198

Ahem
Posted on September 29, 2023 by David M Willis

198 thoughts on “Ahem”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Dotty really be like: “NO U”

  2. Mym

    Yeah, all of you should take off your pajamas. Right now

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      I believe that Becky, and Lucy might have some objections to not being invited.

      1. Mym

        Dina is excused, and I hate Lucy

        1. Yotomoe

          The sequel to I love Lucy.

        2. Mym

          Man, I love that show tho. I’d watch the sequel 1000% if Willis wrote it

        3. Risky

          Another one?

        4. Tesset

          It’s a DB Super/GT situation

        5. Kazuma Taichi

          I would hope Dina’s excused more on the basis of being grey-ace/ace-adjacent than on the basis of being claimed by Becky

        6. Mym

          Dina can be excused for several reasons. But being ace is one of the most valid. I doubt she’d want any emotional involvement in this mess either

      2. Heavensrun

        Becky would mostly have objections to Walky *being* invited.

  3. Sirksome

    Y’know Amber’s totally competitive too. Wiggler is actually part of a pretty optimal build. Yes Mario Kart 8 has optimal builds.

    1. Yotomoe

      Oh I know. My pal, Poodle, goes to tournaments. How you can be competitive at a game that literally has randomized items I don’t know.

      1. Jamie

        And then there are the Mario Party tournaments.

        Yes, I’m serious. No, I don’t understand it, either.

        1. Schpoonman

          Cursed sentence.

      2. Pylgrim

        In every game where luck plays a factor you become competitive by getting really really good at every respect that is not luck-dependant and create strategies to minimise the impact of bad luck.

        1. Yotomoe

          I guess when I think about it most card games are about 50% luck.

        2. Ana Chronistic

          game the RNG

    2. Nono

      Sal’s the one that picks Wigler. We don’t know what character Amber picks.

      1. thejeff

        Didn’t Amazi-Girl use Wiggler too? That’s why Danny thought Sal was AG for like 30 seconds when he first talked to her.

  4. Puppeteer Nessus

    Amber in panel 2. She is well aware.

    1. Doctor_Who

      The amount of pants wearing people in the room just doubled. She’s no longer the majority.

  5. System of Eleven

    Why does Amber look shell-shocked in panel 2?

    1. Bruno

      There’s a person.

    2. Mym

      Well, she’s not blue-shell shocked

    3. DailyBrad

      Probably since she can tell Dorothy is presumably jumping to conclusions.

    4. Yotomoe

      Reasonable reaction to someone coming in your room while you’re pantsless and eating snacks.

      1. milu

        Freeze/fight/flee?

    5. Bicycle Bill

      I don’t think that’s shock.  She’s got a mouthful of nachitos and her cheeks are bulged out, giving her that odd look.

      1. ValdVin

        But her eyes are shocked. Unless that’s part of some sodium rush she’s getting from Nachitos.

      2. Roborat

        Maybe she is storing food for the winter?

    6. Just an Armadillo

      Maybe she’s just surprised by somebody suddenly making noises in the doorway? Honestly only thing I can think of, because there’s nothing going on here worth being stressed over unless you’re Dorothy levels of high strung.

      1. Drewsadar

        I feel like people are forgetting how anxiety shocked she is along with her self judgment issues she had demonstrated. She thinks she is garbage and an ahem out of nowhere is probably making her mind race about what she has done wrong and needs to be ashamed of.

    7. Angel

      it’s possible she’s just looking upward and her mouth/cheek is stuffed with food to not rly make a more non chalant expression, or just surprised to see dorothy upset

    8. Needfuldoer

      “This isn’t what it looks like” just clicked.

    9. Disastroid

      You’d be surprised too, if someone came in to see you going down on your Mario Kart opponent. Luckily she held it together.

      1. Allen Alberti

        i don’t think that means what you think it means

    10. Hof1991

      I think she just focused on the game. She barely registers Dorothy.

