Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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June 8, 2026

Imagine

by David M Willis on March 24, 2024 at 12:01 am
  • 03 – Trystin' in the Wind
└ Tags: dorothy, jason, joyce

Discussion (137) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    March 24, 2024 at 12:01 am | #

    then Joyce finds out Tristan is LIVING with Tara, UNMARRIED

    *new Joyce react frame*

    *at least until she remembers she doesn’t care(?) about that anymore*

    • Ana Chronistic
      Ana Chronistic
      March 24, 2024 at 12:02 am | #

      *Jason asks ChatGPT to write the book*

      Class: “why read something no one could be bothered to write“

      • AbacusWizard
        AbacusWizard
        March 24, 2024 at 1:06 am | #

        Bold of you to assume the class was going to read the textbook in the first place.

        • Ana Chronistic
          Ana Chronistic
          March 24, 2024 at 2:54 am | #

          well, THIS way it becomes a legitimate reason not to read the book

          • Reltzik
            Reltzik
            March 24, 2024 at 8:42 pm | #

            We needed one of those!

            At the end of the day, AI is the hero after all.

        • Kimi
          Kimi
          March 24, 2024 at 3:31 am | #

          I had a class that was mandatory for me to take where a guy used his own book. The next year he ended up banning laptops from his class because people were using them to do other stuff. I felt bad for them, because I only survived that class through playing solitaire. Nowadays with everyone having smart phones (which you can hide in your lap), I don’t know what he would do.

          • Decidedly Orthogonal
            Decidedly Orthogonal
            March 24, 2024 at 8:30 am | #

            I’ve had one prof use their own textbook. They refunded every student their cut of the book cost. I’ve been very lucky.

            I’ve also withdrawn from a course because the prof was just awful. Not a bad person, just a truly terrible lecturer. So I don’t know what I’d do as your laptop-banning prof, but as a student I’d drop their course.

            • VicMortimer
              VicMortimer
              March 24, 2024 at 11:03 am | #

              I had a few use their own book.

              But they were REALLY cool about it. One just handed out copies on the first day of class (ring comb bound from the copy shop), another we had to buy it for the cost of printing from the copy shop, the other one handed it out a few pages at a time at the start of class. I think those were spirit duplicated, if I remember correctly. (Not sure I do, it’s been over 30 years now, and I’m not going to dig through that box in the back of a closet to be sure.)

            • Needfuldoer
              Needfuldoer
              March 24, 2024 at 8:29 pm | #

              I had a teacher whose method was to read you the answers to the next quiz, then spend the rest of the class playing clips from SNL on some new website called “You Tube”.

              Unfortunately for him, we were his first night class that filled out the end=of-semester review questionnaire honestly. He got canned, but we didn’t have to retake anything. (It was a pretty basic class anyway.)

    • anon
      anon
      March 24, 2024 at 1:17 am | #

      Either that or like, “5,000 tristan kowalskis in north america alone, 20% of them are female” (either bc trans or just having it as a gender neutral name like Jordan”)

    • ValdVin
      ValdVin
      March 24, 2024 at 6:32 am | #

      The real treasure was the Joyce red panels you GIFfed along the way.

    • Decidedly Orthogonal
      Decidedly Orthogonal
      March 24, 2024 at 8:35 am | #

      I can’t quite decide if it looks like she’s growing, or retracting, vampire fangs.

  2. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    March 24, 2024 at 12:02 am | #

    alt text: Ngl the mos self-destructive behaviour I see here is using Facebook in 2024.

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      March 24, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

      She only uses it to look up Tristan.

    • IntangibleMatter
      IntangibleMatter
      March 24, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

      *most, dammit. Typos will happen when you’re trying to beat the legendary Ana Chronistic.

      • True Survivor
        True Survivor
        March 24, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

        Alas like famed Bellerophon, ye err and fall in pursuit of heights beyond the reach of mortal men. Yet, be unashamed, undaunted for though thy goal hovers forever out of reach, lightning-wreathed, there lies nobility in the attempt.

