Y’know, I got personal reasons to defend Sticky Dilly Buns’ honor… but I’m more concerned about the idea that the two strips are “starting to read alike” because, I guess, they both feature male gay flirting. That seems a little… not progressive? (It can’t be the specific setup “straight guy joke-flirts with closeted gay guy, unconsciously turning him on.” We don’t even HAVE any closeted characters.)
Man, that’s a little embarrassing. It’s still not our “typical” setup, which is what I get from the earlier comment, so my argument’s not indefensible. But still, I really shoulda remembered that one.
Even though Ethan came out in high school, he is not generally out to people at IU who did not know him from high school. Joyce knows, and Amber outed him to Sarah, but Danny does not actually have any reasonable way of knowing.
Basically Ethan’s entire character arc to this point has been him trying to shut the closet door, it’s not really all that accurate to say he’s not closeted.
This is a response to a vague pronoun on my part. I’m involved with Sticky Dilly Buns as the editor, so when I say “we don’t have any [currently] closeted characters” I mean that SDB doesn’t. DoA has at least one in Ethan: it’s hard to be 100% sure whether certain characters want to keep their sexuality quiet or not (Mandy, Grace, Robin DeSanto) or just how far their bicuriosity really goes (Danny, Joyce).
People that they can both be with and be sure that they’re respective secrets won’t interfere with the relationship, while having their partners both accept them and help them through. Having someone to rely on, in a just overly enough manner that it becomes unhealthy.
Also guys.
Danny can’t not Dan things up at every possible opportunity. It’s his unwanted superpower. Kinda like how Mike is a force of destructive nature. It has to happen because Danny.
Ha, your comment reminds me of a guy I used to know who hated me because we had the same taste in men (almost identical dating history too, now that I think of it).
“Yah do realize that bein’ a rebel means not actin’ like somebody else, raght?”
“Then why do you look like all the rebels I see being rebellious on television?”
“…”
I just want to see him make an awkward ass of himself on more fronts!
I’m imagining some kind of awkward triad with Danny, Ethan, and Amber that doesn’t connect on the Ethan and Amber sides of it. I can feel the Schadenfreude from here.
Right, his entire life is basically that one episode every sitcom has on repeat, where an entire confrontation could be avoided if that one guy had been paying attention.
Oh, crap, but looking back Amber did tell him about past boyfriend(s) being gay, so he could put 2 and 2 together. (though Ethan is clearly avoiding it with his ‘I dunno…’, so I can see Danny being trusting and going with it).
…I had totally forgotten that Amber told him that. Okay, so it’s not entirely a case of “Danny doesn’t know something important because he has no way of knowing it”. I mean, I don’t especially fault him for not remembering that Amber said that a month ago, but he does technically have the information he needs.
And, I mean, yes, Joyce, but Danny also knows that when Amber saw Ethan with a girlfriend she turned into a thundercloud of doom and dragged him outside to yell at him. Which, if Danny had remembered her previous statement at the time, would be pretty suggestive.
Of course the question if Danny retained that piece of information. If Danny’s fine with homosexuality then he likely just shrugged it off as a valid reason to break up and moved on. I know we rag on him for being oblivious but we can’t expect him to keep a list of every little detail Amber ever said to him.
I would probably be in the same position. I think Amber mentioning her past experiences is definitely something he should have filed away (as it seems to be a pretty big deal), but I can’t slight him for not thinking of it now. Like I said, he (probably) thinks Ethan has a girlfriend (and of course, Ethan wouldn’t do what he did to Amber to ANOTHER girl!) and Ethan is specifically dodging the question here (I mean, if that’s what happened between him and Amber, he’d just say so, right?).
But it still sets up the fact that Danny at least had the clues, which could set-up a ‘wacky misunderstanding’ type of situation that he’s so good about falling into.
Danny is part of Ethan’s whole “college is the time to be a nerd and live my life the way I want to, and ignore the whole ‘gay’ issue which only causes me trouble” plan. I hope he’s able to find some happiness from it.
However…
Let’s just say, “I’ve read enough Willis to know where this leads.”
Can we just casually mention that Danny is flirting harder than Ethan, and has already done so in the past? “Tall, well chinned chunk of dude,” indeed.
Both 616 and Ultimate Peter Parker are back, though the return of Ultimate Pete is a bit of a mystery. It probably has something to do with the other thing that’s new in Spider-Man, a mass crossover event where Spider-Men (and women) from different worlds and timelines team up because of a universal threat… to Spider-Man.
Also Miles’ girlfriend is going to dump him because he told her he’s Spider-Man.
I’m actually curious if Ethan actually has a specific type of ‘guy’ he’s into. He’s been shown to be at the very least mildly attracted to Jacob, Jocelyne, and Danny, all who are pretty varied.
Nothing that says he has to be into a specific kind or trait, but it’s more like a case of ‘does he jack off to Spider-man or Thor’?
He probably has wide tastes. Personally I prefer chubby ladies, but I’ll date a smallish girl too if our personalities click. Also I’ll date someone if they’re attracted to me cuz I’m easy like sunday morning.
I’ll date most any human beings. Perhaps even sentient non-human organic lifeforms/sentient, non-human non-organic life, if the language barrier for either is not a huge issue, and self-awareness and moderate-level intelligence are a given.
I just want a hug, or an equivalent to one. Just don’t kill me from doing so and we’ll be fine.
The metaphorical butterfly flap that will end in a drama hurricane, possibly between Danny,Ethan,Amber,and Joyce. I expect flipped tables,hair pulling, and um…something even more over the top than the Danthan fics being written up at this moment. How about…Joe finds out what happened to Joyce?
