Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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June 14, 2026

Soft

by David M Willis on October 26, 2017 at 12:01 am
  • 01 - Face the Strange
└ Tags: jacob, joyce

Discussion (176) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    October 26, 2017 at 12:01 am | #

    “I’m just saying you two should have beautiful children and I can babysit“

    • Iforgetwhatiputhere
      Iforgetwhatiputhere
      October 26, 2017 at 1:02 am | #

      Whole new meaning to “no-one loves you like he loves you”

    • TachyonCode
      TachyonCode
      October 26, 2017 at 7:58 am | #

      I love it. Also, congrats!

    • weirderthanweird
      weirderthanweird
      October 26, 2017 at 8:00 am | #

      Congrats!

    • Amias
      Amias
      October 26, 2017 at 12:52 pm | #

      I was wondering where you’d gone. Congratulations!

    • LeslieBean4Shizzle
      LeslieBean4Shizzle
      October 26, 2017 at 11:53 pm | #

      Congrats!

  2. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    October 26, 2017 at 12:01 am | #

    Joyce then wheels out Robin’s blackboard, already covered in notes and lines explaining the vast “People Who Love Sarah” conspiracy.

    Most of us commenters are prominently listed.

    • Rodimiss
      Rodimiss
      October 26, 2017 at 12:14 am | #

      I was thinking, if more than two people loving Sarah is a conspiracy, then this comment section is the Illuminati.

      • Mr. Bulbmin
        Mr. Bulbmin
        October 26, 2017 at 4:13 am | #

        ominous Latin chanting
        This meeting of the Saramoati is called to order . . . goddammit, who aye the last donut?

        • Joe Covenant
          Joe Covenant
          October 26, 2017 at 4:45 am | #

          In my defence… I would never “Nay” the last doughnut.

          • Clif
            Clif
            October 26, 2017 at 6:55 am | #

            The mobile device conspiracy has sceazed control and derailed the conversation. BEWARAAARGH….

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        October 26, 2017 at 7:42 am | #

        First rule of Illuminatii is:

        • SgtWadeyWilson
          SgtWadeyWilson
          October 26, 2017 at 3:21 pm | #

          Don’t talk about Illuminati.
          *Suddenly drops into a dark hole.*
          Act with integit-Ow!!!

          Hrm… shorter hole than I expected.

    • RacingTurtle
      RacingTurtle
      October 26, 2017 at 2:27 am | #

      I don’t get to be part of a conspiracy very often! What a great semi-anonymous international cabal to be a member of: The Actually, We Do Love Sarah Society.

    • SgtWadeyWilson
      SgtWadeyWilson
      October 26, 2017 at 2:26 pm | #

      I get to be part of a meta-gag? Is it Christmas already?

      • Br44n5m
        Br44n5m
        October 26, 2017 at 7:58 pm | #

        Halloween has stepped up it’s game!

  3. AnvilPro
    AnvilPro
    October 26, 2017 at 12:01 am | #

    Sarah’s waiting for the day she can pull out the blackboard of “People who love me” and add one more, and then no one else ever.

    • Clif
      Clif
      October 26, 2017 at 7:14 am | #

      Only to find that it’s already covered with lines and notes about the conspiracy.

      • Gwen
        Gwen
        October 26, 2017 at 1:34 pm | #

        In her handwriting

        • MatthewTheLucky
          MatthewTheLucky
          October 26, 2017 at 8:02 pm | #

          That’s legitimately scary. Imagime being almost totally socially isolated, to the point where you can have a list of people who like you with only one person on it; and then finding the list is full. Either someone can perfectly impersonate your handwriting and is holding sone bizarre grudge against you, or something is killing your loved ones and stealing your memories.

          • MatthewTheLucky
            MatthewTheLucky
            October 26, 2017 at 8:03 pm | #

            And then you think about the one person you still remember, and how either your stalker knows they were the obly one on the list, or they’re next.

  4. Romanticide
    Romanticide
    October 26, 2017 at 12:02 am | #

    wow she has thought all this to the last detail…

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 26, 2017 at 1:12 am | #

      She knows her big sis

  5. CandidCanid
    CandidCanid
    October 26, 2017 at 12:02 am | #

    We need to keep Sarah at optimum balance. This is delicate math.

    • laurenh
      laurenh
      October 26, 2017 at 12:37 pm | #

      Then, shalt the friends count to two. No more. No less. Two shalt be the number of friends, and the number of Sarah’s friendships shall be two. Three shalt there not be friends, nor shalt there one, excepting that thou then proceed to two. Four is right out!

      • Fire_daws
        Fire_daws
        October 26, 2017 at 1:25 pm | #

        I’m seeing if I can fit a Rabbit of Caerbannog or Holy Hand Grenade pun in there but I ain’t got nothin’.

  6. Heavensrun
    Heavensrun
    October 26, 2017 at 12:03 am | #

    She knows Sarah well.

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      October 26, 2017 at 12:38 am | #

      Yeah. It’s easy to forget, because Joyce is so extroverted and naive, but she’s watching everyone keenly, too.

      • Charlie Spencer
        Charlie Spencer
        October 26, 2017 at 7:21 am | #

        Dorothy watches everyone Keenerly.

        I’m not particularly proud of that one.

        • Leorale
          Leorale
          October 30, 2017 at 2:33 am | #

          I won’t think any Lesse of you.

  7. Yumi
    Yumi
    October 26, 2017 at 12:03 am | #

    I love that she leads with “tall.”

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      October 26, 2017 at 12:12 am | #

      As in “Sarah, Plain and Tall?”

      • Marsh Maryrose
        Marsh Maryrose
        October 26, 2017 at 12:18 am | #

        You know, I did not make that connection until just now? But in the book, plain-and-tall Sarah did wind up marrying Jacob.

    • Jay Eff
      Jay Eff
      October 26, 2017 at 12:19 am | #

      Joyce: “Sarah is… tall. Yeah! Tall. I mean, look at her! Have you seen how tall she is, Jacob? And I gotta say– I really look up to her. I mean it! ‘Cause she’s so much taller than me. By a lot!”

      Jacob: “Wow.. the way you put it, it sounds like she should be giving orders to Invader Zim.”

      Joyce: “Oh… d-does Invader Zim have a tall boss at work, or something? Mom wouldn’t let me watch that show…”

    • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
      BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
      October 26, 2017 at 12:20 am | #

      Is a “conspiracy network” a network of conspiracies, a network for conspiracies, or a network about conspiracies?

      Please speak directly into the lamp when answering.

      • Nobody
        Nobody
        October 26, 2017 at 1:56 am | #

        All three, a network of conspiracists with their own independent but tangled conspiracies that bounce ideas off one another with their main forum being a television channel called “The Conspiracy Network”

        • Opus the Poet
          Opus the Poet
          October 26, 2017 at 2:23 am | #

          That would be the History channel.