        • clif
          clif
          March 24, 2024 at 2:55 am | #

          Do I recognize that prose? Are you an artist by any chance?

          • True Survivor
            True Survivor
            March 24, 2024 at 10:16 pm | #

            No, I just made that up. I am not an artist (at least not a published since high school were a got a few works in print via kids’ contests). My mom is a poet though. Thanks for asking.

        • Weatherheight
          Weatherheight
          March 24, 2024 at 2:56 am | #

          Poetry worthy of (looks up random Greek poet that isn’t Homer or Sappho) Simonides of Ceos of. Very well said

    • katosen27
      katosen27
      March 24, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

      Willing to bet her church used it as a means of putting out news quickly.

    • Jo_cubstar
      Jo_cubstar
      March 24, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

      A lot of us older generation still use Facebook. It’s good for promoting events to large community groups at once, and also various groups for shared interests are easy to manage. It has a much more local community focus than other types of social media. Also the way you can filter your friend list with each post to share to only specified audiences has not been as well established on other sites.

      • clif
        clif
        March 24, 2024 at 2:58 am | #

        My family and friends I want to keep in touch with are on Facebook. G+ was better for following my interests, but they killed it.

        • adam Black
          adam Black
          March 24, 2024 at 5:16 am | #

          Were we in the same shared circles?

          • clif
            clif
            March 24, 2024 at 10:16 am | #

            Maybe? AI, Math, Science Fiction, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, NASA, Mystery, Physics, Fantasy, Google, String Theory, Cryptography, Tech, Cryptozology, Conspiracy Theories, Astronomy, Cosmology, RPGs.

      • adam Black
        adam Black
        March 24, 2024 at 5:14 am | #

        Literally the entire basis of Google Plus

    • M!a
      M!a
      March 24, 2024 at 1:08 am | #

      Oh, run tell dat. I keep my Facebook account around for only two reasons:

      1. I have many family members who cannot be reached any other way.

      2. To keep my psychobongo sister from impersonating me to post a bunch of heinous toxic shit.

    • Kimi
      Kimi
      March 24, 2024 at 3:39 am | #

      Stares at all the family members that only wish me a happy birthday through Facebook even though they have my number and could call or text. Glares at all the jobs and other events where you have to apply or rsvp through Facebook.
      It’s like they keep on trying to male fetch happen. At least it is better than all the government alerts and information posts that are done on twitter (I refuse to call it x) that you now need an account to see. Looking at you fire department forest fire alerts and updates. It was fine when you didn’t need an account but ridiculous now that you do. I really think that those accounts should be like what Facebook does, with being public and not necessary to log in to see it. Or the government just stops using it for alerts and updates, but they seem to not want to do that for whatever reason. I miss being able to read the National Park Service’s funny tweets.

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        March 24, 2024 at 6:11 am | #

        I noticed that people often forget birthdays and so their only reminder is from social media. I got way fewer well wishes after I smoked my facebook.

        Hard agree on everything you said about Twitter, though. Deleted my account shortly after the fascist takeover and the complete loss of non-account holder functionality is grating when it’s got such wide use.

      • Mark
        Mark
        March 24, 2024 at 8:31 am | #

        You don’t have to log in to the FEMA or NOAA-NWS websites. Eh, you can get those alerts pushed to your phone and not have to raise a finger to “go” anywhere, if you like it that way.

        Facebook is not business. Facebook is not news. Facebook is catching up with people I know. I barely notice all that other junk. Although it is sometimes amusing to see what They think interests me.

