I know a lot of people get drunk by 18, but a lot of people don’t. Mike doesn’t engage in other vices like smoking or obsessive video games… he’s got his preferred vice and he’s sticking to it.
We’ve seen no sign that he has any awareness that he’s a nice-drunk, or even that this is the case in this universe.
…you know, that WOULD be a way to use Mike in an interesting story.
I’m not a fan of him. I think he is an artefact from the other comics where he filled an interesting part in the narrative. Here, he is just an asshole in a cast full of much more interesting assholes. He COULD be put in an interesting spot as an antagonist – because lord knows that men like him exist in real life – but transforming a protagonist to an antagonist is a really tricky thing to do, especially since a lot of people like him*.
But his attitude to drinking could be a genuinely interesting story that would be about HIM and not his effect on other people. How would he react to finding out he becomes nice when drunk? How would he react to how other people react to it? Would he detest it or welcome it? Would he swear of alcohol forever after the first time or would he experiment with it? Would he be bothered by the alcohol soaked frat-culture?
A lot of people have complicated relationships to alcohol, and Mikes reverse Jekyll/Hyde syndrom would be an interesting mirror in which to watch it (much like Becky’s hat-fetish is a fun mirror in which to watch physical attraction).
*) If you like Mike – please do! More power to you. My opinions do not in any way have to dictate yours.
I always thought his “drunken-niceness” was a part of his alien power, kind of a counterbalance, I guess. I don’t know if Mike in this universe even drinks. He certainly has no reason to, as of yet.
Briny
See, Mike-with-Alien-Powers, I could tolerate because at heart, it was a story about people defending the entire planet. And, you know, you grade on a curve because some cool stuff’s on this planet and if someone’s saving it you make allowances.
This Mike’s just some schmuck.
geno
Willis has already put in underaged drinking, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see it here. Drunk Mike might be a neat gag sometime later. Maybe Mike tries it as a way to talk to Amber without saying something mean? Personally I really like Mike as a heroic douchebag, but I agree that can’t really work here unless he teams up with AG or something. In the old universe even before he had a character arc he had funny moments, but in DOA he mostly just causes trouble. I don’t think he causes nearly enough trouble to make an interesting antagonist though unless he screws over worse villains as some sort of ploy.
Goshii
An antagonist does not necessarily have to be unlikable by the audience to be a good antagonist. Not once in the original trilogy did I dislike Vader, he never gave off any dislikable vibes for me, and I absolutely LOVE his character. While Luke as the protagonist, is pretty damn unlikable until the finale of Jedi for me.
I dunno. I’d lay at least 50/50 odds that they’d quickly respect “I’m an introvert, please let me people in small doses.” And also an independent 50/50 that Billie’s getting special treatment because she’s the designated awesome.
Do Lucy and Nash even understand the concept of “introvert?”
IllogicalBobcat
I don’t think most people do. Certainly not the Head Cheerleader who made a failed attempt to be social-queen of her last dorm when she moved in…
Miri
To my mind (as a Brit, where the expectation is generally that you get your own room at university) the whole idea of room mates seems horrifically geared up towards introverts…
Seriously – my first term I was in a house share with 5 other girls. They commented on my eating habits enough that I would actually walk the 30 mins to university to eat food alone rather than eat at home sometimes (as the sole veggie living in a household where everybody else thought a meal WAS a meat and two veg I didn’t blend in… I had the same girl tell me on two consecutive days that I never ate and it was a wonder I wasn’t fading away, and that I was always picking on food and it was a wonder I wasn’t the size of a bus). Even with a door you can close to shut out everybody else they can still be horrible for your mental health, if they won’t respect your boundaries… It was in some ways a relief to overhear one of them on the phone to her mum saying she “dreaded” having to talk to me because that was the point it was obvious to me that the problem was them rather than me (if somebody has never been anything other than polite, friendly, etc., towards you and you dread talking to them because of the degree to which you have “othered” them – THEY ARE NOT THE PROBLEM)…
Space, privacy, quiet time, etc are all SO important. (Not living with judgemental pod-people is also a good idea.)
Reltzik
Yahbut, if everyone gets their own room, how does the university MAKE MONEY?
[/sarcasm, of course]
thejeff
By charging them more for rooms, of course.
The more appropriate question would be how do the students afford it?
The answer of course is “Socialism!”
Reltzik
I thought the answer was that they couldn’t, but the ever-burgeoning practice of lifetime debt peonage lets everyone pretend that they can.
