In French, it is “l’esprit de l’escalier,” which translates as “staircase wit.” Not as meaningful a metaphor in any culture where people do not typically walk down staircases after leaving a party.
Fridge logic is the tiny, inconsistent details of media (movies, books, etc.) that you don’t notice until after you’ve finished the work and randomly occur to you at odd times, such as opening the fridge (the eponymous situation). It doesn’t have much to do with wit, though I suppose “fridge wit” could become a related term
I’m beginning to think the point being established is that Mike actually likes a lot of people and is actually good, but pushes people away and alienates them to try to keep them safe? But his desire to do good and habit of manipulate people leads to him harassing people in subtly constructive ways to encourage them to actually make choices that are good for them?
It’s a fucking baffling character arc but I haven’t seen anything quite like it before and I’m very interested.
Ah yeah, concocting an elaborate scheme to trick Walky into thinking his favorite show was cancelled, then secretly filming him crying in his sleep over it, then showing the video of it to Walky’s classmates under the pretense that it was of Walky crying over his breakup with Dorothy, was just “encouraging [Walky] to actually make choices that are good” for him.
/s
adjudicus
And that’s just one of many examples where his actions are plain harmful
RicardtheDragoon
Not quite how I would put it, but it is not entirely implausible. The first scheme could be construed as an attempt to get Walky to recognize how dependent his continued happiness is on a TV show and that perhaps that dependence is not a good thing.
The second is simply Mike’s way of proving to Joyce that Dorothy and Walky really did break-up, even if the video does not have any connection to the break-up. Looking for a positive motive there yields a subtle warning to Joyce that perhaps Dorothy does not reciprocate Joyce’s friendship as strongly as Joyce.
How many coincidences does it take to prove it? If every seemingly negative action taken by a character has a positive, if subtle, effect or intended effect, then can that character be said to be helpful, even indirectly?
Anyway, I’ve yet to see any definitive evidence about Mike to prove whether he is nice person who can’t or won’t help via direct routes or just likes tormenting others via means which may have some positive benefits for the victims.
adjudicus
Faking the cancellation of the show wasn’t the main objective, it was to elicit an emotional reaction from Walky which he would record. Any potential “positive” effect is unintended. Besides, where has Walky’s happiness been linked to the show? He loves it, yes, and is a hardcore fan, but there’s been no indication that his happiness is tied to it.
For the second bit, why would he need to prove it? Even if Joyce didn’t believe it, the idea would’ve been planted in her head , and sooner or later she would’ve asked. Plus, it had the added side effect of possibly making Dorothy seem colder and more detached, since Walky was shown ugly crying but Dorothy appeared relatively unbothered.
Most of the time Mike’s a ginormous asshole who harasses those around him just because he can, and while sometimes he does point out character faults, he does it in the most brutal way possible that’ll probably make his victim go back into denial. Any “helpful” effect he may have is kinda negated by everything else.
badumtiss
< He loves it, yes, and is a hardcore fan, but there’s been no indication that his happiness is tied to it.
Except for the part where he cried so hard it was reasonable to tell people he had lost someone he loved rather than a show?
adjudicus
Okay, you could make an argument for short-term happiness, but its not unreasonable of him to have an emotional response when he finds out its cancelled. (perhaps on how intense it was, but otherwise not). Anyways, unless he’s so attached to it that his CONTINUED happiness drops just because it’s cancelled, it doesn’t matter how much he’s attached to it, and s we haven’t seen any effect on his behaviour from learning that it was cancelled (I assume it’d take a while for him to find out because of how easily he fell for Mike’s hoax).
Zatar
The mental gymnastics people will go to to defend Mike are reaching the Olympic level.
Agemegos
It’s a training scheme!
DSL
The digging-in other people will go to to hang onto their hatred has long past achieved World War I trench level.
Emily
All I had to do was hop into the massive hole Mike dug himself with his own behaviour towards the people around him.
HMH
I’ve been anti-Mike for the entire run of this comic. The character has been purely repulsive with no alternative explanation for any of his actions ever presented.
Suddenly, Willis is going out of his way to present tons of alternative explanations for every facet of Mike’s character.
Of course I’m now suddenly convinced there’s something about him to defend. Willis is going out of his fucking way, out of nowhere, to show that there’s something complex about Mike beyond him just being a psychopathically evil chaos goblin.
Thing is…what you do is what you are. So Mike could have started out as some sort of jerk with the best intentions, but the more he acts cruel to people the more used to being cruel he gets. Until his persona of self-protective edgelord is who he actually is, and one day, he realises that he can’t take it off and show the ‘real’ him beneath anymore.
