Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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sarah conjured the taylor swift herself, she did this
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

June 14, 2026

Cringe

by David M Willis on August 1, 2024 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – For Me It Was Tuesday
└ Tags: booster, danny, ethan, jacob, lucy, sal, sarah

Discussion (197) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. GingerMadman
    GingerMadman
    August 1, 2024 at 12:02 am | #

    Good Job Lucy

    • Vanessa
      Vanessa
      August 1, 2024 at 12:41 am | #

      And Danny too, good job Danny.

      • Gigafreak
        Gigafreak
        August 1, 2024 at 9:01 am | #

        Danny has picked up the ukelele and now the healing can begin.

    • spriteless aunty
      spriteless aunty
      August 1, 2024 at 9:49 am | #

      Lucy is harnessing Danny’s power for good and not evil! Huzzah!

    • Insanenoodlyguy
      Insanenoodlyguy
      August 1, 2024 at 6:57 pm | #

      No. Good start Lucy. When Sarah hears Jacob moaning in ways she wants him to do while on top of her but instead hes under Lucy, and that noise shatters her heart, then Lucy will have done a good job.

  2. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    August 1, 2024 at 12:02 am | #

    Danny and his Ukulele FTW ^^

    • Robin Lionheart
      Robin Lionheart
      August 2, 2024 at 4:06 am | #

      Miss Oli has a ukelele play along cover of ‘Enchanted’

  3. Matrix
    Matrix
    August 1, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    Uwu

  4. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    August 1, 2024 at 12:03 am | #

    Do kids still say cringe? That feels very late 2022 of Sarah. Kids today say skibidi toilet or whatever.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      August 1, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

      Oh, they say both. There’s also been a recent spike in “womp womp.”

      • David M Willis
        David M Willis
        August 1, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

        my kids did a wompwomp to me and i never recovered

        • Blume
          Blume
          August 1, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

          I now know that I’m using the same vocabulary as literal children. Womp womp.

          • NGPZ
            NGPZ
            August 1, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

            I know jack about Taylor Swift or her songs. Does this mean i am cringe or womp womp? :p

            • Blume
              Blume
              August 1, 2024 at 12:18 am | #

              Womp womppp… Jk, it’s okay. I’ve only listened to her country songs as a kid, I’ve heard only a little of her newer stuff ^^ so I’d be cringe too.

              • Carla's #2 Fan
                Carla's #2 Fan
                August 1, 2024 at 3:11 am | #

                Big same! I was very into Love Story and I liked her other stuff. Then I started to be interested in other artists. Of course, when my sister became obsessed, I got annoyed with Swift. I got more respectful about it because I love my sister, but I still try to avoid Swift’s music.

            • Queen Anthai
              Queen Anthai
              August 1, 2024 at 5:57 am | #

              My sister fronts a Taylor Swift tribute band and honestly our dad is probably rolling over in his grave about it.

            • Lena
              Lena
              August 1, 2024 at 8:20 am | #

              I think it’s only cringe to like things, not to dislike or be uninterested in things, but I could be wrong.

          • Sirksome
            Sirksome
            August 1, 2024 at 12:17 am | #

            Slang culture is really just a loop isn’t it? Wait long enough and “swingin” or “yowza” or “groovy” will come back.

            • NGPZ
              NGPZ
              August 1, 2024 at 12:19 am | #

              Swingin?

            • Blume
              Blume
              August 1, 2024 at 12:20 am | #

              I do enjoy saying yowza in my everyday life. So maybe try saying it more, it might work out!

            • Mano308gts
              Mano308gts
              August 1, 2024 at 12:21 am | #

              I can confidently tell you that all it takes is a single charismatic kid doing so, and something like that will return, at least on a micro scale. XD

              Last year I was working in a school, where one of the students, a very friendly and likable guy, referred to everyone as ‘fellas’, and individuals as ‘my fellow!’; by January about a third of the students were calling each other fellas. XD

              • Sirksome
                Sirksome
                August 1, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

                “Fellas” definitely has come back into mainstream use. I hear that one all the time. Maybe it never went anywhere, but I don’t hear its gender contemporaries like “dames” or “broads” nearly as much at least not in the states.

                • someone
                  someone
                  August 1, 2024 at 4:05 am | #

                  Fella is now gender neutral, thanks to NAFO.

              • Bash
                Bash
                August 1, 2024 at 2:13 am | #

                “My fellow” is so cute.

            • Clif
              Clif
              August 1, 2024 at 12:47 am | #

              That’s really linear.

