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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social ⋅ 13hDavid M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 8d
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(he/him)
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Becky playing the long game in fifth-dimensional chess
now we just need to know if Russia is interfering
They thought about it, but they saw what Becky did to that closet…
Becky’s trying a “Springtime for Hitler” play.
Those never backfire.
It’s springtime
For Lesbians
In Bloomington
Becky and Dina got a Tony award for producing “We are the Identitarians”, with John Barrowman singing comically about muslims invading Europe.
Springtime for Hitler is truly the best way to describe what she seems to be doing, it’s like watching two trains heading toward each other but being unable to look away.
Becky used Bask!
It’s not very effective.
I’m still on the idea that Becky’s thing with Dorothy is a play-feud.
I mean, it mostly is.
It’s ALSO a way for Becky to process her rejection.
I’ve always read it as a play-feud. It’s Becky’s way of dealing with Joyce’s rejection and her own jealousy of being Joyce’s best friend and envy for the aspects of Joyce’s and Dorothy’s friendship that Becky doesn’t get.
Becky’s had a lot of difficult shit to process all at once. All things considered she’s doing a really good job of it!
Heck, it’s kind of funny how Becky and Dorothy are both going for a “I don’t want to be enemies” approach, and Dorothy just doesn’t realize it because she’s so much more straightforward about it and doesn’t have Becky’s perspective. It’s fine, Dotty, you’re both on the same page!
Appropos of nothing, after reading this, in my mind’s eye, I am seeing Joyce dressed as Olive Oyl.
And Walky as Wimpy?
he better pay me today…
Is Fuckface Eugene the Jeep?
What is a magical dog what disappear’s and things?
Hmm, Becky I you might be understanding politics better than Dotty is. Using Robin for a short term advantage only to abandon her ass? Definitely seems like a top tier political move to me.
Robin would be proud
If it wasn’t her ass on the line
She has nothing to lose and nothing written down. (As far as we know.)
Yesterday it looked like Becky got the enrolment and tuition through official channels already.
Smart move.
Damn, that must have been like thirty seconds in comic strip-time.
That’s about how long you will have Robin’s attention span anyway, so better move fast.
Enrolled. Tuition is a separate issue.
I get the feeling Robin will win and Becky will end up with more political work…
This is exactly what I anticipate. Knowing what Robin’s capable of in the other universe, there’s no way “she’s not gonna win” isn’t a sweet summer child’s naivete.
On the plus side, by the time she gets there she might be MORE progressive than Manley.
DYW does seem to use the same “What is the worst possible thing I can do to this character?” writing philosophy, same as Lois McMaster Bujold.
I’ve been on reddit a lot lately and I micro-twitched a muscle to upvote this comment before realizing there was no button. Damnit, have to actually interact with words.
And yet I’m hoping that both Becky brings Dotty on board, and shenanigans ensue trying to get decent policy out of Robin
Not debate and learning mind you. I demand shenanigans.
Seeing as Dorothy just stated she’s supporting Robin’s opponent, Manley, I doubt she’s going to help Becky beyond advice. It would look really bad on Future Trying-To-Run-For-Office Dorothy if it was found out that she was officially helping two opponents at the same time. Especially if she’s still wishy-washy like she is now. It would be future political suicide.
Historically? Using a “I hate them but they can’t possibly win” candidate to support your long-term schemes works 90% of the time, roughly speaking.
…the other 10% is Hitler/Mussolini/Trump.
Just sayin’.
Heh, classic Becky misdirection in the last panel.
“This is awkward and I know you have mixed feelings about it so… HEY, LISTEN TO ME AS I REFRAME THE FEELINGS OF JEALOUSY YOU ARE ASHAMED OF INTO SOMETHING MUCH MORE ACCEPTABLE. REMEMBER HOW I STUPID I WAS ABOUT BEING IN YOUR SHOES? HAHA, WACKY BECKY, AM I RIGHT!?”
Ah, you must not have read the comics yesterday. I have been informed that Becky’s faux-rivalry is in fact incredibly sinister and rude.
*comMENTs dangit
*plays the theme song from The Best of Enemies on the hacked Muzak*
(I was thinking of the old movie with David Niven, not the new one with Taraji P. Henson–but whatever you like.)
