVEN MORE MINUTES
FIVE MINUTES DSKJFDSKfdg
It’s midnight! Where’s the new comic?!?!
o_O 
1,108 at midnight.
/pretends this is still the latest strip
ho hum
“oh cool they’re still making out in panel three”
another soldier has fallen
OH MY GOD.
IS HE
IS HE ACTUALLY BI?
HOLY SHIT.
FANFIC MODE ENGAGED.
I can’t believe it took me several hours before I made the connection: this is almost exactly how *I* realized that I’m bi! Admittedly the gay end of bi, but still, it was like so . . .
(unsuspecting, unsuspecting, unsuspecting, “Gee my friend over there looks really hot now that he’s taken his shirt off”, unsuspecting, unsuspe- “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!”)
And slowly, I came to realize that all of the signs were there, especially the same-sex celebrity crush–MacGyver, if you all must know.
Poor Amber. I know this is dumbingofage where people make stupid relationship decisions, but she has already been through so much.
Rebooted Walkyverse: EVERYONE IS QUEER (meant as an all-inclusive term, not a derogatory. Queer power!)
….so exactly the same as the Walkyverse then?
Grrrrrr, I hate posting on old comics but I am doing a archive binge and just realized something. I think I called this, albeit somewhat jokingly in book 04-02.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/horrorshow/
Uhhhhhh…
I have caught up with the comic and now I’m just sitting here staring at this wishing desperately that Ethan could be happy and kiss boys and I am totally okay with Danny being one of those boys, and then I remember Amber and I’m like goddammit
Another piece of advice from Joe that Danny ignored completely…
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/04-the-bechdel-test/hotter/
Import one of the best gay characters in webcomics, still took four years to get a boy-on-boy kiss and IT’S IMAGINARY.
rereading, and HOLY SHIT I MISSED THIS ONE. I’ve been thinking everything’s been implied between the two of them, with no actual connection.
Poor Amber.
It would be good for Ethan. But. This cannot happen to Amber twice. ;; Especially not in this way. ;; I FEAR FOR HER MENTAL STABILITY.
…But you can’t change who you are, or who you like. (Tread carefully, you two.)
These comments really aren’t going to help me stop joking that bisexuals and aces are natural enemies. Because I am totally jealous that they get this, and I never get anything. Well, except for that one time in that one story, but frankly that’s worse since now I know what I’m missing.
I mean, nothing against Carla, but she’s not exactly a main character, plus she’s ONLY ace and not also arom.
This strip still makes me smile like a happy idiot whenever I see it. :’)