A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
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I was reloading the page over and over and over while waiting for the comic to be uploaded. Ana’s comment was already posted the milisecond the comic was up!
Also… is that supposed to be Sarah saying that? That seems like the only interpretation that makes sense in context, but I’m not… sure why Sarah would claim to be Eleanor.
Huh, now I’m kinda curious. Has this part of Sarah’s past come up before and am I just forgetting it, or is this something the comic has never gone into?
Yeah Sarah’s fairly mundane compared to the rest of the cast and I doubt she has the sort of complex interlocking superhero origin we see with some of the other characters
Nope. If we’re going by CW standards, Sarah must have dated Joyce’s brother or possibly her own (unknown at the time (to her)) cousin. Also probably bit resulted in a queer person getting chopped up and chucked in a bathtub or something equally terrible that people would still defend.
Sarah’s twin was killed after discovering the truth of the local drug smuggling/body harvesting cult, and also that their family carries the serial killer gene. Or something. I know those are all plot points from Riverdale but I have no idea how much anything fits together there.
@King Daniel: …was she? I don’t recall it being stated that Riley was older than Roz in Shortpacked! Riley looked pretty dang little in the flashback to Robin running away from home and that was explicitly stated to be after their dad abandoned his family. That flashback took place when Robin was sixteen, and Walkypedia gives her date of birth as 1980 (though admittedly it’s been wrong before– I have my doubts about Walkyverse Billie being born in 1981). Assuming Roz was at least 18 when she first appeared in 2009, that means she would have to be at least 5 in 1996, which is older than flashback Riley looks. Sure, Riley was taller than Roz as an adult, but that doesn’t mean anything.
You might be thinking of Danny’s brother Randy, who was younger in the Walkyverse but is older in the Dumbiverse.
There’s some pretty terrible parents in DoA, but there’s a lot of ground to cover to catch up with Riverdale’s cult leader, serial killer, biker gang leader, and maple syrup-based organized crime.
I don’t watch it, but every so often someone in social media mentions a plot point and I think “And this is based on the old comic strip/cartoon with ‘Sugar, Sugar’ and the kid in the silly hat? I mean, what?”
I was in the middle of typing out a correction that Betty’s mom wasn’t actually the leader of the cult (at least by the point I was still watching) but then I remembered that Veronica’s father was also a cult leader. I honestly can’t remember if Mr. Lodge was the secret mastermind behind the first cult or the leader of a totally different one, it’s a convoluted show.
Considering how much speculation goes on around here about which characters are going to get together, Barbossa’s “Now, what’s happened to my ship?” line seems pretty relevant sometimes.
… Yknow, Luce, sometimes people just … don’t date and don’t like doing it. And they live perfectly happy and normal lives!
That being said I really don’t know who else in the cast would be good for date advice. Dorothy, I guess, but that’s kinda muddled by her being an ex of someone involved
Someone who hasn’t dated and doesn’t want to is fine; but they shouldn’t be giving advice of ‘don’t’ to someone who clearly does want to, especially when going along with the assumption that they have experience, creating a false sense of authority about the situation.
Lucy did ask for Sarah’s advice. That’s just her opinion. Lucy doesn’t have to take that advice. She’s the one assuming aSarah has any authority on dating just because she’s older. Only maybe a year or two older too. Exactly how much more experience could she have?
I’m pretty sure Sarah isn’t one of those people, given her crush on Jacob.
My bet is, she’s had a fling or two with intensely dissapointing guys and it went poorly so now she’s sour to relationships as a whole, though would still secretly like one.
The same way she acts as though she doesn’t want friends but she clearly values Joyce’s friendship, it’s just hard to get through her defensive layer of prickles
Well, the reason her crush on Jacob died in the first place is because she wanted meaningless sex with him because he’s hot, and he wanted a serious committed relationship
I can see that having happened, and with the drama over her ex-roomie she basically wants to buckle down, maintain her scholarships, and get thru college and law school.
In the future, who knows? But I’m older than Willis and will not survive the in-universe time, advancing at one week a year, getting there, even if Willis doesn’t wrap it up at or before graduation.
