A strip titled “Curtains”? Yeah, well it’s CURTAINS for the Dumbing of Age Book 13 Kickstarter! Today is this kickstarter’s final day, and it comes to a sudden halt this very night at 11:45pm Eastern! how’s that for a segue
As of this writing, we’re just under $2000 from unlocking the bonus thirteenth JENNIFER MAGNET tier! Pretty sure we’re gonna do it! I haven’t yet had a final Kickstarter day that hasn’t cleared at least that much! So, like, if you want thirteen character magnets, I’d grab that COMPLETE MAGNET POWER tier. Thirteen! It’s one more than twelve!
But also, the book itself. So, for the final time: My Peer Group’s Smoochy Chart Is Basically Now An Ouroboros will collect the thirteenth year of Dumbing of Age, spanning the four storylines that start on August 22, 2022, and complete on August 15, 2023. This includes strip commentary, behind-the-scenes artwork, and new character designs into a 218-page tome with luxurious glossy paper all bound up into a sturdy, full-color presentation. It’s fancy! There’s 24 Patreon bonus strips collected! There’s rejected strips! There’s… laundry!
Pledge today! Because there won’t be a tomorrow!
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AAYOOOOAOAOAOAOAOAOOOOO!!!
Aw, man. I saw that link, and thought it was going to be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9akIlAEhOx4
Now I am disappointed.
An ad for Grammerly? I just don’t get this generation’s sense of humor.
was the lyricist doing IRL Povid meme? XD
I have no idea what a Povid is or how one would meme it, so I have no idea.
I thought it was gonna link me to the pillarmen theme
fuuuuuck that would have been PERFECT T_T
I thought curtains were to keep out the Cursed Day Star
Ah yes, the same star that slowly kills you while providing energy to all life on your planet.
Why can’t the sun be more reasonable and rise at like 11:30AM?
Just a heads up, if you were going to make it your Genie wish, you’re just going to end up somewhere in the northern Alaska around December-January.
And just exist in that period, disappearing and reappearing just for that small period of time. Also, you could go to Antarctica.
It does, just much further west.
From the sun’s point of view, he’s just sitting in place, just minding his business. It’s just up to the Earth to rotate more slowly on its own axis.
Or you could live in an airship that’d be constantly flying westward, crossing timezones as it goes.
Try working third shift; it will feel like the sun comes up at 11:30 AM!
Ooh, the vampire shift. I remember it too well.
Although, a workplace full of goth girls and a *much* less stringent dress code… this, I did not hate.
In my line of work it technically does. XD
Wrong again! Curtains are to keep out the ceiling lights of the neighbors across who don’t have curtains. Also, to keep more light from your own lamps inside.
Sal! Happy to see you just very bad timing
She should have snuck in and pounced on Joyce with a WAKEY WAKEY!
And now to pull a Jamie Lannister to keep the shameful secret.
No offense intended to the kid, but Sal probably lands a lot better than he did
And Sal could probably kick both their asses afterwards.
Well, she isn’t nearly so high up.
The kid got pushed out of the ground-floor window.
He most assuredly did not. He had to climb a good ways to get up there.
Martin goes into unnecessarily exhaustive detail about how far and how much he enjoys doing this kind of thing.
IDK who Martin is, but I saw the episode of Tits & Dragons in question, and they were all outside on solid ground already. They pretty much just tripped the kid and he fell over.
LOL
Bran got pushed out of the tallest tower in winterfell, so he did fall from slightly above ground level
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P0rf3_viTxk
wait so she thought danny might be sleeping with joe?
Plausible, honestly. Maybe he told her about the dragon.
Oh I agree it’s plausible, it’s just she’s being cooler about it than I might’ve expected. Which, also, would be fine, just a little surprising.
Probably wouldn’t be the first time.
Oh ho! Good one. Somehow I doubt Danny would have actually made out with his roommate, though.
The strip after that is one that concerns me. May it not be so!
I like the idea that she thought “Wow, he’s taking that no-casual-touch theory a bit far, wasn’t expecting that!”… though I am not sure that Sal has heard Danny’s theory on that yet?
The first thing that got to my mind, honestly
This is also why we invented DOORS Sal!
doors were invented to be something Sal can be too cool to use
A window is just a door for light
Precisely, but Sal is so used to surprising everyone through the window, and today is no exception.
