Willard Davis is a a graduate from Texas A&M, that overcame religious dogma, got married, raises triplets, and writes a webcomic about a a catholic girl learning to accept that anime isn’t satanic.
Only those anime which include Satan in their internal lore could be accurately be so considered, such as Blue Exorcist. Of the rest of those demonlord-starring anime of which I am aware, the notion of Satan is antagonistic to the rest of the internal lore. Thus, ‘satanic’ does not apply to them, based on my understanding of the word (and Google’s).
Which is of course a lie of Satan’s. Many anime feature characters with magic powers that don’t come from a Godly source and thus must be satanic, whatever they pretend.
I was paging down to see if anyone saw the Eric Idle thing. Do you think Willis did that on purpose, or is that just a coincidence that Monty Python fans were bound to notice?
Ethan is in college. I recall the three girls I … dated… in my freshman year, and I’m about as attractive as a gargoyle (the downspouts, not the cartoon).
It’s all about “finding yourself”. Some things really don’t change…
The moment when Danny and Mike felt the same emotions. Ethan is just not into monogamy, so Danny’s desire for commitment and Mike’s desire for… whatever he wants aren’t possible at the moment. If Amber was there, the three could sing to the moon.
Because Mike’s frown deepens from seeing Danny look crestfallen. I think he likes Ethan but would rather see Ethan with Danny and is just annoyed his plan didn’t bear fruit faster… and now he may have to seduce this finger guns guy again.
That’s a good point. He definitely has feelings for Ethan on his own behalf, but (bear with me for a moment) is also both self-aware and selfless enough (he may be a demonstrably malicious asshole, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him use his “powers” for personal gain, though he has frequently used them to help or protect his friends, whether they realize it or not) to a) recognize that Danny would be better for Ethan than he himself would and b) therefore prefer that option for Ethan’s sake, even at the expense of… his own suffering.
Good point, Morleuca and Chrissy – I hadn’t thought of that angle, but I think you could be totally right. I will now consider this part of my headcanon. ;D
Carol’s abuse is just as bad or worse it’s just harder to spot because it’s been mostly framed as affection. it’s only now thta Joyce is starting to pull away instead of just accepting it that she, and by extention we, get to see it unmasked.
Linda sided with Sal’s bullies and stole Sal’s money which she was saving to help her friends medical bills just to spite her.
Carol she looked like a bad parent, for a while but the fact that she finds it disheartening that the guy who threatened her daughter with a gun is going to jail not because he was misguided but because she apparently thinks its a parents right to come after their children with guns if they step to far out of line and does not like the government stepping in makes her the worst mother in this comic so far.
I don’t think Niome is a good mom by any means and she might get worse than these two but so far she I think the other two buried the bar a little lower.
Public disservice announcement. As long as all parties are consenting (and competent to consent) I don’t care. Doesn’t mean I need to hear about it. If you’re not sleeping with me, I don’t care who you are sleeping with.
I don’t why but the positions of panels 3 and 4 made me believe Mike was looking at Danny reacting to the calamity that is Etheric, and that’s what made him mad.
I find Ethan’s approach to his hookups interesting. They’re not really friends, it seems (doesn’t seem to know about Ethan and Transformers), they’re not dating, but he brings Eric to the party?
I guess it makes sense if, say, they were just together and Ethan was like, “Oh, I’m about to go to this party, wanna come?”
But also, I just don’t like Eric. I think it’s his face.
Yeah, I don’t think Ethan really knows what he’s doing, or what he actually wants. I think he doesn’t realize that the hooking up is a lower priority for him than he thinks it is. Like, it’s a bonus, in addition to guarding the sanctity of the Transformers fandom.
What’s happening here by the way? Last I checked (which was just now) Eric’ s been implied to have a girlfriend and Ethan knows that. So whatcha doin here Ethan? Seems kinda shady.
Maybe there was no girlfriend, and Ethan assumed? Maybe it’s an open relationship? Maybe the relationship already ended because Eric screwed Mike? I’m not sure, but I think Ethan knowingly participating in someone’s cheating is unlikely. Not impossible, but more unlikely than the other options.
Baking chocolate is not inedible. I am, at this moment, enjoying a nibble of Ghirardelli Premium Baking Bar 100% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate that I bought on purpose for eating.
You have to work up to it. A few years ago I was enjoying 70%. Then I tried 80% and liked it… then 90%…
Heh, and no kidding, I scoff at everyone who likes beer as suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
Meanwhile, my wife doesn’t understand why I don’t like coffee. I don’t understand why she does. My three year old likes soap (and kimchee, mustard, and blue cheese). My one year old likes hand sanitizer.
There’s no accounting for taste. I can see why people would think baking chocolate is inedible… but it’s certainly no weirder a taste than whiskey or cigars.
At culinary school last year I melted down a bunch of baking chocolate for… Something, and the sight of a massive bowl of silky melted chocolate got the better of me.
I dipped the back of a spoon and consumed all the chocolate on the spoon.
I can’t explain why but seeing Mike actually be affected by things is pretty enjoyable. Maybe because it’s so rare. I think you can count on one hand the amount of times Mike actually visibly shows something other than contempt in the other universe.
…I think you just perfectly summarized why I love [reading] Mike so much. The rarity makes it that much sweeter. Plus, you know, angst, redemption arc, asshole snark, etc. But still: tsundere much? Except, like, on a whole other level?
Are you tall enough that you appeal to society’s preferences towards taller people? Are your bones structured in a manner which appeals to typical societal preferences? Is your complexion one which is deemed favorable to societal standards? Is your personality inoffensively good-natured and charming without being at all burdening or imposing? /Etc.
Really, I think you may want to rethink how you’re approaching your competition with Ethan. His advantages seem as though they’d give him a clear edge under your current framework.
Have you considered aiming for “getting laid within a meaningful, long-term relationship”? Ethan seems to be missing out pretty hard on that one.
