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Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
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The legendary early-aughts webcomic that inspired a wave of webcomic creators.
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I had to start doing this when I got gift cards because I would never remember to take them with me otherwise. I’d get home from shopping at Target only to remember I had a Target gift card I could have used.
let’s be honest though, on the shitty-parent scale of this comic, Linda doesn’t even come close to the worst. Hell I don’t think she even breaks the top 5 anymore
In approximate order of Yikes: Ross, Blaine, Joyce’s mom, Ruth’s grandfather, both of Billie’s parents, *then* maybe Linda? Joe’s dad might be above her somewhere too
Speaking of Linda, how far did that lawsuit with Carol Brown’s church go? Did she drop it and go back to things that go somewhere, or is Walky’s inheritance going to be really small ’cause back then Momma really had to win ’em *all?*
Many universities and/or departments have rules that instructors (or specifically TAs) aren’t allowed to tell students whether or not to drop a class. My first time reading through the series, that page jumped out on me as a “maybe IU is different than any school I’ve worked at, or else Jason is doing something he isn’t allowed to do.”
Of course that was before I got to the chapter where Jason and Sal go at it, which is a bigger offense.
Same. On the one hand, “Awwww twoo wuv!” On the other hand, we really need more close, male/female friendships without romantic implications in media. I think with these two, I actually lean toward wanting them to be close friends (but not more). We’ll see where things go, though, I guess.
We need more close friendships without people trying to make them “more”, period.
A relationship without sex is not inferior, incomplete, merely an intermediate step, etc.
(as long-time readers know, this is one of my big beefs/peeves with fandom in general.)
I prefer Joyce/Joe and Sal/Danny both as friends, honestly. Honestly of the current cast, the only ones I wouldn’t mind seeing as a long-term relationship goal is Dorothy/Walky. Maybe Becky/Dina but I think Becky needs to go through her growing pains first in regards to sexuality.
I’m on board with either scenario, but this particular interaction’s so Danny With A Crush Making A Big Gesture that I’m leaning towards ‘ship’ right now.
Finally, he’s done one that he DIDN’T immediately proceed to screw up (‘stupid Yale,’ the entire hospital scene) or accidentally wade into a minefield with (trying to kiss Amber when she described dissociating during the car chase, where he was missing a lot of key information and even AmbG didn’t seem to fully get until then just how separate they were.)
Still, so long as we get Danny and Sal interacting in this particularly sweet bantery way, I’m happy.
Agreed. This Danny and Sal work completely differently from Walkyverse Danny and Sal, so I hope they break the “no rehashing old continuity relationships” rule.
Well, that rule only exists for ships where Willis can’t find a new angle or way to see them, as a way to avoid retreading old ground. Ships that were underdeveloped or have new angles like Robin and Leslie or Ruth and Billie are allowed.
Seems so! I mean, the first Sal thing in this storyline was about frustrated sexual/romantic feelings (toward unavailible Asher). And each subsequent scene with her has been about other people hooking up or starting relationships (first her brother, then a previous sexual partner). Adding to the flames of her romntic frustration. And the, as if on que, enter Danny!
Very neatly constructed! (and also I ship it, so… maybe reading to much into it)
There’s a Tumblr post about Dragon Ball Z where Vegeta’s relationship to Bulma is described as “He met a woman who wasn’t intimidated by him and he had no coping mechanism except to marry her”.
I kinda feel like Sal/Danny is a little like that inverted. Sal is a bundle of spiky defense mechanisms and Danny is Too Damn Nice.
It’s like watching a porcupine battle a bag of marshmallows.
Yep. But still a degree of trust that she’ll take the bike, even if she pays for it (for one thing, she gave him the cards without asking how much he paid – even if the Target cards don’t quite cover it, I think she recognizes Danny wouldn’t make a big deal about the difference in cost vs payment.)
Agreed to both. Danny knows Sal’s prickly and tries the whole loner thing, even if she’s opening up. She still took the bike, which is a win in the Grand Gestures of Giftgiving book, plus he got some Target giftcards.
(This is how you know Danny probably has a crush: his big impulsive actions are usually romantic ones. But this time, he didn’t immediately stick his foot in his mouth while he was doing it!)
Agreed. I mean, expressing gratitude is nice, but I haven’t ever been disappointed by a baby’s reaction to a surprise present either. And even surprising adults anonymously can net you delightful reactions.
“Oh Sal, believe it or not sometimes, very rarely, people just do things to be nice. Not to own you or make you feel indebted, just to make you happy.”
I dunno, that sounds an awful lot like fake news liberal propaganda, to me..
Since nobody else seems to have noticed, Willis drew the bike with the drivetrain on the wrong side. The chain and sprockets go on the right side of the bike. There used to be a valid engineering reason for this back in the middle to end of the XX Century, but now it’s for no better reason than backwards compatibility.
But… they are on the right side of the bike. We’re facing the left side. Look at the back wheel and notice that there are no sprockets, and there’s no chain between them on this side, either. We can really only assume them to be on the other side of the bike, even if we can’t see them.
That definitely looks like a chainring on the left side of the crank. In fairness, bikes are tricky to draw, and this is the kind of detail that only bugs a small subset of the typical audience.
Depending on the validity of these sources the reason may still be valid depending on the bike (maybe?). Earlier mountings for drive trains were screw threaded, so chain went on the right tighten the mechanism while peddaling. IIRC sprockets now mount to the wheel with a toothed/notched interface, so it shouldn’t matter which way the chain pulls.
It’s like Opus said. Pedaling action tightened the rear cog/freewheel to the rear wheel, and by the time they went to a splined connector, tradition was just too much to overcome … sort of like why we always mount horses – and motorcycles, and bicycles – from the left (it’s because mounted soldiers wore their saber/sword on the left, and you wouldn’t get your leg tangled in it if mounting from the right, that’s why).
