Also, Nick, she said “we’ll get your real body back” last strip so she gut level *knows* you’re not human; you can stop panicking about that (well, maybe you *can’t* stop panicking, but you should… what’s the helicopter equivalent of deep breaths?)
I’m not sure it’s dysphoria here. While Nick definitely belongs in a helicopter body, he might not mind having a flesh avatar available for certain activities with Dr. Lee. And i think the third panel is considering those possibilities.
I joked a lot about identifying as an attack helicopter, but now I’m not so sure that’s the direction this is headed. The fact that one of his first thoughts in panel 2 was “I got hormones” suggests to me that he’s coping with sudden waves of those hormones and trying to rationalize the feelings away.
I don’t think he realizes that Lee is soft on him. I think he thinks she just saved him because she’s awesome like that. Hence, he puts up a wall between what he’s feeling and what he plans to do.
Which is basically the quintessential straight white cis male reaction, to be honest. That’s what you DO when a pretty woman you have an unreciprocated crush on is in close proximity to you, touching you and smelling nice and making you feel things. I mean, what’s the alternative?
Seriously, all this nonsense about dysphoria, which he’s shown zero symptoms of through the entire strip, and now the situation where he’s naked in front of two women, one of whom he’s in love with, and he’s a socially awkward nerd virgin, and people think this is dysphoria instead of just embarassment and body shyness? What?
The kid’s just suddenly struggling not to pop a boner. This is a social behavior crisis, not an identity crisis.
What you said. Top TL quote yet.
Also, I’m intrigued by the Archie-like crosshatching on the back of Nick’s head. I’ve only ever seen it on Archie. What is it supposed to signify? A close cut in the back? But that’s never looked like crosshatching IRL (unless it was deliberate hair art, which is not either Archie’s nor Nick’s style).
Archie had crosshatching on his hair because he was originally very caricature-Scottish and had red hair (not actually tartan but the implication was there); he was also generally strapped for cash, hence went for cheap dates. The artists eventually eliminated the tartan trousers but the hair indicator remained. Nick has sandy hair.
Nick? The Man? Hardly. When the Man tried to force Nick to kill for him, Nick responded with passive resistance. Nick is not The Man, nor will he willingly work for The Man.
If it’s a new clone body, probably not. Which, given his religious beliefs, will mean that a hundred-story building-bot will soon be walking around looking for a mohel.
I think he wants some pants first. He’s just not quite ready yet for kissing someone while pantsless. I suspect he needs a little more time. Maybe some actual dates first.
Ah, yes. Nick’s in a body that’s superficially in its 20s, but functionally about twelve hours old. His brain has never before felt the wash of hormones as they get generated from external… stimuli. And that’s the good stuff, too. No well-biochemicals from Tigerlily Jones; when she schedules a Trip for somebody, they sit at the Captain’s table.
Yes, but this is quite undoubtedly the first time he has ever been naked in the presence of a woman he’s in love with. So it’s fairly certain that Moe’s statement still holds true. His brain has never before felt a rush of hormones quite like this.
Then again, this being both his first time in years feeling any hormones, combined with being the first time he’s naked in front of a woman, combined with being the first time he’s been in a human body in years, might all be enough to push him over the edge….
Speaking of dignity and pants, as one does, I had the notion that Tigerlily tries to dress Nick in a genuine vintage pimpsuit, and Nick is all, “Oh, Hell NO.”
True, but the second time, I don’t think Tip actually said “makeover” in Nick’s presence. And I don’t recall how much input Tip even had, since Unity and her forest friends made the dress. Plus, it was the fact that Virginia had said that Nick was the bravest man she knew that convinced Nick to agree to wearing the dress at all.
[Tip walks around Nick several times, going “hm”.]
Nick: You’d better not say makeover . . .
Tip: Actually, I’ve been thinking about identity and expression recently, and I really think, at this point in time, that you would be best served by comfortable t-shirts, and these particular jeans [hands them to Nick], which will flatter your figure when you’re not wearing the t-shirt.
[Nick puts on jeans]
Nick: Is there some kind of catch? Why would I not wear a shirt?
[Virginia enters]
Virginia: Hello, Dr. Wilkins. Nick! As long as you’re not wearing a shirt, would you mind if I examined your upper body musculature? Purely for science, of course.
Let’s be honest, here. Nick’s basically a nerdy white guy. Or nerdy black chopper. Whatever. Either way, he’s about as square as they come. That’s not going to change, despite Tigerlily’s mojo.
Get out of there Tigerlily, and let those two go to bed already. They’ve both been wanting it for ages. I can’t think of a better way to re-integrate Nick into humanity. He was hardly in it in the first place.
WordPress is temperamental. And the comments don’t offer you the luxury of a WYSIWYG editor (or an option to edit after posting, blast it). It’s taken me quite a bit of trial and error to figure things out, even with consulting the support pages.
