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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 5h
NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! NEANDERTHAL FINGERPRINT! 🤯
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
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️𝓝𝓪𝓷𝓲 
*plays “Abracadabra” by Steve Miller’s Band on hacked muzak*
I’m going to go way out on a limb and predict that this will not end well.
There will be poetry.
Was I Am the Sea off of Quadrophenia a little too on the nose?
excellent reference, one of my favorite albums. did a killer paper on it for my frosh english class. got to listen to the album on the school library’s awesome turntables for hours on end while I wrote.
It’s one of the best “sit down and listen to it all the way through” albums. ]
Nobody does rock operas anymore.
Follows up with chiptune version of “Freak Like Me”
Wait a sec: I’ve listened this somewhere: the nem Eminem’s song, Houdini
“just thought you should know… so, uh… bye” *runs away*
She means this literally, of course. She wants turn into a churning fluid through which she can repeatedly bodyslam Jacob
Man, that’d be a hell of a Slipshine.
I-
…
Is that not how everyone feels?
I have never felt any urge to bodyslam Jacob, so apparently not.
The allosexuals are not okay.
Yay new word! While this isn’t quite what it means, I’m now picturing people greeting each other, ” ‘allo,” and then they jizz in their pants.
…no…?
amazingly, not the kinkiest thing Zeus ever did.
Wanting to express love via body slams is very on brand for Sarah so I’d believe that interpretation.
Lord.
Rocky cliffside and forthy surf are my favorite pornstars
Frothy Surf’s portfolio really kinda dipped in quality around 2016-2018, when she was going through that really cheap-looking cosplay phase, and I was a little confused by the tree stuff around 2022, but her latest batches of stuff have been pretty universally good.
I figured the tree stuff was just her branching out.
I agree with Lurch:
https://youtu.be/xCc-RWIp7XU?si=WIn4v3Rb7IGu67za
Shouldn’t that be Larch?
The larch.
I recognized that from quite a long way away.
Well, um. That’s one way to put it. Good job?
Smash cut to her waking up. (well without the last page’s comic i’d think it’d be 50/50 on her dreaming) tho i imagine it’s more of a waking nightmare if he’s not reciprocating
There’s honesty and there’s honesty and you really don’t want to be honest when you should just be honest.
And honestly, that’s pretty well put.
Maybe Jacob’s not ready for open and honest Sarah. That Sarah is pretty unhinged.
and seems to only want him for his body (or maybe seaside property???).
Hard to say honestly. By Sarah’s own design they’ve rarely had deeper conversations. I do feel she wouldn’t still be trying so hard if it was purely sexual attraction. She gave up on him before because of that exact reason.
I’ve said this elsewhere, but look at her face in panel 3. Panel 4 is a sincere feeling that she does have! But panel 3 is a different, sincere, intense feeling she also has about Jacob…but of the two, she’s only capable of the level of vulnerability required, to communicate the second feeling, and not the first.
Well, “I find you extremely sexually attractive” doesn’t exclude the possibility of something else.
This is how I’ve always interpreted it: From the get go Sarah wanted to jump his bones, but when Jacob offhandedly mentioned that he wasn’t interested in sexual relationships she repressed and shoved everything inward. At this point, I don’t think she even knows if she has romantic feelings for him because she’s been avoiding/ignoring it for so long. Granted, it may also be a case of Sarah being stubborn. She wanted Jacob physically and wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship, and has ignored any growing feelings out of sheer stubbornness. This seems like a long time for Sarah to carry a torch if there’s no romantic feelings behind it, but then again it’s probably only a few months in comic time so who knows.
I think she does have more romantic feelings, but those are far more repressed. She’s scared of romance the way Joyce was scared of sex.
