197

Dreadful
Posted on February 12, 2024 by David M Willis

197 thoughts on “Dreadful”

  1. Doctor_Who

    Danny’s Assets:

    1) Nice.

    2) Honestly kinda rocks a scarf.

    1. DailyBrad

      3) Honestly, loyal as fuck and often very considerate, which pairs interestingly with his tendency to put his foot in his mouth sometimes.

      1. Needfuldoer

        4) Hat

        1. Makkabee

          5) SHREDS on ukelele

        2. Mturtle7

          6) Owns a Nintendo with Mario Cart on it

        3. Oz

          7) Is neither intimidated nor competitive towards Sal

    2. AY

      For all his faults, I like Danny, so I propose: Danny pinup with only the scarf

      1. David M Willis

        *scratches chin*

        1. Finix

          Scarf, hat, ukulale. It’s all he needs

        2. Ferret

          The ukelele placed to tastefully cover his junk.

        3. Leadsynth

          Would be an excellent magnet for my collection.

        4. Kazuma Taichi

          but also tastefully angled to suggest an erection barely concealed

        5. Jerach

          Honestly sounds pretty excellent.

      2. Sirksome

        How about only the hat. In fact…forget the Danny. The people demand hat pinups!

        1. Dday

          For a slipshine, just stuff the scarf into the hat.

        2. Decidedly Orthogonal

          bites lower lip mmmm Papi!

    3. Mturtle7

      Oh, wait, this is interesting: I was just skimming the “Danny” tag, and it turns out that a couple years ago there was LITERALLY a strip where Danny lists his potential assets as a boyfriend. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-12/01-sister-christian/pullin/

      “Maybe it’s cause I play some dope ukelele. Maybe it’s the hat. Maybe it’s my encyclopedic knowledge of Robo-Vac comics. Maybe it’s because I’m willing and eager to perform cunninlingus even while swinging three stories off the ground from a grappling hook.”

      Though, I can see why his response to Sarah asking him to justify himself would be different from his response to Joe doing the same.

      1. Dave the Inverted

        I feel like the cunnilingus one is a synecdoche for his ability to focus on his partner in distracting circumstances and his general willingness to go along with whatever fits his partner’s vibe.

  2. Ana Chronistic

    “and by nice I mean white”

    1. Thag Simmons

      I do not think that’s what Sal means

      1. Masha

        She does call him Wonderbread. That’s basically wonderbread’s whole thing. Just being an otherwise unremarkable, inoffensive white bread(guy) that people kinda like and you go with when there’s no other interesting options available.

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          It’s a nickname, not a label of the defining characteristic she loves about him.

        2. Thag Simmons

          Especially since it definitely did not start out as complimentary

        3. Masha

          Struggling to understand how describing him as a plain white guy is complimentary but I guess in regards to the rest of the cast some might see it that way.

        4. Thag Simmons

          I was not trying to imply that it was complimentary, the opposite in fact, I was saying it started as a derogatory nickname.

          She’s started using it more affectionately, especially now that they’re dating, but it’s still more of a friendly insult than anything else.

        5. Ana Chronistic

          It’s the “Deku” of DoA!

        6. HueSatLight

          Probably a play on “Wonderin’ if you lost a bet”

        7. Eric

          It’s actually short for “Mayo on Wonderbread(tm)”

    2. anon

      well, that’s her parents definition of ‘nice’

  3. Mr. Random

    Not everything has to be dramatic. Sometimes… things are nice.

    1. clif

      Wait. No. Sal and Danny must be pissing someone off.

      Let me think. Ethan maybe?

      1. Enkrod

        Malaya’s not a fan

        1. Needfuldoer

          Who would Malaya accuse of being fakey here? I’d have to guess Sarah.

          Sal’s the usual target, but she genuinely likes Danny and Malaya recognizes that.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/somedork/

          Is Danny even capable of being fakey if he tried?

          Sarah’s honest in her grumpy, asocial misanthropy, but sometimes it seems like she’s going out of her way to justify it.