Dude, if Joe finds out what happened to Joyce, all I’d imagine him seeing is red. Since Joe is a ladies’ man, I could see Joe being hugely supportive and understanding of Joyce and be very fucking pissed that someone would treat a girl so horribly. I’d expect a manhunt, too. And imagine if Roz was informed. A girl a party getting assaulted? She’d do everything she can to find that asshole. Possibly call in a favor from her older sis.
Joe is pretty much that guy who likes sex a lot with willing partners, but will totally crush anyone who dares to hurt a girl at the same time. He is not a sleazy guy about it, he is honest about who he is and is perfectly gentlemanly on a date – he didn’t let Mike hit Joyce even though Mike had hit him, but he didn’t show double standards either because he also went ‘what the hell Joyce, why I am getting hit in the face’.
And now the Image of Joe becoming a sidekick to Amazi-Girl,not fully prepared for a costume, and running around in a banana hammock is in my head. He also ends up stealing Ethan away from Danny.
Oh my God Ethan’s gonna get the wrong signal and kiss Danny right as Amber turns the corner and she’ll get the wrong idea and slide deeper into chaos? Never saw it coming.
These are people that are fans of David Willis, a master of forcing fictional characters to do things so unnaturally unfortunate in their lives its as if a god wanted them to just die in a fire. If you expect fans of the series to not want Amber to be even nuttier than she is already, you may need a course in psychology.
i think the same thing with girls who i have never met. only over the internet. its like. is she flirting i dont want to sound weird and she gets creeped out. *screams* ‘takes boring way out’
Very few of the male characters interact all that regularly. And most of them aren’t particularly likable. Danny and Ethan are getting along and not annoying anyone at the moment but most of the time they are. It’s hard to enjoy dude on dude action when you want to smack both participants.
You know, just a couple days ago, I was wondering how Willis could get some dude-on-dude action going over at Slipshine with the cast of Dumbing since there isn’t much of that going on over here. And, as if Willis from several months ago was reading my mind, here is the answer. Maybe. Hopefully.
This is a David Willis comic, at least one party will be satisfied with the results. Even if it’s just Mike admiring that catastrophe that is the rest of the casts’ lives.
And now I chortle at yesterday’s commenters who were so glad Ethan was getting some guy/guy interaction without being reminded of being back in the closet.
oh my god, they would be such a cute couple~~~ If I didn’t want Amber to be with Danny, I would so be rooting for Ethan and Danny all the way *proceeds to look up fanart & fanfiction* Now THAT couple would make a good NSFW comic *sigh*
If you drop the ‘wonder what Spiderman is doing”?, Danny just came on to Ethan full steam ahead, from “you got ’em all” to “buy me dinner.”
That last sentence tends to derail it.
It sure derailed Ethan.
Amber is getting her act together. She knows she can do it now, and she knows she has a good friend in Dorothy. Also knows she has admirers.
I hope Ethan and Danny don’t ship, because I like them being “friends”. They both need a friend. Ethan needs a friend who will not judge him, and I don’t think Danny will. (for whatever reason).
Danny needs a friend who will not use him to make himself look good.
And Amber doesn’t need either one of them. A shame to loose a childhood friend in Ethan, but it happens.
Also, saying Amber doesn’t need either of them is a bit harsh, I think. In this case, it’s entirely possible for their friendships to be mended; it’ll just have to survive another drama tornado before reaching that point.
And personally, I think Danny is a lot better than how people perceive him to be, but that’s just me.
No…. No it isn’t just you. Having been a ‘Danny’ type all the way through high school and the first little bit of college, I love him and want him to get to the point where he ‘gets’ things without Dannying them up.
Ethan is walking a very thin line in order to exert his newly-found “creative freedom” over his own life, which he doesn’t seem to realize affects everyone around him both positively and negatively.
True, he may be getting the intended benefits of pretending to be straight — his male friends never second-guess what they say to him, they don’t feel uncomfortable around him when partially unclothed, and he’s not getting the kind of negative judgment he got back before college started — but now he seems to be in a position where anything ambiguously flirtatious or physically appealing to him is arousing and he doesn’t know what to do. Basically, to attain an outwardly hetero appearance so he can express himself as he once could, he’s sacrificed his ability to do so freely with an entirely new identity, now having to conform himself to societal standards that don’t apply to him no matter how much he tries to obey.
It’s fortunate that he has some really good friends, because even if he were to come out as gay and they were upset because he lied to them, I’m sure that they would be able to understand, to move past it, and accept his apology.
The only one I’m worried about in the above scenario is Joyce; her introduction to sexuality was not the greatest, and she is now using Ethan as a crutch to heal from that. She feels safe around him, and she knows that, because he can’t reciprocate her feelings, he won’t try anything sexual on her. It seems to me that she does not understand the implications of not having her feelings reciprocated. She has so many idea in her mind about getting married, specifically to Ethan, and her altruistic goal of trying to help Ethan hide his homosexuality is sprinkled with her suppressed teenage lust and desire to experiment with sex in a safe environment. But none of these things can happen if Ethan can’t reciprocate her feelings.
So, if Ethan were to come out as gay, therefore (at least in her mind) taking away Joyce’s crutch, how would she respond/react? Would she understand? Would she feel betrayed? That’s what I’ll be watching out for.
Having said the above, though, Ethan coming out as gay wouldn’t necessarily break the kind relationship he and Joyce have; maybe they wouldn’t officially specifically boyfriend and girlfriend, but they can still be close, and Ethan can still cover as her “boyfriend” and give her that stability she needs, but Joyce would have to accept his decision to date guys as well, and essentially compromise what she had been taught about relationships in order to accept this new reality. Would she be able to do that?