If Willis’ endgame here is to try to tell me he thinks Mike is a good person I’m never reading this comic again because that’s just utterly fucked.
Jago
There aren’t just good and bad people. That’s not how people work.
adjudicus
That’s… completely missing the point.
Jago
I meant that there are things in between good and bad. And that I kind of doubt the point here is to make Mike out to be the hero who saves the day. Maybe I should have made that more clear.
Emily
Yeah, most people are generally pretty morally grey but Mike isn’t. Mike fucking sucks. Mike goes out of his way to hurt people. Mike does bad things to people on a regular basis for no justifiable reason. He’s a bad person.
Nyzer
Mike’s bad things are minor with very short-term effects. I can’t recall anything truly horrendous he’s done in the run of this comic.
On top of that, Mike is someone who has the ability to do much, much worse to people, yet settles for low level pranks or manipulating people to showcase their own flaws. He doesn’t even retaliate in any way when Joyce physically attacks him.
Walkyverse Mike was ultimately someone who liked it when the people he bit bit back. And at one point, he sacrificed his life to save someone else’s.
He’s certainly a bully and certainly takes some amusement out of fucking with people, but there’s been more to him than that for a long time in the other continuity, and it looks like that’s the case here too.
Emily
Well that’s naive and wrong. Someone who willfully spreads pain and unhappiness to people who’ve done nothing to deserve it is a bad person. Serial killers are bad people. Bullies are bad people. White supremacists are bad people. It’s a judgement of their moral standing based on their actions and values.
Jago
I think you missed my point.
But after that opener I honestly don’t care to have a conversation.
SomeGuy
I think the point of this arc isn’t that Mike is a good person, but rather that there is enough good in him that he could become a good person if he wanted to and found a reason to work for it. He’s not a totally irredeemable. Just, like… mostly.
I-I mean, you -have- plausible deniability, I can’t even remember where I read that anyway!
… this is how I die, isn’t it? Talking about Slipshine.
Batman
First rule of slipstream……
Batman
Of even slipshine. Sigh I hate you auto correct
Remmington Steele
Batman’s wurst enemy!
Doctor Bees
Nah this was mentioned in the blog or somewhere out in public. You’re safe.
….for now
Dean
Just like the old Gypsy woman said!
ShinyNeen
That’s right… but… wait. How did you know that!?
Lin
Head’s up because many people don’t know that–the “g” term you used there is a racial slur tied to the longstanding oppression of the Romani people (and was a part of the racism that made them targets of the Holocaust. The Romani Holocaust Remembrance Day is actually August 1.
woobie
Even fewer people would recognize the Archer (or other places) reference without that word, but you are correct.
ShinyNeen
I did not know either of these things. I’m learning!
259 thoughts on “Hmph”
Ana Chronistic
*five years after yesterday’s comic* “…NOT IF I FUCK THEM UP FIRST!!”
what’s that word for when you come up with the best retort long after the moment has passed
[actually Mike’s just uncomfortable about having to lay on the wet spot]
Marsh Maryrose
In French, it is “l’esprit de l’escalier,” which translates as “staircase wit.” Not as meaningful a metaphor in any culture where people do not typically walk down staircases after leaving a party.
Blahh
Am French. Have never heard this in real life. Have seen it plenty on the English-speaking Internet.
Minotaur
In German, I hear it’s called “Hintertreppengedanke” – back stair thought. So ir may be a European thing…
Djaevlenselv
In Danish it’s called ‘bagklogskab’, which just means ‘hindsmarts/backsmarts’
Felix
Or, you know, hindsight. That thing that is almost always 20/20.
Annonymouse
Though hindsight pretty much universally and with few exceptions, lacks depth perception.
Platypus King
I’ve seen sexual relationships self-immolate for less!
Lokitsu
The term you’re looking for is “Taxicab wit”
Stu
Nah, that’s different – the one you’re thinking of is Comeback Tomorrow.
geno
Fridge logic is the tv trope name
threePwny
Fridge logic is the tiny, inconsistent details of media (movies, books, etc.) that you don’t notice until after you’ve finished the work and randomly occur to you at odd times, such as opening the fridge (the eponymous situation). It doesn’t have much to do with wit, though I suppose “fridge wit” could become a related term
Stu
Whoops, meant to reply to this one – the one you’re thinking of is “Comeback Tomorrow”.
keithcurtis
According to Raising Arizona, it’s a Way Homer.
