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It's a pretty rigid format but we keep the content loose, you know?
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After the events in Demon's Mirror, Gerda has accepted her role as a Demon Hunter, and Cezar has traveled back to the Demon City. Demons have existed alongside humans for millennia, so things begin to return to normal. But an impossibly powerful Relic has been taken by one of the Demon Masters, and a silent war enters its final stages.
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Our heroes must navigate a hazardous dating scene, overcome personal anxieties, and wrangle unruly seafood in order to find love, peace of mind, and a paycheck.
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I like to think Zoomr’s AI is programed with Carla’s personality.
It’s like having a digital assistant who combines elements of Bender and Bad Janet. Not entirely unhelpful, but certainly going to belittle you in the process.
…Actually I could see that being extremely popular with young people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people don’t install rude and obnoxious personalities on actual AI assistants in the future.
My husband likes putting ChatGPT into “rude mode” – apparently if you explain that you have a rare medical condition that means you interpret politeness as rudeness and vice versa, so please can it be insulting to avoid offending you, it does its best to accommodate…
Ooh ooh I know this one, it’s actually pennies! Most other coins are actually made mostly of copper and coated in nickel, while pennies are mostly made of zinc and coated in copper.
I actually keep a modest collection of weird coins that I’ve found in my register at work. Mostly old wheat pennies, a decent number of Canadian pennies, a few from other countries, and one very old American Nickel dated to 1898.
Fun fact about old pennies: prior to 1982, they actually were made of copper, bronze, or gilding metal (another copper alloy), and without checking the date or coloration, you can tell if a penny is that old or older by their sound – the ones made primarily of copper make a clear ringing sound if you flip them or drop them on a hard surface, while the zinc ones don’t. Nor do the steel pennies made in 1943 due to a shortage of copper, which I also have one of.
To be clear, this information is probably useless if you do live in the US – pennies are basically worthless and knowing what they’re made of doesn’t help you spend them.
It may be of general interest that nobody really wants to keep pennies in circulation except for the zinc lobby. They need pennies to have a reason to keep mining zinc.
Didn’t get to comment in time for yesterday’s strip, Walky’s reaction reminds me of the time I was taken to a pentecostal church. Everyone grouped up together, strangers began putting their hands on my shoulders while chanting, and the neighbor woman I went with burst into tears and began to weep. It was terrifying. I asked the neighbor later why she cried and she said she was touched by ‘the holy spirit’ and that’s when I decided for sure that religion wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel any holy spirits, I just wanted to run away!!
I had a similar reaction to the mandatory chapel services I had to attend in college. Absolutely terrifying. (I was brought up in a different kind of weird denomination growing up–no laying hands on people, and no random bursting into tears. Also no instruments allowed or else you’d go to hell or something, lol)
I grew up with a weird soup of different Christian stuff. Similar to Joyce’s family, mine shopped around at different churches. I think in total I’ve attended churches for Pentecostal, Baptist, we went to a Catholic church one time for some reason??? and none of them struck a cord for me. I usually asked too many questions for their liking.
I went to a conservative Christian university for a couple years, and we had to attend a certain number of chapel services per semester. I especially hated it because the services were in the morning, and I’d prefer to sleep in. I stopped caring eventually and was sentenced to remedial Jesus classes as a result.
Oh, I belonged to one of those for part of high school. No instruments because they aren’t mentioned in NT worship. *shrug* It was cool that we had shape note hymnals.
Got me through school without getting pregnant, so there’s that.
I’ve known a lot of people who found exercise a lot easier if they could distract themselves with conversation. I’d go on like a 10km run or be doing pushups or whatever with them and they’d be chatting the whole time trying to get me to talk back to them and I’m just there struggling to breathe at all and using all my concentration to keep my body doing the things!
i always find it best to have a personal trainer telling you wrong facts about transformers while working out, really distracts you from the work at hand
To be fair, I didn’t sound as if Jacob was *planning* for the bench press, since he didn’t expect to have a spotter. And since we didn’t see Jacob enter (to my recollection), with our perspective joining when Joe/Joyce arrived, I’m not sure we can make any definitely claims about what Jacob had *already* done to warm up before we joined the picture.
Sorry you feel that way, but I bet you’ll get a handle on it someday really soon. Skills just take practice.
PS.
If it makes you feel better, I don’t really think Sarah gets away with it, as a lot people she knows don’t seem to like her all that much (or find her abrasive).
Thank you for the encouragement That’s an interesting point about Sarah. I think she gets a lot of criticism from the commentariat and it gives a very easy target to characters who are already predisposed to dislike her (Raidah & co, Lucy), but for the most part characters who know her get that she is how she is and don’t take her grouchy misanthrope demeanour too personally or anything.
Yep, the main characters mostly like her fine. Especially with the revelation that Jacob was happy to see her, I’d say she’s liked by everyone she actually wants to like her, Lucy possibly excepted.
(Note that I don’t think Sarah wants most people to hate her; I think she wants indifference. But she will take hate, and on some level finds it preferable (that level being familiarity — Joyce actually caring about her was unnerving, and opening up enough to let herself care about Joyce in turn was scary, as she’s already been burned on this pretty badly once before, and we can see how that impacted her behavior with Jacob, outright telling him he wouldn’t like her once he got to know her, and taking some extremely sad comfort in being “proven right”).)
But also, being liked by everyone you know is overrated. Not that it’s easy to let go of wanting that — but most of us only have a few close friends, and if someone isn’t your friend and isn’t important to you… it only really matters that they not dislike you enough to antagonize you!
From my point of view, I would genuinely suggest that you not take this as an example of “how to be blunt,” because there’s “blunt” and there’s “Wow okay Sarah, go fuck yourself,” and this is very definitely “go fuck yourself” territory.
A lot of the time I can deal with Sarah’s misanthropy – particularly when it’s in her own space. But this from-the-moon hostility in response to someone being in a public environment? Christ.
My reaction to this strip is that Dorothy seriously needs some self-respect.
Oh I absolutely get that Sarah has (intentionally) terrible social skills and is very rude, but like, she can be ‘go fuck yourself’ rude and nobody bats an eye and I really envy that because it’s like, the exact opposite of the eggshells I feel like I’m always walking on.
I don’t understand what “from the moon hostility” means if it’s about this strip, because Dorothy asking a kind of a stupid question, and Sarah’s just answering it plainly instead of dropping 1000 hints or being passive aggressive.
Dorothy needs some self-respect because she’s probably staying in the exercise room to be close to Joyce, not to exercise or help someone else exercise.
If Dorothy wanted to be a good wingwoman, she could ask Jacob something that Sarah knows a lot about or interests her. Dorothy keeps notes on everyone, she would know if Sarah was into Tree Law or something.
Yeah I don’t get why everyone seems to think Sarah is being overly harsh. Are they assuming she’s like screaming at the top of her lungs or something? Sometimes in life you get told to fuck off and that doesn’t mean the person saying it is the devil.