Think he’s more than a kind-of love interest at this point. He’s her kind-of boyfriend.
The situation as I recall it is that they were dating and then she stopped taking his calls and now he’s not sure where he stands with her. They’ve got some stuff to sort out but he’s not single yet.
It’s more complicated than that. Danny was dating Amazi-Girl, and then he went on a wacky sitcom pretend date with Amber and ended up for-real dumping her, so Amazi-Girl stood him up for their real date, and then Amber saw him flirting with her half-naked nemesis, and then her father took him hostage and Amazi-Girl rescued him and Amber beat the shit out of her father and it was revealed to Danny that they’re the same girl, and then Amazi-Girl totally Batmanned him and they haven’t talked since, so it’s not real clear if either of them think that they’re together now.
…okay, I know it’s Danny, but… I can’t help but get the impression that he did, in fact, put all the clues together correctly, in a matter of seconds, and then made a semi-subtle joke about it.
Oh my god, Danny’s going to feel so awkward when he learns that Ethan is gay!
Like, years ago I was joking about a friend and girls and then I learned he was gay and I feel awful even today. Thanks for reminding me about this feeling, Willis.
I love the way this is exactly what Ethan said he wanted: He wanted a friend who didn’t know him as the gay dude, but as the comic book and robot dude. And now he’s finding out that he’s reacting to almost every thing Danny says as if Danny were intentionally flirting. He’s finding out that the Closet he’s hiding in has walls, and they are pressing in.
I love that, and I also love that I’m pretty sure that if Danny knew, he’d be chill about it and think of him as the comic book and robot dude who, incidentally, is also gay. And then they could be bros with 90% less awkward accidental flirting.
And when I say love, I mean it makes me want to shake sense into Ethan until his teeth rattle.
You know, I really haven’t had much reason up to this point to think Danny might be anything other than heterosexual, but…if Willis wants to go down this road I am certainly not opposed
Willis, I moved into my dorm today. And, I just felt like saying, damn you.
Damn you for giving me weirdly high and specific expectations for college. Also, damn you for getting me into Transformers. It’s a money sink, but I love it. Keep up the good work, man.
I don’t think Joyce should be in there (her relationship with Ethan is pretty fundamentally (pun kinda intended) unhealthy, and anyway I’m shipping her with Dorothy and Walky), but I could support Amber and Ethan making a Danwich.
Or Amazi-Girl and Ethan-cosplaying-Nightwing and Danny-as-Hawkeye.
Oh my god Danny is going to find out Ethan’s gay and this is going to haunt him forever.
Especially because it’s a noogie, man. Why would he buy you dinner for a noogie? You wouldn’t give a noogie to a girl you liked, unless you were six. Jesus.
“Straight guy accidentally flirting with me because he’s more confident in his sexuality then I am in mine”? Yeah. I remember those days. Damn those were awkward.
this is actually not too far off my own experience as a college freshman. Oblivious to the point of high comedy. though whe I realized I was getting hit on by a friend who was a guy, I surprised myself by actually feeling flattered and not freaking out about it. Not to bad a reaction for 1993.
Loading ...
Interesting subject, Danny.
It’s starting to read like “Sticky Dilly Buns” around here, and I only made the visit for the Menage a 3 with Didi & Sonya!!
No it’s not starting to read like that because this comic is still enjoyable.
Y’know, I got personal reasons to defend Sticky Dilly Buns’ honor… but I’m more concerned about the idea that the two strips are “starting to read alike” because, I guess, they both feature male gay flirting. That seems a little… not progressive? (It can’t be the specific setup “straight guy joke-flirts with closeted gay guy, unconsciously turning him on.” We don’t even HAVE any closeted characters.)
Well, except for the most recent strips flashing back to Dillon’s high school years… that one actually did read pretty similarly, to be fair.
And if it makes you feel better, I found both that strip and this one to be some of the better in their respective comics.
Man, that’s a little embarrassing. It’s still not our “typical” setup, which is what I get from the earlier comment, so my argument’s not indefensible. But still, I really shoulda remembered that one.
This is what happens. You got the Willis lice.. You need a special shampoo and *may* have to shave a Go-Bots logo into your hair to get rid of it.
Tonka Go-Bots or Playskool Go-Bots?
(And thanks, Aydr.)
Even though Ethan came out in high school, he is not generally out to people at IU who did not know him from high school. Joyce knows, and Amber outed him to Sarah, but Danny does not actually have any reasonable way of knowing.
Basically Ethan’s entire character arc to this point has been him trying to shut the closet door, it’s not really all that accurate to say he’s not closeted.
Ethan outed himself to Sarah, asking him if he knew he was gay was one of the first things she said to him.
This is a response to a vague pronoun on my part. I’m involved with Sticky Dilly Buns as the editor, so when I say “we don’t have any [currently] closeted characters” I mean that SDB doesn’t. DoA has at least one in Ethan: it’s hard to be 100% sure whether certain characters want to keep their sexuality quiet or not (Mandy, Grace, Robin DeSanto) or just how far their bicuriosity really goes (Danny, Joyce).
no Ethan stay strong think about Joyce….. I’m not helping am I?
well thinking of Joyce would likely kill his boner.
Danny turned into an ape for a second in panel 6.
His boner assumed direct control. . .
Does it have Harbinger’s voice?
My headcanon says yes.
I was gonna say Joe
Synonomous!
His… Joener?
… I hate my brain this late at night
A hot cuppa Joe?
You didn’t know? Danny is a rejected Nintendo character. He was originally Danny Kong.
