There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Countdown to Countdown
Velinxi
Iris Black is a self-proclaimed inventor with the curious ability to bring his drawings to life, and yearns to find a space where he can use his powers freely.
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Slightly Damned
Chu
Rhea Snaketail returns from the dead, befriending a Demon who falls in love with an Angel. The afterlife ain't what it used to be!
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Beeserker
TJ Cordes
This comic is about a robot powered by bees, but it's also about the kind of people who think filling a robot with bees is a good idea, and why they're wrong.
Mac Hall
Matt Boyd
The legendary early-aughts webcomic that inspired a wave of webcomic creators.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
The Otherknown
Lorian Merriman
Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Fantomestein
Beka Duke
Desperate for companionship, Frankenstein's Monster pretends to be the Opera Ghost. A grave mistake.
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So, when (if?) is Ethan going to connect the dots to the whole Asher helped Blaine and now Mike is dead. How much do the non-4th-wall folks know about his involvement?
I think no one does in-universe. Characters like Sal know his criminal background somewhat, but probably not his connection to Blaine.
I’m guessing no one will figure it out until something happens like Amazi-Girl deciding to investigate him out of concern for Ethan, or maybe Faz showing up and it turns out he knew about them working together.
I don’t think almost any of them would have enough to go on. Like some characters may know about Asher’s family being Korean mob, or would know Blaine had Korean mob ties, they’d need to know both to have a meaningful chance of making a connection there.
Beyond that, well, Blaine got killed, either “he reached for the gun” if they want the official account, or he was killed for being a liability. Either way, it’d be pretty easy to assume Blaine acted largely alone since all of that whole business was for his own personal gain. The Korean mob themselves, whom Asher seems to try to maintain some distance from anyway, could not have possibly given less of a shit if Amber goes to college or not, so unless someone had anything more concrete, it’s easy to pin the blame on Blaine and Ross alone, plus the rando muscle they had on hand.
> they’d need to know both to have a meaningful chance of making a connection there.
So… Faz? His mom clearly has some ties to the gang (I mean hell, didn’t Blaine openly discuss plans around her without her flinching?) and he knows about Blaine, so it’s very possible
I’m taking it as given that Faz’s mom is part of one of the families in the mob, hence Blaine getting inducted (if only as a flunky). Most organized crime operations tend to be ethnic monocultures; marrying in is one of the few ways you can get even an entry-level position if you’re not the right ethnicity.
So, yeah, Faz may be able to make the connections, or at least enable someone else to. It would be interesting for the suggestion made upthread about Amber investigating Asher to turn up the overall connection.
Asher certainly didn’t order Mike’s death. Blaine, it’s pretty well established he did so, likely with Grandpa Park’s blessing. The one person who might suspect would be Amber, though she wouldn’t have a smoking gun in her dad’s case and, perhaps, wouldn’t be too inclined to pursue one.
Wait, was it established that Blaine ordered Mike’s death? I thought that he just died from his injuries. By the time he was in the hospital Blaine wasn’t in a position to give orders.
For the love of- nobody killed Mike, where did this even come from? He jumped from like two – three stories up to tackle Blaine, Blaine passed the saving throw and Mike plummeted straight down. Based on the shot of him falling he landed on his head, or at least his neck. That’s enough to kill somebody just fine, no mob execution needed.
Seriously why is the idea that Mike was killed and/or Asher was involved in his death so widely accepted? Even just going by the text that was from before he was blackmailed into helping
Amber speculated on him being a target right after Blaine was killed, but nothing seemed to come of it and it wasn’t until later that he actually died.
Willis won’t do it twice? Oh you mean like feeding Mike to the Martians in the Walkyverse, then Blaine accidentally on purpose dropping Mike to his death?
Apparently “Parties by Becky” is a very potent trigger. Maybe when this time everyone’s still there the next day it’ll resolve his whole trauma! (Nah.)
SARAH IS DOING HER BEST and I’m glad she’s self-dealing because seriously sdgkjd I vote she carves out a corner for herself with the chillest. Let the others have their drama.
Which is fair, my problem with ethan is he also blames Amber and has treated her like absolute dogshit when she was hurt and traumatised just like him maybe even worse considering it was her dad who killed him.
honestly, at this point he’s in the “you’re getting disinvited” stage; there’s being a downer, then there’s being a PERPETUAL downer. This isn’t acceptable grief, it’s being obnoxious and hostile toward people that really don’t have a good reason to have you being that way towards.
I have to wonder if Jacob and/or Asher brought him to bring him out of the Emo Shell and are now regretting it. Is Jacob also discreetly looking for an exit?
To be fair, pretty much all the characters should by now, given how much crap has happened. If I’d experienced that amount of trauma in that small of a span of (in-universe) time, I’d put it in the “win” column if I managed not to end up catatonic.