Particularly with that look she gave her. That fuck-you glare is absolutely part of it.
Also demanding an explanation for your presence in a public space isn’t helping either. “Fuck you, I got as much right to be here as you do.”
So you’ve got multiple parts:
“Hello, Sarah” -> “Go away”
“Hello, Sarah” -> Angry glare
“Hello, Sarah” -> Demand to know why you’re in this public space you have every right to be in.
“[Angry glare] What’re you doing here? Go away.” in response to someone saying “Hello, Sarah” in a public place is “from the moon” hostility, yeah. It is.
And don’t say she was already glaring or something or that it’s just RBF because panel one is very clear she was not. Angry glare + (effectively) “fuck off” in response to “hello” would absolutely get a “WOW okay fine, I will, go fuck yourself and don’t call me” out of me.
as long as you’re not hostile about it and apologize when you offend ppl.
Tho i’m sure there are phrases to look up to use instead like that chart where it’s like “instead of saying “sorry for annoying you”, say “thank you for listening” instead” and all that
but other than stuff that does sound insulting to ppl i’m sure ppl are prolly used to the occasional awkward person unless everyone else arounds you happens to be charming conversationalists but i’d just prolly say straight up that i’d be bad at communciating with some ppl
I think she “gets away with it” because she doesn’t care if she offends anyone. Or at least she tells herself that she doesn’t care, and is perfectly fine with driving people away. She isn’t exactly a role model in this regard, but I think a lot of people could benefit from a thicker skin.
Bear in mind that at the moment 100% of her neural bandwidth is in use for savoring this moment with Jacob. We may be seeing admirable self-control, all things considered.
No idea why you got so many people telling you not to follow Sarah’s example, as if anything you said suggested you were looking at her as a role model, but!
Getting over awkwardness is a big Fake It Til You Make It thing, imho. If we can successfully internalize the truth, which is that no one is even 10% as aware of our mistakes as we are (because everyone is simultaneously hyperaware of their OWN mistakes and convinced everyone else is too — a very natural and normal but self-destructive kind of self-absorption)… well, that helps.
You feel more awkward than anyone around you actually THINKS you are. You’re remembering and beating yourself up for every time you’ve ever put a foot wrong, but the reality is that no one else remembers and most people didn’t even notice it happening in the moment.
It’s VERY hard to really internalize that, even for the fully neurotypical brain. But it does help you relax if you can.
Thanks Li, I feel like you really saw through to the heart of my feelings behind that comment That sort of awkwardness and uncertainty and worry about how people will take everything I say is exactly what I could do without.
A +1 to Sarah’s behaviour (and people’s acceptance of it) not being particularly true to life. Like, I choose to interpret an awful lot of her behaviour as comic exaggeration, because the level of misanthropy is intolerable IMO.
Direct communication is great, but there’s a lot of people leaning into the idea they shouldn’t have to make any effort – but everyone should make an effort to be pleasant. It’s not magical or effortless to even the most charming, extroverted person you know. Saying “good morning” to your coworkers and “hi” when a friend/ly acquaintance says hi is just making everyone’s life a little more pleasant.
If someone is trying to start a conversation beyond “hey” and you don’t want it, saying “I can’t concentrate right now, can we talk later?” or even “go away please” in a friendly tone is fine.
It seems I have inadvertently stirred up a bit of a hornet’s nest here It’s ok, I have no intention of trying to emulate Sarah’s behaviour here or treat her as a role model, as much as I personally really enjoy the comically exaggerated misanthropy of this fictional character (which I interpret as a less-than-healthy defence mechanism on her part for what it’s worth)
Do you think this is a subtle hint that Jacob is looking for a relationship but is worried Sarah only wants him for his “taut bod?” (that is something people say right?)
Perhaps, though she also really liked Walky’s mysterious abs despite his garbage diet. I do imagine that if Dorothy and Jacob were to dabble it’d be more of an intellectual/personality based attraction!
She definitely did defend her interest in Walky to JOYCE by saying “have you seen his abs”, but I agree that that wasn’t actually in her top ten list of reasons to date him (which she definitely had, because she’s a nerd). I think it was intended to do exactly what it did: get Joyce at least briefly off her back about her taste in boys by making her imagine caramel abs.
Jacob definitely wants to have something more than a surface level relationship, which I feel like he can see himself having with Sarah, but she acts too surface level as a defense mechanism so often.
Yeah, he’s been shown to actually really enjoy her company if she can let her guard down, like when they’d talk about Joyce a bit, but she is so averse to vulnerability that it’s very tough for her.
That’s been a really interesting subtext to all of this: Sarah and Jacob seem to be pretty aware of where the other is on this, the question is just if Sarah can make certain steps, and if Jacob wants more than a friend here.
Yeah, maybe. Like Jacob and her are both aspiring lawyers, and that seems to be something he wants, even if with Raidah, some of the other stuff that came with her he realized were him trying to follow his brother’s lead.
Jacob sees something in Sarah and really enjoyed when she was able to talk to him about Joyce since it was one of the only times Sarah ever opened up with him, and I think he basically sees Sarah as someone who can be a lot of fun if she stops getting in her own way.
I honestly think Dorothy and Jacob together could work really well. They both are ambitious, directed, and study-focused. Their dates could largely be time spent studying together (instead of, in Dorothy’s last relationship, something that takes up time in *addition* to study time). In Dorothy/Jacob, *both* members of the couple could help each other grow.
My main concern would be that they might be *too alike* and could combust/spiral down Dorothy’s current nervous breakdown together.
well he did tell her and joyce directly that time they had pizza that he didn’t wanna be seen as ‘more than just a sexual object’ to others but it would be nice if they ended up having something casual. tho be curious to see if sarah was still ‘thirsty’ over jacob if she did somehow hookup with someone else in the meantime
With most of the people we’ve seen Raidah interacting with, there’s this extremely negative shoe waiting to be dropped: Jennifer, Lucy, and Asher all think she’s a perfectly nice person, and if they knew how she talks about them or their loved ones behind their backs, they would be horrified and upset. In fact, apart from Sarah, the only in-comic character left who Raidah seems willing to go mask-off with is Carl.
(I think Jacob was starting to get glimpses, and maybe this was a factor in him ending the relationship too? But mostly we can assume he didn’t see the person who would conspiratorially tell a friend to pretend to laugh at someone else’s jokes and then sneer over another “friend’s” interest in Star Wars.)
Still, we know Raidah isn’t a complete monster. And it would be narratively interesting for Sarah to get to see more of that. For her to get to see some vulnerability from Raidah that she wasn’t expecting. Also too, we know that the source of the rift between them was, on SOME level, a misunderstanding: Raidah was furious with Sarah for “getting Dana kicked out just so she could study”, which we know is only a shallow reading of events, and Raidah remains upset because “Dana’s home isn’t safe”, which doesn’t seem to be something Sarah ever knew, and might not be something Sarah believes, coming from Raidah.
