2) Listen, I’ve seen enough of David Kaye’s YouTube channel to say Megs definitely watched a shitton of Earth media on the journey from Cybertron. Somewhere along the way, he decided he needed a rubber ducky of his very own. Somewhere in the galaxy, they make those sized for Predacons.
Which actually ties into my answer for 1, really. (Said answer is Shakespeare.) Clearly the Predacons like human media a whole lot more than they’re willing to admit. The entire Beast Wars could’ve been prevented if they had had DVDs instead of video signals or streaming.
Cause Waspinator Universe’s Butt-Monkey?
TV Tropes warning… https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey
I used to be 1 of the ‘Cons Butt-Monkeys, but then I went AWOL. Now I live with Daniel The Human…. I’m still the Butt-Monkey… 😥
People didn’t hate Waspinator, it was the universe that hated him. As noted by Screwball above, Waspinator was the ButtMonkey of the series. More than that, the specific line in question is actually a meme reference.
Actually, people, specifically the writers, did hate Waspinator, and that’s how he ended up as the buttmonkey. Hizzz speech pattern wazzz a pain in the azzz for the writerzzz, due to the time it ate up, but they had to have him appear regularly, because ‘toy’…so they scrapped him early on in each appearance.
Then the writers and the audience liked the running gag, so Waspy ended up being a popular character.
Mine is Blaine x A pig farm in the middle of the night, whose owners have an Understanding with the mob. If Joe’s Dad thinks he has actual mob ties again, may as well take advantage of those.
Given the way Amber bailed on him when he stood up to her teacher for her, I’m beginning to get the terrible feeling that Amber is going to be the one to turn Mike evil.
Maybe? But keep in mind that Amber mentioned that it was her dad that insisted on her fighting her own battles. He might be putting 2 and 2 together and realizing what Amber’s dad is, especially since he stated he wasn’t coming… but he’s here after meeting the asshole.
Well do the math. Mike wasn’t going to Amber’s party. Then he meets Blaine. Mike is all smiles and wanted to know everything about what Blaine was doing at the school even when Blaine kept trying to shut down the conversation, and before Mike could have known Blaine was a turd. All of a sudden, Mike wants to go to the party. He gets to the party, discovers that Blaine’s not going to be there, and is disappointed and says he miscalculated. I suspect it’s because he wanted to be around Blaine.
(To clarify, I meant my last sentence in that post as a reference to that “Stacy’s mom” song, invoking the situation of a teen crushing on a peer’s parent, rather than my own views of Blaine.)
Though Mike’s facial expression screams “hostility” and “resentment”. I think he comes across as far more expressive in these flashbacks than in present day, suggesting he was less likely to mask his facial expressions, and as such they’re a pretty good gauge of what he’s thinking at the moment, and I’m pretty sure if he DID have a crush on Blaine he’d have a different facial expression in panel 3.
Also in yesterday’s strip, I’m pretty sure he was just making conversation, or whatever Blaine said piqued his interest, but YMMV. Also, if he had a crush on Blaine, I’m pretty sure he’d be smiling all the way, but in the second to last panel he kinda has a… neutral face, which makes his ensuing smile in the last panel be more about the party and less about making a good impression.
Anyway I’m pretty sure the miscalculation was not realizing HOW much of a nerd Amber and Ethan are.
I realize most of this comes down to different interpretation of their facial expressions and mannerisms and whatnot, so YMMV for this whole thing I guess
I honestly don’t believe that Mike is crushing on Blaine, but the chapter *is* entitled Of Mike and men.
So I dunno.
But he didn’t really seem fazed by Amber’s Dad not being there. It’s only when he realizes how lame the party is from his perspective that he admits to miscalculation.
I also need only look to my right to see Robin and Batgirl, Ninja Turtles, Miraculous Ladybug, and Rey from Star Wars on a shelf, so maybe I’m not the guy to ask.
I really need to catch up on Ladybug. (For all the years I followed that show waiting for an actual show to materialize, I’m terrible at actually watching a TV show these days.)
I know Amazon gift card is supposed to be a fast shitty “I didn’t have time to get you a real gift” gift, but my own reaction to such a gift is much the same as Amber – glee. I like to shop for myself and giving me that gift makes me happy.
Yeah, I think he’s seen enough to know comics and Transformers before this, but those are both things that get you ‘and here’s the very specific tiny hole in my collection’. Amazon’s a way better option than guesswork and an Optimus Prime she already has, or the Green Lantern movie action figures.
(I have no idea what year this strip takes place in, but on the other hand those shitty action figures warmed shelves until at LEAST 2013-2014, which currently sounds about right. /still bitter GLTAS was buried because of that movie’s toy line flop/ Also I found a Dragon Ball Evolution figure of Yamcha in like a CVS in November 2016, so there will always be somewhere where you can find a truly unlovable toy.)
Exactly, my sister knows I’m into fantasy, sci fi and fantasy. But she has no concept of what specific parts of such same that I actually like. As a result she once gave me the Twilight books. (you can see the problem there)
My brother got a bit luckier when he got me a Dracula funko figure 😉
Personally I’d be much happier if they just gave me a gift certificate so I can buy something I actually like.
My family knows my tastes pretty well, but they can’t actually keep track of what books I have. So we’ve had a couple times at Christmas where I’m like ‘yes, this book IS perfect for me… which I know because I’ve had a copy for over a year.’ Which fortunately is an easily enough fixed thing and only minorly awkward, but is still amusing when it happens.