      1. Straximus

        I don’t believe so. The game is positioned on the floor in front of them. You can see in yesterday’s strip that her and Walky’s gaze is directed downward toward it. She and Walky are both looking up and toward the door in today’s strip.

  6. Kyrik Michalowski

    Dorothy, he is well within his rights to get his ass handed to him in Mario Kart; you don’t need to berate him for it.

    1. Sirksome

      Just my read of the strip, but maybe it’s more shock than scolding. As far as she knows Amber and Walky were still on the outs considering the Halloween incident. Him chilling in her room would be pretty surprising.

      1. Jamie

        One of Dorothy’s problems is that it’s hard to distinguish her shock from her scold. It’s a Mom voice thing.

      2. Angel

        i mean if this is happening simultaneously as the last scene, this means walky is missing breakfast/lunch with his parents and lucy tho not sure if Dorothy would necessarily know that

        1. clif

          It’s okay. I’m sure Lucy will show for breakfast/lunch and it will be fine.

    2. JBento

      What Dorothy is actually pissed about is that Walky wouldn’t dump Lucy to date her again (even though she was a terrible girlfriend who kept unilaterally resetting the boundaries of the relationship whenever she felt like it) and now he’s spending time with a third girl.

      For Dorothy, EVERYTHING is about Dorothy.

  7. Amara

    “If you won’t cheat with me, why would you cheat with her???” Is not a great look Dorothy. There’s no winning move for you here. Just disengage this conversation, and either cease the fire or leave the room.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      The only winning move is not to play.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Especially against Amber at Mario Kart.

        1. StClair

          GRUMBLE VOLCANO
          MUSIC PARK
          CHEEP CHEEP BEACH

          scrolling and scrolling, and every time it’s
          WINNER: AMBER

      2. Jamie

        Sometimes losing when playing is the winning move, though.

      3. clif

        The other winning move in to join the group and munch on doritos. Walky has two sides and there is enough dinosaur for everyone.

        This will put everyone in optimal position when Walky’s parents and Lucy show up.

        1. Azhrei Vep

          I dunno, man. You get too many people on that thing, I’m gonna start worrying about some seams ripping.

        2. nicoleandmaggie

          Agreed with clif. I hope they have a third controller!

    2. Puppeteer Nessus

      Oh that’s right! He shot her down, and here he is … and she is depantsed

    3. Erica

      It took me a sec but I realized that’s exactly why she’s reacting like this

    4. Yotomoe

      “There is no response to this that won’t hurt your feelings, Dot”

    5. True Survivor

      I think that’s a fair question. It’s a bad look, but a fair question and at least it might make Amber and Dina consider that they should put pants on.

      1. Yotomoe

        No one is gonna make me put on pants in my own room.

        1. RassilonTDavros

          Agreed.

      2. Taffy

        No the hell they should not, and you’re shaming your lineage with this suggestion.

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Agreed

        2. milu

          Can you live down such an affront to so many of your ancestors, True Survivor, many of whom went as far in their defiance of pants as to not have legs (on account of being fish, or single-celled, or bits of RNA)???

        3. clif

          I firmly believe that messenger RNA has legs; how else could it deliver the messages?

        4. milu

          Ah, but they were merely represented as a messenger in the mythology of an ancient expansionist imperial mediterranean culture known colloquially as the dark times, or as the western colonial empire, itself technically distinguished (misleadingly) into the colonial and post-colonial eras.

          They did have some funny myths, though

      3. NGPZ

        On Saturday noon? Hell no!!!

    6. HueSatLight

      She could express her frustration and any of her other swirling emotions, and not worry about having a great look or winning move, and just be a 19 year old who doesn’t need to be on a pedestal.

