Dumbing of Age Book Eleven

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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joe gets a lot of spite-attention, doesn't he
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

September 18, 2023

Escorting

by David M Willis on February 24, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 03 – Trial and Sarah

└ Tags: liz, sarah

Discussion (132) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    February 24, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    “because what if he ended up coming home for Thanksgiving with you”

    “♪You want my hands off Jo-o-oe♫”

    “n/m go sit on his face then”

  2. Thag Simmons
    Thag Simmons
    February 24, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

    She wants your hands off Joe in the same way she wants your hands off of a Gaboon Viper.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      February 24, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

      “A-ha! You admit you don’t want me to strip naked and dive into this pit full of rusty metal spiked!”

      • PirateTawnee
        PirateTawnee
        February 24, 2022 at 1:38 am | #

        You had me in the first half, I’m not gonna lie.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        February 24, 2022 at 8:34 am | #

        You got me in the second half.

        Falling on rusty metal spikes…. Mmmmmm. Nice. What a magical way of getting nailed.

        • Deanatay
          Deanatay
          February 24, 2022 at 9:14 am | #

          Theme song for this thread.

  3. King Daniel
    King Daniel
    February 24, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

    Not exactly related to the new strip, but as a Russian-American with family ties to Ukraine (and having also lived in multiple cities there for a few years), tonight’s…going to be especially difficult for me. Heart goes out to anyone else feeling similarly right now, whether they’re there or not.

    Wish I had a drink on hand right now.

    • Stephen Bierce
      Stephen Bierce
      February 24, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

      And Putin WOULD choose the anniversary of the fall of his PREVIOUS puppet government there to take revenge! He is a real-world supervillain.

      • The Wellerman
        The Wellerman
        February 24, 2022 at 12:26 am | #

        Yeah, right? Soviets or bust bruh! 🫡🤪

        *plays “Propoganda” by Taku Iwasaki on Car Radio*

        • Hazel
          Hazel
          February 24, 2022 at 12:56 am | #

          Not an appropriate time

          • The Wellerman
            The Wellerman
            February 24, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

            Yet again, another attempt at humor fails. 😞

            Oh, well. Failure is discovery too, I guess.

            I just really wanted a little relief from having to pay seemingly involuntary attention to the tumultuous mess the world is right now. I’m SO sorry if I caused any one any stress though!!!!! 🥺

      • King Daniel
        King Daniel
        February 24, 2022 at 12:31 am | #

        Fuck, I didn’t even realize that.

        Just have a pit in my stomach right now, can’t even really dig into the strip beyond acknowledging what’s happening in it on a surface level.

      • mrnoidea
        mrnoidea
        February 24, 2022 at 1:06 am | #

        Fuck Putin and anyone who stands by him.

        As far as warding off bad feelings right now… I’ve got anti-war punk metal.
        *plays “War is our Destiny” by Saint Vitus through the Bluetooth speaker*

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        February 24, 2022 at 8:36 am | #

        Kinda reinforces that this is not even strategically driven, but is just petty squabling to stroke his ego. But he’s willing to killing many many people to do it.

    • Laura
      Laura
      February 24, 2022 at 12:34 am | #

      Oh, weird, my reply got sent to moderation jail. Too many linkies I bet. Here it is, broken up and with html removed:

      Yes. So true. Ugh. It’s so awful. There just are no words. I’ll be worrying all night.

      Hearts, prayers, thoughts, money, letters. Those are a few things we can give our friends and family in Ukraine.

      MSN lists a few Ukraine-based organizations (some are military, but some are also humanitarian): https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-to-help-the-people-of-ukraine-7-things-you-can-do-right-now/ar-AAUcMtO

      Here are a few local US organizations serving Ukraine and its diaspora in this time of crisis and trauma: https://news.yahoo.com/want-help-ukraine-california-organizations-215932081.html

      • Laura
        Laura
        February 24, 2022 at 12:53 am | #

        Hmm… I was going to share with you a song I recorded in concert 20 years ago, about Ukrainian history, but it looks like the server disc it was hosted on has finally degraded and conked out. Too bad.
        OK, instead I’ll just share the US embassy’s meme:
        https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/ukraine-embassy-meme-01.jpg

      • Laura
        Laura
        February 24, 2022 at 12:54 am | #

        Huh. Still in moderation jail. OK, let’s try something different:

        And, OF COURSE: give blood.