So there’s dramatic potential here, both for a more positive “shoe drop” for Sarah than for any other cast member, and for Dana to simultaneously corroborate both girls on what they think happened. If Raidah ever learns exactly how bad off Dana really was; if Sarah learns that going to her dad about it was still the wrong thing to do — like… there’s possibilities here.
(Joyce and Raidah’s current level of beef is different; while initiallly Joyce wasn’t consciously trying to get Jacob to cheat on her, towards the end it was definitely a conscious effort that Joyce rationalized on the basis of True Love. So Raidah trying to wreck Joyce’s whole social circle — which I think is what’s going on, given her last words to Jacob on the subject and the fact that she first approached Jennifer — is obviously something of an overreaction, but it’s not rooted in a misunderstanding the way her beef with Sarah is.)
But then again, I really like Raidah. I like her design and her expressions. I like her as a petty villain, and I’d love to see her turn that around someday. I see her relationship with Sarah as the easiest vehicle for some kind of redemption arc.
Also they’re both very pretty and I would like it if they kissed 8)
You know, I could be conflating that with what other characters have said about each other’s homes! Maybe I’m misremembering something Jennifer (then Billie) said about Ruth’s home…?
Either way the meat of my thoughts stand! If Raidah and Sarah both realize “hey, she was right about something re: Dana that I didn’t know at the time”, it could be a healing moment for them both. Either way, dramatic potential, and a plot twist that wouldn’t require anyone to be a Terrible Person.
well becky did call jacob ‘the biggest dorothy i have seen’, so i wouldn’t be surprised if they do hit it off and ‘accidentally’ flirt/seems like flirting even if it isn’t intentional, while sarah’s just fuming XD;
she stays in shape herself but i imagine she wouldn’t have meticulously researched everything about weightlifting and such (or maybe joes talked about it when hanging out with danny as a 3rd wheel but she just kinda ignored it/didn’t care)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought when you spotted someone lifting weights you needed to be (1) someone who was strong enough to help the lifter with the weight should they need it and (2) standing by in a position to be able to immediately do that if it became necessary. There is no way Sarah would be able to do either of those, especially from the location where she is standing.
Standing nearby absolutely, but you don’t need to be as strong as them, no – usually the difference between “can” and “cannot” finish the lift is a couple pounds, so you don’t have to lift the whole weight, just provide some extra support. You’re also standing and have different leverage (like, can use your legs).
I would assume jacob would know well enough if sarah ended up not being as helpful but i’m sure someone ‘weaker’ than him grabbing the pole even for a second might help if his arms felt briefly weak
Her current position seems like the correct one to me, based on what I’ve seen other spotters do, but I don’t know anything concrete about this stuff. And my understanding is that Sarah’s fairly strong, so I don’t feel she’d be unable to help.
Nah. You’re almost never taking the whole weight – you should go to failure, but that means “cannot lift all the way”, not “total collapse”, unless you’ve misjudged.
If someone is struggling, you can actually just use your fingers to steady it and it will help a lot. Given she’s inexperienced, and Jacob’s clearly used to training without a spotter, so no way is he getting anywhere near complete failure.
ppl always say weather talk is boring but ppl bring it up a lot, considering all the changes, tho ‘boring’ /meaningless convos is nice among friends time to time
Yeah, but Sarah is using it as a placeholder. She could have said, “Wow, that snow sure came down like crazy,” or “did you notice how bright it is today?” Or even “capitalist pigs have destroyed our weather systems, Jacob, and I want to eliminate them.”
But she chose the laziest route of communication to try and monopolize his time as she objectifies Jacob
Dina (not shown): oh, that is a cue for social interaction! *pops out from behind weight machine* “yes, this snowy weather is rather good at protection against random dinosaur encounters!”
–Dave, Sarah: JESUS DINA WERE YOU THERE THIS WHOLE TIME
Oh gods, does Sarah not get it still.
I mean, sure, having a conversation with your crush is hard, but it’s been established (pretty sure she should know this too) that Jacob is not interested in being objectified as sexy, he wants to be intellectually challenged. If Sarah can not offer this, she should back off. This is creepy.
Maybe he even is sapiosexual? I have not analyzed every single of his flirts/relationships.
Sarah is being weird and creepy. Gender swap this situation and it’s a guy leering at a woman who’s just trying to exercise. Won’t even talk to her just stares at her body. Nope Jacob deserves better.
so Dotty was crossing lines with Joyce and Joe yesterday, but because Sarah didn’t couch her comment in sugar and roses suddenly Dotty has every right to be a third wheel. The way some people treat Sarah absolutely baffles me, so many double standards.
Well, Joyce and Joe are dating. Most likely they want to spend time together, just the two of them. Whereas Jacob seems uncomfortable with the way Sarah is acting, and is okay with having Dorothy there.
In this strip are History’s Greatest Monster, and someone who is pretty and cute with a heart of gold, but terrible at socializing, and they’re in the same room with their crush and they don’t know what to do. And Jacob.
Honestly, I get disliking either girl, but I think there’s some latent misogyny in hating them.
Maybe you really dislike tsundere as a trope — Sarah’s not gonna be your cup of tea, but if you don’t feel the same way about the many, many, many male examples of the trope (House MD, Tony Stark and Doctor Strange, Doctor Cox from Scrubs… weirdly high percentage of doctors in this list tbh, esp since Tony definitely has doctorates)… then yeah, it’s probably at least partly the narrower band of Acceptable Female Charactet Traits.
(Dorothy, I feel like, gets a lot of hate for being Too Perfect and therefore boring (which she isn’t), as well as a lot of flak for her perceived self-righteousness/arrogance, and a loooot of that isn’t even “less tolerant for abrasiveness in female characters”, but straight-up just… misreading the text? It’s… interesting.)
And again, y’all can dislike them. I’m really just talking about the segment of the comments that rushes to take everything they say in the worst possible way. Sarah’s social awkwardness is deliberate targeted abuse, Dorothy’s Mom Friend tendencies are abusive, etc.
I see a comic where Dorothy awkwardly fled a potentially romantic moment with Joyce and Joe that she hadn’t meant to intrude on, only to pratfall directly into ANOTHER similar moment with Sarah and Jacob. She doesn’t mean any harm, but Sarah is understandably flustered.
Also, Sarah is drooling a little over Jacob’s body, and Jacob is saying “hey my eyes are up here, how about some conversation”; not upset or even, imho, uncomfortable, but nudging her. She responds even more awkwardly. I’d be surprised if she weren’t feeling super embarrassed to have been called out, even as subtly as he did it. Whether she’s being “creepy” or not is gonna depend on follow-up strips, imho.
I’m an idiot who sat here for five minutes wondering how you thought Dorothy was “History’s greatest monster.”
I understand now, but I think they’re both socially dumb with hearts of gold.