  8. NGPZ

    *plays “Land of Darkness” from Pajama Sam on hacked muzak*

  9. Erica

    I was thinking how much this is none of her business, but I just remembered that Dorothy got shut down by Walky when she asked him to get back together due to him being with Lucy, which is what triggered her spiral to begin with, and I realized it must feel like a gut punch to see Walky not-exactly-cheating-but-maybe-being-inappropriate with Amber in that context

    1. audkitten

      Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking. She must be wondering why she’s not good enough but Amber is

      1. Erica

        The real answer is she’s not garbage enough

        1. Sirksome

          I don’t know if you’re joking but this is the real answer. Walky puts Dorothy on a pedestal of excellence which is probably very unfair to her to be held to such expectation. Amber not so much. Also Dorothy doesn’t have a gaming console.

        2. Sirksome

          Your answer that is. Reading my response doesn’t make it clear enough I’m agreeing with you.

        3. StClair

          And I agree with both of you.

        4. milu

          Both Sirksomes?

        5. clif

          All three of them.

        6. clif

          The good Sirksome, the bad Sirksome, and the excuse for an Oxford comma Sirksome.

          The was originally going to be the surreal Sirksome, but my fingers just sort of took over.

        7. milu

          There was an anti-walky Sirksome at some point, i could swear

        8. Coatl

          It is precisely that detail that bothered me a lot, the way Walky rejected Dorothy and adding the comments of the disgusting and bastard Raidah and all that in a single day.

        9. Angel

          he was also like “well, i’m still dating lucy” we dont necessarily know if he’d take the temptation route and still say no if he had been unattached

      2. Erica

        Though she’s getting there!

    2. Yotomoe

      Dorothy Dorothy, you misunderstood me. I just didn’t wanna cheat on Lucy with you.

      1. milu

        It’s perfectly simple

        1. clif

          self explanatory even.

        2. milu

          Deducible from context alone, frankly.

    3. Decidedly Orthogonal

      The downward spiral began with Raidah’s abusive tirade. Walky’s rejection was just further down the spiral. She’s pretty fragile, but she can’t justifiably hate on Walky for wanting Amber’s machine. Any complaints she makes won’t have real teeth, even if Amber looks like she’s quaking. It’s not like they’re going to go back to year zero. They also can’t really ghost each other. So they’ll just have to let it slip until the hesitation marks from their past don’t cause as much feelings.

      1. Jamie

        Raidah’s tirade was the straw on the camel’s back, definitely. Walky’s rejection was simply when she stopped wanting to fight.

    4. DashWallkick

      Ohhhhh. You know suddenly her impending crisis makes more sense. She took one shot at something she could be selfish over and he struck her down, and now he’s here, and there’s *just enough* dots connecting that she thinks something romantic is happening.

      Which is of course painfully ironic — Walky is here for the same reason she is.

      1. clif

        emotional cheating?

        1. DashWallkick

          That’s not a real thing, even the Jacob/Joyce thing was more about lying to family. Walky just wants to blow off some steam with Mario Kart. Danny and Joe do that every week.

        2. thejeff

          I think emotional cheating is a real thing, but maybe not quite in the way it’s usually discussed. Cheating often doesn’t come out of nowhere at the first kiss or first sex – when whatever hard line you want to draw is crossed.

          I see emotional cheating as building that romantic connection that leads up to the actual cheating (or to a breakup instead). It’s more a thing to watch out for in yourself, because for some it’s easy to do without ever intending to do anything wrong. Which is where I think Jacob falls.

        3. thejeff

          And to be clear, I don’t see any signs of that with Walky and Amber.

        4. clif

          No, no. Walky is here to emotionally cheat with the switch. Dorothy is here to emotionally cheat on the presidency.

        5. Allen Alberti

          people can have friends.

  10. jeffepp

    Dottie can’t explain why it’s wrong. But she KNOWS it’s wrong, because of reasons. Unreasonable reasons, but reasons.

    1. Erica

      Reasons like Walky hanging out with pantsless Amber instead of pantsless Dorothy

      1. Angel

        by walky standards putting on pants, even pajama pants before leaving his dorm to visit someone else is pretty good lol

  11. cbwroses

    Walky owns a pair of pajama jeans.
    He can be wearing pajamas at anytime, in anyplace, for almost any occasion, let alone in his exe’s dorm room while leaning against a giant stuffed lesbian sex dinosaur.