Mr. Random
*inner Mike*: (a little.)
Doctor_Who
If they talk about Dinobot, Ethan will instantly be ready to go again.
Creativerealms
Mike never should have told Ethan not to talk about Dinobot to him. That now gives Ethan an upper hand.
Amy
Mike actually likes him!
Marsh Maryrose
From a commercial for Eef cereal:
“Let’s get Mikey. He hates everything.”
A little bit later….
“Mikey likes it!”
HMH
I’m beginning to think the point being established is that Mike actually likes a lot of people and is actually good, but pushes people away and alienates them to try to keep them safe? But his desire to do good and habit of manipulate people leads to him harassing people in subtly constructive ways to encourage them to actually make choices that are good for them?
It’s a fucking baffling character arc but I haven’t seen anything quite like it before and I’m very interested.
King Daniel
Ah yeah, concocting an elaborate scheme to trick Walky into thinking his favorite show was cancelled, then secretly filming him crying in his sleep over it, then showing the video of it to Walky’s classmates under the pretense that it was of Walky crying over his breakup with Dorothy, was just “encouraging [Walky] to actually make choices that are good” for him.
/s
adjudicus
And that’s just one of many examples where his actions are plain harmful
RicardtheDragoon
Not quite how I would put it, but it is not entirely implausible. The first scheme could be construed as an attempt to get Walky to recognize how dependent his continued happiness is on a TV show and that perhaps that dependence is not a good thing.
The second is simply Mike’s way of proving to Joyce that Dorothy and Walky really did break-up, even if the video does not have any connection to the break-up. Looking for a positive motive there yields a subtle warning to Joyce that perhaps Dorothy does not reciprocate Joyce’s friendship as strongly as Joyce.
How many coincidences does it take to prove it? If every seemingly negative action taken by a character has a positive, if subtle, effect or intended effect, then can that character be said to be helpful, even indirectly?
Anyway, I’ve yet to see any definitive evidence about Mike to prove whether he is nice person who can’t or won’t help via direct routes or just likes tormenting others via means which may have some positive benefits for the victims.
adjudicus
Faking the cancellation of the show wasn’t the main objective, it was to elicit an emotional reaction from Walky which he would record. Any potential “positive” effect is unintended. Besides, where has Walky’s happiness been linked to the show? He loves it, yes, and is a hardcore fan, but there’s been no indication that his happiness is tied to it.
For the second bit, why would he need to prove it? Even if Joyce didn’t believe it, the idea would’ve been planted in her head , and sooner or later she would’ve asked. Plus, it had the added side effect of possibly making Dorothy seem colder and more detached, since Walky was shown ugly crying but Dorothy appeared relatively unbothered.
Most of the time Mike’s a ginormous asshole who harasses those around him just because he can, and while sometimes he does point out character faults, he does it in the most brutal way possible that’ll probably make his victim go back into denial. Any “helpful” effect he may have is kinda negated by everything else.
badumtiss
< He loves it, yes, and is a hardcore fan, but there’s been no indication that his happiness is tied to it.
Except for the part where he cried so hard it was reasonable to tell people he had lost someone he loved rather than a show?
adjudicus
Okay, you could make an argument for short-term happiness, but its not unreasonable of him to have an emotional response when he finds out its cancelled. (perhaps on how intense it was, but otherwise not). Anyways, unless he’s so attached to it that his CONTINUED happiness drops just because it’s cancelled, it doesn’t matter how much he’s attached to it, and s we haven’t seen any effect on his behaviour from learning that it was cancelled (I assume it’d take a while for him to find out because of how easily he fell for Mike’s hoax).
Zatar
The mental gymnastics people will go to to defend Mike are reaching the Olympic level.
Agemegos
It’s a training scheme!
DSL
The digging-in other people will go to to hang onto their hatred has long past achieved World War I trench level.
Emily
All I had to do was hop into the massive hole Mike dug himself with his own behaviour towards the people around him.
HMH
I’ve been anti-Mike for the entire run of this comic. The character has been purely repulsive with no alternative explanation for any of his actions ever presented.
Suddenly, Willis is going out of his way to present tons of alternative explanations for every facet of Mike’s character.
Of course I’m now suddenly convinced there’s something about him to defend. Willis is going out of his fucking way, out of nowhere, to show that there’s something complex about Mike beyond him just being a psychopathically evil chaos goblin.
bearfuz
^^ This.