        There is a global blood shortage and easing the supply crisis locally will have ripple effects that extend all the way across the world. Already there is less than a full day’s supply available and people needing regular transfusions are having to delay treatment, as are people needing blood-intensive surgeries.

        Ukraine is — I was going to talk about the need for blood bank supplies there, but it’s too sad and scary, I can’t say it. It’s too hard to even think about.

        I can’t give blood, for health reasons, which is why I hope others will give for two.

        The Red Cross has recently expanded its donor criteria and issued “respectful treatment” instructions, to make it easier for folks in the LGBTQ+ community to give blood. Makes it a little easier and less scary.

        Blood drive resources:

        Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html
        (Yes, I know, Red Cross is problematic. They’re also the ones who DO THE WORK worldwide, in the places where nobody else can.)

        Vitalant: https://www.vitalant.org/

        • Laura
          Laura
          February 24, 2022 at 12:55 am | #

          OK, last piece. Sorry, had to break it up into tiny pieces because of the mod squad:

          COVID survivor plasma donation: https://www.survivorcorps.com/plasma-state
          Plasma donation for all, nationwide: https://www.survivorcorps.com/plasma-national

          • Decidedly Orthogonal
            Decidedly Orthogonal
            February 24, 2022 at 8:40 am | #

            Thanks for all the info. Don’t think it’s active moderators censoring you. Any post with 3+ links automatically goes to mod-jail until (i think) Willis themself gets around to looking at it. It’s an anti-spam measure.

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      February 24, 2022 at 12:54 am | #

      I would offer support but my mind is currently preoccupied by my state governor’s attempt to murder hundreds of innocent children to distract people from his previous winter-storm-electric-bill murders

      so uh

      yeah

      • Laura
        Laura
        February 24, 2022 at 12:56 am | #

        Ugh. Texas. Gov. Abbot, yes. Puke. Uckh. Bleagh. Yuckkkkh.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        February 24, 2022 at 1:41 am | #

        Some of it is an attempt to distract, some of it is his earnest wish to do untold harm, and most of it is that Abbott is going to be primary’d by an even more hardcore conservative, so he’s in a very untenable position that’d be delightful if he wasn’t trying to take us all with him.

      • Alyssa
        Alyssa
        February 24, 2022 at 12:41 pm | #

        I mean, he also genuinely wants said innocent children harmed.

        But why not kill more kids with one act!

    • Regalli
      Regalli
      February 24, 2022 at 12:55 am | #

      Not much to offer but internet sympathies, but you have those in spades from me.

    • Hazel
      Hazel
      February 24, 2022 at 1:02 am | #

      Heart goes out to you! I can’t imagine what that must be like. You and yours will be in my thoughts and well wishes. Millions are also hoping for the safety and security of Ukraine so if thoughts can manifest good in the world, let it be now!

    • Romanticide
      Romanticide
      February 24, 2022 at 1:09 am | #

      Can’t blame you for feeling down now. you have my sympathies.

    • Yossarianduck
      Yossarianduck
      February 24, 2022 at 1:20 am | #

      Solidarity with you and your loved ones. The world is ruled by the cruellest, most venal opportunists imaginable, but there are so many more people who are with you and the people of Ukraine than are with those who would bomb you or exploit your suffering. I hope that fact can be of some small comfort.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      February 24, 2022 at 1:35 am | #

      To offer some internet sympathy and also to make amends for that evidently poor choice of mine up there, I would like to share a better, more uplifting share of music. 🙏

      *plays “Please Let There Be Good Weather Tommorrow” by Fujii Fumiya on Car Radio*

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      February 24, 2022 at 1:49 am | #

      I don’t even know what to say, but our hearts are with you.