          • Clif
            Clif
            October 26, 2017 at 7:21 am | #

            Shhh!

          • Roborat
            Roborat
            October 26, 2017 at 3:19 pm | #

            Or, as my kids call it: The Anything But History Channel.

            • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
              BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
              October 27, 2017 at 3:59 am | #

              Or the Hitler Channel

        • TemperaryObsessor
          TemperaryObsessor
          October 26, 2017 at 10:05 am | #

          Just because a bunch of people happen to have something to gain by sending people on a snipe hunt does not mean they are purposely working together. And the Conspiracy Network doesn’t care if the snipe hunt distracts you from the real problems or not they just want to sell their tinfoil hats.

  8. Gln
    Gln
    October 26, 2017 at 12:03 am | #

    Always two there are – master and an apprentice

    • Jess
      Jess
      October 26, 2017 at 1:08 am | #

      Cryptic in context but accurate. XD

    • AGV
      AGV
      October 26, 2017 at 5:52 am | #

      So Sarah is Anakin, Jacob Padme and Joyce Palpatine?

      • Clif
        Clif
        October 26, 2017 at 7:26 am | #

        And Radah is Yoda. Now you’ve got it.

        • Pope William T Wodium
          Pope William T Wodium
          October 26, 2017 at 2:36 pm | #

          I must have missed all that Yoda/Padme fanfic.

  9. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    October 26, 2017 at 12:04 am | #

    What is a conspiracy but two or more people. Working together for what they consider to be a beneficial goal?

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      October 26, 2017 at 12:07 am | #

      According to Col. Hunter Gathers “The minute God crapped out the third caveman, a conspiracy was hatched against one of them!”

      • Mr. Random
        Mr. Random
        October 26, 2017 at 12:34 am | #

        Hunter Gathers is a fool if he thinks only one conspiracy was hatched.

        • Swissaboo
          Swissaboo
          October 26, 2017 at 2:50 am | #

          Yeah but they weren’t hatched SIMULTANEOUSLY, they were like, two minutes apart, and “The minute God crapped out the third caveman, a conspiracy was hatched against one of them, and two minutes after that, another two or three conspiracies popped up” just sounds dumb.

  10. BBCC
    BBCC
    October 26, 2017 at 12:04 am | #

    Get out of Sarah’s head.

  11. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    October 26, 2017 at 12:05 am | #

    *plays Queen’s “Somebody To Love” on the hastily repaired but still hacked Muzak to determine if it functions*

    • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
      BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
      October 26, 2017 at 12:16 am | #

      It’s on random

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      October 26, 2017 at 12:32 am | #

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVR38mm4Hzg

  12. Kernanator
    Kernanator
    October 26, 2017 at 12:05 am | #

    I keep seeing this name, Pepe Loveme, Pepe Loveme, over and over, but Pepe Loveme doesn’t exist!

  13. Blender
    Blender
    October 26, 2017 at 12:06 am | #

    If you ask Ryan, she doesn’t just *act* tough on the outside…

  14. JoycenJoe
    JoycenJoe
    October 26, 2017 at 12:06 am | #

    Good comeback Joyce… Okay, that got really real really fast.

  15. MM
    MM
    October 26, 2017 at 12:07 am | #

    All things considered, it’s not a bad recovery.

  16. Passchendaele
    Passchendaele
    October 26, 2017 at 12:07 am | #

    two is the legitimate friends constant; anyone else is a reptilian/whatever conspiracy it is that’s popular now.

    (“he’s a right good laugh once you get to know him”)

    • The Chosen One
      The Chosen One
      October 26, 2017 at 12:40 am | #

      Two is the least lonely number

      • Marsh Maryrose
        Marsh Maryrose
        October 26, 2017 at 12:48 am | #

        From what I’ve heard on what may have been hacked Muzak, two can be the loneliest number since the number one.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          October 26, 2017 at 1:52 am | #

          Three is the magic number, though.

          • 3-I
            3-I
            October 26, 2017 at 4:57 am | #

            Past, present, and future… Faith, hope, charity… The heart, the brain, and the body… Yeah, three. That’s a magic number.

            • SgtWadeyWilson
              SgtWadeyWilson
              October 26, 2017 at 3:26 pm | #

              Pru, Piper, Pheobe.

          • hof1991
            hof1991
            October 26, 2017 at 9:26 am | #

            https://youtu.be/aU4pyiB-kq0
            schoolhouse rock

    • Kamino Neko
      Kamino Neko
      October 26, 2017 at 6:23 am | #

      Hush up, onion-slave!

      • Passchendaele
        Passchendaele
        October 26, 2017 at 9:07 am | #

        *gives raw onion*

        • Kamino Neko
          Kamino Neko
          October 26, 2017 at 9:37 am | #

          He IS a right good laugh once you get to know him.

      • John Merklinghaus
        John Merklinghaus
        October 26, 2017 at 2:40 pm | #

        Any relation to “Onion Bubs”?

  17. StClair
    StClair
    October 26, 2017 at 12:07 am | #

    And how much of that applies to you too, Joyce?

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 26, 2017 at 1:21 am | #

      …not that much?

      She is not tall but she IS pretty.

      The world has not chewed her up and spit her out THAT much. It tried to take a bite once or twice, and Joyce bit back. She still carries her heart on her sleeve and has nothing of the crusty armor Sarah has. She has not been hurt for caring – she has been rewarded for it (with Becky-hugs among other things). She has made touch choices and paid the price, but she has never had to doubt those were the RIGHT choices (whereas Sarah has no such closure)

      She needs someone to love her, but Joyce thinks that is true for EVERYONE (she might be right). And she think many people who love her is just the natural state of things (she might be right).

      • Geneseepaws
        Geneseepaws
        October 26, 2017 at 7:48 am | #

        Your comment, +1 to yous

  18. Lapin
    Lapin
    October 26, 2017 at 12:11 am | #

    I kind of lowkey ship Joyce/Sarah and while I know it won’t happen, I wonder if Jacob suspects it.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      October 26, 2017 at 1:54 am | #

      Just from this comment, Becky just lost concentration for a moment, shook it off, then went back to bussing tables.

  19. Rodimiss
    Rodimiss
    October 26, 2017 at 12:11 am | #

    I really love that this seems like Joyce has given this some thought and clearly taken the time to figure out the optimal number of friends for Sarah based on her personality.

    I also just really like the simplicity of Jacob’s statement. “Don’t you already love her?”

    • No Name
      No Name
      October 26, 2017 at 1:09 am | #

      Is she though? Or is she projecting? Her recent life experiences have just revealed that a number of people who love her (namely, her church community) are, in fact, a vast conspiracy network.

