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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
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Clickhuman interactionJoyce told Amber to shut up in her own room that Joyce was invading without invitation. (Listens hard for sounds of Internet outrage.)
In other news, Joe has succeeded in rebooting Joyce, however ineptly.
And in a part of his brain there’s a flicker, confused about being both excited and horrified at the prospect of “next time”.
Nah, there’ll just be some extra-spicy
mcnug…Spiderman’n’Thor fanfic tonightWait…. SpiderThor? What kind of a crack ship is that??
I guess its the 90’s cartoon Spiderman?
“These are not the hammer.”
…yeah, I’d been wondering when that was going to come up.
Joe is trying, and really, isn’t that a big step forward?
Or at least two steps forward and one step back.
He was always trying. It’s just that now he’s really trying.
I think it means something to Joyce that Joe is trying to be a real human. We’ll see if it means enough though.
I adore stupid clumsy Joe who is trying.
He takes two steps forward, he takes two steps back
They go together ’cause opposites attract
Everyone will be adults during the pandemic. Eventually.
The Pandemic’s only going to go further into the past and this comic is set in a nebulous present, so unless you’re proposing that the Pandemic isn’t going to end that’s not actually true.
That is in fact pretty clearly what they’re proposing.
Proposing? That’s just a fact right now.
The Leopard variant is feasting on faces right now…
It’s pretty obvious it’s not going to end, Thag. The virus it’s based on is the same family as the common cold. What’s going to happen, is that we’re going to continue indefinitely with temporary reprieves of ever shorter duration until society collapses because it’s a great head of panic to keep us all under control.
That it’s the same family means little. SARS was also the same family and that was easily contained.
There is nothing inherent to this disease that keeps us from beating it. There is nothing inevitable about this. If we fail, it’s entirely a failure of politics and human weaknesses.
The refusal to take it seriously and the refusal to help others.
It would be some time regardless, mostly because even with our best efforts getting the whole world vaccinated would be a huge logistical challenge, but it’s a challenge that is certainly beatable.
That’s kinda a bad attitude, eventually the human race will die from the pandemic without reproducing.
Was… that some sort of joke that I’m missing?
Because people are still reproducing just fine. If anything, the pandemic encouraged reproduction. Not much else to do.
How many of those reproductions you reckon were accidents?
Dunno. I thought it was the pandemic that was reproducing.
I know a ton of people who had kids on purpose the past couple of years. You’re not in your late 30’s, that’s why this is inconceivable to you
I mean with the times as though as they are, it’s actually quite the disservice to bring children into the world as it is right now (to the children).
Joke, I assume. Playing off the idea that everyone will be adults in the pandemic – if everyone is adult, there are no children.
Eh, it might seem hopeless, but I give it another year, two tops.
But stay wary — even if the pandemic doesn’t destroy the world, it may very well only pave the way for other artificial and natural forces to finish the job.
The first and foremost of those dangers is climate change. If we don’t address mass fears of nuclear power we can use along side other carbon-free sources, remind me to start building an ark.
Hey, Wagstaff. Remember to start your ark.
Thanks! But we might want to at least try addressing fears of nuclear power and the broader problem of climate change first before throwing in the towel.
We don’t go gentle into that goddamn nightmare.
Old Age should find us safe after the fight
Rage, rage against the twisting of the facts.
The fear is largely irrational and visceral. If we can’t effectively address fears of the Covid vaccine how are we going to effectively address nuclear fears that have been festering since WW2 with contributing factors like Chernobyl, Fukushima, and bad disaster meltdown movies.
I’d start working on the ark. Either that or start pushing for something that might work, like say starting cautious seeding of the upper atmosphere with reflective particles to see how long they last and what kind of effect they have.
That last suggesgion would likely fall under the “chem trails” category by conspiracy theorists, so that’s a no-go.
I can see six options from here:
1. Just hope that people and politicians will realize en mass fhG the dangers of global warming far outweigh the dangers of nuclear power (the safety of which is proven by France and Oklo-Formation in Africa).