Sarah’s heart is just surrounded by barbed wire, sharp shooters, and rabid dogs is all
the joke is that the compassionate description applies to multiple characters in the strip, and the hyperbolic accusation is made against those same characters in the commentary. It is a joke that amuses me if nobody else, so I will probably tell it too many times.
And Jacob is there too.
Same. There’s a line here and she might cross it in future strips, but even gender-swapped I wouldn’t have an issue with this: they’re friends, and Jacob isn’t intimidated or frightened by Sarah’s ogling.
I do think he’s a lil bit exasperated by it — I think his request for conversation is a nudge to do less ogling — but there’s a line here that Sarah hasn’t crossed yet.
She still has the opportunity to be an ass about this, but just finding people super hot isn’t itself a boundary violation, even if the person you find super hot isn’t interested in you.
Yeah. He’s aware of it and doesn’t seem to be bothered, as far as I can tell at least (though he’s expressing that he’d prefer more conversation at the same time).
I don’t think the problem is the ogling. The problem is ONLY ogling. She could make some effort beyond this basic level, like Jacob has asked for twice.
I love Sarah, I love how blunt she is, but she’s not trying today
Wow, I really don’t think the people in the comments section defending Sarah or lambasting Dorothy would interpret this scene that way IRL.
Dorothy: decides it might be nice to work out inside and hang out with her friend. Manages to make her friend uncomfortable, then double down by putting her foot in her mouth epically re: autism, and is basically told to fuck off by her bf (not to say Joe was being awful, but accidentally encroaching on a date is awkward as hell).
Goes to say hi to her other friends. Is told to go away without even a “hi” because Sarah is so busy staring at Jacob’s body to the point she’s incapable of holding a conversation (yeah, I do think that’s super yikes. There’s enjoying the view, and there’s this: and this is dehumanising).
Like. No one’s the devil here, but it’s pretty normal to expect to be able to go to the gym and say hi to your friends. -_-
I think part of it is the ongoing Dorothy Fatigue. She keeps showing up in almost everyone’s scenarios, lately, and so the people who don’t care much for her may be feeling a bit overexposed. I like her well enough, but I’ll admit I’m looking forward to seeing characters that aren’t Dorothy, Walky, Lucy, and Joe.
My read on Sarah isn’t *that* negative, like maybe she’s mostly worried she won’t be ready to react when she needs to if she starts talking to people.
But I feel bad for Dorothy for real… She tries to socialise, she tries to help others, but nobody really acts like they want her around. Which… been there :/
…Just in case anyone is having trouble getting things done, as I am, Laura plays “Classical Music for When You’re On a Deadline” on the hacked egg timer:
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 ⋅ 19h
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?"
wilbur, savvy enough to know he's in a comic strip but still not a great actor, awkwardly lifts a muffin up into frame so that we, the audience, understand that he has a muffin right now, which is very important narratively, but he's not really selling it well as an organic, human action
confirming that the reason there's been no Galaxy Version female characters in Blokees until now is that they felt they needed to make Round Lady Thighs For Ladies
It's #webcomicday? We have a special day???
Well, my name is Pat McHoarney and I draw 69 Mouse-Ear Blvd, a multigenerational story about women who all have sexy legs and probably other features. There was a grandmother, but she wasn't hot and so she died off-panel.
Elizabeth Holmes is in prison for defrauding investors through her blood-testing company, Theranos. Her partner, Billy Evans, is now trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as “the future of diagnostics.” nyti.ms/3FbtZm9
www.ebay.com/itm/23609767...
selling my netflix war for cybertron megatron -- the walmart exclusive one that came with pinpointer and lionizer (but being sold here without pinpointer and lionizer)
Gran... IS ALIVE?
okay, juliette still has brown hair, so this is probably definitely a flashback
i'm just surprised that the comic has remembered her, at all
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com ⋅ 19h
Pavel
@spavel.bsky.social ⋅ 10d
The New York Times @nytimes.com ⋅ 5d
preternia @preternia.com ⋅ 3d
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“Zoomr, bring up a ChatGPT for Jacob to talk to so I can concentrate”
I like to think Zoomr’s AI is programed with Carla’s personality.
It’s like having a digital assistant who combines elements of Bender and Bad Janet. Not entirely unhelpful, but certainly going to belittle you in the process.
…Actually I could see that being extremely popular with young people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people don’t install rude and obnoxious personalities on actual AI assistants in the future.
You can get Mr. T on your GPS. “Fool! You missed your turn! Go back!” (I’m guessing.)
And also: BRITISH NATIONAL TREASURE BRIAN BLESSED.
“HAWKMEN… DRIIIIIIVE!!!”
Hey, I’m in.
Or Matt Berry.
“Abandon the vessel immediately.”
(Unfortunately I can’t find a clip from the episode where the voice acting session was for a GPS, but the submarine stuff also fits.)
My husband likes putting ChatGPT into “rude mode” – apparently if you explain that you have a rare medical condition that means you interpret politeness as rudeness and vice versa, so please can it be insulting to avoid offending you, it does its best to accommodate…
Welp that’s getting added into my custom instructions…
As a young person I can confirm I absolutely want that
The problem with an AI with Carla’s personality is that the answer to any question somehow gets twisted into being about how great Carla is.
And occasionally how Booster’s sister should be made aware of the existence and therefore greatness of aforementioned Carla?
I always wanted to program a GPS that would get snarkier the more you messed up.
“That was your turn. I guess I’ll find you aNoThEr one.”
“Hey, remember that time I told you to ‘turn here’ and you didn’t? Heh. Good times.”
“You may as well get a refund since you don’t listen to me anyways. I’d rather work with someone who understands ears.”
I read the first one in Steve Martin’s voice. Can’t go back.
I read the second as GLADOS.
Why don’t we have computer from courage the cowardly dog as an option yet
We need to reach the singularity first
you cant expect sarah to make small-talk thats not how this works
She’s bad at it even when she ain’t distracted.
wait, what do people talk about?! Is it metallurgy? Guess which US coin currently in circulation has the least copper in it.
Ooh ooh I know this one, it’s actually pennies! Most other coins are actually made mostly of copper and coated in nickel, while pennies are mostly made of zinc and coated in copper.
I actually keep a modest collection of weird coins that I’ve found in my register at work. Mostly old wheat pennies, a decent number of Canadian pennies, a few from other countries, and one very old American Nickel dated to 1898.
Fun fact about old pennies: prior to 1982, they actually were made of copper, bronze, or gilding metal (another copper alloy), and without checking the date or coloration, you can tell if a penny is that old or older by their sound – the ones made primarily of copper make a clear ringing sound if you flip them or drop them on a hard surface, while the zinc ones don’t. Nor do the steel pennies made in 1943 due to a shortage of copper, which I also have one of.
That’s really cool random useless (I do not live in the US and was last there over 30 years ago) information!!
To be clear, this information is probably useless if you do live in the US – pennies are basically worthless and knowing what they’re made of doesn’t help you spend them.