Also Becky’s determination to have a rivalry with Dotty is adorable and I love it.
Becky leaves. Dorothy sighs and slumps down by her desk.
“This day can’t get any worse.”
The door is thrown open. Roz is standing in the doorway.
“WHAT IS THIS ABOUT YOU TRYING TO HELP MY SISTER WIN?”
Actually, my idea for when Becky leaves is for Dorothy to go back to her books, resume making notes in her notepad…
… only for the next panel to reveal the notes as “All work and no play makes Dotty a dull girl”.
my feelings ;_; That would be so sad.
Ideal timeline
Okay, and *this* I don’t like. I thought Becky was going to work for Robin, because she hoped she could turn her politics around. But now, she admits she doesn’t want her to win and will only pretend to work toward Robin’s success to get money? That’s dishonest and awful…
Becky is too poor to have principles.
You always need to have principles. And in this particular case (working for Robin), it’s not really that hard. Just provide three weeks of honest, solid work, right?
I mean, she’s coming to Dorothy for advice on how politics actually work, so despite her stated lack of belief that Robin could actually win, she does actually appear to be putting in three weeks of honest, solid work. She could have just kept posting dank memes for three weeks and twiddled her thumbs.
Also if she was just planning on scamming Robin outright, she wouldn’t have made Robin promise to uphold her “new values” as one of her three conditions, methinks.
This whole situation is a little sketchy still, don’t get me wrong – and I think both Becky and Robin contribute to that, honestly – I just think there’s room for it not to be downright awful. They’re definitely just using each other out of necessity, but I definitely don’t think they’re making the worst of it.
I think the question is where the principles go. Does Becky have a moral responsibility to provide solid, honest work to someone whose politics are not only abhorrent to her but downright harmful to her? Or is her responsibility (either primarily or full stop) to her own beliefs and her personal well-being?
Not sure that I agree with the implication that poor people should put their lives second to their or anyone else’s principles. At a certain point almost everything becomes about survival. Becky isn’t there yet — she has a job, friends looking out for her, and a place to crash at the very least — but even the slope down to that point is stressful; you have to make difficult choices to preserve yourself first, because otherwise things will quite probably get even worse and you know it. Bottom line, sometimes you have to relax your moral standards a little bit to help yourself, and honestly? That’s okay. Obviously there are still lines, but if Becky doesn’t give this 100% or even continues to undermine Robin a little, it’s not like it will hurt anyone but Robin. And she, unlike Becky, can take the financial hit.
Yeah, I agree. Becky’s being smart here.
Take it from an artist who works in entertainment (video games). Working for a corporation provides me with the income I need to live an okay life. I try to push for better things for the audience where I have the authority (in my case, better usability). But at the end of the day, the product has to make money or the machine grinds to a halt and my friends and I are all out of a job.
Meanwhile, I can save money to one day fund my passion project (which I expect to fail horribly).
Becky doesn’t have an opportunity to work for the candidate whose platform aligns with her beliefs, but she DOES have the opportunity to shape policy for the competition. It’s good that she’s being realistic that she might not be able to change much, while realizing that she at least has to put in the effort. And she gets an education out of this, which is going to be so much more valuable.
TL;DR, right now Becky is facing probably the most adult-world problem I’ve seen in this comic. I believe in you, Becky!
Man, as a poor person I kind of feel really uncomfortable with that sentence.
So she’s the perfect campaign manager for a Republican politician and will accidentally get Robin elected in a hilarious comedy of errors? Yeah, that’s what I was expecting too.
That’s kind of what I’m expecting too. But we probably don’t have to worry because the in universe election is years away for us.
That, I am worried about.
No, she said she thinks Robin CAN’T win. That’s a big difference. She told Dorothy that she plans to give Robin everything she is being “paid” for. She plans to legitimately attempt to raise Robin’s reputation. That’s all Robin asked for. Robin isn’t expecting miracles, she just knows that someone like Becky is her only chance. It’s either take the long shot or accept the loss. And Robin isn’t ready to do that yet.