Bobbins
Thing is…what you do is what you are. So Mike could have started out as some sort of jerk with the best intentions, but the more he acts cruel to people the more used to being cruel he gets. Until his persona of self-protective edgelord is who he actually is, and one day, he realises that he can’t take it off and show the ‘real’ him beneath anymore.
LeslieBean4Shizzle
Hm. That has often been his MO in the Dumbverse. I like your analysis and hope you are right/close.
Emily
If Willis’ endgame here is to try to tell me he thinks Mike is a good person I’m never reading this comic again because that’s just utterly fucked.
Jago
There aren’t just good and bad people. That’s not how people work.
adjudicus
That’s… completely missing the point.
Jago
I meant that there are things in between good and bad. And that I kind of doubt the point here is to make Mike out to be the hero who saves the day. Maybe I should have made that more clear.
Emily
Yeah, most people are generally pretty morally grey but Mike isn’t. Mike fucking sucks. Mike goes out of his way to hurt people. Mike does bad things to people on a regular basis for no justifiable reason. He’s a bad person.
Nyzer
Mike’s bad things are minor with very short-term effects. I can’t recall anything truly horrendous he’s done in the run of this comic.
On top of that, Mike is someone who has the ability to do much, much worse to people, yet settles for low level pranks or manipulating people to showcase their own flaws. He doesn’t even retaliate in any way when Joyce physically attacks him.
Walkyverse Mike was ultimately someone who liked it when the people he bit bit back. And at one point, he sacrificed his life to save someone else’s.
He’s certainly a bully and certainly takes some amusement out of fucking with people, but there’s been more to him than that for a long time in the other continuity, and it looks like that’s the case here too.
Emily
Well that’s naive and wrong. Someone who willfully spreads pain and unhappiness to people who’ve done nothing to deserve it is a bad person. Serial killers are bad people. Bullies are bad people. White supremacists are bad people. It’s a judgement of their moral standing based on their actions and values.
Jago
I think you missed my point.
But after that opener I honestly don’t care to have a conversation.
SomeGuy
I think the point of this arc isn’t that Mike is a good person, but rather that there is enough good in him that he could become a good person if he wanted to and found a reason to work for it. He’s not a totally irredeemable. Just, like… mostly.
Opus the Poet
This ship officially weighed anchor with canons.
Psyme
If Mike is involved, probably with cannons as well.
Reltzik
…. technically.
But everyone knows that Joe/Jacob are where the big guns are REALLY at.
*flees for dear punning life*
AnvilPro
Now’s when Mike pulls out a picture of the troll face and holds it up and goes “Problem?”
ShinyNeen
Ethan didn’t go all these years without learning some things about Mike!
ShinyNeen
And, I seem to vaguely recall hearing about a Slipshine planned for August-ish?
David M Willis
>.>
ShinyNeen
I-I mean, you -have- plausible deniability, I can’t even remember where I read that anyway!
… this is how I die, isn’t it? Talking about Slipshine.
Batman
First rule of slipstream……
Batman
Of even slipshine. Sigh I hate you auto correct
Remmington Steele
Batman’s wurst enemy!
Doctor Bees
Nah this was mentioned in the blog or somewhere out in public. You’re safe.
….for now
Dean
Just like the old Gypsy woman said!
ShinyNeen
That’s right… but… wait. How did you know that!?
Lin
Head’s up because many people don’t know that–the “g” term you used there is a racial slur tied to the longstanding oppression of the Romani people (and was a part of the racism that made them targets of the Holocaust. The Romani Holocaust Remembrance Day is actually August 1.
woobie
Even fewer people would recognize the Archer (or other places) reference without that word, but you are correct.
ShinyNeen
I did not know either of these things. I’m learning!
DailyBrad
Man, Ethan worked up a sweat. He’s a shiny boi.
Koms
Slipshiny boi
Queen Anthai
Slipshine when
butts
GOD DAMN IT WILLIS
the greatest butt in DoA and you left it just off-panel how COULD you
Doctor_Who
Gotta get people to shell out for Slipshine somehow.
Keulen
Ethan or Mike? Have we seen either of their butts? I can’t remember.
Jhon
Does nekkid Ethan dream butt count?
ShinyNeen
… Yeah, wow, that cropping must be like torture to you, huh butts?
butts
ethan is my everest
LeslieBean4Shizzle
… this comment thread, and particularly this final line, made me laugh so hard I peed a little. Bravo.
JBento
Do you mean your everass?
Ainara
https://imgur.com/lEFEgzC
Hope this helps
weirderthanweird