2. Build a moon-sized umbrella that could block solar rays and at least buy us enough time to prevent irreversible damage from heat, but not the damage from carbon dioxide.
3. Find a way to shift the orbit of Earth further away from the sun like that one episode in Futurama.
4. Just hope we find some previously unseen advancement in solar or wind power or energy storage that could potentially make up for the opportunity cost of nuclear power.
5. Find a way to petrify all humans for thousands of years like in Dr. Stone, and start civilization over from scratch.
6. It’s a losing battle. The climate change apocalypse is inevitable. Life is cruel.
You forgot:
7) Kill off 90% of humanity. once the corpses finish decomposing, the temperatures should even out in a decade or two.
8) *SIGH* AS AN ALTERNATIVE (wusses), move 90% of humanity into space habitats. That way they die in space, and temperatures even out even quicker.
Very funny, Thanos.
Not much to do with chem trails. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratospheric_aerosol_injection
That’s not gonna stop conspiracy theorists from getting attention at the expense of other people.
Yeah… at least by the looks of it now, I’m gonna have to start building that ark as soon as I can.
OK, I’ll address the broader fears of Nuclear energy: Fukushima and TMI
Nuclear Energy is carbon free, and as long as Humans run reactors AND humans are lazy then that is enough said.
I agree, Nuclear energy is carbon free, it will eventually kill are carbon-based lifeforms… therefor Earth will be carbon free.
OH my God! I completely forgot Chernobyl… shame, shame on me
Did you also forget the Santa Fe incident? Or the Smog of London?
Well we can also adress the problem of where the nuclear waste goes (hint: not in poorer countries seashores this time please), because otherway it’s only a matter of gaining a few decades (that is, if it’d be doable at all to replace all power plants in time for the energy to be decarbonated, lol)
Usually it’s just stored on-site in the plants themselves. Powering a large city for a year produces less then two cubic meters of waste.
There might be a role for nuclear power, but currently renewable capacity is being built out faster than nuclear power has ever expanded. Even in places like China that don’t worry too much about people’s fears.
A radical breakthrough in nuclear power plant tech could change that – fusion is the most obvious candidate, but there are others. Any such breakthrough would likely need decades to make it from concept to working reactor, which means it’s not going to be our climate change savior – we don’t have that kind of time.
Current reactors can be made sufficiently safe (in the short run, though long term waste is huge issue), but that requires strict standards for design, construction, operation and maintenance. All of which increase costs (and construction time) and need to be monitored by outside groups, since the temptation to cut corners is huge.
Nuclear isn’t going to save us. It might have, had we used it more extensively decades ago to replace coal and oil when renewable tech wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is today. Of course, we could have also focused on developing renewables back then and been much farther ahead now.
renewables… like wind were developped by EDF in 1959, but then our government gave up bc of nuclear.
Speaking of which
We do have 70-75% of nuclear produced energy here.
We have a state verification agency to make sure the now private contracto which build them (formerly state-owned) doesn’t cut corners. They still do it.
Oh, and maintenance. Well it’s outsourced. And the contractor outsources it too. I’ don’t know many layers there are here, becasue really, I sleep better without knowing. What is sure is that responsibility is so watered down that if we’d do that to whisky you could use it for infants.
Nah, the solution is not nuclear. I don’t think it’s renewable energy either. It’s sinking the consumption of energy, which is only possible by collectivizing of many tools, relocating work nearest to housing, and all that.
Oh, and stop believing in a miracle tech that will sure exist in five-ten years. Tech alone won’t save our kid’s asses.
No one technology or policy is gonna save us; the point is that we have no time to waste, so it’s only rational to keep ALL of our low-emission players on the field.
Nuclear power, renewables and energy policy altogether shouldn’t be seen as competitors but as partners working together to mitigate climate change as fast as possible.
With any hope, we WON’T have to use Planetina’s solution from Rick and Morty.
