Castoreum is incredibly expensive — insanely low supply, insanely high demand — that no matter what the Food Charlatan says, you are not eating beaver butt unless your ice cream costs hundreds of dollars per pint.
But if you’re wearing really expensive perfume, it’s possible that you’re wearing beaver butt.
Just because something’s rare and expensive, doesn’t mean it’s good.
I’d get a bucket of rocky road or moose tracks rather than a tea spoon of any ice cream that cost the same.
Ah, but you’re never going to become a big-league, highly paid charlatan if you’re going to let a little thing like accuracy get in the way of clever marketing.
Roborat
Yup, the famous Canadian beaver trade which helped create the country wasn’t about the furs, it was about the butts.
Dot’s only if hyu iz a Jägermonster, hy tink. If hyu chust ride vit de Jägers like Old Man Death, hy dunno if hyu steel needs to vin it in a fight.
Now, protecting hyu hat in a fight, on de odder hand…
King Daniel
Also, hy chust remembered dot Meester Gil had a verra nize hat (vere did dot get off to, anyvay?), und he deed not vin it in a fight – de Jägers gave it to him.
They both really needed a friend. I know Danny has Ethan as a friend, and Joe, but obviously, it really doesn’t hurt for him to be spreading his wings more.
Sal has… uhh… boy, that’s sad. Kinda just Danny right now, not counting brief interactions with the others.
Ainara
I’d say Danny and Dorothy are friends, too, and his relationship with Amber is… complicated, but they do care about each other. So yeah, as you said this is good for Danny too, but mostly I’m happy for Sal. I think Marcie’s great, but y’know, “learning who you are without other people” and all.
If this comic ends with Danny singing “Stronger Than You” from Steven Universe only it’s about him and his hat and he’s playing on the ukulele, this whole journey will have been worth it.
That reminds me that I somehow still haven’t gotten around the watching Steven Universe. One of these days, I will understand that reference!
Regalli
The season one finale – where that song comes from – is honestly brilliant, and so much of it’s that song and the sequence of comes with. I can not recommend it enough. (I started falling behind on the show around the point the schedule got REALLY erratic, after Bismuth, but the first season is fantastically paced and executed.)
Please. Pretty please. Ethan and Danny for emotional support, Sal for trying to get her self-preservation back. (If Sal and Amber or AG ever have a long Discussion about the past I could see Sal feeling genuinely bad for Amber – she has some experience with abusive parents and it would explain a lot to know AG was That Girl and Amber still has serious mental scars and actively began dissociating after that – but I can also totally see Sal being really angry at her as well, and I’m not sure I think they’ll ever really be friends. Certainly doubt they could get there without Amber clearing the air.)
Yeah, really looking forward to Amber and Sal getting to unpack everything around the convenience store incident.
Just kind of looking forward to Amber being able to be a little bit healthier in general, though.
More healthy relationships in DoA, that’s the dream!
Regalli
I figure he’ll start selling slots for our favorite characters in supportive environments talking about things and getting help when the twins start looking at colleges. Like Slipshine, only not porn.
ShinyNeen
Yeah, I… would absolutely pay for that. It would take a while to explain exactly why I want to see more of that so badly, but… yes.
A
+++++
I, too, would like to register my interest in such a thing.
An old hand injury might make it difficult. She should still be able to play a guitar or bass with a pick, though, as long as she makes chords with her left hand.
The problem is his self-doubt of his ability to talk about anything other than Transformers.
Mike and Danny are the only ones he can have a conversation with that’s semi-related to his interests.
JessWitt
Right right. Love requires some intersection in interests, of which Ethan has few and limited.
thejeff
Nah. He could find plenty of guys who’d share enough to be interested – it’s not like Danny is a perfect match for his “few and limited” interests, but they’ve made a connection. Or see him chatting up Jocelyn when they first met.
He’s just bad at getting started. It’s the self-doubt, not his limited interests.