The act of giving gifts isn’t exactly about value. If you’re going that way, most valuable gift to give is cash. I mean, Batman knows this: https://youtu.be/-Rq6kHBo8AM?t=59
It’s also about knowing what the other person wants and demonstrating that. That’s why Amazon Gift Cards are (generally) seen as the lowest form of gift: They don’t demonstrate any knowledge of the other person because they can be used to buy just about anything, and they’re not as useful as cash of the same amount.
…the “generally” in there is because, in your case, they do demonstrate knowledge of you. But just saying why it’s a trope :).
Depending on context, it can also be an easy, “There, I fulfilled my social obligations without having to care what you want or like, fuck you, don’t ask for anything else.” kind of gift. Again, obviously not in LeslieBean4Shizzle’s case, but it happens.
On the other hand, gift cards are great to give when you know someone’s hobbies or what they collect, but either don’t know much about the subject yourself or aren’t sure what they’re missing from a set.
Personally, I’d rather get a gift card than a duplicate or something I can’t make good use of.
I never see an Amazon Gift card as a bad gift, in part because I don’t have a lot of disposal income. When I get a gift card like that, it feels like a bit of spending freedom. I don’t feel obligated to save it toward groceries or put it into savings like cash. I can buy myself whatever I want with it, and it doesn’t feel like wasting money because I can’t spend it anywhere else (even though one _can_ buy practical things on Amazon, but for whatever reason, I still don’t feel like I have to).
I suppose I might feel differently about it if I had more spending money more often. But gift cards in general are like “You have guilt-free permission to spend X amount on something that just makes you happy”
Such a present would have definitely solved some issues I had my past birthday like three weeks back.
Friends and family asked me what I’d like for my birthday. I told my parents exactly four book titles to choose from, for the others – sister and friends – (in case they were at a loss of ideas – though I’m honestly happy about nearly anything as long as there’s some kind of thought about me or my interests behind it) I sent an amazon wish-list, which accumulates all kind of different stuff, some more expensive than others (in case people wanna get together for a present), some other more cheaper things being Ghibli-socks or e.g. a book about muscle atonomy. Simply stuff I’d like, but didn’t want to exactly buy now.
I always feel weird providing it, as if I’m asking for only those things, but oh well.
The list should simplify things. What it did was:
My sister, a friend and a sister-friend-group (meaning, three sisters I’m friends with) all ordered the same book. Well, the one friend bought two books (of the three book-series I had on my list), so the others were like “Okay, we’re gonna take ours back and get you the third part.”
Having a wish-list should’ve prevented something like that, but the friend-group bought the book in a bookstore, my friend did order it from amazon, but it seems not over the link I provided, and so my sister, who ordered it too, could still see that it was on the list.
It is, on the one hand, a kinda sad situation (because it was the newest item on the list), but, on the other hand, it’s pretty damn hilarious too.
But I do believe an amazon gift card would’ve been ‘more effective’ as a present in my case.
I actually solved this particular conundrum by maintaining five separate lists on Amazon, none of which contain the same items. I have my Doctor Who list, my Manga list, my Video Game list, and a general list, meaning that I can give a few less tech-savy individuals a list that only they are shopping from. Plus, I keep one final list – a private list of things I’m planning to buy myself.
It helps.
She seems surprised to have gotten a gift at all, which makes sense given that she both hasn’t had opportunities to develop the sort of easy entitlement to gifts that comes with regular birthday parties (that is to say, it’s a reflection of her lack of social experience), and the fact that this was rather clearly noted as not really being a birthday party, which means she may not have expected formalities to be addressed on either end of the engagement.
But yeah, as noted, gift cards are the universal gift- they’re inexplicable, in that direct cash is always* better, and yet they’re given as a gift because cash is seen as being too lacking in formality. Combine that with the lack of familiarity implied by not giving a more carefully selected gift, and the lack of “oooh, what did you get me” appeal of funds, and gift cards have a sort of tropey nature to them. In short, they feel less like a birthday present, and more like a company bonus; that is, more focused on the formalities than the sentiments.
Certainly, there’s nothing at all wrong with gift cards as a gift and, generally, they are better than some random junk, no matter how carefully selected (though one can argue that direct gifts are typically better for children, since they lack proper appreciation for money or perspective on spending it). Or at least, they are until you really think about the fact that you’re getting a gift card instead of cash, and how weird that actually is.
*Unless you got the gift card on discount, and thus were able to “create” extra money over what you would have given in cash.
I appreciate gift cards. The “fast shitty I didn’t have time to get you a real gift” gift for me would be one of those things from the gift table at (one of the few remaining) department stores at Christmas time. The identically packaged wallet, shaving kit, nose hair trimmer, pen-and-pencil set, DIY fingernail-maintenance (doesn’t really rise to the level of “manicure”) set … that sort of thing. Designed to be put in the junk drawer and forgotten by both recipient and giver before it reaches its failure date.
It sounds like a rather typical “Is that person I don’t like here.” question. Like, when a parent who doesn’t like who you’re dating shows up at your apartment and goes “Is (s)he here?”. It’s more of a check against drama flags than it is an indication of any sort of desire. Rather, it’s indicative of sentiments in opposition to desire. 😛
Except for the fact that he had no interest in coming over until he met Blaine. I guess my money is on that he showed up particularly for the purpose of giving Blaine grief if the opportunity presented. And this may still happen.
He did. You see, Mike KNOWS he’s a hyperperceptive asshole, and he prefers to channel the assholery into constructive stuff, in this case, making Blaine go through hell.
Best way to handle present-day Mike being an asshole to characters you like: introduce him to, say, Mary, tell him a few episodes (like her transphobing at Carla), and that’ll keep him busy until Mary gets a nervous breakdown. Then move on to the next shit character.