Today everyone is extra surprised, including her.
Doors *and* knocking on them.
Or, like, phone calls.
I WANT MAH SHIRT
^
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=osm5RMf2cpM
I don’t remember which floor Joe and Danny’s room is on exactly but whichever it is this definitely qualifies as victim blaming.
this is why we invented DOORS sal. or texting! god forbid joyce was still shitting with the door open.
well i think joyce has seen sal topless before? (like ‘garden of eden style’) so i geuss they can call it even
I imagine she could’ve just texted but i guess sal likes to be spontaneous and visit. tho idk if danny considered to call sal as a warning/assumed joyce would’ve stayed
The blame for this awkward situation is clearly on those who should have put up curtains, not on that blasted wall-crawling menace. Parker I still need pictures!
😀
Oh, good, she can take her shirt back now, since she’s here
…forcing Joyce to walk back to her room in one of Joe’s shirts, I guess?
The narrative implications abound!
Oh, damn, that’s way better than my crackpot theory below (that Joe goes to Joyce’s room to ask Sarah for a shirt). Seeing Joyce show up with a way-too-big-on-her shirt would deeefinitely set every single one of Sarah’s alarms off.
More alarms than having Joe show up unannounced to borrow one of Joyce’s shirts?
He’d never return from that mission, and nobody but Sarah would know where he wound up.
It’s not like Joyce is using it right now.
I mean…I feel like the 3rd story foregoes the necessity for curtains. You’re the weirdo here.
Depends on the campus layout. My freshman dorm was across from an upperclass dorm. Rumors abounded about who was careless with their curtains.
You still need it to block out the aforementioned hideous burning light of the daystar.
[Raspy Tara Strong Voice] The Day Star approaches! You know what it brings.
I get it! I get the reference! Not one that gets used much these days sadly.
I’m on the 5th story of my building. It’s absolutely does not. For privacy reasons and “sun shines right on my pillow at 9 am” reasons
To be fair, Joyce has many Wonderbread-like traits. I can see the confusion.
Traits such as…?
Hehehehehehehehehe how much do you know about deforestation?
[glares silently]
…I honestly feel like I should report this comment on principle.
They both took Dorothy on a date.
Complexion and hair color? That’s two right there!
…such as being as stereotypically Indiana White Person as can possibly be?
there was legitimately a brief moment where i forgot that wonderbread wasn’t usually what she called joyce lmfao
What is Sal doing with her phone?
I had that reaction too but she’s just pointing, the ‘phone’ is her fist.
I thought that was her phone at first, too. However, on closer inspection, it appears to just be her left hand, with the index curled to point towards the left side of the panel.
I was assuming “calling Danny” – taking a candid photo wouldn’t exactly be Sal’s style.
“Owning hands” could also work but my head’s trying to insist the palm should be on the other side as you really shouldn’t cross your arms over while gesticulating and talking through an upper-floor, closed window…
They’re so cute. 😭
Clearly, she is Wonderbra.
Naw, right now she’s Wonderbra-less.
Oooh, no, take it one step further: Wonderbra’d.
…nestled all comfy-like with Wonderbro.
Is Danny being cuddled by Joe a normal occurrence to Sal?
joe has the sweetest little smile in the first panel… awww
Called it two days ago *smugface*
Joyce gets nekkid with Joe before Sal flips Danny’s hat. Hijinx ensue.
I’m on to you, Willis.
Um, actually you called five days ago, May 2nd * obnoxious and pedantic smug-face*
Seriously, though, good call out. Your powers of prediction are impressive.
With the time dilation in this strip, two days ago might have been 2020.
*snerk*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8C_6aPwTWs
Hahahaha that expression from Joyce is worth gold.
By the way Sal, I know you’re used to entering by surprise, but the door was created for something in particular.
So what you’re saying is she should have entered through the window of the person Joe and Danny share a half bath with and surprised Joe and Joyce by coming through the door of that?
No wonderbread, only toasty buns.
And yet Wonderbread walking in on her pooping garnered little reaction.
Yeah I’m really not seeing the pattern lately on what scandalizes Joyce.
Prolly more that pooping is not really sexual at all. Also she wasn’t topless so while snuggling a mostly naked brick wall of a man
That’s not brick. That’s solid 100% grade A prime American beefcake.