And of course Mike makes it easy. Mike comes on to him, so he doesn’t have to do any of the work.
Um…no he doesn’t. Being a gay man greatly limits his options. Specifically, he doesn’t have the luxury of assuming a guy he’s attracted to is a man who is also attracted to men. And noone can assume that the attraction is mutual. Mike makes it safe in that that guess work is taken out even if he is a D-bag.
Regalli
There was an entire bit in Walking With Dina where he attended a student LGBT meetup in the dorm. I’m well aware of the hazards of attraction and dating while gay, but he knows there’s options where he would be in a safe space to get to know guys in a potentially-dating context. And on a campus this big, it is guaranteed there are multiple single dudes who might be interested in Ethan if they got to know him who aren’t even cast members. The bigger deal’s probably his social anxiety.
Danny: Ethan… help me… take… this hat off…
Ethan: But, you’ll die!
Danny: Nothing… can stop that now… Just once… let me.. look on you with… my own eyes…
*Ethan removes Danny’s hat – to reveal Dina’s hat, staring back at him*
Hmm, I know Mike said he was seducing Ethan only to turn Danny into a jealous wreck, or something to that effect. But I wonder if he wasn’t being honest about that, it seems more like he’s feeling a bit jealous rather. I could be wrong about it entirely, either way it will be interesting to see how this plays out
I never know what’s going on in Mike’s head which puts me on high alert because I’m usually not unsure about what a persons plans and motive are for so long. For all we know we could write it off as jealousy or it could actually just secretly be “I have a elaborate scheme set out right now I don’t need you complicating it.”
It definitely reads as jealousy to me too, though it’s possible it’s meant to read as jealousy to Ethan. I doubt Danny is a complication for the scheme, given that the scheme was to mess him up by seducing Ethan.
That fourth panel is… weirdly self-aware though? Like. Mike is an incredible asshole, but that fourth panel pretty solidly conveys that he knows he’s an imposition on the people around him and feels kind of bitter to me? Not that I’m always the best reader of people, and Mike definitely tries to cultivate an asshole persona too, so there’s no reason not to be self-aware, but… I dunno. It feels bitter to me. It’s definitely a big part of why this page reads as genuine jealousy.
172 thoughts on “Him”
Ana Chronistic
“look, some people LIKE vanilla!”
“castoreum vanilla?”
“um”
Marsh Maryrose
Castoreum is incredibly expensive — insanely low supply, insanely high demand — that no matter what the Food Charlatan says, you are not eating beaver butt unless your ice cream costs hundreds of dollars per pint.
But if you’re wearing really expensive perfume, it’s possible that you’re wearing beaver butt.
Mr. Random
Just because something’s rare and expensive, doesn’t mean it’s good.
I’d get a bucket of rocky road or moose tracks rather than a tea spoon of any ice cream that cost the same.
Ana Chronistic
It’s not technically beaver butt
It’s FROM the butt…ish area
Marsh Maryrose
Ah, but you’re never going to become a big-league, highly paid charlatan if you’re going to let a little thing like accuracy get in the way of clever marketing.
Roborat
Yup, the famous Canadian beaver trade which helped create the country wasn’t about the furs, it was about the butts.
Gojira
Does molasses come from mole asses?
Roborat
Shhh, don’t let the secret out.
JessWitt
I learn something new
I wish I never knew.
Needfuldoer
Sounds like a lost Dr. Seuss book.
Doctor_Who
I’ve seen that episode of Darkwing Duck. This explains so much!
King Daniel
It iz, admittedly, a nize hat.
Inahc
🙂
Puckish Rogue
Cheese cutters are always a good choice if you’re not sure what to wear
Deanatay
Ho, yez!
Deanatay
Dot sum qvality habadazery dere!
Roborat
Yay, fellow Jager fans.
Agemegos
Iz millinery!
thejeff
But he didn’t git it de proper vay. Plucked from off de head a vorthy enemy.
Vun who happen to gots hyu same head size.