We don’t need a breakthrough, there are already nuclear power plant designs that are far safer than what has already been built, they just have to get constructed.
Are you referring to those new “pebble bed” reactors?
From what I’ve read, those make Simpsons style meltdowns virtually impossible.
Hmmmm…. now that I think about it, The Simpsons isn’t exactly helping climate change, is it?
Joe and Amber are a great sibling team. Imagine them as the angel and devil on your shoulder, only it’s not clear which is which because all their advice is terrible but in opposite ways.
They just swap the halo and horns depending on the subject matter.
Binary thinking might be useful for Amber’s computer science major, but definitely NOT for Joyce’s dilemmas.
Sometimes they only swap parts of the costume. Or Angel!Joe protests the tunic is unflattering and gives it a boob window. Or Amazigirl, like a good hero, gives good advice so when she’s taking the wheel, she’s also taking the halo.
*wakes up next to the Voxola-Muzak hybrid system, next to three empty cans of Red Bull and a pile of what looks like coconut smoothie*
So that’s what happened to all my sister’s coconut yoghurt.
Oh Stephen! I’m so glad to see you!
*vacuums up and sprays down coconut smoothie and Red Bull cans*
*detaches Voxola PR-76 and components from Muzak panel*
*returns Muzak panel back to the fuse-lacking state in which it was found*
You’re gonna need these.
*hands over a bag of fuses*
Oh sweet!
*installs fuses one by one back into Muzak panel*
Scowling gravatar checks out with the comment.
What a good party
Some people aren’t exhausted by human interaction, Amber.
Weirdos
Yeah, buncha freaks.
Truly fucked up people.
Indeed. They should get some help.
But they might ENJOY that, which would interfere with the help they get.
It might be difficult for her to know the healthy kinds of interaction, namely because she’s been nigh starved of genuinely healthy people to use as models.
What about her time with Walky… nevermind I’ll see myself out.
Good one though.
Even healthy interactions can be exhausting and need recovery time. I like seeing friends and doing things with them. It’s fun, but I definitely need alone time afterwards.
the hell you say
I’m only exhausted by emotional interaction. Well negative emotions. Positive emotions like “this is cool” isn’t all that exhausting.
Eh. I find positive emotions and interactions still drain the social battery. Maybe a bit slower but it still requires recovery before I go seeking out any more.
So I’m neurodivergent via ADHD + a bunch of other stuff; and have a friend who’s more or less the same but he’s aspie. We always have SUCH AN AMAZING TIME TOGETHER, like, it brings out all the mania I keep normally under control, like, OMG TALKING TOO LOUD TOO FAST HAVING FIVE CONVERSATIONS AT THE SAME TIME, and he’s like, right there all #same
Sometimes months pass without meeting in person, even before the pandemic. Because a shot of UNDILUTED JOY, against all logic, means a longer recovery time. What the fuck is Dopamine (???)
Sounds like your brains both burn tons of calories!
This looks like a perfect
excuseopportunity for me to try deep frying some Pan de Queso!By the way, I thought Aspergers Syndrome was no longer recognized. Or is that a way of referring to something else?
Oh yeah, it’s been re-classified (basically the Autism Spectrum is more of a sundae buffet than a “more functional-less functional” dial). But he likes the aspie label, since he’s been using it for a long time and all :’3 And because it sounds less medicalized.
*Noms on delicious, delicious Pan de Queso because MIDNIGHT MUNCHIES and also, what a glorious idea*
A few years ago I had a couple friends who were diagnosed with Aspergers before it got officially reclassified as part of the autism spectrum disorders, and I remember when I would hang out with them we got along extremely well and had great times together. And now I finally understand why, because I’m pretty sure I have the same thing as them.
I doubt even current terms will survive once psychology and the DSM get a well-needed massive overhaul. For all I know, it’ll be called “bapo” in 50 years from now.
Either way, I’m sure your brains could use some high calorie foods too!