I’m ace so my instant reaction to this sort of thing is to roll my eyes and grown. Ah yes, the only reason a person could not like dating people is TRAUMA….
Yeah, I am team ‘Sarah casually dated in the past with some High School/College Freshman Dude and they were just really mediocre.’ No date rape, no familial nemesis history, merely the kind of dude that stars in Overheard Terrible First Date Twitter Threads or the like.
Unless her tragic backstory (apart from Dana, of course) is that she dated said Mediocre Dude for like a month or more before realizing she didn’t actually like this guy once the immediate Asked Me Out hormones wore off.
Hi, local friendly confused Brit here, I had to look up what a CW is, and as someone who grew up in a time where there were only three (4 as I approached adolescence) TV channels, it still slightly blows my mind how specific channel branding can be.
I don’t watch a whole bunch of TV now either, so the concept is still taking a while to grok.
Yeah, the CW is basically teen dramas and superhero shows (sometimes a mix of both). Mostly known for being extremely corny and/or low budget. A very interesting mix of content.
Lucy: Clearly, she’s experienced SO MUCH trauma, her only way to cope is to repress it. *sniffle* Sarah’s so brave, and yet so fragile…
Sarah: I’m still here!!
Lucy: And yet she still struggles through it all, and let’s me know she’s here for me…
Sarah: This is why I hate everything.
Betting there was fallout from her first year roommate drama that ruined a relationship. That convinced her that she can’t have nice things. She can grind away at life, enjoy other jacob and have a little sister, but the way the freshman pursue sex and comfort seems stupid and pointless to her. Dorothy is her positive mirror image. She takes things on their proper proportion and is at college for the academics. Most of the rest of the cast is there for late adolescence with a side of academics.
Sarah is there for the academics alone and has shut down everything else. Her whole first year was trauma and third semester brought even more. She could use a lot less drama in her life. So she has no time for Lucy’s love life.
My read on Malaya isn’t necessarily that they’re just an aggro dickhead all the time because they feel like it, but that they don’t have time for people who pretend to be something they’re not. Mary preaches piety and refuses to develop her artistic skills, Sal is transparently living out of the most cliche teen rebel handbook imaginable where she very tellingly only starts making some positive headway as a person when she stops being an isolated douchebag, patches things up with Walky, makes friends with Danny, Carla and Amber, and finally joins a Roller Derby league despite her stated hatred of “organized anything.
So it’s possible it’s just that the joke is Lucy is actually as sweet and kind as she acts and Malaya’s reaction is inappropriate, but I wonder if maybe Malaya gave her such a hard time because she views Lucy’s constant sunny demeanor as inauthentic? Not that Lucy isn’t supposed to be happy and well adjusted, but that Lucy isn’t but forcing herself to appear that way as a result of some foreshadowed loneliness.
I personally think Malaya’s assumption people are always fakers is in no small part projection because they felt they were putting on an act (either the act of being female or the ‘act’ of being nonbinary because they had imposter syndrome,) so obviously everyone else does too. Might have above-average perception, but they misread Sal’s motivations for the parts of her persona that aren’t 100% sincere (she doesn’t really think she’s better than everyone so much as she keeps people at arm’s length since it seems like she never had many friends – and knew Asher had sold her out to cover his own ass, which doesn’t inspire efforts to make new ones.) That said, I think you’re onto something with Lucy being so perky in an effort to be popular because she’s jealous of the cool kids, and I could see Malaya recognizing that quickly. When we’ve seen Lucy’s disappointment come out and the mask slip, there’s a definite vibe of desperation there.
Yeah like, the core of every Lucy strip to me seems to be desperation. Walky asking her out didn’t feel like just getting noticed by a guy she had a crush on.
“Let’s talk about when we first realized we liked each other!”, like, that is hiding something.
I would agree with that Lucy is trying to project a friendly, upbeat vibe in the hopes of making friends, and that Malaya could be sensing and being put off by Lucy pushing that persona… But I feel bad for Lucy since I don’t think that’s a bad thing to do? I actually feel a lot of connection to Lucy, since I was very quiet and shy but at one point I decided I was going to try to make more friends – and acted kinda like Lucy, trying to be more upbeat and outgoing, and organize events for people to do together. In a way, that reaction is what you are afraid of – that putting yourself out there like that just makes it seem like you are trying too hard and backfires. Makes it a no-win situation if you can’t fake social confidence until you get enough experience to make it.