I’m not convinced Booster is ‘better than nothing’. Booster’s motives for helping others are suspect, and Booster is nowhere near as good at this as Booster believes Booster to be.
I’d guess most of us have been fortunate enough to not have had someone close to us be murdered. I have had some secondhand knowledge of it– when I was student teaching, one of my students (17 year old) was murdered by her stepfather. Her best friend was also in my class. Several months after, the topic of therapy came up in a class discussion, and the girl said that it had helped her.
I wasn’t necessarily thinking of murder, I’m just curious about the ratio of helpful/unhelpful therapy that people here have experienced. I went for a while because I thought it was “the right way to handle shit” but I didn’t get a lot of utility out of it.
If we’re talking therapy in general it helped with my garden variety chronic and occasionally suicidal depression and crippling anxiety, but the medication those appointments got me prescribed helped more. It’s not a cure all, things more complex than depression and anxiety require a specialist, and there are cases like Amber and her DID where education just hasn’t caught up to reality yet so it might do more harm than good. Maybe she could see a psychiatrist though about getting a prescription for her anxiety. I definitely think Ethan could benefit from seeing a grief specialist. Fortunate enough to have never required one yet (knock on wood) but I hear they’re helpful
Therapy in general has been helpful to me with my various anxiety/depression/trauma struggles, but that’s with my current and previous therapist; with the therapist I had before my last one, I honestly felt she made things worse. I’m glad I ditched her and kept trying, but I understand it can be a stressful and expensive gamble for people.
Yeah, I myself have had the unfortunate experience of meeting therapists that ironically made things worse because they were insensitive or even downright bigoted in some cases :/
I’m glad that you found a therapist that understands you Yumi, however in my case at least for the time being, I am rather hesitant to aim for an island amidst a sea of potential regret.
In real life or in the comic? IRL I’m sure plenty of people have been helped. In-comic, therapy helped Ruth not drink herself into an early grave (ditto for Jennifer).
Depends on whether or not there’s music on. Most of the alcohol-included college parties I attended had music. So we might not hear the Becky/Dina stuff.
My vote is on Joe. He might run away if Joyce gets drunk or the dinosaur falls down, so things get too sexy, and he is more expendable than Walky, whom I would put in second place.
He came to the party on the understanding that Joyce would be drinking. It’d be really weird for him to run away when “thing he literally came here to be a part of” happens.
The dinosaur thing though, sure. I doubt they’re fucking back there, but I have no proof either way. Schroedinger’s porno.
Alright, since there isn’t an official site poll on it I guess I’ll start a comment thread instead: who’s most likely to die horribly tonight? Personally, my money’s on Walky.
Jennifer shows up, sees Asher making out with Ethan, gets drunk, and goes to tell Ruth about the party, would be about the most chaotic outcome possible.
I think when Jennifer joins in, sees Asher with Ethan, pretends not to be upset, drinks herself into a stupor, and loudly Billies, THAT signifies the End of Good Times
Carla’s probably the most notable character who smokes weed, and other than Sal and Asher, I forget which of them smoke cigarettes. All this to say, yeah, surprising to a degree, but alcohol is probably easier to get than weed for any of them.
Yeah the lack of casual weed in this comic really is the most unrealistic part with the sliding time scale. Like come on I’ve done a puff puff pass at my aunt’s wedding party, get with the times
To clarify my aunt was the one puffing and passing
I kind of assume everyone’s only getting sparing amounts and either just sipping at it or mixing it with Sprite that Joyce brought, since yeah, I assume this is harder liquor than most of them usually deal with. Judging by Joyce’s party, most of the cast are lightweights, anyway.
So considering Sarah (who is pretty tall!) has to use her entire arm to hold that thing, it looks like an actual gallon – which in the decimal system (the best system), that would be about 3.7 lts.
That said, no idea if they sell whiskey by the gallon. But that liquid looks dubious as hell anyway.
Yep. Judging next to Sarah’s forearm I’d judge that the cylindrical part of the bottle is about eight inches high and I guess six inches wide or a little wider. That works out to about 226 cubic inches. So in the approximate vicinity of a gallon. Three quarts at least.
It’s probably a handle. fwiw I don’t believe alcohol (liquor/spirits) is sold (publicly) in gallon jugs; but then- I don’t buy a lot of liquor.
IRL, unless that were absinthe, that would absolutely not be enough alcohol to get even this many even relatively lightweight people drunk; but since a fair percentage of them aren’t imbibing for varying reasons, that’s not too significant.
The largest bottle size for liquor (sold in American stores, at least) is 4.5 liters (a bit over 1 gallon). Kinda rare, though. “Double magnum” liquor bottles are 3 liters (about 3/4ths gallon).