            • Mild Lee Interested
              Mild Lee Interested
              August 1, 2024 at 1:10 am | #

              Holding out for “spiffing” personally

              • morleuca
                morleuca
                August 1, 2024 at 4:23 am | #

                I’m for 23 skidoo

              • Hydrargentium
                Hydrargentium
                August 1, 2024 at 2:25 pm | #

                My friends and I used to use “spiffy” all the time, back in the late high school years.

                Thinking about it, it was most likely attributable to our consumption of Calvin and Hobbes comics.

                Hg

            • Tan
              Tan
              August 1, 2024 at 4:33 am | #

              Lit.

            • Mark
              Mark
              August 1, 2024 at 6:56 am | #

              “Cool” has been cool since the 1950s at least.

              • Ed Callahan
                Ed Callahan
                August 1, 2024 at 8:40 am | #

                Various meanings of “cool” go back to the 19th Century, at least.

          • General Tekno
            General Tekno
            August 1, 2024 at 2:37 am | #

            Where IS Wompwomp actually from?

            I know it from the “Fish-Eye Lens” Homestar Runner cartoon.

            • Psychie
              Psychie
              August 1, 2024 at 3:49 am | #

              I’m pretty sure it’s a vaudeville reference, as a shortening of the “sad trombone” used to indicate something comically bad or sad happening. A sort of musical sting for a particular kind of punchline used to indicate that the audience should laugh, much like the rim shot but with a different context/connotation.

              I don’t know when specifically it began seeing use as an onomatopoeia for conversational use, but I imagine it couldn’t have been long after the 1930s as that’s more or less when vaudeville died, or it may have been during or after the vaudeville revival in the ’50s. It may have occurred rather later, of course, as the musical sting entered the cultural lexicon and thus was used in other media, first adopted into film by comedy movies largely inspired by vaudeville acts, like the works of Abbot and Costello and The Three Stooges, and still shows up to this day on occasion.

            • Thor
              Thor
              August 1, 2024 at 3:59 am | #

              It actually dates back to the 1800s, if you can believe that. It’s a shortened onomatopoeia of the full “sad trombone” riff. You can hear it at https://wompwompwomp.com/

            • Alan in DC
              Alan in DC
              August 1, 2024 at 6:54 am | #

              Looking for a better horn effect? Or a new ringtone? Search for “trombone gobble”; the classic Warner Brothers head shake effect.

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            August 1, 2024 at 3:30 am | #

            Far out.

            • morleuca
              morleuca
              August 1, 2024 at 10:06 am | #

              Radical, dude!

        • Formerly Glenn
          Formerly Glenn
          August 1, 2024 at 5:31 am | #

          Sometimes I Womp-Womp my kids.

          They do not appreciate it.

      • Dragonfire
        Dragonfire
        August 1, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

        Lot of ‘what the sigma’ going on between my niece and nephew.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          August 1, 2024 at 9:05 pm | #

          How do you skibidi, fellow youths?

    • Mendel
      Mendel
      August 1, 2024 at 1:52 am | #

      well, Willis’s buffer is legendary

  5. Davus
    Davus
    August 1, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    Oh my gosh! Lucy’s Doing it! I knew she could do it!

    • Bash
      Bash
      August 1, 2024 at 2:15 am | #

      Willis fooled us all! The lukewarm relationship with Walky is what unlocked confident, assertive Lucy.

      • Bryy
        Bryy
        August 1, 2024 at 6:43 pm | #

        I feel like the “cringe” part is a clue that the Reality Shoe is about to drop on Lucy.

  6. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    August 1, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    I am 0% surprised that Danny knows Taylor Swift songs.

    I am 100% surprised Sal does, since by this point she was about 6 when Swift switched from country to pop.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      August 1, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

      Maybe Danny’s sung to her before about how he was enchanted to meet her.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      August 1, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

      I’d say if you’ve grown up in this era you know Taylor Swift but I actually don’t recognize this one.

      • Mano308gts
        Mano308gts
        August 1, 2024 at 12:22 am | #

        It’s one of the only Swift songs I do know, but that’s because I had a girlfriend that was into Swift around 2010-2012… XD

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          August 1, 2024 at 12:41 am | #

          2012? So either this is an album deep cut or I’ve just completely forgotten the verse to a song I actually ought to know.

          • Mano308gts
            Mano308gts
            August 1, 2024 at 1:09 am | #

            Yea, it was on the semi-popular side, but it was right on the cusp of the country-to-pop transition; still called country but really sounded more pop.

            • Thag Simmons
              Thag Simmons
              August 1, 2024 at 1:57 am | #

              Apparently it is an album deep cut that got rereleased last year and was a pop hit. I haven’t willingly listened to pop radio in years and I was never enough of a fan to go diving through her albums so it makes sense that I haven’t heard of it

          • eskimolos
            eskimolos
            August 1, 2024 at 4:40 pm | #

            It has infamy mainly for Owl City fans being certain it was written about the Owl City guy, it’s Enchanted.