I agree. (Romance, and vulnerability.)
i guess jacob was expecting maybe to be out on a date but i imagine it’s not exactly pleasant to be hit on in a more sexual way when he’s specifically told her that he didn’t want to be objectified/seen more than just a piece of meat to ppl
Sarah should’ve gotten some of the extra horniness outta her system first tho and then had a convo https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/fakey/
I think she meant “repeatedly, in between growing and changing together as people in a long-term relationship, like the sea and a cliff change together over decades and longer”…? Maybe? Rather than a one-off climactic smash…
But her parents-divorce-trauma seems to include a side of “relationships are transient. You can’t expect anything to last” so maybe not, or maybe not consciously, or maybe she’d like that but doesn’t think it’s realistic…
And he’s looking for The One.
Dumbing of Age Book 14: Lay It On Me
Personally, I’m voting for panel 4 (the entire text) to be a DoA book title. Sure, it’s kind of long, but Willis can just make an outsized book.
Please let this happen. Please give Sarah one good thing.
Hahaha, those expressions from Sarah
Oh hey, it’s the kind of encounter he explicitly said he’d prefer to avoid, like a decade ago. Like, he wants to be wanted for more than his body and Sarah was all “Damn, now I feel bad for only wanting your body.” and now she’s all “Damn, get your body in my body”, so that’s probably gonna be a little weird for him. It’s like the author remembered previously-established character traits or something.
To be fair, it doesn’t have to be a downside as long as that’s not the only reason she’s interested in him. He only doesn’t want to be seen JUST as a sexual being, not that he’s celibate altogether.
I’m pretty sure that if Jacob fucks, the comic has to end.
It probably should be a downside given that one of Jacob’s big early character moments was him talking about how he struggled with being seen as a sex object. Like, I hope he takes this well because it would be good for both characters if he did, but I’m really not expecting him to take this well and this was kinda fucked up of Sarah to say.
Honest, though!
All things considered, Jacob is clearly interested in Sarah on some level, ’cause he’s still putting up with all of this.
Maybe he likes unsolved mysteries.
I’m trying my hardest to not read Sarah’s actions in the worst light possible, but good god do I not understand why Jacob’s putting up with her antics. I’m glad he is, but I don’t get it.
He’s gotten to know her pretty well, has fond feelings towards Joyce (minus one big incident), and knows that they’re deeply close and trust one another. He knows that Sarah struggles with vulnerability and some of that comes from Raidah.
Ergo — Sarah has to have some part of her that’s better for him, he knows she’s into him, and he’s just patiently trying to encourage her to be upfront about it. Hence why he put his foot down with her in the gym. If she’s willing to put in the effort, he’s willing to as well. She just has to make the first scary step.
This is basically close enough, graded on a Sarah Curve(tm)
I agree. Also this is how a ton of horror stories start – with frothy surf beating against a rocky cliffside, not the college students coming on to each other. Though I guess a lot of horror tales start that way, too.
I assume the counselors in the original Friday the 13th were college students.
Though in my anecdotal experience, it’s actually High School kids, specifically seniors, that start horror movies off the most (Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, I know what you did last summer).
Hell, old school Scooby-Doo cartoons sometimes had both, though most people outside the cartoon wouldn’t call it a horror, though it probably feels like one to the characters.
Yeah, but even if this relationship has nowhere to go, it’s cathartic to *finally* see Sarah get this off her chest. Now if Jacob rejects her, she can actually process it and ultimately find a new rocky cliffside upon which to manifest as a frothy surf.
I’m sure somewhere deep down Sarah would have to care a bit about jacob, otherwise she’d prolly just pick a joe-adjacent ‘fuckboy’ that wouldn’t be a bother to her after a hookup to ‘get it out of her system’ so to speak
Yeah, she clearly feels a focused, burning passion for him. The fact that her feelings are erotic doesn’t mean she’s just generically horny.
… Although, I recall she did remark to Joyce that she just wanted to “use him for his body once or twice”. I think that was just what the politicians call “locker room talk”.
Guessing it will continue to feel great for Sarah to have said that for a good five, maybe ten more seconds before her mortification levels exceed 500% of maximum
Sarah just got +10 respect from me
I don’t know how Jacob is going to react to that. He strikes me as someone looking for more than just, lustful attraction from a potential partner.
