“but I can’t give up my hobby. I don’t feel I have a “problem”. I don’t want to be treated like an alcoholic. I collect toys, I enjoy doing it. If that’s a problem… we may need to stop seeing each other.”
I wonder if Ethan will use reasoned, mature arguments, or if he’ll spaz out. Likewise, I wonder if Drew will listen, or if he will instead throw oranges at people.
Throwing oranges is his thing, right? It’s how he rolls? I dunno, I don’t know Drew all that well.
Remember, though, that Jacob seemed for some time to be the one and only well-adjusted cast member…until we learned of his sex addiction…of which he then, of course, had a relapse.
The fact that Drew seems to have let his liking of a clean apartment mess up a relationship does suggest there MIGHT be a problem there. Might. More data required to establish as reasoned hypothesis, etc. But generally speaking, when you have something like that cause problems of your life, it fills one of the criteria for defining a psychological problem. On the other hand, if Drew’s preference for things being neat and tidy doesn’t fit the OTHER criteria, it then does not qualify.
Nicely put. There are certainly indications of a potential problem, but it would be a stretch to call it one way or the other just yet.
And has anyone noticed the conversation being had by the coffee cups? Drew orders to stay, nice open, steaming mug. We know it can’t be his because that would be too much like owning stuff. Is he expecting to stay a while, or maybe just avoid using disposable? I don’t know. But Ethan? To-go cup complete with lid. He isn’t planning to be here long. That sucker is snapped tight and ready for a quick exit.
yeah, we haven’t really seen any psychological issues here.
But I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that sometime within the next few storylines, Drew is going to come out of the closet. That’s right. I know there’s a lot of evidence to the contrary, but I think Drew might be gay!
Pfft – like male bisexuals REALLY exist. I mean come on – a majority of Hollywood movies and TV shows have taught me that people are either Straight, gay, or a homicidal manics!
Everyone else is lying or a women…
The aforementioned comment has been sarcasm – OverlordMikey does not deny the existence of bisexuals as he is one and that would be quite awkward to explain to himself…
Sadly there is no universal emoticon for sarcasm as yet.
Maybe a tag of some sort, but most people hate scripting…
Begin sarcasm
I just lo-ooo-ove that T-shirt he is wearing
End sarcasm
Nope – doesn’t work
I’m unsure if this is some elaborate joke, a simple joke im simply missing, or your serious. He’s bi 8o why would he need to come out. He’s fairly out already methinks.
Ethan shouldn’t be with Drew, he should go out and choose his own boyfriend, not have a boyfriend because Robin wanted to see 2 dudes bang. I really hope Ethan gets rid of him and finds someone who will accept him for who he is and won’t try to change him.
Though I was absolutely happy to have Robin choose his boyfriend for him; I thought Drew would be good for somebody who doesn’t have much social interaction outside his workplace. Not so much apparently.
And I hope Drew will be able to find a nice stable guy who doesn’t flip the hell out and sabotage the relationship whenever things start to get serious.
And I hope Drew will be able to find a nice stable guy who doesn’t flip the hell out and sabotage the relationship whenever things start to get serious.
I have no idea whether this is “But here are my conditions”, “But we’re over” or “But I realize I need to make some big changes if this is going to work.”
I also have no idea whether Shortpacked is de facto a 5-a-week-all-the-time strip again, or not. Every time I think I know the schedule…
Finally, I don’t know how Ethan came to be wearing a shirt based on the line of dialogue that preceded Robin and Leslie’s second kiss. Unless Les made the shirt to commemorate that moment, then gave it away after, y’know, the SHIT went down. That seems plausible, let’s go with that.
Wow, I saw that film, and COMPLETELY MISSED that line, and all the memeology that followed it. Optimus does kind of drop his voice there. Oh, well, you learn something new every day.
Optimus actually seemed to have an obsession with killing things in the face in ROTF. First the con in the beginning, then the helicopter con, then Megatron…and finally the fallen.
Give me your face and tell me that you love me,
I’ll give you my face and tell you I love you, too.
I love to hear you mo-ra-lize,
When I’m in you sights,
You blow me awaaay.
Give me your face and let my blasters incinerate you,
Give me your your face and then I’ll love you tru-ly.