King Daniel
Dot’s only if hyu iz a Jägermonster, hy tink. If hyu chust ride vit de Jägers like Old Man Death, hy dunno if hyu steel needs to vin it in a fight.
Now, protecting hyu hat in a fight, on de odder hand…
King Daniel
Also, hy chust remembered dot Meester Gil had a verra nize hat (vere did dot get off to, anyvay?), und he deed not vin it in a fight – de Jägers gave it to him.
DailyBrad
Sal and Danny time is a good time.
newllend(henryvolt)
With enough music lessons he’ll jamming out “Run D.M.C” songs in no time: https://youtu.be/uYjkmQ0jNeg
Ainara
Romantic or platonic, it’s really good to see her making friends with other people
DailyBrad
They both really needed a friend. I know Danny has Ethan as a friend, and Joe, but obviously, it really doesn’t hurt for him to be spreading his wings more.
Sal has… uhh… boy, that’s sad. Kinda just Danny right now, not counting brief interactions with the others.
Ainara
I’d say Danny and Dorothy are friends, too, and his relationship with Amber is… complicated, but they do care about each other. So yeah, as you said this is good for Danny too, but mostly I’m happy for Sal. I think Marcie’s great, but y’know, “learning who you are without other people” and all.
ShinyNeen
Danny and the hat have each other. They are stronger together than they could ever be apart. You just don’t understand, Mike.
Doctor_Who
If this comic ends with Danny singing “Stronger Than You” from Steven Universe only it’s about him and his hat and he’s playing on the ukulele, this whole journey will have been worth it.
cbwroses
I know you want to make me jealous,
But I think you’re just mad that you’re hatless.
ShinyNeen
That reminds me that I somehow still haven’t gotten around the watching Steven Universe. One of these days, I will understand that reference!
Regalli
The season one finale – where that song comes from – is honestly brilliant, and so much of it’s that song and the sequence of comes with. I can not recommend it enough. (I started falling behind on the show around the point the schedule got REALLY erratic, after Bismuth, but the first season is fantastically paced and executed.)
Marsh Maryrose
Not parasitism, not even commensalism, but true symbiosis.
Hat + Danny => Synergy
Roborat
I knew it, that’s not a hat, it’s a head crab.
Nono
Can we get an Ethan/Danny/Sal team of ‘let’s look out for Amber’?
Regalli
Please. Pretty please. Ethan and Danny for emotional support, Sal for trying to get her self-preservation back. (If Sal and Amber or AG ever have a long Discussion about the past I could see Sal feeling genuinely bad for Amber – she has some experience with abusive parents and it would explain a lot to know AG was That Girl and Amber still has serious mental scars and actively began dissociating after that – but I can also totally see Sal being really angry at her as well, and I’m not sure I think they’ll ever really be friends. Certainly doubt they could get there without Amber clearing the air.)
ShinyNeen
Yeah, really looking forward to Amber and Sal getting to unpack everything around the convenience store incident.
Just kind of looking forward to Amber being able to be a little bit healthier in general, though.
More healthy relationships in DoA, that’s the dream!
Regalli
I figure he’ll start selling slots for our favorite characters in supportive environments talking about things and getting help when the twins start looking at colleges. Like Slipshine, only not porn.
ShinyNeen
Yeah, I… would absolutely pay for that. It would take a while to explain exactly why I want to see more of that so badly, but… yes.
A
+++++
I, too, would like to register my interest in such a thing.
Deanatay
It’s a kind of porn.
Justice porn?
Happy endings?
Keulen
For once I agree with Mike, the hat definitely has Danny. And I’m so glad to see that Sal is helping him get better at playing his ukelele.
bryy
Sal wants to play his Ukelele all right.
Cyrus
She really doesn’t, and it makes for a better dynamic that way.
Needfuldoer
An old hand injury might make it difficult. She should still be able to play a guitar or bass with a pick, though, as long as she makes chords with her left hand.
Or did you not mean that literally?