It’s a “birds of a feather thing”, I feel. A big percentage of my group of friends only realized they were queer after making friends with other queer people. And before we knew it, our group was 100% composed of queer people who had unknowingly sought each other because #Something resonated.
Makes sense to me that neurodivergents feel at ease with neurodivergents. We get each other’s brainwaves ;3
Quite a fascinating human phenomena, that people somehow get drawn to each other like this…
A perfect opportunity to explore in science!
Investigating. Is that what we’re calling whatever that was Joe did? I didn’t know it involved so much crawling on the floor.
that was the exfiltration afterward.
If you aren’t crawling on the floor, you are doing it wrong.
It’s recon. Obviously he had to sneak past the guards.
Joe was never there.
It also involves Mission Impossible music
Is she…Mad at Joe and appreciative of him at the same time?
Yep. That’s quite impressive .
I love these idiots
Between the shaky smile and the line around his eye, Joe looks so tired/guilty/concerned/consoling here. I’m not quite sure the word I’m looking for, but it’s an expression I don’t see on Joe very often and I think it’s conveyed well.
Weird thought, but it’s entirely possible that both Joyce and Amber know who Scott Cawthon is. Amber for obvious reasons, and Joyce because Scott did an animated version of Pilgrim’s Progress before he became the Five Nights at Freddy’s guy.
I don’t get it.
Cawthon used to work on a bunch of Christian propaganda cartoons, which had about the level of polish and quality you’d expect from that genre. He tried making some games, some critics (especially Jim Sterling) said his characters looked like soulless, haunted Cuck E. Cheese animatronics, and he decided to make a bunch of crappy video games based on that premise. Nowadays, I hear he’s more or less spending his fat stacks of cash on those worthless societal drains who are destroying America.
Disney+ and whatever they are calling Paramount now?
Heh. It’s actually just called Paramount+. Just like Disney which leads me to believe adding a + sign to your logo will be the trend for network streaming services now. Mainly cause it’s easy, cheap, and uncreative.
Oh yeah, the two would very likely know who he is, at least tangentially. Can’t imagine either being terribly impressed with the person he is.
Honestly I didn’t even know there was a controversy.
Long story short, he donates the maximum donation amount to a lot of not great people. Like, a lot a lot.
Probably donates to republicans
In Joe’s defense, he really didn’t have enough context to tell her before. Like all he had was, “Joyce looked at a phone sad, what do?” and Becky having a curious reaction to that. Without knowing what Joyce saw, that’s not really anything to report.
Yeah, really all Joe did is make Becky wonder what might be up. Unless she got the same notification to her Facebook account, she won’t automatically make the connection.
She knows what day it is and she knows from Joe that Joyce had the some sad look on her face that she did when she first thought of it.
Perhaps the information you are missing is that Facebook Memories tend to come on the anniversary of the original post.
It’s her mom’s birthday. She knows.
She knows the significance of the date but she doesn’t know for certain that this is what is making Joyce sad and withdrawn.
Do we know that Becky had a Facebook when her mom died and posted to it? I don’t Facebook, but doesn’t there have to be a post for a memory to pop up?
Out of curiosity, did anything in particular bring this up?
This was meant to be a reply to Some1’s FNAF comment.
Because I saw that the Five Nights at Freddy’s guy did a janky Pilgrims Progress adaptation and how could I not bring that up.
Ah, and you decided to bring it up in a discussion of what was at best a tangentially related topic. I get it
It’s the Internet way.
I still say Wagstaff should get busy on the Ark.
Joyce was sad, Joe was concerned because bubbly girl isn’t often sad. Joe went to investigate to attempt to restore the bubbles
I wonder whatever happened to Laurence Welk’s old machinery.
The third panel is comedy gold♡. Amber is right and wrong at the same time.
“Now, come with me. We’ve got to take care of this.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Watch it!”
“Sorry. Yes, dear.”
“Better. Remember that.”