That theory keeps getting raised. We’ve never seen college Mike target any of the other jerks though, so I’m kind of skeptical. No one’s done the deliberate targeting you suggest, but someone as perceptive as Mike should be aware.
Instead he focuses on his “friends”, Ethan and Amber, and his roommate and his (ex)girlfriend.
He’s not in contact with them, though, is he? The jerks, I mean. I’m not really seeing him and, say, Mary having an overlap in schedules. I AM surprised he didn’t go troll Robin’s convention at the time, though.
Why were you surprised? Has he ever shown any sign of it?
He’s not in contact with them, I guess. Though someone as perceptive as Mike should be up on the gossip in the dorm.
Basically, I’ve got no reason to think that, should you tell him about Mary transphobing at Carla, he’d target Mary instead of Carla. The idea that he wants to be constructive is supported by pretty thin evidence.
OTOH, Mike vs Carla could be interesting. Malevolent mind games against sweet, sweet pranks.
More like an asshole Occam’s razor- if Blaine can come and make things wrong, Blaine will come and make things wrong. An asshole dumpster fire would be more like toedad- rare, but over-the-top dramatic when it does happen.
..I mean, I’m assuming you’re not living in a place with regular dumpsterfires. Then again, I did once, so I’m not writing that possibility off for you entirely. 😛
I’m trying to piece together which element of this situation he might have miscalculated, the dad part or the party part…. hmm..
On a personal tangent I’d like to thank every one who responded to me two strips ago. I just decided to look back at it “yesterday”(for me it’s still today 9pm) and it made feel happy and gave me a little more confidence if only slightly. I don’t always respond or stay on to read more comments because i usually have to be up at 3 in the morning for work(like tonight). I love this comment community and i always want to participate more when time allows i just usually dont because of the fear of the void but I’m definitely gonna try to be better. I want to make friends and have things to talk about with someone outside my sister my boyfriend and my one other friend. So I’m trying to learn how to communicate online. Thank you all.
To your first point, I’m gonna go with “both.” He shows up thinking Amber’s dad is going to be there and make things miserable, probably planning to get in his face, and shows up to see that the party has no monster dad and amounts to a couple of nerds having a hangout.
That makes sense, i do wonder how it plays into whatever theme willis is going for this chapter, like what it’s going to eventually add up to. I look forward to seeing that. The wait can be so grueling xD
Aww, I’m glad that helped! Props to Clif, then, I usually feel weird randomly encouraging people unless someone else started it.
I’m honestly not super good at communication myself, and I never would have expected a comic’s comments section to have so many positive, critically-thinking, and just downright nice people. But it does! People here are really cool!
You’ll still be screaming into the void often enough, but that’s just communication in a nutshell, isn’t it?
It is truly remarkable how nice and civil people are on here, as opposed to literally the rest of the freaking internet, though heavy moderation from willis does come into account and also how there isn’t a notification for replies so you have to be dedicated if you want to continue a conversation.
Well, things are better than I imagined, so that’s a plus. Mike is right though. I mean, they could be playing a Transformers video game! Hopefully the food is good?
The characters look to be a little younger than 14 here (though I’ve been wrong before) to me, so…maybe it’ll be a couple years yet before it’s set in 2014?
Point about the sliding timescales thing all the same. 😛
No, before that. Blaine and Stacey’s divorce finalized not long after the robbery when Blaine put Amber in self defence classes instead of therapy. The robbery was five years ago when the kids were in seventh grade (or at the very least, had not started 8th grade). Amber states they’re just separated here, so it seems like divorce proceedings have not been filed yet.
I missed out on cues that the divorce was finalized shortly after the robbery. Was it mentioned somewhere?
I would have thought Blaine would have needed more time to generate that split in Ambers personality.
Or is he even more of a monster than we already know about?
Yeah, Ethan told Danny that after the robbery and Sal-stabbing, everyone wanted Amber in therapy but her dad chose self defence classes and the divorce finalized around that time. However, Amber saw her dad for at least two years after the divorce because she says when Blaine visits at Freshman Family Weekend that they haven’t spoken in three years, which would be when she was 15.
I doubt there’s a restraining order or the cops could have been called at once when he showed up for family weekend. As it is, he’s just not on the list of accepted family visitors.
Something likely did happen though to change the visitation rights. Wonder if there’s another flashback in store for that.
So here’s my take: Sometime before now, Stacey finds out about Yuri and they separate. Blaine continues to play an active role in Amber’s life – picking her up from school, taking her on band trips. That’s where we are now in this flashback. The robbery happens. The divorce goes through, but Blaine keeps partial custody or visitation rights at least and thus enough influence to push Amber away from therapy (which would likely lead to more exposure of his abuse) and into martial arts. Somewhere around 15, there’s some other crisis point and he loses all parental rights and gets cut out of Amber’s life completely.
I’m not sure where the Patreon flashback strip of Amber babysitting for Faz fits in. Probably before this current flashback run, before the separation. I assume that during the separation Blaine’s living with Yuri and they marry soon after the divorce. Just to make it creepier, Yuri’s place is apparently within walking distance of the O’Malley’s. So convenient for Blaine.
Something’s missing in your life if you’ve never been to a chill birthday party that’s really just a couple friends hanging out doing what they often enjoy. Fun, like time, is relative.
Dunno… there is something special about being with people who totally geek out about something, even when you have no idea what’s going on. Something with all that positive energy.
At least if they are not adding gatekeeping to their subculture-affirmative rituals.
This might be premature, but I can appreciate Past Mike. I like how he’s incredibly perceptive and that he’s decisive enough that doesn’t just sit on what he knows. If only Present Mike hadn’t begun to be weirdly destructive about it.