    • Florence
      Florence
      February 24, 2022 at 2:15 am | #

      I’m so sorry, it’s truly awful

    • Kim
      Kim
      February 24, 2022 at 3:44 am | #

      Sympathies!

    • C.T. Phipps
      C.T. Phipps
      February 24, 2022 at 4:36 am | #

      Vibes man. The situation is absolutely awful and I hate that it’s happened. A friend of mine was living in Georgia when it was invaded in 2008.

    • JBento
      JBento
      February 24, 2022 at 8:35 am | #

      Ugh, that sucks. This is why Russia needed to have been punched in the face repeatedly over Crimea.

      Chamberlaining never works (and it’s morally bankrupt besides) and it’s never just Poland. Fascists can’t be allowed anything, because what they want is everything.

  4. Suet
    Suet
    February 24, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    Yes Joe gets a lot of attention IN SPITE of it, alt!

    *plays Who’s Johnny on thee car stereo*

  5. ThunderNight
    ThunderNight
    February 24, 2022 at 12:07 am | #

    Hands-free Joe

  6. BBCC
    BBCC
    February 24, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

    Sarah is that sister. I love it.

    • Clif
      Clif
      February 24, 2022 at 2:05 am | #

      Sarah is the sister who has just made Joe irresistible.

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        February 24, 2022 at 7:51 am | #

        Joe is best compatible with Sarah’s little sister.

  7. Ray Radlein
    Ray Radlein
    February 24, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

    “Okay, so no hands. What about other body parts?”

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      February 24, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

      Mouth would be my go to.

  8. The Wellerman
    The Wellerman
    February 24, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

    Is Sarah wearing make-up?

    Whether she is or not, those are some GORGEOUS cheeks!!!! 😍

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      February 24, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

      She’s always worn makeup I assume. Her lips are always shaded pink or purple like she’s wearing lipstick or lipgloss anyway. That’s why I’ve drawn her leaving kiss marks so much

      • The Wellerman
        The Wellerman
        February 24, 2022 at 12:31 am | #

        Yeah, there’s something I LOVE about the way Willis does cheeks, reminds me of anime and even some old cartoons I loved like George Shrinks.

        ~Aaaaah~….. so ADORABLE☺️

        Salubrious, too!!!! 😝

        • a/snow/mous/e
          a/snow/mous/e
          February 24, 2022 at 12:11 pm | #

          wow i haven’t thought about George Shrinks in ages 😛

  9. Ava-Ann
    Ava-Ann
    February 24, 2022 at 12:17 am | #

    D: she’s coming for SS JoeJo without even knowing it D:

  10. Shitbird
    Shitbird
    February 24, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    Liz pisses me off so much here, what’s the point of this argument? She doesn’t even want Joe. She’s a spoiled brat who likes to pretend she’s grownup but is terrified of consequences and doesn’t seem to care about self improvement or making amends. Even when she demonstrates she knows she’s done something wrong or has hurt someone.

    • brute
      brute
      February 24, 2022 at 1:00 am | #

      maybe so we get a glimpse into why sarah is so bitter? cause this is really giving me some sarah context.

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      February 24, 2022 at 1:06 am | #

      I think Liz desperately wants attention so bad that she’s willing to fuck up her own life to get it.

    • Nono
      Nono
      February 24, 2022 at 1:12 am | #

      She’s basically deflecting at this point is my guess.

      • Azhrei Vep
        Azhrei Vep
        February 24, 2022 at 6:48 am | #

        She is also, quite possibly, extremely bored. I’m convinced this is why family road trips are so awful: People with nothing better to do start shit over things that don’t matter all that much and blow it way out of proportion for sheer lack of anything else worth doing.

        Better to be angry than bored.

        • Decidedly Orthogonal
          Decidedly Orthogonal
          February 24, 2022 at 8:45 am | #

          People who cause shit just for the sake of it are just disappointing. This is the cause of 90+% of the fights with my ex and they’re continuing it with our kid. It’s heartbreaking to watch them soaking up this behaviour pattern and suffering through the consequences of it.