I mean, I might possibly totally agree with you there. But clearly I don’t. After all, isn’t it enough for just one of us to be torn apart and cannibalized by the cluster of Transformers fanatics who roam these message boards?
Remember, survival first, romantic relationships based on things other than meaningless hobby similiarities second. ..unless you’re a zombie. Then you’re good the other way around.
Then again, didn’t Beast Wars teach us a different lesson? I mean, recall the romance between Silverbolt and Blackarachnia, nevermind Cheetor and Dinobot, all of which were about overcoming differences and developing relationships based on meaningful factors. (Both of those relationships are canon, and you’ll not convince me otherwise.)
Love freely, and form relationships based on meaningful factors!
…on that note, I feel like, with those broad shoulders and his relaxing, shaggy appearance, Ethan would give amazing shoulder-rides. That’s a meaningful factor, right? Can Yotomoe give amazing shoulder-rides?
Clearly Ethan’s relationship dominance won’t be so easily overcome. ^.^
I kinda cooled off on Ethan/Danny now. There was a moment but I think it’s passed. I worry Danny might end up getting hurt if his first male experience was with Ethan.
Yeah, except I feel like Mike would accurately assess that the amount of people that would cause emotional damage to would extend no further than the two of them. Mostly I think they would both just end up hating themselves even more than they already do, with little to no effect on others, and so it probably wouldn’t be worth it to him.
You’re definitely right though, I can’t think of a more spiteful configuration unless Mary was there.
I think Carla thinks she likes to be spiteful, but she’s not really as into it as she thinks. But also, isn’t she ace? I feel like I remember that being a thing. (Also also, is she at this party? I can’t remember.)
I think Mike/Sarah’s epic spite bang would be more of an implosion than a flood. It would only consume the two of them. And possibly horrify Joyce a bit, but that seems too easy to be worth Mike’s time.
Dude, I know I seldom comment here but. Hear me out – Danny feeling awkward, and Mike feeling hurt, and both of them being jealous of something they willingly stepped away from? That’s a mix that will lead to spite banging.
(…….. Please, Willis I’m begging you. Danny is a beautiful soul who deserves better, but if there’s a single member of this cast who can get Mike to start being decent |’DD;;;)
I will also accept this spite banging. It also occurred to me, but I was like “Nah, Danny’s got too much self-respect for that.” But then I remembered… ukulele. 😉
Seriously though, you may be onto something. It could happen.
Also, can we take a moment of appreciation for Mike being MORE visibly upset by this situation than Danny?? Like, damn.
I’m going for: upset by the situation, plus, even more upset because he can’t even be an asshole and troll Danny about it to make himself feel better, because of his promise.
For some reason I cannot feel that Eric is related to Guns…
And self confidence really has given Ethan results it seems, he now boldly gives people transformers tasks… it is quite a change.
There was a guy on the Silent Hill wiki who got himself banned from the SH wiki a few years back for his insistence of linking everything to circumcision. (He apparently did the same on the Bright wiki last year.)
I just spent about 15-20 minutes reading this page. I’m traveling, so no adblocker and using my phone’s hotspot.
The ads downloaded about 40 MB of data, which costs me about 40 cents with Google Fi. And according to this page the ads’ data emitted about half a kg of CO2.
40 cents a day ($146 a year) – half a kg of CO2 a day – just for one web site full of ads? This is why I use an adblocker. Sorry, artists – I’ll find some other way to pay you, and I’ll be able to read your page without the ads spoiling your work.
(Writing this comment probably cost another $.25 and 300 grams of CO2.)
In my opinion, the linked article is batshit crazy and off by not less than three orders of magnitude. “Type in ip addresses to save a DNS lookup?” That’s bonkers. Single DNS lookups cost less energy than flicking on a small light bulb and flicking it off again as fast as your fingers are physically capable of. One watt second would be generous. You’d waste more energy idling your computer’s power supply while you waited for your brain to think of and type in the numbers.
That article has to be a troll by supergreen types.
Plus the idea of how much the email costs just sitting there. “Save energy by deleting emails!”
1) There are good reasons to keep old emails, and
2) Wouldn’t trudging up more emails – causing servers to have to search and reindex shit – cost *more* energy then just not touching said email again unless needed?
Hell, I want to start a webcomic soon and plan to get unintrusive ads where I can. But so long as people don’t brag about using adblocker and try to present it as some eco warrior thing… I’m going to understand it. Ads are annoying and you never know when a normally ok website suddenly gets hit like a truck with annoying ones (it’s happened to me a few times. A normally safe website suddenly blaring out music in an uncloseable ad with no mute button and taking up a ton of processing power and how the hell does that happen who the hell do they pay off to sneak THAT into a rotation of unintrusive ads!?)
I have no problem with ads when they 1) don’t cover content and 2) don’t mess with my machine. But there’s no way to know, especially about that second one, before visiting a site.
Put all the ads you want alongside the content, and if they are interesting, I’ll click on them.
As for paying the artist, I buy merch and sometimes use Patreon.
Actually it’s very cool to brag about blocking ads. Advertising is a poison, and the less money made by advertisers the better.
Especially the sort of extremely terrible, extremely obtrusive ads this site runs. I hadn’t even realized how bad it had gotten until just now, but wow checking it out that’s really bad.
I do support the artists I read on Patreon though, that’s also very cool to brag about.
Yeah same. I actually have a triple-layer anti tracking, ad-blocking and safe browsing extension combo in place. I will never, ever disable them unless I have to (some government websites don’t work if you use them). And I’ll brag about it if I want to. But, I’ll also give Patreon and merch money to artists I follow. Pretty sure I’m much more profitable to artists that way, and with no lousy intermediaries who steal my information just to spit out a few cents.
If you like what you consume, please consider buying from the artist or becoming a Patron. Fuck ads, though.
I can’t speak for Willis or all artists obviously, but as an artist, I personally totally understand people using ad blockers. Sometimes ads really do break page viewing and I get people feeling uncomfortable about seeing them all the time. I do my best to keep my ad blocker disabled on independent artist sites but have had to occasionally re-enable it when a particular ad is just causing too many problems.