      • Fart Captor
        Fart Captor
        October 26, 2017 at 1:22 am | #

        But she still has a number of people she still knows love her. There’s more than two such people just on her own floor. There were three until Becky moved in with Leslie. That love is 100% why Joyce has been able to cope with the things which threatened to chew her up as well as she has, and I think Joyce is aware of that

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        October 26, 2017 at 1:24 am | #

        True, but she does not seem to doubt the many people that still love her – including Hank, Jocelyne, Becky and her new friends (including Big Sis and Dorothy).

        She barely takes notice when people like Billie (and less recently) Sarah tries to claim that they DON’T love her.

        • ValdVin
          ValdVin
          October 26, 2017 at 3:28 am | #

          Oh, I think Joyce notices when the tsundere types claim they don’t love her.

          She seems to have extra hugs stored up for them.

    • Swissaboo
      Swissaboo
      October 26, 2017 at 2:52 am | #

      I dunno I feel like her brain spent a split second going “wait if two beats one wouldn’t three bea *examines how sarah would react to three people loving her* no. No it would not beat two.”

  20. Black
    Black
    October 26, 2017 at 12:12 am | #

    Joyce is probably right in the last panel; if three or more people cared about Sarah, she’d think something was horribly wrong.

    • Marsh Maryrose
      Marsh Maryrose
      October 26, 2017 at 12:26 am | #

      And if four people cared about Sarah, a class one-nine-nine-seven anomaly might be breached, and Soggies might rule!

      • Stephen Bierce
        Stephen Bierce
        October 26, 2017 at 12:39 am | #

        There would need to be Flashbacking(TM) first.

        • Jess
          Jess
          October 26, 2017 at 1:07 am | #

          God, the last thing anyone needs is more flashbacks. XD

      • Reltzik
        Reltzik
        October 26, 2017 at 2:35 am | #

        And if those four people each convinced one person to care for Sarah, and if those eight people each convinced one more person to care for Sarah, then before long she’d be a paranoid wreck!

      • Joe Covenant
        Joe Covenant
        October 26, 2017 at 4:51 am | #

        And if four, whole people,
        why not more?
        And more?
        And MORE!

  21. Kyle
    Kyle
    October 26, 2017 at 12:28 am | #

    jacob, gently: joyce you are…not straight

    • Fart Captor
      Fart Captor
      October 26, 2017 at 12:38 am | #

      It is entirely possible to love someone and care deeply about them without being sexually or romantically attracted to them.

      Her desire to brush Sal’s hair, curl up in Billie’s cleavage, and basically all her interactions with Dorothy are far stronger indicators

      • Leorale
        Leorale
        October 26, 2017 at 12:41 am | #

        She learned everything she knows about female pal interactions from Becky. But still.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        October 26, 2017 at 8:36 am | #

        But her sex dreams and blush provoking momentary fantasies are all tied to men. As far as we’ve seen.

        Heterosexual and biromantic?

        • Leorale
          Leorale
          October 26, 2017 at 12:20 pm | #

          Very plausible. Which, for Joyce’s purposes, translates to wanting a boyfriend or husband, plus awesome gal pals whom she’ll defend and adore — Joyce would definitely refer to this as straight.

        • Fart Captor
          Fart Captor
          October 26, 2017 at 8:12 pm | #

          I’m don’t mean to say that those indicators are definitive. Just that they’re far better reasons to suspect Joyce isn’t 100% straight than her being comfortable saying how deeply she cares about someone of the same sex.

          I personally think Joyce is probably 1 or less on the Kinsey scale, and just naturally happens to give off a lot of false positives, exacerbated the skewed idea of how platonic lady friendship is supposed to look that she picked up from Becky.

          Tbh, I think the world would be a better place if more people were as comfortable as Joyce at openly expressing platonic, non-sexual love, whether with words like she is now, or with more literal, physical closeness as she often does with Becky.

          Though I’d be lying if I claimed to have a solid enough grasp on where the line between romance and deep friendship to be in any position to guess if Joyce is biromantic or not

    • Briny
      Briny
      October 26, 2017 at 12:49 am | #

      I think coupling all love to romantic-sexual feelings is the source of a lot of our problems. So, while she might not be 100% straight, still: no.

      • Arianod
        Arianod
        October 26, 2017 at 12:57 am | #

        Agree.

      • StClair
        StClair
        October 26, 2017 at 2:49 am | #

        Also agreed.

      • Indoor Cat
        Indoor Cat
        October 26, 2017 at 3:45 am | #

        Right. I have mixed feelings on this, because on the one hand, a lot of people aren’t exactly Kinsey-1’s, but have denial around any possible non-straight attractions they might have due to biphobia in society. Which means people miss out on experiencing parts of themselves. And, that’s also why a lot of LGBT people headcanon presumably straight characters as bisexual, to fight biphobia and a lack of representation, if only in their own minds.

        The flip side of this, though, is that projecting sexual or romantic connotations onto asexual and aromantic love is harmful to, well, asexual and aromantic people (and also to demisexual / demiromantic people, and to allosexual people who are unlucky romantically). To those people, it can be very invalidating. It can feel like the person is saying non-romantic love isn’t “good enough.” And just like biphobic messaging is all over the place, so is ace-phobic messaging that people who aren’t in romantic relationships aren’t fulfilled or are failures in some way.

        So I’m sympathetic to Kyle’s desire to headcanon Joyce as bisexual (or some other wlw orientation), especially if they’re an LGBT person; believe me, I feel it. But, I also get Briny’s point. I don’t think either person is wrong here.

  22. Brute
    Brute
    October 26, 2017 at 12:40 am | #

    never underestimate the power of Imposter Syndrome.

    • 3-I
      3-I
      October 26, 2017 at 4:59 am | #

      Aaaahahahaha… haaa… haaa…

      Seriously why do so many good people suffer from this. =<

      • Leorale
        Leorale
        October 26, 2017 at 1:25 pm | #

        My theory is that it’s because baby boomers gave us trophies. Gotta blame those trophies for everything!

      • StClair
        StClair
        October 26, 2017 at 5:20 pm | #

        It’s the flip-side/top half of Dunning-Kruger. You have those who are too dumb to know how incompetent they are; and then you have those who are smart enough to understand just how much they don’t know, and judge themselves entirely by that and how many others in the field are (or “must be”) better, more knowledgeable and competent than themselves.

        • Kryss LaBryn
          Kryss LaBryn
          October 26, 2017 at 10:47 pm | #

          Honestly, I think that’s a really large part of why I am so angry and bitter about so many world leaders and CEOs and other super rich people right now. Like, the 1%. We’ve been trained for centuries if not longer that people who are richer, more important, more powerful than us peons are so because they actually are better than us. Because somehow, in some way, they are just stronger, smarter, more cunning, more attractive, more whatever than the rest of us. That they deserve their success because of it.