Probably could have led with something a little less “honest”.
Well, if he likes poetry…
I am the rocks of the eternal shore. Crash against me and be broken.
I’m so glad I was not.the only.one who thought of this.
Welp, Sarah’s snapped.
Nah, her snapped face hits different.
I’m pretty sure this is flustered mixed with horny. XD
That’s pretty candorous. Candorful. I don’t think she’s going to get what she’s hoping for, we already know he doesn’t like other people seeing him as just a sex object. I like to read him as not even looking for romance right now, just friends.
Let’s see how he rejects her. I kind of want him to not take her candor as well as he said he would. I mean it would suck for both of them, but Jacob’s a little too boring. More “Jacob does not understand”, less “oh he’s so patient”, please.
I’ve got a ship for Sarah though, but not during gay pride month. Going to wait until straight indifference month, Heteronorvember.
Why have I never heard the word candorous before?
Pretty sure that’s a Star Wars character, not a word.
Candorous Ordo. I think he’s in Knights of the Old Republic.
Yes. Canderous Ordo (Later known as Mandalor the Preserver) is a character from the 2 KotOR games.
However given their spelling my guess is that they were attempting to find the proper tense of the word “Candor” for their statements.
Candor being defined as follows: “the quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness.”
That’s what I read: the next level above “candid”. It’s a word I want to remember.
To be canderful, so do I.
He was urging her to be honest about her emotions, not her level of horniness. If she had said “I like you and I would like to explore a relationship,” I think that would have been welcome.
Horniness is an emotion.
Sarah’s not making grump faces I DON’T TRUST LIKE THAT
I believe it’s been established that Joyce will begin getting grumpy for no particular reason….
Sarah, holy shit. That third panel was so cute it could only end in a trainwreck.
I feel like Jake’s going to be disappointed. He’s said repeatedly (recently too, back at the gym when Dorothy was there and all) he doesn’t wanna be reduced to a sexual object. A reductiveness that isn’t the same as being sexual, mind you! Just, he’d thought he was giving Sarah a chance to open up her heart.
Yeah… plus this is way creepier than anything Joe has ever said.
I’m hoping this ends with Jacob pointing out that this is the exact behavior she hates from Joe.
Preach.
oh man that would be one of the absolute best strips of the year. it would be a “joyce reaction face” level sarah panel. we’d have to start a new category just for sarah.
Jacob: I was hoping for an open heart, but since it’s you, I’ll settle for open legs. Come in. Ethan, get your emo ass out.
Incoming “I’m flattered, but I’m waiting until marriage for sex.”
I’m wondering if Jacob might be asexual. Not that there is any conclusive proof, it just seems like a possibility.
I doubt it. Jacob was apparently a sex-addict in the last comic and so far Willis hasn’t strayed far from the original sexualities of his characters. Going full-reverse seems unlikely, but anything is possible I guess!
Yes, but that particular piece of backstory doesn’t make as much sense when they’re all in college. So maybe something else will happen.
Sleeps with Sarah, unleashes the urge to
suck a thousand cockssleep with every female who can and will consent to do so..?Being easily addicted to sex isn’t the same as sleeping with every available female. As long as Sarah is ready to repeatedly beat her frothy surf against his rocky cliffside it could work well.
Yep, maybe. That’s why I said “possible” but “unlikely” imo.
Well Carla was a literal car so clearly some liberties will be taken
Point to me where I said no liberties would be taken? I said a full-reverse seemed unlikely but anything is possible.
Rude of Maggie, IMO, to assume you stole your “what is grief, if not live, persevering” moment from someone else.
Jacob, just shut the door and maybe she’ll knock again and talk like she isn’t a bad YA novel character.
It is one thing to confess such feelings to someone, even if they are horny AF.
It is vastly another to actually do it.
Hopefully this convo will be with minimum fallout from both parties.