    1. Dday

      Now THAT’S a band name!

      1. Dday

        ONE NIGHT ONLY! Giant Stuffed Lesbian SEX Dinosaur, live at the Bluebird!
        BE THERE
        BE THERE
        BE THERE

        1. clif

          OR BE AN EQUiLATERAL RECTANGLE!

    2. Pergola

      You had me at ‘giant stuffed lesbian’.

  12. BBCC

    I mean that’s still pretty in character for Walky, ya gotta admit, Dorothy.

  13. DailyBrad

    Obviously, under other contexts, she probably has seen Walky walk around campus in pajamas or sometimes even his boxers plenty of times, but guess with the context of his having shot her down before, maybe she’s a bit more sensitive here.

    I do think it’d be kind of amusing if Dorothy got way more weird about it than Lucy would, though, particularly given Jennifer’s tendency to be pantsless pretty often, so Walky’s almost certainly been over there plenty of times with Jennifer in undies. (Yes, Walky and Jennifer are quasi-siblings, but still.)

  14. C.T. Phipps

    Walky: I mean, Amber is a friend and I’m hanging out with a friend.

    Dot: YOU CANNOT BE FRIENDS WITH YOUR EX.

    Walky: Okay…bye.

    1. DailyBrad

      It’d be especially silly since Amber’s not even his ex, they didn’t date exactly.

      But really, the bigger reason Dorothy would be being silly here is the presence of Dina, like there’s a witness right there who A. would presumably prevent anything even if it were to get inappropriate, and B. would provide reliable testimony since she really has no reason to lie for Walky even if she was much for lying in general.

      1. HueSatLight

        Is this an appropriate way for him to avoid his girlfriend, shortly after rejecting Dorothy citing how great a boyfriend he is to Lucy? there’s situations in between entirely platonic and literally fucking.

        1. anonymsly

          How is he avoiding her? We don’t know she’s looking for him, she doesn’t seem to be texting him, they didn’t have plans, and she doesn’t have a Nintendo. And it’s not suspicious or mean, I think, to need a break every so often – you can like someone and be a good partner and still need/take a few hours to yourself.

          He has no romantic or sexual aim at Amber, he’s there to eat Nachitos and lose at Mario Kart. This is in no way cheating or even adjacent. It’s actually a fully platonic hangout with witnesses. (Thanks Dina!)

        2. Dot

          He is avoiding having to think about doing things with Lucy + his parents, but I don’t think it’s fair to describe that as “avoiding his girlfriend.”

        3. Just an Armadillo

          This is not one of those situations in between. This is two people hanging out playing video games. There is no scandal here.

        4. HueSatLight

          lol

      2. Sirksome

        I think it counts as dating. They went as far as grinding at the very least and were together until Halloween. We just didn’t see the relationship in full because they were already broken up post time skip. Everyone including themselves seem to acknowledge that Walky snd Amber were a couple and are regarded as exes.

  15. JA

    I predict Dina pops up from within her dinosaur to defuse the situation.

    1. NGPZ

      Either way, dino digga be chillin’ ??

    2. Just an Armadillo

      I predict Dina deems this none of her concern.

    3. Angel

      or accurately read the situation/call dorothy out on her feelings (not necessarily in a confrontational state, just mentioning it casually lol)

  16. Taffy

    Okay, but consider this: Dorothy’s weirdly hot as a jealous busybody.

    1. Jamie

      Are you sure it’s not just the disheveled look?

      1. Taffy

        I’m sure.

        1. Azhrei Vep

          Oh thank god, it’s not just me.

        2. clif

          Though, to be fair, Dorothy is always weirdly hot and the disheveled look is oddly cute.