He looks Like 2-D from the Gorillaz in Profile, like in the music video to ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’.
He turned into JOE!
Well, I think they were both looking for something a little more similar…
People that they can both be with and be sure that they’re respective secrets won’t interfere with the relationship, while having their partners both accept them and help them through. Having someone to rely on, in a just overly enough manner that it becomes unhealthy.
Also guys.
I just hope Danny doesn’t Danny it up when he finds out Ethan is gay.
I’m really liking them as buddies here.
Danny can’t not Dan things up at every possible opportunity. It’s his unwanted superpower. Kinda like how Mike is a force of destructive nature. It has to happen because Danny.
Pretty sure he already knows. “You’d better buy me dinner first” combined with that face
Can’t tell if it’s that or a Danny moment.
I don’t think Danny would care, he’d probably be hard on himself after looking back and sticking his foot in his mouth.
Ha, your comment reminds me of a guy I used to know who hated me because we had the same taste in men (almost identical dating history too, now that I think of it).
The character assassination of Black Cat?
Oh Ethan, poor poor Ethan.
I wanna know what kind of headlock noogie requires dinner first.
The kind that Ethan wants to give Danny, of course.
I’m gonna go with “the kind that requires a hungry college student as a target”…
It depends on which head is been noogied. 😀
When I’ve done the “other” head like that, I’ve been told, “OW”
I am shipping it to hard right now.
Why does these comics always end with new pairings? Is Willis just doing this on purpose now?
YES!
Yes.
Is there any other reason to do this?
More Slipshine Comics?
As seen here!
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/gettoclass/
We don’t say ‘Damn You, Willis’ for no raisin.
Right, we say it for these raisins: http://underscoopfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/raisins.jpg
What in the name of dear holy God are those?
The california raisins
They heard it through the grapevine.
Holy crap, do I feel old now.
They were a failed advertising campaign because many people thought that they looked like shit, not a good thing when you’re trying to sell food.
The aim is to have every single character shipped with every single other character.
I look forward to the Dina and Sal comics.
“Yah do realize that bein’ a rebel means not actin’ like somebody else, raght?”
“Then why do you look like all the rebels I see being rebellious on television?”
“…”
I love it.
If only they had a LIKE button BB2.
hence http://sgpsketch.tumblr.com/post/87568870834/what-is-this-i-dont-even
I feel like the current aim is to specifically have Danny shipped with every other character, man or woman.
At the same time???
I know right. Jake Gyllenhaal and Nightwing. What a fantastic ship.
What do you mean now?
I was trying not to but this strip pulled me down the shipping well.
I knoooooow. I love Amber so much and don’t want her hurt by this but man the force is strong with this ship. x_x
WE CAN SHIP IT
YES, WE CAN!
The Amber icons are perfect for that.
ooooooooooooooooh dear
Wires crossed!
Good thing Danny’s main talent is being utterly oblivious, eh Ethan?
His secondary talent is somehow always saying the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time at every opportunity. He’s just gifted like that.
This is known as “Danning it up.” He is an expert at it.
To be fair, Ethan isn’t being completely obvious with this
This would make an interesting love triangle.
I’m thinking threesome.
threesome hype
Amber watching Danny and Ethan make out with a hand down her pants while wearing her Amazi-girl mask cuz it makes her feel more creepy.
Actually by my count this is already up to a 7-way.
We could make it an 8-way, if we throw Faz in.
Ugh, but why would you?
Why not?
And what can you drink during your 7-way? 7-up.
(Admit it. That would make you wanna buy a 7-up)
And Seagram’s 7. Then it would be 7 & 7 for 7.
Now available at 7-11.
Make 7 up yours!
Dat OT3 tho. I rike it.
Ah, Danny. As oblivious as always. How we love or hate you.
Oooh, how you are loved.
Ethan was a very conflicted boner right now.
That what happens when you have pent up sexually conflicted frustration.
He didn’t just have one; it was so strong, he became the boner.
Be one with the boner. Be the bONEr.
I was reading “adorable like a puppy” but the alt-text tells me that would make him into beastiality
I still say these two hooking up could be what finally causes Amber to snap.
Their corpses would be impossible to identify.
There will be corpses?
Only in the strictest sense.
Strict corpses are so uptight. I blame the rigor mortis.
Rigor M. Ortis was innocent!
Danny used flirt. It’s super effective again! Stop doing that Danny!
He’s so Dan charismatic.
If only Billie was as successful with men… 😀
Or women.
Y’know what? Gay/Bi Danny would be hilarious.
Also adorable. I-hope-I-hope for Bi Danny.
…and hooray for my appropriate Ethan avvy.
I just want to see him make an awkward ass of himself on more fronts!
I’m imagining some kind of awkward triad with Danny, Ethan, and Amber that doesn’t connect on the Ethan and Amber sides of it. I can feel the Schadenfreude from here.
Schadenfreude needs to be renamed to Willis.
I believe Willis is already taken to mean frustrating your readers by toying with their emotions and making them like it.
What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?
Thirded!
why would it be “hilarious”?
See comments slightly higher up.
Danny is adorable. Like a baby that doesn’t know what it’s doing.
Dady I’m sorry I broke this.
How can a baby bestroy an entire new car !? I didn’t even finish the payments on that !
Am I in trouble ?
N-no it ok , stay here with mommy daddies going to take a bus down to Sea World and punch a dolphin in the face.
Like a bear whose head is stuck in the empty ice cream bin.
I wonder who would kick his ass first if he tried to make a move , Amber or Joyce.
Amazi-girl.
Mike would.