I do also think Patreon support is a good option and I’m glad they’ve provided another way for people to support independent artists. (Plus Willis’ is totally worth it for the extra comics!)
Have you tried opening the image in a new tab? I get horrendously obnoxious ads, too, and that’s basically an instant solution. No need for fancy ad blockers that don’t even work in the first place.
Try using a sensible browser. I have Firefox clear on m iPad and it filters out a lot of rubbish without blocking all ads.
Video-ads are a pest, there should be a browser-setting ‘no video ads’ that just filters them before loading.
I get that websites try to refinance the costs and artists want to be payed for their work by allowing ads as most people are not paying for stuff any other way.
The alternative would be to put everything behind a paywall.
But, the companies supplying ads should get a kick in the pants for their failure to keep out obnoxious ads, fraudulent ads, klickbaiting and harmful ads out of circulation.
(And I really do want a browser setting for ‘don’t fucking track me or show me personalized ads’. Living in the EU, I have to reconfirm that I don’t want to be tracked and don’t want personalized ads on all hiveworks sites I visit about every three days – that’s 8 pages of listings of who all wants to put cookies down to track their ads per site and it’s annoying as hell.)
So, support your artist on patreon, let’s hope on day the income there will be enough and he has no longer to rely on ads.
I won’t comment on the CO2 figures (no time to do research on that), but the ad setting on this page are indeed completely insane, especially when it comes to personalised ads and tracking.
If you do not want any tracking cookies, you literally have to switch them off for hundreds of sites SEPARATELY and manually. No bulk block. I’ve had to do this several times, too, because the page forgot my settings.
I don’t mind ads. I get that the income is needed. But I sure as hell do not want tracking cookies from 100ds of different companies on my computer just because I like reading this comic. It’s terrible.
I don’t think Danny dislikes Ethan now, he’s just upset because HE likes Ethan but he agreed not to go for it so he’s stuck in a very unpleasant place where he’s emotionally fixated on someone but has to watch everyone else get what he wants.
You could be right. But he could also just be a completely shallow and one dimensional dude who is horny, cheerful, dorky and oblivious. A one trick pony, if you will. (The trick is sex.)
Okay, fine, a two trick pony. The second trick is the finger guns.
It didn’t help that he’s realised that he really is in love with Ethan as he was. Ethan who is taking his advice to be more outgoing and selfish isn’t anywhere near as good to observe.
I can’t help feeling a little sad for Mike. Things could have gone much differently for him with some different choices. Like, ya know, not being a dick. I mean, not *just* being a dick. Well, I mean, …. *smirks*
Yeah, I mean I’m not even into men but for example in Dragon Age Inquisition it seemed like everyone was in love with Cullen and Solas. Mr. “I can’t be self aware of my emotions” and Mr. negging. And Iron Bull is right there? Like what the hell.
Part of me wants to believe Mike is in love with Ethan.
A more logical part of my mind sees Amber and Ethan as the closest thing Mike’ll ever have to “friends”. And by Mike’s own actions, Ethan is now flourishing socially.
Mike feels like he’s losing Ethan, as he feels the only reason Mike and Amber still hang out with him is due to a crippling lack of self-respect.
A more one-dimensional view is just that Mike wanted to ruin the Ethan and Danny ship but Ethan is too oblivious to even notice Danny’s jealousy, costing him primo misery fuel.
Mike’s comment about Naomi in the seduction scene was about why they didn’t room together, not why they didn’t get together. And it was bullshit, designed to distract Ethan from all the reasons he shouldn’t trust Mike. Plausible bullshit, since Naomi is homophobic and would have objected for those reasons.
Honestly Joe Angel, I like all of your perspectives here – especially the friendship one, I think that is spot on. But furthermore, are any of these views mutually exclusive? I honestly think it could be (and probably is) all three. For all that Mike is a *self-described* “irredeemable one-dimensional troll of a non-person”… I actually think he is probably the most likely of all the characters to have at least 10 different motives for everything he says or does, some of which may even conflict with each other, but most of which can at least agree on a particular action for him to take. So, frankly, I think he is probably experiencing all three of your reactions and more.
I feel sorry for Danny.
I do not feel sorry for Mike — most likely he isn’t even sad for himself, just annoyed that Ethan is not under his sway anymore and thus not as easily to manipulate.
In comic it is probably still very soon, but I find it sad that two people who are genuinely fond of each other and would fit together so well like Danny and Ethan feel like they have to deny themselves a go at a relationship because of Amber.
I’m not even sure Amber would take it so badly now. And even if — she moved on to somebody else immediately (which I’m not blaming her for btw). And she has no right to deny Danny and Ethan happiness.
Amber would not take it badly. Ethan will eventually learn this from Amber and decide to pursue Danny, but by this time Danny will have moved on and entered a new relationship.
I literally can’t remember what Mike’s plan is. Who is he trying to hurt, and why, and how? Is there some resource for keeping up with plot threads? I checked Walkypedia, but either nobody’s written about it or I looked in the wrong articles.
Ah, thanks for the link! Okay, I remember that now. He was trying to hurt Danny by seducing Ethan so Danny would be jealous. The “why” is just because he saw Danny as an easy target, apparently. And his promise not to do Mike-things directly to him was just something Ethan had asked for without realizing he was giving Mike a challenge-accepted moment.
What about Mike’s apparent Ethan-feels, though? Is there evidence of that outside of the enigmatic moments Mike’s been having at this party? Because I instinctively read his expressions as sympathy for Danny. I was confused as to why he would be feeling that, and certainly there’s a more obvious logic to the interpretation that he’s regretting having used Ethan as a tool to make Danny feel bad instead of cultivating something more in line with the feelings he may be developing for him. But I’m wondering if there’s more evidence for those feels…
I honestly can’t remember exactly but I feel like some of the high school flashbacks of Mike and Ethan implied Mike has had (possibly repressed/unrealized) feelings for Ethan for the entirety of their friendship?