        2. Azhrei Vep

          Look. If she really wanted to walk to class alone, she clearly had time to go before anyone else showed up. She’s totally being false right now. (I refuse to use Malaya’s second-favorite ‘F’ word)

        3. Mark

          Malaya is not a fan of anyone or anything, not even Malaya. Iguanas, perhaps.

      2. Daibhid C

        Sarah, for some reason.

        1. Daibhid C

          Oops, that wasn’t even ninja’d. That was me not reading down two replies.

      3. zee

        Every other guy on campus who wants sal. Particularly of the dudebro variety

    2. HueSatLight

      Oh, Nice Things Are Nice (and Bad Things Are Bad)

      1. ValdVin

        Boffo reference from a great episode pair.

        I don’t know if I’ll ever have cause to drop “Pull the trigger, you big baby!”

  4. Dean

    He’s pissing Sarah off, but I don’t think that counts.

    1. Thag Simmons

      not like it’s hard

      1. David DeLaney

        that’s what SHE said

        –Dave, whilst stroking her bat

    2. UrsulaDavina

      Not a high bar to achieve apparently.

    3. anon

      at this point it’d be easier to count off what /doesn’t/ piss her off

    4. Mark

      Doesn’t matter; she should run with it. “Actually, Sarah, I’m dating a nice guy who makes me happy just to put your nose out of joint. Enjoy.”

  5. Jo_cubstar

    Poor hat guy

    1. anon

      at least it’s not a fedora

      but yeah either for transition or finding a partner sometimes ‘just some nice guy’ is enough of a standard for ppl

  6. Thag Simmons

    How’s Marcie feel about him?

    1. DailyBrad

      Legit very good question, I’d love to know.

      1. BBCC

        We had a patreon strip about it. She told him “Congratulations and if you fuck this up, I will end you.”

        1. David DeLaney

          Mother Marcie Moment

          –Dave, some day, a Patreon collection release, twice the price of a standard collection?

        2. Li

          I get that this is a play on Mother Bear but I don’t think Marcie’s energy towards Sal is any more motherly than Becky towards Joyce. “I was ALSO in love with that girl and my feelings are still a little complicated but bottom line she’s super important to me and always will be, you will NOT hurt her.”

        3. BBCC

          You can’t hurt someone’s best friend without incurring wrath.

        4. Li

          Agreed, but. Idk. It’s a pet peeve when folks put characters into the Family Zone when they definitely don’t belong there. Sal’s feelings for Marcie are probably v sisterly tho.

  7. DailyBrad

    Danny really is a difficult person to offend, outside of Danny.

    1. anon

      walky is the only person i’ve seen rly get under his skin and occasional frustration with joe but that’s not rly an offensive thing versus an aspect of their friendship

      1. HueSatLight

        Mike did. Then he died. so … best of luck, Walky.

        1. anon

          i mean the purpose of mikes chara was to get on everyone else’s skin lol

    2. David DeLaney

      and inside of Danny it’s too dark to meme

    3. DailyBrad

      Whoops, meant to say Walky instead of the second Danny, though as Hue points out, so has Mike. Though, in both cases, it was usually not him getting mad at insults directed at him, specifically, which usually rolls off his back because he’s been getting that at home, too, basically his whole life, something even Amber (in Amazi-Girl form) found rather disturbing.

      1. Mturtle7

        Honestly, I didn’t even notice the typo. I just assumed you were saying that Danny is one of the only people who regularly manages to offend Danny, which is arguably true! The poor guy does not exactly have great self-esteem.

        1. DailyBrad

          That makes total sense, yeah, he can be very critical of himself.

          Though, if Walkyverse is any indication, his worry he’s going to lose his hair is at least unfounded.

  8. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    Sarah trying REALLY hard to put up an antisocial act. As if Danny isn’t one of the few people she doesn’t find as a complete nuisance.

    1. anonymsly

      I don’t think it’s an act. I think she’s just genuinely not happy unless she’s shitting on the choices, personality, and general existence of everyone around her.

      She’s like if sandpaper was a person. A very very few people have learned her ways and can interact with her and mostly end up un-bloodied – to those people she can be good/valuable without being other than she is. To the rest, she’s just a pain to deal with.