So nuts to that. Only time in the last 50-plus years I’ve seen a chain on the LEFT side of the bike, it was a timing/sync chain between the front and rear crank arms of a tandem bicycle. Willis got the crank arms on Sal’s bicycle on the wrong side. End of story.
Now, if that’s all we’ve got to nitpick over in what — ten frakkin’ years or more of this storyline? — I’m gonna overlook it.
Agreed. The comment wasn’t about disputing Opus. Curiousity drove me to look-up the ‘engineering reasons’ for a right side chain drive.
But this is the wild wild web and respectful discourse is not allowed (RFC1337), I am compelled to point out in universe DyW is Gyallahwehd, and so any changes must be by design. So there, you silly person, clearly it cannot be a mistake. Your father was a hampster and your mother smelled of elder berries.
Huh? “we” do what, now? While I never saw a clear preference (and certainly no social impetus) on any of those three, there was definitely an overall tendency to favor mounting a bike, motorbike, or horse from its right side [or, more accurately, a strong tendency to lead on the left side, which then led to remounting from the right]. I’d assume you mean that’s a favored approach in a more formal, militaristic setting? Or perhaps you meant from our left, rather than the left of the object in question?
In any case, you’re comparing mechanical elements (based on cultural elements) to purely cultural elements- that makes for a bit of a rough comparison. And, speaking as someone who spent a lot of time with bikes growing up, I think Opus already nailed the heart of present considerations: It’s mostly a matter of standardization, now. Basically, even if it becomes mechanically possible to do things a different way, if there’s no reason to, it’s better to stick to a formula that’s easier to work with (even if not for parts, then at least for service technicians). That’s going to play a lot more into things than any lingering adherence to tradition, on this kind of matter.
I am glad Sal wears the helmet. She’s not stupid, and more responsible than people give her credit for. Her hair looks super pretty with it, honestly.
I get where Sal is coming from, though. Sal’s used to people lording stuff over her, that she owes them. Linda, especially. I think this is a good compromise.
Indeed. It would be rather hypocritical of her not to wear a helmet, considering the crap she gives AmaziGirl about risking getting people killed for being reckless.
Though this actually reminds me, a little bit backwards-ly, of a friend who had a crush on me in middle school and invited me to the middle school dance (which cost like $8) and I was embarrassed that he had a crush on me (and as a girl I didn’t want to be beholden to patriarchal tropes lol) and didn’t want to let him pay for my ticket, and so he followed me around attempting to stuff a bunch of dollar bills in my backpack whenever I wasn’t looking.
That is adorable. He really tried his best to make sure you could afford the ticket to go ‘on your own’ even if his methods were. Not the most effective if you know that’s something he tried to do.
You know in one way it was. At the time it was pretty annoying. I think it was more about him wanting it to be a date and me not being sure about that. TL;DR in middle school I think I broke his heart, we survived to become close friends who occasionally guest-star in each other’s polycules. Which, tbh, is a plotline that would very much fit into a Willis story. Maybe that’s why I love these comics so dang much hahaha
So Sal always has gift cards on her? Did she owe someone one time, never paid them back, got guilty, and carries gift cards to prevent that guilt from growing?
“Stay here Whitebread! Stay right here!” ((Sal rushes off. Ten minutes later, she’s back with a shoebox full of gift cards)) “That should come t’ about $200! Now, the bike is mine fair and square!”
“Actually, the helmet came with the…” ((Sal snatches the helmet off of Danny’s head before he can finish))
Way back in the day, Linda sent presents for Walky, Billie, Sal, and Dorothy. Sal’s gift was the smallest, and may have been just gift cards with no thought behind them.
This is something I’ve been wanting to write about for a while now and looking for the right time to do it, and with Danny now engaging in puns, the most evolved power of bisexuality, I think it’s time I lay my cards on the table.
Danny is, singularly, the most affirming bisexual character I’ve read about in my life.
The great big question of Bisexual Representation is a precarious one, because the only thing everyone can agree on is that it’s lacking. It’s only in the last decade we’ve seen significant strides in Queer representation after realizing what a mess it’s been, and for bi characters that’s manifested in a particular way: as a result of decades of media running with bisexuality as a phase, where the character was just gay in college and then got over it, there’s been a more concentrated effort towards showing bi characters in same-sex relationships. A bi character may start with a partner of a different gender, but the story ends with the same.
To be clear, I don’t resent this. The reality is that bisexual representation in media is in such a place where actively avoiding a lot of the worst, most objectified readings of bisexuality means you’ve already got a leg up. There’s a particularly hated conversation to have about the nature of bisexual representation and how hardline insistence on what is or isn’t “good representation” is, in itself, an expression of biphobia, but when it comes to one Danny Wilcox I feel the question of who he needs to date tends to overpower what actually matters.
Danny is not bisexual in service of finding a boyfriend, Danny is bisexual so he can find himself.
In the rush for trying to make up for the last several decades of shitass bi representation, a lot of bi characters exclusively focus on their relationships, and while romance drama has been a major focus (because it’s DoA and I am here for the juicy, juicy drama), the main fixture of Danny’s journey from denial into ultimate acceptance was Danny himself.
In between his crumbling relationship with Amber that he desperately tried to keep together and his burgeoning feelings for Ethan that eventually crashed and burned, what ultimately got the lion’s share of focus was how Danny himself processed his feelings. In the early years of the comic he was inundated not just in his identity as his Wife’s Husband but in extremely heteronormative values that dictated how he needed to think and act. He needed to be straight because not being straight is abnormal, and Danny had no aspirations beyond being a partner, until one day he’s blindsided by a well chinned hunk landing on top of him and suddenly starts grappling with feelings that, inherently, destroy that normalcy he craved for so long until he eventually realizes that normalcy was keeping him in a painful lockstep for his whole life.
I need to be as clear as possible on this: Danny’s discovery of his sexuality was about him more than it had anything to do with who he was going to smooch, and I have literally never seen this elsewhere in my life.