Just to confuse, hard alcohol is one of the few things usually sold in the US in liters. Though it’s possible a deliberately moonshiny aesthetic would go for a gallon jug.
The more we’ve seen that jug though, the less round it looks. More like a comically oversized flask. Still pretty big. 1L? 1.75L?
It’s still a lot of shots.
As a human who’s hosted parties, i was also worried about them running out of booze. But as a plot device, I’d say the amount of booze in there is “enough”
I usually point out in comment sections that keep throwing out “go to therapy” like it’s an immediate and flawless solution that, well, it takes time and that some of the cast people suggest should go to therapy already *do*.
But, this is a case where I really doubt Ethan is getting professional help. He shirks class and while Booster’s been there for him some, Booster is emphatically not a professional and for any of their transgressions, I don’t think Booster has tried to give people actual medical/psychiatric advice for that reason.
Of course, I doubt Naomi would spring for it, anyway.
Finding a therapist that you feel comfortable working with is a job all in itself. Work that you probably don’t want to do if you’re depressed. And your option may be limited when you’re young. I guess what I’m saying is that needing therapy and being able to get the right kind of therapy aren’t the same thing.
doubly limited when you’re working through either your college or your parents who think you should fuck a girl until you stop being gay
according to walky the therapists at the college aren’t very good, and who knows what kind of mad conversion bullshit ethan’s parents will pull
Is Becky hosting this party? I feel like Sarah is hosting and Becky is getting laid or at least making out or something behind a giant dinosaur. Also Asher has a big ass nose. It feels really highlighted in this strip. I don’t trust his big nose.
Damn I know you’re memeing with your whole making up a new thing to not trust about Asher every strip gag but you might wanna give that one a second read buddy. Cuz that…the implications are not making you look great. I don’t think that came out how you wanted
It didn’t actually come out as intended. I’ll try to do better next time. I mostly just thought his nose looks big in profile not however it is being taken as what I’m guessing is unintentionally racist at least. My bad.
Personally, I was invoking the old “big-nosed sneaky Jew” thing, because I’d misread your post and thought you were talking about Ethan. The goal wasn’t necessarily to chide, but to sorta “tap the sign”, as it were.
I read that as (panel one): Oh oh. He’s doing the mourning thing again. (Panel three): Be cool, Asher. Just discreetly check out nearest exit in case we need to bail
If it’s full gallon of 80 proof, that 80 units. (Proof multiplied by gallon) One unit is one can of 5% beer because 10 proof x 1/10 gallon equals 1. It’s a universal measurement to help decide if beer, wine or liquor is more cost effective. Plenty to get a bunch of college kids sloshed.
Someone REALLY needs to Tell new Ethan to Fuckoff.
The Trauma Dumping isnt the problem. Its treating his friends Like objects and Nonpeople. Talking at them, ovcer them. Being a POS, the type of POS the old Ethan would have hated, not tolerated.
Almost everyone here was also kidnapped with him. He’s being a POS so others wont support him.
the only thing thats is equally insuferable is Amber treating Emo Ethan as Hot-Topic Hot
I wish Mike was alive and crases the party, just so Ethan can snap out of this , regain his self respect and go back to being disgusted with him.
( then Asher has him Killed again , and Ethan can start the cycle of guilt all over again )
Ethan is channeling McCougnahey in True Detective — yes, nihilistic, yes, brought about by trauma, but clearly reveling in it because it’s giving him purpose and direction.
Though I have to say, having read Shortpacked since it was new, can’t say I dislike new Ethan. In a cast full of awkward nerds, this is an upgrade.
Why is literally anyone surprised at Ethan, this has been his shit since he got reintroduced. It’s like being shocked at Dina spouting dinosaur facts or season one Joyce singing gospel. This is just as likely as him bringing up transformers facts nobody cares about. Talking to him is basically a funger style coin flip at this point. You can decide what the losing result is
Captain America has been keep punching Nazis always. Now and forever
Al Ewing Writes Comics@al-ewing.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Marvel United: A Pride Special is out this Wednesday! In which I pour a lot of rage out on the page (and a little joy too if you're into that) in the company of @keizama.bsky.social, @br-peer.bsky.social, Irma Kniivila and @airy.bsky.social.
Plus three more stories from a panoply of stars!
Realised that @damnyouwillis.bsky.social's characters might actually work really nicely with the River City Girls style, so until I make some more sprites here's Joyce telling Yoko that omigosh she also has a friend who likes hockey, and has she heard of this team called the 'Leafs'?