(And youtube has changed things as well, so adding &rel=0 no longer prevents related videos from popping up at the end, but rather restricts them to videos from the same channel.)
Well, you can probably get some pants.
THIS looks like a job for… EMERGENCY PANTS!
Read Shaenon’s comment toward the end, in case you have time constraints.
That third panel, whew.
+1
+2
Ooof, social dysphoria feels.
Also, Nick, she said “we’ll get your real body back” last strip so she gut level *knows* you’re not human; you can stop panicking about that (well, maybe you *can’t* stop panicking, but you should… what’s the helicopter equivalent of deep breaths?)
Walking.
I’m not sure it’s dysphoria here. While Nick definitely belongs in a helicopter body, he might not mind having a flesh avatar available for certain activities with Dr. Lee. And i think the third panel is considering those possibilities.
Oh, Nick has no issues with bipedal locomotion: http://skin-horse.com/comic/you-think/
And of course, Dr. Lee has considered how “fully functional” Nick could be… http://skin-horse.com/comic/besides-what/
I joked a lot about identifying as an attack helicopter, but now I’m not so sure that’s the direction this is headed. The fact that one of his first thoughts in panel 2 was “I got hormones” suggests to me that he’s coping with sudden waves of those hormones and trying to rationalize the feelings away.
I don’t think he realizes that Lee is soft on him. I think he thinks she just saved him because she’s awesome like that. Hence, he puts up a wall between what he’s feeling and what he plans to do.
Which is basically the quintessential straight white cis male reaction, to be honest. That’s what you DO when a pretty woman you have an unreciprocated crush on is in close proximity to you, touching you and smelling nice and making you feel things. I mean, what’s the alternative?
Seriously, all this nonsense about dysphoria, which he’s shown zero symptoms of through the entire strip, and now the situation where he’s naked in front of two women, one of whom he’s in love with, and he’s a socially awkward nerd virgin, and people think this is dysphoria instead of just embarassment and body shyness? What?
The kid’s just suddenly struggling not to pop a boner. This is a social behavior crisis, not an identity crisis.
“Succotash Neptune Polk”, and he’s already “Biscuit”.
How many meshugga goyishe names does he need?
Sufferin’ Succotash.
“Behold my squarest creation: a white boy!” Might be my favorite thing she has ever said. And I have loved most of what Tigerlilly has ever said.
Whether he can play that funky music remains to be seen.
He won’t always be a white boy who may or may not be able to play that funky music. One day, he’ll grow into a man.
And lose the ability to jump.
Probably not. He lost his stereo system with his old body.
She really is the gift that keeps on giving
With the added benefit of immediately making me fire up Julie Brown’s “Trapped in the body of a white girl”. ^_^
I guess all that squareness had to be leading someplace.
Compared to Tigerlily, Virgina is rock solid sane.
Tigerlilly reminds me of Dr. Frankinstein.
What you said. Top TL quote yet.
Also, I’m intrigued by the Archie-like crosshatching on the back of Nick’s head. I’ve only ever seen it on Archie. What is it supposed to signify? A close cut in the back? But that’s never looked like crosshatching IRL (unless it was deliberate hair art, which is not either Archie’s nor Nick’s style).
Archie had crosshatching on his hair because he was originally very caricature-Scottish and had red hair (not actually tartan but the implication was there); he was also generally strapped for cash, hence went for cheap dates. The artists eventually eliminated the tartan trousers but the hair indicator remained. Nick has sandy hair.
Well, he is Jewish…
Does this mean Tigerlilly has created – The Man?! 😉
Nick? The Man? Hardly. When the Man tried to force Nick to kill for him, Nick responded with passive resistance. Nick is not The Man, nor will he willingly work for The Man.
The question that needs to be answer is “Is he circumcised?”
That may turn out to be a long running gag.
And the answer is still scalpel.
If it’s a new clone body, probably not. Which, given his religious beliefs, will mean that a hundred-story building-bot will soon be walking around looking for a mohel.
Kiss her! Kiss her!
I think he wants some pants first. He’s just not quite ready yet for kissing someone while pantsless. I suspect he needs a little more time. Maybe some actual dates first.
Ah, yes. Nick’s in a body that’s superficially in its 20s, but functionally about twelve hours old. His brain has never before felt the wash of hormones as they get generated from external… stimuli. And that’s the good stuff, too. No well-biochemicals from Tigerlily Jones; when she schedules a Trip for somebody, they sit at the Captain’s table.
Nick may want to sit down. Soon.
Pretty sure he’s already sitting down. And he doesn’t want to stand up anytime soon.
That’s less effective without pants…
Nick’s had hormones before – he was an adult before Virginia cyborged him, bar mitzvah and everything.
Yes, but this is quite undoubtedly the first time he has ever been naked in the presence of a woman he’s in love with. So it’s fairly certain that Moe’s statement still holds true. His brain has never before felt a rush of hormones quite like this.
dexitroboper does have a point, though: the brain isn’t new, at least. My bad. That might keep Nick from passing out from the shock.
