How much doo would a doo donkey do if a doo donkey did do doo.
Aislashu
All y’all are amazing xD
clif
Not me. I forgot the question mark at the end.
My life is a failure.
That’s okay. I plan to demand a do-over.
BigDogLittleCat
A doo-over?
Miri
How much doo would a doo donkey do if a doo donkey did do doo a doo-over over Dover?
FacelessDeviant
Baby shark doodoo doodoo doodooo. Baby Shark.
MaximumZero
A re-doo-doo, if you will.
Lys
All these bad dads suffering deaths FROM ABOVE!!!
Sorry, your Accurate Alliterative Appeal Added Ambivalence, I thought we were referencing Dominic Deegan for a second there.
You forgot to put “Delusional” in front of “Dire.”
Mobster One couldn’t face reality anymore because his daughter could now take him in a fight. Short One probably never fully dealt with reality in his life…
I dunno, I use-ta look forward to learning new tunes, and remembering old ones. I mean I can get used to the new sourdough, everyone does that, but I miss the Wry.
There are many similarities between cats and auts.
Bunny
We do NOT bathe ourselves with our tongues, however. Nor leave headless prey where we are certain you will step on and appreciate them. That’s all cats!
Jamie
… I take the Fifth.
Regalli
Sssh! We’re lulling them into a sense of security.
Although Toedead wasn’t a good parenti thinkbecky was closer with her father than Amber was with hers. Toedead at least tried to have a few good experiences with his daughter, like taking her to 6flags, even if he restricted what prizes she would be able to get. Blaine seemed to barely tolerate Amber;s presence
I am a little skeptical Blaine would’ve actually told anyone he was found out by a 13 year old kid. Like the mob would’ve killed him way before he had a chance to kidnap anyone if he’d revealed that shit.
Yeah, I think the only way he could’ve possibly gotten away with it is ‘that kid must have done some investigating in the last year or two, it wouldn’t be the first time he stuck his nose where he has no business’ or something, and if he did convince someone Mike needed to die, Mike would already be dead.
But they were just kidnapped by him yesterday, so I don’t expect them to be taking a huge step back and going ‘y’know, he was an impulsive dumbass but he also cared more about saving face than anything else’. And, well, it only takes one person Blaine can convince to kill the kid in a coma.
Little known fact. After he finally graduated college he started using his middle name and ran away to become a deck hand, working on a tiny ship that set sail on a three hour tour, but was somehow lost at sea.
KingoHrts
Actually, a very little known fact was that in the show once someone asked him what the G. stood for, and the answer was Walter. And trivia experts are still arguing over whether Gilligan was a first or last name.
OBBWG
Gilligan was his last name. Willie was his first name as per word of God (Sherwood Schwartz). His first name never came up in the series.
Cholma
Doh! That’s right. Bob Denver played Maynard. It was Dwayne Hickman that played Dobie. But the show was called “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” so that’s the first thing I thought of when I saw Denver’s face up there.
clif
Dobie was a real Danny with the girls; cute in a really awkward way.
Who was it that played Zelda? (I think that was her name?)
He’s sarcastically agreeing with Dorothy, then throwing in the bit about punching her because Amber’s subconscious is trying to keep him in (unsympathetic) character… Also Amber may be aware at least subconsciously that Walky still has feelings for Dorothy (or at least some level of discomfort about the fact that her two college relationships to date have both been rebounding from dating Dorothy).
It depends on what Willis thinks presents better story opportunities, I think. Ross and Blaine dying offered more than them living – the only things Ross could do were stay in jail (and eventually a probable trial storyline) or try to kidnap Becky again. Blaine was always going to keep coming up with schemes against Amber until he was incapacitated – and his mob ties meant he was never going to just stay in jail, because if they thought he was still an asset they’d get him out and we’ve seen what they’d do once he’s not. By contrast, if they die? Sweet, sweet, angst. Ross in particular gives us a LOT of story options with Joyce as well as Becky (hey Carol, we still haven’t addressed how you trusted a guy who murdered your own!)