Yeah, I feel bad for her on the whole. Especially when, say, she’s hurt by people not attending her movie night unless Jennifer shows up, especially since Jennifer was getting the popularity solely on Being A High School Cheerleader. I think the issue with Malaya was a combination of Malaya assuming the worst of everyone (especially people who are cheery) and Lucy continuing to try and push Roomie Friendship, but that’s a thing plenty of college freshmen do because it’s often their first time having a roommate like that, and anyway Malaya wanted out IMMEDIATELY so Lucy leaving them alone probably wouldn’t have changed much. Lucy’s been pretty much a Nice, Normal Person, and even if she has some insecurity under the surface like we’re guessing, it’s still on a firmly relatable level. (I can’t see her pulling the ‘You WILL pick me up at 7’ or whatever line we saw from Mindy on Leslie.) Also Lucy needs some form of weakness or pressure point to exploit to carry arcs long term, so I think we’re trying to figure out what that might be since so far, she’s only had hints. (That’s not criticism of Lucy, that’s just ‘narratively you can only do so much with someone without a clear weak point.’ Bring on the depth!)
And having the degree of social anxiety that I just don’t do much, gotta say, kudos to those who do put themselves out there even if they’re terrified.
Well, a bit of googling told me that “The CW” is a TV network. But I prefer to think that it stands for “The Clone Wars,” which in the Dumbiverse is notorious for its overblown relationship drama.
Just so you know, CW is notorious for its dramas (even shows that you’d presume to be action-oriented, like superhero shows) to predominantly have scenes where two are characters sitting or standing still in a static frame talking about their feelings and other angst-inducing topics.
Oh good, so I wasn’t the only person unable to get that reference without some research.
…Still falls kind of flat to anyone who hasn’t heard of one particular TV network local to one particular country.
I need more Muslim characters! Or at least more prominent ones who aren't Raidah. It is a huge giant hole in my strip that makes it suck. The current storyline would've been way better if they existed. But they don't, and no amount of throwing Asma in for three strips solves it.
TRANS WOMEN OF BLUESKY:
What was your egg cracking moment?
When did you know you were trans? What made you realize?
And did you know you were a woman right away, or did you pass through other identities first
Happy Nonbinary People's Day, you gemstones. A year or two back we introduced FLASH GORDON's first enby, the outlaw lawman Bones Malock. Having known and loved a lot of nonbinary people, I knew the truest way to represent you was as a unsettling desert pirate with a lightning sword
Happy International Non-Binary People's Day to all those who work, create, parent, protest, love and live without ever fitting into someone else's category.
Okay, everyone's jumping to conclusions, but Joyce was hit with a mysterious pink gas in Thursday's strip.
Now, in recent years, the police are known to increasingly use military grade weapons.
Which reminded me of this bit of proposed technology from the 1990s:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb
hey, kid, what do you want to play with from the cool superhero movie? is it a nude, melting senator who feels like a stretch armstrong doll that has been left out in the son and maybe mildly chewed by a neighborhood dog? WELL, SON, YOU'RE IN LUCK!
mel! @mel.bzky.team ⋅ 5m
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“You act like I’m a Chidi, but I’m much more an Eleanor”
(Jason Mendoza FTW tho)
How the hell do you even comment before the comic is even up???
She probably pays to read tomorrow’s strip and comments on that.
Tomorrow’s strip is available on Patreon, not on the DoA site itself to my knowledge.
That’s what I mean.
Even so, there have been days when she’s posted within two seconds after the new comic went live.
She makes the comment ahead of time, and copies and pastes it real fast, like those guys who get Comicon tickets.
I was reloading the page over and over and over while waiting for the comic to be uploaded. Ana’s comment was already posted the milisecond the comic was up!
She has the super double secret patreon level.
Tahani is my favorite.