  11. Grimey
    Grimey
    February 24, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

    No.

    This is bad. Joe is gonna get his shit kicked in, potentially even worse just because Liz won’t elaborate on anything.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      February 24, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

      Eh, he’ll probably assume he had it coming.

      • Yossarianduck
        Yossarianduck
        February 24, 2022 at 12:56 am | #

        That’s the saddest part about this scenario, Joe wants to be better, but hasn’t had enough time for the guilt to subside and make him feel like he’s BECOME better yet. A Sarah-shaped repercussion would psychologically decimate him. I genuinely think he’s already on a knife edge as to whether believes he’s actually worthy of love (and Joyce) at this point.

        • Yossarianduck
          Yossarianduck
          February 24, 2022 at 1:00 am | #

          Speaking of which, my gravatar is now the character that resembles me the most, I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this own.

        • Yotomoe
          Yotomoe
          February 24, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

          Oh, the guilt never subsides. I still feel guilty for stuff I haven’t even done yet!

          • Yossarianduck
            Yossarianduck
            February 24, 2022 at 1:07 am | #

            Hard same, but I suspect Joe has an overall healthier ego than both of us.

  12. C.T. Phipps
    C.T. Phipps
    February 24, 2022 at 12:19 am | #

    I think Sarah and Joe would actually make a good couple but Sarah hates him so much now that they’d never give it a try.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      February 24, 2022 at 12:22 am | #

      I’d prefer them as friends. Especially since I ship Joe hard with Joyce. And Friends with a rewards program with Liz.

      • Yossarianduck
        Yossarianduck
        February 24, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

        I’d like Sarah to get with someone though, not Jacob since I think there’s way too much spite wrapped in all of that, but someone.

        • Sam
          Sam
          February 24, 2022 at 5:34 am | #

          Sarah deserves a partner that would actually understand her and tell Liz to buzz off.

          • Nono
            Nono
            February 24, 2022 at 10:06 pm | #

            Unfortunately, all the male cast members are pretty non-confrontational other than… Joe?

            • Sam
              Sam
              February 24, 2022 at 10:47 pm | #

              There is always the ability to add a new one.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        February 24, 2022 at 8:46 am | #

        If he’s not hard, how would he ever get with anyone?

        (I keed. He has a mouth and/or could bottom, and any number of other creative solutions)

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      February 24, 2022 at 1:43 am | #

      Joe does find her very attractive, and to be honest, I think if we’re talking strictly physically, the feeling is somewhat mutual. It’s just nothing else about Joe that is her type, and that’s even with his reformation. They are on very different wavelengths for anything other than some kind of not-quite-hatefuck-but-in-that-ballpark.

      • thejeff
        thejeff
        February 24, 2022 at 9:11 am | #

        Which is a shame, because especially at first, Sarah would have been down for the casual, no-strings-attached sex Joe specialized in. If he hadn’t established himself as a predatory creep in her eyes at first meeting.

        I’m not sure she’s shown any signs of physical attraction to him though. Certainly nothing like her reaction to Jacob.

  13. Tilt
    Tilt
    February 24, 2022 at 12:26 am | #

    We did it, guys. We found the Dumbest of Age character.

    Congrats Liz on not being able to figure out your sister’s motivations seconds after she spells them out to you.

    • CrazyJ
      CrazyJ
      February 24, 2022 at 12:52 am | #

      Liz’s alternative hypothesis doesn’t even make sense. Sarah didn’t even know Liz was interested in Joe until they were already on their way to Ball State.

      • Bryy
        Bryy
        February 24, 2022 at 1:07 am | #

        Hence why Liz thinks Sarah is now interested in Joe. A full Catch-22.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      February 24, 2022 at 6:48 am | #

      Nah, Blaine still has a lock on that title and likely will for some time, unless he’s ineligible on account of being an adult and also a corpse

      • Inbar Fink
        Inbar Fink
        February 24, 2022 at 1:04 pm | #

        I guess being totally lacking in brain functions DOES technically makes you the stupidest person around.