Imagine if amber walked in on that happening…
Stop reminding him he hates his sexuality, Dan!
Wait until Jacob pops in from nowhere.
Ethan’s roommate is just as oblivious as Danny.
That’s the point!
I’m at a loss for words.
HMMMMMM! I wonder if Ethan has access to a saddle and a ponytail-buttplug…
Access?? What makes you think he doesn’t already have the set with chaps that match??
Does Danny know Ethans gay?
he does not
Nope 😀
I think we can assume not.
I was going to say if he did it would make his face in panel six all the more interesting
I don’t think he’d be nearly that smooth if he knew he were flirting.
Its still an interesting look on his face though no matter the reason
No?
Okay, let me rephrase: if he knew he was flirting and that it was working.
Since when has Danny ever known anything that wasn’t explicitly spelled out for him moments after everyone else is clued in?
Well, not everyone is in on amazi-girl’s identity, so while it was spelled out for him, he’s actually one of the first non-childhood-friends to know.
>Danny
>Know
Danny doesn’t KNOW things.
Of course he’s not , Danny is always required to be in a situation where he is missing an important piece of information.
Right, his entire life is basically that one episode every sitcom has on repeat, where an entire confrontation could be avoided if that one guy had been paying attention.
Pretty sure part of the introduction was ‘and girlfriend, Joyce.’
Oh, crap, but looking back Amber did tell him about past boyfriend(s) being gay, so he could put 2 and 2 together. (though Ethan is clearly avoiding it with his ‘I dunno…’, so I can see Danny being trusting and going with it).
…I had totally forgotten that Amber told him that. Okay, so it’s not entirely a case of “Danny doesn’t know something important because he has no way of knowing it”. I mean, I don’t especially fault him for not remembering that Amber said that a month ago, but he does technically have the information he needs.
And, I mean, yes, Joyce, but Danny also knows that when Amber saw Ethan with a girlfriend she turned into a thundercloud of doom and dragged him outside to yell at him. Which, if Danny had remembered her previous statement at the time, would be pretty suggestive.
Of course the question if Danny retained that piece of information. If Danny’s fine with homosexuality then he likely just shrugged it off as a valid reason to break up and moved on. I know we rag on him for being oblivious but we can’t expect him to keep a list of every little detail Amber ever said to him.
I would probably be in the same position. I think Amber mentioning her past experiences is definitely something he should have filed away (as it seems to be a pretty big deal), but I can’t slight him for not thinking of it now. Like I said, he (probably) thinks Ethan has a girlfriend (and of course, Ethan wouldn’t do what he did to Amber to ANOTHER girl!) and Ethan is specifically dodging the question here (I mean, if that’s what happened between him and Amber, he’d just say so, right?).
But it still sets up the fact that Danny at least had the clues, which could set-up a ‘wacky misunderstanding’ type of situation that he’s so good about falling into.
Danny is part of Ethan’s whole “college is the time to be a nerd and live my life the way I want to, and ignore the whole ‘gay’ issue which only causes me trouble” plan. I hope he’s able to find some happiness from it.
However…
Let’s just say, “I’ve read enough Willis to know where this leads.”
So, Amber and Ethan do, in fact, have the same taste in men.
And Danny too, apparently.
Clearly a 3-way is just the thing to revive their friendship.
dangit, I had done a comic for another web comic that was directly related to this, but I can’t find it anymore… =<
LOOKS LIKE I WILL HAVE TO REDRAW IT FOR DOA
I didn’t even know Jen Aside drew. Learn something new everyday.
I don’t like to do it so much under a work-questionably-unfriendly pseudonym, is all.
3 way with them feels like a “Hello My Love” trainwreck.
It worked so well in “Chasing Amy”!
Jake Gyllenhaal and Nightwing – well I have a better picture of what a real Ethan looks like now.
Oh! OH! This is the first (roughly) time I’ve seen Ethan wear short sleeves!
He’s worn short sleeves before actually. No tank tops alas.
Did he wear them before this arc?
Memory tells me when he showed Joyce his new haircut, but I might be wrong.
No, your memory’s on par.
Huh. Maybe this thing could work.
Oh, Sassy Danny, you’re fun.
Sassy Danny is the best Danny.
Also, speaking of things regarding Jake Gyllenhaal and DC/Marvel superhero names…
http://cdn2.gossipcenter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/story_header/photos/nightcrawler-trailer-072314sp.jpg
Great, Now I ship Ethan and Danny! >_<;
Can we just casually mention that Danny is flirting harder than Ethan, and has already done so in the past? “Tall, well chinned chunk of dude,” indeed.
Danny used flirt. It was Super Effective!
And it’s not the first time.
So when’s the one where Danny and Ethan sword fight?
Y’know, naked.
And oiled.
And… and…
…I’ll be in my bunk.
You mean the kind of swordfight that doesn’t use swords but instead their–
. . .
Got anymore room in that bunk?
Corsair and Average are thinking about dudes and will now bunk together?
We’re gonna need more bunks
We’re gonna need a bigger bunk.
oh. ohmai. *blushes intensely despite himself*
can I hide in there with y’all?
“The one where Danny and Ethan swordfight” is the title of the next Willis slipshine.
Neeks, you deserve a hundred internets for that.
Woohoo, I’ll have enough for a free vacation* in no time!
*some conditions apply, inquire within for details
What is new with Spider Man lately?
Well, he’s back to being Spider-Man and not Doctor Octopus now.
If I hadn’t already known that Superior Spider-Man was a thing, I would feel like you were burying the lead a bit there.
That may have something to do with the fact I would like to bury that storyline. Or at least 95% of SpOck’s dialogue.