2010: My source of existential dread is climate change
2016: ... climate change! and fascism
2020: ... climate change!! and fascism and pandemics
2024: ... climate change!! and fascism!! and pandemics and AI
really not enjoying the direction this is going to be quite honest
yesterday i tried an "apple jack latte" at a local coffee place, seemed like an okay flavor to try, like, woo, brown cinnamon, whatever
but they put actual apple jack cereal on top of it
do you know what you're drinking now
soggy cheerios
For May's second bonus strip, let's discover where WALKY is! IS he working out? Read this bonus strip and hundreds of previous at the Dumbing of Age Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/second...
and remember you can always pledge up to read tomorrow's strip right the eff now
One of the best things about Posting is you never know what obscure preoccupations your followers have. There will be a guy who has followed you for years and never said anything but then one day you disparage applesauce and he activates like a sleeper agent and dedicates his life to destroying you
I'm thinking this Pride about how I've been able to make a whole bundle of pretty unusual life choices with basically no pushback because of people before me who were willing to be the weirdo.
What would be funnier, a Marvel Soundwave who’s blue, or Hasbro releasing a Marvel Soundwave who’s purple right after releasing a printing of the comics where he’s been “corrected” to blue?
Al Ewing Writes Comics @al-ewing.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Gwen @finalgwen.bsky.social ⋅ 7h
Michael P. Breen @mpbreen21.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Katie C @spiffykt.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
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(Jim Lee Era)
⚧️Coming Out
Hailey Piper 
just a bit
As a treat.
also …Ethan, what the fuck, seriously
SERIOUSLY.
it isn’t unexpected, but still
He had to make the Goth Comment. He had to =_=
I mean, there’s Emo/Goth comments, and then there’s this. This is more screaming “get this man a fucking therapist”…
And Asher reacts by discreetly looking for the exit
Ethan communicates exclusively in cries for help and rejections of said help these days, what else did we expect?
So, when (if?) is Ethan going to connect the dots to the whole Asher helped Blaine and now Mike is dead. How much do the non-4th-wall folks know about his involvement?
Its FINE! Blaines dead too and theres really no one else to rat Asher out. Hes just that kid who set the cops on Sal to everyone else.
No one – except for drunk!Asher.
Oh
Oh god
The drama llama in me NEEDS this
I think no one does in-universe. Characters like Sal know his criminal background somewhat, but probably not his connection to Blaine.
I’m guessing no one will figure it out until something happens like Amazi-Girl deciding to investigate him out of concern for Ethan, or maybe Faz showing up and it turns out he knew about them working together.
I don’t think almost any of them would have enough to go on. Like some characters may know about Asher’s family being Korean mob, or would know Blaine had Korean mob ties, they’d need to know both to have a meaningful chance of making a connection there.
Beyond that, well, Blaine got killed, either “he reached for the gun” if they want the official account, or he was killed for being a liability. Either way, it’d be pretty easy to assume Blaine acted largely alone since all of that whole business was for his own personal gain. The Korean mob themselves, whom Asher seems to try to maintain some distance from anyway, could not have possibly given less of a shit if Amber goes to college or not, so unless someone had anything more concrete, it’s easy to pin the blame on Blaine and Ross alone, plus the rando muscle they had on hand.
> they’d need to know both to have a meaningful chance of making a connection there.
So… Faz? His mom clearly has some ties to the gang (I mean hell, didn’t Blaine openly discuss plans around her without her flinching?) and he knows about Blaine, so it’s very possible
I’m taking it as given that Faz’s mom is part of one of the families in the mob, hence Blaine getting inducted (if only as a flunky). Most organized crime operations tend to be ethnic monocultures; marrying in is one of the few ways you can get even an entry-level position if you’re not the right ethnicity.
So, yeah, Faz may be able to make the connections, or at least enable someone else to. It would be interesting for the suggestion made upthread about Amber investigating Asher to turn up the overall connection.
or Ethan Figures out Blaine and MIke were murdered, and Asher Knew.
if he didnt order both.
Asher certainly didn’t order Mike’s death. Blaine, it’s pretty well established he did so, likely with Grandpa Park’s blessing. The one person who might suspect would be Amber, though she wouldn’t have a smoking gun in her dad’s case and, perhaps, wouldn’t be too inclined to pursue one.
Wait, was it established that Blaine ordered Mike’s death? I thought that he just died from his injuries. By the time he was in the hospital Blaine wasn’t in a position to give orders.
Pretty sure Asher either delivered Grandpa Park’s order to silence Blaine, or issued it himself.
Methinks he was the middle-man on the order. Does Asher have any reason himself to have had Blaine murdered?
Blane was blackmailing him into helping set up the abduction.
For the love of- nobody killed Mike, where did this even come from? He jumped from like two – three stories up to tackle Blaine, Blaine passed the saving throw and Mike plummeted straight down. Based on the shot of him falling he landed on his head, or at least his neck. That’s enough to kill somebody just fine, no mob execution needed.