  14. anonymsly
    anonymsly
    February 24, 2022 at 12:27 am | #

    Liz cannot exit the cast quickly enough. Drive fastr, Zoomr drivr!

    • Gigafreak
      Gigafreak
      February 24, 2022 at 12:32 am | #

      “OK”
      -Zoomr

      • Shadowsnail
        Shadowsnail
        February 24, 2022 at 6:44 pm | #

        Does Zoomr like the cars, the cars that go boom?
        Then there could be a Zoomr boomer.

        • woobie
          woobie
          February 24, 2022 at 9:14 pm | #

          only Tigra and Bunny know.

  15. Wraithy2773
    Wraithy2773
    February 24, 2022 at 12:35 am | #

    Wanting to love someone while kinda wanting to strangle them, all at the same time.

    Ah, sibling energy.

    • brionl
      brionl
      February 24, 2022 at 12:55 am | #

      When I was a teenager, I got along with my older sister a lot better after she married and moved out.

      • Regalli
        Regalli
        February 24, 2022 at 1:11 am | #

        Yep. I get along with my younger sibling just fine, but my very-close-in-age father and aunt have definitely seen their relationship improve significantly by not having to see each other or talk unless they want to. (To be clear: They do see each other and talk! Outside of holidays and family crises, even! But they’re just the wrong mix of similar in certain ways and different in others to grate each other’s gears, so while they like each other NOW, it’s one of those relationships where a meetup at Disney World on overlapping trips would be fine, but planning a whole trip to Disney World together would be extremely ill-advised.)

    • Azhrei Vep
      Azhrei Vep
      February 24, 2022 at 6:50 am | #

      Huh. All my experience with siblings was purely strangly, until I got old enough to never be required to see them ever again.

  16. Joyfulldreams
    Joyfulldreams
    February 24, 2022 at 12:57 am | #

    Hey! She said “I love you”! And definitely meant it!

    That’s something, right???

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      February 24, 2022 at 7:51 am | #

      She said it to Joyce too earlier today.

      She means it, natch, but I kinda view the subtext of it as “what I do is for your own good.”

  17. Bluewind
    Bluewind
    February 24, 2022 at 1:01 am | #

    This is such an unhealthy mindset. The child needs help! 😬

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      February 24, 2022 at 1:07 am | #

      I guess she could use at the very least a LITTLE help (it’ll go a VERY long way), but I’ll thank you NOT to refer to Liz or any of the other college students in the cast as “children”. 😬

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      February 24, 2022 at 1:08 am | #

      I think we all need to remember (and by we, I mean I) that half the cast is in some way either indoctrinated in faith or dealing with trauma caused by faith.

      • Nono
        Nono
        February 24, 2022 at 1:14 am | #

        I mean, it’s just Joyce, Becky, Liz? Walky/Sal are other issues, and Billie, Ruth, Dorothy, Dina, Joe, Danny, Ethan, etc. are either atheist or ‘don’t really care about religion’. Even Jacob’s interest in religion is pretty much academic.

      • Biscuit
        Biscuit
        February 24, 2022 at 6:43 am | #

        Every character in this strip seems to be psychologically fucked up in one way or another, even the not-overtly-religious ones. Except maybe Dina.

      • smolgrlboi
        smolgrlboi
        February 25, 2022 at 1:08 pm | #

        and that they’re college students, and uhhhhhhh idk about everyone else but I wasn’t exactly a paragon of maturity at ages 18 – 21. like aside from the trauma obv mentioned/alluded to in the strip I think a lot of what we see is just how horrifyingly awkward it is to be a brand new adult. *shudders to remember*

  18. Kamino Neko
    Kamino Neko
    February 24, 2022 at 1:05 am | #

    This conversation goes on much longer, and Sarah’s going to develop a permanent underbite. And probably bruxism.