Life can be fine if we’re bots sixty and nine,
If we exchange our faces
In all sorts of places
And play…’till we’re blown awaaaaaaaaaay.
“But I’ve missed you MORE” then they fight about who missed who more… kidding…
it’s over
Why Willis why? It’s because he’s underdeveloped compared to the others ain’t it! Why couldn’t you have developed Drew more – he’s so cute and his perfect blue eyes will haunt me forever! DREW!
Oh well – I’ll have to take solace in the fact that Drew will probably stick around and end up infinitely MORE developed after they break up making me hold out hope for reconciliation…
Break ups have an interesting effect on these people…
Ethan seems to be acting like he’s not the one that caused the break. If he didn’t want to start trouble, why did he have to bring the toy to his boyfriend’s apartment? Why not leave it in the car?
And he later said maybe he should throw a tantrum when he sees his clean apartment. Implying that that would be a change. But he’s the only one that ever throws tantrums. I dunno, it seems weird.
I seem to be seeing the points you are seeing and ending up at a very different place with them. Yes, Than has had his outbursts, and yes it was Ethan’s hobby that was at the center of the conflict. But I’m not seeing Ethan solely at fault, or even mostly at fault here. Sure, Ethan hasn’t caved in to Drew and surrendered his hobby but it was Drew who suggested the break rather than engage in any argument about it. As much as Ethan could have avoided the argument by not buying the toy or not bringing it to Drew’s Drew did go from 0 to “let’s take a break” pretty fast. If they were like Billie and Danny with constant bickering I could see Drew being justified in going to that step. But to go there right away suggest in Drew a person who doesn’t have much tolerance for conflict. That is a relationship killer since conflict resolution could arguably be considered the chief challenge to being in a relationship. If it weren’t the toy argument then what other issue might lead Drew to go for the quick exit rather than trying to find a way to make things work.
I also still believe that Drew is at least as conflicted a person as Ethan is. I could see the kind of commitment to asceticism Drew has being a virtue to a deeply philosophical person or a zealot. But having not sen evidence of any of that in Drew I wonder that his superclean apartment, monochromatic lifestyle, and proclamations about being attached to stuff might just be the trappings of a person with issues about loss. Its not unusual for a person to camoflauge their inability to handle something as a fight against that thing. I think Drew might be covering a fear of losing things or people from his life with an aversion to becoming attached to them. If you don’t want to lose things that are important to you then be sure you don’t have things that are important to you. Tactically not a bad plan but then what does that leave you with. And if this is an attitude that applies to only possessions then I’m certainly all for objecting to consumerism and waste. But if it then extends to not allowing people or values to be important enough to you to fight for you’ve crossed the bridge from rejecting materialism to rejecting life as a whole.
That said, I’m dying to see where this concersation goes. I don’t see Ethan laying down conditions except maybe the “we can talk about things or this relationship has ended” one. If Ethan hasn’t been one to insist on changing others as a condition of friendship. In fact he is at the center of his social circle mostly because he is so widely accepting of others. What I do think will happen is that Drew will have to put his cards on the table and open up more here, or I can name that break-up in maybe 3 more pages at most. And if I’m even partly right about Drew and commitment/loss issues then I expect Drew’s opening up will include some backstory about what trauma or experiences caused him to want to put distance between himself and becoming attached to stuff. But I’m without a guess about what that would be.
They both have much to learn. I’m glad about where this is going. I hope he puts in more work to find his next boyfriend instead of having it handed to him.
The body language is golden; you don’t even need the dialogue to tell how Ethan and Drew are feeling. Whether it was calculated and intentional, or such a complete picture was created instinctively, it’s really exceptional.
“but I’ve had time to think about it, and realized you’re lame. I need someone who is passionate about something in their life…like the way I am about my hobby. Who doesn’t question why it is toys, but loves that I am as passionate. That connection that mutual understanding will bring us together…like a human and his Transformer…separate but with a single mind” (AWWW, so gay)
Everything about Shortpacked-from the changing themes to the cliffhangers-can be explained with just four words:
Wibbly.
Wobbly.
Timey.
Willis.
Willis is apparently a future incarnation of The Doctor, using his powers to ‘nudge’ us all into thinking what we NEED to be thinking to prepare us for some great event about to unfold.
The Hawaiian shirt was the giveaway. Hawaiian shirts are cool.