Yep, this. Becky’s a realist about this, but she is not a shyster.
be honest: does Robin DESERVE anything other than dishonest and awful? She should get as good as she gives
Robin’s an unreliable, immature asshole who is an uncertain ally at the best of times. Becky has zero reason to trust her once she’s elected. Frankly, if Becky goes to plausibly deniable sabotage, I’d give her a medal.
Robin also got herself into this mess by stalking a woman and refusing to leave her home. If Becky’s getting tuition out of her for mildly good (and audience-specific) PR I say let her.
(‘Representative DeSanto pays college tuition for homeless victim of attempted kidnapping’ might be better general PR, but that won’t go public until after the election if ever and there’s still the diehard homophobes who won’t take it.)
Honestly I took as more of a “Haha I know she can’t win but I’ll do my fair share until she inevitably fails and then I’ll reap my rewards.”
Except with that kind of tempting fate it’s almost guaranteed that Robin will win.
As others have said, she intends to work despite thinking Robin can’t win.
More, I assume she’ll continue along the same lines she’s been going, pulling Robin away from Republican positions and to left Democratic ones. In reality, this would be more effective sabotage than nearly anything else she could do.
In the comic, it might backfire and get her elected, but if it does, she’ll likely complete her shift, since the GOP still won’t want anything to do with her and that’s likely the direction the character is going anyway.
That’s shady af Becky. And don’t you want another semester of tuition?
This comic is never going to get to sophomore year, so I doubt it will be necessary.
She’s only campaigning this semester.
It’s not actually clear how to me just how much tuition Robin has agreed to pay for. Maybe only a semester, but hopefully Becky demanded a full ride.
After all, Robin’s last campaign manager’s yearly was probably more than enough to cover all four years
As for the shadiness: Becky deserves tuition, and Robin deserves betrayal, tbqh
Becky, you hush, that kind of talk is way too close to ‘what could possibly go wrong’.
This’ll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?
GO TO YOUR ROOM.
It’s worse than that, it’s EXACTLY the “what has gone wrong” talk.
Note that Dorothy *has* been canvassing; she’s not interning but she’s not just nosing her books.
Yes! That detail made me happy. It shows she’s not so caught up in getting good grades that she doesn’t realize what else she needs to do for her long-term goals.
Becky already has politics entirely figured out, that’s amazing XD
Dorothy:
Becky: FRENEMIES
Oh dear, “she can’t win.”
Oh no
Oh no
oh no.
*rocks back and forth in the corner*
Guess Becky wasn’t paying attention when Desanto told her that Becky’s attempts to strike her down made her more
powerful than you can possibly imaginepopular than ever beforeadolftrumpsayswhat?
Sorry Becky, but I don’t think Dorothy knows what a kismesis is.
What a coincidence, I’m reading the Epilogues right now.
I finished them a couple hours ago!
They were A Lot. In the best and worst ways.
I thought Meat was a heavy choice, but goddamn if Candy hasn’t shaped up to be just as wild, so far. I’m up to a few pages after a motherfucker gets all up and down with the strangulatory side of a certain someone.
I think I ship Dorothy and Becky. Maybe Dorothy isn’t as much of a 0 as she thinks.
Becky has the right idea. Politicians are disposable, and can’t be trusted to do the right thing on their own.
Becky’s a scientist in her goals, so of course she’s not going to think highly of politicians.
Also, did not know Dorothy was canvassing for Manley. Guess she’s putting more active work towards her political aspirations than we thought.
Dorothy: …because Joyce?
Becky: (nodding) Because Joyce. Totes.
…Becky, do you just want a foemance with Dorothy?
Is that what this is about? Do you want Dorothy to strut around in a pair of cat ears and say “Hey Becky”.
Because that road leads to heartbreak and sad raptors.
…I don’t think she would mind Dorothy strutting around in cat ears too much, no.
…cat ears without a tail? Perish the thought!
I’m sure that this is still about Joyce. Becky wants to one-up Dorothy on a certain level because Dorothy makes her feel like Joyce replaced her. Joyce, of course, is wonderfully ignorant of this dynamic and is likely to do something really odd to help both her best friends. Maybe canvas for both candidates at the same time?
Get more people to vote for each candidate by registering people to vote! Primarily people in her immediate orbit; that is: the most liberal town in the district. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/district/
Can you do registration this late in the electoral season in their state?