Oh sure, Danny’s thirst for Ethan’s manly chest was there. Of course it was, you kinda can’t write a story about getting smacked in the face by new feelings if those new feelings aren’t, you know, felt, but what Danny felt was shame as a result of both these new feelings and how they made him some kind of aberrant and, in particular to Danny’s views on monogamy, unfaithful. It’s not until Amber breaks it off with him that he finally finds the resolve to confess his feelings to Ethan, and those feelings weren’t that he was in love, it’s that he wanted to go down on Ethan’s dick. I guess that’s a little tawdry, but I feel the emphasis that Danny is overwhelmingly physically attracted to another man, that he wants to have sex with a person he’s understood his whole life he is never supposed to consider in any way, that was a moment where Danny took ownership of his feelings. He was bisexual, he wanted to have sex with men, he had the capacity to fall in love with a man, and all of those feelings were both new and within him all along.
One of the more frustrating realities of the great big talk of bisexual representation is that, almost uniformly, it focuses on romance. A bi character is only a good bi character if there’s visual, textual confirmation of their bisexuality. A bi dude is only really bi as long as he dates a dude, and he’s only good, non-problematic representation if he sticks with that dude.
And while I’ve been dealing with this particular junkyard for so long I’ve finally realized the actual answer is that we stop getting up in each other’s sandwiches and just let bi characters exist and engage with their sexuality in whatever manner is fitting to them, I had Danny showing me how this shit is supposed to be done.
Danny’s bi, Danny’s got his ukulele, Danny’s a good egg, and most importantly he’s Danny, and I love him with all my heart.
I would like to note that, from my perspective as a somewhat oblivious straight white cis male, much the same applies to Carla. She’s just there, she happens to be trans, except when Mary’s being Mary, no one gives a fuck.
And while I understand the need for trans stories and bi stories and gay stories that are all about that particular feature of a person’s character, because God knows they’ve been wiped out of stories forever, and I understand why readers need characters they can identify with going through the same sort of things they do, I really appreciate stories where diverse characters are just… there. Because surely that’s what we’re working towards, when it’s just an aspect of their overall character that doesn’t need to be harped upon any more than we need to be told over and over that such-and-such a guy is straight, or whatever.
But of course, I’m an oblivious straight white cis male, so I acknowledge that I might actually just be trying to find reasons to not have to focus on all those… things I don’t get and they’re kind of icky so do we really have to talk about them? :p :p :p
The problem with writing Carla in a story that is mostly about relationships is deciding who Carla will be attracted to in-comic, if anybody. Not that she’s trans, but who she is attracted to. I mean it is already firmly established that she’s trans, but her romantic situation is what is important to the story. Otherwise she’s just a flag waving to attract attention abut how inclusive the comic is.
Sure, if you were writing a relationship story about Carla, but that’s not what’s happening here. While there’s a lot of relationship drama in DoA, because there tends to be a lot of relationship drama in college kids lives, there’s also a lot of other drama going on, so Carla has other hooks she can hang her importance to the story on.
I think it’s important to have both. We need stories that go into those intense personal details of identity stories, and we need stories where people are just people who happen to be trans, or bi, or any number of qualities, and it doesn’t become a big issue because it doesn’t have to.
I love how, since Danny’s realization and the AmbG breakup, he’s let himself focus on connecting more to who he is and what he wants (to be a good egg, primarily.) As you said, he defined himself at the start of the comic EXCLUSIVELY in relation to his girlfriend – which caused Dorothy to break up with him, and made him a pain to watch. Even with AG, he was still thinking of himself in the Lois Lane role.
In a lot of ways, realizing he was bi through Ethan (who was off the table due to mutual consideration for Amber’s feelings) was the best thing that could have happened, because instead of jumping straight into dating the new crush he had time for self-discovery and learning to play the ukulele.
Yes, absolutely! My favorite parts about Danny’s character development have been when he hasn’t been trying to deal with a relationship, because the way he’s been approaching relationships has been so unhealthy. He’s been needing to pay more attention to himself, and it feels to me like his bi journey has been in service to that.
I hadn’t been thinking of this in terms of representation, but you’re so right, and this was really nice to read.
Sal is very relatable. I’ve always felt very insecure about gifts because they’ve always felt like I’m now in debt to a person and must reciprocate in some fashion.
Sal accepted the gift, even though she repaid Danny with Very Valuable giftcards (seriously Sal?) that doesn’t change the fact. She will remember his nice gesture, perhaps this will help her feel happier and heal the wound that her (probable) loss of her bike has clearly caused to her. Danny is a great friend ♡.
Technically, Sal, Linda bought the bike as she’s the one who gets you those gift cards. Still, I do think that we’ve learned something about Sal and how deeply she fears the idea of someone ‘owning’ her.
That’s probably not how Linda would view it. I wouldn’t put it past her to take credit for buying everything Sal ever buys that’s remotely nice, on the grounds of “I gave birth to you”.
That’s exactly the kind of bullshit argument an emotionally toxic person like Linda would make to keep Sal under her thumb. (not saying that’s your motivation here Ben, but the argument is BS. My employer doesn’t feed my kids, I do). What Sal may not realize is that there are related elements in the behaviour of not being able to just accept the gift from Danny. Sal seems to have internalized Linda’s “presents have strings attached” but isn’t willing to use that mentality to behave towards others as such. (i.e. Sal isn’t willing to /give/ with strings attached, she is giving only without strings) At the same time, since Sal couldn’t bring herself to use her mom’s gift cards for anything up till now well… I’m gonna read this more as a gift exchange between friends than as a bike purchase. And if this is what it takes for Sal to feel free of the cards and of any internal misplaced sense of debt for Danny’s gift, then she got two birds with one stone. There may be a veritable treasure trove of stuff to unpack from this exchange but I just don’t have it today. Sal deserves a therapist and/or friends who can help her sort out this crap with Linda though.
Likely spent it for Sal – possibly towards covering the boarding school expenses.
Which is often acceptable dealing with children’s money to some degree, but so much not in this case.