        • Kimi
          Kimi
          March 24, 2024 at 5:55 pm | #

          FEMA or NOAA isn’t the same as the local fire stations/districts. When you are in a fire prone area in the summer and see the fire planes overhead, you tend to want to know where they are going. Unfortunately, sometimes they only post it on Twitter or Facebook (that one you can at least see without logging in) and don’t post anything on the fire district’s site. Fires can blow up sometimes if the wind hits them, as areas about 1 and 2 hours south of us found out last year. Keeping track of any possible fire danger in the area is always a good idea and shouldn’t be difficult. It also shouldn’t require a lot of trouble from the fire district to be able to do, as they need to focus more on the fire.
          I haven’t even mention the active shooter across the highway situation a few years ago. The only reason we ever knew what was going on was from googling it after noticing the police cars and drones. I still can’t understand why they can have our phones go blaring off at 2am for an amber alert but can’t even send a simple text for an active shooter holed up right nearby. From what I have heard, we are not the only one to have issues with that (very locally based and requires people to sign up, if it even exists at all, and no standards). Not that amber alerts aren’t extremely important, but it seems like a weird set of priorities to not have an federal requirement for an alert system for active shooters.

    • zee
      zee
      March 24, 2024 at 12:09 pm | #

      Yeah what 18 year old has Facebook? Shoulda been instagram

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      March 24, 2024 at 8:33 pm | #

      I still use Facebook for the niche groups I’m in, and because a bunch of friends, family, and coworkers are still on it. I’m also closer to 40 than 30, so I’m an Internet Boomer and therefore in the prime Facebook demo. :\

  3. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    March 24, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    “Something has changed within me,
    something is not the same.”

    • True Survivor
      True Survivor
      March 24, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

      I don’t know what got you on to this Wicked kick, but I like it.

      • NGPZ
        NGPZ
        March 24, 2024 at 12:17 am | #

        I just use this one song to wake up in the morning and trip out to LOL.

        It makes for great productivity music, but, I really wish there were a way to see the play without going in-person anywhere.

        • Kimi
          Kimi
          March 24, 2024 at 3:59 am | #

          I am starting to think that they should record broadway musicals with the original cast and then release it on dvds or something 20 years later. Not that new actors can’t do a good job, but musical parts are sometimes made with a specific person in mind and adjust the range of notes to that (or fit the actor’s acting style).

          • ValdVin
            ValdVin
            March 24, 2024 at 6:37 am | #

            Nods in “September Song”, specifically written for Walter Huston.

          • Mark
            Mark
            March 24, 2024 at 8:32 am | #

            Nice idea but, 20 years later, would anyone still remember the format in which they recorded it?

            • ValdVin
              ValdVin
              March 24, 2024 at 8:34 am | #

              I’ve got Edison Blue Amberol cylinders which will never go out of style.

              • clif
                clif
                March 24, 2024 at 10:19 am | #

                +1

            • StClair
              StClair
              March 24, 2024 at 11:49 am | #

              I think about this now and then. As someone whose parents still had a few 8-tracks and reel-to-reel tapes along with vinyl, and who personally went from cassettes to CDs to mp3s, there’s a small part of me that’s a little sad we will probably never see another new form of audio media – it’s all just data now.

              • morleuca
                morleuca
                March 24, 2024 at 10:07 pm | #

                My first car had an 8-track player. I plugged an 8-track to cassette adapter into that, and then ran a cassette to 3.5 adapter from that to a discman on the passenger seat.

          • NGPZ
            NGPZ
            March 24, 2024 at 11:25 am | #

            Thankfully they’re sometimes available on the likes of YouTube, Archive, or DailyMotion.

            On that note, did you know that the kid’s show LazyTown was actually based on an 90’s Icelandic stage play written by a former athlete?

            It’s called LatiBaer, and it’s quite the trip as well:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwejdNi4onA

        • deliverything
          deliverything
          March 24, 2024 at 2:08 pm | #

          Just to note: there’s an extremely odd song based on that about Newton and Einstein, called Defining Gravity.
          https://youtu.be/yTQyFzTl5GA
          It is A Capella, though, which would put some people off.

          Not sure if I mentioned this before. If I did, sorry.