In a universe where the people you love can be taken away in a split second, there is no “but”. A fictional character in a world that has actually suffered through an alien invasion should know that better than anyone.
Real people who have seen decades of tragedies should know this better than anyone. If you find love, you do what you have to to hold onto it.
Actually, he wants air. Can’t live without it. Thus, he must hate both boyfriends and toys, because it’s impossible to want two things at the same time.
I know what you mean. When I first found It’s Walky I was through it in just a couple of days even with participating on a couple of discussion forums at the time – all while unemployed. Now with a job the reread of IW I just completed yesterday took about 3 weeks.
Fans! is another good one for occupying a lot of time to go through from beginning to end. Something Positive and El Goonish Shive also have deep archives well worth spending time on.
I also strongly recommend Sabrina Online for a great look at the computer/toy side of geekdom. She’s a very likeable character and there’s a rich history over over 15 years worth of strips.
And I’m still waiting for my Sabrina Online/Shortpacked crossover Walky!
Buuuuuuut…?
=(
but BAND!
not to be confused with butt band.
But…I missed you more!
…but next time my aim shall be true and you will fall!
“but I can’t give up my hobby. I don’t feel I have a “problem”. I don’t want to be treated like an alcoholic. I collect toys, I enjoy doing it. If that’s a problem… we may need to stop seeing each other.”
i bet it is this.
DUN DUN DUN!
Damn you WILLIS!
Oh wait, nothing’s happened yet. Continue.
Cue Internet debate now.
I wonder if Ethan will use reasoned, mature arguments, or if he’ll spaz out. Likewise, I wonder if Drew will listen, or if he will instead throw oranges at people.
Throwing oranges is his thing, right? It’s how he rolls? I dunno, I don’t know Drew all that well.
No one knows Drew that well. Unlike everyone else in the Shortpacked universe he has yet to reveal his horrible psychological issues.
Ethan loves Batman, and Drew’s eyes are blue… like Batman’s…. so, very… blue….
…
…
Sorry I was lost in Drew’s eyes there for a moment
His horrible psychological issues are that he in fact has no horrible psychological issues, which makes him incapable of relating to most of the cast.
I mean, Ethan’s trying to claim he’s some kind of neat freak for being nonmaterialistic and liking a clean apartment, but whatever.
Remember, though, that Jacob seemed for some time to be the one and only well-adjusted cast member…until we learned of his sex addiction…of which he then, of course, had a relapse.
and did Amber’s mom…with his penis…for a nickel…
He also turned out to be a hoarder. Yeah… Jacob may have more issues than anyone else.
If you’re the only sane man in a world of crazy, does that really make you the sane one?
…yes? Otherwise we wouldn’t call you the one sane man.
Somehow I don’t think our opinions should be the universal standard for sanity.
For some, sanity is relative. Take my sister for instance …. please >_<
Clean?
THIS! IS! SPARTAN!
*claps* Well played, sir.
The fact that Drew seems to have let his liking of a clean apartment mess up a relationship does suggest there MIGHT be a problem there. Might. More data required to establish as reasoned hypothesis, etc. But generally speaking, when you have something like that cause problems of your life, it fills one of the criteria for defining a psychological problem. On the other hand, if Drew’s preference for things being neat and tidy doesn’t fit the OTHER criteria, it then does not qualify.
Nicely put. There are certainly indications of a potential problem, but it would be a stretch to call it one way or the other just yet.
And has anyone noticed the conversation being had by the coffee cups? Drew orders to stay, nice open, steaming mug. We know it can’t be his because that would be too much like owning stuff. Is he expecting to stay a while, or maybe just avoid using disposable? I don’t know. But Ethan? To-go cup complete with lid. He isn’t planning to be here long. That sucker is snapped tight and ready for a quick exit.
HOLY SHIT YOU CALLED IT
yeah, we haven’t really seen any psychological issues here.
But I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that sometime within the next few storylines, Drew is going to come out of the closet. That’s right. I know there’s a lot of evidence to the contrary, but I think Drew might be gay!
Is Drew gay in this universe?
Nah, you’re thinking of Ronnie.
I belive it was previously stated that Drew is bi.