Joyce thinks little of Danny in general.
Still waiting on “Hey, Joe, who was that that walked into your bathroom while I was pooping?”
The webcomic started on a poop joke, so I think it’s safe to say Joyce has fewer insecurities about the bathroom than she does about sexuality. I think she also idolizes Sal, and also she maybe knows that Sal has little esteem for Joe.
Also, dumbiverse joyce “does not give one tiny poop about Danny” which Willis has said is endlessly entertaining to him. So it could be an extension of that joke.
Joyce doesn’t have hangups about pooping (surprisingly).
I’m sure she does, she’s Joyce. They just don’t appear to be about someone seeing her while she does it.
I imagine it’s as much “sudden awakening surprise” as it is Joyce’s (not inconsiderable) sexual hangups.
What kind of a show are you perverts trying to put on here? What if a child was standing in your 3rd story window, did you think about that?
I like that Sal apparently assumed Joe and Danny were sleeping together and didn’t find it odd
“Sarah sometimes calls me white bread, is that close enough?”
Which one? 😮
Joyce. At this point Joe must be used to seeing Sal climbing his window like Spiderman.
That’s gonna be a 3-point penalty for forgetting the hyphen.
It’s not a direct penalty, but Parker does get a free throw for the foul.
…which he totally bricks. >:( there went my ten bucks… never, EVER bet on the Pacers
I love that second panel.
Her smirk as she’s thinking “Heh, Danny and Joe are cuddling, adorable” before JoJo reacts and she sees it’s definitely not Danny.
and multiple floors and doors.
Actually, this isn’t why they invented curtains. Curtains appear to have been originally invented to serve as room dividers.
This right here is why they invented Venetian blinds.
I thought that was more to block out the glare and heat of the sun
Well, curtains are almost prehistoric, dating back to a time when sunlight was the main source of light. (I’d guess that they ARE prehistoric and there were probably nomads hanging animal skins across the centerlines of their tents for the same reason.) Blocking out the hated daystar wasn’t a necessity they could afford to meet.
… as for Venetian blinds, I’d heard a story that they were invented by a woman in Venice who was sick of a peeping Tom watching her change. But a bit of internet research just now suggests that this was false. Oops.
Yeah, it was actually a peeping Federico.
Wow, Sal is dumb. She saw a topless woman and thought it was Danny? I sure hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
She didn’t see a topless woman. Joyce’s breasts are completely under the blanket in the first panel. She saw some shoulders.
She also saw JOE cuddling with those shoulders, so…
Joyce is topless, she saw Joyce, therefore she saw a topless woman.
Taffy is technically correct. The best kind of correct!
Sal doesn’t have to recognize the person as a topless woman for them to be both topless and a woman. Pedantry!
Joyce isn’t topless. She’s wearing a blanket as a top.
And possibly a pair of hands (not hers).
Doubt Joyce owns any strapless tops or bras so
And we know from a few days ago, it’s on the floor. With Sal’s shirt.
I don’t think she saw Joyce and assumed it was Danny — I think she just looked in the window hoping to wake Danny up and her eyes immediately went to the top bunk because the bottom one was empty.
That’s not as funny.
There are no bottom bunks (unless you’re talking in like a uke/seme fashion, in which case, yeah, I guess Danny’s would be the bottom bunk). The beds are over the desks.
I’m not entirely clear on the layout of the room, but I think Danny’s bed is closer to the door than Joe’s.
No one’s mentioned the possibility that Sal expected Joyce and Dottie to be sleeping together this morning. Not to say that she would expect them in Joe and Danny’s room.
Why would she have expected that? She knows that Joyce and Joe have started dating.
Yeah, but it wouldn’t be the first time Jugs and Dottothy slept together after a night of wretched debauchery. And Dorothy’s room is closer.
Yeah, but I think last time Walky was in bed with them, too.
You say that like you wouldn’t have just pushed past the curtains.
god, fuck directly off, sal
She’s not misbehaving at all. It’s fine.
Just climbed several stories and told the people being naked up there to cover up, completely checks out
Nope, she didn’t say that to them at all, even by implication. They were visibly already covered, and she’s not blind or stupid. The climbing is also fine and isn’t a problem in any way.