It may be of general interest that nobody really wants to keep pennies in circulation except for the zinc lobby. They need pennies to have a reason to keep mining zinc.
So they’re unaware of the thousands (millions?) of miles of galvanized steel made every year?
I want to keep pennies in circulation because having currency in units that don’t actually exist offends my sensibilities.
I am also annoyed by gas stations adding extra decimal places so they can try to trick you into thinking they’re charging you a penny less.
oo a steel penny. I’m going to check for a copper penny’s ring next chance I get.
I have an American penny from 1881!
Didn’t get to comment in time for yesterday’s strip, Walky’s reaction reminds me of the time I was taken to a pentecostal church. Everyone grouped up together, strangers began putting their hands on my shoulders while chanting, and the neighbor woman I went with burst into tears and began to weep. It was terrifying. I asked the neighbor later why she cried and she said she was touched by ‘the holy spirit’ and that’s when I decided for sure that religion wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel any holy spirits, I just wanted to run away!!
I had a similar reaction to the mandatory chapel services I had to attend in college. Absolutely terrifying. (I was brought up in a different kind of weird denomination growing up–no laying hands on people, and no random bursting into tears. Also no instruments allowed or else you’d go to hell or something, lol)
I grew up with a weird soup of different Christian stuff. Similar to Joyce’s family, mine shopped around at different churches. I think in total I’ve attended churches for Pentecostal, Baptist, we went to a Catholic church one time for some reason??? and none of them struck a cord for me. I usually asked too many questions for their liking.
Sad: we’re supposed to be looking for people who have questions!
I’m more bothered by the notion of mandatory chapel services in college. Whatever kind of services they are.
I went to a conservative Christian university for a couple years, and we had to attend a certain number of chapel services per semester. I especially hated it because the services were in the morning, and I’d prefer to sleep in. I stopped caring eventually and was sentenced to remedial Jesus classes as a result.
Oh, I belonged to one of those for part of high school. No instruments because they aren’t mentioned in NT worship. *shrug* It was cool that we had shape note hymnals.
Got me through school without getting pregnant, so there’s that.
I think Jacob isn’t doing it right if he’s both grunting with genuine effort but also still up for talking during a set.
I’ve known a lot of people who found exercise a lot easier if they could distract themselves with conversation. I’d go on like a 10km run or be doing pushups or whatever with them and they’d be chatting the whole time trying to get me to talk back to them and I’m just there struggling to breathe at all and using all my concentration to keep my body doing the things!
i always find it best to have a personal trainer telling you wrong facts about transformers while working out, really distracts you from the work at hand
OK, I actually laughed out loud. I also think an equivalent to that would horribly distract me from working out. Must… argue…
My mental movie right now:
*Willis struggling on weight machine*
Personal Trainer: “They make them out of the low-quality orange plastic because it’s cheaper than black plastic.”
Willis: “GRAAAAH!” *lifting entire weight machine over head*
Well considering Jacob was warming up for the bench press by doing dumbbell curls I’m not sure the author has ever stepped foot in a gym
To be fair, I didn’t sound as if Jacob was *planning* for the bench press, since he didn’t expect to have a spotter. And since we didn’t see Jacob enter (to my recollection), with our perspective joining when Joe/Joyce arrived, I’m not sure we can make any definitely claims about what Jacob had *already* done to warm up before we joined the picture.
Thats a good point, though he was aware Joe would be there and would provide a good spot
He was, but he did specifically say he wasn’t using “the bigger ones” because he’d need someone to spot him.
I think he knew Joe would be spending time with Joyce. We all know Jacob is going to be the best wingman possible
Everybody knows that making Ahnold sounds gives you a +5 STR buff.
I wish I could get away with being as blunt as Sarah. I always seem to put a foot wrong when I try basic communication
Sorry you feel that way, but I bet you’ll get a handle on it someday really soon. Skills just take practice.
PS.
If it makes you feel better, I don’t really think Sarah gets away with it, as a lot people she knows don’t seem to like her all that much (or find her abrasive).
Thank you for the encouragement
That’s an interesting point about Sarah. I think she gets a lot of criticism from the commentariat and it gives a very easy target to characters who are already predisposed to dislike her (Raidah & co, Lucy), but for the most part characters who know her get that she is how she is and don’t take her grouchy misanthrope demeanour too personally or anything.
Yep, the main characters mostly like her fine. Especially with the revelation that Jacob was happy to see her, I’d say she’s liked by everyone she actually wants to like her, Lucy possibly excepted.
(Note that I don’t think Sarah wants most people to hate her; I think she wants indifference. But she will take hate, and on some level finds it preferable (that level being familiarity — Joyce actually caring about her was unnerving, and opening up enough to let herself care about Joyce in turn was scary, as she’s already been burned on this pretty badly once before, and we can see how that impacted her behavior with Jacob, outright telling him he wouldn’t like her once he got to know her, and taking some extremely sad comfort in being “proven right”).)
But also, being liked by everyone you know is overrated. Not that it’s easy to let go of wanting that — but most of us only have a few close friends, and if someone isn’t your friend and isn’t important to you… it only really matters that they not dislike you enough to antagonize you!
From my point of view, I would genuinely suggest that you not take this as an example of “how to be blunt,” because there’s “blunt” and there’s “Wow okay Sarah, go fuck yourself,” and this is very definitely “go fuck yourself” territory.
A lot of the time I can deal with Sarah’s misanthropy – particularly when it’s in her own space. But this from-the-moon hostility in response to someone being in a public environment? Christ.
My reaction to this strip is that Dorothy seriously needs some self-respect.
Oh I absolutely get that Sarah has (intentionally) terrible social skills and is very rude, but like, she can be ‘go fuck yourself’ rude and nobody bats an eye and I really envy that because it’s like, the exact opposite of the eggshells I feel like I’m always walking on.
I don’t understand what “from the moon hostility” means if it’s about this strip, because Dorothy asking a kind of a stupid question, and Sarah’s just answering it plainly instead of dropping 1000 hints or being passive aggressive.
Dorothy needs some self-respect because she’s probably staying in the exercise room to be close to Joyce, not to exercise or help someone else exercise.
If Dorothy wanted to be a good wingwoman, she could ask Jacob something that Sarah knows a lot about or interests her. Dorothy keeps notes on everyone, she would know if Sarah was into Tree Law or something.
Yeah I don’t get why everyone seems to think Sarah is being overly harsh. Are they assuming she’s like screaming at the top of her lungs or something? Sometimes in life you get told to fuck off and that doesn’t mean the person saying it is the devil.
“Hello Sarah” is a stupid question?
what a good faith response.
[literally say hello] [gets told to go fuck off]
My response to that would be “Well _fuck you too_, fine. I’m out. Don’t call.” But that’s because I’m not a doormat.
so “go away” is what you meant by “from the moon hostility”?
Telling someone you are friendly with who appears to just be saying hi because they are near to you to go away is very rude, yes.