  4. shadowcell
    shadowcell
    March 24, 2024 at 12:04 am | #

    if Tristan is not on his way to becoming some sort of analyst i am going to be most put out

    • M!a
      M!a
      March 24, 2024 at 1:10 am | #

      Long as it isn’t a data analyst. The kid’ll never find fucking work.

    • anon
      anon
      March 24, 2024 at 1:18 am | #

      ngl i’m surprised she never added him as a ‘facebook’ friends if she befriended liz that way unless it’s because fb is more so “family/using real names” type of thing to where her siblings would see that she added him and being like “ooh i remember tristan 👀”

  5. UrsulaDavina
    UrsulaDavina
    March 24, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    Dorothy’s bowing out might actually be a silver lining for her. Her mental health’s been on a bit of a downer lately, which totally sucks, but skipping out on this project with Robin might’ve dodged her a bullet. Teaming up on that textbook was looking more like a recipe for disaster than success. Honestly, whatever they would’ve churned out probably wouldn’t have done much good for the class anyway.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 24, 2024 at 12:10 am | #

      Good for her. She’s saying “no”, she’s saying “no” because she doesn’t want to do it, and she knows she’s saying “no” because she doesn’t want to do it.

      • M!a
        M!a
        March 24, 2024 at 1:16 am | #

        I like to think that she’s saying ‘no’, at least in part, because that human Exxon Valdez Robin asked her to.

        • HueSatLight
          HueSatLight
          March 24, 2024 at 10:10 am | #

          Most importantly it sounds like it’s what current Dorothy doesn’t want to do, it’s not a decision based off of min/maxing what 40+ year old President Keener would need her to have done in order to exist.

    • Vanessa
      Vanessa
      March 24, 2024 at 12:11 am | #

      Yes, that would have been a complete waste of time and very stressful. If given a year she might do a decent job, but she’s a freshman my gosh. Yale would laugh in derision!

      • UrsulaDavina
        UrsulaDavina
        March 24, 2024 at 12:16 am | #

        Totally, and even beyond her current willingness, a textbook, especially one on American political science, needs to tackle a wide range of theories and topics. Many of these are areas Dorothy has only just started exploring. It’s a massive undertaking that requires a depth of knowledge and understanding she’s still in the process of acquiring.

        • clif
          clif
          March 24, 2024 at 3:04 am | #

          I suspect you overestimate the scope of the typical introductory college level political science course.

          • Bash
            Bash
            March 24, 2024 at 3:27 am | #

            Surely she cannot be expected to write a textbook for a class she has not taken. If she knew all the material she would not need to take the class. She’s good at school and studying but she still needs to attend lectures to learn things.

            • Devin
              Devin
              March 24, 2024 at 3:52 am | #

              Nobody told Robin that though

            • Schpoonman
              Schpoonman
              March 24, 2024 at 6:13 am | #

              Something something Roz in Gender Studies last year.

            • Mark
              Mark
              March 24, 2024 at 8:40 am | #

              I’ve lost count of the number of times I complained about some software’s lack of documentation and was told, essentially: well, then, why don’t you write it?

              • Schpoonman
                Schpoonman
                March 24, 2024 at 4:25 pm | #

                There might be nothing I hate at any job more than “Well, then, why don’t you do it?” in response to someone clearly not doing their work.

        • Mark
          Mark
          March 24, 2024 at 8:34 am | #

          Sounds like just the sort of project she would relish.

    • Coatl
      Coatl
      March 24, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

      She barely managed to accelerate her heavy load a little and rejecting that project was the right thing to do and to be honest, Robin only shows sympathy for Becky.

      • UrsulaDavina
        UrsulaDavina
        March 24, 2024 at 12:22 am | #

        That’s a fair point. Perhaps Dorothy’s perspective might have brought a touch of empathy to the mix. As for Robin, while I steer clear of labeling anyone as ‘lazy’—since I believe what’s often seen as laziness is usually more complex—I do have my reservations about her contribution level. It almost sets the stage for a classic collective action problem, with Robin playing the freerider. It’s ironically fitting, considering how central collective action problems and freeriding are to understanding politics. It’s like life imitating theory, or in this case, theory highlighting the pitfalls of group projects in political science.

