scans_daily | Noooo! Catman seemingly ends a relationship

I know some of you don't like this strip, but i love it (in particular Drew and ethan, as well as Robin and her Lesbian... yes i realize there is a trend here:)

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From:

salinea

Without the moustache it was just not the same.

Oh wait, not that relationship. Awww. That's kind of sad. Clearly the boyfriend has never seen Thomas Blake naked in the kitchen; or else he would have seen the light.

From:

shadowpsykie

Moustache...? Blake and Flloyd? hehe i believe they will find eachohther again one day :D

ut yeah, i liked Drew and Ethan together, hope they can work it out ;D

From:

salinea

I don't read shortpacked so I don't have much of an opinion on the latter but yeah :)

From:

mullon

I'm guessing that this blow-up belies some deeper problem Ethan is having. I sure hope it is.

From:

shadowpsykie

oh Ethan is definately addicted to buying toys. while i think all addictions should make an exception for Catman. Both Drew and Ethan have points. What they need to do is sit down and discuss it... (what really gets me is the look on Drew's face when he says they should take a break, its such a wibble face :(

From:

icon_uk

Sadly, I've had the same thought processes as Ethan here on many occasions, without the relationship damage (for the most part)

From:

shadowpsykie

oh i totally get it... (i seriously need to sort out my room:)

but yeah they both have points. very valid ones. Ethan is addicted. BUT he makes very valid points about not being over the top hoardy.... again, a nice long conversation could go a long way... or as Robin might suggest, "Makign out licky-lick style" :D

From:

icon_uk

Please don't spring phrases like as Robin might suggest, "Makign out licky-lick style on me, as I suspect the Robin you're thinking of is NOT the one I'm thinking of!

From:

shadowpsykie

son of a.... damit.... i walked into that ass... one that one not ass, though it is a lucious ass... but i meant.... what... what did i mean.....?

From:

biod

The ass gazes into you also!

From:

kaete

I'm kind of biased on Ethan's side here. Addiction isn't good, no, but on the other hand I know too many real world friends who dislike their SO's geeky hobbies and wage multi-year offensives to make them get rid of it. And that's considered NORMAL.

I guess it just gets to me when friends come over and see a new small lego millennium falcon on our art shelf in the living room, and then they turn to my husband and say "Oh wow, I can't believe your wife lets you still get this stuff!" Er, yes, why shouldn't I? He's a grown-ass adult who can afford it! I may not squee over a new Optimus Prime but I can appreciate that he likes it, and not feel threatened by my SO having some hobby I don't share.

Rar rar rant. :P

From:

shadowpsykie

yeah, i agree. i can see both sides though. Drew never said he could not buy new things, he was just concerned about the amount of things he was buying on a nearly daily basis. i am sure Drew would have seen his point of view if he didn't you know... snap at him like a drug addict who just had his stash taken away... again "Conversation is key"

that said NOOOO first robin and her lesbian, now ethan and his gay? noooo, i hope they work things out ;D

From:

icon_uk

A certain malevolent side of me rather enjoyed www.reallifecomics.com take on a similar situation, after the main character is outclassed by a kid on "Dance, Dance, Revolution";

From:

shadowpsykie

heh okay , yeah this i loved.... Greg can be sooo evil :D

From:

nyadnar17

Drew is a total d-bag. "Its just a piece of plastic. Its not worth fighting over" Drew doesn't seem to respect Ethan's hobbies or the fact Ethan cares about them.

People who don't respect others hobbies is a pretty big peeve of mine. Hope Ethan finds someone who won't nag him for having a non-main stream hobby.

From:

shadowpsykie

the problem is ethan actually does have a problem. it is very much an addiction, Drew is not telling him he CAN'T have his toys, he is saying that he sometimes lets his obsession take control.

he also has a point, in the end it is just a piece of plastic. its NOT worth fighting over. they can sit down and discuss it like adults. but Ethan just chewed him out instead. Yes its ethan's hobby, and yes, he makes valid points about why he should be allowed to indulge in it. the breaking point for me is the way he just snapped at Drew. he SHOULD have sai these things rationally and clearly.

From:

nyadnar17

I am not an avid reader of the strip so maybe I am missing some back story, but Ethan's comments don't lead me to believe this is the first time Drew has been on Ethan about Ethan spending money on his hobbies. From the single page posted here it really looks like this is just the latest incident of Drew belittling Ethan's hobbies and Drew snapped.

Now as someone who's also has hobbies that traditionally don't get a lot of respect (video games and Magic the Gathering) maybe I am projecting my own frustrations here, but Drew's "Just a piece of plastic line" just really makes it hard for me to believe Drew takes Ethan's hobby seriously.

(Man same sex relationships make personal pronouns almost useless)

From:

shadowpsykie

hmmm i can try and find an old page... but Ethan's "hobby" got to the point where there was absolutely no place for people to sit in his appartment. its not the hobby that bothers Drew, its that he feels it controls Ethan.

From:

shadowpsykie

here is some more context, but still not the scans i am looking for, i'll keep lookng

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-12/08-this-is-so-babies/sparkholder/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/04-remedial-adulthood/rodimus/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/04-remedial-adulthood/staypuft/

From:

shadowpsykie

ah here they are.

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/tshirt/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/toys/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/clutter/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/dog/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-12/01-dominus-jacobus/pinch/

From:

mcity.livejournal.com

Ethan recently saw what a severe hoarder's apartment looks like, so he got all sorts of rationalization fuel.

Ironically, I'm on Drew's side because I've been Ethan. Someone tried to talk to me about a problem, and I lashed out at them, out of shame and misdirected self-loathing. And I was wrong to do so.