You can do it, but I would pretty quickly stop interacting with someone who behaved like that.
I wouldn’t go in the haunted house to begin with.
Particularly with that look she gave her. That fuck-you glare is absolutely part of it.
Also demanding an explanation for your presence in a public space isn’t helping either. “Fuck you, I got as much right to be here as you do.”
So you’ve got multiple parts:
“Hello, Sarah” -> “Go away”
“Hello, Sarah” -> Angry glare
“Hello, Sarah” -> Demand to know why you’re in this public space you have every right to be in.
That’s a lot.
“[Angry glare] What’re you doing here? Go away.” in response to someone saying “Hello, Sarah” in a public place is “from the moon” hostility, yeah. It is.
And don’t say she was already glaring or something or that it’s just RBF because panel one is very clear she was not. Angry glare + (effectively) “fuck off” in response to “hello” would absolutely get a “WOW okay fine, I will, go fuck yourself and don’t call me” out of me.
lol
as long as you’re not hostile about it and apologize when you offend ppl.
Tho i’m sure there are phrases to look up to use instead like that chart where it’s like “instead of saying “sorry for annoying you”, say “thank you for listening” instead” and all that
but other than stuff that does sound insulting to ppl i’m sure ppl are prolly used to the occasional awkward person unless everyone else arounds you happens to be charming conversationalists but i’d just prolly say straight up that i’d be bad at communciating with some ppl
I think she “gets away with it” because she doesn’t care if she offends anyone. Or at least she tells herself that she doesn’t care, and is perfectly fine with driving people away. She isn’t exactly a role model in this regard, but I think a lot of people could benefit from a thicker skin.
yeah, sarah is ‘aware’ she’s being rude, i mean sometimes you have to tell ppl to backoff but that shouldn’t be a default/knee jerk reaction
Bear in mind that at the moment 100% of her neural bandwidth is in use for savoring this moment with Jacob. We may be seeing admirable self-control, all things considered.
No idea why you got so many people telling you not to follow Sarah’s example, as if anything you said suggested you were looking at her as a role model, but!
Getting over awkwardness is a big Fake It Til You Make It thing, imho. If we can successfully internalize the truth, which is that no one is even 10% as aware of our mistakes as we are (because everyone is simultaneously hyperaware of their OWN mistakes and convinced everyone else is too — a very natural and normal but self-destructive kind of self-absorption)… well, that helps.
You feel more awkward than anyone around you actually THINKS you are. You’re remembering and beating yourself up for every time you’ve ever put a foot wrong, but the reality is that no one else remembers and most people didn’t even notice it happening in the moment.
It’s VERY hard to really internalize that, even for the fully neurotypical brain. But it does help you relax if you can.
Thanks Li, I feel like you really saw through to the heart of my feelings behind that comment
That sort of awkwardness and uncertainty and worry about how people will take everything I say is exactly what I could do without.
🫂 sympathy via light physical contact
+10
A +1 to Sarah’s behaviour (and people’s acceptance of it) not being particularly true to life. Like, I choose to interpret an awful lot of her behaviour as comic exaggeration, because the level of misanthropy is intolerable IMO.
Direct communication is great, but there’s a lot of people leaning into the idea they shouldn’t have to make any effort – but everyone should make an effort to be pleasant. It’s not magical or effortless to even the most charming, extroverted person you know. Saying “good morning” to your coworkers and “hi” when a friend/ly acquaintance says hi is just making everyone’s life a little more pleasant.
If someone is trying to start a conversation beyond “hey” and you don’t want it, saying “I can’t concentrate right now, can we talk later?” or even “go away please” in a friendly tone is fine.
This? It’s just obnoxious.
It seems I have inadvertently stirred up a bit of a hornet’s nest here
It’s ok, I have no intention of trying to emulate Sarah’s behaviour here or treat her as a role model, as much as I personally really enjoy the comically exaggerated misanthropy of this fictional character (which I interpret as a less-than-healthy defence mechanism on her part for what it’s worth)
Do you think this is a subtle hint that Jacob is looking for a relationship but is worried Sarah only wants him for his “taut bod?” (that is something people say right?)
I was actually thinking about that too, which led to me wondering about the possibility of Dorothy and Jacob…
It’s not a set thing obviously but Dorothy being attracted to Danny and then Walky makes me think Jacob might not be her body type.
Perhaps, though she also really liked Walky’s mysterious abs despite his garbage diet. I do imagine that if Dorothy and Jacob were to dabble it’d be more of an intellectual/personality based attraction!
We haven’t seen evidence that she’s only a body chaser. She seems like a big “personality first” kind of dater.
She definitely did defend her interest in Walky to JOYCE by saying “have you seen his abs”, but I agree that that wasn’t actually in her top ten list of reasons to date him (which she definitely had, because she’s a nerd). I think it was intended to do exactly what it did: get Joyce at least briefly off her back about her taste in boys by making her imagine caramel abs.
Jacob definitely wants to have something more than a surface level relationship, which I feel like he can see himself having with Sarah, but she acts too surface level as a defense mechanism so often.
Yeah, he’s been shown to actually really enjoy her company if she can let her guard down, like when they’d talk about Joyce a bit, but she is so averse to vulnerability that it’s very tough for her.
That’s been a really interesting subtext to all of this: Sarah and Jacob seem to be pretty aware of where the other is on this, the question is just if Sarah can make certain steps, and if Jacob wants more than a friend here.
Maybe. I’m really surprised that Jacob’s willing to entertain Sarah as a potential partner, honestly.
Like, sure, she’s the best available cast member, but there’s an entire university out there.
IS she the best available cast partner?
Yeah, maybe. Like Jacob and her are both aspiring lawyers, and that seems to be something he wants, even if with Raidah, some of the other stuff that came with her he realized were him trying to follow his brother’s lead.
Jacob sees something in Sarah and really enjoyed when she was able to talk to him about Joyce since it was one of the only times Sarah ever opened up with him, and I think he basically sees Sarah as someone who can be a lot of fun if she stops getting in her own way.
I think he’s entertaining Sarah as a potential partner or friend.
I honestly think Dorothy and Jacob together could work really well. They both are ambitious, directed, and study-focused. Their dates could largely be time spent studying together (instead of, in Dorothy’s last relationship, something that takes up time in *addition* to study time). In Dorothy/Jacob, *both* members of the couple could help each other grow.
My main concern would be that they might be *too alike* and could combust/spiral down Dorothy’s current nervous breakdown together.
I desperately want to watch this two person nervous breakdown
well he did tell her and joyce directly that time they had pizza that he didn’t wanna be seen as ‘more than just a sexual object’ to others but it would be nice if they ended up having something casual. tho be curious to see if sarah was still ‘thirsty’ over jacob if she did somehow hookup with someone else in the meantime
Hasn’t Jacob basically said that, more than once?