And I vaguely remember some implication when they hooked up that Mike was ticked because he WAS just trying to mess with Ethan and Danny/be Mike, but then felt more unhappy than expected when Ethan didn’t see their hooking up as a big deal. Kind of a “Oh sh*t, do I actually LIKE him? No I don’t want to have FEELINGS” moment for Mike?
But again, I may be misremembering and don’t remember the exact strips to check and confirm any of this. If someone else does plz share!
Loading ...
the sickest shit
editing a wiki
Feuding with Willis. The sickest shit one can ever do.
i mean that is arguing with your god
Ethan is Jewish, so that should be nothing new to him
The Book of the Second Eaton is easily the greatest of all Willis comics. I don’t care what anyone else says.
A Transformers wiki sentry? Is that all Eric is to you, Ethan?
Ethen just wants two things: dicks and keeping the transformer fandom safe from toxicity.
Well, at least one of those is obtainable.
Yep.
True, dicks are really hard to come by.
If anyone wants mine, they can have it.
A hard man is good to find.
At the same time from the same person? That’d be some trick.
I would also accept the idea that “keeping the Transformers wiki safe” is a form of foreplay for certain people.
In this universe, Ethan’s rival on the TFWiki is a guy named Willard Davis.
Or maybe…could it be the mysterious and reclusive creator of Dexter & Monkey Master and Ultra-Car?
Willard Davis is a a graduate from Texas A&M, that overcame religious dogma, got married, raises triplets, and writes a webcomic about a a catholic girl learning to accept that anime isn’t satanic.
Anime isn’t satanic?
#NotAllAnime
Just the good stuff.
Well, animes were demonlords are the heroes can be considered satanic.
Only those anime which include Satan in their internal lore could be accurately be so considered, such as Blue Exorcist. Of the rest of those demonlord-starring anime of which I am aware, the notion of Satan is antagonistic to the rest of the internal lore. Thus, ‘satanic’ does not apply to them, based on my understanding of the word (and Google’s).
Which is of course a lie of Satan’s. Many anime feature characters with magic powers that don’t come from a Godly source and thus must be satanic, whatever they pretend.
So the most satanic anime would have to be, “The Devil is a Part-Timer” where Satan works part time at MgRonald’s. Truly, the stuff of horror and sin.
A Texan writing about Catholics? Too unbelievable, needs more Baptists. 😛
That Texas A&M mention is awfully close to my experiences. How’d you get in here?
Or does the (presumably) millionaire creator of Dexter and Monkey Master have nothing else to do with his time but edit a Transformers wiki?
Dumbing of Age Book 10: K-Chow!
DoA Book 10: He’s Gotta Check His Fingerguns At The Door
Dumbing of Age Book 10: I Can’t Wait to Hear What Kinda Sick Shit That’s Code For
Tan, you win.
I don’t think there are any provisos against doing Mike things to Erik.
Oh how the turn tables…
It’s okay. Erik can’t handle the truth. The situation Mike’s itself.
The fingerguns alone justify at least a 2nd degree Miking.
Look at Mike’s face in panel 5. If there is Miking, there will be no second degree Miking.
The finger-guns are not alone.
Awww, how sweet! Ethan brought Mike a present, to cheer him up.
I mean, look at Mike’s face? Doesn’t he look happier?
In panel five I’m surprised Mike’s not squeezing that chair arm like the dickens.
Oh no, not Eric! Forget Mary, or Mike, or even any parent, he’s actually the worst character in this comic!
Eric(‘s) Idle (hands)
Edward Scissorhands, Thaddeus Fingerguns,… It’s all good.
I was paging down to see if anyone saw the Eric Idle thing. Do you think Willis did that on purpose, or is that just a coincidence that Monty Python fans were bound to notice?
*checks strip to see what you mean*
honestly that was just a happy accident
My ranking on Ethan’s boytoys so far:
Drew > Eric > Thad
Ethan is changing lovers faster than the speed at which Willis finishes a day in this universe.
Ethan is efficient.
Ethan is in college. I recall the three girls I … dated… in my freshman year, and I’m about as attractive as a gargoyle (the downspouts, not the cartoon).
It’s all about “finding yourself”. Some things really don’t change…
Is that that bad?:
http://www.col-twinger-strasbourg.ac-strasbourg.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/gargouille.jpg
You forgot Mike.
And yeah he’s dead last.
Oh, Eric, you’re new here ain’tcha?
The moment when Danny and Mike felt the same emotions. Ethan is just not into monogamy, so Danny’s desire for commitment and Mike’s desire for… whatever he wants aren’t possible at the moment. If Amber was there, the three could sing to the moon.
I just saw the pages where Eric appears. Wow, Mike must be really pissed about the irony.
Oooh, I hope so.
It’s not that I can’t ship Ethan/Mike. I can and often do. It’s just that I want to enjoy Mike’s suffering along the way.
Well said. Totally fair, and same. <3
I’ve never been able to get past my Shortpacked Amber/Mike shipping. I know we’ve been told that relationships won’t duplicate, but I can’t help it!
For some reason, I feel that Mike is more pissed that Ethan is there not with Danny.
Because Mike’s frown deepens from seeing Danny look crestfallen. I think he likes Ethan but would rather see Ethan with Danny and is just annoyed his plan didn’t bear fruit faster… and now he may have to seduce this finger guns guy again.
That’s a good point. He definitely has feelings for Ethan on his own behalf, but (bear with me for a moment) is also both self-aware and selfless enough (he may be a demonstrably malicious asshole, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him use his “powers” for personal gain, though he has frequently used them to help or protect his friends, whether they realize it or not) to a) recognize that Danny would be better for Ethan than he himself would and b) therefore prefer that option for Ethan’s sake, even at the expense of… his own suffering.
Good point, Morleuca and Chrissy – I hadn’t thought of that angle, but I think you could be totally right. I will now consider this part of my headcanon. ;D
Let’s be real, Ethan has no idea what Ethan is into. He’s been perhaps a touch repressed for a while 😛
*is wondering why the Muzak stopped working*
*goes to the utility room to check the junction box*
K-CHOW!