It might just be he built a more cynical arms length approach. I don’t know if that’s entirely the correct assessment either though… like its hard to put into words what his current personality/world view. It just feels like he’s actively looking to avoid getting.. himself hurt? Or idk… he seems deadset on looking like a know it all asshole with no desire to build a proper emotional attachment.
I think the point of the flashbacks is to show that Mike has always been a bit of an asshole — but in a more naive and constructive way — and what we’re seeing is the sequence of events that led to him being the type of cynical asshole that enjoys watching people and/or relationships go down in flames.
This is one of the circles of hell: trapped in a room with two nerds talking about their incredibly niche interest that you literally could not give a single fuck about.
Considering sliding timescale, I wouldn’t say transformers as a whole is exactly niche as such, billion dollar movie franchise and all, though beast wars may count.
It doesn’t really matter if the interest is niche though.
Trapped in room with two people obsessing over the minutia of something you don’t give a fuck about still sucks.
It could be sportsball fans analyzing last night’s game in play by play detail.
Every interest is niche when you get deep enough into the details. Like I’m a slut for Pokemon but I’d rather die than listen to even 5 minutes of discussion of the competitive metagame.
I hate it when bad stuff happens at birthdays, it’s so sad – it’s supposed to be a nice day, with cake and presents and friends, but with the treat of Blaine appearing hanging over the party I worry things will go bad.
And so began young Mike’s education in Transformers. He never really got into it, but he made a point to learn everything he possibly could, just so he could correct any inconsistencies he came across.
I ABSOLUTELY think Mike is here to fuck with Blaine because he was bothered by how he talked about Amber. God, my Mike/Amber feelings are still highly intact.
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Discussion topics:
1) Who is your favorite and why is it Dinobot?
2) Megatron’s rubber duck: theories and ships
3) Alternative inexplicable accents for Ravage
4) Why universe hate Waspinator?
5) Tigatron and Airazor got cheated
That’s a rant, not a discussion. No one could possibly dispute it. 😐
I do. A pacifist autobot/maximal? No thank you.
Amazingly appropriate avatar for the above comment.
Yeah, but they came back as super-powerful Tigerhawk, and NO WAY would that character get tossed under a bus in the same way.
No way at all….
wait, were they gems?
oh
OH
ok I feel better now maybe?? ;p
Which one cheated? I didn’t even know they were a couple…
2) Listen, I’ve seen enough of David Kaye’s YouTube channel to say Megs definitely watched a shitton of Earth media on the journey from Cybertron. Somewhere along the way, he decided he needed a rubber ducky of his very own. Somewhere in the galaxy, they make those sized for Predacons.
Which actually ties into my answer for 1, really. (Said answer is Shakespeare.) Clearly the Predacons like human media a whole lot more than they’re willing to admit. The entire Beast Wars could’ve been prevented if they had had DVDs instead of video signals or streaming.
3) French. Because “Le Chat Noir”.
He looks nothing like Adrien, though.
Cause Waspinator Universe’s Butt-Monkey?
TV Tropes warning… https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey
I used to be 1 of the ‘Cons Butt-Monkeys, but then I went AWOL. Now I live with Daniel The Human…. I’m still the Butt-Monkey… 😥
People hate Waspinator? I loved him!
I actually didn’t like Dinobot, I felt that he took away character development from the other four.
People didn’t hate Waspinator, it was the universe that hated him. As noted by Screwball above, Waspinator was the ButtMonkey of the series. More than that, the specific line in question is actually a meme reference.
Actually, people, specifically the writers, did hate Waspinator, and that’s how he ended up as the buttmonkey. Hizzz speech pattern wazzz a pain in the azzz for the writerzzz, due to the time it ate up, but they had to have him appear regularly, because ‘toy’…so they scrapped him early on in each appearance.
Then the writers and the audience liked the running gag, so Waspy ended up being a popular character.
@Doctor_Who
I gotta say, you really nailed those discussion points!
Thanks for the laugh. 🙂
5) Noncanonical pairings of pre-quantum-surge Optimus Primal’s “primejets on” line with presence of the Silverbolt and why this is heresy.
*drops this debate-grenade and flees before people can start arguing*
I don’t Transformers, but anyone who casually drops “The Magnificent Ambersons” in a webcomic forum gets an upvote.
I read that as Megatron’s rubber duck I’m sorry
***dick I need to proofread
“so, no Pin the Tail on the Ass
hole Dad?”I mean we could FedEx the tail to Blaine. Which I guess means that I am would ship the tail to Blaine…… TailXBlaine= OTP
pretty sure the only good blaine ship is BlaineXMyocardial Infarction
Fair enough. Blaine X CVA (Cerebrovascular Accident) might cause Blaine to get, of all things, sympathy. Not that he’d notice in the worst case.
Please. we all know the only ship that won’t have people feeling abd for that asswipe is BlaineXBullet-to-the-head.
How about BlaineXFatal bout of explosive diarrhea?
Maybe even a three-way ship: BlaineXfboedXFlesh-eating bacteria…
Nah, you’re right… That’s too good for him.
Nah. Shrieking Explosive Diarrhea, The not-at-all Silent-killer. The remains will look a lot like refried beans and cherry pie filling.
I’m gonna have to go with Blaine x Wood Chipper.
Mine is Blaine x A pig farm in the middle of the night, whose owners have an Understanding with the mob. If Joe’s Dad thinks he has actual mob ties again, may as well take advantage of those.
No reason those can’t go hand-in-hand! The pigs might even appreciate their dinner coming in bite-size pieces.
so THIS was what made Mike
And here I thought it would be a confrontation with Blaine that did it.
did he just?? show up to Fight amber’s dad, or what
More like look out for her.