    2. Pergola

      She’s wearing hot pink. hint hint

  17. Vukodlak

    Dorothys thinking “If you’re going to back slide why can’t you can back slide into/inside me!”

    1. Dot

      100%

  18. Taffy

    All of these idiots have been pretty faithful to their partners, right? I can’t think of an example of any cheaters, and you people are always banging on about “overwrought conflict is the only possible way a story can be interesting”-flavored chips. So fuck it, time for some Bad Behavior™. Dorothy should cheat on Walky with Amber.

    1. Angel

      I think jacob might’ve been teh only one to kiss joyce while he was still in a relationship even if he ended things shortly after

    2. milu

      Then cheat on Joyce with Sarah, after Sarah has completely lost track of who was supposed to fuck who and why, and just really wants to be held.

  19. C.T. Phipps

    Due to watching the Scott Pilgrim trailer, I now am imagining Lucy having to defeat Walky’s seven evil exes.

    Dorothy is the final boss.

    1. Spriteless Aunty

      Nonono, Linda is the final boss.

  20. Icalasari

    Amber’s face in Panel 2

    Glorious

  21. Sirksome

    I find it funny that this is being considered scandalous somehow. Walky and Amber are actually just chilling. Frankly this should be expected, Walky doesn’t have a single guy friend. I don’t know why Dorothy would or should take this personally. She’s actually coming to do the same thing for the same reason.

    1. Just an Armadillo

      I’ve got a sinking feeling we’re going to find out exactly what kind irrational thoughts are going through Dorothy’s head in the near future.

      But yeah, there is absolutely nothing going on here worth any kind of reaction… besides Dorothy’s reaction.

      1. clif

        “She’s actually coming to do the same thing for the same reason.”

        Not at all. She’s coming to watch cartoons and Walky is here to play video games. Not the same thing at all.

        Tho Amazigirl could probably do both at the same time.

    2. Dday

      It’s not so much scandalous as sadly telling. Walky has all but admitted he can’t just be his normal self and unwind around Lucy, while it’s clearly natural as hell with Amber. I wanted to root for Walky/Lucy but I got the feeling that ship sunk a long time ago

      1. clif

        Actually it floats on until Walky realizes it sunk a long while ago.

  22. anonymsly

    I mean… this isn’t even a sexy scene, is it? Two young adults in decidedly Non-skimpy (aka quasi-acceptable daywear as Walky points out) sitting side by side, not touching, playing a video game and shoving chips in their faces while one of their roommates is perched nearby reading a book.

    Dorothy, the correct move is to go get your own chips (or cookies, or carrot sticks, or whatever) and some trash f2p game and join them. It’s noon on a Saturday and folks be hanging out pointedly doing nothing. You WANTED another mental health day.

    1. Bash

      It’s not sexy but it’s sort of intimate. To be hanging out with someone on a Saturday morning in your pajamas means you trust them and feel close to them. I think seeing that emotional closeness with a girl he used to like hurts her.

    2. Angel

      nope, but teenagers are emotional/hormonal

      that said i’m sure walky would enjoy a ‘date’ at teh arcade/doing vid games and stuff over like dressing up and going to ‘brunch’ in a group/with raidah’s friends and all

    3. Aslan

      I believe the implication is that Dorothy thinks Walky slept there

      1. Angel

        i mean, dina’s there too, walky’s not /that/ unaware that he’d end up in a situation where he’d sleepover in someones room that’s not his gf unless it’s some kinda weird ‘group’ sleepover as opposed to some extreme situation where he couldn’t have passed out anywhere else

  23. SDRainbow

    dorothy noooooooooooooooooooooooo

    i mean i get it

    but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  24. Jamie

    I look forward to discovering whether or not the atheist will exhibit Evangelical cultural values. My popcorn is ready.