I’ll take anything to not have to look at Lucy for another 24 hours
I kinda want Dorothy and Jacob together now just for the bit.
I agree, it totally crossed my mind.
I have a guilty ship that Sarah would murder me for: RaidahXSarah
Ah, enemies to lovers route. I understand.
Honestly? I could get behind that.
With most of the people we’ve seen Raidah interacting with, there’s this extremely negative shoe waiting to be dropped: Jennifer, Lucy, and Asher all think she’s a perfectly nice person, and if they knew how she talks about them or their loved ones behind their backs, they would be horrified and upset. In fact, apart from Sarah, the only in-comic character left who Raidah seems willing to go mask-off with is Carl.
(I think Jacob was starting to get glimpses, and maybe this was a factor in him ending the relationship too? But mostly we can assume he didn’t see the person who would conspiratorially tell a friend to pretend to laugh at someone else’s jokes and then sneer over another “friend’s” interest in Star Wars.)
Still, we know Raidah isn’t a complete monster. And it would be narratively interesting for Sarah to get to see more of that. For her to get to see some vulnerability from Raidah that she wasn’t expecting. Also too, we know that the source of the rift between them was, on SOME level, a misunderstanding: Raidah was furious with Sarah for “getting Dana kicked out just so she could study”, which we know is only a shallow reading of events, and Raidah remains upset because “Dana’s home isn’t safe”, which doesn’t seem to be something Sarah ever knew, and might not be something Sarah believes, coming from Raidah.
So there’s dramatic potential here, both for a more positive “shoe drop” for Sarah than for any other cast member, and for Dana to simultaneously corroborate both girls on what they think happened. If Raidah ever learns exactly how bad off Dana really was; if Sarah learns that going to her dad about it was still the wrong thing to do — like… there’s possibilities here.
(Joyce and Raidah’s current level of beef is different; while initiallly Joyce wasn’t consciously trying to get Jacob to cheat on her, towards the end it was definitely a conscious effort that Joyce rationalized on the basis of True Love. So Raidah trying to wreck Joyce’s whole social circle — which I think is what’s going on, given her last words to Jacob on the subject and the fact that she first approached Jennifer — is obviously something of an overreaction, but it’s not rooted in a misunderstanding the way her beef with Sarah is.)
But then again, I really like Raidah. I like her design and her expressions. I like her as a petty villain, and I’d love to see her turn that around someday. I see her relationship with Sarah as the easiest vehicle for some kind of redemption arc.
Also they’re both very pretty and I would like it if they kissed 8)
I love your take, and I wholeheartedly agree.
I also agree they are very pretty and would look very pretty kissing.
High five
Did Raidah ever say “Dana’s home isn’t safe”? She said Dana wasn’t “in a better place” according to Dana, but that’s not quite the same thing.
You know, I could be conflating that with what other characters have said about each other’s homes! Maybe I’m misremembering something Jennifer (then Billie) said about Ruth’s home…?
Either way the meat of my thoughts stand! If Raidah and Sarah both realize “hey, she was right about something re: Dana that I didn’t know at the time”, it could be a healing moment for them both. Either way, dramatic potential, and a plot twist that wouldn’t require anyone to be a Terrible Person.
well becky did call jacob ‘the biggest dorothy i have seen’, so i wouldn’t be surprised if they do hit it off and ‘accidentally’ flirt/seems like flirting even if it isn’t intentional, while sarah’s just fuming XD;
I had the same thought.
I would have though Dorothy would know its quite dangerous to distract someone while they’re spotting?
Mind you its impressive Jacob wants to chat while bench pressing, as opposed to counting reps, concentrating on breathing/form etc etc
Actually is Jacob doing the bench press or inline press?
Incline dammit
she stays in shape herself but i imagine she wouldn’t have meticulously researched everything about weightlifting and such (or maybe joes talked about it when hanging out with danny as a 3rd wheel but she just kinda ignored it/didn’t care)
I don’t think it takes much research to understand that attempting to distract a spotter is not a good idea
Having said that Sarah was a bit harsh
To be fair, Dorothy wouldn’t fully want to jog in all that snow
Jacob ending up with Dorothy? I’d rather have them be study buddies… at first
Come on Sarah ‘all this’ has a name, use it. Cue side plot of Dorothy unintentionally charming Jacob away from Sarah.
Muscles McGee.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought when you spotted someone lifting weights you needed to be (1) someone who was strong enough to help the lifter with the weight should they need it and (2) standing by in a position to be able to immediately do that if it became necessary. There is no way Sarah would be able to do either of those, especially from the location where she is standing.
Well adding in Jacob wanting to chat while pressing the only way I can see this working is Jacob is not going too heavy
In the immortal words of Ronnie Coleman: “Lightweight baby!”
Standing nearby absolutely, but you don’t need to be as strong as them, no – usually the difference between “can” and “cannot” finish the lift is a couple pounds, so you don’t have to lift the whole weight, just provide some extra support. You’re also standing and have different leverage (like, can use your legs).
I would assume jacob would know well enough if sarah ended up not being as helpful but i’m sure someone ‘weaker’ than him grabbing the pole even for a second might help if his arms felt briefly weak
Her current position seems like the correct one to me, based on what I’ve seen other spotters do, but I don’t know anything concrete about this stuff. And my understanding is that Sarah’s fairly strong, so I don’t feel she’d be unable to help.
Nah. You’re almost never taking the whole weight – you should go to failure, but that means “cannot lift all the way”, not “total collapse”, unless you’ve misjudged.
If someone is struggling, you can actually just use your fingers to steady it and it will help a lot. Given she’s inexperienced, and Jacob’s clearly used to training without a spotter, so no way is he getting anywhere near complete failure.
Excellent conversation, Sarah. A+, no notes.
FINALLY!
A WINNER IS YOU
Congrations!!
ppl always say weather talk is boring but ppl bring it up a lot, considering all the changes, tho ‘boring’ /meaningless convos is nice among friends time to time
Yeah, but Sarah is using it as a placeholder. She could have said, “Wow, that snow sure came down like crazy,” or “did you notice how bright it is today?” Or even “capitalist pigs have destroyed our weather systems, Jacob, and I want to eliminate them.”
But she chose the laziest route of communication to try and monopolize his time as she objectifies Jacob
Aren’t both of them planning to go work for said capitalist pigs when they graduate?
We don’t know what type of lawyers they are going for, but do feel free to correct me.
Isn’t everyone? Doesn’t mean we have to like it.
Hey fellow degenerates, how goes
NSFW
JorothyJulioris extravaganza “Make Love Not War” begins here,latest installment, still NSFW, shall be found here!
Fuck the system, take care
it shows as ‘no preview’ available to me. but i don’t have an account lol
You know how things are done in the Atheist Space Commune, soldier.