Pfft – like male bisexuals REALLY exist. I mean come on – a majority of Hollywood movies and TV shows have taught me that people are either Straight, gay, or a homicidal manics!
Everyone else is lying or a women…
The aforementioned comment has been sarcasm – OverlordMikey does not deny the existence of bisexuals as he is one and that would be quite awkward to explain to himself…
I’m embarrassed to admit that your sarcasm was convincing
Sadly
there is no universal emoticon for sarcasm as yet.
Maybe a tag of some sort, but most people hate scripting…
Begin sarcasm
I just lo-ooo-ove that T-shirt he is wearing
End sarcasm
Nope – doesn’t work
But has he consented to making a sex tape?
hooba jooba whuh? I are confused.
I’m unsure if this is some elaborate joke, a simple joke im simply missing, or your serious. He’s bi 8o why would he need to come out. He’s fairly out already methinks.
Again apologies if I missed the whole point.
“Love me, accept my toy fetish”
*like*
Ethan shouldn’t be with Drew, he should go out and choose his own boyfriend, not have a boyfriend because Robin wanted to see 2 dudes bang. I really hope Ethan gets rid of him and finds someone who will accept him for who he is and won’t try to change him.
That’s a *like* from me.
Though I was absolutely happy to have Robin choose his boyfriend for him; I thought Drew would be good for somebody who doesn’t have much social interaction outside his workplace. Not so much apparently.
And I hope Drew will be able to find a nice stable guy who doesn’t flip the hell out and sabotage the relationship whenever things start to get serious.
And I hope Drew will be able to find a nice stable guy who doesn’t flip the hell out and sabotage the relationship whenever things start to get serious.
whoops. double post.
Oh no, Ethan don’t, don’t don’t don’t…
Unless you’re gonna do something good.
Then do. Do, do do…
You said doodoo. Twice.
I felt it was my duty.
I just spent a full minute giggling at that.
If something can be done to improve your experience, do key me in.
Mahna mahna.
DAMN YOU, WILLI- wait… you’re not Willis. Sorry.
DAMN YOU, SARAH!
Nice camera angle!
Agreed!
I’m confused. Is this a gag week or a story week?
Yesterday, we got a Batman joke, but today (a Tuesday) we’re getting story development.
It’s both, he does various story arcs with the odd Transformer/Batman/comic/toy joke/rant whenever issue on one of those subjects occur in real life.
Obviously this means that the two are connected in some way.
Go back to yesterday’s strip and take a good look at Dick Grayson. That’s clearly Ethan with blue contacts.
Ethan is about to say “But I’ve met someone else. Someone perfect.”
BUT WHAT, ETHAN?!
DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!!!!!!!!
*plays The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” on the Muzak*
I hate buts. Butts I’m relatively okay with.
Dat Shirt.
Yeah fuck the story where do I get a “GIVE ME YOUR FACE” shirt?
GIVE ME
YOUR FACE
That “but” was like a kick.
Right to my balls.
But??????
BAND!
Band?
I have no idea whether this is “But here are my conditions”, “But we’re over” or “But I realize I need to make some big changes if this is going to work.”
I also have no idea whether Shortpacked is de facto a 5-a-week-all-the-time strip again, or not. Every time I think I know the schedule…
Finally, I don’t know how Ethan came to be wearing a shirt based on the line of dialogue that preceded Robin and Leslie’s second kiss. Unless Les made the shirt to commemorate that moment, then gave it away after, y’know, the SHIT went down. That seems plausible, let’s go with that.
It’s based on a line from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The line became a meme.
That doesn’t look like a “here are my conditions” face to me. Unless it’s “here are conditions which I’m 99.9% sure you’re not going to accept.”
T. It’s Willis.. He likes screwing with people’s minds. You should know that by now. Schedule, storylines.. All the same.. Screwing with your mind.
But…
He doesn’t do bait and switch.
T, I recommend you Google “Give me your face.”
Wow, I saw that film, and COMPLETELY MISSED that line, and all the memeology that followed it. Optimus does kind of drop his voice there. Oh, well, you learn something new every day.
Optimus actually seemed to have an obsession with killing things in the face in ROTF. First the con in the beginning, then the helicopter con, then Megatron…and finally the fallen.
Give me your face and tell me that you love me.
I’ll give you my face and say that I love you, too…
Give me your FAAAAAAAACE!!!!