Given the way Amber bailed on him when he stood up to her teacher for her, I’m beginning to get the terrible feeling that Amber is going to be the one to turn Mike evil.
Maybe? But keep in mind that Amber mentioned that it was her dad that insisted on her fighting her own battles. He might be putting 2 and 2 together and realizing what Amber’s dad is, especially since he stated he wasn’t coming… but he’s here after meeting the asshole.
…. actually, I’m getting the sense that Mike’s CRUSHING on Blaine. Amber’s dad has got it going on.
…what.
Well do the math. Mike wasn’t going to Amber’s party. Then he meets Blaine. Mike is all smiles and wanted to know everything about what Blaine was doing at the school even when Blaine kept trying to shut down the conversation, and before Mike could have known Blaine was a turd. All of a sudden, Mike wants to go to the party. He gets to the party, discovers that Blaine’s not going to be there, and is disappointed and says he miscalculated. I suspect it’s because he wanted to be around Blaine.
(To clarify, I meant my last sentence in that post as a reference to that “Stacy’s mom” song, invoking the situation of a teen crushing on a peer’s parent, rather than my own views of Blaine.)
Though Mike’s facial expression screams “hostility” and “resentment”. I think he comes across as far more expressive in these flashbacks than in present day, suggesting he was less likely to mask his facial expressions, and as such they’re a pretty good gauge of what he’s thinking at the moment, and I’m pretty sure if he DID have a crush on Blaine he’d have a different facial expression in panel 3.
Also in yesterday’s strip, I’m pretty sure he was just making conversation, or whatever Blaine said piqued his interest, but YMMV. Also, if he had a crush on Blaine, I’m pretty sure he’d be smiling all the way, but in the second to last panel he kinda has a… neutral face, which makes his ensuing smile in the last panel be more about the party and less about making a good impression.
Anyway I’m pretty sure the miscalculation was not realizing HOW much of a nerd Amber and Ethan are.
I realize most of this comes down to different interpretation of their facial expressions and mannerisms and whatnot, so YMMV for this whole thing I guess
I thought it was “what an ass”, then “seriously, he denigrates his own child? I’ll make her sound more popular.”
No clue as to the miscalculation yet.
I honestly don’t believe that Mike is crushing on Blaine, but the chapter *is* entitled Of Mike and men.
So I dunno.
But he didn’t really seem fazed by Amber’s Dad not being there. It’s only when he realizes how lame the party is from his perspective that he admits to miscalculation.
“I gave up a date with the quarterback for this?”
Hey Willis how do I delete someone elses post?
You know what? Fuck it, I’d be down.
I also need only look to my right to see Robin and Batgirl, Ninja Turtles, Miraculous Ladybug, and Rey from Star Wars on a shelf, so maybe I’m not the guy to ask.
I really need to catch up on Ladybug. (For all the years I followed that show waiting for an actual show to materialize, I’m terrible at actually watching a TV show these days.)
The second season is on Netflix and is very good!
Yeah, season 2 is ongoing so not all of it is on Netflix yet, but season 2 has definitely taken what was good about season 1 and made it even better.
Ninja turtles? *sneer*
*hisss*
When you want to do the right thing for maybe the wrong reasons and have to suffer Transformers instead.
I know Amazon gift card is supposed to be a fast shitty “I didn’t have time to get you a real gift” gift, but my own reaction to such a gift is much the same as Amber – glee. I like to shop for myself and giving me that gift makes me happy.
Plus I’m not sure he’s known them very long at this point. He may not know her well enough to be sure what to get her and what she has.
Yeah, I think he’s seen enough to know comics and Transformers before this, but those are both things that get you ‘and here’s the very specific tiny hole in my collection’. Amazon’s a way better option than guesswork and an Optimus Prime she already has, or the Green Lantern movie action figures.
(I have no idea what year this strip takes place in, but on the other hand those shitty action figures warmed shelves until at LEAST 2013-2014, which currently sounds about right. /still bitter GLTAS was buried because of that movie’s toy line flop/ Also I found a Dragon Ball Evolution figure of Yamcha in like a CVS in November 2016, so there will always be somewhere where you can find a truly unlovable toy.)
Exactly, my sister knows I’m into fantasy, sci fi and fantasy. But she has no concept of what specific parts of such same that I actually like. As a result she once gave me the Twilight books. (you can see the problem there)
My brother got a bit luckier when he got me a Dracula funko figure 😉
Personally I’d be much happier if they just gave me a gift certificate so I can buy something I actually like.
My family knows my tastes pretty well, but they can’t actually keep track of what books I have. So we’ve had a couple times at Christmas where I’m like ‘yes, this book IS perfect for me… which I know because I’ve had a copy for over a year.’ Which fortunately is an easily enough fixed thing and only minorly awkward, but is still amusing when it happens.
The act of giving gifts isn’t exactly about value. If you’re going that way, most valuable gift to give is cash. I mean, Batman knows this: https://youtu.be/-Rq6kHBo8AM?t=59
It’s also about knowing what the other person wants and demonstrating that. That’s why Amazon Gift Cards are (generally) seen as the lowest form of gift: They don’t demonstrate any knowledge of the other person because they can be used to buy just about anything, and they’re not as useful as cash of the same amount.
…the “generally” in there is because, in your case, they do demonstrate knowledge of you. But just saying why it’s a trope :).
Depending on context, it can also be an easy, “There, I fulfilled my social obligations without having to care what you want or like, fuck you, don’t ask for anything else.” kind of gift. Again, obviously not in LeslieBean4Shizzle’s case, but it happens.