From:

mcity.livejournal.com

Drew mentions the toys, fans say he's in the wrong for saying-no, for even implying Ethan's hobby might be a problem.
Drew says it's a piece of plastic and not worth fighting over, fans say he's wrong for denigrating Ethan's hobby.

Basically, as far as the fans are concerned, the only right thing Drew could do would be to not talk about it at all. Just stifle himself.

I am really concerned by how much the fans seem determined to whitewash Ethan. At best, they'll say he might've been in the wrong, and hastily get back to castigating Drew for daring to talk to someone he cares for about a problem he thinks they have.

From:

icon_uk

I hope I'd have someone who cared about me not be afraid to express concern about something they think I might have a problem with, because you never know, I might.

Drew's first worry was for Ethan, that he might be going overboard with the expensive toys (something I worry about myself rather a lot to be honest). When Ethan reassured him that he wasn't spending TOO much, that should have been the end of it for both of them. But it does seem that Ethan has something else preying on his mind as the yelling seems a bit OTT (judging by his reaction to Drew's comment, at a guess Ethan knows it too),

I do wonder where this might go.

From:

shadowpsykie

i agree, I actually saw Drew as being very concerned and pretty much understanding hell when he says "You're frustrated" i was think okay, yeah he's opening a dialouge, but then Ethan goes all red lantern on him, bring sup very relavent points, and THEN calls him a Jackass. no one deserves to be treated like that, especially when some one is only acting out of concern.

From:

ian_karkull

Yeah, no. The comic makes it pretty clear that Ethan essentially subsititutes his collecting for actual human intimacy and that is just not a healthy attitude for a grown man.

From:

icon_uk

Though fairly prevalent in our geeky ilk, if we're honest.

And careful... you're possibly getting a little close to the bone for some people there (and I'm not excluding myself from that on this occasion).

From:

ian_karkull

Oh absolutely, and I'm not excluding myself from this phenomenon either. Say what you will about the often ridiculous drama in Shortpacked, but exploring this uncomfortable, but nevertheless existant aspect of our shared geeky pasttimes with this much honesty is actually one of it's high points in my opinion.

From:

lieut_kettch

People who don't respect others hobbies is a pretty big peeve of mine. Hope Ethan finds someone who won't nag him for having a non-main stream hobby.

If you hated Drew, you're gonna absolutely loathe this girl:

http://gizmodo.com/5833787/my-brief-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player

From:

outlawpoet

this is a hella edited version. The article that first went up was way worse, and was missing the big italic nonapology intro.

From:

sindra

I read this and saw that the comments on the strip were weighed significantly on Ethan's side and saying Drew's an asshole for not accepting a harmless hobby.

Unfortunately, it's not that black and white. Ethan's toy collecting is pretty much what my ex-BF's was/is like. It wasn't because he was an adult buying toys, because I do that too, but it was the sheer scale and magnitude that always made me uncomfortable. When I couldn't sit down in his apartment because there was no place *to* sit because his toys took over everything, I really knew that it was going to be an issue of the relationship. He saved money, and had great finances, but he just couldn't not buy Transformers and MotU stuff, and I always wondered if it was due to some deep-seeded childhood trauma that maked him need more and more toys, or something else like OCD.

Drew's being uncomfortable with it completely mirrored my own. You see an addiction, and obviously it's not 100% harmless because even though it doesn't affect your health or money, it still affects your relationships.

From:

shadowpsykie

heh, i didn't realize this was gonna get so many interesting comments. :D

From:

runespoor

I understand the RL situation you're describing, but from what I can see of Ethan's apartment, it doesn't seem to be taken over by toys.

From:

shadowpsykie

i posted this above but here it goes. the history of the "Toy Thing"

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/tshirt/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/toys/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/clutter/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-11/02-the-relationshipocalypse/dog/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2010/comic/book-12/01-dominus-jacobus/pinch/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-12/08-this-is-so-babies/sparkholder/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/04-remedial-adulthood/rodimus/

http://www.shortpacked.com/2011/comic/book-13/04-remedial-adulthood/staypuft/

From:

sindra

Those all pretty much explain how my Ex. and I were so perfectly it's kinda creepy. Especially that last one because that happened a few times with the filling cleared space with new toys thing. Not kidding.

From:

pizoxuat

I am an ex-hoarder, and Ethan's reaction here reminds me of a milder version of my freak-outs when anyone asked about my stuff in a way that implied that maybe I needed less of it. I don't know if the comic is going to go that way or not, but when someone has an over the top reaction to being questioned about an object, that makes me wince internally because that so used to me.

From:

mcity.livejournal.com

Exactly. What the addiction is to is largely irrelevant. It's that there is an addiction in the first place. It's not because it's "socially unacceptable", especially since Drew doesn't seem to care about that.

From:

ian_karkull

Cockblocked by Catman...

If your "hobby" basically amounts to a very specific form of hoarding, people are right to call you out on it. Avoiding the issue to avoid confrontation is essentially enabling and does not help anyoe. I even kind of get where Ethan is coming from but the very fact that he flies off the handle like that just proves it's an addiction.
He'd better get his act together because Drew is kind of out of his league to begin with, to be honest.

And just since you've brought it up: We can add Amber's slow but insufferable transformation into the nerdy girl Mary Sue literally everyone is in love with to the things I'm not crazy about in Shortpacked!
Oh Shortpacked, my love/hate relation to you is so complicated.

From:

mcity.livejournal.com

We're talking about the same girl who is dating Mike? The guy who proposed to her via verbal abuse?

I'm not seeing it.

From:

lieut_kettch

This wouldn't have happened if it was a shirtless Catman figure.

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Noooo! Catman seemingly ends a relationship

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