          And, good lord, looking at some of the stumblebums out there right now who are meaner, dumber, uglier, weaker–just poorer human beings than any of the rest of us except financially–has really, really driven home how little anything other than money actually counts. How all you need to succeed, apparently, is a rich daddy, and if you have that, you’re set for life no matter how much or how often you screw up; and if you don’t, unless you’re extraordinarily lucky, not a goddamned thing you do is going to make any difference. 🙁

          TL;DR: How dare these assholes not be better than us?!

    • davidbreslin101
      davidbreslin101
      October 26, 2017 at 9:08 am | #

      Sadly, Imposter Syndrome itself doesn’t think it’s that great. “Everyone talks about me like I’m a big deal, but it’s not like I’m a degenerative bowel disorder or in DSM-V or something.”

  23. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    October 26, 2017 at 12:45 am | #

    Honesty is the best policy for manipulation!

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 26, 2017 at 1:25 am | #

      Ye-e-e-es… but I’m not sure that’s the moral I want to take

      • Reltzik
        Reltzik
        October 26, 2017 at 2:25 am | #

        Look at it this way. I’m not saying you SHOULD manipulate people. But IF you don, honesty is the best policy for doing that.

        • Reltzik
          Reltzik
          October 26, 2017 at 2:26 am | #

          Wild N appears!

          Reltzik uses EDIT MY POST!

          It’s SUPER-INEFFECTIVE!

          • MatthewTheLucky
            MatthewTheLucky
            October 26, 2017 at 8:18 pm | #

            I don’t care what Ghetsis says, N is clearly not a Pokémon.

  24. Briny
    Briny
    October 26, 2017 at 12:48 am | #

    This is oddly familiar. (In that I tend to distrust compliments, praise, and until fairly recently people trying to care about me have faced an unfairly uphill battle to do so.)

  25. Bagge
    Bagge
    October 26, 2017 at 1:01 am | #

    No, no, Joyce. Tell us more about Sarah’s sturdiness.

    Awwww, wonderful parallelism. Sarah only opened up by talking about Joyce – now Joyce opens up by talking about Sarah. No wonder Jacob can tell they love each other.

    I’m also pretty sure he can tell that Joyce is trying to set him up with Sarah, and that his deflection in the fourth panel is him trying to steer her away from that notion.

    • Nobody
      Nobody
      October 26, 2017 at 1:45 am | #

      Jacob is not that socially aware

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        October 26, 2017 at 2:17 am | #

        Bet you a package of Arbys sauce…

        I ALSO think he is developing a crush on Joyce, so fun times all around.

  26. Carms
    Carms
    October 26, 2017 at 1:10 am | #

    Fuzzy warrrms

  27. Nobody
    Nobody
    October 26, 2017 at 1:44 am | #

    I love those vast conspiracies of three

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      October 26, 2017 at 2:38 am | #

      aka, conspirathrees.

  28. Gesc
    Gesc
    October 26, 2017 at 1:49 am | #

    But.

    Can’t they just be friends?

    I yearn for a story where no romance whatsoever happens. I mean, not DoA but any, really. Doesn’t seem to be these times’ trend.

    • Inahc
      Inahc
      October 26, 2017 at 3:25 am | #

      I think you might like some of Brandon Sanderson’s books. 🙂 There’s some romance but there’s also characters who just don’t have the feelings that you’d expect from their place in the narrative 🙂 Terry Pratchett occasionally subverts such things too. I can’t remember which of them wrote the story about an island just after a tidal wave…

      Speaking of islands, I don’t remember exactly who here recommended Moana, but I feel like I almost grok that movie now 🙂 something about it that I didn’t understand at the time has been bouncing around my subconscious for a few months now… and the call isn’t out there at all it’s inside me indeed 😉 my mind is trying to tell me something with that song, and I almost had it a few minutes ago.

      And hey, she’s a Disney princess who hasn’t expressed any attraction at all 🙂

      • Ellegos
        Ellegos
        October 26, 2017 at 4:31 am | #

        The tidal wave book you’re thinking of is “Nation”.
        Good book.

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 26, 2017 at 3:29 am | #

      It’s not like we DON’T have them.
      Danny and Sal
      Sal and Marcie
      Dina and Sarah
      Joyce and Sarah
      Dorothy and Joyce
      Ethan and Amber (you know… after they tried and failed romance)
      Becky and Joyce (you know… with a onesided attempt at romance)
      Joyce and Ethan (you know… OK, I start to see a trend here)

    • Indoor Cat
      Indoor Cat
      October 26, 2017 at 4:14 am | #

      I feel you.

      It’s actually one of the reasons I first got into the Discworld series. It’s not that there aren’t characters who pursue romantic relationships in the series, but they’re often tertiary characters, or the romance is sort of an abrupt decisions rather than a typical romantic story-arc (in which people fall slowly in love by increasingly revealing themselves to the other, and at some points pull back because they feel too vulnerable or the other person seems newly untrustworthy [this is pretty much the gist of most famous romance novels, and it can be a good storyline, but it doesn’t have to be everywhere]). Most of the protagonists are largely solo actors; despite being in an ensemble cast, the stories are largely propelled by a single protagonist’s actions (trying to defeat a villain, solve a crime, etc), which means most relationships are of secondary importance. Although, there are friendships and rivalries that are fun to read as the dynamics shift over the series’ course.

      Also, as a teen who hadn’t read, er, pretty much any series with a transgender character in it ever, the transgender* dwarf forensic detective character (Cheery) was pretty exciting and liberating to read about. And she wasn’t a one-off; after she joined the Watch she was in the cast.

      I mean, I can see why she wouldn’t be everyone’s favorite transgender representation (she’s not human, for one thing, which can make the analogy a bit muddy, sort of like any of LeGuin or Butler’s stories with alien characters that had points to make about gender and race and racism). And that kinda stems from the fact that there just generally wasn’t a lot of trans / genderqueer representation in fantasy literature at the time.

      But, as a teen I found her to be strangely empowering, more-so than some irl memoirs I read, because there was this balance where the story acknowledged the hostility and rejection she faced coming out in a (fictional) conservative culture, but also, she clearly was able to come out and start a great new life with a found family and friends and a job she’s really friggin’ good at. She wasn’t a TragicTrans(tm) character, even though transitioning wasn’t depicted as easy; it demanded incredible courage. But, also, she’s a whole person with a whole life. And she wasn’t totally disowned by her whole original family either. And I guess at that point in my life, I needed a trans story with a happy ending that was longer than a “teachable moment” episode.

      And the books were really, really funny.

      DoA, of course, has a transgender ace character who, so far, has not been involved in any romantic subplots, and I heartily endorse more Carla-centric storylines. Maybe where she befriends Amber and then they fight evil again, but in a more psychologically constructive way. Maybe a storyline where Amber joins the roller derby team and there are some sports-related Carla/Marcie/Malaya/Amber hijinks.

      Gah, sorry, long tangent, I’ll stop.