On the other hand, gift cards are great to give when you know someone’s hobbies or what they collect, but either don’t know much about the subject yourself or aren’t sure what they’re missing from a set.
Personally, I’d rather get a gift card than a duplicate or something I can’t make good use of.
That’s basically what I’m thinking Mike was going with. As opposed to say, Linda sending Sal a prepaid cash card.
I never see an Amazon Gift card as a bad gift, in part because I don’t have a lot of disposal income. When I get a gift card like that, it feels like a bit of spending freedom. I don’t feel obligated to save it toward groceries or put it into savings like cash. I can buy myself whatever I want with it, and it doesn’t feel like wasting money because I can’t spend it anywhere else (even though one _can_ buy practical things on Amazon, but for whatever reason, I still don’t feel like I have to).
I suppose I might feel differently about it if I had more spending money more often. But gift cards in general are like “You have guilt-free permission to spend X amount on something that just makes you happy”
Listen money is also a great gift. That’s like, the best part of being a teenager. Old people in your family give you birthday/Christmas/etc money
Such a present would have definitely solved some issues I had my past birthday like three weeks back.
Friends and family asked me what I’d like for my birthday. I told my parents exactly four book titles to choose from, for the others – sister and friends – (in case they were at a loss of ideas – though I’m honestly happy about nearly anything as long as there’s some kind of thought about me or my interests behind it) I sent an amazon wish-list, which accumulates all kind of different stuff, some more expensive than others (in case people wanna get together for a present), some other more cheaper things being Ghibli-socks or e.g. a book about muscle atonomy. Simply stuff I’d like, but didn’t want to exactly buy now.
I always feel weird providing it, as if I’m asking for only those things, but oh well.
The list should simplify things. What it did was:
My sister, a friend and a sister-friend-group (meaning, three sisters I’m friends with) all ordered the same book. Well, the one friend bought two books (of the three book-series I had on my list), so the others were like “Okay, we’re gonna take ours back and get you the third part.”
Having a wish-list should’ve prevented something like that, but the friend-group bought the book in a bookstore, my friend did order it from amazon, but it seems not over the link I provided, and so my sister, who ordered it too, could still see that it was on the list.
It is, on the one hand, a kinda sad situation (because it was the newest item on the list), but, on the other hand, it’s pretty damn hilarious too.
But I do believe an amazon gift card would’ve been ‘more effective’ as a present in my case.
Ah yes – this story sounds familiar. ^^
I actually solved this particular conundrum by maintaining five separate lists on Amazon, none of which contain the same items. I have my Doctor Who list, my Manga list, my Video Game list, and a general list, meaning that I can give a few less tech-savy individuals a list that only they are shopping from. Plus, I keep one final list – a private list of things I’m planning to buy myself.
It helps.
She seems surprised to have gotten a gift at all, which makes sense given that she both hasn’t had opportunities to develop the sort of easy entitlement to gifts that comes with regular birthday parties (that is to say, it’s a reflection of her lack of social experience), and the fact that this was rather clearly noted as not really being a birthday party, which means she may not have expected formalities to be addressed on either end of the engagement.
But yeah, as noted, gift cards are the universal gift- they’re inexplicable, in that direct cash is always* better, and yet they’re given as a gift because cash is seen as being too lacking in formality. Combine that with the lack of familiarity implied by not giving a more carefully selected gift, and the lack of “oooh, what did you get me” appeal of funds, and gift cards have a sort of tropey nature to them. In short, they feel less like a birthday present, and more like a company bonus; that is, more focused on the formalities than the sentiments.
Certainly, there’s nothing at all wrong with gift cards as a gift and, generally, they are better than some random junk, no matter how carefully selected (though one can argue that direct gifts are typically better for children, since they lack proper appreciation for money or perspective on spending it). Or at least, they are until you really think about the fact that you’re getting a gift card instead of cash, and how weird that actually is.
*Unless you got the gift card on discount, and thus were able to “create” extra money over what you would have given in cash.
I appreciate gift cards. The “fast shitty I didn’t have time to get you a real gift” gift for me would be one of those things from the gift table at (one of the few remaining) department stores at Christmas time. The identically packaged wallet, shaving kit, nose hair trimmer, pen-and-pencil set, DIY fingernail-maintenance (doesn’t really rise to the level of “manicure”) set … that sort of thing. Designed to be put in the junk drawer and forgotten by both recipient and giver before it reaches its failure date.
Fucking
Amazon gift cards are the best gift. Only thing better is just straight up asking to see my wish list and buying off that
so… wait, he actually wanted Blaine time? :/
I think he wanted to be there to either look out for amber or to give Blaine a hard time after he heard what Blaine was saying about her.
that does seem more likely. although, this *is* mike, so it’s hard to tell.
It sounds like a rather typical “Is that person I don’t like here.” question. Like, when a parent who doesn’t like who you’re dating shows up at your apartment and goes “Is (s)he here?”. It’s more of a check against drama flags than it is an indication of any sort of desire. Rather, it’s indicative of sentiments in opposition to desire. 😛
you can just say ‘they’
Except for the fact that he had no interest in coming over until he met Blaine. I guess my money is on that he showed up particularly for the purpose of giving Blaine grief if the opportunity presented. And this may still happen.
He did. You see, Mike KNOWS he’s a hyperperceptive asshole, and he prefers to channel the assholery into constructive stuff, in this case, making Blaine go through hell.
Best way to handle present-day Mike being an asshole to characters you like: introduce him to, say, Mary, tell him a few episodes (like her transphobing at Carla), and that’ll keep him busy until Mary gets a nervous breakdown. Then move on to the next shit character.