Seriously why is the idea that Mike was killed and/or Asher was involved in his death so widely accepted? Even just going by the text that was from before he was blackmailed into helping
Amber speculated on him being a target right after Blaine was killed, but nothing seemed to come of it and it wasn’t until later that he actually died.
Honestly, I forgot and misremembered it as Blaine ensuring Mike would go down with him
To be fair, Asher also called a hit on Blaine so maybe it balances out???
Haha! ETHAN! xD
Ethangst strikes again.
Ethan bringing in the Chekhov’s gun question. Who’s gonna die this time?
Based purely on who’d cause the most reactions in the comments, I’m gonna go with Dina. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time.
that means Willis wont do it twice.
Most reaction, and biggest surprise , would be Joyce.
Real Biggest Surprise would be Mike again.
He’s outside the window spying on his old life from witness protection and Sal or Amazigirl opens it to sneak out, knocking him dead.
Talk about Double dipping traumas. Walky would put his foot in his mouth with an “i told you so”
Willis won’t do it twice? Oh you mean like feeding Mike to the Martians in the Walkyverse, then Blaine accidentally on purpose dropping Mike to his death?
Yeah, but unlike Dina, most of Mike’s character happens after he dies, so it barely counts.
Deaths in “Its walky” dont count , as they are Undone.
I mean we see saw more than one preview of Dina in future storylines, so no.
…huh. Dina is one year older than me
Hope that Joyce doesn’t suffer his bitterness so much…
@amos: maybe he’ll be too taken aback by joyce saying fuck to register anything else lol/go blank minded
Apparently “Parties by Becky” is a very potent trigger. Maybe when this time everyone’s still there the next day it’ll resolve his whole trauma! (Nah.)
Maybe the alcohol is poisoned and its a surprise ending for the comic.
well, he’s coping, tho asher doesn’t seem to react, you’d think he’d be concerned about his new bf, guilt aside
Sarah is trying SO HARD to be cheery and a good host and these TEENAGERS are harshing her vibe
Strong “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” in Panel 2
SARAH IS DOING HER BEST and I’m glad she’s self-dealing because seriously sdgkjd I vote she carves out a corner for herself with the chillest. Let the others have their drama.
Why? It’s Amber’s room and Dina’s booze. Why is Sarah in charge?
She can pour out of that huge bottle without spilling.
Shes good with a Bat.
Dina appointed Sarah as a Hostess for a party for Becky.
Amber would kick everyone out, if in charge, and Dina is wasted and fucking behind the dinosaur.
she’s just like me fr fr
You’re wasted and busy behind the dinosaur?
Stronk arms
I’m impressed, not gonna lie.
Goddamn, Ethan, rein it in a bit holy crow
I presume there has been no (0) therapy at this point now?
Ethan is in the “I’m suffering so everybody else must suffer” phase of pushing people away from him.
He’s traumatized and he can’t let it go. Everything is going to come back to Mike’s death with him.
Which is fair, my problem with ethan is he also blames Amber and has treated her like absolute dogshit when she was hurt and traumatised just like him maybe even worse considering it was her dad who killed him.
What’s more he treats everyone like ass too
It’s part of his charm.
That’s a pretty safe assumption.
honestly, at this point he’s in the “you’re getting disinvited” stage; there’s being a downer, then there’s being a PERPETUAL downer. This isn’t acceptable grief, it’s being obnoxious and hostile toward people that really don’t have a good reason to have you being that way towards.
I have to wonder if Jacob and/or Asher brought him to bring him out of the Emo Shell and are now regretting it. Is Jacob also discreetly looking for an exit?
Hosted:
An earthling word used to decribe both parties, and alien parasites such as myself. ^^
Also computer servers – which are, strangely, not the people at Apple Stores who bring you that new device you just ordered.
PS.
I looked but could not find a bean bag or plushie matching Dina’s. Sorry.
Ethan needs all the therapy.
To be fair, pretty much all the characters should by now, given how much crap has happened. If I’d experienced that amount of trauma in that small of a span of (in-universe) time, I’d put it in the “win” column if I managed not to end up catatonic.
Closest thing he’s had is Booster. It’s better than nothing but my god, babyboy needs an Actual Pro, stat.
I’m not convinced Booster is ‘better than nothing’. Booster’s motives for helping others are suspect, and Booster is nowhere near as good at this as Booster believes Booster to be.
Question: who here has gotten therapy that actually helped with something like this?
Dorothy did for a Bit. Post witnessing stabbing.
I meant has anyone had that experience in real life.
I’d guess most of us have been fortunate enough to not have had someone close to us be murdered. I have had some secondhand knowledge of it– when I was student teaching, one of my students (17 year old) was murdered by her stepfather. Her best friend was also in my class. Several months after, the topic of therapy came up in a class discussion, and the girl said that it had helped her.