        • McNitz
          McNitz
          August 1, 2024 at 2:21 am | #

          Meanwhile, the only reason I recognize the song is because I was big into Owl City in that time frame XD.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            August 1, 2024 at 7:46 am | #

            Owl City is like Metallica for gay people.

            • elebenty
              elebenty
              August 1, 2024 at 12:56 pm | #

              Now I either want Owl City to cover Enter Sandman or Metallica to do Deer in the Headlights.

    • Alongcameaspider
      Alongcameaspider
      August 1, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

      I feel like Taylor Swift is big enough to where she might have just picked some stuff up by just cultural osmosis, hearing it playing when the Spotify playlist goes to random or even just over the speakers at walmart

    • alwaysrightneverleft
      alwaysrightneverleft
      August 1, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

      You have to remember that Taylor releasing her re-records is probably relatively recent, which brought those songs back into prominence.

    • GingerMadman
      GingerMadman
      August 1, 2024 at 12:20 am | #

      She went to a private boarding school for troubled girls.
      i guarantee she knew many Taylor Swift fans.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      August 1, 2024 at 12:21 am | #

      I mean, I guess she isn’t the most culturally tapped into the pulse of things, but it’d still take some serious doing to not know any Taylor Swift songs.

    • Frelance
      Frelance
      August 1, 2024 at 12:28 am | #

      they haven’t JUST been making out in the practice rooms

    • thakoru
      thakoru
      August 1, 2024 at 1:25 am | #

      I’m most surprised that Sarah is familiar enough to recognize it just from the chord progression.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        August 1, 2024 at 2:34 am | #

        No, that’s Sal singing. All Sarah recognised was the instrument.

    • DashWallkick
      DashWallkick
      August 1, 2024 at 1:48 am | #

      Best odds are that Danny and Sal have been singing pop hits in practice and this was one of them.

    • anon
      anon
      August 1, 2024 at 1:59 am | #

      at least he’s not singing WAP again

    • SpaceDorf
      SpaceDorf
      August 1, 2024 at 2:50 am | #

      I am proud to say, that I recognize exactly 0 Taylor Shwifty songs

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        August 1, 2024 at 5:32 am | #

        That’s a weird thing to be proud of.

      • Mark
        Mark
        August 1, 2024 at 7:01 am | #

        I’m bored to say the same thing.

      • Hof1991
        Hof1991
        August 1, 2024 at 9:23 am | #

        I’m old enough to say the same thing. I’m well outside her target demographic.

        • StClair
          StClair
          August 1, 2024 at 1:24 pm | #

          Same.

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      August 1, 2024 at 3:55 am | #

      Sal’s music classes or whatever have required her and Danny to practice MBop by Hanson, which she pointedly refused to remember the title of. I’d guess she now knows a lot of songs that wouldn’t be considered her kind of music.

    • Chubseus
      Chubseus
      August 1, 2024 at 7:37 am | #

      Perhaps Sal had to learn it for a class, just like she did Hansen and Mmmbop.

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      August 1, 2024 at 1:31 pm | #

      My older brother listened to her a lot when we were in high school, but the vast majority of my non-consensual T-Swizzle experience was from the muzak at an old job of mine.

      I’m never going to get “Shake It Off” out of my head. It was for a while and then I started reading comments and now it’s back.

  7. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    August 1, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    “It’s me hi
    I’m the Sarah
    it’s me”

  8. Nono
    Nono
    August 1, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    Danny: Sun’s going down real low

    • Jesse
      Jesse
      August 1, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

      Lucky Sal doesn’t have a Devil Hulk mood, or Asher’d never walk or talk again.

  9. Jesse
    Jesse
    August 1, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    I can take the ukulele, but I draw the line at Taylor Swift!

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      August 1, 2024 at 2:21 am | #

      Okay, do you want a sticker or something?

      • Rectilinear Propagation
        Rectilinear Propagation
        August 1, 2024 at 2:43 am | #

        I think they were making a joke based on the animal cruelty/racism meme.

        • Jesse
          Jesse
          August 1, 2024 at 6:22 am | #

          I just don’t like Taylor Swift.

    • morleuca
      morleuca
      August 1, 2024 at 5:52 am | #

      I just hope in 6 months, he plays Lestat’s single

      • Queen Anthai
        Queen Anthai
        August 1, 2024 at 6:00 am | #

        If I could “like” this comment, I would.