Part of me fell pretty bad that Sarah is probably going to get rejected. The other part is laughing too hard at panel 4 to care.
Jacob, over the course of the entire next strip.
Hey, this is good. Jacob might even go for it. Probably not. We know how he feels about purely physical attractions and yada yada. But at least she told the truth.
Laying it on thick, are we, Clinton?
Book 14: I Want My Body To Be the Frothy Surf Which Beats Against Your Backside
We have a winner.
Also the name for the next big emo band.
…
are… are emo bands still a thing…?
Why, though? It’s not just sexual frustration, surely. The easiest way to solve that is by masturbating, which we know she does. She has a vibrator, she showed it to Joyce, back in the day. So she’s fixing to get something more from the interaction that a vibrator wouldn’t give her. Once she figures out what that is, she’ll be closer to knowing her own feelings.
Anyway, that’s my analysis of the situation. Frothy surf is a damn good metaphor, too.
I think most people would consider sex to be more pleasurable than masturbation. Otherwise why have casual sex with someone you’re never going to see again?
A question that I wondered myself for many years before eventually realizing I either don’t enjoy sex as much as other people, enjoy masturbation way more than other people, enjoy reading significantly more than other people, or some combination of the three.
Assuming (!!!) her attraction to him is really purely sexual and not at all romantic, the obvious answer is his body shape. She can’t look at him while she’s locked alone in her room and using Other Jacob.
Money’s that he’s got social media and pictures. I think Joyce getting a boyfriend has made her introspect a lot off-screen and this is her painfully clumsy attempt at growing.
I’m honestly confused by Jacob continuing to be so accommodating to Sarah. I genuinely can’t remember them having any pleasant enough encounters that he’d give her this many chances to not blow it. However, I’m open to being refreshed if anyone actually felt like bothering.
Anyway, here she is treating him like a sexual object even though he’s said more than once that he really hates that.
That’s pretty much my read, though I wish their relationship did have more depth. I *want* to like Sarah, but she really, really continues to treat Jacob exactly how he’s remarkably clearly communicated he does not like.
They’ve had a few, they’ve all just been in proximity to Joyce because she’s so guarded and closed off. Jacob sees that she’s struggling with being open about things and is giving her a lot of room cause he’s a great guy.
It’s also possible that Sarah is so genuinely uncomfortable with real human connection and all of the associated vulnerability, that the only type of feelings or motivation she can broadcast to a romantic interest, are the obliquely sexual. “I’m definitely, extremely attracted to you” is, to someone like Sarah, a much less vulnerable way to express interest in someone romantically, than to say “I think I’m into having a relationship with you.”
Like, she’s still in the wrong as to how she’s going about it, but I think it’s less that she genuinely views Jacob in such a singularly debased way, and more so that admitting this, is more approachable to her than expressing any of the other ways in which she’s interested. Like, look at her face in panel 3: that face shows how she really feels. Panel 4 is the extent to which she’s comfortable expressing that feeling.
Sarah has also been proven to have a dim view of everyone, but even more so of men; it’s entirely possible that she genuinely believes, that this is how guys want women to act, even a guy like Jacob, who is exceedingly clear to everybody that that is not what he is into. Just because he’s explicit with it, doesn’t mean Sarah believes him; Sarah is a cynical aspiring lawyer, she believes that everybody is constantly lying about how they really feel, all the time. You know…just like her.
That last is certainly a possibility I hadn’t really considered, but I think it’s more Sarah’s general problem with real human connection and vulnerability.
We all know she’s a complete misanthrope who hates everyone, right? That character can have sexual needs, but certainly no interest in romance.
That’s also a fair point and good interpretation.
Being guarded and private about one’s emotions isn’t remotely the same as lying about them. If you want to see an example of someone who is deceptive with their desires, look to Raidah.
Which is why she’s been the romantic rival for some time, yeah. Sarah clearly *wants* to be more vulnerable but can’t. Raidah could not give less of a shit because she’s a careerist.