      *arguably more of a genderqueer analogue; she takes on a gender that doesn’t originally exist in her culture, which is entirely mono-gendered as masculine

      • MatthewTheLucky
        MatthewTheLucky
        October 26, 2017 at 8:22 pm | #

        Tangents about Discworld are never too long!

  29. poofdepoof
    poofdepoof
    October 26, 2017 at 1:51 am | #

    I love this strip. I think it’s just really really well-balanced and genuine. It has a joke that I feel like will last me all day. Everything feels natural and in character. And the art is so gentle and kind to these characters.
    I know there have been more “exciting” strips in this vast archive but something about this one just hits the spot for me, I’m not quite sure how to place it. Anyone else feeling like this?

  30. Cerberus
    Cerberus
    October 26, 2017 at 1:57 am | #

    Comic Reactions:

    Panel 1: I love the running gag of Joyce describing all her friendships in the most homoerotic way possible. Like, Joyce, honey, no, most straight women don’t lead into describing their friends as tall and pretty.

    Also, I love the realness here, of her diving deep into what actually makes her feel so loyal to Sarah. The love and protection Sarah has provided, caring for her in her darkest moments even though she’s had such nasty experiences from helping people.

    It’s a nice character moment.

    Panel 2: This moment feels big and a key part of Sarah’s characterization. Like, we already know some of the ways she’s been hurt for trying to help in the flashbacks about freshman year, but there’s also the coming back to the idea that her home environment wasn’t exactly the most stable and that she’s been hurt from even before that.

    Like, with her stating at Freshman Weekend about how she envied Dina’s quiet family and how faking loving parents was a part of being a child, it hints that she’s not grown up in an environment where it was safe to show weakness or be openly empathetic.

    And that likely adds another element to her desperation not to lose her scholarship as that might mean not only losing her dream, but having to go back to live with people that were openly toxic for her.

    Panel 3: Ah Joyce and her belief in the healing power of love.

    • ischemgeek
      ischemgeek
      October 26, 2017 at 7:00 am | #

      Yeah. I think Sarah’s desperation to succeed has a lot to do with that.

      I pissed my roommate right the hell off in my first year at uni because I would in fact report her to the RAs if she kept me up past quiet hours (before you ask – yes, I did try asking nicely first and explaining I had classes starting at 8:30 every day. When she responded with a snort, eyeroll and middle finger, I called in the folks who have the power to charge her money for being an asshole) because I was determined not to fuck up for pretty much the same reason. Getting into school and becoming a professional was my ticket to escape a bad situation. I relate a lot to Sarah’s desperate over-achieving here.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 26, 2017 at 8:41 am | #

      It is a running gag, but here it seems more plausible. She is trying to set her up with Jacob after all, so emphasizing the pretty is less strange than in other contexts.

  31. Cerberus
    Cerberus
    October 26, 2017 at 2:01 am | #

    Panel 4: This was very smoothly done by Jacob, deflecting the hint of setting him up, while also centering the value Joyce has brought to Sarah’s life. And the love, whether it be sublimated romantic or platonic Joyce has for her “big sister”.

    I think he’s going to be an incredible lawyer when he grows up if he can retain these social skills.

    Panels 5-6: Mm, yeah, I know those feels. Self-hatred can often sabotage truly believing people’s positive feelings towards you. Like, one person who likes you is clearly just deluded and doesn’t know what they are talking about and any more than that is clearly a sign of a larger pool of people you have somehow deceived into believing a falsehood.

    And for someone like Sarah, Sal, or Carla who is used to folks taking advantage of vulnerability to attack, it can be really hard to take people at their word that positive feelings are wholly earnest or meaningful rather than something to be dismissed.

    • butting
      butting
      October 26, 2017 at 5:55 am | #

      I keep wondering if Jacob’s first impulse is identifying and validating Joyce’s emotions, without even considering himself. (don’t tell Joyce that though, she’ll just crush on him harder.)

      Good point too about the potential of social skills mixing with practicing law. Am I stereotyping a field if I suspect he’d be awesome at family law in particular?

      • ischemgeek
        ischemgeek
        October 26, 2017 at 7:36 am | #

        W.r.t. lawyers: Most of the socially-savvy ones I’ve met lean toward trial law in some capacity or other (criminal law yes, but also family law, some aspects of contract law and civil torts) or towards fields where negotiation is as much of the skill set as actual legal knowledge (which is most legal fields to be fair). There’s also a place for bookish perfectionists who aren’t great at social skills – they tend to be the behind-the-scenes types who tend to focus on things like patent and contract law.

        Regardless of what field he goes into, I think Jacob is more likely to be a good lawyer than Sarah – Jacob is averse to conflict, has good active listening skills, and understands instinctively the give-and-take of relationships and negotiation. Sarah is judgmental, short tempered and more than a bit superior – yes, all of that is a persona she wears to keep the world at an arm’s length, but it’s a personal that is very likely to alienate and piss off any client she has, and you can be giving the best advice in the world, but it’ll mean nothing if your client doesn’t listen to you. As her personality currently is, I can see Sarah being very good at preparing briefs and other behind-the-scenes work, but I don’t see her being very good at gaining the trust of, attracting new, and retaining existing clients. So I see her as being a bit more limited as to what fields she could be very successful in.

        I am a contract scientist, and a lot of the skillset is similar to being a lawyer because in both fields your job is to be the hired expert. So you need to be an expert, yes, but more important than being an expert is conveying your expertise to your client in a way that doesn’t make the client feel condescended to or belittled. It doesn’t matter how good your advice is if you’ve pissed off the client so much they’ll do the opposite of what you’re recommending on principle because that’s how much they don’t like you. “Given your problem, here are the options and here are the pros and cons of each, which do you think is best?” vs “I am the Expert and I know best. You will do as I say, peon.”

        I have fewer qualifications than most of our other contract scientists where I work – but they all have the same problem Sarah does. I manage the lab and do the client-facing stuff solely because I know how to give advice without sounding like I’m calling the client an idiot. Qualification-wise, all my subordinates have me beat.

        Social skills matter, especially when your job is to give the expert opinion to someone who’s not an expert. It really pisses me off that our culture treats them as inherent personality traits rather than skills that can be learned – cuz I’m friggin’ autistic. Social skills do not come naturally to me. If anyone has an excuse to be shitty at social skills, it’s me. But I studied the crap out of how to Do Social back when I was undiagnosed and everyone kept telling me I was just an asshole because I didn’t want people thinking I was an asshole. Years later, my way of doing social is very much not neurotypical but it’s functional and doesn’t piss people off, which is all I really care about (and people expect scientists to be a bit weird anyway, so I think if I was too normal people wouldn’t believe I was actually a scientist – seriously, the stereotypical scientist is autistic-coded as hell but anyway). But my point is I’m proof that you can learn social skills and get better at them – that being “good with people” isn’t a personality, it’s a skill. Unfortunately, too many people tend to assume it’s a personality.