So we had this grand arc where they got to escalate shit, Blaine got to go full supervillain like he always wanted to, and at the end of it they’re cleared from the field for good so they can’t escalate further because there’s no up to go. Joyce gets to tell Ross off, point blank, and make him feel a moment of ‘just maybe, this plan I hitched myself to is terrible, has me associating with terrible people, and will backfire on me’ before the end (even though he rejects it because Ross was ultimately a piece of shit.) Becky gets to have a huge Twitter rallying speech about how she refuses to be terrified back into the closet by her dad or anyone else, and how she’s not letting him force her to run away again. AG gets a kickass fight sequence with her true nemesis, and she and Amber get to recognize that they’re not Blaine, they’re not destined to become him, and they are ultimately the ones who choose how they go forward. (And Amber gets to scare Blaine utterly shitless, reject him, and see the look on his face when she does so. Will I ever stop linking this Shortpacked strip? Not when Blaine is a topic of conversation still, I don’t think. https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/last-respects ) Plus, bonus Faz character development! Faz character development that includes telling Amber that he struggles with the exact same fears about Blaine fucking him up, and she is his role model and inspiration. Nothing more Blaine or Ross’s continued presences can really add to anyone’s character arcs, and their deaths each establish a bigger threat (Blaine for Ross’s death, Asher for Blaine’s.)
By comparison, Mike is a supporting character, but he’s one with enough internality to sustain an arc of his own. There is, in fact, a clear route forward for his arc if he remains in the strip. The question is whether Willis is interested enough in that arc for the investment it would require, and whether they think it’s got more options than removing Mike from play permanently and letting that play out among the remaining cast – there’s a huge difference between ‘shitbag parents died’ and someone in their peer group, even if Mike was a shitbag himself. I could see it either way, even as I’d prefer Mike to get an actual redemption arc rather than a redemption equals death.
The Mike that lives in Amber’s hallucinations is kind of funny, in an odd way. Like he’s almost a cardboard cutout of Mike, the most shallow aspects of his personality for the most part. I guess because Amber herself cannot quite wrap her head around the idea that Mike genuinely cares about her. (This being Amber though, that tracks)
Seriously though, this girl needs a doctor. And much as I would love for Amber to stay in school just out of spite towards Linda, she probably needs a long stay in a hospital. Hallucinations and frequent dissociative incidents are very bad things.
Well, but if you look at what imaginary Mike is actually saying, he’s making the sarcastic point that of course he would ask her to sacrifice herself seeing as how it would make his sacrifice in vain. So he wouldn’t really.
So you see, imaginary Mike is actually nicer than real Mike.
My concern is honestly that a hospitalization stay might well make things WORSE – inpatient can be traumatic, and it’d almost certainly cut her off from even healthy coping mechanisms (like, the internet.) They definitely need a LOT of sleep, though, and support for establishing healthy body cohabitation strategies, and help for their massive self-esteem/self-sacrifice issues. (And probably some antidepressants.) They need therapy and probably a medical leave of absence, I just wouldn’t recommend inpatient to anyone who can avoid it and the therapy has to be competent.
124 thoughts on “Rent-a-cop”
Aislashu
Dire Daddies Die Deservedly
Doctor_Who
Becky Bombastically Brings Bereavement
Leorale
Amazi-Amber Amasses Ambivalence
clif
How much doo would a doo donkey do if a doo donkey did do doo.
Aislashu
All y’all are amazing xD
clif
Not me. I forgot the question mark at the end.
My life is a failure.
That’s okay. I plan to demand a do-over.
BigDogLittleCat
A doo-over?
Miri
How much doo would a doo donkey do if a doo donkey did do doo a doo-over over Dover?
FacelessDeviant
Baby shark doodoo doodoo doodooo. Baby Shark.
MaximumZero
A re-doo-doo, if you will.
Lys
All these bad dads suffering deaths FROM ABOVE!!!
Sorry, your Accurate Alliterative Appeal Added Ambivalence, I thought we were referencing Dominic Deegan for a second there.
ValdVin
It’s like everyone woke up and wanted to be Walter Winchell today.
Highly entertaining.
DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership
You forgot to put “Delusional” in front of “Dire.”
Mobster One couldn’t face reality anymore because his daughter could now take him in a fight. Short One probably never fully dealt with reality in his life…
Ana Chronistic
“like, for one thin’, Amber has this SUPER ADORBS POUTY POUT and I have this weird freakazoid face”
not someone else
The little tears in her eyes in panel one D:
Octopus Ink
“Blaze of Glory” plays on the hacked muzak?
(Are they still hacking the muzak ’round these parts?)
Stephen Bierce
Better you than me, pal.
Geneseepaws
I dunno, I use-ta look forward to learning new tunes, and remembering old ones. I mean I can get used to the new sourdough, everyone does that, but I miss the Wry.
Stephen Bierce
*cues up Wild Band of Indians’ “Fry Bread”*
Stephen Bierce
Whether It’s Good For You I Can’t Judge.
Opus the Poet
Which version of “Blaze of Glory”?
Some of the techno covers were pretty bad.
Octopus Ink
“SOME”?