        • Coatl
          Coatl
          March 24, 2024 at 12:31 am | #

          Politics in itself is a chaos that very few manage to face

          • StClair
            StClair
            March 24, 2024 at 2:53 am | #

            “Oh no, I’m not brave enough for politics.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi

        • Bash
          Bash
          March 24, 2024 at 3:25 am | #

          The way the project was presented, I think Robin expected a textbook to just appear. I doubt there would have been any collaboration.

          • Mark
            Mark
            March 24, 2024 at 8:42 am | #

            Hee hee, why am I thinking of The Little Red Hen?

            • Miri
              Miri
              March 24, 2024 at 10:06 am | #

              “You will do it yourself”
              And Dorothy glared at her, then ate a whole textbook, flavoured by delicious spite.

              Ruth and Jennifer might be so enthusiastically supportive of that they kiss… Hopefully Jason is involved/on board…

      • HueSatLight
        HueSatLight
        March 24, 2024 at 2:06 pm | #

        Robin does not take a lot of what she does very seriously, but she is capable of being serious and of having sympathy for people other than Becky, for strangers even.

        She fired her campaign manager and remaining campaign staff because they were hiding a rapist’s identity.

    • RocketRelm
      RocketRelm
      March 24, 2024 at 2:13 am | #

      “Honestly, whatever they would’ve churned out probably wouldn’t have done much good for the class anyway.”

      At least in part because the writing of any such book, let alone publishing and setting up in stores and process Robin wants to do to get the money funnel going, would make it such it doesn’t come out until the semester is over anyway. Which translating from comic to real world years is about a decade. Plus, even if it could be published literally tomorrow from actual magic, I *think* you can’t put assigned purchases into a class after the class is started. Least I’ve never heard of it.

  6. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    March 24, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    Poor Dorothy, so long has she been Joyce’s rock, that Joyce assumes her forever stalwart, blind to the growing cracks and crumbling dreams.

    • Coatl
      Coatl
      March 24, 2024 at 12:16 am | #

      And it is precisely those details that make one wonder how Joyce’s reaction will be if Dorothy rethinks her life.

  7. Vanessa
    Vanessa
    March 24, 2024 at 12:09 am | #

    This is actually the most healthy decision Dorothy has made for a while, good job! Very appropriate boundaries.

    • Coatl
      Coatl
      March 24, 2024 at 12:19 am | #

      It’s good that she is finally taking off that unnecessary weight little by little, let’s hope that it continues later so that she can finally rethink her things.

    • Tan
      Tan
      March 24, 2024 at 12:35 pm | #

      Doing the right thing for oneself, but for self-destructive reasons, is as the kids say a mood.

  8. BBCC
    BBCC
    March 24, 2024 at 12:22 am | #

    I think Joyce is starting to hope something is up with Dorothy.

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      March 24, 2024 at 2:14 am | #

      I really don’t see where you take that? It looks more like Joyce pedestal for Dorothy is too tall for her to see or even consider that something is up with her.

  9. RacingTurtle
    RacingTurtle
    March 24, 2024 at 12:25 am | #

    You’re killing me, Smalls Dorothy

    Not that she should work for Robin. Robin is genuinely awful! (ilovehersomuchwhosaidthat)

    She just seems so unhappy without her ambitious side, even though it often exhausted her.