The knowledge of someone else thinking of things is not the purpose for the interaction, it is the comfort of sharing grief and being able to have that be both expressed and heard.
Simple knowledge that someone else understands isn’t enough.
It’s why those “I’m sorry for your loss.” things always ring hollow and do nothing to help.
I am sorry for you loss is a socially acceptable way of failing to express the inexpressible.
Yeah, they don’t really help, but they’re better than standing there saying nothing awkwardly.
Doesn’t have to be verbal.
Sometimes a hug conveys things better than words.
Sometmes getting someone to leave an environment where they feel socially obligated to remain but is clearly unhealthy can be the best option for them.
…yeah, no, Amber only thinks she would.
I am a stone-cold introvert. My idea of a fun friday social night is logging into an MMORPG. I have to be cajoled out of my cave for social human interaction.
And Quarantine is HELL. I can’t imagine how much worse it’d be if my sister wasn’t also WFHing, and my parents weren’t retired, and thus we’re all able to be isolated from the world and visit each other enough for social and physical contact.
FFS, when I finally got to hug my parents again last year after months of nothing but Zoom calls… just… so happy a moment…
♥
On the other hand … I am also a stone cold introvert. My preferred fun Friday social is hanging out playing random games while listening to youtube videos.
And quarantine was the best while it lasted. The only way it could have possibly been a better stretch of time is without the constant reminders that people were dying en masse outside and a crazy man was doing his best to ruin everything at the same time.
For some quarantine was kinda fun.
My life has not changed in the slightest.
It gave me pause for reflection that I then ignored.
Short pack says otherwise about amber and the pandemic
I didn’t realize the pandemic existed in this world
Only in the animated series. We’re gonna save a fortune on lip sync work!
Fuck, that’s actually a really good idea. I wonder if it’s been done, masks as a cost-cutting thing.
Does Synchro-Vox count?
Frick.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9VPw9AVEbCk
It will have been ancient history by the in-comic next semester.
Panel 3 Joe is Joyce’s preview of what “My Goofy Boyfriend” looks like!
Amber hates human interaction so much that she keeps interacting with Joyce and Joe even when they’re not paying any attention to her.
Confirmed: Amber is a cat
Amber is a cat!
They’re also in Amber’s room, so it’s somewhat difficult to ignore them, but I think Amber being a cat is the most important thing here.
Amber doesn’t seem like any cat I’ve ever had. She isn’t slamming herself bodily against everyone present while loudly demanding they give her attention and affection.
No, she’s just in the shunning them phase. The great thing about cats is how they’ll switch from one to the other with no notice. Except claws.
They are in her room and they did initially come for her advice. Though the “Amber is a cat” theory seems likely too.
All three of them have a very valid point.
For reference, here’s the part Joe just mentioned:
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/05-as-long-as-its-free/darntootin/
That reminds me, Joe may have accidentally picking up some brownie points with Becky, by acknowledging her as Joyce’s bestie.
Which is interesting because Dorothy is clearly the better friend to Joyce
Becky isn’t going to go away to Yale and leave her.
Growing up with someone means a lot. Especially considering so many things from Joyce’s childhood have soured. Plus, Becky’s been through one hell of a year and I don’t think Joyce minds granting her some grace.
Oh, I thought I was replying to a comment someone made on today’s comment. That’ll learn me not to leave tabs open
No no no, keep going, Amber
Another strip where I’m finding Amber too relatable.
amber is helping
Things that pisses Amber Off:
1. Human interaction
2. The idea that Joedad and Stacy are happy together.
3. See 1# again
So, this isn’t relevant today in the slightest but I was just reading some old comics.
Couldn’t Joyce just buy some cleaning supplies and wash out a shower stall before she used it? Just the floor, if nothing else? I understand why this might be impractical oe impossible in terms of time but I wonder if it’s something her neuroses would allow.
Or she can just take her glasses off before getting in the shower, and let myopia hide all the hair and grime.
Great. Now I have to buy more hard lemonade. Happy now?