Doctor_Who
I want a plot twist to be that Dina sees “Mike” too, and just hasn’t bothered to mention it.
Don’t ask me why, or what the implications would be, I just really want it to happen for some reason.
not someone else
Perhaps Dina reminds you of a cat?
Delicious Taffy
There are many similarities between cats and auts.
Bunny
We do NOT bathe ourselves with our tongues, however. Nor leave headless prey where we are certain you will step on and appreciate them. That’s all cats!
Jamie
… I take the Fifth.
Regalli
Sssh! We’re lulling them into a sense of security.
EvilMidnightLurker
They’re both Stand Users.
Dina, of course, has inherited Scary Monsters.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Language, you lady!
ValdVin
To paraphrase Bess Truman (even if apocryphal):
“It took us fifteen years to get her to say doo“
Mra
Although Toedead wasn’t a good parenti thinkbecky was closer with her father than Amber was with hers. Toedead at least tried to have a few good experiences with his daughter, like taking her to 6flags, even if he restricted what prizes she would be able to get. Blaine seemed to barely tolerate Amber;s presence
butts
Is that Mike talking, or Walky?
clif
Mike is tagged and Walky is not, so probably it’s Amber’s inner Walky.
Sirksome
I am a little skeptical Blaine would’ve actually told anyone he was found out by a 13 year old kid. Like the mob would’ve killed him way before he had a chance to kidnap anyone if he’d revealed that shit.
BigDogLittleCat
This.
And he was a lying SOS, who’d say a anything to get what he wanted.
Regalli
Yeah, I think the only way he could’ve possibly gotten away with it is ‘that kid must have done some investigating in the last year or two, it wouldn’t be the first time he stuck his nose where he has no business’ or something, and if he did convince someone Mike needed to die, Mike would already be dead.
But they were just kidnapped by him yesterday, so I don’t expect them to be taking a huge step back and going ‘y’know, he was an impulsive dumbass but he also cared more about saving face than anything else’. And, well, it only takes one person Blaine can convince to kill the kid in a coma.
KSClaw
Welcome to the Terrible Dead Dads Club, we got… cookies I guess?
Ghastly
Polite of Dina to let her girlfriend tag along with her in the Behind Open Door Transit System.
Doctor_Who
Actual footage of how Dina gets around.
Doctor_Who
Crap. Let me try that again.
Opus the Poet
That was Dina’s punk stage, it didn’t last very long as it made her very self-conscious.
drs
I prefer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zUnINuvcRI
BigDogLittleCat
Thank you for bringing this into my life.
Cholma
Dobie Gillis avatar! NOICE.
clif
Pretty sure that’s our man, Manard G. Krebs.
You rang?
clif
Little known fact. After he finally graduated college he started using his middle name and ran away to become a deck hand, working on a tiny ship that set sail on a three hour tour, but was somehow lost at sea.
KingoHrts
Actually, a very little known fact was that in the show once someone asked him what the G. stood for, and the answer was Walter. And trivia experts are still arguing over whether Gilligan was a first or last name.
OBBWG
Gilligan was his last name. Willie was his first name as per word of God (Sherwood Schwartz). His first name never came up in the series.
Cholma
Doh! That’s right. Bob Denver played Maynard. It was Dwayne Hickman that played Dobie. But the show was called “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” so that’s the first thing I thought of when I saw Denver’s face up there.
clif
Dobie was a real Danny with the girls; cute in a really awkward way.
Who was it that played Zelda? (I think that was her name?)
Van Jealous
Sheila Kuehl under the stage name “Sheila James”.
clif
Thank you.
Deanatay
Well, Becky normally travels via exploding closets, but she didn’t want to do that in a hospital, so she tagged along with Dina.
Nono
Depending on how far away Becky’s new place is, she must have a lot of stamina to not be gasping for air.
(Running is lame y’all)
Rotunda
Becky’s place is 1.1 km from the hospital entrance. Many 18-year-olds have no particular difficulty running this far.
Tan
1.1 kilometers is about 2/3rds of a mile
BBCC
Yes it is, Becky, yes it is.
abysswatcher1993
Talking about feelings isn’t donkey’s doo, but your expectations about people’s reactions are a bit off, Becky.
Kyrik Michalowski
I’m glad to see that Imagi-Mike is just as much of an ass as real Mike. If he does die, at least his replacement has the necessary qualifications.
I know Willis had the rule about not killing people(who would be mourned) but how likely are the odds that something does happen to Mike?