Ouch.
He had to store it somewhere.
*puts in a request for the hacked muzak to play Garfunkel and Oates’s This Party Took a Turn for the Douche“*
You know of Garfunkel and Oates????
Everybody knows of them. They’re name-dropped by basically every TV show anybody’s ever seen.
Beef
November 26, 2019 at 12:03 am | # | Reply
Mike loves Ethan sorry it’s canon
#notsorry
Is Ethan inadvertently Miking Mike?
Mike tried to have sex with Ethan’s mom for a nickel, but then sighed and realized this isn’t worth having sex with an awful woman.
God, Naomi sucks. Like, you know you’re bad when you’re probably a worse mom character than Linda, and only *maybe* better than Joyce’s mom.
Linda is bottom of the barrel in my book. No one has even come close to the level of abuse she’s slung at Sal except Ross and Blaine.
Carol was helping Ross make bail. Because “they could come after any of us next, just for wanting to raise our kids right.”
Carol’s abuse is just as bad or worse it’s just harder to spot because it’s been mostly framed as affection. it’s only now thta Joyce is starting to pull away instead of just accepting it that she, and by extention we, get to see it unmasked.
Linda sided with Sal’s bullies and stole Sal’s money which she was saving to help her friends medical bills just to spite her.
Carol she looked like a bad parent, for a while but the fact that she finds it disheartening that the guy who threatened her daughter with a gun is going to jail not because he was misguided but because she apparently thinks its a parents right to come after their children with guns if they step to far out of line and does not like the government stepping in makes her the worst mother in this comic so far.
I don’t think Niome is a good mom by any means and she might get worse than these two but so far she I think the other two buried the bar a little lower.
Ethan is finally having sexual freedom, and, as one sometimes does when they finally get liberated, is probably a bit too PSA about it.
See: Becky and telling everyone that she’s a lesbian.
Is screaming “I am gay” a Public Service Announcement?
ALWAYS.
Public disservice announcement. As long as all parties are consenting (and competent to consent) I don’t care. Doesn’t mean I need to hear about it. If you’re not sleeping with me, I don’t care who you are sleeping with.
Maybe not, but the hypothetical gay yelling person cares, and that’s more important than you not caring.
The person being yelled about may care as well.
Consentual yelling is advised.
He doesn’t know what to do with his hands…. And the sad men crushing on Ethan….
So I guess Eric broke up with his girlfriend, then? That, or he’s just into open relationships.
I don’t know that, in this universe, Eric actually had/has a girlfriend? That could have just been Ethan speculating about Mike’s motives.
That was what I assumed as well.
Walky said this was normal for Eric, who may have been hitting on either him or Jason at the time.
I don’t why but the positions of panels 3 and 4 made me believe Mike was looking at Danny reacting to the calamity that is Etheric, and that’s what made him mad.
I find Ethan’s approach to his hookups interesting. They’re not really friends, it seems (doesn’t seem to know about Ethan and Transformers), they’re not dating, but he brings Eric to the party?
I guess it makes sense if, say, they were just together and Ethan was like, “Oh, I’m about to go to this party, wanna come?”
But also, I just don’t like Eric. I think it’s his face.
Yeah, I don’t think Ethan really knows what he’s doing, or what he actually wants. I think he doesn’t realize that the hooking up is a lower priority for him than he thinks it is. Like, it’s a bonus, in addition to guarding the sanctity of the Transformers fandom.
What’s happening here by the way? Last I checked (which was just now) Eric’ s been implied to have a girlfriend and Ethan knows that. So whatcha doin here Ethan? Seems kinda shady.
Maybe there was no girlfriend, and Ethan assumed? Maybe it’s an open relationship? Maybe the relationship already ended because Eric screwed Mike? I’m not sure, but I think Ethan knowingly participating in someone’s cheating is unlikely. Not impossible, but more unlikely than the other options.
No turkey for me thanks I’m full on schadenfreude
I don’t know. Schadenfreude is just like eating fried grease without salt, or really really bitter dark chocolate with no sugar.
Okay, maybe a LOT OF SALT. I forgot saltiness is a thing.
really really bitter dark chocolate
I once, as a child, tried baking chocolate from the pantry. Nobody told me it was inedible!
However, as an adult, I glommed onto dark chocolate very readily. I wonder if that was an effect.
Baking chocolate is not inedible. I am, at this moment, enjoying a nibble of Ghirardelli Premium Baking Bar 100% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate that I bought on purpose for eating.
You have to work up to it. A few years ago I was enjoying 70%. Then I tried 80% and liked it… then 90%…
Heh, and no kidding, I scoff at everyone who likes beer as suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
Meanwhile, my wife doesn’t understand why I don’t like coffee. I don’t understand why she does. My three year old likes soap (and kimchee, mustard, and blue cheese). My one year old likes hand sanitizer.
There’s no accounting for taste. I can see why people would think baking chocolate is inedible… but it’s certainly no weirder a taste than whiskey or cigars.
It’s probably the alcohol in the hand sanitizer…
At culinary school last year I melted down a bunch of baking chocolate for… Something, and the sight of a massive bowl of silky melted chocolate got the better of me.
I dipped the back of a spoon and consumed all the chocolate on the spoon.
It was a terrible mistake.
In that you didn’t like it, or you did?
Works either way.
I’m with ValdVin. Dark chocolate is nasty.
Blasphemy.
What are you talking about, baking chocolate is great. I stole my mom’s baking chocolate all the time as a kid, drove her crazy.
I can’t explain why but seeing Mike actually be affected by things is pretty enjoyable. Maybe because it’s so rare. I think you can count on one hand the amount of times Mike actually visibly shows something other than contempt in the other universe.
…I think you just perfectly summarized why I love [reading] Mike so much. The rarity makes it that much sweeter. Plus, you know, angst, redemption arc, asshole snark, etc. But still: tsundere much? Except, like, on a whole other level?
saaaame, thats why I’ve been loving this arc
Ethan sure knows how to show them a good time.