The cat comparison will be complete if, this evening. Sal just walks into Danny’s room (in front of Joe), sits on Danny’s couch next to him and, acting as if it’s her room, asks what he’s doing for dinner and what he’s watching on his laptop.
No, but if Sal sits in Danny’s lap, she may put her face in the laptop screen and then turn around rubbing her ass across Danny’s face and now I need to get @Yotomoe’s attention and cross my fingers.
Why? She wore a motorcycle helmet and she also wears protection for roller derby (though that’s probably required). Besides, what she’ll most likely do right now is jump some stairs.
Not that its in any way similar to anything he even suggested but I recently discovered this song and her last words just make Leslie Gore play in my head now.
Me if I ever see Tony Hawk: Hey you’re Tony Hawk the famous skateboarder. That’s right I recognise you. Won’t be able to get any content out of this will you, you piece of shit
How to read all 28 issues of my Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane run on Marvel Unlimited:
1: The first four issues were published as the miniseries "Mary Jane."
www.marvel.com/comics/serie...
today in #9chickweedlane i learned we have to be shown children learning and relearning what sex is, for Reasons, even though they already clearly know and have prepared nuanced questions about it!
also that Gran must hate, if she's still alive, how Old Juliette is the same but with gray hair
one of my favorite things is when a commenter explodes WHEN DO THESE CHARACTERS GET THERAPY but directed towards a character who canonically has a regular therapist
Hot Toys Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 1/6 Scale Darth Vader Deluxe ($495) & Standard ($315) is up for preorder at Sideshow - shrsl.com/4wcx6 #ad
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btw if you're one of those rando bluesky weirdos who doesn't know me but sees me in the wild being sarcastic and don't know i'm being sarcastic because you haven't taken like 30 seconds to, like, maybe look at my user profile or something, keep walking, you're not going to score internet points here
Here's an entertaining cite at the bottom of the first page
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
JUST IN: Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan moves to dismiss federal criminal case against her for allegedly helping immigrant hide from ICE. Her lawyers say she's protected by official acts & judicial immunity and 10th Amendment. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Where did Hollywood go so wrong? I thought movies were supposed to be an escape from reality, a chance to put your worries aside and not have to think about any underlying ideas or concepts. Well, not anymore.
theonion.com/you-can...
It's not a new argument, of course, but Chesterton dismissed it effectively in 1908.
"You will hear everlastingly... this argument that the rich man cannot be bribed. The fact is, of course, that the rich man is bribed; he has been bribed already. That is why he is a rich man."
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com ⋅ 3d
Hawley dismisses Trump lining his pockets with his memecoin: "Listen, I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought. I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?"
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 1d
Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 3d
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 12d
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/is now wondering if this has always applied
/also wondering if those gift cards are what Linda sent
That one was Amazon, I think, which she used to buy a used 3DS for Mario Karting with friends.
There have probably been care packages since then. Or that was for Christmas.
I thought the gift card from that strip was to a nearby mall, and Sal used it at a game store. But I’m not sure why I think that.
Could be! The one thing I feel confident in is that that gift card was used, for the 3DS.
It was a Prepaid Credit Card
Hoo boy, Mrs. Wilcox. Hoo boy.
Now I’m sad Walky never acquired that human skull to engrave marital scripture on. Or at least a decent replica.
Danny didn’t learn all that codependent reasoning all by himself…
And why Sal carries them around with her.
so she can exchange them for goods and services
WOOHOO!
I had to start doing this when I got gift cards because I would never remember to take them with me otherwise. I’d get home from shopping at Target only to remember I had a Target gift card I could have used.
So now they just go directly into the wallet.
Willis commented on patreon that the gift cards are all signed to ‘Sally’. Almost certainly Linda, yeah.
I hate her so fucking much.
let’s be honest though, on the shitty-parent scale of this comic, Linda doesn’t even come close to the worst. Hell I don’t think she even breaks the top 5 anymore
In approximate order of Yikes: Ross, Blaine, Joyce’s mom, Ruth’s grandfather, both of Billie’s parents, *then* maybe Linda? Joe’s dad might be above her somewhere too
Speaking of Linda, how far did that lawsuit with Carol Brown’s church go? Did she drop it and go back to things that go somewhere, or is Walky’s inheritance going to be really small ’cause back then Momma really had to win ’em *all?*
Many universities and/or departments have rules that instructors (or specifically TAs) aren’t allowed to tell students whether or not to drop a class. My first time reading through the series, that page jumped out on me as a “maybe IU is different than any school I’ve worked at, or else Jason is doing something he isn’t allowed to do.”
Of course that was before I got to the chapter where Jason and Sal go at it, which is a bigger offense.
What a gal.
Smoke her a kipper, she’ll be back for breakfast.
Wait till she finds that the bike has a built in horn that play’s Desperado.
A win for Sal. She can’t return to the local Target anyway.
She tried drinking in front of it instead of the WalMart once, and someone brought her out a wine and cheese menu.
I wish loitering and drinking alcohol outside Target would get me a wine and cheese menu.
No wine and cheesed. Just the menu.
That would cheese me so much I might even start to whine.
This is so adorable.
Is this the story where they get together? Because I hope it is
My brain will think this whenever they are both in the same strip
I vary wildly between wanting them just to be best friends and wanting them to become a thing.
Same. On the one hand, “Awwww twoo wuv!” On the other hand, we really need more close, male/female friendships without romantic implications in media. I think with these two, I actually lean toward wanting them to be close friends (but not more). We’ll see where things go, though, I guess.
We need more close friendships without people trying to make them “more”, period.
A relationship without sex is not inferior, incomplete, merely an intermediate step, etc.
(as long-time readers know, this is one of my big beefs/peeves with fandom in general.)
I prefer Joyce/Joe and Sal/Danny both as friends, honestly. Honestly of the current cast, the only ones I wouldn’t mind seeing as a long-term relationship goal is Dorothy/Walky. Maybe Becky/Dina but I think Becky needs to go through her growing pains first in regards to sexuality.