I think he’s lonely. We don’t see him with friends very much. His first relationship didn’t work out, and he stopped hanging out with Joyce as well. He knows Sarah likes him, and he wants to explore that. Assuming she can talk to him like a person and not like this.
I recall a study from many years ago which found that unusually attractive people were more likely to be lonely. It probably suggested reasons for this, but I don’t recall much about it.
He’s not afraid of her.
First, as a guy, he’s not used to being afraid of girls. Second, he’s so big and strong he could prrrrrobably hold her off if she suddenly went berserk.
“…as a guy, he’s not used to being afraid of girls” gave me an ironic chuckle.
“Not used to being afraid of girls,”
is so wildly, insanely far off the mark.
(unless one considers pure terror a different phenomenon)
This reminds of that Margaret Atwood quote: ‘Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.’
See also bear vs man.
I think he’s hooked on solving the puzzle that is Sarah. “I’m sure there’s more to her than horniness, rage and disgust, and I wanna see it.” She challenges him and I think he enjoys meeting a challenge.
“Treating him like a sexual object,” is the most uncharitable read one could have. Jacob knows she’s attracted to him, but he explicitly challenged her to be honest with him about how she felt. So she’s stepped up and shared her feelings. Then, suddenly surprised by the experience, she did it again. (panel 5)
Lots of folks reading his eye-brow drop as disappointment. I’ll wait to see, but it could as easily be concern at her reaction. It’s revealing how closed-off she’s had to be to survive Raidah’s abuse and Sarah’s room-mate’s implosion.
This is great, but …. is the cliffside his body ? or his dick ?
how literal is this metaphor
It’s poetic. It doesn’t have to make sense.
Like all good poetry, it exists on multiple levels.
Is she talking about surf board when she says she want to be like a “frothy surf”? To have her euphemism compare herself to a surf board being bashed against a “rocky cliffside” makes it seem a bit… destructive, doesn’t it?
No, “frothy surf” means the white-tipped caps of ocean waves, not a surf board.
The irresistable force and the immovable object, joyfully contesting the no-space between them.
Ah, thanks.
In the various board sports, the part of the name that comes before board is what the board rides on. Surfboard rides on surf (waves breaking on a shoreline), wakeboard rides on wake (trail of disturbed water behind a boat), skateboard rides on skates (metal frame with wheels), snowboard rides on snow (snow)
Shuffleboard rides on shuffles.
School board rides on schools.
Your sarcasm is noted and not appreciated. Neither shuffleboard nor a school board is a board sport which I specified as the context. If you were going to nitpick, you could’ve picked something like longboarding or freeboarding (both subtypes of skateboarding)
I enjoyed it. Very appropriate for Father’s Day.
It terrible how you can see on Jacob’s face that he expected a “I have a crush on you but I was too scared to tell you” cutie thing and now has to face the reality where Sarah just wants his body like he’s fearing every woman does
Look, Sarah’s known for a long time that Jacob isn’t interested in strictly physical relationships, but these feelings have festered anyway. So I’m hoping that now that she has voiced this, if he turns her down she’ll be able to move on from them.
I’m hoping that when he rejects this, she can reach deeper and admit her interest isn’t strictly physical.
Me too.
That is easily the most poetic come on I’ve ever heard in my life…I’m only disappointed it’s never been used on me.
…That…
…wasn’t your heart talking, Sarah. O_o
Good news is, you were only off by about… half a meter?
“The heart bone is connected to the…ovaries bone.”
…Maybe that song doesn’t quite work well with those words.
I’m no Sherlock Holmes but I believe Sarah might want to have sex with Jacob
I could be wrong though
Me (smoking meerschaum pipe): It’s subtle. But I agree with perception.
“I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED”
lol
“What a delightful surprise!” is hilarious and might be overshadowed by Sarah’s Stock Film Festival metaphor
Oh dear, she has possiblity writing. BUT methinks she grewup reading memaws Harlequin romance novels. (fans self)
Invite the nice lady in, Jacob. It’s cold in the hallway.
