Discussion (123) ¬
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Brian Steinberg @bristei.bsky.social ⋅ 3h
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social ⋅ 19h
Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social ⋅ 21h
April Wolfe @aprilwolfe.bsky.social ⋅ 19h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 11d
LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Al Ewing Writes Comics @al-ewing.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
Gwen @finalgwen.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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Barb O. Saur 
⚧️
Dan: “QUICK, CALL 911”
911: “What’s your emergency?”
Dan: “Sal came in THROUGH THE DOOR”
911: “Hold on, sir, we are dispatching an ambulance”
The paramedics enter through the window, it’s quicker that way.
Is Spider-Man moonlighting as a paramedic these days?
I kinda wish Spider-Man had always been a paramedic.
Wait, Spiderman isnt a paramedic?
No but SpiderCar is.
Paramedics but, like paratroopers.
Yeah, this is definitely DEFCON-1 levels of alarm.
well, at least she didn’t come in through the bathroom window
Protected by a silver spoon?
Didn’t anybody tell her?!
Didn’t anybody see!?
Could she even BE protected by a silver spoon?
Cue Walky climbing in through the window to avoid their parents, picking Danny’s room purely by accident
I get the feeling Sal would close the window on Walky and make him climb back down. Only one Walkerton gets to climb in windows at this school, and it ain’t Walky.
but since she used the door, that requires walky to use the window to keep balance.
walky isn’t exactly un-fit but at the same time other than a consistent athelete i’d think an ‘average’ person would struggle climbing up the windows and such
this is no problem for NIGHTGUY!!… he says, as he wheezes trying to pull himself up past the second floor.
1-der Bread.
That’s oneeder-bread
hah! didn’t have to scroll far
Making babies with One Direction?
Sal surprised even herself by using a door when a window was on the table. Good thing Danny understands how strange that is, and whether to be worried.
Semi-relatedly, are we about to get some Sal and Danny loving? I imagine Sal could use any excuse to not think about her parents, and as for Danny… he’s just happy to be here.
Sal and Danny is definitely my current ship. They have legit chemistry, and the relationship itself feels earned.
And while they both still have maturing to do, they seem to be in a position to do it together–I’m not getting the usual co-dependency or toxic spiral vibes that a lot of the other past, established, or potential relationships have.
*plays Bruce Springsteen’s “Rosalita” on the hacked Muzak*
I am surprised at Sal’s lack of infenestration!
I was immediately curious to see if ‘infenestration’ is a word (I’m familiar with the less rare, but by no means common, ‘defenestration’. I was please to learn it is. But technically, what we’re surprised at here is Sal’s lack of auto-infenestration, because the term refers to throwing something or someone through a window.
I see she’s finally fed up with Microsoft.
His concern is so cute!
Seriously you two I’m begging you to go on a weekend long road trip. Spare yourselves two days of Walkertons.
That is a damn good idea, can’t argue if you are in another city. Well, they can call I guess, but the cool part about phones how you can just turn off the phone or put it on silent.
And their chemistry is so good. I want them to visit small towns and solve murders.
That might actually work as a premise for an online strip but I don’t think Willis would go for it himself.
I also like the Ringworld reference.
Oh, has Danny been informed yet of the Walkerton’s presence? He might be wanting to visit the clinic himself, soon enough.
Why? For a broken hand?
It isn’t that bad; Charles’ face broke enough of the impact so it should be ok.
Feels like if you’re going to punch one of the two Walkerton parents, Charles is a solid second, though.
Charles getting hit is because the force to hit the mother does piercing damage, and he is standing behind her
Actually I can see a situation where Sal introduces Danny to her parents, and because of Danny’s, ahem, skin tone, Sal then becomes the “favorite” child.
I can definitely see that happening… as well as how repulsed it would make both Sal and Danny feel.
Funny, I see it making Danny the favourite Walkerton child. If he can unseat Billingsworth.
Unfortunately I can see that happening, too. It makes me feel bad for Sal, only loved because she’s in a relationship with a yte person.
Oh god, and that would be what eventually wrecks one of the only two healthyish relationships in the comic
Poor Sal
I concur 🥺
It’s ok, she just needs to go through the door like Leon from RE4 next time
Sure, and then Bitores Méndez strangles her against a wall for backtracking.