Give me your face and tell me that you love me,
I’ll give you my face and tell you I love you, too.
I love to hear you mo-ra-lize,
When I’m in you sights,
You blow me awaaay.
Give me your face and let my blasters incinerate you,
Give me your your face and then I’ll love you tru-ly.
Life can be fine if we’re bots sixty and nine,
If we exchange our faces
In all sorts of places
And play…’till we’re blown awaaaaaaaaaay.
Scrap!!!
Tease.
In the words of Pop-Eye
“I yam what I yam”.
I thought that was Descartes…
“I think I’ll have the yams”? No, wait. I was thinking of a la carte.
GIVE ME YOUR SHIRT
There’s always a but…
I love you but I’ve chosen Dark of the Moon…
Incoming emo, brace for impact! “Untitled” on standby in case of self-pity overload!
“But I’ve missed you MORE” then they fight about who missed who more… kidding…
it’s over
Why Willis why? It’s because he’s underdeveloped compared to the others ain’t it! Why couldn’t you have developed Drew more – he’s so cute and his perfect blue eyes will haunt me forever! DREW!
Oh well – I’ll have to take solace in the fact that Drew will probably stick around and end up infinitely MORE developed after they break up making me hold out hope for reconciliation…
Break ups have an interesting effect on these people…
He’s bi. Maybe he’ll hook up with Robin. She may never get to score with Ethan, but she can score with someone who has scored with Ethan.
Yeah, I can’t see that happening either.
That’s a heavy but. It’s probably the biggest but the comics world has ever seen.
I guess that joke only works if you hear it…
Ethan seems to be acting like he’s not the one that caused the break. If he didn’t want to start trouble, why did he have to bring the toy to his boyfriend’s apartment? Why not leave it in the car?
And he later said maybe he should throw a tantrum when he sees his clean apartment. Implying that that would be a change. But he’s the only one that ever throws tantrums. I dunno, it seems weird.
I seem to be seeing the points you are seeing and ending up at a very different place with them. Yes, Than has had his outbursts, and yes it was Ethan’s hobby that was at the center of the conflict. But I’m not seeing Ethan solely at fault, or even mostly at fault here. Sure, Ethan hasn’t caved in to Drew and surrendered his hobby but it was Drew who suggested the break rather than engage in any argument about it. As much as Ethan could have avoided the argument by not buying the toy or not bringing it to Drew’s Drew did go from 0 to “let’s take a break” pretty fast. If they were like Billie and Danny with constant bickering I could see Drew being justified in going to that step. But to go there right away suggest in Drew a person who doesn’t have much tolerance for conflict. That is a relationship killer since conflict resolution could arguably be considered the chief challenge to being in a relationship. If it weren’t the toy argument then what other issue might lead Drew to go for the quick exit rather than trying to find a way to make things work.
I also still believe that Drew is at least as conflicted a person as Ethan is. I could see the kind of commitment to asceticism Drew has being a virtue to a deeply philosophical person or a zealot. But having not sen evidence of any of that in Drew I wonder that his superclean apartment, monochromatic lifestyle, and proclamations about being attached to stuff might just be the trappings of a person with issues about loss. Its not unusual for a person to camoflauge their inability to handle something as a fight against that thing. I think Drew might be covering a fear of losing things or people from his life with an aversion to becoming attached to them. If you don’t want to lose things that are important to you then be sure you don’t have things that are important to you. Tactically not a bad plan but then what does that leave you with. And if this is an attitude that applies to only possessions then I’m certainly all for objecting to consumerism and waste. But if it then extends to not allowing people or values to be important enough to you to fight for you’ve crossed the bridge from rejecting materialism to rejecting life as a whole.
That said, I’m dying to see where this concersation goes. I don’t see Ethan laying down conditions except maybe the “we can talk about things or this relationship has ended” one. If Ethan hasn’t been one to insist on changing others as a condition of friendship. In fact he is at the center of his social circle mostly because he is so widely accepting of others. What I do think will happen is that Drew will have to put his cards on the table and open up more here, or I can name that break-up in maybe 3 more pages at most. And if I’m even partly right about Drew and commitment/loss issues then I expect Drew’s opening up will include some backstory about what trauma or experiences caused him to want to put distance between himself and becoming attached to stuff. But I’m without a guess about what that would be.