Re Alt Text:
Your wife is absolutely correct – that is some amazing fucking poetry. As a professional sexual metaphor crafter, I give it top marks.
Is the carnal word here an adjective, or a verb?
Yes.
English, like poetry, is remarkably malleable.
My attention was captured by the phrase “professional sexual metaphor crafter.” I’ve never seen ads for that. How does it work? Are you paid by the metaphor or is it a by the hour, including research, professional type thing?
I’m a romance novelist. The smutty kind.
+1
Either a participle or a gerund. But now I’m not sure which.
Fifth panel Sarah face will haunt me for years.
Jacob: Oh no, what hath I wrought???
I have been wondering where Jacob was going when he opened the door to be surprised by Sarah standing right there. Maybe it’s something they could share, like a meal, giving him time to lead by example and talk about his feelings. He’s clearly disappointed in the last panel, and yet clearly finds Sarah interesting enough to put up with her quirks. With a little honesty and finesse, he might elicit a story that hasn’t come out yet, that would explain her character a bit, and let Sarah realize that, with the right person, she can be vulnerable without dying.
Do women get this level of horny going with any regularity? I’ve witnessed guys getting that bad (and being mocked for it by his buddies) but never a woman.
yes they do but they’re less likely to be aggressive about it
Your mom did last night.
She hit the nickel dispenser on Mike’s tombstone.
Which one was his mom?
The one I had sex with.
Mom’s 20 years dead, but you do you, Dude.
To the best of our knowledge Sarah’s only sexual outlet is the Other Jacob and it has been for a year or more? So maybe she is just really pent up.
Women can be just as horny as men but women are shamed super hard for being horny and unfortunately some men take a women expressing being horny as “so I can breach all boundaries and be super uncomfortable to you now right?.”
In my experience, just as much as guys but much less likely to disclose it for reasons already elaborated by Jerach.
Just adding to the chorus of “yes” because I’m sick of the pervasive idea that women don’t have a libido to match men’s.
As in much else, women and men are similar inside but express things differently.
I’m not asking about libido, almost everyone’s got that, but the focus on a single person, abandoning all caution, throwing yourself out there, and chancing rejection, horny that Sarah is showing here.
Ahahahaha swing and a *miss* Sarah.
Oh that connected all right. It’s going deep into center field. Panel five is her slow-jogging to see how it arcs across the sky. Whether Jacob catches it on the field or in the stands is almost immaterial.
Thank you Willis. Your imagery and metaphor inspired me,
So I too wrote my love some poetry.
Two things nobody else has pointed out in the comment section:
1. Jacob and Sarah have known each other for months, so there is a basis for a relationship that, whatever happens, will never be entirely physical.
2. Anybody in the world would let Sarah hit after that.
To be fair “knew each other” is a bit of a stretch, it’s more that Sarah hovered in Jacob’s general vicinity.
which is even less interaction than Lucy had with (actual) Walky.
Before she started crushing on him, sure, but from the start of this semester Lucy and Walky had clearly spent a lot of time hanging out over the timeskip before he asked her out.
Much more interaction than Sarah and Jacob had. Though they did spend some time early on, mostly with Sarah’s stories about Joyce.
so poetic
It’s Literature.
Let me be the orifice for your edifice!
Understanding that JACOB is leery about being wanted solely for his body… if someone said this to me when I was not currently encumbered by other relationships, the clothes would start coming off before she finished her second sentence. Yowza.
did she forget how to people today?
Sarah has never really known how to people.
Peopling is complicated.
Too soon, Icarus, too soon…
perfect comment lol
+1
Well done Sarah, subtle.
It’s so nice to see Sarah smile. Pity we won’t get to see it again for another three years.
I’m going to spoil the secret to writing sex metaphors: Just describe two objects colliding. The rest is vocabulary and how weird/hot you can make it.
Well, it’s a start I guess
Wow that is the second thirsty line I’ve heard in a while. Right after “I want to ride you until you see stars”