Definitely better than Dorothy painting her face white and green and calling her “Becksy”.
Yeah, Becky is gonna find out she’s a lot better at this than she realized. And Robin’s opponent is gonna turn out to have as much under the hood as John Edwards.
And Dorothy will realise that a honest politician is a contradiction in terms.
Bets on whether that’s the thing that finally breaks her completely?
I think this is a far too cynical view that is in fact a real danger to liberal democracy. But go ahead and continue to spread that if you’re really hankering after an autocratic regime next.
I don’t think I hated anyone I went to school with. Typically I’m to lazy to hate people. Especially if its unlikely ill see them much if ever after I finish what I’m doing with them so to speak. Like a class, or a con weekend, or a phone survey person.
I don’t get why Becky is still trying to push this idea that she and Dorothy are enemies. Clearly Dorothy doesn’t think so, and Becky is coming to her for help as well.
Yeah. Imo Becky is being pretty mean in the last panel — almost makes it look like she just wanted to rub her new job into Dorothy’s face.
(I’m pretty sure she wasn’t doing that, but I couldn’t blaim Dorothy if that’s how she understood it.)
Becky: If I wanted I could ruin the entire GOP.
Dorothy: I will help you.
So… anyone want to guess what Becky’s two concessions from Robin were?
If Robin wins, I think it will be just punishment for Becky’s cynicism!
That aside, I wonder if Joyce will ever realise that the fight for the 9th Congressional District was actually a very well-camouflaged attempt to impress her?
Becky is doing an Aaron Burr. Not picking a side she really believes in and only doing what is convenient for er and her loved ones…
I can imagine Dorothy and Becky in a duel, and Joyce and Dina dressed as the Schuyler Sisters.
Kind of. Except that Becky really is desperate, which changes things.
And that she’s helping Robin win, if she actually does, by making her support policies Becky does actually believe in.
It could still backfire, but I’m not really sold on it being that bad.
I understand, but I still would like to see Becky dressed as a founding father and being pissed at Dorothy for destroying her chance of presidency.
“This woman wouldn’t make a widow of my Dina!”
Hahaha, yeah Becky that kind of talking ensures that you’ll get smacked upside the head by the karmic rubber chicken when Robin wins just as the universe will laugh at you.
Unless this stuff is written down…. I think Becky’s getting played.
To what end, though? Robin needs the help and has been forsaken by most everyone else. Besides, Becky’s got Robin over a barrel, so I am sure she’s got some insurance. She certainly didn’t seem intimidated before.
She did show some piece of paper in yesterday’s strip.
“I rObinn dEsanto agrE to dO Or get WhatEvs
Becki
beKKyBekxthe red-HeadeD ChiK wAnts!1!”I think to the end that she can use someone to teach her new techniques, wave her around like a ‘vote for me’ prop and then skip on the bill because college is expensive. Why Robin asked her to choose 2/3 of her demands. A change in her political stance that she didn’t care about, and a tuition payment that isn’t written down. She can dodge those. But an apartment requires payment upfront and would show a paper trail leading back to her.
She had the enrollment papers in her hand yesterday so she’s already set for the semester.
“Tuition Piñata” is a good band name.
Hah, I figured Becky’s one-sided enmity towards Dorothy was gonna get acknowledged here, eventually.
And all it took was subverting US’ Political system.
This really is for the best. In addition to this being too big of a distraction from her school work Dorothy would have too many qualms working for Robin and then fear the inevitable crash and burn of the campaign would destroy her reputation. Becky has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
As I said yesterday, this is heading to bone city.
So Ruth is coming along to inspect the femurs?
And she will count four of them in Dotty’s bed, under Dotty’s blanket.
Well, I suppose that’s a better place to hide them than in your closet. Closets are the first place people look for skeletons.
Closets are the last place where Becky would hide anything.
If she’d hide her skeleton inside the closet it would start yelling “I WANNA BONE!”
Appropriate (heart-eyes) avatar is appropriate.
Got a face for every occasion
… so, she’s looking for a kismesis?
I’m sure that dynamic would work in a realistic setting. They could have hot blackrom makeouts and scare people.
Damn. You beat me to it.