She knocks “Shave and a Haircut” on the door, but for the last beat she just kicks it in.
https://youtu.be/j674w-CF1Z0?t=228
It’s called keeping them on their toes, Danny boy. You wouldn’t have that level of shock and awe seeing her at the window. Next thing you know she’ll be coming in from a loose ceiling tile.
Ceiling Sal is watching you
Perfect Gravatar for that….
See, I think Danny would’ve been less surprised had Sal come in from a ceiling tile
I feel like it was already mentioned when they first arrived, but I’m just waiting for the Walkertons to meet Danny and suddenly Sal gains status in her mother’s eyes (especially if Lucy and Walky are there to make this point painfully obvious).
So is Sal going to take Danny to dinner to really throw off their parents?
…. so are her parents her kryptonite? Every time Sal runs into them she gets depowered for a bit…
Parents can ruin your entire life, even in your adulthood.
BTW, not sure if too early for off topic but,
Do any autistics around here experience Alexithymia, the inability to identify or describe emotions? What’s it like for you?
Just wondering because I think I might have it but not quite sure?
I got severe difficulties describing them in more than very basic or overly elaborate and hyperspecific ways. The difference between “Mad as hell” and “Pissed off like when that one teacher fuckin threatened to call the police in because I was reading too loudly, except if that day was 96°F and I had a headache and couldn’t wash my hands because the school bathroom was out of order”. There’s usually not a lot of in-between.
It’s fucking weird. Especially if your driving or working. For me it feels like I’m stuck on a semi autopilot that I can only input basic commands for. Like you can do anything but there’s just no feeling behind it.
It’s kinda hard to explain lack of something while feeling nothing. But I guess that’s the point?
I get a whole lot of not noticing when I’m feeling something for way too long. Anything from “whoops I’m really thirsty/hungry” to “why can’t I stop scrolling the internet? Oh – I’m actually really lonely and haven’t said an IRL word in like two weeks. Whoops.”
Once I do remember to pay attention, I can usually identify things though. If only through a rather “mechanical”/”intellectual” approach of e.g. “hm, high heart rate, uncomfortable, must be anxiety”. Probably lots of it learned. And probably lots of detail missing.
I am familiar with the autopilot Auroki describes, though. Rather glad I don’t get it as much these days, but there was like more than a year in my late teens during which I’m not sure I *had* emotions.
Related question: Do you guys&gals have that issue of “not being able to talk to people due to filtering your own thoughts (in an attempt to look normal) so much you’re not even aware of them”? I had that for a really long time, and suddenly it disappeared and I can share my dumb thoughts now. It’s weird.
This is familiar as hell, including the approach.
Also I’ve discovered that, as I’ve gradually had to juggle the “fewer mana points / more draining spells / added difficulty” through the years (and the Pandemic!!), my ability to mask went like. Way down. It’s allowed me to be kinder and more outgoing, which is worth the hangovering anxiety; but also, I’m getting hit with a ton of “oh, so you are actually autistic huh” nowadays |’DD;;
Yeah, I’ve had to like manually figure out mental toggle switches for my emotions and behaviors and flip them as needed to get through work and important situations. But doing so causes a major burnout.
Like if I got long meetings at work snd gotta appesr “normal” I can do it but when I get home, I need to sleep almost immediately. Otherwise I become this mess of mentally unstable behavior and bad decisions trying to cope
Am autistic. Not sure I’ve experienced that. However, I wouldn’t really label most changes in my mood either? Depression is.. background noise, punctuationed by “this thing/person is funny/annoying” and “this food/drink is good”?
So maybe I do experience that, now that I examine that?
I do. I learnt to identify feelings the long way round through mindfulness and body checks
Like those charts of where you feel heat for different emotions. Otherwise everything just registers as anxiety (I used to have a lot of panic attacks because any time my heart rate changed my brain would automatically go “we’re having a panic attack” and I’d have a panic attack, even if it was from exercise or excitement.
The hardest for me is hunger/satiation because hunger and fullness feel the same and a lot of emotions also trigger it.
Frequently. It’s why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy doesn’t work for me.
BIG same. Plus a lot of CBT is like “think your way out of it” and my brain is the master of overthinking so I just ended up worse than I started.
Yeah. I know I’m feeling bad, but it’s the body equivalent of a “check engine” light. I can’t tell if I’m sad, angry, thirsty, sick, etc.