That’s funny because the one pairing I’m not a huge fan of is Dorothy Walky
I’m on board with either scenario, but this particular interaction’s so Danny With A Crush Making A Big Gesture that I’m leaning towards ‘ship’ right now.
Finally, he’s done one that he DIDN’T immediately proceed to screw up (‘stupid Yale,’ the entire hospital scene) or accidentally wade into a minefield with (trying to kiss Amber when she described dissociating during the car chase, where he was missing a lot of key information and even AmbG didn’t seem to fully get until then just how separate they were.)
Still, so long as we get Danny and Sal interacting in this particularly sweet bantery way, I’m happy.
Agreed. This Danny and Sal work completely differently from Walkyverse Danny and Sal, so I hope they break the “no rehashing old continuity relationships” rule.
Well, that rule only exists for ships where Willis can’t find a new angle or way to see them, as a way to avoid retreading old ground. Ships that were underdeveloped or have new angles like Robin and Leslie or Ruth and Billie are allowed.
Let’s not forget his terrible talk with Ethan at the hospital.
‘The entire hospital scene,’ yeah, because I couldn’t come up with a single quote for how repeatedly he screwed up there.
Seems so! I mean, the first Sal thing in this storyline was about frustrated sexual/romantic feelings (toward unavailible Asher). And each subsequent scene with her has been about other people hooking up or starting relationships (first her brother, then a previous sexual partner). Adding to the flames of her romntic frustration. And the, as if on que, enter Danny!
(and also I ship it, so… maybe reading to much into it)
Very neatly constructed!
They do bring out the best in each other. Plus drama potential if Danny meets with Jason and learns something that brings his judgemental streak out.
Gotta say, she works fast, I’m impressed.
Well, at least she’ll save money on gas….
Yeah, okay, paying him back with gift cards so she doesn’t feel indebted is a very Sal thing to do.
Indeed, but maybe she’ll learn to ease up around Danny.
There’s a Tumblr post about Dragon Ball Z where Vegeta’s relationship to Bulma is described as “He met a woman who wasn’t intimidated by him and he had no coping mechanism except to marry her”.
I kinda feel like Sal/Danny is a little like that inverted. Sal is a bundle of spiky defense mechanisms and Danny is Too Damn Nice.
It’s like watching a porcupine battle a bag of marshmallows.
This image is hilariously adorable.
I salute your metaphor.
His parents aren’t going to like Sal the way they approved of Dorothy. That’s certain…
Yep. But still a degree of trust that she’ll take the bike, even if she pays for it (for one thing, she gave him the cards without asking how much he paid – even if the Target cards don’t quite cover it, I think she recognizes Danny wouldn’t make a big deal about the difference in cost vs payment.)
Yeah, I don’t think she’d do this with someone who isn’t a trusted person.
I also feel like Danny’s the kind of person who by now would be pretty fine with it since it’s just such a Sal move.
Agreed to both. Danny knows Sal’s prickly and tries the whole loner thing, even if she’s opening up. She still took the bike, which is a win in the Grand Gestures of Giftgiving book, plus he got some Target giftcards.
(This is how you know Danny probably has a crush: his big impulsive actions are usually romantic ones. But this time, he didn’t immediately stick his foot in his mouth while he was doing it!)
Pretty much. They’re very cute.
Dunno. I think Walky would di the same.
Don’cha just love it when the ship you carefully planned and then abandoned like 20 years ago suddenly develops again organically?
Especially since Sal and Danny in DoA seem to have a much more healthy thing going on than their other universe counterparts did.
Well it wasn’t like she was ever going to get to spend those gift cards.
One day I hope the world finally comes to the realization that it’s possible to buy someone a gift and expect nothing in return.
And that it’s okay for nothing to be done in return.
Agreed. I mean, expressing gratitude is nice, but I haven’t ever been disappointed by a baby’s reaction to a surprise present either. And even surprising adults anonymously can net you delightful reactions.
So cute
Oh Sal, believe it or not sometimes, very rarely, people just do things to be nice. Not to own you or make you feel indebted, just to make you happy.
That being said, I do find the idea of her trading Target gift cards in exchange for a bike pretty hilarious.
“Oh Sal, believe it or not sometimes, very rarely, people just do things to be nice. Not to own you or make you feel indebted, just to make you happy.”
I dunno, that sounds an awful lot like fake news liberal propaganda, to me..
It’s also Danny. Good Ol’ codependent Danny who wants his future firstborn to be someone the neighbors will call a “Good Egg.”
Now we can call him Tammy.
Ah yes, the Joe and Joyce method of avoiding romantic situations.
Cheese it it’s the feds.
Sal: So it’s a gift?
Danny: It’s a gift.
Sal:…Sorry still can’t believe it.
Plot twist: All the Target gift cards are used, and have somewhere between 39 and 84 cents left on them.
……You know I’m still wondering what the hell happened to her motorcycle.
We’ll probably find out some time between now and 2037.
Probably.
Fie! Away with you foul optimist!
Before or after we learn how Billie and Ruth broke up?
It was when Ruth bet Billie she couldn’t eat a motorcycle
Is it ironic I keep seeing ads for E-bikes pop up on this sight.
About as ironic as rain on your wedding day.
It’s the monetization we all have to endure.
We hate it, but it’s every link you click on that traces out who you are.
And what are all these spoons doing here?
Don’t judge me. Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you, okay?
Don’t look a gift card in the mouth, Danny!
A gift card with a mouth raises many questions, all with unwanted answers.
Which is a good reason to not look in that mouth!
Even though Sal just did.
Since nobody else seems to have noticed, Willis drew the bike with the drivetrain on the wrong side. The chain and sprockets go on the right side of the bike. There used to be a valid engineering reason for this back in the middle to end of the XX Century, but now it’s for no better reason than backwards compatibility.