Also… is that supposed to be Sarah saying that? That seems like the only interpretation that makes sense in context, but I’m not… sure why Sarah would claim to be Eleanor.
I kinda sorta hate that I understand this reference and 100% hate that I agree.
Blake Bortles is relevant again!
Kind of…
I just finished bingeing is why I mentioned
also why I was late for tomorrow’s (6/27’s) comic but my prepared comment was pretty Jason-worthy so w/e
Did Sarah have a falling out with Other Jacob???
His batteries died, and she didn’t have any spares. It was tragic.
When life gives you lemons, fashion them into a battery!
With one copper spike, one zinc spike, and some wires it can be done.
I have a potentially relevant comment, but I need to check and see if it’s okay to post. Might be a few hours.
If it’s about the Energizer Bunny, go ahead!
Nah, it was about my high-libido friend and her increased need for batteries over this past year.
Dark chocolate and oysters could help, otherwise I don’t know….
Rechargeables are your friend, and budget saver.
Huh, now I’m kinda curious. Has this part of Sarah’s past come up before and am I just forgetting it, or is this something the comic has never gone into?
It’s new! Bring on the red panels.
(Though I hope it’s just mundane blechy dating, not trauma.)
“Not everything’s a goddamn CW drama.” It was probably just bleh. Young relationships are usually brief or disappointing.
Yeah Sarah’s fairly mundane compared to the rest of the cast and I doubt she has the sort of complex interlocking superhero origin we see with some of the other characters
Nope. If we’re going by CW standards, Sarah must have dated Joyce’s brother or possibly her own (unknown at the time (to her)) cousin. Also probably bit resulted in a queer person getting chopped up and chucked in a bathtub or something equally terrible that people would still defend.
Sarah’s twin was killed after discovering the truth of the local drug smuggling/body harvesting cult, and also that their family carries the serial killer gene. Or something. I know those are all plot points from Riverdale but I have no idea how much anything fits together there.
Is the CW still a thing or are we referencing historical events?
W…well I guess that explains why we haven’t seen Liz Clinton in the Dumbiverse
(yes i know she was sarah’s younger sister, but many age gaps are radically different in this universe)
It’s also possible that Liz could be Sarah’s older sister here – Riley was older than Roz in the Walkyverse.
@King Daniel: …was she? I don’t recall it being stated that Riley was older than Roz in Shortpacked! Riley looked pretty dang little in the flashback to Robin running away from home and that was explicitly stated to be after their dad abandoned his family. That flashback took place when Robin was sixteen, and Walkypedia gives her date of birth as 1980 (though admittedly it’s been wrong before– I have my doubts about Walkyverse Billie being born in 1981). Assuming Roz was at least 18 when she first appeared in 2009, that means she would have to be at least 5 in 1996, which is older than flashback Riley looks. Sure, Riley was taller than Roz as an adult, but that doesn’t mean anything.
You might be thinking of Danny’s brother Randy, who was younger in the Walkyverse but is older in the Dumbiverse.
Man i wish my young relationships were just disappointing. My love life was a damned cw drama
Heh, grouch. I could see this being just Sarah being prickly, or maybe she legit has not dated. We’ve seen how she prioritizes her studies, after all.
“not everything’s a gd CW drama” NOT YET, SARAH. NOT YET…
There’s some pretty terrible parents in DoA, but there’s a lot of ground to cover to catch up with Riverdale’s cult leader, serial killer, biker gang leader, and maple syrup-based organized crime.
You never know, the strip could end up pulling another It’s Walky.
Is this the Rivedale from Archie comics, or is this some other Riverdale?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverdale_(2017_TV_series)
On the CW, of course.
I don’t watch it, but every so often someone in social media mentions a plot point and I think “And this is based on the old comic strip/cartoon with ‘Sugar, Sugar’ and the kid in the silly hat? I mean, what?”
yes
I was in the middle of typing out a correction that Betty’s mom wasn’t actually the leader of the cult (at least by the point I was still watching) but then I remembered that Veronica’s father was also a cult leader. I honestly can’t remember if Mr. Lodge was the secret mastermind behind the first cult or the leader of a totally different one, it’s a convoluted show.