Just reading the word SpOck and knowing it means Spider Octopus hurts a tiny bit.
Both 616 and Ultimate Peter Parker are back, though the return of Ultimate Pete is a bit of a mystery. It probably has something to do with the other thing that’s new in Spider-Man, a mass crossover event where Spider-Men (and women) from different worlds and timelines team up because of a universal threat… to Spider-Man.
Also Miles’ girlfriend is going to dump him because he told her he’s Spider-Man.
Spider-Man has so much potential as a character; how have they butchered the stories so badly? Even just hearing about them makes me shudder.
I just realized, Danny’s signaling he’s comfortable with mpreg in the first panel. No wonder Ethan’s all confused.
And.. now I have ‘mpreg’ in my google history.
I’d be mad at you, but really, I have nobody to blame but myself.
You…didn’t know? I feel like I went deer hunting and accidentally shot a unicorn. 🙁
Huh. Maybe I won’t google that now.
Mpreg as a concept is actually rather sweet. It could turn weird if it’s not handled in a medically feasible way, sure, but what couldn’t?
…”medically feasible”?
Your grav just works so well for this comment.
Like, implanting a womb and delivering by cesarean, as opposed to magical/handwaved conception and delivery through the butt.
Aw, don’t worry, I got better. I’ma whinny and gallop off into the rainbow distance.
OMG! You’re a Robot Unicorn now!!!
Okay, normally I’m one of the first guys to scream about Danny being oblivious, but I’m too busy laughing.
Now kiss
Ethan the boyfriend wrecker.
I’m actually curious if Ethan actually has a specific type of ‘guy’ he’s into. He’s been shown to be at the very least mildly attracted to Jacob, Jocelyne, and Danny, all who are pretty varied.
Nothing that says he has to be into a specific kind or trait, but it’s more like a case of ‘does he jack off to Spider-man or Thor’?
He probably has wide tastes. Personally I prefer chubby ladies, but I’ll date a smallish girl too if our personalities click. Also I’ll date someone if they’re attracted to me cuz I’m easy like sunday morning.
I’ll date most any human beings. Perhaps even sentient non-human organic lifeforms/sentient, non-human non-organic life, if the language barrier for either is not a huge issue, and self-awareness and moderate-level intelligence are a given.
I just want a hug, or an equivalent to one. Just don’t kill me from doing so and we’ll be fine.
😐
I like your attitude.
Hugs are great. Like, the best.
Captain Jack Harkness is my spirit animal.
I’m sure by wide tastes you mean he tastes a wide variety of men.
sorry, it was too easy.
I’m sorry, but if Ethan had widely tasted men we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
I guess living with Joe’s messed up any hope of gaydar Danny might ever have had?
The metaphorical butterfly flap that will end in a drama hurricane, possibly between Danny,Ethan,Amber,and Joyce. I expect flipped tables,hair pulling, and um…something even more over the top than the Danthan fics being written up at this moment. How about…Joe finds out what happened to Joyce?
Dude, if Joe finds out what happened to Joyce, all I’d imagine him seeing is red. Since Joe is a ladies’ man, I could see Joe being hugely supportive and understanding of Joyce and be very fucking pissed that someone would treat a girl so horribly. I’d expect a manhunt, too. And imagine if Roz was informed. A girl a party getting assaulted? She’d do everything she can to find that asshole. Possibly call in a favor from her older sis.
Yeah, that’s a thing I like a lot about Joe: he’s something of a chivalrous pervert.
Joe is pretty much that guy who likes sex a lot with willing partners, but will totally crush anyone who dares to hurt a girl at the same time. He is not a sleazy guy about it, he is honest about who he is and is perfectly gentlemanly on a date – he didn’t let Mike hit Joyce even though Mike had hit him, but he didn’t show double standards either because he also went ‘what the hell Joyce, why I am getting hit in the face’.
Joe is pretty awesome over all.
I will admit he has his merits, but honestly he’s kind of a bad friend, at least for Danny to rely on alone.
Roz wasn’t specifically told, but she has some idea.
And now the Image of Joe becoming a sidekick to Amazi-Girl,not fully prepared for a costume, and running around in a banana hammock is in my head. He also ends up stealing Ethan away from Danny.
The love child of Jake Gyllenhal and Nightwing. Wish I had those kind of looks working for me.
The only requirements would be that you would be extremely gay and your parents would hate you for it.
Ah, Danny, Danny, Danny….
Oh my God Ethan’s gonna get the wrong signal and kiss Danny right as Amber turns the corner and she’ll get the wrong idea and slide deeper into chaos? Never saw it coming.
why is everybody soo keen on amber breaking a few more eggs cause she has another gay boyfriend
These are people that are fans of David Willis, a master of forcing fictional characters to do things so unnaturally unfortunate in their lives its as if a god wanted them to just die in a fire. If you expect fans of the series to not want Amber to be even nuttier than she is already, you may need a course in psychology.
Maybe everyone else does.
I AM LITERALLY HYPERVENTILATING.
trying so hard not to be homo and you making it like you smokeing in front of someone trying to quit smokeing
I think Danny has officially found his surrogate Joe.
Oh my god, this is too adorable for words.
And also: Poor poor Ethan. I’ve been there, buddy. There’s nothing worse then a straight-guy flirting with you without meaning to flirt with you.
i think the same thing with girls who i have never met. only over the internet. its like. is she flirting i dont want to sound weird and she gets creeped out. *screams* ‘takes boring way out’
Poor Ethan
Ethan and Danny does a sex confirmed?
Danny might be a little bit gay, but I think it is very likely Ethan will have his heart crushed.