Then again, this being both his first time in years feeling any hormones, combined with being the first time he’s naked in front of a woman, combined with being the first time he’s been in a human body in years, might all be enough to push him over the edge….
We don’t know just what modifications TL made that she’s so proud of.
He may pass out from blood rushing to you-know-where.
To paraphrase Rocky:
“In just seven days, Dr. Lee can make him a man…”
“I’m driving meat” is A+.
We all know where he should be driving his meat.
meatvantages.
Speaking of dignity and pants, as one does, I had the notion that Tigerlily tries to dress Nick in a genuine vintage pimpsuit, and Nick is all, “Oh, Hell NO.”
Has there ever been a better occasion for one of Tip’s makeovers?
To which Nick would undoubtedly also respond with, “Hell, no! And get away from me lady-dude!”
Actually, he would – and did – respond with “I will kick you in the marbles.”
Yeah, but later, Nick did agree to be the princess and put on the dress.
So in a way, they both got their way.
True, but the second time, I don’t think Tip actually said “makeover” in Nick’s presence. And I don’t recall how much input Tip even had, since Unity and her forest friends made the dress. Plus, it was the fact that Virginia had said that Nick was the bravest man she knew that convinced Nick to agree to wearing the dress at all.
Actually, I can see it playing out like this:
[Tip walks around Nick several times, going “hm”.]
Nick: You’d better not say makeover . . .
Tip: Actually, I’ve been thinking about identity and expression recently, and I really think, at this point in time, that you would be best served by comfortable t-shirts, and these particular jeans [hands them to Nick], which will flatter your figure when you’re not wearing the t-shirt.
[Nick puts on jeans]
Nick: Is there some kind of catch? Why would I not wear a shirt?
[Virginia enters]
Virginia: Hello, Dr. Wilkins. Nick! As long as you’re not wearing a shirt, would you mind if I examined your upper body musculature? Purely for science, of course.
Nick: Oh! Well, for science, sure.
Tip: I’ll just leave and let the science happen.
That is not nearly awkward enough for any of these characters, Tip included.
*Nick looks left, where Tigerlilly is holding out a disco stu suit on a hanger.*
*Nick looks right, where Tip is holding a pretty dress and tiara.*
*Nick puts his hand on the wall next to Lee, completely naked*
“Do you wanna get something to eat after this?”
*Lee blushes*
“I, um…” *looks down to avoid eye contact*
*Lee blushes harder*
Surprisingly, this would be the safest option. I approve.
Conditionally white, at least.
Let’s be honest, here. Nick’s basically a nerdy white guy. Or nerdy black chopper. Whatever. Either way, he’s about as square as they come. That’s not going to change, despite Tigerlily’s mojo.
At least the chopper had smooth edges for better aerodynamics.
Good point.
Tigerlily lays claim to the funk, but she sure keeps coming in on the wrong beat.
Meatception?
No that’s when Nick eats a burger. While he and Lee are…
…getting fast food.
What is Lee holding in the second panel?
Fingers on wrist pulse while holding wristwatch = checking Nick’s pulse rate.
Don’t ask me where she got a wristwatch from.
She probably borrowed it from one of the other
fugitivesdoctors.Or how she expects to get a meaningful BPM while he’s got that look on his face.
No.
This comic almost killed me. I was eating, read it, started laughing, then choking. Great stuff!
Pants, maybe, better as Doctor Lee
Dignity? He does know where he is, doesn’t he? o_O
Get out of there Tigerlily, and let those two go to bed already. They’ve both been wanting it for ages. I can’t think of a better way to re-integrate Nick into humanity. He was hardly in it in the first place.
Tigerlily’s comments are probably deflating to Nick.
https://youtu.be/axZ6mG__ZqU
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axZ6mG__ZqU&w=560&h=315%5D
Same comment, but without the brackets and the tag…
Can also play with the width a little bit to make it fit better, and don’t worry about the height…
Thank you, Awgiedawgie. I’m afraid my linking skills are quite lacking…..
WordPress is temperamental. And the comments don’t offer you the luxury of a WYSIWYG editor (or an option to edit after posting, blast it). It’s taken me quite a bit of trial and error to figure things out, even with consulting the support pages.
(And youtube has changed things as well, so adding &rel=0 no longer prevents related videos from popping up at the end, but rather restricts them to videos from the same channel.)
Bravo!
Aargh! That was supposed to be a reply to Goldeneye.
I just want to say that I appreciate all the dick jokes in the comments and I’m very proud of all of you.
“When in doubt, go for the dick joke.” – Robin Williams.
“Foreskin and seven beers ago, our forefingers foundered upon this condiment a ruination.”
And here I was restraining myself…
Well, if it’s good enough for Shakespeare …
I know we never saw him without a shirt on, but it looks like they gave him more muscle than he had before.