Atheism™: “We Have Sex Pretty Much Constantly!”
hm. try again? you don’t need an account, it’s pubic
(is it a freudian slip if it’s on purpose)
(no)
(it’s a pun)
Don’t you hate it when a wheel bounces across the highway and fits itself right onto your car
Dina (not shown): oh, that is a cue for social interaction! *pops out from behind weight machine* “yes, this snowy weather is rather good at protection against random dinosaur encounters!”
–Dave, Sarah: JESUS DINA WERE YOU THERE THIS WHOLE TIME
Sarah Clinton, Master Conversationalist.
Snowy weather is nice, alt-text – just as long as it isn’t snowing into your face.
Most of this snow came down while I was sleeping tonight: https://i.imgur.com/8Qkp7wZ.png
Very nice weather, well, at least I can turn off my freezer for the winter and just make a snow fort on the balcony.
Oh gods, does Sarah not get it still.
I mean, sure, having a conversation with your crush is hard, but it’s been established (pretty sure she should know this too) that Jacob is not interested in being objectified as sexy, he wants to be intellectually challenged. If Sarah can not offer this, she should back off. This is creepy.
Maybe he even is sapiosexual? I have not analyzed every single of his flirts/relationships.
This is the birth of the Dorothy/Jacob ship. I propose the names Doracob or Jorothy.
If anything, Jacob seems to require the company.
Sarah is being weird and creepy. Gender swap this situation and it’s a guy leering at a woman who’s just trying to exercise. Won’t even talk to her just stares at her body. Nope Jacob deserves better.
He’s also the only person being nice to Dorothy in this scenario. Everyone else is literally telling her to get lost.
so Dotty was crossing lines with Joyce and Joe yesterday, but because Sarah didn’t couch her comment in sugar and roses suddenly Dotty has every right to be a third wheel. The way some people treat Sarah absolutely baffles me, so many double standards.
Well, Joyce and Joe are dating. Most likely they want to spend time together, just the two of them. Whereas Jacob seems uncomfortable with the way Sarah is acting, and is okay with having Dorothy there.
In this strip are History’s Greatest Monster, and someone who is pretty and cute with a heart of gold, but terrible at socializing, and they’re in the same room with their crush and they don’t know what to do. And Jacob.
Honestly, I get disliking either girl, but I think there’s some latent misogyny in hating them.
Maybe you really dislike tsundere as a trope — Sarah’s not gonna be your cup of tea, but if you don’t feel the same way about the many, many, many male examples of the trope (House MD, Tony Stark and Doctor Strange, Doctor Cox from Scrubs… weirdly high percentage of doctors in this list tbh, esp since Tony definitely has doctorates)… then yeah, it’s probably at least partly the narrower band of Acceptable Female Charactet Traits.
(Dorothy, I feel like, gets a lot of hate for being Too Perfect and therefore boring (which she isn’t), as well as a lot of flak for her perceived self-righteousness/arrogance, and a loooot of that isn’t even “less tolerant for abrasiveness in female characters”, but straight-up just… misreading the text? It’s… interesting.)
And again, y’all can dislike them. I’m really just talking about the segment of the comments that rushes to take everything they say in the worst possible way. Sarah’s social awkwardness is deliberate targeted abuse, Dorothy’s Mom Friend tendencies are abusive, etc.
I see a comic where Dorothy awkwardly fled a potentially romantic moment with Joyce and Joe that she hadn’t meant to intrude on, only to pratfall directly into ANOTHER similar moment with Sarah and Jacob. She doesn’t mean any harm, but Sarah is understandably flustered.
Also, Sarah is drooling a little over Jacob’s body, and Jacob is saying “hey my eyes are up here, how about some conversation”; not upset or even, imho, uncomfortable, but nudging her. She responds even more awkwardly. I’d be surprised if she weren’t feeling super embarrassed to have been called out, even as subtly as he did it. Whether she’s being “creepy” or not is gonna depend on follow-up strips, imho.
gawd Li can you not be even a LIL more concise lol,,,,,,
I’m an idiot who sat here for five minutes wondering how you thought Dorothy was “History’s greatest monster.”
I understand now, but I think they’re both socially dumb with hearts of gold.
Sarah’s heart is just surrounded by barbed wire, sharp shooters, and rabid dogs is all
the joke is that the compassionate description applies to multiple characters in the strip, and the hyperbolic accusation is made against those same characters in the commentary. It is a joke that amuses me if nobody else, so I will probably tell it too many times.
And Jacob is there too.
heheheh
I really don’t think it’s a problem that Sarah is ogling Jacob.
Same. There’s a line here and she might cross it in future strips, but even gender-swapped I wouldn’t have an issue with this: they’re friends, and Jacob isn’t intimidated or frightened by Sarah’s ogling.
I do think he’s a lil bit exasperated by it — I think his request for conversation is a nudge to do less ogling — but there’s a line here that Sarah hasn’t crossed yet.
She still has the opportunity to be an ass about this, but just finding people super hot isn’t itself a boundary violation, even if the person you find super hot isn’t interested in you.
Yeah. He’s aware of it and doesn’t seem to be bothered, as far as I can tell at least (though he’s expressing that he’d prefer more conversation at the same time).
I don’t think the problem is the ogling. The problem is ONLY ogling. She could make some effort beyond this basic level, like Jacob has asked for twice.
I love Sarah, I love how blunt she is, but she’s not trying today
It’s like 4:00am, “today” is too far ahead to be declaring things about it already.
If it progresses to oggling, that might be a problem.
what on earth would compel dorothy to go over there….LEAVE
Wow, I really don’t think the people in the comments section defending Sarah or lambasting Dorothy would interpret this scene that way IRL.
Dorothy: decides it might be nice to work out inside and hang out with her friend. Manages to make her friend uncomfortable, then double down by putting her foot in her mouth epically re: autism, and is basically told to fuck off by her bf (not to say Joe was being awful, but accidentally encroaching on a date is awkward as hell).
Goes to say hi to her other friends. Is told to go away without even a “hi” because Sarah is so busy staring at Jacob’s body to the point she’s incapable of holding a conversation (yeah, I do think that’s super yikes. There’s enjoying the view, and there’s this: and this is dehumanising).
Like. No one’s the devil here, but it’s pretty normal to expect to be able to go to the gym and say hi to your friends. -_-
I think part of it is the ongoing Dorothy Fatigue. She keeps showing up in almost everyone’s scenarios, lately, and so the people who don’t care much for her may be feeling a bit overexposed. I like her well enough, but I’ll admit I’m looking forward to seeing characters that aren’t Dorothy, Walky, Lucy, and Joe.
My read on Sarah isn’t *that* negative, like maybe she’s mostly worried she won’t be ready to react when she needs to if she starts talking to people.
But I feel bad for Dorothy for real… She tries to socialise, she tries to help others, but nobody really acts like they want her around. Which… been there :/
…Just in case anyone is having trouble getting things done, as I am, Laura plays “Classical Music for When You’re On a Deadline” on the hacked egg timer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwY7w0k3j2Y
Smooth, Sarah, very smooth.