With all the people completely on board with the Ethan/Danny ship, I’m extra surprised Willis didn’t get asked to do more male/male kissing pictures.
Maybe next year.
I’m fairly certain he gets more than enough makeout requests in general to be at least a little unnerved. . .even for his twisted mind.
Very few of the male characters interact all that regularly. And most of them aren’t particularly likable. Danny and Ethan are getting along and not annoying anyone at the moment but most of the time they are. It’s hard to enjoy dude on dude action when you want to smack both participants.
Best Alt-Text EVER.
Also, best use ever of “don’t take this the wrong way or nothin'” ever.
You know, just a couple days ago, I was wondering how Willis could get some dude-on-dude action going over at Slipshine with the cast of Dumbing since there isn’t much of that going on over here. And, as if Willis from several months ago was reading my mind, here is the answer. Maybe. Hopefully.
Haha! Danny sure manages to walk into all kinds of crazy situations!
HOOTS N HOLLERS
i love this i cannot wait for it to end so so so terribly for all parties involved
This is a David Willis comic, at least one party will be satisfied with the results. Even if it’s just Mike admiring that catastrophe that is the rest of the casts’ lives.
And now I chortle at yesterday’s commenters who were so glad Ethan was getting some guy/guy interaction without being reminded of being back in the closet.
…………..Fuck it, I’m shipping these two. I don’t care. Joyce, Amber, I don’t care. Those two can take a hike.
Your gravitar of Ethan makes that comment so very much better.
I can’t imagine Joyce/Amber.
It’s a crack pairing for sure…but I can accept it! 😀
and make out on said hike. 😀
Well, Joyce was always going to have to take a hike eventually at least. Amber – needs more good friends first before we can toss Danny.
aawww you made the little gay embarrassed
Considering how Freaking tall Ethan is, I assume you mean the little gay in his pants.
oh my god, they would be such a cute couple~~~ If I didn’t want Amber to be with Danny, I would so be rooting for Ethan and Danny all the way *proceeds to look up fanart & fanfiction* Now THAT couple would make a good NSFW comic *sigh*
Good God Willis what are you doing?
If you drop the ‘wonder what Spiderman is doing”?, Danny just came on to Ethan full steam ahead, from “you got ’em all” to “buy me dinner.”
That last sentence tends to derail it.
It sure derailed Ethan.
Amber is getting her act together. She knows she can do it now, and she knows she has a good friend in Dorothy. Also knows she has admirers.
I hope Ethan and Danny don’t ship, because I like them being “friends”. They both need a friend. Ethan needs a friend who will not judge him, and I don’t think Danny will. (for whatever reason).
Danny needs a friend who will not use him to make himself look good.
And Amber doesn’t need either one of them. A shame to loose a childhood friend in Ethan, but it happens.
Danny also needs a friend who won’t ignore him when he has problems, or berate him when his problems seem trivial.
Also, saying Amber doesn’t need either of them is a bit harsh, I think. In this case, it’s entirely possible for their friendships to be mended; it’ll just have to survive another drama tornado before reaching that point.
And personally, I think Danny is a lot better than how people perceive him to be, but that’s just me.
No…. No it isn’t just you. Having been a ‘Danny’ type all the way through high school and the first little bit of college, I love him and want him to get to the point where he ‘gets’ things without Dannying them up.
If Dan does not give in to Ethan, he has danned up even worse things.
MY SHIP SAILS!
Ethan: you’re Adorable!
Danny: (thinking) just take the complement.
He’s reacting to being called adorable by Ethan a lot differently than being called adorable by Sal.
Ethan is walking a very thin line in order to exert his newly-found “creative freedom” over his own life, which he doesn’t seem to realize affects everyone around him both positively and negatively.
True, he may be getting the intended benefits of pretending to be straight — his male friends never second-guess what they say to him, they don’t feel uncomfortable around him when partially unclothed, and he’s not getting the kind of negative judgment he got back before college started — but now he seems to be in a position where anything ambiguously flirtatious or physically appealing to him is arousing and he doesn’t know what to do. Basically, to attain an outwardly hetero appearance so he can express himself as he once could, he’s sacrificed his ability to do so freely with an entirely new identity, now having to conform himself to societal standards that don’t apply to him no matter how much he tries to obey.
It’s fortunate that he has some really good friends, because even if he were to come out as gay and they were upset because he lied to them, I’m sure that they would be able to understand, to move past it, and accept his apology.
The only one I’m worried about in the above scenario is Joyce; her introduction to sexuality was not the greatest, and she is now using Ethan as a crutch to heal from that. She feels safe around him, and she knows that, because he can’t reciprocate her feelings, he won’t try anything sexual on her. It seems to me that she does not understand the implications of not having her feelings reciprocated. She has so many idea in her mind about getting married, specifically to Ethan, and her altruistic goal of trying to help Ethan hide his homosexuality is sprinkled with her suppressed teenage lust and desire to experiment with sex in a safe environment. But none of these things can happen if Ethan can’t reciprocate her feelings.
So, if Ethan were to come out as gay, therefore (at least in her mind) taking away Joyce’s crutch, how would she respond/react? Would she understand? Would she feel betrayed? That’s what I’ll be watching out for.
Having said the above, though, Ethan coming out as gay wouldn’t necessarily break the kind relationship he and Joyce have; maybe they wouldn’t officially specifically boyfriend and girlfriend, but they can still be close, and Ethan can still cover as her “boyfriend” and give her that stability she needs, but Joyce would have to accept his decision to date guys as well, and essentially compromise what she had been taught about relationships in order to accept this new reality. Would she be able to do that?