  10. Coatl
    Coatl
    March 24, 2024 at 12:26 am | #

    Very good Dorothy, it’s one step at a time and this is a really good one, I just hope that when everything is finally clarified, Joyce has the decency to listen, but I remember that the only people who know about Dorothy’s current situation are Walky and Becky and if Joyce finds out from them, ufff

  11. David DeLaney
    David DeLaney
    March 24, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

    plot twist: who should show up to-morrow with a fully written poli-sci textbook, based off of LAST year’s prof’s copious lecture notes, but SARAH

    –Dave, last seen sliding slowly out of frame stage right a couple strips back

    • M!a
      M!a
      March 24, 2024 at 1:03 am | #

      Sarah’s knowledge and outlook might be better spent on an anthropology textbook.

      …sorry. Misanthropology textbook.

      – Mia, who has just murdered an entire large pizza on her own

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        March 24, 2024 at 1:19 am | #

        +1 for the totally appropriate term “misanthropology”.

      • clif
        clif
        March 24, 2024 at 3:08 am | #

        Also good for M!a and the pizza murder.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 24, 2024 at 10:05 am | #

      This year’s textbook with a book jacket that says Robin’s name.

  12. gnoka
    gnoka
    March 24, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

    Ooh, nice trick. Didn’t think Robin’s ex-boyfriend gag would meaningfully link to the storyline.

  13. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    March 24, 2024 at 12:30 am | #

    Good for Dorothy. As much as seeing her completely tear the entirety of the American political system (and everything she’d previously aspired to) a new one in book form might have been fascinating, it would definitely have just made her even more miserable.

  14. Jamie
    Jamie
    March 24, 2024 at 12:45 am | #

    Spent a full twenty seconds wondering if that logo would become outdated in the near future and then decided I didn’t care.

  15. Rabbit
    Rabbit
    March 24, 2024 at 12:56 am | #

    If Joyce nukes her relationship with Joe over this flashback dude I’m gonna be so pissed lmao

    • Bash
      Bash
      March 24, 2024 at 3:18 am | #

      I think she wants to feel superior about him going down the wrong path.

  16. Derek
    Derek
    March 24, 2024 at 12:59 am | #

    this is sad since Dorothy is saying no to this because she thinks she’s not worthy of this project, when in reality she should be saying no because Robin has shit idiot brain fungus

    • clif
      clif
      March 24, 2024 at 3:10 am | #

      Ah, you are familiar with SIBF.

    • Bash
      Bash
      March 24, 2024 at 3:16 am | #

      She did say “I don’t think I want to,” followed by a more emphatic no. She doesn’t want to perform a bunch of unpaid labor, regardless of who benefits. It’s the lowest of possible bars when it comes to setting boundaries, but it’s a big step for her.

  17. Taffy
    Taffy
    March 24, 2024 at 1:05 am | #

    Good. Fuck that entire idea.

  18. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    March 24, 2024 at 1:07 am | #

    I kind of wonder if the point is less Dorothy walking away from this due to burnout/evolving relationship with her ambition in general, or if it’s more a “I don’t want to leave here for Yale because it’ll fuck Joyce over”.

    • M!a
      M!a
      March 24, 2024 at 1:12 am | #

      …has Joyce still not got that memo. Dorothy no Yale; Yale no Dorothy.

      • StClair
        StClair
        March 24, 2024 at 2:55 am | #

        Joyce has not, no.

    • anon
      anon
      March 24, 2024 at 1:21 am | #

      joyce seems to be doing pretty fine to me, tho dunno if it’ll spiral more if dorothy realizes like “…Oh, i guess you don’t need me anymore” (although most ppl aren’t friends with each other b/c we ‘need’ them pers, although memes aside other than like a ‘mom friend’ assigned by a group, other ppl in ‘need’ of moral support and stuff would all work together/rotate shifts as opposed to one person expecting to be that role for everyone)

      • Coatl
        Coatl
        March 24, 2024 at 1:31 am | #

        The detail is that Joyce also has Dorothy on a pedestal, if things get complicated, it is evident that Joyce’s reaction will not be good.

        • Bash
          Bash
          March 24, 2024 at 3:10 am | #

          What are you talking about, I’m sure Joyce will have a very normal and appropriate reaction to finding out about all that.