        • missilentmurmur
          missilentmurmur
          October 26, 2017 at 10:39 am | #

          I’m not well-versed in this career path’s but I can imagine Sarah as someone who enforces norms, for example anti-pollution. I can so see her battling with all her might to get corruption out in the open, too.

  32. BenRG
    BenRG
    October 26, 2017 at 2:05 am | #

    I’ve got a real feeling that, later on, Jacob is going to tell Raidah that he has met possibly one of the single sweetest girls that he’s ever met and it’s made him sorry that he doesn’t have a younger sister. He’s honestly enjoying Joyce being Joyce.

    • Chris Phoenix
      Chris Phoenix
      October 26, 2017 at 3:14 am | #

      I first read this as “…he has met possibly one of the sweetest single girls…”

      and the ship started to sail…

  33. miados
    miados
    October 26, 2017 at 2:12 am | #

    i’m still waiting for a fluke. not that i deserve one.

    • Fart Captor
      Fart Captor
      October 26, 2017 at 2:17 am | #

      You deserve far more than just one <3

    • laladoria
      laladoria
      October 26, 2017 at 2:19 am | #

      Everyone deserves to be loved.

    • Indoor Cat
      Indoor Cat
      October 26, 2017 at 4:20 am | #

      <3 Hang in there. It's hard, for sure. Sometimes finding your people means going somewhere really far away. Trying again, starting from scratch. It's so, so hard.

      But don't give up before you've given yourself a chance. Take your time. Protect your heart. And when you're ready to, go and find them. All the conspirators waiting to love you. They are out there. <3

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      October 26, 2017 at 5:08 pm | #

      I’ll give you TWO! *throws a whale at Miados*

  34. Darkoneko
    Darkoneko
    October 26, 2017 at 3:19 am | #

    The Sarah-loving conspiracy.

  35. ValdVin
    ValdVin
    October 26, 2017 at 3:24 am | #

    The layout really is neat in this one.

    Great subtle expressions on Joyce.

    The one unbordered Jacob sort of “spills out”, as if his question underlines everything Joyce says today.

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 26, 2017 at 3:33 am | #

      Agreed. Willis is good with layouts.

  36. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    October 26, 2017 at 3:56 am | #

    Not just a fluke. A big lie. A whopper. A whale of a tail.

  37. Kamino Neko
    Kamino Neko
    October 26, 2017 at 6:26 am | #

    Is Jacob asking if Joyce is in lesbians with Sarah, or did he miss that Joyce is trying to romance the two of them up? (Or! Did he catch it, and try to deflect it?)

    • Jason
      Jason
      October 26, 2017 at 8:13 am | #

      I think Jacob is comfortable enough with feeeelings to talk about non-romantic love. As for whether or not he picked up on Joyce trying to convince him Sarah is perfect for him… unknown at this point? Her first attempt at it was as subtle as a whale hi-fiving your face so he may think she’s not capable of more subtlety than that.

      • Kamino Neko
        Kamino Neko
        October 26, 2017 at 9:14 pm | #

        That first sentence is all one question. Either or, not independent clauses.

  38. Just for kix
    Just for kix
    October 26, 2017 at 6:27 am | #

    Alright, so how long do I have to wait to see Jacob and Joyce make out?

  39. Pablo360
    Pablo360
    October 26, 2017 at 6:50 am | #

    *plays If I Needed Someone by the Beatles on the hacked muzak*

  40. ischemgeek
    ischemgeek
    October 26, 2017 at 7:56 am | #

    This is huge for Joyce.

    She’s having food. With a guy. Alone. No chaperone.

    That’s the first this happened in the series. And she’s ok. She’s not panicking. She’s comfortable.

    And I think that’s a great sign of exactly how careful and respectful Jacob is of boundaries. I mean, let’s face it: Jacob is a big black guy. Thanks to North American racism, if a typical sheltered good Christian white girl thinks of someone who is likely to attack her when she’s alone, the stereotypical picture in her head is going to be someone who looks a lot like Jacob. Joyce has been conditioned her entire life to see a guy like Jacob and think “threat”. But she’s comfortable.

    And that’s really because Jacob, like most genuinely nice big dudes I’ve met, is very aware of his physical bulk and how that can color interactions with people, and he’s very mindful not to use his size in a coercive or implicitly threatening way.

    Contrast to Joe, who’s about as big as Jacob and has none of the self-awareness and a lot more predatory tendencies: Joe corners and manhandles people. He invades their personal space. He looms over or at them. He lurks. He does any number of things to intentionally create a sense of his own dominance in the social situation. He doesn’t mean a threat by it, but when he’s looming over a complete stranger, invading her personal space and propositioning her sexually, there is an unspoken, implied threat by his size and the fact that he physically cuts off as many of her avenues of escape from the situation as possible.

    By contrast, Jacob goes out of his way not to corner people. He never stands in the doorway. If he’s in a room with another person, he subtly lets them be between him and the door. If he’s walking down a hallway, he moves as far to the side as he can, to make sure others have as much space as he can give them. Where possible, he walks side-by-side with people, rather than looming behind them. He checks in with people. He never looms, not even accidentally. When dealing with people who are anxious or vulnerable, he brings his body down to their height, by sitting or kneeling. In all these ways and others I’ve forgotten, Jacob is constantly mindful of his size and goes out of his way to make sure his body language and nonverbal cues are always sending out the message of, “I am not a threat to you.”

    And it’s because Jacob works so hard at not using his size to intimidate or coerce that Joyce is comfortable enough to be alone with him – a man – despite her upbringing and recent trauma. And I think it’s really important to note all the emotional labour Jacob puts in to being respectful of boundaries and aware of his size, because I’m fairly sure at least some of it is informed by his own experiences of racism as a large black guy. Because most big white dudes I know behave like Joe, and most big black dudes I know are a lot more like Jacob.

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      October 26, 2017 at 8:00 am | #

      Oooooh! Good point. And again, it underscores just how bad Joe dealt with Joyce. Having a good dinner date with her WAS his professed goal. He blew it badly, just BECAUSE of his playah bullshit.

      Jacob succeeded where Joe failed just because he DOESN’T do any of the PickUpArtist-sleaziness that is SUPPOSED to help him with this exact thing.

      There is probably a moral there somewhere.

      Anyway, this is huge for Joyce. Well described.

    • Jason
      Jason
      October 26, 2017 at 8:17 am | #

      Thank you so much for this well-thought-out comment. Racial experiences are something I’m not that great with (being white from Whiteville surrounded by more diverse towns and cities) and there’s still so many experiences that I just don’t know exist for people of colour. I value the times like this where I learn from someone like you.
      So, just… thank you. <3

      • ischemgeek
        ischemgeek
        October 26, 2017 at 8:00 pm | #

        I too am Pasty McWhiterson but a third of the tech company I work at is staffed my POC, my partner is Native, and I have a number of black and POC friends and acquaintances in particular.