Whoops, cross out that extra “specifically” in the last paragraph.
Ethan. Don’t steal Amber’s kind-of love interest. This would be a spectacularly bad idea for many reasons.
Think he’s more than a kind-of love interest at this point. He’s her kind-of boyfriend.
The situation as I recall it is that they were dating and then she stopped taking his calls and now he’s not sure where he stands with her. They’ve got some stuff to sort out but he’s not single yet.
It’s more complicated than that. Danny was dating Amazi-Girl, and then he went on a wacky sitcom pretend date with Amber and ended up for-real dumping her, so Amazi-Girl stood him up for their real date, and then Amber saw him flirting with her half-naked nemesis, and then her father took him hostage and Amazi-Girl rescued him and Amber beat the shit out of her father and it was revealed to Danny that they’re the same girl, and then Amazi-Girl totally Batmanned him and they haven’t talked since, so it’s not real clear if either of them think that they’re together now.
*heavy panting*
I ship it
…okay, I know it’s Danny, but… I can’t help but get the impression that he did, in fact, put all the clues together correctly, in a matter of seconds, and then made a semi-subtle joke about it.
I ship this now.
Yeah, not getting off this ship any time soon. 8D
Well, ETHAN looks like he’s about to get off soon…
Danny is dancing his way into a date.
AAAGH FRSKH#$*(# Autocomplete!
I meant: Danny is danning his way into a date.
both versions are accurate.
Oh my god, Danny’s going to feel so awkward when he learns that Ethan is gay!
Like, years ago I was joking about a friend and girls and then I learned he was gay and I feel awful even today. Thanks for reminding me about this feeling, Willis.
Danny! HOW!??!?! (he asked rhetorically, knowing that, he’s Danny, that’s how….)
*wondering if the alt. text is a reference to Orgazmo or not…*
The awkwardness, she is real!
danning of age.
Hm…I could dig it.
I like the direction this is going!!! Hopefully right to Slipshine!!! (hint, hint)
“Yes homo” so thick you can cut it with a knife.
Danny’s gonna have a banana up his butt.
I love the way this is exactly what Ethan said he wanted: He wanted a friend who didn’t know him as the gay dude, but as the comic book and robot dude. And now he’s finding out that he’s reacting to almost every thing Danny says as if Danny were intentionally flirting. He’s finding out that the Closet he’s hiding in has walls, and they are pressing in.
I love that, and I also love that I’m pretty sure that if Danny knew, he’d be chill about it and think of him as the comic book and robot dude who, incidentally, is also gay. And then they could be bros with 90% less awkward accidental flirting.
And when I say love, I mean it makes me want to shake sense into Ethan until his teeth rattle.
All of this.
You know, I really haven’t had much reason up to this point to think Danny might be anything other than heterosexual, but…if Willis wants to go down this road I am certainly not opposed
*flails excitedly*
Mostly though I just really want to hug Ethan.
nooooOOOO ETHAN BBY
Is Danny 100% straight?
Could this lead somewhere? Or will Ethan be sad again?
Ethan is such a great person
and btw, i dont ship these two.
Amber would be so totally wrecked if Ethan stole Danny from her. Two boyfriends who would rather be with one of her other guy friends than with her.
Willis, I moved into my dorm today. And, I just felt like saying, damn you.
Damn you for giving me weirdly high and specific expectations for college. Also, damn you for getting me into Transformers. It’s a money sink, but I love it. Keep up the good work, man.
you probably won’t bang a future president in three weeks, sorry
Well, maybe not a future POTUS… president of the Lowered Expectations Club, significantly higher chances!
considering that a club like that probly doesn’t exist the chances are actually lower
Damnit! You set up high expectations for banging the “lowered expectations” club president. I should’ve lowered my expectations!
Polyamorous relationship! Joyce, Ethan, Danny, AND Amber! Make it happen, Willis!
I don’t think Joyce should be in there (her relationship with Ethan is pretty fundamentally (pun kinda intended) unhealthy, and anyway I’m shipping her with Dorothy and Walky), but I could support Amber and Ethan making a Danwich.
Or Amazi-Girl and Ethan-cosplaying-Nightwing and Danny-as-Hawkeye.
heh, though they can be cute together, i don’t think EVERY character here is bi/pan… though i will still draw fanfictions about them…
Oh my god Danny is going to find out Ethan’s gay and this is going to haunt him forever.
Especially because it’s a noogie, man. Why would he buy you dinner for a noogie? You wouldn’t give a noogie to a girl you liked, unless you were six. Jesus.
I smell some latent homoerotic feelings awakening in Danny.
Let’s hope he doesn’t Dan them up somehow.
Y’know, I’d say “bad writing, Danny,” but that’s sadly not NEW in Spider-Man.
Willis, you tease! As if I wasn’t shipping these two hard enough already… 😛
Noogies….
That’s second base.
come to think of it, are there “bases” for guys beyond kissing and having sex? Or is it a way to subtly objectify women by equating them to a game:?
“Straight guy accidentally flirting with me because he’s more confident in his sexuality then I am in mine”? Yeah. I remember those days. Damn those were awkward.
I kinda feel like Danny already knows
Oh my goodness these two are adorable.
this is actually not too far off my own experience as a college freshman. Oblivious to the point of high comedy. though whe I realized I was getting hit on by a friend who was a guy, I surprised myself by actually feeling flattered and not freaking out about it. Not to bad a reaction for 1993.
Willis, you should make a tumblr master post for all of Ethan’s “My body is not ready.” moments.
Hashtag ethan’s body is not ready.
Oblivious Danny is oblivious…?