Someone contact CW and get them to offer Willis a contract!
content warning?
“May contain teenagers acting stupidly.”
Am I suddenly interested in Sarah’s relationship history!?!?……No….No not really.
Accurate Sarah grav is accurate
Somebody hid my Archies music–or maybe it’s at my brother’s house.
I can’t think of anything to play, either.
By the way, a few strips ago, what did you mean by “don’t parody a parody”?
Recognizing when something is a spoof should be a sign not to spoof it.
Huh. Anything I may have used?
You can totally parody a parody, especially if it’s a bad parody
Yeah, if that alleged “rule” about parodies always applies, then titles like Angry Birds would be neither functional not popular.
I got the feeling those were rules Stephen’s own personal set of rulea for posting song titles here, they weren’t demanding other people follow them!
Exactly this. Nothing about Wagstaff. I put this rule in place for myself even before I hit the Internet some two decades ago!
I’m reminded of Archie’s Weird Mysteries, specifically the episode where Archie and the gang trap a genie in a bottle of ketchup.
Sure they didn’t take it out in the backyard and gave it a quiet burial? Or maybe something akin to the Surfing Bird conclusion in Family Guy?
What if Sarah takes Joe up on his offer to be used as a receptacle for Sarah being angry, and then Joyce assumes something is going on.
You’d best start believing CW Dramas, Sarah, yer in one.
Considering how much speculation goes on around here about which characters are going to get together, Barbossa’s “Now, what’s happened to my ship?” line seems pretty relevant sometimes.
*chanting* Story time! Story time! Story time!
*pounds tables* STORY TIME!
Sarah: “NO.”
someone go get the iguana
.
Storytime with Sarah!
…or not
Once upon a time, it wasn’t story time, and Sarah was much happier.
*gasp* that was PERFECT
Storyyyyyytiiiiiiime!
PULL THE MELODRAMA TAG
There’s nothing mellow about it!
… Yknow, Luce, sometimes people just … don’t date and don’t like doing it. And they live perfectly happy and normal lives!
That being said I really don’t know who else in the cast would be good for date advice. Dorothy, I guess, but that’s kinda muddled by her being an ex of someone involved
Someone who hasn’t dated and doesn’t want to is fine; but they shouldn’t be giving advice of ‘don’t’ to someone who clearly does want to, especially when going along with the assumption that they have experience, creating a false sense of authority about the situation.
Lucy did ask for Sarah’s advice. That’s just her opinion. Lucy doesn’t have to take that advice. She’s the one assuming aSarah has any authority on dating just because she’s older. Only maybe a year or two older too. Exactly how much more experience could she have?
I’m pretty sure Sarah isn’t one of those people, given her crush on Jacob.
My bet is, she’s had a fling or two with intensely dissapointing guys and it went poorly so now she’s sour to relationships as a whole, though would still secretly like one.
The same way she acts as though she doesn’t want friends but she clearly values Joyce’s friendship, it’s just hard to get through her defensive layer of prickles
Doing the right thing from the moral high ground’ and feeling betrayed your friends — I get Sarah. I’m just sorry for her pain.
Well, the reason her crush on Jacob died in the first place is because she wanted meaningless sex with him because he’s hot, and he wanted a serious committed relationship
I can see that having happened, and with the drama over her ex-roomie she basically wants to buckle down, maintain her scholarships, and get thru college and law school.
In the future, who knows? But I’m older than Willis and will not survive the in-universe time, advancing at one week a year, getting there, even if Willis doesn’t wrap it up at or before graduation.
I’m ace so my instant reaction to this sort of thing is to roll my eyes and grown. Ah yes, the only reason a person could not like dating people is TRAUMA….
Sarah, though, is well established as neither aromantic (see: Jacob) nor for that matter asexual (see: Other Jacob).
Well, but Lucy isn’t aware of either of these Jacobs. she’s just assuming.
The normaller and more presentable Lucy has promised to stay away from whoever that is.