    1. Angel

      well, roz did call her ‘slutshamey as hell’ or something like that, although is it evangelical to think that cheating is wrong, not that that’s what walky’s doing anything wrong so far

      although i’m sure lucy would probably feel insecure about it if walky wasn’t like “hey i’m going to chill with amber and dina in their room playing games” walky’s not being intentionally malicious i don’t think but i doubt he actually let lucy know he’s with amber rn

      1. morleuca

        And let’s be honest, had he felt the need to tell Lucy what he was doing, she would’ve first tried to suggest all sorts of “couple-y” things to do, and then glued herself to his side and made unhappy comments the whole time.

    2. Bash

      Atheists can get irrationally jealous too.

      1. HueSatLight

        emotions are kind of all irrational. and I can think of nothing better for Dorothy in this moment than to express her jealousy, realize she’s jealous, and most importantly accept her jealousy.

        And it would be good for Walky too. First, he might finally take her off the pedestal. Second, what he’s doing isn’t 100% platonic, and someone needs to call him out. A: he’s avoiding his girlfriend, with whom he has little chemistry. B: It’s different than if he were hanging out with Ken and Arnold, or if he were hanging out with just Dina. He has chemistry with Amber. Her being in underwear is for emphasis.
        He needs to actually communicate with Lucy, about what their relationship is and isn’t. He probably won’t, because it’s easier to put that off. He might though, because he could realize that the person who’s been giving him advice is “full of shit sometimes” and jealous and not some always-rational ethics-bot.

        It won’t be good for either Amber or Dina.

        1. thejeff

          What he’s doing is 100% platonic. He came here to borrow the switch, not to hang out with Amber. He only stayed because she’d let him use it, but not leave with it.

  25. Suet

    From “mindless fun” to “do you mind??”, she’s still not the “same ol’ Dorothy” that Walky guaranteed.

    Mario Kart isn’t mindless fun either, anyhow.

  26. Amós Batista

    I never can’t play well in driving games. The best I can do is Crash Team Racing and still could not reach Amber’s level.
    At least, I’m pretty decent in real life kart.

    1. Zaxares

      If Mario Kart is still too much actual racing for you, give the Twisted Metal series a go. 🙂 It’s essentially a deathmatch game, but everybody’s driving vehicles around instead of using human(oid) avatars. There’s no races, no laps, just doing your best to drive around the map and blast your opponents with silly Michael Bay-esque weaponry.

      1. Da Boy

        Ah reminds me the good old Carmageddon days

  27. milu

    Dorothy is shocked that everyone is better at chilling than she is;
    Dorothy is a competitive high-achiever;
    Therefore, Dorothy is about to put all her efforts into becoming the top chiller in IU.

    1. Da Boy

      That’s a dangerous path to take, what if she decides that video games are the best way and start competing against Amber. She will never win!

      1. milu

        this means war.

  28. DashWallkick

    A thought just occurred to me — Dorothy is probably not dealing well with the fact that her “hey what if I had fun today” plan just got derailed by someone yet again pointing out “but you don’t have fun, you work harder”, and that someone is the ex who just rejected and embarrassed her. Not going to go well!

  29. DarkoNeko

    Amber you have no reason to feel guilty. It’s ok, Amber. There will be drama but it’s not your fault this time !

  30. Rabisch

    Panel 2. Amber suddenly realising how that looks from the outside.

    1. clif

      Panel 2. Amber eating Nachetos.

    2. Hof1991

      Panel 2. Amber continuing to beat Walky in the game.

  31. AlaninDC

    Been more than a few years since i rolled out of bed, spent the whole day in my jammies and made a fistful of nacho chips the first taste I experienced in my mouth after waking up.

    If I also had a girl/friend like Amber around, I probably would not have ever left college.

    1. clif

      The spirit of AlaninDC still roams the halls and they say that on clear moonless nights you can still hear the sounds of crunching nacho chips.

  32. Big Z

    I do so enjoy Walky’s SPECIFIC method of not giving a heck about Dorothy’s interrogation.