But… they are on the right side of the bike. We’re facing the left side. Look at the back wheel and notice that there are no sprockets, and there’s no chain between them on this side, either. We can really only assume them to be on the other side of the bike, even if we can’t see them.
I think he means the drivetrain at the pedals.
And that drivetrain does look to be on the wrong side.
That definitely looks like a chainring on the left side of the crank. In fairness, bikes are tricky to draw, and this is the kind of detail that only bugs a small subset of the typical audience.
Depending on the validity of these sources the reason may still be valid depending on the bike (maybe?). Earlier mountings for drive trains were screw threaded, so chain went on the right tighten the mechanism while peddaling. IIRC sprockets now mount to the wheel with a toothed/notched interface, so it shouldn’t matter which way the chain pulls.
It’s like Opus said. Pedaling action tightened the rear cog/freewheel to the rear wheel, and by the time they went to a splined connector, tradition was just too much to overcome … sort of like why we always mount horses – and motorcycles, and bicycles – from the left (it’s because mounted soldiers wore their saber/sword on the left, and you wouldn’t get your leg tangled in it if mounting from the right, that’s why).
So nuts to that. Only time in the last 50-plus years I’ve seen a chain on the LEFT side of the bike, it was a timing/sync chain between the front and rear crank arms of a tandem bicycle. Willis got the crank arms on Sal’s bicycle on the wrong side. End of story.
Now, if that’s all we’ve got to nitpick over in what — ten frakkin’ years or more of this storyline? — I’m gonna overlook it.
Agreed. The comment wasn’t about disputing Opus. Curiousity drove me to look-up the ‘engineering reasons’ for a right side chain drive.
But this is the wild wild web and respectful discourse is not allowed (RFC1337), I am compelled to point out in universe DyW is Gyallahwehd, and so any changes must be by design. So there, you silly person, clearly it cannot be a mistake. Your father was a hampster and your mother smelled of elder berries.
Gyallahwehd? Google and I are ignorant.
God Allah Yahweh but all mixed together like the big mess they’ve made.
Huh? “we” do what, now? While I never saw a clear preference (and certainly no social impetus) on any of those three, there was definitely an overall tendency to favor mounting a bike, motorbike, or horse from its right side [or, more accurately, a strong tendency to lead on the left side, which then led to remounting from the right]. I’d assume you mean that’s a favored approach in a more formal, militaristic setting? Or perhaps you meant from our left, rather than the left of the object in question?
In any case, you’re comparing mechanical elements (based on cultural elements) to purely cultural elements- that makes for a bit of a rough comparison. And, speaking as someone who spent a lot of time with bikes growing up, I think Opus already nailed the heart of present considerations: It’s mostly a matter of standardization, now. Basically, even if it becomes mechanically possible to do things a different way, if there’s no reason to, it’s better to stick to a formula that’s easier to work with (even if not for parts, then at least for service technicians). That’s going to play a lot more into things than any lingering adherence to tradition, on this kind of matter.
Since it reads a bit more firm in retrospect, please note that the tone of the first section was meant to be playful/teasing.
This is actually really adorable.
Panel 4 is so cute.
I am glad Sal wears the helmet. She’s not stupid, and more responsible than people give her credit for. Her hair looks super pretty with it, honestly.
I get where Sal is coming from, though. Sal’s used to people lording stuff over her, that she owes them. Linda, especially. I think this is a good compromise.
Indeed. It would be rather hypocritical of her not to wear a helmet, considering the crap she gives AmaziGirl about risking getting people killed for being reckless.
I think the only time we saw her ride without one is when she and Danny went riding and that was
A) By word of Willis, so we could see her facial expressions and
B) Sal had just been upset by Marcie refusing to believe her so.
I’m an adult! Please! You can’t buy me, hot dog man!
Is that a reference to Threw It On The Ground?
what else?
Sal, some people are just trying to make you happy. No strings.
(Also, need to make sure a certain someone gets her phone reactivated, “nappy” should not be popping up in my autocorrect)
Is that a short sleep or a diaper? Also, you can reset autocorrect in your keyboard settings. (at least on most ‘droids. Dunno about ios gear)
It’s also a derogatory way to describe afro hair, which makes it kind of funny that it popped up talking about sal
Is it still derogatory if the person using it to describe her own hair is black? Because that’s what this was (according to her) about.
And then Sal rode off, into the sunset, on a bike that most definitely belongs to her.
Though this actually reminds me, a little bit backwards-ly, of a friend who had a crush on me in middle school and invited me to the middle school dance (which cost like $8) and I was embarrassed that he had a crush on me (and as a girl I didn’t want to be beholden to patriarchal tropes lol) and didn’t want to let him pay for my ticket, and so he followed me around attempting to stuff a bunch of dollar bills in my backpack whenever I wasn’t looking.
The dynamic isn’t quite that…but it’s close.
That is adorable. He really tried his best to make sure you could afford the ticket to go ‘on your own’ even if his methods were. Not the most effective if you know that’s something he tried to do.
You know in one way it was. At the time it was pretty annoying. I think it was more about him wanting it to be a date and me not being sure about that. TL;DR in middle school I think I broke his heart, we survived to become close friends who occasionally guest-star in each other’s polycules. Which, tbh, is a plotline that would very much fit into a Willis story. Maybe that’s why I love these comics so dang much hahaha
It’s almost weird to see Danny without something on his head now.
So Sal always has gift cards on her? Did she owe someone one time, never paid them back, got guilty, and carries gift cards to prevent that guilt from growing?
“Stay here Whitebread! Stay right here!” ((Sal rushes off. Ten minutes later, she’s back with a shoebox full of gift cards)) “That should come t’ about $200! Now, the bike is mine fair and square!”
“Actually, the helmet came with the…” ((Sal snatches the helmet off of Danny’s head before he can finish))
Way back in the day, Linda sent presents for Walky, Billie, Sal, and Dorothy. Sal’s gift was the smallest, and may have been just gift cards with no thought behind them.