Yesterday, my abuelita fell and bruised her face. She has microfractures on her jaw and cheekbone. And this woman, y’know, she raised me. I love her to death. And all I could feel was a featureless”!!!” that I didn’t challenge because… I’d rather have a(n emotional) shutdown than a breakdown? I live in a 6-people household, I have to keep functioning.
I think it’s a defense mechanism against melting down/getting overwhelmed. But it’s draining as all fuck, it’s not a system meant to stay engaged for long… And society today turns it on all the damn time
Definitely sounds like shock. Shock acts like a temporary shutdown, so that you don’t get the full brunt of the emotions all at once (especially not while you’re still in danger or still need to solve all the things).
The feelings are still there, shock just pushes them away for a bit — which as you said, is extremely draining, not meant to be engaged forever.
I hope you can get to get to an extra-safe place where you can be gentle with yourself. Maybe with a blanket, and a glass of water or chocolate. I hope you can let shock know that its work is done, good job shock, and you’re now safe to feel the feelings that come up. ♡
I wish it was temporary. It tends to, like… last a lot, with some pockets of [How To Disappear Completely.mp3] Blue Screening from time to time? Not knowing how to process An Emotion as in, “connecting it to my body” instead of “analyzing the fuck out of it”, does play a part in how I tend to have shutdowns rather than meltdowns unless shit truly hits the fan.
That said – Thank you for the good wishes!! ♥♥ I promise I’m doing my best to hold onto what I’ve learned through the years and stay hopeful. I mostly manage! I’m just… Really tired all the time TwT Hot chocolate does sounds like a great idea right now. It’s cold as hell down in my country. I hope you’re having a nice night, friend ^^
Describing them, no. Experiencing them, big time problem.
what a spiffy strip!
Bangers upon bangers, this is a cool time to follow DoA
What does bangers upon bangers mean in this context, cause I have only ever heard it used to mean “awesome songs” or “sausages” o.O
I’m more confused about how it relates to sausages than the context at hand. Please explain? XD
https://englishbreakfastsociety.com/bangers.html
Here ya go.
Jesus Christ. Looking further in, they rephrased the exact same explanation like 5 times ina row. Is it just me, like am I just too high and mixing the sentences together?
Yup, they could have done that entire article in 2 sentences and left nothing out
That’s the mash that obligatorily accompanies the bangers.
@Now has been expressing their appreciation of the strip for a few days in a row now, every day commenting how funny and cool the current strip was. So now they’re saying Willis is churning out great comic strips (“bangers”) day after day after day =)
THIS ! I declare THIS comment on my comment to be the ultimate translation of my very poor, very non-fluent, very non-native-speaker english bouillabaisse !!
I am unfamiliar with the term bouillabaisse in this context. Are we to conclude the comment is fishy or something we should stew over?
I would assume it’s being used as “word salad”.
No no, we need to Ritual Summon the comment using Recette de Poisson, tributing a comment/comments with of equal strength in the process. Doing so will allow us to get another recipe out of the deck, one with a different name.
Your comment was perfectly understandable. “Banger” originally meant “a fun song”, but it nowadays it’s used for anything of high quality. Jo_cubstar’s just not caught up on this bit of modern lingo, which is why they asked for clarification.
Their lack of understanding has nothing to do with how you communicated it!
My apologies. I didn’t realize people had moved away from using it just towards music and into other contexts. I don’t really keep up with slang. I’m “old” (not really, I’m only 35 going on 36, but I’m not “internet cool”) lol
Could someone explain panel 2 to me? It looks like the doorknob is on the hinge side of the door and that Sal is on the inside even though the door is only slightly open. I assume I must be reading the art wrong – so can someone help me?
I thought they might both be out in the hall? But perhaps Sal levitated.
He’s opened the door all the way in and is now hanging onto the outer doorknob to keep himself from falling over from shock.
That’s what I saw.
That is what was throwing me off. If he had just opened the door, his hand should now be behind the door, holding the doorknob on that side.
It’s most likely a reference to a very iconic Roomies! panel in which a befuddled Danny finds his long-distance high school sweetheart, Sal Walters, making a surprise visit to campus i.e “Round One, page 12” on the It’s Walky site.
How many years into DOA and we’re up to page 12 of Roomies?
The door is swung open as far as it will go, flat against the closets. The hallway is out of frame to the right of that panel.