  33. Yeet

    Not sure the idea that this could count as cheating has even crossed Walky’s mind
    Pretty sure he’s mostly thinking about video games and nachitos
    Given Amber’s expression I’m sure she’s caught up to the concept though
    You could say Walky is being inconsiderate of Lucy
    You could also talk about the perils of not talking about boundaries in relationships but that’s… pretty common in early adult relationships tbf
    I want six more people to walk in

    1. morleuca

      I mean it’s about time for Becky to arrive. After that….Ethan? Because of his newfound energy, he decides he should talk to her for whatever reason, walks in just as things are getting straightened out and calmed down, and successfully reignites everything.

    2. HueSatLight

      cheating doesn’t have to be them fucking. what did cross his mind was, “who do I want to be with right now?” and it was Amber.

      When he was talking with Lyle, he said the reason he’s with Lucy is he wanted someone to watch cartoons with. So the kind of thing he’s looking for in a relationship, being comfortable just hanging out doing nothing together, he’s doing with his ex to avoid Lucy.

      1. cbwroses

        Actually, what crossed his mind was who has a Nintendo I can borrow, and it was Amber.
        Amber insisted that if he wanted to play it, he had to stay.
        And then Amber came over to him when he complained about her eating all the cheese covered corn chips by herself.
        Walky never intended to stay in this room and hang with anyone, let alone Amber.
        Playing Nintendo was his chosen method of avoiding doing Something (not avoiding Lucy specifically, though it’s always something with Lucy), not hanging with Amber.

        1. HueSatLight

          people make up reasons to hang out. He brought chips to share, he was intending to stay.

        2. cbwroses

          Ok, so you’re ignoring that he told her he’d bring the Nintendo back or are you choosing to believe Walky correctly predicted what Amber would do and say?

          Also, we’ve seen him walk the halls while eating chips, in his boxers no less, and he even gave the bag to Joyce after talking to her about relaxing on a Sunday, so him bringing the chips with him now doesn’t imply any special thinking on his part.

        3. HueSatLight

          I’m saying people make up pretenses to invite themselves to hang out, and I’m not taking everything Walky says as literally true. I’m saying that he had a guess what she would do and say, but also had a backup excuse.
          It’s not special thinking on his part. It’s very on brand of him, but also not that rare in human behavior.

        4. cbwroses

          It’s actually not on brand for Walky to make up excuses to hang out with people.
          Yes there are plenty of people who do that, but he is not shown to do that.
          And why wouldn’t you take it at face value?
          He does not have a habit of saying one thing and meaning another.
          That’s why it’s special thinking on his part, because it’s not his normal behavior.

        5. Heavensrun

          He was explicitly holding the bag of chips to consume *by himself* at the beginning of the storyline when he was expecting to sit in his dorm room playing Nintendo. When he got to Amber, he used the Nachitos, (the only thing he had on him) to try and bribe his way into borrowing the Switch *and taking it with him.* You are ascribing intent that is just explicitly not there.

        6. Da Boy

          This is coming dangerously close to “men and women can’t be friends, there is always romantic/sexual tension.”

        7. HueSatLight

          no, it’s not. fuck off.
          If he were watching cartoons with Joyce, it’d be different. The romantic chemistry between Walky and Amber is strong enough that when they intentionally made a terrible impression, his dad took him aside and said “she’s a keeper.”

        8. Taffy

          It’s his phone.

        9. Da Boy

          Wow, rude much?
          All Walky cared about was playing some games because he was bored, if that was a criteria for a romantic relationship I’d be gay as hell. Same for Amber really, food and games.

      2. zee

        He’s not avoiding her, he chose to hang out with someone else. That’s fine. Even on that comment about not feeling like nothing with Lucy or whatever- they just started dating. It’s been like 2 weeks. It’s normal to not feel completely comfortable/at ease around your new partner at that point. You haven’t settled into a routine yet, you’re still figuring things out and trying to impress them and whatever. Lucy’s been a bit much but she has new relationship +first boyfriend jitters. It’s fine. This isn’t an indication of anything

        1. Dot

          Right, it’s easy to see why Dorothy is misinterpreting what’s going on, but Walky really has done absolutely nothing wrong here. He’s allowed to be friends with, and hang out with, his friends, including female ones, including ones he had situationships with.