        I also had the utterly surreal experience of traveling my country on a business trip with the VP of Sales for one of my group’s suppliers and having everyone assume the 20-something white kid was the VP and the middle aged black guy was the entry level technical specialist. Racism is real.

    • davidbreslin101
      davidbreslin101
      October 26, 2017 at 9:15 am | #

      Nicely observed on Jacob’s body language. I’d kind of picked up that he sits back rather than leans into a conversation, but I hadn’t thought of this as deliberate before.

      • ischemgeek
        ischemgeek
        October 26, 2017 at 8:06 pm | #

        I definitely think it is – cuz it’s so very consistent all the way through.

    • hof1991
      hof1991
      October 26, 2017 at 9:36 am | #

      Jacob is just drawn that way.

    • missilentmurmur
      missilentmurmur
      October 26, 2017 at 10:27 am | #

      Actually, I wanted to point out yesterday how strange it seems to me that Joyce is here, with Jacob, and not pulling any “husband-catching” moves. Now that you mention it, the fact that she is without a chaperone is also strange. This caracter development is a bit too fast for me.

      • CJ
        CJ
        October 26, 2017 at 10:56 am | #

        She doesn’t need a chaperone. it’s not a date, she’s trying to get Jacob and Sarah together – at least that’s what she thinks.
        She never needed a chaperone around Walky, because she never had any sexual interest in him.

        • Leorale
          Leorale
          October 26, 2017 at 1:45 pm | #

          Becky has the same upbringing and knows what situations require a chaperone, so perhaps it was part of her master plan ™, she set them up for a situation that didn’t need a chaperone.

        • ischemgeek
          ischemgeek
          October 26, 2017 at 8:07 pm | #

          Good point – I was getting Joyce crossed with some other religious conservatives I’ve known in real life who want chaperones always

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      October 26, 2017 at 1:40 pm | #

      +10 points to ischemgeek, well spotted and well put.

    • Ryek Hvek
      Ryek Hvek
      October 26, 2017 at 4:27 pm | #

      +10 more – I never really learned about looming until I saw apprehension in strangers, and had to figure out how to dial things back

      • ischemgeek
        ischemgeek
        October 26, 2017 at 8:14 pm | #

        I only noticed cuz one of my close friends is almost 7 feet tall (no, that is not an exaggeration – he literally has to duck to go in most doorways) and somehow one day we wound up in a conversation about how frigging hard it is to not be intimidating when you’re that tall. I left that conversation with the impression that beyond a certain size, not being perceived as intimidating is very much the product of intentional effort and emotional labour.

  41. SlothfulCobra
    SlothfulCobra
    October 26, 2017 at 9:59 am | #

    Come to think of it, Sarah’s reaction to Joe just talking to her was wildly different from her original incarnation where she was fine with having a little meaningless sex.

    Because sometimes women want sex too, a strange concept I know.

    • Eldritch Gentleman
      Eldritch Gentleman
      October 26, 2017 at 10:15 am | #

      Let’s be fair, from her point of view a total asshole was trying to pick her up. Put another way, she has Standards.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      October 26, 2017 at 10:20 am | #

      Sarah does want a little meaningless sex. She just doesn’t want it with Joe. That’s what she wanted with Jacob. She was disheartened when he talked about wanting a relationship, not casual sex.

    • Fart Captor
      Fart Captor
      October 26, 2017 at 10:25 am | #

      Being interested in meaningless sex (which this incarnation of Sarah still is) does not mean you’re gonna be interested in getting it from any random creep who offers, especially not a pushy one who doesn’t back off when he’s asked to

    • Sam
      Sam
      October 26, 2017 at 1:08 pm | #

      No it wasn’t. Sarah is allowed to still have standards for her meaningless sex including no Joes.

  42. John Merklinghaus
    John Merklinghaus
    October 26, 2017 at 12:36 pm | #

    I have to honor Willis’ dedication to his art here. It would be really easy to just Copy+Paste most of these panels, but he doesn’t at all.

  43. segnosaur
    segnosaur
    October 26, 2017 at 1:42 pm | #

    Here’s a question… Does Sarah actually have a sexual interest in Jacob anymore? Could Joyce somehow succeed in getting Sarah interested in Jacob but find that it was all for nothing?

    Ok, we know she’s physically attracted to him, and that she does want to sabotage his current relationship. But, she also knows that he wants a relationship, and during the Joe/Jacob/Joyce/Sarah meeting, Jacob went into great detail about how its not appropriate to be treated as a “sex object” (something that Sarah is sort of doing). For that reason, she may voluntarily back off of a potential relationship with him.

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      October 26, 2017 at 1:51 pm | #

      Sarah thinks Jacob is hot, but has realized that their desires are incompatible, and that Joyce is a better match for him. And Joyce/Jacob would still satisfy Sarah’s spite towards Raidah. Win-win!

      • segnosaur
        segnosaur
        October 26, 2017 at 3:35 pm | #

        Which is what I was arguing.

        Sarah realizes that Jacob has different interests, but neither Joyce nor Jacob are in on the plot. What happens if Joyce is successful and gets Jacob to think “Maybe Sarah may be worth dating after all”?

      • Deanatay
        Deanatay
        October 26, 2017 at 5:21 pm | #

        I prefer to see it as “Sarah wants Jacob desperately, but has acted like an idiot in front of him enough times that she’s convinced Jacob has no real interest in her, and has given up any hope of scoring with him herself”.

        • nightsbridge
          nightsbridge
          October 26, 2017 at 6:26 pm | #

          I mean, it’d be wrong. She wants something pretty shallow with Jacob. She didn’t really give up hope of that until that had a conversation about how what Roz wanted was not anything close to what HE wanted, because he wanted a relationship.

          And that deflated Sarah like a balloon. You can see it right here: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/sniffing/

          • ValdVin
            ValdVin
            October 27, 2017 at 12:00 am | #

            Oof, I forgot this particular one. Yep. Probably the most whipsawed we’ve seen her get, and it’s extra painful for how seldom she just lights up like the next to last panel.

          • CJ
            CJ
            October 27, 2017 at 12:43 am | #

            Isn’t it more like she hoped to be able to snag him for a bit of sex but is sure she’d never be good enough to be his long-term interest?

  44. Roborat
    Roborat
    October 26, 2017 at 3:31 pm | #

    I am really hoping Joyce gets flustered and accidently blurts out what Sarah named her sex toy.

  45. Deanatay
    Deanatay
    October 26, 2017 at 5:22 pm | #

    BTW, I am definitely a part of the vast Sarah Love Conspiracy.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      October 26, 2017 at 11:08 pm | #

      It’s a love collusion!