  19. anon
    anon
    March 24, 2024 at 1:22 am | #

    polipsyched is a pretty fun poster lol

  20. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    March 24, 2024 at 1:25 am | #

    Oh yeah. Joyce still doesn’t know Dorothy’s mental health is collapsing because she doesn’t want to be president or go to Yale anymore.

    • anon
      anon
      March 24, 2024 at 3:21 pm | #

      lol president is ambitious tho idk if it was ever explained versus “president is the top job in america” more or less b/c while politics is important i think she’d do more help as like a local volunteer and even as a nurse/doctor versus trying to systematically changing a whole country. or even just basically being carla’s ‘assistant’ or whatever and getting her to donate to a handful of charities yearly or so

      • Booster Above Replacement
        Booster Above Replacement
        March 24, 2024 at 11:30 pm | #

        I think it’s more like she fixated on “if you try very hard you can do anything you want, even become president” because she seems to view it as a pure meritocracy as opposed to a popularity contest

  21. Uly
    Uly
    March 24, 2024 at 1:50 am | #

    This set of strips has been cited on Language Log today. Come to think of it, I think Language Log is what introduced me to DoA in the first place….

    • Uly
      Uly
      March 24, 2024 at 1:50 am | #

      Link to today’s Language Log

  22. Shiro
    Shiro
    March 24, 2024 at 1:53 am | #

    Oh hey that’s one of my grandma’s maiden name

  23. Icalasari
    Icalasari
    March 24, 2024 at 2:01 am | #

    Poli-psyched oh dear lord

  24. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    March 24, 2024 at 3:11 am | #

    Joyce, why are you looking for your crush again? Aren’t you dating?

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 24, 2024 at 9:55 pm | #

      keeping score?

  25. Weatherheight
    Weatherheight
    March 24, 2024 at 3:12 am | #

    Many years ago, there was a… Disagreement of just how many items a “buttload” consists. After using the “ask for a buttload of ketchup at Mcdonalds” method, preponderance of evidence after 300 trials at random McDonalds restaurant drive throughs in a roughly 60 mile radius, apparently a buttload is 8 ( 220 iterations of eight packs of ketchup out of 312 field tests). Data on “a shitload” was far less conclusive, as that usually resulted in 8-10 packets.

    Within the home town, all but thirteen iterations out of 97 tests resulted in 8 packets, which suggests the local franchise has given this matter some thought.

    I therefore submit that Joyce and Dorothy each possess eight units of respect – it is up to someone else to determine how much respect is in a standard unit thereof.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      March 24, 2024 at 3:20 am | #

      I’m pretty sure that loads from butts are units of NEGATIVE respect.

      • David DeLaney
        David DeLaney
        March 24, 2024 at 4:56 am | #

        but what about a butt-tacoload?

      • clif
        clif
        March 24, 2024 at 10:30 am | #

        But are they Imperial butts or Metric butts?

        • Reltzik
          Reltzik
          March 24, 2024 at 2:33 pm | #

          I didn’t get a good look, and I’m not going back for one. But if you plan to, metric butts are much more modular and standardized than imperial buttloads. All the same proportions with respect to one another. Essentially, Imperial buttloads are lumpy, and Metric buttloads are shaped more like bricks.

    • Stanistani
      Stanistani
      March 24, 2024 at 4:01 am | #

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butt_(unit)

      • Daibhid C
        Daibhid C
        March 24, 2024 at 9:07 am | #

        For years I thought that was a funny coincidence, rather than literally where the word buttload came from. I was wrong.

        Also, a butt of ale is less than a butt of wine. Wikipedia won’t tell me the standard butt sizes for ketchup or self-respect.

        • Reltzik
          Reltzik
          March 24, 2024 at 2:34 pm | #

          Similarly, a pound of gold weighs less than a pound of feathers.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      March 24, 2024 at 9:53 am | #

      I don’t know about a buttload, but in my college D&D group a shitload was defined as “one more than you could handle”.