I’m insulted, as a virgin, that Ethan can get laid before I can.
Are you tall enough that you appeal to society’s preferences towards taller people? Are your bones structured in a manner which appeals to typical societal preferences? Is your complexion one which is deemed favorable to societal standards? Is your personality inoffensively good-natured and charming without being at all burdening or imposing? /Etc.
Really, I think you may want to rethink how you’re approaching your competition with Ethan. His advantages seem as though they’d give him a clear edge under your current framework.
Have you considered aiming for “getting laid within a meaningful, long-term relationship”? Ethan seems to be missing out pretty hard on that one.
Well, yes, but Yotomoe is not a rabid Transformers fanatic, so there’s that.
I mean, I might possibly totally agree with you there. But clearly I don’t. After all, isn’t it enough for just one of us to be torn apart and cannibalized by the cluster of Transformers fanatics who roam these message boards?
Remember, survival first, romantic relationships based on things other than meaningless hobby similiarities second. ..unless you’re a zombie. Then you’re good the other way around.
Then again, didn’t Beast Wars teach us a different lesson? I mean, recall the romance between Silverbolt and Blackarachnia, nevermind Cheetor and Dinobot, all of which were about overcoming differences and developing relationships based on meaningful factors. (Both of those relationships are canon, and you’ll not convince me otherwise.)
Love freely, and form relationships based on meaningful factors!
…on that note, I feel like, with those broad shoulders and his relaxing, shaggy appearance, Ethan would give amazing shoulder-rides. That’s a meaningful factor, right? Can Yotomoe give amazing shoulder-rides?
Clearly Ethan’s relationship dominance won’t be so easily overcome. ^.^
It’s okay. I’m not a virgin and Ethan also got laid before me.
Um. Congratulations?
It’s been what, 7 years?
2 months
With all this resentment about Ethan hooking up with other men going on, I’m pretty sure SOMEONE will spite-bang before the night is over.
I nominate Danny and Eric
personally i would prefer if ethan and danny performed a sex
I kinda cooled off on Ethan/Danny now. There was a moment but I think it’s passed. I worry Danny might end up getting hurt if his first male experience was with Ethan.
Only depends on how it happens. As long as Ethan understands Danny is taking it seriously and doesn’t want to just fool around.
Are we considering every possible configuration?
Because Mike x Sarah would probably be enough spite to flood the house.
That is something that would cause a massive JADENING. Not as lethal as a Happening, but everyone would become nihilistic pricks.
Yeah, except I feel like Mike would accurately assess that the amount of people that would cause emotional damage to would extend no further than the two of them. Mostly I think they would both just end up hating themselves even more than they already do, with little to no effect on others, and so it probably wouldn’t be worth it to him.
You’re definitely right though, I can’t think of a more spiteful configuration unless Mary was there.
I think Carla thinks she likes to be spiteful, but she’s not really as into it as she thinks. But also, isn’t she ace? I feel like I remember that being a thing. (Also also, is she at this party? I can’t remember.)
I think Mike/Sarah’s epic spite bang would be more of an implosion than a flood. It would only consume the two of them. And possibly horrify Joyce a bit, but that seems too easy to be worth Mike’s time.
I’m trying to imagine Danny producing SPITE, and I can’t.
Got data for that?
Eric, no code for it. That’s just it.
Awwww, Miiiiike ❤️
A college student is an admin at a major pop culture wiki. Good for him.
A thought Eric’s finger guns were congenital.
Is Ethan just picking them up off the street now?
Dude, I know I seldom comment here but. Hear me out – Danny feeling awkward, and Mike feeling hurt, and both of them being jealous of something they willingly stepped away from? That’s a mix that will lead to spite banging.
(…….. Please, Willis I’m begging you. Danny is a beautiful soul who deserves better, but if there’s a single member of this cast who can get Mike to start being decent |’DD;;;)Yeah I wonder if Mike and Danny are attracted to each other… do we have any evidence there?
There’s a subtle hint that they may be going to get together:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/impulsive/
I will also accept this spite banging. It also occurred to me, but I was like “Nah, Danny’s got too much self-respect for that.” But then I remembered… ukulele. 😉
Seriously though, you may be onto something. It could happen.
Also, can we take a moment of appreciation for Mike being MORE visibly upset by this situation than Danny?? Like, damn.
I’m going for: upset by the situation, plus, even more upset because he can’t even be an asshole and troll Danny about it to make himself feel better, because of his promise.
Good point!
For some reason I cannot feel that Eric is related to Guns…
And self confidence really has given Ethan results it seems, he now boldly gives people transformers tasks… it is quite a change.
I really hope Eric isn’t related to Guns. That would make it really gross and awkward.
Editing a wiki can be kinky, right?
In my own personal, extensive experience, yes. There’s a reason I’m banned from the Batman wiki.
Oh, so you’re the one who posted all the Captain Stingaree x Cavalier Rule 34 fanart. Sick bastard, children log on to that site!*
*This is a lie.**
**That such fanart was on the wiki. Those dudes were all in each other post-Infinite Crisis.***
***Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Only if you do it wrong enough.
Well, I have my suspicions about the Silent Hill wiki circumcision guy…
I’m sorry, the what.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/12/video-game-site-oddly-fixated-on-circumcision.html
There was a guy on the Silent Hill wiki who got himself banned from the SH wiki a few years back for his insistence of linking everything to circumcision. (He apparently did the same on the Bright wiki last year.)
I just spent about 15-20 minutes reading this page. I’m traveling, so no adblocker and using my phone’s hotspot.
The ads downloaded about 40 MB of data, which costs me about 40 cents with Google Fi. And according to this page the ads’ data emitted about half a kg of CO2.
40 cents a day ($146 a year) – half a kg of CO2 a day – just for one web site full of ads? This is why I use an adblocker. Sorry, artists – I’ll find some other way to pay you, and I’ll be able to read your page without the ads spoiling your work.