Ethan couldn’t leave the toy in the car, ’cause Ultracar destroyed his car.
He has even been shown using the BART with Leslie on his toy hunts.
-airfox
oh god, here we go
hopeful his next one isn’t such a cunt
Maybe he meant “your butt”
I miss your butt.
Maybe he has a cute butt.
They both have much to learn. I’m glad about where this is going. I hope he puts in more work to find his next boyfriend instead of having it handed to him.
BUM BUM BUM
There’s always a but!
What the hell is wrong with us all why are we awake at such a time how in the hell are there so many comments already and ethan noooooo why
/finish archive binge
initializing sleep mode
Time zones.
The body language is golden; you don’t even need the dialogue to tell how Ethan and Drew are feeling. Whether it was calculated and intentional, or such a complete picture was created instinctively, it’s really exceptional.
Ok, so, based on the charts, I’m supposed to not check tomorrow’s update, right?
I’m gonna screw this one up somehow, I know it…
drew: but what? everyone i know has a big “but”. c’mon, ethan, let’s talk about your big “but”.
I like big buts and I cannot lie!
You otha’ brotha’s can’t deny!
When a boy walks in with a pretty little waist and a sad look on his face,
“but I’ve had time to think about it, and realized you’re lame. I need someone who is passionate about something in their life…like the way I am about my hobby. Who doesn’t question why it is toys, but loves that I am as passionate. That connection that mutual understanding will bring us together…like a human and his Transformer…separate but with a single mind” (AWWW, so gay)
But Taco!
The ultimate twist would be “But I’ve met a girl.”
Or ‘but, I secretly am a girl. This whole time. (I’ve been hiding it well.)’
…with his penis. *Puts penis on table*
Everything about Shortpacked-from the changing themes to the cliffhangers-can be explained with just four words:
Wibbly.
Wobbly.
Timey.
Willis.
Willis is apparently a future incarnation of The Doctor, using his powers to ‘nudge’ us all into thinking what we NEED to be thinking to prepare us for some great event about to unfold.
The Hawaiian shirt was the giveaway. Hawaiian shirts are cool.
In a universe where the people you love can be taken away in a split second, there is no “but”. A fictional character in a world that has actually suffered through an alien invasion should know that better than anyone.
Real people who have seen decades of tragedies should know this better than anyone. If you find love, you do what you have to to hold onto it.
If only less people lived in a fictional universe…
God damn it Ethan.
YAY! They’re goingot break up! Well that was three years of my life wasted. Mayeb we can get Ethan a REAL boyfreind now.
Ethan doesn’t want a boyfriend. He wants toys.
Maybe he wants the best of both worlds ….
*wink wink nudge nudge*
Say no more. Say no more!
Does this involve the Eroticons?
Actually, he wants air. Can’t live without it. Thus, he must hate both boyfriends and toys, because it’s impossible to want two things at the same time.
You misunderstand, this isn’t “but” as in:but I have some reservations; it is “but” as in: I want yours. He is asking to get laid.
Ah! That explains Ethans to-go cup with lid. He isn’t expecting to walk out on Drew, he is expecting to take Drew with him.
NO BUTS!! NO NO NO BUTS!!!
And now I’m up to date. Read 2 years of Shortpacked in the last 12 hours. The advantage of being unemployed.
I know what you mean. When I first found It’s Walky I was through it in just a couple of days even with participating on a couple of discussion forums at the time – all while unemployed. Now with a job the reread of IW I just completed yesterday took about 3 weeks.
Fans! is another good one for occupying a lot of time to go through from beginning to end. Something Positive and El Goonish Shive also have deep archives well worth spending time on.
I also strongly recommend Sabrina Online for a great look at the computer/toy side of geekdom. She’s a very likeable character and there’s a rich history over over 15 years worth of strips.
And I’m still waiting for my Sabrina Online/Shortpacked crossover Walky!
passive agressive jackass, trying to shift blame to Ethan. So he ordered his to go, maybe he thought THEY might leave once they were done talking.
SHUT UP ETHAN
ARRRRGH
You know, if I ever start I band, I think I would call us BAND!, or is that name already taken? XD
There’s a band called “The Band”. Dunno if that counts.