      1. Imogen

        I’m not sure it makes her happy, but it’s a way to engage socially. Sarah is really bad at making conversation that isn’t about criticizing someone. Remember her conflicted feelings trying to talk to Jacob? She only lit up when she was making fun of Joyce, but it made her (rightly) feel awful.

        Sarah seems to be extremely insecure about simple sincere positivity. It doesn’t feel real or honest to her, and she can’t perform it like other people can, so she just makes herself sandpaper so she doesn’t have to feel artificial–or worse, like someone else’s sucker. Sarah literally introduces herself to people by telling them she’s not fun to be around. She’s constantly trying to manage expectations.

        Shitting on other people doesn’t make Sarah feel happy. Negativity of all stripes makes Sarah feel safe, because if she’s never positive about herself or others, nobody can make her feel stupid for being vulnerable. She’s been burned in the past, and maybe she’s had performative vulnerability forced from her beyond her comfort levels (like in an enmeshed family).

        What I’m getting at is that this level of guardedness probably comes more from fear than sadism. I relate to this aspect of Sarah a lot, even when, like today, it feels incredibly excessive.

        1. Bash

          This is an excellent observation. She doesn’t know how to engage socially unless she’s being critical of something. Here we even see her waiting for her friends, then acting like she wanted to walk alone.

        2. anonymsly

          It’s all well and good to say ‘she doesn’t know how’ for most people, but Sarah wants to be a LAWYER, aka a career path all but requiring social skills: persuasiveness at least, with shout outs to charm and likeability.

          Soft skills are practical skills, and she has perfect opportunities to learn and practice in her current friend group comprised of people who already like her when she’s an unrelenting ass to them all. But she’d rather be an unrelenting jerk and triple down on it at every opportunity than go to an iota of effort for a non-academic skill.

        3. Casi

          You don’t necessarily need social skills or persuasiveness to be a lawyer unless you’re going to be a trial lawyer. If you’re doing tax law, or contract law, and never setting foot in the courtroom proper, you don’t need to be personable.

        4. Mark

          Weeel, you do need to at least be pleasant to prospective and actual clients or you won’t have any.

        5. Mturtle7

          …Look, in fairness to Sarah, she’s literally only 1.5 years into her undergraduate degree. She has time! And she’s made a LITTLE progress, in spite of the massive setback she suffered last year. She’s honest-to-goodness close friends with Joyce, at least, and is engaging in more and more social contact with Joyce’s other friends, these days.

          Pretty much this whole comic is about people doing really stupid shit because they’re young and inexperienced, and gradually maturing, bit by bit, as a result. Sarah is no exception.

      2. Miri

        Dang, why does she sound so much like early Ruth here??

        It makes phrases like, post kidnapping “the worst thing about having divorced parents is you have to deal with them in waves, rather than being able to blast through” https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/separated/ (needed to look it up, remembered it as her saying it means you can blast through the waves…) possibly hit different, even with her asserting that her parents never hit her with a wooden spoon and her mother may have sometimes used an open palm https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-12/03-trial-and-sarah/notweirdatall/ (but that is just one out of at least 3 parent figures, given a near-same-age half-sister. With similar-to-Joyce fundie hang-ups…)

        I think Sarah probably does take “being prickly” to “trauma response would make sense as an explanation (but not excuse)” levels…

        1. BBCC

          Sarah doesn’t seem to get along with her parents, no. “Lying to your parents is an adulthood rite of passage, like pretending you love them.”

        2. thejeff

          She does seem close with her grandmother though.

          It’s hard to tell with Sarah whether not getting along with her parents is just standard teen stuff added to her general dislike of people or if there’s something more specific going on there.
          Is there trauma or just that adulthood rite of passage?

        3. HueSatLight

          In two cases of shit hitting the fan, Sarah’s idea was to call someone’s parents. I don’t think it would have been if her experience with her own parents had been terrible.

        4. Imogen

          Depends on the kind of horrible. Sarah gives big “enmeshed family” vibes. Her parents might be reliable enough in a crisis, just codependent outside of one.

    2. HueSatLight

      She’s been in a particularly sour mood lately (since Friday / May 2023). I think she probably thinks she’s incapable of being loved, and Lucy’s “so-called friends” barb struck that nerve. Then her hate-sink is dating her roommate (and spent the night). And she screwed up with Jacob twice.