Damn that’s sad, sorry
I wasn’t necessarily thinking of murder, I’m just curious about the ratio of helpful/unhelpful therapy that people here have experienced. I went for a while because I thought it was “the right way to handle shit” but I didn’t get a lot of utility out of it.
If we’re talking therapy in general it helped with my garden variety chronic and occasionally suicidal depression and crippling anxiety, but the medication those appointments got me prescribed helped more. It’s not a cure all, things more complex than depression and anxiety require a specialist, and there are cases like Amber and her DID where education just hasn’t caught up to reality yet so it might do more harm than good. Maybe she could see a psychiatrist though about getting a prescription for her anxiety. I definitely think Ethan could benefit from seeing a grief specialist. Fortunate enough to have never required one yet (knock on wood) but I hear they’re helpful
Therapy in general has been helpful to me with my various anxiety/depression/trauma struggles, but that’s with my current and previous therapist; with the therapist I had before my last one, I honestly felt she made things worse. I’m glad I ditched her and kept trying, but I understand it can be a stressful and expensive gamble for people.
Yeah, I myself have had the unfortunate experience of meeting therapists that ironically made things worse because they were insensitive or even downright bigoted in some cases :/
I’m glad that you found a therapist that understands you Yumi, however in my case at least for the time being, I am rather hesitant to aim for an island amidst a sea of potential regret.
In real life or in the comic? IRL I’m sure plenty of people have been helped. In-comic, therapy helped Ruth not drink herself into an early grave (ditto for Jennifer).
I wonder how long until everyone notice the weird sounds coming from behind the dino plushie
Pay no attention to that couple behind the plushie!
Gasp! Drunken allosaurus orgasm sounds!
Depends on whether or not there’s music on. Most of the alcohol-included college parties I attended had music. So we might not hear the Becky/Dina stuff.
My vote is on Joe. He might run away if Joyce gets drunk or the dinosaur falls down, so things get too sexy, and he is more expendable than Walky, whom I would put in second place.
He came to the party on the understanding that Joyce would be drinking. It’d be really weird for him to run away when “thing he literally came here to be a part of” happens.
The dinosaur thing though, sure. I doubt they’re fucking back there, but I have no proof either way. Schroedinger’s porno.
FFS Ethan get some help and quit harshing the vibe
Booster.
Booster, what are you doing?
I don’t like that smirk-ish look on your face, Booster!
woah there. Sarah moved away from the drama at that point and Booster’s probably just chatting with someone.
IDK fam. There’s Joe’s back there too, and the way he’s leaning….
Maybe they’re plotting together.
Booster just has a natural resting-smirk face.
Nah I think he’s blocking our view of Joyce
Booster could be eavesdropping
I think he’s behind Sarah, so sidespying the couple he helped put togther: Ethan/ Asher
*They
Well i don’t know if they’re looking back at him at that angle, but it’s possible booster is just making small talk with another guest
Alright, since there isn’t an official site poll on it I guess I’ll start a comment thread instead: who’s most likely to die horribly tonight? Personally, my money’s on Walky.
Tonight? Hmm. … I’ll say Mary.
Yes, I know it’s a long shot, but hope springs eternal.
Dina and Becky are working on a little death right now.
Asher in a shooting, and the school.starts to finally freak out and lock shiz down because this stuff keeps happening
Lucy.
So, what’s going to be the source of the most drama: Ethan/Danny, Asher/Walkertons, Joyce, or Jennifer joins the party and sees Asher/Ethan?
I’m looking forward Jennie
My bet is arc ends with Jennifer declaring herself right after everyone leaves and Asher drops the “bi” word on her.
Jennifer shows up, sees Asher making out with Ethan, gets drunk, and goes to tell Ruth about the party, would be about the most chaotic outcome possible.
I think when Jennifer joins in, sees Asher with Ethan, pretends not to be upset, drinks herself into a stupor, and loudly Billies, THAT signifies the End of Good Times
Ooof Ethan. Trauma dumping like that is bad form my dude.
Yes. “Bad form.” That is the advice and compassionate help Ethan needs.
ughhhhhhhh
Can’t believe that during any of the parties we’ve seen, I can’t recall seeing any of the cast doing ‘puff, puff, pass’.
Carla’s probably the most notable character who smokes weed, and other than Sal and Asher, I forget which of them smoke cigarettes. All this to say, yeah, surprising to a degree, but alcohol is probably easier to get than weed for any of them.
Weed should be pretty easy to get. They’re all on the same floor as Meredith. It’s just none of them are pot heads.
Yet.
I only just realized how much I want see Joyce’s first joint.
There’s a non-canon sketch of her taking a hit from a Dexter bong, does that count?