(Writing this comment probably cost another $.25 and 300 grams of CO2.)
In my opinion, the linked article is batshit crazy and off by not less than three orders of magnitude. “Type in ip addresses to save a DNS lookup?” That’s bonkers. Single DNS lookups cost less energy than flicking on a small light bulb and flicking it off again as fast as your fingers are physically capable of. One watt second would be generous. You’d waste more energy idling your computer’s power supply while you waited for your brain to think of and type in the numbers.
That article has to be a troll by supergreen types.
Plus the idea of how much the email costs just sitting there. “Save energy by deleting emails!”
1) There are good reasons to keep old emails, and
2) Wouldn’t trudging up more emails – causing servers to have to search and reindex shit – cost *more* energy then just not touching said email again unless needed?
Yeeah, I don’t think the person writing that really knows how electricity works…
It’s not cool to brag about blocking ads. If they’re so bad then support his patreon and view them there.
Hell, I want to start a webcomic soon and plan to get unintrusive ads where I can. But so long as people don’t brag about using adblocker and try to present it as some eco warrior thing… I’m going to understand it. Ads are annoying and you never know when a normally ok website suddenly gets hit like a truck with annoying ones (it’s happened to me a few times. A normally safe website suddenly blaring out music in an uncloseable ad with no mute button and taking up a ton of processing power and how the hell does that happen who the hell do they pay off to sneak THAT into a rotation of unintrusive ads!?)
I have no problem with ads when they 1) don’t cover content and 2) don’t mess with my machine. But there’s no way to know, especially about that second one, before visiting a site.
Put all the ads you want alongside the content, and if they are interesting, I’ll click on them.
As for paying the artist, I buy merch and sometimes use Patreon.
Actually it’s very cool to brag about blocking ads. Advertising is a poison, and the less money made by advertisers the better.
Especially the sort of extremely terrible, extremely obtrusive ads this site runs. I hadn’t even realized how bad it had gotten until just now, but wow checking it out that’s really bad.
I do support the artists I read on Patreon though, that’s also very cool to brag about.
Yeah same. I actually have a triple-layer anti tracking, ad-blocking and safe browsing extension combo in place. I will never, ever disable them unless I have to (some government websites don’t work if you use them). And I’ll brag about it if I want to. But, I’ll also give Patreon and merch money to artists I follow. Pretty sure I’m much more profitable to artists that way, and with no lousy intermediaries who steal my information just to spit out a few cents.
If you like what you consume, please consider buying from the artist or becoming a Patron. Fuck ads, though.
I can’t speak for Willis or all artists obviously, but as an artist, I personally totally understand people using ad blockers. Sometimes ads really do break page viewing and I get people feeling uncomfortable about seeing them all the time. I do my best to keep my ad blocker disabled on independent artist sites but have had to occasionally re-enable it when a particular ad is just causing too many problems.
I do also think Patreon support is a good option and I’m glad they’ve provided another way for people to support independent artists. (Plus Willis’ is totally worth it for the extra comics!)
Have you tried opening the image in a new tab? I get horrendously obnoxious ads, too, and that’s basically an instant solution. No need for fancy ad blockers that don’t even work in the first place.
Try using a sensible browser. I have Firefox clear on m iPad and it filters out a lot of rubbish without blocking all ads.
Video-ads are a pest, there should be a browser-setting ‘no video ads’ that just filters them before loading.
I get that websites try to refinance the costs and artists want to be payed for their work by allowing ads as most people are not paying for stuff any other way.
The alternative would be to put everything behind a paywall.
But, the companies supplying ads should get a kick in the pants for their failure to keep out obnoxious ads, fraudulent ads, klickbaiting and harmful ads out of circulation.
(And I really do want a browser setting for ‘don’t fucking track me or show me personalized ads’. Living in the EU, I have to reconfirm that I don’t want to be tracked and don’t want personalized ads on all hiveworks sites I visit about every three days – that’s 8 pages of listings of who all wants to put cookies down to track their ads per site and it’s annoying as hell.)
So, support your artist on patreon, let’s hope on day the income there will be enough and he has no longer to rely on ads.
I won’t comment on the CO2 figures (no time to do research on that), but the ad setting on this page are indeed completely insane, especially when it comes to personalised ads and tracking.
If you do not want any tracking cookies, you literally have to switch them off for hundreds of sites SEPARATELY and manually. No bulk block. I’ve had to do this several times, too, because the page forgot my settings.
I don’t mind ads. I get that the income is needed. But I sure as hell do not want tracking cookies from 100ds of different companies on my computer just because I like reading this comic. It’s terrible.
There is a bulk block at least now. Don’t you have am check all/uncheck all text before the list starts?
Huh. Right now I can’t see it because I haven’t been prompted to in a while, but next time I definitely need to pay attention.
@Charlotte install uBlock Origin and give Willis 2 bucks a month on Patreon. A win-win for everyone.
I still come here for the comments. But apparently there is now a blanket way of denying all cookies!
You need to report obtrusive ones to Hiveworks. In my experience, they’ll get rid of ’em pretty fast.
With special guest star Owen Wilson as the voice of Eric.
Either him or Matthew McConaughey.
Something tells me that neither Danny nor Mike like Ethan Mk2, even though, when you boil it down, he hasn’t changed that much.
I don’t think Danny dislikes Ethan now, he’s just upset because HE likes Ethan but he agreed not to go for it so he’s stuck in a very unpleasant place where he’s emotionally fixated on someone but has to watch everyone else get what he wants.
“This isn’t editing a wiki, this is anal sex!”
I SAID “admin access”!
ha HA, “root”!
There’s no HA in this universe.
I think we need more strips with Eric and his fingerguns.
Given the nature of this story, I’m expecting that Eric’s attitude is going to turn out to be a cover for a deep well of insecurity and self-loathing.
You could be right. But he could also just be a completely shallow and one dimensional dude who is horny, cheerful, dorky and oblivious. A one trick pony, if you will. (The trick is sex.)