  19. Darkoneko
    Darkoneko
    February 24, 2022 at 1:05 am | #

    the possibility never even entered my mind but that damn Liz is instilling some doubt now

  20. NinjaNick
    NinjaNick
    February 24, 2022 at 1:32 am | #

    Liz, you’re crazy.

  21. AY
    AY
    February 24, 2022 at 1:37 am | #

    Would love to know what the @ride_trips Your Rideshare Driver guy would tweet about this

  22. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    February 24, 2022 at 1:47 am | #

    I think Liz is very interesting, but I get the feeling she’s making some people think more fondly of Malaya and Roz than they have in the past.

    Personally, I think there are endearing qualities to her, but she’s definitely immature and really seems to be on the border of a cry for help sometimes. Like, I feel there is something very compelling here to me, reconciling this Liz with Liz’s aborted attempt at sex with Joe. This is a girl at a crossroads.

  23. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    February 24, 2022 at 2:32 am | #

    Sarah wants Liz to keep her hands off Joe? I thought it was the other way around, but the same means lead to that end too.

  24. Laura
    Laura
    February 24, 2022 at 2:45 am | #

    I bet the Zoomr driver is Dana. Maybe that’s what Carla meant by “epic prank”.

  25. Bagge
    Bagge
    February 24, 2022 at 2:49 am | #

    “I love you and you annoy me” is high praise from Sarah

  26. Florence
    Florence
    February 24, 2022 at 4:28 am | #

    Yea Liz is being annoying and the screwing with Sarah’s life isn’t cool but this whole convo being fixated on the fact liz might have slept with Joe is bleh

    Feels like liz is bad here because she’s interested in casual sex

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      February 24, 2022 at 7:41 am | #

      Like, the comic itself? I don’t think DoA would shame a character for that.

      The audience on the other hand, well, fond memories of like a week ago where I had to put up with “Dina can’t tell that she’s pressuring Becky into sex.”

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        February 24, 2022 at 12:39 pm | #

        Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll see more of that whenever we cut back to Becky and Dina.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          February 24, 2022 at 1:08 pm | #

          Probably not. Things seemed to be going well.

          • Delicious Taffy
            Delicious Taffy
            February 24, 2022 at 1:46 pm | #

            When has that ever stopped people from catastrophising and forcing a situation into the “Bad Behavior” box?

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              February 24, 2022 at 3:17 pm | #

              There will be some, there always are for anything.

              I bet we’ll see less of it next time, than of people complaining about it.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      February 24, 2022 at 9:21 am | #

      As people mentioned yesterday, remember Sarah’s impression of Joe is still basically the “fix her with my penis” version. Nor does she know how it actually went down between Liz and Joe. There was no reason for her to think Joe wasn’t the creep trying to manipulate her sister into sex.

      And by today, she’s mostly just reacting to Liz saying she’s into him.

      • Florence
        Florence
        February 24, 2022 at 11:16 am | #

        I get Sarah being protective in relation to Joe, and it’s understandable how she’s operating, I’m more just grousing about it as a concept. Like it’s very in character but even then I’m still urghhhh.

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          February 24, 2022 at 1:05 pm | #

          Not just in character for Sarah – implying a character flaw in her, but I think it’s not the casual sex aspect that she’s objecting to. Or at least not mostly. I mean, Sarah’s never shown any signs of being against casual sex before. She’s even talked about preferring it to relationships.

          It could be her being okay with it for herself, but protective and controlling of her little sister(s) doing it, which would be pretty lousy and I think might be how you’re reading it?

          I see it as far more Joe-centered. Sarah’s not against casual sex, she’s against predatory creeps and there’s little reason to think she’s moved Joe far out of that category. She’s not slut-shaming Liz, she’s worried Joe’s done his old creepy moves on her and that she was naive enough to fall for them.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      February 24, 2022 at 10:21 am | #

      Sarah is being overly protective here, and in this specific aspect of the conversation she’s in the wrong.