  10. Miafillene
    Miafillene
    August 1, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

    Taylor Swift. I just don’t see the appeal, other then the glamour, the talent, the natural beauty. But the music just makes me want to hurl.

    • Throwatron
      Throwatron
      August 1, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

      I literally hate that I can’t find a single Taylor Swift song that I sincerely enjoy. It actually feels bad to admit that you don’t really care for her music. People read things into it, that I REALLY don’t want them to think about me! But I just can’t find anything appealing about it, besides being catchy and competently written! And the people who like it, are clearly connecting with it on a pretty deep level, so I know there’s something there. It’s frustrating.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        August 1, 2024 at 12:54 am | #

        If somebody wants to read things out of your personal taste in music, that’s their stain to wash off, not yours.

      • Bash
        Bash
        August 1, 2024 at 2:02 am | #

        Have you heard All Too Well? Maybe it was just the stuff I was going through at the time, but I fell in love with that song so much. I was never a big fan of Swift but I listened to that so many times.

        • ninja_jesus
          ninja_jesus
          August 1, 2024 at 5:39 pm | #

          My wife was obsessed with that song, and it has a charm to it that you can’t help but feel nostalgic about.

      • Autogatos
        Autogatos
        August 2, 2024 at 5:51 pm | #

        Have you heard Safe and Sound? I am really not into Taylor Swift (I don’t hate her music, just not really my thing generally) but I have a Swiftie kid who was DETERMINED to find a song I’d like and she knocked it out of the park with this one.

        It’s SO different from the other poppy songs of hers I’m used to. Very heavy folk influence. It’s literally on my “faves” playlist now.

        And while I’m at it, if my kid is any indication: people who sit in the intersection of “Likes folk music” and “Likes Safe and Sound” should also go listen to the Ginny Di cover of Jenny of Oldstones (yes, the GoT song) immediately, as that’s another one we both heartily agree on. (Not remotely related to TS, just another pretty folk song)

      • Autogatos
        Autogatos
        August 2, 2024 at 5:58 pm | #

        Oh also Look What You Made Me Do is pretty good if you like “edgier” stuff. It was the first song my kid sang/played for me where I was like “okay yeah this is pretty good.”

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      August 1, 2024 at 12:45 am | #

      I think she’s mostly fine. She’s got a few absolutely unlistenable songs (how the fuck does a song like bad blood even happen?) but she’s mostly inoffensive.

      I’m more baffled by the intensity of the fandom.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        August 1, 2024 at 1:12 am | #

        How can you be baffled by fanatics being intense?

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          August 1, 2024 at 1:53 am | #

          I’m baffled that an artist this vanilla inspires devoted fanatics in the first place

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            August 1, 2024 at 2:02 am | #

            Vanilla’s popular for a reason. It’s generally pleasant and inoffensive, and people like that mild comfort. Humans are broadly very insecure and irrational about their little pleasures, and they’ll take any mild criticism or dislike as a personal attack, because now they think you’re taking it away from them.

            • zee
              zee
              August 1, 2024 at 2:04 pm | #

              I get why people like her. I don’t get why people like her to the point of doxxing critics and sending out death threats. Like idk ik my experience isn’t universal or anything but even in my most obsessive fandom stage in my teens (for me it was fall out boy, p!atd and twenty one pilots, so definitely stuff who’s young girl fans were also ridiculed) i never got pissed enough to dm someone that they’re gonna start coughing blood in three days

              • thejeff
                thejeff
                August 1, 2024 at 2:51 pm | #

                Basically it’s just that a whole lot of people like her, so even if only a very tiny minority dox critics or send death threats, that’s still a lot of people.

            • Thag Simmons
              Thag Simmons
              August 1, 2024 at 6:24 pm | #

              I guess, and people who like really popular shit can be kind of insecure and defensive about their tastes

              • anonymsly
                anonymsly
                August 2, 2024 at 8:16 am | #

                Do you think it might be because other people describe those thunfs as ‘shit’?

                • anonymsly
                  anonymsly
                  August 2, 2024 at 8:16 am | #

                  THINGS dammit, I hate mobile keyboards

          • Segnosaur
            Segnosaur
            August 1, 2024 at 2:16 am | #

            Not everyone feels the need for their entertainment to be ‘edgy’.

            They don’t feel the need to listen to rap artists trying to fit every swear word they can into a song, or some group who’s songs are more of a political speech than a musical performance.

            They want to appreciate the music based on the abilities of the performers and how catchy the tunes are.

            • Nymph
              Nymph
              August 1, 2024 at 2:20 am | #

              People who listen to music you don’t like (rap and political songs, per your examples) are also largely just listening to music based on the abilities of the performers and how catchy the songs are.

