Walky: The phone's not to bright fer you to sleep, is it?
Amber: There are few things in this world as soothing to me as being under the soft glow of a cellphone screen.
Walky: The phone's not to bright fer you to sleep, is it?
Amber: There are few things in this world as soothing to me as being under the soft glow of a cellphone screen.
101 thoughts on “I saw the cellphone glow”
Tequila Mockingbird
Okay, I’m somewhat neutral on this ship… but that was objectively adorable.
Sarah Lea
Awwwwwww!
Kammon
As someone who thinks Walky/Amber is far superior ship to either Walky/Joyce or Mike/Amber from the past continuity, I also think this was adorable.
Needfuldoer
Amber and Walky have more chemistry together than any other character pairing in the series.
.
Yes, even more than the pair you’re thinking of right now.
Sharizard
More than Mike and Your Mom? I disagree, good sir!
Alaric
Ah, but Mike and Your Mom aren’t a couple, because there’s a third member- the nickle.
ZombieKyrik
This is cute, but what happened with Sal and singing? What happened to karaoke party? Did Alice try to make the moves on Billie? Did Becky enjoy herself, and not feel bad for a bit? All these answers next time on Dumbing of Age Z!
Michelle J Caboose
Unfortunately, that’s one of the drawbacks to having such a large ensemble cast.
NGPZ
(^-^) <3 aaaawwwweeee
*plays “Raspberry Heaven” from Azumanga Daioh on hacked muzak*
Doctor_Who
Man, that is such a bizarrely soothing song. Been years since I last thought about it.
ValdVin
My late wife didn’t share much of my interest in anime, but did really enjoy Raspberry Heaven, and Soramimi Cake.
Gleaming Moonlight
I see that title.
Trans Walky is real.
Iris
Interesting name for a strip containing Walky Walkerton!
NGPZ
certainly somebody soon will be bitten by the bi fairy tonight XD
Cbwroses
I assume there’s a reference that I’m not getting.
Grimey
Same.
Jon
Not a clue. Hoping somebody will, at some point, provide one, instead of just asking that Walky turn into Sal.
Brett
I Saw the TV Glow is a 2024 American psychological horror drama film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun.
Charlie Spencer
Brett, thanks. Based on other comments, I assume one of the characters was bi.
deliverything
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Saw_the_TV_Glow#Production might help?
“In featuring the transgender themes, Schoenbrun deliberately avoided making transitioning or coming out explicitly central to the plot, opting instead to write the story as an allegory so as to distinguish it from other films on the topic.”
QueenofSodor
eager to watch her transition unfold
Stormtide Leviathan
oh i didn’t even notice that lmao. we’re stacking up some truly staggering piles of evidence and foreshadowing here
Jason
And the way the stripes on Walky’s shirt look in this lighting…
Gigafreak
What if this is actually foreshadowing Amber becoming transmasc in order to become the yaoi
Grimey
@Jon – I have much more faith than it turning to just hypothetically Walky becomes Sal, but I genuinely don’t feel like debating my point of why I don’t feel Walky should be explored trans without a number of other issues on Walky’s plate prioritized first. Dorothy becoming Dorian though and Joyce getting her husband. That’s a theory I can get behind.
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
grimey if i had to wait to have my adhd, abandonment issues, parental neglect trauma, and general lack of self-worth resolved before i could live my life as a trans person, i would go to my fucking grave having never come out
.
which is what i saw the tv glow is about, kinda. so.
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
anyway i bet david is now kicking themself for naming one of joyce’s brothers john, because otherwise joyce and dorothy could someday become john and dorian, after that show with the doctors or whatever
Holly
Which is ironically kinda how the mental healthcare system works in Finland with its “one ‘issue’ at a time policy: compulsory drug test first, 2 years minumum per ‘issue’, trans assessments at the bottom of the list. So many of my friends there have had to go private with overseas clinics, and now they are making that nigh-on impossible too.
I continue to be (pleassantly) surprised by the Walky is trans theory, because I never recognise any of the hints people pick up on (autism + low media consumption XD) and have about uh, 2.5 decades of familiarity with the character as-is potentially clouding my perception of the new storylines. I love seeing what clues people spot – have never heard of this TV glow film, didn’t notice the poster in the earlier strip and would not have recognised it, etc.
deliverything
Besides… well, obviously it varies from person to person, but I imagine many such issues would be worsened by, or even result entirely from, trying to live as something you’re not. There are probably many cases where not addressing the not-actually-the-gender-people-say-you-are matter before everything else is handled would be like trying to get all the water out of a sinking ship before addressing the gaping hole in the hull.
Mr D
Okay serious question here: Taking in account how decompressed the storytelling is in DoA, where it has taken us about 16 years, give or take, to get through a single semester (Half of that time got skipped, too, right? More? Less?) leaving alone whether Walky is or isn’t an egg, is it even possible to respectfully show the whole transition process? It would take literal years, maybe a decade, to get through a single step of the process, let alone any HRT being applied.
_
Right?
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
i mean the real thing is, barring another three-month time skip, it’d have to be mostly about the social aspects of transition, yeah
PASchaefer
Oh, good. I was wanting to see more of them.
Bud
*looks at strip title*
*thinks back to the poster on the wall some strips ago*
I cannot wait for this to pay off.
PrognosticHannya
What poster was that?
Taffy
Power Rangers (2017), naturally.
deliverything
Now I’m wondering which ranger each of the cast members would be.