She told them to cover up their window.
Well, more like implied that they should have, but still.
Depends if she goes off at Joe because she thinks he’s somehow seduced her into bed then yes definitely
If she doesn’t then hopefully she’ll learn a lesson about proper entering and exiting so it’s all good
It’s a reaction, nothing more. No different than if she found Danny wanking.
Its a cringe, not a judgment. 🙂
No ❤️
Keep doing your thing sal. Do it more in fact. Dedicate more pages in the year to sal doing her thing
I was skimming old strips, seeing what I could infer from Joe’s room being definitely on the sunrise side of the hall. I still haven’t found what I’m looking for, but I noticed something on Joe’s Do List (June 2016 bonus, book 6). There’s three entries visible, Jennifer, Joyce, and Guns. This is speculation, but Jennifer and then Joyce is what we might see if that portion of the list were women from his floor sorted by first name. If so, then Gun’s name falls between “Joyce” and “Mandy”.
Gonna guess “Laddison”.
Its a shame we’ll never get to see Laddison in the strip, since she fell into Mel’s Hole.
Now I’m wondering if Guns is like, a gym rat girl
Quick, someone, give this Rabbit a link to Walkyverse Guns. I’d do it, but I’m about to go incoherent for the night.
Not sure what’s a good strip to link to, but here’s the wiki link:
https://walkypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Guns
So… looks like Rabbit’s right, at least as far as Dumbiverse Guns is concerned.
anyways, looking strips with an far establishing shot of Read Hall, like this. With speech bubbles or noises coming from the building, ideally the woman’s hall. I thought there was one with Dorothy speaking or someone speaking to Dorothy, but I’m not confident.
Just going to say that the art of Sal in the second picture is beautiful.
This is a really well executed strip artways overall.
You get what you pay for, Sal.
To be fair sal you’re the only person who would enter the room that way…
Except amazi-girl…. hmmmm
Jennifer called it first.
Over-under on Sal taking her shirt and jacket back before Joyce is able to explain that she doesn’t have anything else to wear, forcing Joe to go back to Joyce’s room and ask Sarah for a change of clothes?
How about Joyce wearing one of Danny’s shirts? They seem to be about the same size
why would size even matter? she can wear Joe’s shirt since she’s just going back to her room to get dressed
i assume she wouldn’t need it back/joyce took it from a pile she didn’t wear as often unless sal’s somehow running low on shirts/haven’t done laundry in a whiel
They look so happy in the first panel I’m crying
Right?
Did Sal assume that Joe and Danny were snuggling in bed together XD ?
I know it will sound like advertising but. If people like the kind of relationship Danny and Sal have then Shikimori is not just a cutie manga would be perfect for them.
“The story follows the day-to-day life of two high schools students-” Hard pass, sorry. This cast is already pushing it age-wise, I ain’t got time left to read about actual children.
Even this one got grandfathered in ’cause I’ve been reading it since I was barely older than the characters. I wouldn’t start reading a comic about kids this age now.
That’s interesting to me. A lot of fiction ins bildungsromans (coming of age), and YA novels are good to read at any age.
I’m pretty old and don’t really care what age protagonists are so long as it’s done well. It’s easy to lose touch with empathy and forget how you yourself were when younger as you get older, I’ve found, so things like this can be both a reminder and a window into what people are worried abotu today that I might not even think about.
Rambling point being to ask you why it is you don’t like reading about younger people – is it because you thinkk most are written by younger people, badly, or something else?
Ah nothing encourages sharing what you love like people crapping on your choice in media.
Nobody’s crapping on it, I just said I didn’t wanna read it. For what it’s worth (nothing), I like Sal and Danny, just not enough to actively seek out their dynamic in something new.
There’s a certain amount of romance/sex in YA fiction that makes things uncomfortable for me, a middle-aged white cis male, to read about happening to a adolescent female. Reading it feels voyeuristic and predatory. And sometimes I don’t know the spiciness level until I get far into the book. So having an underage protagonist is a warning flag.
Itʻs because the entire western world already thinks Iʻm a pedophile no matter what because Iʻm trans.
Love shikimori, only seen the anime tho. It’s technically kind of the inverse. Sal Walkerton’s not just a cool girl
“Counterpoint: The window was not designed to be ingress/egress!”