112 thoughts on “Join”
CandidCanid
Billie, typing furiously: “THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS WHOLE DORM WHOM I CAN JUSTIFY PUNCHING”
Nono
Give her a week with Lucy.
Ana Chronistic
just missing the one fanning with a palm leaf
Reltzik
…. Billie DOES like a leaf fan.
Leorale
Well played. (Unlike a Leafs game.)
Kingmonster
*insert obligatory OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!*
Sunny
What is it with the internet and puns today? This is the third webcomic I check today and in all of them the comments were just loaded with wordplay.
Charlie Spencer
Whadda ya mean, ‘today’?
Br44n5m
One of us! One of us!
Bagge
Nice!
Remmington Steele
And the grapes. I thought there would be grapes.
King Daniel
Mmm, sharp cheddar
Dean
No crackers? What is this, the gulag?
Reltzik
“Sorry, all we got is this bacon and a microwave to melt the cheese onto it.”
PB
… Add in avocados and nachos and you got a deal.
AnvilPro
Billie the babysitter
JetstreamGW
This is getting weird.
Kernanator
It’s almost like we’re facing the strange!
Nobody
As someone who always suspects ulterior motives, I agree
begbert2
Are you saying you expect the Spanish inquisition?
Joe Covenant
NOOOO-one expec.. oh bugger!
Roborat
Better come in again.
TheKelliestKelly
Rather than no one expecting the Spanish Inquisition, it seems in this case Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
SgtWadeyWilson
Well Cardcaptors did tell us to expect the unexpected…
JetstreamGW
Would Syaoran lie to us?
Derek
I’m beginning to sense that the theme in this storyline is “no one leaves well enough alone”
Reltzik
…. THIS storyline?
Mr. Mendo
Billie’s gonna have to learn to deal with people who like her.
Or possibly start singing:
“This must be just like living in paradise/
And I don’t wanna go ho-o-o-ome!”
Stephen Bierce
Gotta love Diamond Dave…especially when he’s got Steve Vai to back him up.
King Daniel
…wait, “ball pit and caramel pool”? I thought that was exclusively Dorothy’s turf?
Reltzik
…..
….. okay, that was a good one.
Remmington Steele
What in the name of Dina, is a “ballpit”?
Joe Covenant
Think:
Someplace approximating a huge enclosed with netting, inflatable swimming pool with high sides.
Now fill it with (roughly) baseball sized hollow plastic balls…
Then leap into it !
Ballpit!!
Ferret
Or a little kiddie pool in the middle of a giant warehouse.
Y’know, a ballpit can mean a lot of things.
Remmington Steele
Ah, yes. Always accompanied by the vague smell of urine.
IllogicalBobcat
They have them at Chuck E Cheese.
Roborat
And some McDonalds.
Danni
ooh sharp cheddar! the good stuff!
Marsh Maryrose
“To Serve Mankind”
Marsh Maryrose
(Spoiler: It’s a cookbook!)
Marsh Maryrose
In other old spoilers: the Eloi were very well fed by the Morlocks.
Passchendaele
BRIBERY: SUCCESSFUL
Rose and Nash gain +2 charisma
Reltzik
Because bribery gets you charisma?
….
*reflects on how people like generous people*
….. okay, it checks out.
Shade
Good taste in cheese gives you charisma.
Nobody
Bribery with good cheese gives you even more charisma
Roborat
It gives some people gas.
SgtWadeyWilson
So, what… roll for Charisma DC 9? Maybe 12 tops?
Larkle
“We phrased it as a question, but it’s actually not optional.”
Shiro
The McAwesome’s of dorms?
Tacos
Seems like it. I wonder if Mike goes there to get drunk.
Reltzik
…. has Mike ever BEEN drunk?
I know a lot of people get drunk by 18, but a lot of people don’t. Mike doesn’t engage in other vices like smoking or obsessive video games… he’s got his preferred vice and he’s sticking to it.
We’ve seen no sign that he has any awareness that he’s a nice-drunk, or even that this is the case in this universe.
Bagge
…you know, that WOULD be a way to use Mike in an interesting story.
I’m not a fan of him. I think he is an artefact from the other comics where he filled an interesting part in the narrative. Here, he is just an asshole in a cast full of much more interesting assholes. He COULD be put in an interesting spot as an antagonist – because lord knows that men like him exist in real life – but transforming a protagonist to an antagonist is a really tricky thing to do, especially since a lot of people like him*.