              That’s how humans work.

              • Taffy
                Taffy
                August 1, 2024 at 2:32 am | #

                Back when I worked at a fast food place, all the white boys in the kitchen would put on these incredible rap songs that were nothing but immensely vulgar stories about mundane things, like going to the gas station and beating the shit out of their girlfriend’s ex or whatever, and I don’t understand how someone could hear these tracks and dislike them. They’re inarticulate, the beats are repetitive and objectively shitty, and none of these guys have a good voice for these wild-ass stories they almost definitely made up, and it all somehow comes together to create this hilarious form of self-obsessed storytelling.

                • Needfuldoer
                  Needfuldoer
                  August 1, 2024 at 7:43 pm | #

                  That’s the whole joke behind Weird Al’s “Trapped in the Drive-Thru“.

            • Thag Simmons
              Thag Simmons
              August 1, 2024 at 6:41 pm | #

              I’m not trying to dismiss the appeal of catchy well performed music in the way that you’re trying to dismiss the idea that music with political messaging or that has vulgar rapped lyrics might be good or catchy.

              I don’t think she’s like a bad artist, I’m not baffled that she’s popular, the thing that baffles me is specifically the intensity of the fandom

          • eh, whatever
            eh, whatever
            August 1, 2024 at 4:11 am | #

            AFAIK, Swifties identify with the lyrics. The tune is less important.

      • Autogatos
        Autogatos
        August 2, 2024 at 5:56 pm | #

        I honestly can’t tell if I actually dislike Bad Blood or if I’m just slowly losing my mind due to how frequently I hear it (it’s one of my kid’s faves and she LOVES to sing and has a gorgeous voice so I don’t want to discourage her but omg….)

        Cruel Summer though. That song. I am so close to putting a strict limit on it in our house because it has been stuck in my head for WEEKS.

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      August 1, 2024 at 3:17 am | #

      Please don’t let this turn into Taylor Swift discourse, I get enough of that unwillingly on twitter -_-

    • Bogeywoman
      Bogeywoman
      August 1, 2024 at 7:28 am | #

      Shake it off is a bop. I can’t actually remember any other songs except maybe the “she wears t-shirts I wear jorts” one, but I do like hearing the neighbour’s kids have their swifty karaoke nights. I like how aggravating it is to my sister.

    • zee
      zee
      August 1, 2024 at 1:59 pm | #

      At the risk of getting doxxed or hexed to cough up blood in 19 hours by a swiftie, i think shes just okay. Mediocre white woman. I mostly just can’t stand her hostile ass fanbase. They’re almost as bad as the Barbz, who are hostile as shit and homophobic and misogynistic.

  11. Pocky
    Pocky
    August 1, 2024 at 12:11 am | #

    “Ah you think cringeness is your ally? You merely adopted the cringe. I was born in it, molded by it.”

    ~Bane; probably

    • Jesse
      Jesse
      August 1, 2024 at 12:17 am | #

      “When the party is in a sing-along, you have my permission to cringe.”

  12. Queezle
    Queezle
    August 1, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

    mh. Cute.
    And Lucy successfully defused the situation. Well done.

    • Bryy
      Bryy
      August 1, 2024 at 6:44 pm | #

      That remains to be seen. I feel like this is a set-up.

  13. Xronium
    Xronium
    August 1, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

    the ukelele solves all problems (this is not legal advice)

    • Meagan
      Meagan
      August 1, 2024 at 12:40 am | #

      Amanda Palmer has entered the chat.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX07zUo2kSQ

      • Regret
        Regret
        August 1, 2024 at 3:08 pm | #

        Thanks for getting me to listen to Amanda Palmer again. It always leave me with a sad tired smile, which is better than my regular depressed exhausted slack face.

  14. Bicycle Bill
    Bicycle Bill
    August 1, 2024 at 12:16 am | #

    At one time I used to play (with) a ukelele, and those are in fact the correct chord illustrations for the standard G-C-E-A. ‘my dog has fleas’ tuning.

  15. SvenTS
    SvenTS
    August 1, 2024 at 12:18 am | #

    Oh no, Sara’s a maudlin drunk.

  16. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    August 1, 2024 at 12:21 am | #

    Lucy’s the life of the party!

    But like, late 30s life. Being responsible, making sure things are going okay. Not Teenage rowdiness.

    • Throwatron
      Throwatron
      August 1, 2024 at 12:30 am | #

      getting into my mid 30s and, yeah, nothing is more invaluable to a party at this point than all of that stuff. it’s wild to think how your priorities shift so much.