      … oh, wait, Madonna’s song was Love Profusion. NM.

  46. kilgaen
    kilgaen
    October 29, 2017 at 3:52 am | #

    The least naive Joyce has ever been.

  47. Tealjoy
    Tealjoy
    November 6, 2017 at 10:59 am | #

    Joyce, never let anyone tell you that you’re not a good friend. I’m glad she understands why Sara is the way she is.

CHOOSE A SIDE, NO COWARDS

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adashtra.bsky.social's user avatarAsh Parrish @adashtra.bsky.social ⋅ 15h
Turns out the guy was Chuck Ayers, a nationally recognized cartoonist and creator of Crankshaft. He had a lot to say but the thing that struck me was that when he talked about whats going on now, I could see he was holding back emotion. All this still hurts him to see 55 (!!) years later.
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katiestp.bsky.social's user avatar
Katie @katiestp.bsky.social ⋅ 15h
Right now, these sweet kids have no clue how impactful this period in history will be for them, but I hope they will be proud of the time they made the best protest sign ever: The green one that says “Trump eats boogers” #NoKings
Kids and adults standing on a pedestrian bridge over the highway with protest signs that say fascists out and no Trump no ice. The best one is green and says Trump eats boogers.
katiestp.bsky.social's user avatarKatie @katiestp.bsky.social ⋅ 20h
We can’t make the actual event at the capitol today, so you’ll find us with the kids on University with our signs (and I might bring the megaphone too). Even if you can’t make it to the capitol - come out in your own neighborhoods, even if it’s for a few minutes. Be seen. Be heard. #nokings
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anguirus.bsky.social's user avatar
Anguirus @anguirus.bsky.social ⋅ 16h
rude of you to call me out like this @damnyouwillis.bsky.social
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 20h
www.ebay.com/itm/23614371... five hours left on this weirdo in the box weirdo not in the box is not for sale
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charliejane.bsky.social's user avatar
Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
At Comic-Con 2009 I was getting misgendered a fair bit and feeling anxious AF about it. Robert Downey Jr. was doing a press conf for Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to shout out a question but hated drawing attn to myself. I did it anyway. He gestured at me: "the lady in the blue shirt." I was so happy.
bolt451.bsky.social's user avatarHunter S Schafer @bolt451.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
dawn these are not the same things you had an abusive boyfriend wilbur had a live-in sex stranger who he chose over your safety because he was getting laid, until the moment something almost happened to HIS GOLDFISH
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Dumbing of Age: "Counter-protest" www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/b... #webcomics #webcomic
www.dumbingofage.com
Counter-protest
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
(June 19, 2026)
It's Joyce!  Directing our attention leftwards!
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
yeah maybe joyce switching to paramore from dc talk last storyline was a good move variety.com/2025/music/n...
header image - Hayley Williams Hopes Christian Music Industry ‘Crumbles’ Amid Michael Tait Scandal: ‘F— All of You Who Knew and Didn’t Say Anything’
variety.com
Hayley Williams Hopes Christian Music Industry ‘Crumbles’ Amid Michael Tait Scandal: ‘F— All of You Who Knew and Didn’t Say Anything’
Paramore singer Hayley Williams has reacted angrily to news of accusations against Christian music star Michael Tait, saying, 'I hope the CCM industry crumbles.'
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daisyfm.net's user avatar
DaisyFM ✒︎ @daisyfm.net ⋅ 2d
I think it's been long enough that we should all be able to agree that Charles Martinet sounds nothing like what Mario is supposed to sound like.
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davidmalki.com's user avatar
david malki ! 🔩 New game! BOLTED 🔩 @davidmalki.com ⋅ 1d
The universe told me "Stop obsessively collecting 19th century illustrations. Here. Now you have plenty. You are done now. Go do the second half of your deal, where you make more things out of them"
video thumbnail
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wackd.bsky.social's user avatar
Wack'd @wackd.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
oh this is a hot take and i'm extremely here for it
daisyfm.net's user avatarDaisyFM ✒︎ @daisyfm.net ⋅ 2d
I think it's been long enough that we should all be able to agree that Charles Martinet sounds nothing like what Mario is supposed to sound like.
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
www.ebay.com/itm/23614976... bid on my HFTD Leader Class Starscream!
header image - Transformers Hunt for the Decepticons Leader Class ROTF Starscream, complete 653569490937| eBay
www.ebay.com
Transformers Hunt for the Decepticons Leader Class ROTF Starscream, complete 653569490937| eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Transformers Hunt for the Decepticons Leader Class ROTF Starscream, complete at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many pro...
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!!1
preternia.com's user avatarpreternia @preternia.com ⋅ 2d
Lava surfing action!
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
that's not why i go to taco bell, taco bell
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
www.ebay.com/itm/23614937... selling my dotm voyager megatron $15 BIN, just to get it outta here
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teaberryblue.net's user avatar
Tea Berry-Blue @teaberryblue.net ⋅ 2d
Okay so people apparently love this one so I’ll tell it again: I was walking down the street in Hell’s Kitchen back when Daniel Radcliffe was performing in Equus on Broadway, when I see him on the street. The thing is, I recognize him, remember his name is Dan, COMPLETELY blank on why I know him.
bolt451.bsky.social's user avatarHunter S Schafer @bolt451.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
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damnyouwillis.bsky.social's user avatar
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
today in #9chickweedlane i learned that by god we are going to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite amos/edda's courtship until they are holding each others' hands directly out of their respective wombs
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tylerjameshill.com's user avatar
Tyler, from the Internet @tylerjameshill.com ⋅ 2d
Republicans: WE NOMINATE SKELETOR Democrats: We dislike Skeletor but we will vote to confirm him. Please give us between 5 and 50 dollars. Democrats: I stand before you to condemn the actions of Skeletor. He should have never been given this power. Please give me between 5 and 50 dollars.
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shenanigansen.bsky.social's user avatar
Shen Comix @shenanigansen.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
01: Shen is happily showing a dark brown haired guy a comic that he's holding in his hands. He says
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
crankshaft doing important public work showing us how staff picks happen, blowing this nepotistic corruption right the fuck open
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
"...fuck no"
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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Dumbing of Age: "Remake" www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/b... #webcomics #webcomic
www.dumbingofage.com
Remake
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damnyouwillis.bsky.social's user avatar
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 6d
www.makeship.com/petitions/tr... Wanna Tricerahoodie Dina plush? GO PLEDGE FOR ONE! We need 200 people to make it happen! Pledge period will end in 10 days!
header image - Tricerahoodie Dina Plushie
www.makeship.com
Tricerahoodie Dina Plushie
Dina is so small and quiet that she goes completely unnoticed by most people for long stretches of time. She doesn’t talk much — she prefers to observe. People and how they interact is a puzzle to Din...
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