Yep, this. They’re both inside the room. We’re actually looking at the outside of the door, because we see the room number tag and the message white board that is installed on the outside of each of the doors. (Where Joyce(?) drew the dicks). So, Danny answered the knocks, opening the door wide/all-the-way and is now holding on to the knob on the outside.
Although, never having been in a modern college/university door and none at all in about 45 years, I don’t know whether showing a round door handle or a lever-style is correct.
door/dorm
Yeah, I think the problem I have is how flat it seems to be against the closets. It kind of looks like the internal handle is embedded in the closet door, and possibly the door is folded into its own hinges. Which makes the simpler reading that this is the door in its doorframe, even though that makes no sense. But looking at it again, that’s maybe just an artifact of the Dutch angle?
The door is wide open. The hinge side (and a bit of the open doorway) is on the right side of the image. We’re seeing the side of the door that would normally be outside the room. You can see the edge of the door on the right.
POV from the batman poster. https://www.dumbingofage.com/getgoing/
Seeing some people predicting that Danny might win Linda over, but I doubt it, tbh. He may be a good egg who seems “nice” and “respectable” for reasons which Linda will never interrogate, but compare him to “future president” Dorothy Keener and it’s pretty clear where he’d fall short for her (although I think Charles would still like him, for what little that’s worth). And in any case, the only scenario in which I can imagine Sal doing that to begin with is if she plans to bring Danny to dinner for the express purpose of making her parents’ racism even more blindingly obvious to Lucy, which I imagine won’t be that effective for the reasons described above.
Maybe they decide to go out to eat and accidentally end up in the same place her parents are apparently sure Walky would not like.
And Carol is there too, because she’s spent all afternoon milling around waiting for Joyce to “come to her senses” and reach back out to her. (That’s what the gaslighting and “okay then I’m leaving now” power move were supposed to accomplish.)
I don’t think he needs to compete with Dorothy. He just needs to be not the type of guy Linda would expect Sal to be in a relationship with in terms of personality, while meeting the unspoken qualifications that are getting in Lucy’s way.
Is Sal actually in love with Danny? This is not how you greet someone you want to kiss, right? Is she too cool for that or just too stressed out because of her parents?
Usually she smiles a very rare (for her) genuine smile when she sees him, this scene where they both stare off into the distance in opposite directions speaks of shock and unhappiness. I think Sal is trying to interrogate her own feelings?
Good lord, she’s still dealing with the ten-seconds-ago arrival of her shithead mom who abuses and mistreats her on a regular basis. I’ve been in a steady relationship for 10 years and even early on we’d forgo the culturally mandated Sweetheart Greeting Ceremony if one of us had a lot on our minds. I mean jeez, we can sure get a little jumpy about these characters’ interactions and body language around here.
Yeah it just seems like a normal relationship to me, not a performative one for an audience.
I think Sal is still figuring out (a) is she? and (b) what does that mean, anyway?
stressed out because of her parents. she has object permanence.
She should smile more when she’s stressed, so nobody will be made uncomfortable by her stress uwu
I see you, Roomies! reference
[Fry voice] I get it!
Is anyone curious about Danny’s choice he is wearing what looks to be a fishing vest and a light pink shirt with a blue tie and dark blue pants. The Newsie cap at this point I assume is fused to Danny’s head. But the rest the outfit is weird it’s like Danny is about to go to on fishing trip in office cubical.
Danny’s outfit is a choice but I also respect it
Linda will try to convince Danny that he’s too good for Sal and hook him up with Jennifer.
Or Walky…
Oh wait racist are generally also homophobes.
“depend does the student health clinic takes orders to hit students’ parents with a pie in the face ?”
No, but Carla might be up for it if approached properly.
I’m very very looking forward it
I groggily clicked on the comic and was like ae how sweet Sal is sick and Danny is going to help take care of her just like a romance novel. Then I remembered Linda. Damnyouwillis.
Danny takes a beat to check: Yes, that is a door.
I hope he doesn’t Dan it up.
I feel like calling him Wonderbread is a sign she’s really upset. Like, I would have assumed she was mad at him until I remembered a much better reason.
I’m actually okay with the tie/fishing-vest combo, but I do NOT appreciate the popped collar on the fishing vest, DAN. The cabbie hat is already insufferable enough.
It keeps happening!