But his attitude to drinking could be a genuinely interesting story that would be about HIM and not his effect on other people. How would he react to finding out he becomes nice when drunk? How would he react to how other people react to it? Would he detest it or welcome it? Would he swear of alcohol forever after the first time or would he experiment with it? Would he be bothered by the alcohol soaked frat-culture?
A lot of people have complicated relationships to alcohol, and Mikes reverse Jekyll/Hyde syndrom would be an interesting mirror in which to watch it (much like Becky’s hat-fetish is a fun mirror in which to watch physical attraction).
*) If you like Mike – please do! More power to you. My opinions do not in any way have to dictate yours.
Trousle Undrhil
I always thought his “drunken-niceness” was a part of his alien power, kind of a counterbalance, I guess. I don’t know if Mike in this universe even drinks. He certainly has no reason to, as of yet.
Briny
See, Mike-with-Alien-Powers, I could tolerate because at heart, it was a story about people defending the entire planet. And, you know, you grade on a curve because some cool stuff’s on this planet and if someone’s saving it you make allowances.
This Mike’s just some schmuck.
geno
Willis has already put in underaged drinking, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see it here. Drunk Mike might be a neat gag sometime later. Maybe Mike tries it as a way to talk to Amber without saying something mean? Personally I really like Mike as a heroic douchebag, but I agree that can’t really work here unless he teams up with AG or something. In the old universe even before he had a character arc he had funny moments, but in DOA he mostly just causes trouble. I don’t think he causes nearly enough trouble to make an interesting antagonist though unless he screws over worse villains as some sort of ploy.
Goshii
An antagonist does not necessarily have to be unlikable by the audience to be a good antagonist. Not once in the original trilogy did I dislike Vader, he never gave off any dislikable vibes for me, and I absolutely LOVE his character. While Luke as the protagonist, is pretty damn unlikable until the finale of Jedi for me.
Cattleprod
How does one earn extra time in the ballpit?
Stephen Bierce
Because of the discussion about Rose on Tumblr…
…Is she steady with a dude named Larry?
Haven
So is Rose secretly related to Amber in this continuity too, or is it just an unusual resemblance?
Needfuldoer
Amber is Blaine’s only biological child in DoA. Are they more distant relatives? Anything’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely.
Leorale
And a waterslide, and Mike is nice.
Keulen
I’m starting to think it would suck to be an introvert in this dorm.
Kamino Neko
Suck, blow and bite.
Reltzik
I dunno. I’d lay at least 50/50 odds that they’d quickly respect “I’m an introvert, please let me people in small doses.” And also an independent 50/50 that Billie’s getting special treatment because she’s the designated awesome.
Marsh Maryrose
Do Lucy and Nash even understand the concept of “introvert?”
IllogicalBobcat
I don’t think most people do. Certainly not the Head Cheerleader who made a failed attempt to be social-queen of her last dorm when she moved in…
Miri
To my mind (as a Brit, where the expectation is generally that you get your own room at university) the whole idea of room mates seems horrifically geared up towards introverts…
Seriously – my first term I was in a house share with 5 other girls. They commented on my eating habits enough that I would actually walk the 30 mins to university to eat food alone rather than eat at home sometimes (as the sole veggie living in a household where everybody else thought a meal WAS a meat and two veg I didn’t blend in… I had the same girl tell me on two consecutive days that I never ate and it was a wonder I wasn’t fading away, and that I was always picking on food and it was a wonder I wasn’t the size of a bus). Even with a door you can close to shut out everybody else they can still be horrible for your mental health, if they won’t respect your boundaries… It was in some ways a relief to overhear one of them on the phone to her mum saying she “dreaded” having to talk to me because that was the point it was obvious to me that the problem was them rather than me (if somebody has never been anything other than polite, friendly, etc., towards you and you dread talking to them because of the degree to which you have “othered” them – THEY ARE NOT THE PROBLEM)…
Space, privacy, quiet time, etc are all SO important. (Not living with judgemental pod-people is also a good idea.)
Reltzik
Yahbut, if everyone gets their own room, how does the university MAKE MONEY?
[/sarcasm, of course]
thejeff
By charging them more for rooms, of course.
The more appropriate question would be how do the students afford it?
The answer of course is “Socialism!”
Reltzik
I thought the answer was that they couldn’t, but the ever-burgeoning practice of lifetime debt peonage lets everyone pretend that they can.
monkyvirus