  17. Mr. Random
    Mr. Random
    August 1, 2024 at 12:22 am | #

    I have this trick, one I’ve cultivated from spite in high school to sincerity in adulthood.
    When I was younger, if I felt someone was intentionally attempting to make me uncomfortable, I leaned into it. Somehow, when it came to spite, I gained this supreme level of confidence.
    As I got older… I started to use it for other things, wearing it like a cloak. It didn’t always work, and it’s somehow… exhausting to do, but it’s helped me do things shy 10 year old me, or spiteful 15 year old me, or even reclusive 20 year old me would ever have done.

    Lucy here, she’s right.
    Kill the part of you that cringes.
    Just… enjoy stuff. It’s a hard lesson to learn, because of how simple it is.

    • Vanessa
      Vanessa
      August 1, 2024 at 12:44 am | #

      The essence of cool

      • a/snow/mous/e
        a/snow/mous/e
        August 1, 2024 at 1:48 am | #

        lacking cringe is the essence of self-acceptance
        self-acceptance is the essence of cool

        • a/snow/mous/e
          a/snow/mous/e
          August 1, 2024 at 1:48 am | #

          (and by “cringe” i mean the verb)

  18. BBCC
    BBCC
    August 1, 2024 at 12:25 am | #

    So are they saying that Jacob was enchanted to meet Sarah? 😉

    Like…..four moths ago? XD

  19. Frelance
    Frelance
    August 1, 2024 at 12:27 am | #

    the fella with the daily music link isn’t here for this one?

  20. VolticEXE
    VolticEXE
    August 1, 2024 at 12:28 am | #

    No one’s calling you out, Sarah.

    That boot fits all on your own.

    • Vanessa
      Vanessa
      August 1, 2024 at 12:46 am | #

      I think this is what we call “feeling seen” lol. She’s so funny.

  21. Barf Ninjason
    Barf Ninjason
    August 1, 2024 at 12:30 am | #

    Blech, thanks for ever-so-sort-of calling attention to how CRINGE-INDUCING it is to say “cringe” as an adjective. All this lazy language mangling is gonna end up sounding as dated as “23-skiddoo,” but I’m sure the perpetrators won’t notice, as they’ll be off copying whatever other allegedly-hip ephemeral horseshit the other internet-drones are inflicting by then.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      August 1, 2024 at 12:52 am | #

      Put down the yarn and push pins, Grandpa.

    • a/snow/mous/e
      a/snow/mous/e
      August 1, 2024 at 1:49 am | #

      cringeworthy is a good adjective. -worthy is really an underused adjectifier

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      August 1, 2024 at 2:16 am | #

      blahblahblah – Language moves on, it grows and changes. It marks us as a product of our times. And you being completely boring about it does nothing but make you sound like a killjoy.

      ~and tbh it’s kinda cringe~

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        August 1, 2024 at 5:29 am | #

        in the end it all becomes flippity floppity floo XD

    • Wereg
      Wereg
      August 1, 2024 at 3:14 am | #

      Alrighty, Barf Ninjason. Thanks for the lesson on phases and cringe.

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      August 1, 2024 at 3:59 am | #

      Quite. There was only one era that had proper teen slang, and everything before and since has been totally bogus, dude.

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      August 1, 2024 at 4:55 am | #

      Okay Boomer. (It doesn’t matter if you are actually a boomer or not, this is peak boomer commentary.)

      • StClair
        StClair
        August 1, 2024 at 1:29 pm | #

        This is Gen-X erasure. (Everything is Gen-X erasure. We don’t actually exist.)

    • morleuca
      morleuca
      August 1, 2024 at 5:54 am | #

      Hey! I like 23 skidoo!

    • spriteless aunty
      spriteless aunty
      August 1, 2024 at 9:59 am | #

      Take a deep breath, acknowledge the cringe with radical acceptance, and move on to better thoughts, friend

      • StClair
        StClair
        August 1, 2024 at 1:30 pm | #

        Enhance your calm.

    • zee
      zee
      August 1, 2024 at 2:09 pm | #

      L + ratio + who asked + cringe
      Here’s that yappucino you ordered
      Goofy ahh

    • Regret
      Regret
      August 1, 2024 at 3:04 pm | #

      Cringe being cringe is an emotional onomatopoea and I am here for it.

    • Casi
      Casi
      August 1, 2024 at 4:06 pm | #

      This is so not fetch

  22. Ty34er
    Ty34er
    August 1, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

    Enchanted by Taylor Swift (2010)

    • Vanessa
      Vanessa
      August 1, 2024 at 12:45 am | #

      Thanks, I had no idea.