Honestly hoping it was just really stupid. With all the other drama happening it’d be kinda funny and bit of a twist lol
Yeah, I am team ‘Sarah casually dated in the past with some High School/College Freshman Dude and they were just really mediocre.’ No date rape, no familial nemesis history, merely the kind of dude that stars in Overheard Terrible First Date Twitter Threads or the like.
Unless her tragic backstory (apart from Dana, of course) is that she dated said Mediocre Dude for like a month or more before realizing she didn’t actually like this guy once the immediate Asked Me Out hormones wore off.
“Asked Me Out hormones” XD
Yeah she absolutely wouldn’t want something like that to leak out.
Hi, local friendly confused Brit here, I had to look up what a CW is, and as someone who grew up in a time where there were only three (4 as I approached adolescence) TV channels, it still slightly blows my mind how specific channel branding can be.
I don’t watch a whole bunch of TV now either, so the concept is still taking a while to grok.
For what it’s worth, we had a similar number of channels when I was growing up.
Yeah, the CW is basically teen dramas and superhero shows (sometimes a mix of both). Mostly known for being extremely corny and/or low budget. A very interesting mix of content.
Warner’s intellectual properties, UPN’s production value.
Sarah has the serial killer gene!
Coming up next, Robin pulls the CW Drama Tag!
Lucy narrating in the last panel make me laugh.
Lucy: Clearly, she’s experienced SO MUCH trauma, her only way to cope is to repress it. *sniffle* Sarah’s so brave, and yet so fragile…
Sarah: I’m still here!!
Lucy: And yet she still struggles through it all, and let’s me know she’s here for me…
Sarah: This is why I hate everything.
“Your latest issue of Hating Everything magazine is here.”
“I hate latest issues.”
Sometimes I’ve the weird impression that everything in Sarah’s past was traumatic or she just hated it.
Regrettably, some people’s lives are like that.
It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case.
If this were like the CW’s Riverdale, Ruth’s grandfather would be around constantly and woudl be the Big Bad behind everything.
He’d also be younger and super-hot, and have shirtless scenes.
I can still do the shirtless scenes
No, bad Willis.
https://imgur.com/a/FdwP45e
I just realized I wanted to draw Joyce. Being a little bit uncharacteristically saucy but cute.
Joyce: What? I’m overdressed.
Joe: *audible gulp*
Your Joyce drawings are my favorite
I think I like your version of Joyce better than the original.
Melodramatic much?
Maybe she is, Lucy. However, that doesn’t mean that it is a good idea to go rooting around trying to get her to tell you what it is!
DoA Book 11: You’re Traumatic
Betting there was fallout from her first year roommate drama that ruined a relationship. That convinced her that she can’t have nice things. She can grind away at life, enjoy other jacob and have a little sister, but the way the freshman pursue sex and comfort seems stupid and pointless to her. Dorothy is her positive mirror image. She takes things on their proper proportion and is at college for the academics. Most of the rest of the cast is there for late adolescence with a side of academics.
Sarah is there for the academics alone and has shut down everything else. Her whole first year was trauma and third semester brought even more. She could use a lot less drama in her life. So she has no time for Lucy’s love life.
Maximum drama: Sarah started dating Dana’s boyfriend.
Head canon until proven otherwise: Sarah actually just wanted a relationship about sex but her boyfriend kept trying to invoke feelings.
That’s happened to a friend of mine. Like, at least three times now where she’s had to stop sleeping with someone because they caught feelings.
Lucy: But, I’m just a sweet, young innocent girl with no malicious intent whatsoever!
Malaya: YOU! THE DEVIL!!
Sarah: YOU’RE Traumatic!
Conclusion: Lucy grates on people whose personalities are like human sandpaper.
For Sarah, that fits
I’d describe malaya more like poorly made asphalt that gets all gooey in bad weather and makes your boots stick to everything
I just thought of something.
My read on Malaya isn’t necessarily that they’re just an aggro dickhead all the time because they feel like it, but that they don’t have time for people who pretend to be something they’re not. Mary preaches piety and refuses to develop her artistic skills, Sal is transparently living out of the most cliche teen rebel handbook imaginable where she very tellingly only starts making some positive headway as a person when she stops being an isolated douchebag, patches things up with Walky, makes friends with Danny, Carla and Amber, and finally joins a Roller Derby league despite her stated hatred of “organized anything.