  26. AGV
    AGV
    March 24, 2024 at 3:40 am | #

    So you were the source of the flashbacks, Joyce

  27. C.T. Phipps
    C.T. Phipps
    March 24, 2024 at 4:15 am | #

    I think Dorothy should apprentice herself to Robin and learn how to embrace the Dark Side of politics.

    • Mark
      Mark
      March 24, 2024 at 8:49 am | #

      No! Dorothy would actually be good at it.

  28. DarkoNeko
    DarkoNeko
    March 24, 2024 at 4:47 am | #

    Good on you, Dotty

  29. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    March 24, 2024 at 5:21 am | #

    So is he related to Mandy?

    (Or that penguin from the movie Madagascar?)

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      March 24, 2024 at 6:18 am | #

      Joyce is looking to get a status report on/from a Kowalski.

    • HueSatLight
      HueSatLight
      March 24, 2024 at 9:59 am | #

      “Kowalski” is like the Polish equivalent of “Smith”.

      • StClair
        StClair
        March 24, 2024 at 12:01 pm | #

        It literally is, being derived from “kowal” (blacksmith).

        Most surnames have very similar origins: job, home/birthplace, child of ___.

  30. ValdVin
    ValdVin
    March 24, 2024 at 6:41 am | #

    I have the feeling there’s a better Ruttech app that Joyce should be using. Especially one not run by an in-universe Musk figure

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      March 24, 2024 at 7:31 am | #

      I was going to say “No no, that’s Twitter, Joyce is looking Tristan up on facebook,” but Zucc isn’t any better than Musk.

  31. JepMZ
    JepMZ
    March 24, 2024 at 7:59 am | #

    Wait, do z generations have Facebook?

    • ValdVin
      ValdVin
      March 24, 2024 at 8:37 am | #

      Given how prolific Willis is and how far in advance he banks his material I’m gonna guess he wrote the FB reference a decade ago and forgot to change it.

    • clif
      clif
      March 24, 2024 at 10:34 am | #

      Yes, but they use it ironically.

    • zee
      zee
      March 24, 2024 at 12:24 pm | #

      Only for log ins on other apps and stuff like that

  32. Zamperla
    Zamperla
    March 24, 2024 at 9:23 am | #

    Honestly thank god, I think if Dorothy got roped into this nightmare she’d burn out so hard it’d be classifiable as an explosion. The ground under her feet would turn into *glass*.

    Good fucking luck Jason.

    • anon
      anon
      March 24, 2024 at 3:19 pm | #

      i mean considering he was hired as a favor/prolly did a bunch for robin in the meantime i doubt he’d get fired easily or the task would be transferred over to the other TA. or she’ll forget all about it/focus o n something new later

  33. Miri
    Miri
    March 24, 2024 at 10:10 am | #

    Nooooo Joyce!!!! You have your hot college boyfriend!! That means you stop e-stalking your cute home-ed community highschool-equivalent crush!

    • anon
      anon
      March 24, 2024 at 3:18 pm | #

      lol could be a cute moment as long as joe isn’t too jealous like “even tho it did take a while for us both to get there you are way better than tristan/my taste in men have improved” lol

  34. Bryy
    Bryy
    March 25, 2024 at 4:38 pm | #

    NOW it clicks.
    Joyce is going to Tristian for help.

  35. nicoleandmaggie
    nicoleandmaggie
    March 25, 2024 at 5:24 pm | #

    Thanks to this comic I looked up the guy I had a crush on from church when I was in junior high. He’s married to someone who seems really nice and recently bought a house. (No regrets from me!)

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look how incredibly photoshopped these lower legs are they definitely lassoed that lower leg color and desaturated it in post
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they managed to get the arms and thighs to be different grays, which I wasn't sure they'd be able to do, the way the mold's set up though maybe they're just producing a lot of extra thighs and/or arms in the wrong colors and throwing those away, i dunno
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