    • Mark
      Mark
      August 1, 2024 at 7:12 am | #

      I was hoping that someone would name it, so I could look up the lyrics. Nice!

      • Mark
        Mark
        August 1, 2024 at 6:23 pm | #

        But the tune I’m imagining is probably way off. Slow and bittersweet, the sort of thing the piano man sings late in the evening when the crowd is ready to slow down.

        • anonymsly
          anonymsly
          August 1, 2024 at 8:55 pm | #

          It’s a sweet and rather sad song, so you’re not far off.

  23. poofdepoof
    poofdepoof
    August 1, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

    Awww, this fills my heart

  24. Francoinblanco
    Francoinblanco
    August 1, 2024 at 12:46 am | #

    Cringe is a chain that bourgeoise put on proletariat.
    It’s funny how the term cringe was coined in the era of promoting downright aggressive individualism and egoism.

  25. AGV/Ruby
    AGV/Ruby
    August 1, 2024 at 12:51 am | #

    Sarah: And I took that personally.

  26. Coatl
    Coatl
    August 1, 2024 at 12:58 am | #

    It was just the first chords and Sal is already calm and enjoying singing with Danny, this ship is also great.

    And Lucy, well I admit, you anticipated this very well.

    • Bash
      Bash
      August 1, 2024 at 1:53 am | #

      Loving this new assertive, slightly manipulative Lucy.

      • Coatl
        Coatl
        August 1, 2024 at 2:00 am | #

        50/50
        Because she managed to calm the tension and yet I can’t stop thinking that she wants to be in control of all this and says “it’s my party.”

        • Wereg
          Wereg
          August 1, 2024 at 3:18 am | #

          I feel like that’s a real negative view of her, especially when she WAS explicitly invited to help manage the party.

          • Jeremiah
            Jeremiah
            August 1, 2024 at 3:24 am | #

            Honestly she should get to say this is her party, this was really cool and it’s not like anyone else would care.

        • spriteless aunty
          spriteless aunty
          August 1, 2024 at 10:00 am | #

          Look as long as she uses her powers for good and not evil I am fine with it.

      • Jeremiah
        Jeremiah
        August 1, 2024 at 3:23 am | #

        It is manipulative to just defuse a tense situation with something light?

        • eh, whatever
          eh, whatever
          August 1, 2024 at 4:19 am | #

          Yes. What it’s not is a bad thing.

          • Jeremiah
            Jeremiah
            August 1, 2024 at 4:23 am | #

            Generally when someone call something manipulative, it’s with a negative connotation, I think a different word would be needed is you want to say it as a positive, thought I am not sure which one.

            • Mark
              Mark
              August 1, 2024 at 7:15 am | #

              “Leadership”

            • Doopyboop
              Doopyboop
              August 1, 2024 at 7:16 am | #

              Persuasive? Diplomatic? Strategic? I think those are the easiest ‘nice words that mean something similar to manipulation’. You are absolutely true though, that manipulation is a negative word with a negative connotation. If someone tells somebody else “Wow, you’re so manipulative”, it’s not gonna make anyone feel good.

              • Jeremiah
                Jeremiah
                August 1, 2024 at 9:12 am | #

                I think diplomatic is a good one!

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            August 1, 2024 at 7:43 am | #

            No the fuck it is not. It’s not manipulative. You’re telling tales outside of school.

        • Regret
          Regret
          August 1, 2024 at 3:03 pm | #

          Manipulate, like that other word refering to fingers -> fingering, can be used in other contexts, but you’d better be ready for a deep discussion on semantics, etymology, and the importance of knowing your audience.

    • Kyrros
      Kyrros
      August 1, 2024 at 2:01 am | #

      People seem to forget, Lucy was (is?) the regular-event organizer over on her floor – so it stands to reason she is both adept at the people-pleasing and also managing those frequent casual social gatherings. Would certainly give Dotty a run for her money in that dept if she also lived over there with the regular cast.

      • Nedlum
        Nedlum
        August 1, 2024 at 10:30 am | #

        No run for her money: Dorothy at perhaps her least pleasing when she’s people-pleasing, whereas Lucy does this naturally.

      • HueSatLight
        HueSatLight
        August 1, 2024 at 7:24 pm | #

        Lucy is sooo much better at ad hoc party events than Dorothy.

  27. AbacusWizard
    AbacusWizard
    August 1, 2024 at 1:10 am | #

    YES

    THE POWER OF MUSIC KNOWS NO LIMITS

  28. staszu13
    staszu13
    August 1, 2024 at 2:18 am | #

    Ok Lucy, you’ve done it. You’re my favorite now.