      • Florence
        Florence
        February 24, 2022 at 11:12 am | #

        I know, I just have a visceral irritation with even the implication

        • Florence
          Florence
          February 24, 2022 at 11:44 am | #

          I’m struggling to put words together properly cause everything feels really bad around the world. I’m definitely going through feelings about Ukraine.

    • zee
      zee
      February 24, 2022 at 11:18 am | #

      I think it’s more that Sarah knows her sister is a naive, immature little dork who left her faith like, yesterday and probably doesn’t have the best mindset around sex (whatever she thinks that mindset may be) and Joe from her perspective is a predatory sleezebag creep. I think she’s just worried that her baby sister got pressured into something she wasn’t ready for. And also Liz is an *annoying* baby sister so she’s also just pissed about that, generally

  27. Sombrero
    Sombrero
    February 24, 2022 at 4:43 am | #

    I know that Liz is usually wrong, but is she?

    • Anon A Mouse
      Anon A Mouse
      February 24, 2022 at 8:49 am | #

      Her reasons are her own but being the omnipresent observer we are we are privy to the fact that they aren’t particularly good reasons. She is also assuming a lot about Sarah and is insinuating that she might STILL sleep with Joe simply because her sister MIGHT be interested in him. That is pretty “wrong”.
      If you mean whether Sarah likes Joe; Meh? They haven’t had such deep interactions that this would suddenly cause “relationship drama”.

      • Sombrero
        Sombrero
        February 24, 2022 at 12:28 pm | #

        Oh, but Joyce trying to make Joe and Sarah together would be comedy gold.

  28. newlland(Henryvolt)
    newlland(Henryvolt)
    February 24, 2022 at 5:16 am | #

    Just tell her you don’t want Joe involved in your life especially if it meant your sister dating him.

  29. Alan in DC
    Alan in DC
    February 24, 2022 at 6:33 am | #

    We’ve spent too many days away from Becky and Dina. They’ve got to be two-knuckles-deep by now.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      February 24, 2022 at 9:36 am | #

      By now Dina might have removed Becky’s shoes and maybe even her socks.

  30. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    February 24, 2022 at 7:00 am | #

    I admire Sarah’s patience. Liz is REALLY annoying here. But it’s sweet she tells her she loves her ♡.

  31. Spencer
    Spencer
    February 24, 2022 at 7:54 am | #

    My hypothesis on the feud between younger and older siblings is that older siblings used to have all the attention and now there’s this small child next to them they want to punch but then they get grounded if they do so.

    Signed, a younger sibling with an outrageously stupid and volatile older sibling.

    • zee
      zee
      February 24, 2022 at 11:22 am | #

      See, the trick is to be born about a decade and a half later so the sibling is too old to care/probably appreciates having the attention brought off them, any aggressive action from them is wildly inappropriate (unless they’re yelling at you for something stupid bc they’re basically half a parent) and you both effectively get raised as only children, unable to actually interact as siblings until you reach adulthood

      ….yeah i didn’t actually start feeling like i had a brother until i was like, 15

      • Spencer
        Spencer
        February 24, 2022 at 1:08 pm | #

        I feel like I woulda been better off tbh

        You kinda start getting frigid on the idea of sibling bonds when you feel like they’re supposed to be important.

      • coma
        coma
        February 24, 2022 at 11:25 pm | #

        Or, you can do it like my sister (2-year-difference) and I and become united against one horrible, controlling (and now much better, because less present) parent.
        But honestly, I think it comes a little bit down to personality (I’m more of a mediator, my sister was aggressive because of learnt behaviour) and how your parents treat you equally (or not).

        I grew up sharing a room with my sister and there were days we wanted to kill each other, but we more or less got along (mostly because we fought so much with my mother, so we kids didn’t have much energy left to want to take our feelings out on one another. Only when I was being a slob).
        My sister fought for being able to go out as a teenager, being allowed to drink (we’re located in Europe, you can drink alcohol once you’ve turned 16), staying overnight at friends’ places and stuff like that.
        And I never wanted to do that, so there never were any frustrations with me being allowed to do stuff she wasn’t allowed to do at my younger age, and thus no “The younger child is getting pampered”-kind of stuff. She had to fight more, yes, but also because I absolutely despise being screamed at, and I only ever screamed at my mother in fights, because I was reflecting her fighting behaviour – I didn’t know any better.