That theory keeps getting raised. We’ve never seen college Mike target any of the other jerks though, so I’m kind of skeptical. No one’s done the deliberate targeting you suggest, but someone as perceptive as Mike should be aware.
Instead he focuses on his “friends”, Ethan and Amber, and his roommate and his (ex)girlfriend.
He’s not in contact with them, though, is he? The jerks, I mean. I’m not really seeing him and, say, Mary having an overlap in schedules. I AM surprised he didn’t go troll Robin’s convention at the time, though.
Why were you surprised? Has he ever shown any sign of it?
He’s not in contact with them, I guess. Though someone as perceptive as Mike should be up on the gossip in the dorm.
Basically, I’ve got no reason to think that, should you tell him about Mary transphobing at Carla, he’d target Mary instead of Carla. The idea that he wants to be constructive is supported by pretty thin evidence.
OTOH, Mike vs Carla could be interesting. Malevolent mind games against sweet, sweet pranks.
“I don’t know what I expected”, *sad Charlie Brown walk*, they all work.
Panel 3 mike’s face is practically present mike’s face. Wonder what meeting with Amber’s dad did to him
*puts on Lou Reed’s Transformer album for the Muzak* (hehheh)
You hit me with a flower/You do it every hour
It’s still TOO cute that he came here anyways.
And he has a plan for Blaine. I will bet so much internet cash it’ll blow up in ways he didn’t intend but. He has a plan.
It is super cute! Who would have thought Mike could be adorable!?
*Coughs* Anyway, yeah, I sure hope he has a plan. But even if he’s just here to support Amber, Blaine or shine, that’s pretty great.
run while you still can, Mike
(Blaine had BETTER NOT show up, but I’m guessing he will, because that’s part of his asshole charm)
“Asshole charm?” That sounds more like Denis Leary. Blaine is more like “asshole dumpster fire.”
More like an asshole Occam’s razor- if Blaine can come and make things wrong, Blaine will come and make things wrong. An asshole dumpster fire would be more like toedad- rare, but over-the-top dramatic when it does happen.
..I mean, I’m assuming you’re not living in a place with regular dumpsterfires. Then again, I did once, so I’m not writing that possibility off for you entirely. 😛
I’m trying to piece together which element of this situation he might have miscalculated, the dad part or the party part…. hmm..
On a personal tangent I’d like to thank every one who responded to me two strips ago. I just decided to look back at it “yesterday”(for me it’s still today 9pm) and it made feel happy and gave me a little more confidence if only slightly. I don’t always respond or stay on to read more comments because i usually have to be up at 3 in the morning for work(like tonight). I love this comment community and i always want to participate more when time allows i just usually dont because of the fear of the void but I’m definitely gonna try to be better. I want to make friends and have things to talk about with someone outside my sister my boyfriend and my one other friend. So I’m trying to learn how to communicate online. Thank you all.
To your first point, I’m gonna go with “both.” He shows up thinking Amber’s dad is going to be there and make things miserable, probably planning to get in his face, and shows up to see that the party has no monster dad and amounts to a couple of nerds having a hangout.
That makes sense, i do wonder how it plays into whatever theme willis is going for this chapter, like what it’s going to eventually add up to. I look forward to seeing that. The wait can be so grueling xD
Aww, I’m glad that helped! Props to Clif, then, I usually feel weird randomly encouraging people unless someone else started it.
I’m honestly not super good at communication myself, and I never would have expected a comic’s comments section to have so many positive, critically-thinking, and just downright nice people. But it does! People here are really cool!
You’ll still be screaming into the void often enough, but that’s just communication in a nutshell, isn’t it?
Yes to all of this!
It is truly remarkable how nice and civil people are on here, as opposed to literally the rest of the freaking internet, though heavy moderation from willis does come into account and also how there isn’t a notification for replies so you have to be dedicated if you want to continue a conversation.
More than you could know.
Mike, please. This is the best miscalculation you could have made.
Well, things are better than I imagined, so that’s a plus. Mike is right though. I mean, they could be playing a Transformers video game! Hopefully the food is good?
…
This flashback is set in maybe 2014. Four years after the comic started.
Sliding timescales are weird.
The characters look to be a little younger than 14 here (though I’ve been wrong before) to me, so…maybe it’ll be a couple years yet before it’s set in 2014?
Point about the sliding timescales thing all the same. 😛
No, before that. Blaine and Stacey’s divorce finalized not long after the robbery when Blaine put Amber in self defence classes instead of therapy. The robbery was five years ago when the kids were in seventh grade (or at the very least, had not started 8th grade). Amber states they’re just separated here, so it seems like divorce proceedings have not been filed yet.
I missed out on cues that the divorce was finalized shortly after the robbery. Was it mentioned somewhere?
I would have thought Blaine would have needed more time to generate that split in Ambers personality.
Or is he even more of a monster than we already know about?
Yeah, Ethan told Danny that after the robbery and Sal-stabbing, everyone wanted Amber in therapy but her dad chose self defence classes and the divorce finalized around that time. However, Amber saw her dad for at least two years after the divorce because she says when Blaine visits at Freshman Family Weekend that they haven’t spoken in three years, which would be when she was 15.
Thanks. As there obviously is a restraining order to keep him from visiting, I shudder to think what happened.
I doubt there’s a restraining order or the cops could have been called at once when he showed up for family weekend. As it is, he’s just not on the list of accepted family visitors.
Something likely did happen though to change the visitation rights. Wonder if there’s another flashback in store for that.
Here’s the source for divorce finalized around then. Knowing it was Ethan and Danny made it easier to find.