….. Please do tell me where I can gaze upon this wonder
I only see Carla using ganja. Sal and Asher the only confirmed tobacco folks. Everyone else is booze
Yeah the lack of casual weed in this comic really is the most unrealistic part with the sliding time scale. Like come on I’ve done a puff puff pass at my aunt’s wedding party, get with the times
To clarify my aunt was the one puffing and passing
How much liquor is in that bottle?
I kind of assume everyone’s only getting sparing amounts and either just sipping at it or mixing it with Sprite that Joyce brought, since yeah, I assume this is harder liquor than most of them usually deal with. Judging by Joyce’s party, most of the cast are lightweights, anyway.
So considering Sarah (who is pretty tall!) has to use her entire arm to hold that thing, it looks like an actual gallon – which in the decimal system (the best system), that would be about 3.7 lts.
That said, no idea if they sell whiskey by the gallon. But that liquid looks dubious as hell anyway.
Barrel-strength wild turkey maybe. For these kids it’s probably like sipping gasoline … it could go a looong way.
Yep. Judging next to Sarah’s forearm I’d judge that the cylindrical part of the bottle is about eight inches high and I guess six inches wide or a little wider. That works out to about 226 cubic inches. So in the approximate vicinity of a gallon. Three quarts at least.
US fluid gallons, that is. Not US dry gallons, nor Imperial gallons.
Of course not. We don’t measure fluids by the bushel, that would be silly.
That’s only because the baskets leak.
According to my calculations, that’s enough to get 18.5 people plenty sloshed.
It’s probably a handle. fwiw I don’t believe alcohol (liquor/spirits) is sold (publicly) in gallon jugs; but then- I don’t buy a lot of liquor.
IRL, unless that were absinthe, that would absolutely not be enough alcohol to get even this many even relatively lightweight people drunk; but since a fair percentage of them aren’t imbibing for varying reasons, that’s not too significant.
if they selll liquor in galllons I gotta find out where
The largest bottle size for liquor (sold in American stores, at least) is 4.5 liters (a bit over 1 gallon). Kinda rare, though. “Double magnum” liquor bottles are 3 liters (about 3/4ths gallon).
Just to confuse, hard alcohol is one of the few things usually sold in the US in liters.
Though it’s possible a deliberately moonshiny aesthetic would go for a gallon jug.
The more we’ve seen that jug though, the less round it looks. More like a comically oversized flask. Still pretty big. 1L? 1.75L?
It’s still a lot of shots.
As a human who’s hosted parties, i was also worried about them running out of booze. But as a plot device, I’d say the amount of booze in there is “enough”
Two of the people involved are Walkertons, so they’re down after a couple of sips. That ups the amount available for everyone else.
I think the point of inviting so many people was to shift it from “way too much” to “enough”.
Plus even if it runs out, Dina can teleport to get more. She:s tipsy now, so MUCH more likely to do that without much provacation
Juuuuust enough!
As much as the plot demand!
20. you can tell be the Roman numerals on the side.
Life of the party over here.
I was not expecting this arc to be a culmination of many storyarcs. Suddenly, I understand that the chapter title is for WILLIS and not us.
Culmination. Ha!
I usually point out in comment sections that keep throwing out “go to therapy” like it’s an immediate and flawless solution that, well, it takes time and that some of the cast people suggest should go to therapy already *do*.
But, this is a case where I really doubt Ethan is getting professional help. He shirks class and while Booster’s been there for him some, Booster is emphatically not a professional and for any of their transgressions, I don’t think Booster has tried to give people actual medical/psychiatric advice for that reason.
Of course, I doubt Naomi would spring for it, anyway.
Finding a therapist that you feel comfortable working with is a job all in itself. Work that you probably don’t want to do if you’re depressed. And your option may be limited when you’re young. I guess what I’m saying is that needing therapy and being able to get the right kind of therapy aren’t the same thing.
doubly limited when you’re working through either your college or your parents who think you should fuck a girl until you stop being gay
according to walky the therapists at the college aren’t very good, and who knows what kind of mad conversion bullshit ethan’s parents will pull
I image “good therapists” are to drama what “good cell phone reception” is to horror.
In Dotty’s case it’s “stop lying to your therapist, forehead”
Asher looks WAY too content for what his boyfriend is going through right now.
I’m assuming this isn’t the first time he’s like this. Asher probably knows him by now =)
Queer Trauma is cool.
Queer Suicidal Depression is the New Queerbaiting ( and the Old ) .
Quick , Fetishize it or Ethan jumps in front of a truck.
Its Queckoffs Gun to the temple, but Hot Dark and sexy.
/ S
I think his last relationship might have set a low bar on normal, comfortable conversations.
Every party needs a pooper, that’s why they invited you~
And you deserve some booze, Sarah!