        What I’m trying to say: It comes down to personalities and talents and how the parents deal with those. If one older child is some kind of genius, I’m guessing a younger sibling won’t have such a good life always being compared to the other. (applies the other way round as well, of course)

    • Axel_Grease
      Axel_Grease
      February 24, 2022 at 1:29 pm | #

      For me it was a small child picking on me, but getting in trouble if I used my size as an advantage.

    • StClair
      StClair
      February 24, 2022 at 4:42 pm | #

      This older sibling has always been the quiet, boring, mostly responsible one. My two youngers are the ones who got up to all the mischief. I just stayed in my room and puttered with my hobbies (reading and model building, mostly).

  32. nightshade
    nightshade
    February 24, 2022 at 8:53 am | #

    you know if Joyce and joe werent meant for either in this strip I think Sarah and joe would be entertaining just like my mid-south hillbilly redneck uncle and my African American aunt from NYC are you never know if they’re gonna kiss or kill each other ……

    • nightshade
      nightshade
      February 24, 2022 at 8:54 am | #

      bleh meant to say each other

  33. Deanatay
    Deanatay
    February 24, 2022 at 9:02 am | #

    All the girlies want (to spite) Joe.

  34. Keulen
    Keulen
    February 24, 2022 at 9:38 am | #

    I would love it if these two could have a reasonable discussion about their issues with each other, but sadly I doubt that’s likely to happen.

  35. davidbreslin101
    davidbreslin101
    February 24, 2022 at 10:25 am | #

    You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
    Back to Ball State you must go
    You don’t pull the mask off that ol’ Lone Ranger
    And you don’t mess around with Joe.

  36. Delicious Taffy
    Delicious Taffy
    February 24, 2022 at 12:55 pm | #

    Goddamn, Liz, shut up about Joe already. Hate when people can’t just drop it and stop saying the same thing over and over.

  37. Megan Rivera
    Megan Rivera
    February 24, 2022 at 7:08 pm | #

    Gosh, Liz is SO pretty though ♥

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      February 24, 2022 at 9:35 pm | #

      Isn’t she just?

      • The Wellerman
        The Wellerman
        February 24, 2022 at 10:24 pm | #

        Unholy crap she does!!!

  38. Tilt
    Tilt
    February 24, 2022 at 7:43 pm | #

    I feel like some people in the comments just don’t care about the difference between protectiveness and control, and are eager to lump Sarah’s behavior into the second category.

    But I think statements like, ‘Sarah thinks she knows what’s best’ are unfair. Sarah isn’t being controlling, she’s being protective. She doesn’t want her sister taken advantage of or to see Liz ruin her life over an impulsive decision to flunk out of college.

    Could that be seen as Sarah thinking she knows best? I guess – but what’s the alternative? That she watches her sister ruin her life in a series of bad, impulsive decisions that will follow her for years to come? Watch as her sister drops out of college? Watch as she’s potentially arrested for illegally living on another campus? What, is her involvement in Liz’s life to give a piece of advice and then watch it go down in flames when her sister doesn’t listen?

    Since when is apathy the way we show each other love?

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      February 24, 2022 at 9:58 pm | #

      Since when is apathy the way we show each other love?

      Since around the time people started treating human interaction as a purely hypothetical perfect-play scenario in which only the most singularly optimal outcome is remotely permissible, according to rules that were never established and nobody could agree on anyway. I’m sure if Sarah didn’t give a shit and just let Liz do whatever, people would have a problem with that, too. And if she did something in the middle, she’d get called wishy-washy and spineless. Everything is always the endpoint, nothing is ever in progress or beginning, there’s no winning move, everything is an infraction, and every infraction is an irremovable blot upon a person’s soul. Eat at Arby’s.

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