IntangibleMatter
Awwww, that’s really cute
First time in a while I’ve had a non-sapphic ship in the comic I’m rooting for (Jennifer and Ruth will get back together one day trust)
ZombieKyrik
I would prefer Billie and Alice getting together, but if Ruth and Billie get back together I certainly won’t complain.
Stormtide Leviathan
> non-sapphic ship
Give it time
Syl
non-sapphic *yet*
IntangibleMatter
Somehow I feel like if we ever do get trans Walky it won’t be while he’s with Amber
I mean I wouldn’t complain I just almost feel like it’d be the reason they break up or something because Amber’s straight, or maybe a revelation as a reaction to the split
Sajuuk-Khar
Plot twist: both are trans, and the Walky/Amber endgame is the Walkie/Ambrose endgame
deliverything
As to the “Amber’s straight” part… I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she’s fine with having a relationship with transfem Walky if and only if the latter keeps her penis. And yes, I know that has a boatload of bad associations and implications, but that’s in character for Amber the trash goblin, isn’t it?
TrueSurvivor
I kind of feel bad for Jason. While he is kind of haughty misanthropic jerk, he has more heart than he lets on. However, the entire fandom, including me, keeps either forgetting he exists or rooting against him, even if only by proxy – in that they want his girlfriend to ditch him for her problamtic ex. I mean the guy quite obviously was not a happy person before his life started going down hill, and at this point it just feels like beating a dead horse. I mean if mashing him into hamberger is what it takes to get Ruth and Billie back together, so be it, I just want all of us to acknowledge the cost for a second.
IntangibleMatter
Jason is a regrettable cost and I feel bad for him, but that will be largely overshadowed by my wild cheering
clif
It’s essentially inevitable on the way to the Walky/Jason engame.
Sajuuk-Khar
I am Ruth/Jason’s strongest soldier, and even I cannot see an endgame where he does not submit to some form of the incredible sapphic gravity of Billie x Ruth. You would, literally, have to stop the world just to stop the feeling, and the only people who are going to stop that world are the two groin idiot women involved since the early arcs, which they will and have done multiple times out of spite only to get back on the groin idiot horse. They’re stupid and insane for each other. No British exile could stand in the way of this and our Chesterfield boy would never try.
.
Now ask me about my insane idea involving Ruth getting pregnant because Billie bet her $20 that Jason’s dick doesn’t work and naming the child Integrity Chesterfield-Lessick. Or don’t, because that’s mostly the whole idea. (It’s a joke idea.)
eh, whatever
(It’s a joke idea.)
Joke upvoted.
Bash
I think people forget about him and/or don’t care about him because he’s not shown in a sympathetic light. He’s barely been in the comic at all since getting together with Ruth. There’s very little that would make us root for that ship.
Li
Also Ruth very directly confirmed that she would drop “[her] dumb boyfriend in a heartbeat” for Jennifer?
.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/comic/bloodinthewater/
.
There is less than nothing in the narrative telling us we should remember or care about Jason’s relationship with Ruth.
thejeff
That probably means Ruth and Jason are endgame. :)
Bea
Sure but like also their relationship is a punishment for screwing up their lives. I did like Jason being kind to Walky earlier and don’t want him to be hurt sure. But for me that means I need him to move on with his life and be with people who have the capacity to actually care about him rather than just accepting being dunked on because he feels like he deserves it or something. And crucially, he’s goooot to stop dating the traumatized undergrads.
John Campbell
I’m roughly as concerned about Jason’s relationships with Ruth as I am about Other Jacob’s relationship with Sarah.
Morleuca
I think this is the first time Amber is shown to truly be at peace. Though I think it’s more than just the faint glow of the handheld, regardless of what she or the hover text says.
Astariel
Awww, that’s adorable.
Amber’s got the things around her head, so hopefully she’s on her painkillers again.
BarerMender
Boozles. Mort Walker had a better word, but I forget what it was.
Rich
Squeans is the word you’re looking for.
Astariel
Are they still boozles if they’re not from alcohol?
Steamweed
I hope she ain’t mixing booze and meds!
TrueSurvivor
Look at that blissful smile, one can see that Amber is on that good shit, that makes time slipaway and lights up your mesolimbic pathway like christmas tree. Also, apparently she is on massive pain killers.
Ray Radlein
Man, Amber is going to be hors de combat for so many months of Our World time, isn’t she
Stormtide Leviathan
Amber’s lil smile is so sweet :3
Bill Erak
plot twist: Amber was the trans one, not Walky
Grimey
Deeper Plot Twist: Amazi-Girl is trans, not Amber.
…
Actually maybe there’s something to that. Like Dorothy.
anon
I wonder how an ‘alter’ would deal with being trans since i assume the ‘main personality’ would be in control of any medicine /not be consistent with any transitions unless they all agree
Hell Yeah
i can’t speak personally, but i *do* know systems who are in this exact situation and have found ways to reach a consensus on how they all wanna proceed in life (in these specific cases: transitioning, while still finding ways for the other headmate to express themselves and/or accomidating them somewhat via transition choices), so it doesn’t *have* to end up combatative at least!
Dave Van Domelen
Reference to this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Saw_the_TV_Glow
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
excited to see this strip title is how a non-negligible number of people are learning about one of the best movies of all time, and the most efficient egg-cracking machine ever built
.
congrats on being one of today’s lucky fifty thousand and on your new gender
Throwatron
Wait, is it actually cracking more eggs than Celeste has? That’s freaking impressive.
eskimolos
Probably because it’s more accessible than Celeste – that game is haaaard.
Taffy
It’s a lot easier if you turn on the infinite jumps and dashes, at least.