This is something I’ve been wanting to write about for a while now and looking for the right time to do it, and with Danny now engaging in puns, the most evolved power of bisexuality, I think it’s time I lay my cards on the table.
Danny is, singularly, the most affirming bisexual character I’ve read about in my life.
The great big question of Bisexual Representation is a precarious one, because the only thing everyone can agree on is that it’s lacking. It’s only in the last decade we’ve seen significant strides in Queer representation after realizing what a mess it’s been, and for bi characters that’s manifested in a particular way: as a result of decades of media running with bisexuality as a phase, where the character was just gay in college and then got over it, there’s been a more concentrated effort towards showing bi characters in same-sex relationships. A bi character may start with a partner of a different gender, but the story ends with the same.
To be clear, I don’t resent this. The reality is that bisexual representation in media is in such a place where actively avoiding a lot of the worst, most objectified readings of bisexuality means you’ve already got a leg up. There’s a particularly hated conversation to have about the nature of bisexual representation and how hardline insistence on what is or isn’t “good representation” is, in itself, an expression of biphobia, but when it comes to one Danny Wilcox I feel the question of who he needs to date tends to overpower what actually matters.
Danny is not bisexual in service of finding a boyfriend, Danny is bisexual so he can find himself.
In the rush for trying to make up for the last several decades of shitass bi representation, a lot of bi characters exclusively focus on their relationships, and while romance drama has been a major focus (because it’s DoA and I am here for the juicy, juicy drama), the main fixture of Danny’s journey from denial into ultimate acceptance was Danny himself.
In between his crumbling relationship with Amber that he desperately tried to keep together and his burgeoning feelings for Ethan that eventually crashed and burned, what ultimately got the lion’s share of focus was how Danny himself processed his feelings. In the early years of the comic he was inundated not just in his identity as his Wife’s Husband but in extremely heteronormative values that dictated how he needed to think and act. He needed to be straight because not being straight is abnormal, and Danny had no aspirations beyond being a partner, until one day he’s blindsided by a well chinned hunk landing on top of him and suddenly starts grappling with feelings that, inherently, destroy that normalcy he craved for so long until he eventually realizes that normalcy was keeping him in a painful lockstep for his whole life.
I need to be as clear as possible on this: Danny’s discovery of his sexuality was about him more than it had anything to do with who he was going to smooch, and I have literally never seen this elsewhere in my life.
Oh sure, Danny’s thirst for Ethan’s manly chest was there. Of course it was, you kinda can’t write a story about getting smacked in the face by new feelings if those new feelings aren’t, you know, felt, but what Danny felt was shame as a result of both these new feelings and how they made him some kind of aberrant and, in particular to Danny’s views on monogamy, unfaithful. It’s not until Amber breaks it off with him that he finally finds the resolve to confess his feelings to Ethan, and those feelings weren’t that he was in love, it’s that he wanted to go down on Ethan’s dick. I guess that’s a little tawdry, but I feel the emphasis that Danny is overwhelmingly physically attracted to another man, that he wants to have sex with a person he’s understood his whole life he is never supposed to consider in any way, that was a moment where Danny took ownership of his feelings. He was bisexual, he wanted to have sex with men, he had the capacity to fall in love with a man, and all of those feelings were both new and within him all along.
One of the more frustrating realities of the great big talk of bisexual representation is that, almost uniformly, it focuses on romance. A bi character is only a good bi character if there’s visual, textual confirmation of their bisexuality. A bi dude is only really bi as long as he dates a dude, and he’s only good, non-problematic representation if he sticks with that dude.
And while I’ve been dealing with this particular junkyard for so long I’ve finally realized the actual answer is that we stop getting up in each other’s sandwiches and just let bi characters exist and engage with their sexuality in whatever manner is fitting to them, I had Danny showing me how this shit is supposed to be done.
Danny’s bi, Danny’s got his ukulele, Danny’s a good egg, and most importantly he’s Danny, and I love him with all my heart.
*applauds*
I would like to note that, from my perspective as a somewhat oblivious straight white cis male, much the same applies to Carla. She’s just there, she happens to be trans, except when Mary’s being Mary, no one gives a fuck.
And while I understand the need for trans stories and bi stories and gay stories that are all about that particular feature of a person’s character, because God knows they’ve been wiped out of stories forever, and I understand why readers need characters they can identify with going through the same sort of things they do, I really appreciate stories where diverse characters are just… there. Because surely that’s what we’re working towards, when it’s just an aspect of their overall character that doesn’t need to be harped upon any more than we need to be told over and over that such-and-such a guy is straight, or whatever.
But of course, I’m an oblivious straight white cis male, so I acknowledge that I might actually just be trying to find reasons to not have to focus on all those… things I don’t get and they’re kind of icky so do we really have to talk about them? :p :p :p
Hey now! I thought it was well established that I was the Oblivious white cisheteroishmael.
You’ve been…demoted.
You, you, you…. (sigh)…. you’re right.
🤪
Djentlemen, please. There’s room for all us.
The problem with writing Carla in a story that is mostly about relationships is deciding who Carla will be attracted to in-comic, if anybody. Not that she’s trans, but who she is attracted to. I mean it is already firmly established that she’s trans, but her romantic situation is what is important to the story. Otherwise she’s just a flag waving to attract attention abut how inclusive the comic is.
Say sike right now.
Like I talked about this shit in my bigass essay right above you and then this post happens.
Sure, if you were writing a relationship story about Carla, but that’s not what’s happening here. While there’s a lot of relationship drama in DoA, because there tends to be a lot of relationship drama in college kids lives, there’s also a lot of other drama going on, so Carla has other hooks she can hang her importance to the story on.
Not really?
I think it’s important to have both. We need stories that go into those intense personal details of identity stories, and we need stories where people are just people who happen to be trans, or bi, or any number of qualities, and it doesn’t become a big issue because it doesn’t have to.
I will note that Drew started bi puns first, maybe Danny has been taking lessons.