    Asher now on phone: Yes, Grandpa, I’m sure. Call off the green light. We’re cool now.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      August 1, 2024 at 2:26 am | #

      The fuck do you mean, “call off the green light”? He’s gonna cause a traffic jam. Somebody’s gonna get in a wreck. You can’t just take the green light away, don’t be so fucking irresponsible.

      • TerribleTransit
        TerribleTransit
        August 1, 2024 at 8:50 pm | #

        Calling off a green light is fine. The traffic signal is clearly not working, there’s procedures in place for that. Now, removing the *red* light is a problem.

  29. Jeremiah
    Jeremiah
    August 1, 2024 at 3:13 am | #

    It worked! All Hail Lucy, party host extraordinaire!

  30. TheCozburger
    TheCozburger
    August 1, 2024 at 3:51 am | #

    Oh great, now you’ve got me listening to Taylor Swift…

    YOU’RE THE DEVIL, WILLIS!!

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      August 1, 2024 at 5:22 am | #

      He is indeed The Evil One who will lead you astray

      >:D

  31. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    August 1, 2024 at 4:17 am | #

    Ethan and Booster clearly find ukulele irresistible

    • darkoneko
      darkoneko
      August 1, 2024 at 4:19 am | #

      JAcob, too

  32. Da Boy
    Da Boy
    August 1, 2024 at 5:21 am | #

    It’s an outright Disney Moment XD

    • anonymsly
      anonymsly
      August 1, 2024 at 8:00 am | #

      It’s a lovely song choice for then, too.

  33. thumb
    thumb
    August 1, 2024 at 6:34 am | #

    Sal makes the ukelele cool just by taking part. Her powers for good… or evil?

  34. Alan in DC
    Alan in DC
    August 1, 2024 at 7:00 am | #

    Danny, if you’re getting serious about the uke, get a decent instrument. That blue hunka plywood youre lugging around reminds me of a Mattel toy guitar with a music box crank sticking out of the side, that I had as a kid a zillion years ago.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      August 1, 2024 at 7:44 am | #

      Decent instruments cost decent money.

      • HueSatLight
        HueSatLight
        August 1, 2024 at 2:18 pm | #

        I blame Danny’s parents. They should have bought Danny a better instrument and a $300,000 stake in a record company.

    • spriteless aunty
      spriteless aunty
      August 1, 2024 at 10:03 am | #

      Depending on how long this comic goes, it will become a 3d printed instrument like they are giving to kids nowadays

      • Bruno
        Bruno
        August 1, 2024 at 4:49 pm | #

        Decent ìnstruments are not made of plastic.

        • clif
          clif
          August 2, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

          Bruno says Danny’s instruments are indecent. Pass it on.

  35. CosmicEgg
    CosmicEgg
    August 1, 2024 at 8:33 am | #

    So drunk Lucy speaks in inspirational Facebook posts?

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      August 1, 2024 at 9:10 am | #

      It’s good advice!

    • zee
      zee
      August 1, 2024 at 2:13 pm | #

      No no no, that’s a Tumblr quote

    • anonymsly
      anonymsly
      August 1, 2024 at 8:53 pm | #

      She’s not drunk, no boozles.

  36. bcb
    bcb
    August 1, 2024 at 11:55 am | #

    “Lover when I sing my song,
    All the Sarahs gonna sing along
    And they’re gonna tear their walls all down
    And lay their words upon the ground”

  37. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    August 1, 2024 at 12:37 pm | #

    Jacob seems impressed. I wonder how many times Lucy has listened to Danny and Sal playing their concerts in the park. Asking Danny to play was a great idea, he’s the only one who can calm Sal down, how sweet!

  38. raultsi
    raultsi
    August 1, 2024 at 1:49 pm | #

    I’m really impressed with Lucy now. She’s showing levels of awareness that I had no idea was in her.

  39. BohNo
    BohNo
    August 1, 2024 at 2:22 pm | #

    ok…

  40. HueSatLight
    HueSatLight
    August 1, 2024 at 2:31 pm | #

    Same strip, but tabs and lyrics for Mad World.

  41. ninja_jesus
    ninja_jesus
    August 1, 2024 at 5:42 pm | #

    Good choice Danny, though I’d love to hear you try play Dancing With Our Hands tied on that thing. 😂

  42. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    August 1, 2024 at 7:14 pm | #

    Holy shit Lucy is magic. She’s got that defusal kit ON HAND

  43. Felian
    Felian
    August 1, 2024 at 7:59 pm | #

    That’s actually a very good saying, Lucy, i approve.

  44. Shay Guy
    Shay Guy
    August 4, 2024 at 11:36 pm | #

    I-iii-IV-I-V? Is that a common progression?

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