        2. HueSatLight

          sure he can be friends with an ex. that’s not merely what’s happening here though.

        3. Heavensrun

          I’m pretty sure that’s *exactly* what’s happening here?

        4. Azhrei Vep

          I’m not even sure that much is happening. They’re being kinda cool with one another, but whether or not this is back to being a friendship… well, time will tell.

        5. Dot

          Walky sure seems to think it is!

        6. nicoleandmaggie

          nothing wrong except skipping out on a lunch date with his actual girlfriend?

        7. Heavensrun

          When did he make a lunch date with Lucy?

        8. cbwroses

          Actually, he’s not.
          I thought he was, but I just checked the tags for Walky, Charles, and Linda individually, and in none of the recent strips did they make plans to meet up today.
          The original plan was lunch yesterday, then the parents texted to switch to dinner yesterday, which Amber came to.
          But Linda specifically asked Sal and Danny to lunch today, with no mention of Walky and Lucy.
          And Walky never mentioned lunch today, or any meetup today, to Lucy.
          Here’s the link to Linda specifically asking for Sal and Danny:

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/04-but-dont-give-yourself-away/hardmode/

        9. nicoleandmaggie

          huh! Good research! I take it back!

        10. Azhrei Vep

          “including ones he had situationships with.” Umm…. what? Gonna need a definition on that word. Situationship?

      3. milu

        Wow. HueSatLight made a very normal guess at something that might be the case that the narrative hasn’t yet made clear, and some of you seem to be bending backwards to misread it.

        1. Yotomoe

          Just another day on the comment section.

    3. Yeet

      my comment about something not crossing walky’s mind caused more discussion than I expected
      dude’s just not thinking about it when he should be is all I meant
      going to hang out with amber is an impulse he should be examining for sure but it mostly feels like his screensaver icon hasn’t hit the corner and created a thought

      1. Dot

        There’s nothing to examine! His thought process was “I want to play Nintendo” and so he went to the only one of his friends he knows is guaranteed to have one

        1. Yeet

          Ehhhh, Sal has one and hanging out with your ex with both of you in your underwear is kind of a bad look even if there’s no bad intent.

  34. Spriteless Aunty

    You know if the switch successor is also named switch something then this will age better than the DS games.

  35. HueSatLight

    Feels a little like Joyce bringing up the idea of emotional cheating served a narrative purpose beyond her situation.

  36. Pergola

    I am amazed that Walky is aware of the passage of time.

    1. Angel

      i mean, you can access your phone at anytime, even if the swtich doesn’t have a time display (i don’t have one so idk), but he’s prolly slept in enough weekends to know when noon time roughly is lol

  37. nicoleandmaggie

    I notice the confirmation of the time here– lamp-shading that it’s lunch. I really really hope that Lucy wasn’t supposed to meet up at the lunch place. I really hope she was supposed to walk over with him. I wouldn’t wish her being alone with Walky’s parents on anybody (except maybe Jennifer who seems to be able to handle it).

    1. Heavensrun

      Walky wasn’t explicitly included in the lunch invitation, so he’s probably pretending it wasn’t about him. We didn’t see him say anything to Lucy about it either, so she probably doesn’t even know it was a thing.

    2. Angel

      given how…clingy lucy is/enthusiastic about her relationship they would’ve walked together, if not walky being texted by now, but this is a slow burn towards a break up i imagine

  38. morhek

    “Oh, so you weren’t willing to cheat on Lucy with ME, but Amber is fine?”
    “Firstly, it’s just Mario Kart., Secondly, if i was cheating I’d be winning by now.”
    “No you wouldn’t.”
    “This doesn’t involve you Amber.”
    “I’m feeling pretty involved.”

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