So it’s possible it’s just that the joke is Lucy is actually as sweet and kind as she acts and Malaya’s reaction is inappropriate, but I wonder if maybe Malaya gave her such a hard time because she views Lucy’s constant sunny demeanor as inauthentic? Not that Lucy isn’t supposed to be happy and well adjusted, but that Lucy isn’t but forcing herself to appear that way as a result of some foreshadowed loneliness.
I personally think Malaya’s assumption people are always fakers is in no small part projection because they felt they were putting on an act (either the act of being female or the ‘act’ of being nonbinary because they had imposter syndrome,) so obviously everyone else does too. Might have above-average perception, but they misread Sal’s motivations for the parts of her persona that aren’t 100% sincere (she doesn’t really think she’s better than everyone so much as she keeps people at arm’s length since it seems like she never had many friends – and knew Asher had sold her out to cover his own ass, which doesn’t inspire efforts to make new ones.) That said, I think you’re onto something with Lucy being so perky in an effort to be popular because she’s jealous of the cool kids, and I could see Malaya recognizing that quickly. When we’ve seen Lucy’s disappointment come out and the mask slip, there’s a definite vibe of desperation there.
Yeah like, the core of every Lucy strip to me seems to be desperation. Walky asking her out didn’t feel like just getting noticed by a guy she had a crush on.
“Let’s talk about when we first realized we liked each other!”, like, that is hiding something.
I would agree with that Lucy is trying to project a friendly, upbeat vibe in the hopes of making friends, and that Malaya could be sensing and being put off by Lucy pushing that persona… But I feel bad for Lucy since I don’t think that’s a bad thing to do? I actually feel a lot of connection to Lucy, since I was very quiet and shy but at one point I decided I was going to try to make more friends – and acted kinda like Lucy, trying to be more upbeat and outgoing, and organize events for people to do together. In a way, that reaction is what you are afraid of – that putting yourself out there like that just makes it seem like you are trying too hard and backfires. Makes it a no-win situation if you can’t fake social confidence until you get enough experience to make it.
Yeah, I feel bad for her on the whole. Especially when, say, she’s hurt by people not attending her movie night unless Jennifer shows up, especially since Jennifer was getting the popularity solely on Being A High School Cheerleader. I think the issue with Malaya was a combination of Malaya assuming the worst of everyone (especially people who are cheery) and Lucy continuing to try and push Roomie Friendship, but that’s a thing plenty of college freshmen do because it’s often their first time having a roommate like that, and anyway Malaya wanted out IMMEDIATELY so Lucy leaving them alone probably wouldn’t have changed much. Lucy’s been pretty much a Nice, Normal Person, and even if she has some insecurity under the surface like we’re guessing, it’s still on a firmly relatable level. (I can’t see her pulling the ‘You WILL pick me up at 7’ or whatever line we saw from Mindy on Leslie.) Also Lucy needs some form of weakness or pressure point to exploit to carry arcs long term, so I think we’re trying to figure out what that might be since so far, she’s only had hints. (That’s not criticism of Lucy, that’s just ‘narratively you can only do so much with someone without a clear weak point.’ Bring on the depth!)
And having the degree of social anxiety that I just don’t do much, gotta say, kudos to those who do put themselves out there even if they’re terrified.
Therefore, Lucynis either lower-grit sandpaper, or a smooth surface unaffected by silicon carbide.
Well, a bit of googling told me that “The CW” is a TV network. But I prefer to think that it stands for “The Clone Wars,” which in the Dumbiverse is notorious for its overblown relationship drama.
Just so you know, CW is notorious for its dramas (even shows that you’d presume to be action-oriented, like superhero shows) to predominantly have scenes where two are characters sitting or standing still in a static frame talking about their feelings and other angst-inducing topics.
Oh good, so I wasn’t the only person unable to get that reference without some research.
…Still falls kind of flat to anyone who hasn’t heard of one particular TV network local to one particular country.
Yes, let’s home there will be no straightwashing of ace or aro characters!