AeromechanicalAce
I honestly expect Mike’s Coma to last until the fandom decides he isn’t waking up, and then he WILL wake up, just to spite US.
showler
What’s the likelihood that Mike will stay in the coma until we get a brief timeskip for second decade DOA and then he will just be awake again.
Miri
He’s sarcastically agreeing with Dorothy, then throwing in the bit about punching her because Amber’s subconscious is trying to keep him in (unsympathetic) character… Also Amber may be aware at least subconsciously that Walky still has feelings for Dorothy (or at least some level of discomfort about the fact that her two college relationships to date have both been rebounding from dating Dorothy).
ValdVin
I’m unawake enough that I thought you wrote “Imagic-Mike”, like a pun on the movie.
Regalli
It depends on what Willis thinks presents better story opportunities, I think. Ross and Blaine dying offered more than them living – the only things Ross could do were stay in jail (and eventually a probable trial storyline) or try to kidnap Becky again. Blaine was always going to keep coming up with schemes against Amber until he was incapacitated – and his mob ties meant he was never going to just stay in jail, because if they thought he was still an asset they’d get him out and we’ve seen what they’d do once he’s not. By contrast, if they die? Sweet, sweet, angst. Ross in particular gives us a LOT of story options with Joyce as well as Becky (hey Carol, we still haven’t addressed how you trusted a guy who murdered your own!)
So we had this grand arc where they got to escalate shit, Blaine got to go full supervillain like he always wanted to, and at the end of it they’re cleared from the field for good so they can’t escalate further because there’s no up to go. Joyce gets to tell Ross off, point blank, and make him feel a moment of ‘just maybe, this plan I hitched myself to is terrible, has me associating with terrible people, and will backfire on me’ before the end (even though he rejects it because Ross was ultimately a piece of shit.) Becky gets to have a huge Twitter rallying speech about how she refuses to be terrified back into the closet by her dad or anyone else, and how she’s not letting him force her to run away again. AG gets a kickass fight sequence with her true nemesis, and she and Amber get to recognize that they’re not Blaine, they’re not destined to become him, and they are ultimately the ones who choose how they go forward. (And Amber gets to scare Blaine utterly shitless, reject him, and see the look on his face when she does so. Will I ever stop linking this Shortpacked strip? Not when Blaine is a topic of conversation still, I don’t think. https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/last-respects ) Plus, bonus Faz character development! Faz character development that includes telling Amber that he struggles with the exact same fears about Blaine fucking him up, and she is his role model and inspiration. Nothing more Blaine or Ross’s continued presences can really add to anyone’s character arcs, and their deaths each establish a bigger threat (Blaine for Ross’s death, Asher for Blaine’s.)
By comparison, Mike is a supporting character, but he’s one with enough internality to sustain an arc of his own. There is, in fact, a clear route forward for his arc if he remains in the strip. The question is whether Willis is interested enough in that arc for the investment it would require, and whether they think it’s got more options than removing Mike from play permanently and letting that play out among the remaining cast – there’s a huge difference between ‘shitbag parents died’ and someone in their peer group, even if Mike was a shitbag himself. I could see it either way, even as I’d prefer Mike to get an actual redemption arc rather than a redemption equals death.
LiterallyJustSomeGuy
Dumbing of Age Book 10: Just a Big Pile of Donkey Doo
March
The Mike that lives in Amber’s hallucinations is kind of funny, in an odd way. Like he’s almost a cardboard cutout of Mike, the most shallow aspects of his personality for the most part. I guess because Amber herself cannot quite wrap her head around the idea that Mike genuinely cares about her. (This being Amber though, that tracks)
Seriously though, this girl needs a doctor. And much as I would love for Amber to stay in school just out of spite towards Linda, she probably needs a long stay in a hospital. Hallucinations and frequent dissociative incidents are very bad things.
clif
Well, but if you look at what imaginary Mike is actually saying, he’s making the sarcastic point that of course he would ask her to sacrifice herself seeing as how it would make his sacrifice in vain. So he wouldn’t really.
So you see, imaginary Mike is actually nicer than real Mike.
deathjavu
Imaginary Mike says nice things in a dickish way that totally undercuts the niceness, so pretty much like real Mike.
Regalli
My concern is honestly that a hospitalization stay might well make things WORSE – inpatient can be traumatic, and it’d almost certainly cut her off from even healthy coping mechanisms (like, the internet.) They definitely need a LOT of sleep, though, and support for establishing healthy body cohabitation strategies, and help for their massive self-esteem/self-sacrifice issues. (And probably some antidepressants.) They need therapy and probably a medical leave of absence, I just wouldn’t recommend inpatient to anyone who can avoid it and the therapy has to be competent.
Sunny Bruv