I love how, since Danny’s realization and the AmbG breakup, he’s let himself focus on connecting more to who he is and what he wants (to be a good egg, primarily.) As you said, he defined himself at the start of the comic EXCLUSIVELY in relation to his girlfriend – which caused Dorothy to break up with him, and made him a pain to watch. Even with AG, he was still thinking of himself in the Lois Lane role.
In a lot of ways, realizing he was bi through Ethan (who was off the table due to mutual consideration for Amber’s feelings) was the best thing that could have happened, because instead of jumping straight into dating the new crush he had time for self-discovery and learning to play the ukulele.
Enlightening someone’s perspective is a gift, and you have been very giving today. Thank you for sharing this Spencer.
Yes, absolutely! My favorite parts about Danny’s character development have been when he hasn’t been trying to deal with a relationship, because the way he’s been approaching relationships has been so unhealthy. He’s been needing to pay more attention to himself, and it feels to me like his bi journey has been in service to that.
I hadn’t been thinking of this in terms of representation, but you’re so right, and this was really nice to read.
I can’t wait to see how Sal will make the bike look cool.
She’ll appear with it in-frame.
Maybe add pegs to the back axle so she can bring Wonderbread along on her next blowing-off-steam ride.
This is perfect! Now Danny can use them to pay off those nice men who called him and helped ‘fix’ his computer!
Sal is very relatable. I’ve always felt very insecure about gifts because they’ve always felt like I’m now in debt to a person and must reciprocate in some fashion.
Sal accepted the gift, even though she repaid Danny with Very Valuable giftcards (seriously Sal?) that doesn’t change the fact. She will remember his nice gesture, perhaps this will help her feel happier and heal the wound that her (probable) loss of her bike has clearly caused to her. Danny is a great friend ♡.
Sal with curly hair gives me SO MUCH LIFE
Sal’s hair deserves a tag of its own.
Aww that’s cute
Technically, Sal, Linda bought the bike as she’s the one who gets you those gift cards. Still, I do think that we’ve learned something about Sal and how deeply she fears the idea of someone ‘owning’ her.
If Linda had sent her those cards in cash form and Sal spent the cash on the bike, Linda has not bought the bike. Same principle here.
That’s probably not how Linda would view it. I wouldn’t put it past her to take credit for buying everything Sal ever buys that’s remotely nice, on the grounds of “I gave birth to you”.
Linda sucks so probably.
That’s exactly the kind of bullshit argument an emotionally toxic person like Linda would make to keep Sal under her thumb. (not saying that’s your motivation here Ben, but the argument is BS. My employer doesn’t feed my kids, I do). What Sal may not realize is that there are related elements in the behaviour of not being able to just accept the gift from Danny. Sal seems to have internalized Linda’s “presents have strings attached” but isn’t willing to use that mentality to behave towards others as such. (i.e. Sal isn’t willing to /give/ with strings attached, she is giving only without strings) At the same time, since Sal couldn’t bring herself to use her mom’s gift cards for anything up till now well… I’m gonna read this more as a gift exchange between friends than as a bike purchase. And if this is what it takes for Sal to feel free of the cards and of any internal misplaced sense of debt for Danny’s gift, then she got two birds with one stone. There may be a veritable treasure trove of stuff to unpack from this exchange but I just don’t have it today. Sal deserves a therapist and/or friends who can help her sort out this crap with Linda though.
I imagine that’s how Linda would see it.
Mind you, Linda also stole money from Sal and undoubtedly never returned it and spent it herself.
Likely spent it for Sal – possibly towards covering the boarding school expenses.
Which is often acceptable dealing with children’s money to some degree, but so much not in this case.
Specifically, she stole it from Sal’s charity. Which is like robbing someone’s money they raised for UNISEF or the Girl Scout’s.
Jesus christ! When did this happen? (i don’t remember it from the comic)
She did in fact, hate her forever
Thank you for the link. I regret asking. I didn’t need the reminder of how awful parents can be. They are people after all.
No, fuck Linda.
Ah, seems like Sal is kinda like a cat.
How? Well: “you don’t own me” then immediately fucks off.
The cat comparison will be complete if, this evening. Sal just walks into Danny’s room (in front of Joe), sits on Danny’s couch next to him and, acting as if it’s her room, asks what he’s doing for dinner and what he’s watching on his laptop.
I really hope she doesn’t sit in the keyboard. This is how analogies are imperfect.
No, but if Sal sits in Danny’s lap, she may put her face in the laptop screen and then turn around rubbing her ass across Danny’s face and now I need to get @Yotomoe’s attention and cross my fingers.
Kinda surprised that Sal would wear a bike helmet, actually!
Why? She wore a motorcycle helmet and she also wears protection for roller derby (though that’s probably required). Besides, what she’ll most likely do right now is jump some stairs.
Ok this is adorable. And it’s making me ship them even more.
Is this some sort of magical helmet which fits Danny snugly, and yet also fits Sal thick, lustrous, manageable, other-shampoo-bottle-adjectives hair?
Modern helmets can be adjusted on the fly.
I’m more perplexed by the fact that Sal managed to unbuckle it in an surprise attack without disturbing Danny’s Scarf at all.
Not that its in any way similar to anything he even suggested but I recently discovered this song and her last words just make Leslie Gore play in my head now.
https://youtu.be/JDUjeR01wnU You don’t own meee
Something tells me she isn’t done paying him back, but really? Target gift cards?
Ok, where’s Joe to slap Danny, and tell him to stop to be so dumb?
Really? Flowers? Bike? Danny, you better go back real life, man.
Joe is taking notes for when he asks Joyce out.
Yeah cuz sal hates it, clearly /s
Is this the sound of a heart melting ?
Danny’s line in the last panel should’ve been “Is this Canadian Tire Money?”
Look it doesn’t work unless you actually pay them.
…I got nuthin except that this is adorable. Seeing Sal get to be adorable is nice. And I like that it’s on her own terms
Well Danny, you got to be Sal official personal shopper, and she liked the selection so you did good.