Not to take the gag too seriously but I’d say it’s understandable to assume you wouldn’t need curtains when you’re this high up and in bed
Hot and Adorable all at once
Sal is going to think they had sex (perfectly natural assumption) and get a little weird because she and Danny haven’t yet prediction? (Did they have a talk about that? I just remember her yelling about it to Danny and then retreating but my memory might be shot).
Yeah, Sal, this is all on you. You don’t knock or express any respect for their privacy.
She is knocking, but she is able to see directly through the window because they (understandably) left the curtains open.
“Hey, Wonderbread, why’re you an’ Joe in bed together? Not that Ah mind.”
Considering that Joe and Joyce were laying in bed mostly naked, and the reaction Joyce gave upon hearing Sal at the window, would it be a safe bet to say Sal will most likely assume they did the do? Also, do you think Sal will be mad at Joyce for stealing her top? I know she said Joyce could wear her clothes, but I don’t know if Sal would have imagined she’d actually do it.
That’s where things seem to be going. Joe’s just lucky it’s Sal who caught them.
Joyce has blanket permission to dip into Sal’s wardrobe.
I know Joyce had permission to do so, but do you think Sal actually expected her to do so? Given her reaction to Joyce’s social media post the night before, I don’t think she did.
I’d say expectations are irrelevant once permission has been given openly and never taken back.
If anything, I think Sal might be mildly impressed she did, but then follow up with an “ask first next time”.
My prediction:
“Hey, that’s MY shirt, ain’t it? Mebbe don’t steal other people’s shirts, Joyce?”
“Ah! B-but…you said I could! You said I could borrow your clothes if I want to try out new things and I wanted to try a new thing so I borrowed your shirt and-”
“Huh. I said that?”
“Yes it was last semester uh four months and fifteen days ago and I came into your room and said some dumb stuff about your scars and you got mad and made me realize I was objectifying you and so I promised to stop and then you borrow your clothes every once in a while if I wanted to try new things and I said you could borrow my sweatervest but-”
“Christ, Joyce, it’s fine, I believe ya. I just forgot, is all. Breathe.“
…this is why we invented doors, Sally.
This is also why we invented the second floor.
Time for your periodic Joyce Face
Sal: wait… isn’t that my top? What’s that doing there? I just washed it Saturday afternoon…
Called it.
THIS IS WHY WE INVENTED DOORS, SAL.
Joyce looks so comfy in that first panel. :3
I don’t think venting curtains would help much here, Sal 😛
This suggests Sal would not enter a window with courtains, which isn’t that out of character, but still surprises me a bit.
Well, here she knocks and calls out before entering. If she did the same, but with curtains, they could have called back to her before she saw anything.
Check the half-bath, are there windows there?
…Friendly… Neighborhood… Amazi-Sal?
I got this mental image of Amazi-Girl and Sal both climbing the windows and they happen to get in each other’s way and somehow the Jack and Scotsman on the bridge gag ensues.
How can we ensure that Willis makes this??
Spi-derSal, as noted below
–Dave, Walky keeps getting mistaken for her mild-mannered secret identity
frankly amazed security haven’t gone after sal yet for this kind of thing
maybe they can’t catch her?
What are they gonna do, wag their fingers at her?
Good thing Joyce had taken Sal’s shirt off. I don’t think she would have been happy to see her wearing it while she’s in bed with Joe.
But not doors. No one has invented doors yet.
Honestly surprised she didn’t expect something along these lines with Joe having a bed here and all, and only being with Joyce relatively recently.
3rd panel is priceless. Also, Sal’s outfit is stunning.
lol i wonder how many random unrelated dorm users have noticed sal climbing up/past their windows lol
Spider Sal is Amazi-Girl’s replacement. But, you know, different author, artist, and production team.
Let’s trust Sal will believe in Joyce’s innocence.👼🏽
Danny, warm, wet, and wrinkled
on the world wide web
I forgot that my “FIRST” joke was going to be something about “INDECENT! YOU CAN SEE THEM NAKED IN THERE”
Person standing on the street: “What, I can’t see anything”
Sal, having climbed to the window: “SEE”
What’s with September 10th?
Does Danny normally spend time cuddling with Joe in the morning?
*crawls up to your window and peers in* oh ! gross !! get a room !!