The frenemy alt-text confused me for a second before I remembered that Becky subconsciously hates Dorothy for usurping her position as Joyce’s bestest friend.
Man, Becky is already acing Advanced Applied Political Theory. What does school have left to teach? Maybe she can study Ethics?
One step forwards, one step backwards.
I mean, at least Becky isn’t still calling her Dottie (which I assume now was intentional?)
I’m just imagining Dorothy’s disillusionment if Becky somehow manages to win an election based entirely on Internet memes and empty sloganeering. If it worked for Trump, it can work for DeSanto!
Oh, wow, 2016 is NOT a good year to have flashbacks about.
Robin’s whole storyline is a lot more uncomfortable since 2016.
Well, her reelection campaign won’t play out until after 2020 so hopefully the context will be less uncomfortable by then.
Or we’re all even more seriously fucked.
Even post 2020, that’d still probably fall into ‘Funny Aneurysm Moment’ territory.
Didn’t the US only have like 5 presidents who WEREN’T re-elected? And 2 of them were DEAD? I mean, it’s not like the Democrats are putting up a fight.
“She’s NOT gonna win.” dont say that, Becky. Nothing’s set in stone till you get the results, and we do not WANT Robin to win.
Becky just doomed herself narratively.
Depends on what her new policies are. Robin was dropped by her old group and if she’s appealing to the people Becky’s winning over then her new stances may be much more tolerable.
Yes, Robin will win, likely by a landslide and her ‘phone will be ringing night and day with politicos who want a share of her magic.
just how long is 3 weeks in DOA universe time? I’ve been in this rabbit hole for, what, a couple years now and I think only 6 weeks have gone by.
Rule of thumb is about 1 week per year.
So, she kinda did come over to gloat.
Thought the same — or at least that’s how it looks to Dorothy (I don’t think Becky thought of it that way to begin with).
Not a good look for Becky at all.
I continue to be boggled that anyone can see her act so over-the-top and eat it as dead serious
You know, sometimes it doesn’t matter that it’s a joke, it still feels shitty to the person at the receiving end.
I think that’s what’s happening here.
And I’m boggled that I have to point THAT out. “Relax, it’s just a joke” has hardly ever made anyone felt better who didn’t find it funny to begin with.
(And I don’t think Dorothy has found any of the faux-rivalry jokes from Becky funny. Did you see her laugh?)
No, and I don’t see her being at all hurt by it either
She’s just confused by it.
Should Becky stop, given that Dorothy clearly isn’t playing along or even understanding what Becky’s doing? Yeah, she probably should
But it’s still a massive leap to go from “Becky continuing her pretend rivalry shtick is kinda rude / obnoxious at this point” to “Becky is the sort of person who would seriously go out of her way to rub her success in Dorothy’s face to upset her”
Like, she explicitly told Dorothy she’d understand if she didn’t want to help her. She gets it. Here for once the shtick actually serves a purpose. She’s playfully telling Dorothy it’s okay to hate her a little for it
I get not reading it that way, but I honestly cannot picture a person who was actually coming to gloat AND would act like Becky in the last couple strips. I can if I ignore all but the last panel here
Except I didn’t say any of that, but go on.
Jokes are basically a socially-approved way to be cruel. At best they are cruel only to a fictional figure in the joke, but every joke about people who are present has a barb.
she’s totally gonna win
Panel 1 Dorothy: “I am okay with the events that are unfolding currently.”
…. okay, maybe not, but it’s what I thought of.
So…did Becky forget that stupid pandering regardless of content is what wins elections these days? :/
I don’t think she realized it. Becky had to choose 2 of the 3 and I’m afraid she might’ve chose the wrong 2.
Oh dear. Fatal complacency. Becky is tempting Damn You Willis.
I just adore Becky in panel 1,3 and 4, trying to reassure Dorothy that she got this, and that this whole thing is not an insult towards Dorothy…. and then followed immediately by a ‘haha, wacky Becky’-joke.
Not unlike panel 3 here
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/established/
On a side note, tonight Ruth might be regretting being able to feel again, as the Leafs got knocked out of Stanley Cup in the first round…
“She’s too far behind, she’s not gonna win.”
She’s gonna win, isn’t she?