Is Becky hosting this party? I feel like Sarah is hosting and Becky is getting laid or at least making out or something behind a giant dinosaur. Also Asher has a big ass nose. It feels really highlighted in this strip. I don’t trust his big nose.
What are you talking about, a big-ass nose is 50% of what i look for in a man
What a weird thing to say about a facial feature.
As a man’s nose, so his hose.
– not quite a German saying
Steve Martin’s “Charlie Bales” character in the 1987 movie Roxanne would totally agree with you.
Meanwhile, I’m over here wondering how many not quite a German’s you know.
That’s a very 1930s European thing to say.
Yeah, you look away for a second and you’ll have Pax Romana in your living room.
Damn I know you’re memeing with your whole making up a new thing to not trust about Asher every strip gag but you might wanna give that one a second read buddy. Cuz that…the implications are not making you look great. I don’t think that came out how you wanted
It didn’t actually come out as intended. I’ll try to do better next time. I mostly just thought his nose looks big in profile not however it is being taken as what I’m guessing is unintentionally racist at least. My bad.
Personally, I was invoking the old “big-nosed sneaky Jew” thing, because I’d misread your post and thought you were talking about Ethan. The goal wasn’t necessarily to chide, but to sorta “tap the sign”, as it were.
Honestly Asher seems to have an “eagle nose”, a feature often associated with Romans.
Sarah is making all this effort to host! And we all know she’s not social, and this is new. I truly want her to enjoy herself tonight.
Having some booze instead of babysitting is a good thing, actually.
It’s good to see Ethan is doing well.
Under a very specific definition of “Well”.
Let’s go with, “a hole, dug”.
Asher panel 2: can i kiss the pain away? Asher panel 3: no? Then I’m staying out of it
Lol messed up the panels, it’s one and three.. As a copyeditor you’d think I’d know to check myself
I read that as (panel one): Oh oh. He’s doing the mourning thing again. (Panel three): Be cool, Asher. Just discreetly check out nearest exit in case we need to bail
Remember to check the backgrounds for W A L K E R T O N
ah ethan, the one everyone kinda forgot about.
An emo’s dream!
Ethan, no.
Sometimes, you our pain
Sometimes, your our pain won’t meaning nothing to someone.
“Drench”. The word you’re looking for is “drench”.
Jesus Ethan. Why’d you even come bro?
Didn’t you hear? To see which one will get killed next!
well someone’s expressing what’s upsetting them instead of holding it in I guess
He’s holding it in AND expressing himself!
I bet he’s lots of fun at parties.
Did Sarah put the bottle cap back on in the third panel?
Don’t want that paint thinner to evaporate before everybody gets some.
Man Ethan’s an ass.
Such a cheerful, fun vibe to this party.
Don’t get low on your own outflow.
Ethan is guaranteed to break the ice at naughty parties.
Mike didn’t from the party.
He ran to help.
If it’s full gallon of 80 proof, that 80 units. (Proof multiplied by gallon) One unit is one can of 5% beer because 10 proof x 1/10 gallon equals 1. It’s a universal measurement to help decide if beer, wine or liquor is more cost effective. Plenty to get a bunch of college kids sloshed.
Someone REALLY needs to Tell new Ethan to Fuckoff.
The Trauma Dumping isnt the problem. Its treating his friends Like objects and Nonpeople. Talking at them, ovcer them. Being a POS, the type of POS the old Ethan would have hated, not tolerated.
Almost everyone here was also kidnapped with him. He’s being a POS so others wont support him.
the only thing thats is equally insuferable is Amber treating Emo Ethan as Hot-Topic Hot
I wish Mike was alive and crases the party, just so Ethan can snap out of this , regain his self respect and go back to being disgusted with him.
( then Asher has him Killed again , and Ethan can start the cycle of guilt all over again )
What, since Amber stopped seeing Mike’s ghost did Ethan need to channel him?
Ethan is channeling McCougnahey in True Detective — yes, nihilistic, yes, brought about by trauma, but clearly reveling in it because it’s giving him purpose and direction.
Though I have to say, having read Shortpacked since it was new, can’t say I dislike new Ethan. In a cast full of awkward nerds, this is an upgrade.
what the what? I opened this page and some music started playing but I did not click on anything. It gradually faded away.
That’s the fabled Hacked Muzak
Kinda stunned that didn’t end with Ethan getting immediately kicked out. I sure as hell would after a comment like that.
Why is literally anyone surprised at Ethan, this has been his shit since he got reintroduced. It’s like being shocked at Dina spouting dinosaur facts or season one Joyce singing gospel. This is just as likely as him bringing up transformers facts nobody cares about. Talking to him is basically a funger style coin flip at this point. You can decide what the losing result is
jesus christ ethan