Freemage
Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
newllend(henryvolt)
I’m surprised the title of the strip isn’t named, “The hat has him.”
Keulen
I’m thinking “The hat has him” should be the title of the next DoA book.
ShinyNeen
That would make an ominous progression from the title of book 7. A little disjointed, but ominous.
David M Willis
why would i make the punchline of the strip the first thing you read when you click through to here on twitter
newllend(henryvolt)
Damn your right, To think I have the nerve to regard myself as a novice comedian.
Ryek Hvek
to spoil our day and generally Ruin Everything – #BeLikeMike
Regalli
… Seriously, Ethan, childhood crush or no, you can do better man. You have options.
JessWitt
He has a dorm wing full of options, as well as their friends and their friends’ friends.
Nono
The problem is his self-doubt of his ability to talk about anything other than Transformers.
Mike and Danny are the only ones he can have a conversation with that’s semi-related to his interests.
JessWitt
Right right. Love requires some intersection in interests, of which Ethan has few and limited.
thejeff
Nah. He could find plenty of guys who’d share enough to be interested – it’s not like Danny is a perfect match for his “few and limited” interests, but they’ve made a connection. Or see him chatting up Jocelyn when they first met.
He’s just bad at getting started. It’s the self-doubt, not his limited interests.
And of course Mike makes it easy. Mike comes on to him, so he doesn’t have to do any of the work.
hof1991
We just saw him unable to even talk with two guys from his dorm, guys who invited him to join a conversation.
Firestk
Um…no he doesn’t. Being a gay man greatly limits his options. Specifically, he doesn’t have the luxury of assuming a guy he’s attracted to is a man who is also attracted to men. And noone can assume that the attraction is mutual. Mike makes it safe in that that guess work is taken out even if he is a D-bag.
Regalli
There was an entire bit in Walking With Dina where he attended a student LGBT meetup in the dorm. I’m well aware of the hazards of attraction and dating while gay, but he knows there’s options where he would be in a safe space to get to know guys in a potentially-dating context. And on a campus this big, it is guaranteed there are multiple single dudes who might be interested in Ethan if they got to know him who aren’t even cast members. The bigger deal’s probably his social anxiety.
thejeff
Of course he has options. One of them has a cool hat.
Passchendaele
it controls him
King Daniel
Partially, but it also obeys his commands.
StClair
He’s more hat than man, now.
Deanatay
Danny: Ethan… help me… take… this hat off…
Ethan: But, you’ll die!
Danny: Nothing… can stop that now… Just once… let me.. look on you with… my own eyes…
*Ethan removes Danny’s hat – to reveal Dina’s hat, staring back at him*
Kyrik Michalowski
Hmm, I know Mike said he was seducing Ethan only to turn Danny into a jealous wreck, or something to that effect. But I wonder if he wasn’t being honest about that, it seems more like he’s feeling a bit jealous rather. I could be wrong about it entirely, either way it will be interesting to see how this plays out
TheHorseCouncil
I am reading this as jealousy on Mike’s part also but im not entirely sure if it based in romance…
newllend(henryvolt)
I never know what’s going on in Mike’s head which puts me on high alert because I’m usually not unsure about what a persons plans and motive are for so long. For all we know we could write it off as jealousy or it could actually just secretly be “I have a elaborate scheme set out right now I don’t need you complicating it.”
AKP
It definitely reads as jealousy to me too, though it’s possible it’s meant to read as jealousy to Ethan. I doubt Danny is a complication for the scheme, given that the scheme was to mess him up by seducing Ethan.
That fourth panel is… weirdly self-aware though? Like. Mike is an incredible asshole, but that fourth panel pretty solidly conveys that he knows he’s an imposition on the people around him and feels kind of bitter to me? Not that I’m always the best reader of people, and Mike definitely tries to cultivate an asshole persona too, so there’s no reason not to be self-aware, but… I dunno. It feels bitter to me. It’s definitely a big part of why this page reads as genuine jealousy.
adjudicus