Okay, fine, a two trick pony. The second trick is the finger guns.
I feel like Mike is realizing, that opening Pandora’s box was not as fun as it was hyped up to be.
“This was supposed to be a glorious downward spiral for HIM not ME.”
It didn’t help that he’s realised that he really is in love with Ethan as he was. Ethan who is taking his advice to be more outgoing and selfish isn’t anywhere near as good to observe.
I think he already knew that and it’s how he kicked it off. He even mentioned Ethans mom kept them apart.
I can’t help feeling a little sad for Mike. Things could have gone much differently for him with some different choices. Like, ya know, not being a dick. I mean, not *just* being a dick. Well, I mean, …. *smirks*
Does Eric have a Fingergun License from the Ministry of Hosng?
The United Nations Secretary-General.
My God even men have bland tastes in men
Or is my lesbian bias that bad?
Nah, everybody kinda seems to have boring taste in men, just in general.
Yeah, I mean I’m not even into men but for example in Dragon Age Inquisition it seemed like everyone was in love with Cullen and Solas. Mr. “I can’t be self aware of my emotions” and Mr. negging. And Iron Bull is right there? Like what the hell.
From my experience everyone loves Iron Bull but I’ve never really got it myself.
I went for Dorian and Cassandra myself.
He’s admin on the transformers wiki. Pretty much a God, as far as Ethan’s concerned
Fair, I mean if a girl in a touring punk band hit on me I’d drop pants without a thought.
Unless my brain has totally borked reading the last panel, ETHAN is a Transformers wiki admin, not Eric.
To me, Mike’s face says “Ethan’s choice in men is insufferable, I should have Banged Danny”
But Danny’s taste is too good to fall for Mike.
Echt, I never tried wiki counter-vandalism from my phone. I hope they improved the interface for that, last time we could barely read from mobile.
Part of me wants to believe Mike is in love with Ethan.
A more logical part of my mind sees Amber and Ethan as the closest thing Mike’ll ever have to “friends”. And by Mike’s own actions, Ethan is now flourishing socially.
Mike feels like he’s losing Ethan, as he feels the only reason Mike and Amber still hang out with him is due to a crippling lack of self-respect.
A more one-dimensional view is just that Mike wanted to ruin the Ethan and Danny ship but Ethan is too oblivious to even notice Danny’s jealousy, costing him primo misery fuel.
I’m still under the impression the comment about Naomi is why they didn’t get together indicates Mike has loved Ethan for a very long time.
Mike’s comment about Naomi in the seduction scene was about why they didn’t room together, not why they didn’t get together. And it was bullshit, designed to distract Ethan from all the reasons he shouldn’t trust Mike. Plausible bullshit, since Naomi is homophobic and would have objected for those reasons.
Honestly Joe Angel, I like all of your perspectives here – especially the friendship one, I think that is spot on. But furthermore, are any of these views mutually exclusive? I honestly think it could be (and probably is) all three. For all that Mike is a *self-described* “irredeemable one-dimensional troll of a non-person”… I actually think he is probably the most likely of all the characters to have at least 10 different motives for everything he says or does, some of which may even conflict with each other, but most of which can at least agree on a particular action for him to take. So, frankly, I think he is probably experiencing all three of your reactions and more.
Nerd, Eric, that is code, for nerd.
I feel sorry for Danny.
I do not feel sorry for Mike — most likely he isn’t even sad for himself, just annoyed that Ethan is not under his sway anymore and thus not as easily to manipulate.
In comic it is probably still very soon, but I find it sad that two people who are genuinely fond of each other and would fit together so well like Danny and Ethan feel like they have to deny themselves a go at a relationship because of Amber.
I’m not even sure Amber would take it so badly now. And even if — she moved on to somebody else immediately (which I’m not blaming her for btw). And she has no right to deny Danny and Ethan happiness.
Amber would not take it badly. Ethan will eventually learn this from Amber and decide to pursue Danny, but by this time Danny will have moved on and entered a new relationship.
We can only hope that it’s not with Mike.
if it IS with Mike, that does sound like a threesome slipshine!!
Mike: “Shit we wore the same shirt”
OH MY GOD THEY TOTALLY DID. WHAT THE HELL ETHAN.
Eric’s got my vote for the next Patreon bonus comic
I literally can’t remember what Mike’s plan is. Who is he trying to hurt, and why, and how? Is there some resource for keeping up with plot threads? I checked Walkypedia, but either nobody’s written about it or I looked in the wrong articles.
Originally, Danny. But Mike seems to have become a bit sidetracked along the way by apparently also developing feelings for Ethan.
Ah, thanks for the link! Okay, I remember that now. He was trying to hurt Danny by seducing Ethan so Danny would be jealous. The “why” is just because he saw Danny as an easy target, apparently. And his promise not to do Mike-things directly to him was just something Ethan had asked for without realizing he was giving Mike a challenge-accepted moment.
What about Mike’s apparent Ethan-feels, though? Is there evidence of that outside of the enigmatic moments Mike’s been having at this party? Because I instinctively read his expressions as sympathy for Danny. I was confused as to why he would be feeling that, and certainly there’s a more obvious logic to the interpretation that he’s regretting having used Ethan as a tool to make Danny feel bad instead of cultivating something more in line with the feelings he may be developing for him. But I’m wondering if there’s more evidence for those feels…
I honestly can’t remember exactly but I feel like some of the high school flashbacks of Mike and Ethan implied Mike has had (possibly repressed/unrealized) feelings for Ethan for the entirety of their friendship?
And I vaguely remember some implication when they hooked up that Mike was ticked because he WAS just trying to mess with Ethan and Danny/be Mike, but then felt more unhappy than expected when Ethan didn’t see their hooking up as a big deal. Kind of a “Oh sh*t, do I actually LIKE him? No I don’t want to have FEELINGS” moment for Mike?
But again, I may be misremembering and don’t remember the exact strips to check and confirm any of this. If someone else does plz share!