So here’s my take: Sometime before now, Stacey finds out about Yuri and they separate. Blaine continues to play an active role in Amber’s life – picking her up from school, taking her on band trips. That’s where we are now in this flashback. The robbery happens. The divorce goes through, but Blaine keeps partial custody or visitation rights at least and thus enough influence to push Amber away from therapy (which would likely lead to more exposure of his abuse) and into martial arts. Somewhere around 15, there’s some other crisis point and he loses all parental rights and gets cut out of Amber’s life completely.
I’m not sure where the Patreon flashback strip of Amber babysitting for Faz fits in. Probably before this current flashback run, before the separation. I assume that during the separation Blaine’s living with Yuri and they marry soon after the divorce. Just to make it creepier, Yuri’s place is apparently within walking distance of the O’Malley’s. So convenient for Blaine.
Yeah, something like this (Not sure of exact order)
Pre 13: Blaine and Stacey separate, he’s probably living with Yuri right now.
13: Robbery, self defence classes, divorce finalizes.
15: Something really bad happens and Blaine is cut off (maybe this is when he hit Stacey?)
I want.. to protecc.. mike..
Something’s missing in your life if you’ve never been to a chill birthday party that’s really just a couple friends hanging out doing what they often enjoy. Fun, like time, is relative.
Except when another not quite friend shows up who doesn’t really enjoy those things. Then it gets awkward.
Oh wait we Forgot Eathen isn’t just the Transformers and Batman Guy. He’s the Transformers, Batman, and GI Joe guy. We forgot he liked GI Joe.
Honestly, sounds like a fun party!
Unless you’re not into transformers and that stuff, like mike (or me). Then it just sounds boring
Dunno… there is something special about being with people who totally geek out about something, even when you have no idea what’s going on. Something with all that positive energy.
At least if they are not adding gatekeeping to their subculture-affirmative rituals.
Well Mikey if you’re gonna play chessmaster you’ve got to know when your pieces are NERRRDS</b?
Poor sweet mike… I never thought I’d say that
This might be premature, but I can appreciate Past Mike. I like how he’s incredibly perceptive and that he’s decisive enough that doesn’t just sit on what he knows. If only Present Mike hadn’t begun to be weirdly destructive about it.
It might just be he built a more cynical arms length approach. I don’t know if that’s entirely the correct assessment either though… like its hard to put into words what his current personality/world view. It just feels like he’s actively looking to avoid getting.. himself hurt? Or idk… he seems deadset on looking like a know it all asshole with no desire to build a proper emotional attachment.
Like sherlock? Or rick?
I think i just roundabout agreed with you…
Not like i was disagreeing, more like adding to why it’s self destructive.
Yes, Mike, I’m afraid that your initial impression of Amber and Ethan being nerds is correct!
Well it’s the thought that counts.
Panel 3: AH GLIMPSES OF YOUNG ADULT MIKE
I know things were trending that way anyway, but it is very fitting that Mike should be close friends with Amber to spite her parent.
So, will we ever find out why Mike became an asshole?
I think the point of the flashbacks is to show that Mike has always been a bit of an asshole — but in a more naive and constructive way — and what we’re seeing is the sequence of events that led to him being the type of cynical asshole that enjoys watching people and/or relationships go down in flames.
Aw come on Mike, we know you love it!
Deep down.
…Maybe not.
He doesn’t love nerd things. He only loves to makeout with nerds.
Dina, Amber, Ethan… Checks out!
Mike in the Nerds’ Den
This is one of the circles of hell: trapped in a room with two nerds talking about their incredibly niche interest that you literally could not give a single fuck about.
Considering sliding timescale, I wouldn’t say transformers as a whole is exactly niche as such, billion dollar movie franchise and all, though beast wars may count.
It doesn’t really matter if the interest is niche though.
Trapped in room with two people obsessing over the minutia of something you don’t give a fuck about still sucks.
It could be sportsball fans analyzing last night’s game in play by play detail.
Every interest is niche when you get deep enough into the details. Like I’m a slut for Pokemon but I’d rather die than listen to even 5 minutes of discussion of the competitive metagame.
I hate it when bad stuff happens at birthdays, it’s so sad – it’s supposed to be a nice day, with cake and presents and friends, but with the treat of Blaine appearing hanging over the party I worry things will go bad.
“So, change of plans, huh?”
“Yeah, turns out your dad is such a terrible person my schedule cleared right up.”
And so began young Mike’s education in Transformers. He never really got into it, but he made a point to learn everything he possibly could, just so he could correct any inconsistencies he came across.
Because, ya know, spite.
3rd panel Mike is clear Mike: “So, I heard there was a shit here I could rip a new one, where’s MY gift for this birthday?”
This is really, really cute. Also, I’m with Mike–I wanna fight Amber’s dad. (Wait, that’s nothing new.)
My friends and I are people in their twenties, and we still talk a lot about video games, Pokemon and Yugioh. Yugi is the bullshit master.
I’m mid-thirties, and I still play Duel Links almost every day.
Hey, theyre having fun. I’m all for it.
And at that moment, Mike decided to become an asshole.
I love Amber’s old design. It’s so nice seeing it come up in DoA, it’s been so long since I read Shortpacked.
The Sadists Lament
Theory 1:
Mike is somehow the reason that Ethan and Amber went to the grocery store in the first place.
Theory 2:
Mike antagonizes Blaine enough to provoke him into doing MORE shit to Amber.
Theory 3:
Mike feels shitty about making things worse, and gives up on trying to help.
Why have I never noticed that the beast wars toys have their own character tags? That’s awesome.
I ABSOLUTELY think Mike is here to fuck with Blaine because he was bothered by how he talked about Amber. God, my Mike/Amber feelings are still highly intact.