      It’s a recipe for a shitty mood, and she’s taking it out on Danny and Sal. Maybe resenting their affection for each other (back to speculation #1).

      1. Imogen

        These are great observations.

    3. Warcodered

      Feel like Sarah usually isn’t this bad, but is in a bad mood from other things like Joyce and Joe and her complete incompetence with Jacob. She’s just taking it out on other people.

  9. VolticEXE

    Sometimes Sarah’s more negative tendencies are welcome.

    This is not one of those times.

    1. Bash

      I like the way Sal has to give a straight answer about why she is with Danny. I think it’s good for her to say it out loud.

    2. anon

      would be interesting if someone like this said that and then ppl are like “you’re right, why are we together? we should break up” of course other than for a bit/joking with a group of friends, mostp pl wouldn’t rly do that unless they’re super young and changing their mind but i wouldnt’ be surprised if some engagements were called off over something ‘tiny’ given all the diff relationship dynamics that exist in the world

  10. Steelbright

    Glad to see Sal hasn’t dumped Danny bread because her parents liked him. Tbh that was kinda a long shot but i was worried there’d be more fallout

  11. Sirksome

    Sarah and Danny is another rare pair.

    1. HueSatLight

      They have met though. I guess most of it was the first week or so of school, so Danny reintroducing himself does make some sense.

      … or this is more evidence of the multi-dumbiverse.

      1. RassilonTDavros

        My personal headcanon is that there are alternate Dumbiverses, but since none of them have invented inter-dimensional travel they’ll never interact.

        1. David DeLaney

          except that a lot of them already have, like two settings back

  12. Nono

    I want to say Sarah and Malaya would be friends, but maybe they would hate each other too much.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Sarah and Malaya have too much in common to get along. It’s the same reason Sal doesn’t get along with either.

  13. C.T. Phipps

    What’s hat guy’s name again?

    Also, is Hat Guy actually nice? I remember a lot of cases of him being a NICE guy.

    1. Dday

      He’s one if those “nice guys” that’s always tipping his hat.

    2. Anon A Mouse

      He says the wrong thing a lot ( and, lets be honest, things ARE better because Mike never woke up ) but how much has he done to not be considered a generally “nice” person?

      1. Jon S.

        A version of him from another universe was a jerk. That appears to be the root of all Danny hate. That and the ukelele

        1. Li

          Nah, I hadn’t ready anything but Shortpacked before I started DoA and I didn’t like Danny for a long time. It was tempered only because Willis themselves ragged on Danny so much, so I knew he was in for character growth.

          His initial appearances were pretty sucky. He’s a good egg these days and a much better boyfriend to Sal than he was to Dorothy.

      2. Charles Phipps

        I mean things are NOT better because Mike never woke up because it emotionally destroyed Amber and Ethan. Proof that even awful-awful people can be loved by good people.

        1. Anon A Mouse

          While those two, in particular, are not better I’d say the (fictional)world as a whole is still objectively and quantifiably better without him. Also, this gives them a better chance at growth without Mike, which is STILL better.

    3. Bash

      He was a bit of a NICE guy at the beginning, but he’s always been genuine and kind in his interactions with Sal. He always though she was out of his league, so he just acted like a friend.

    4. Thag Simmons

      Eh, he’s alright

    5. Karadaga

      I don’t know, most of the time, he’s quite nice, but he also keeps getting mad about who Dorothy, Amber, or Ethan (before the timeskip) dated, which is a big red flag for me.

      Also, probably not the intended audience interpretation, but he knew Sayid would be giving her the room extension while they were overbooked and he still tried to intimidate him, someone in a position of service. I hate that shit

      1. PigmyWurm

        While I generally agree that you should treat service workers well, even if the service is lacking because often it can be due to factors beyond your control (people being out, poor management, ext). However, if you overhear someone openly mocking you, I think some pettiness is understandable. One of Danny’s issues for a long time is that he didn’t have enough of a spine. That seems to be improving, but sometimes he migh/ overshoot a little.

      2. Mr D

        Look mate, if a service worker is mocking me behind my back (Or to my face!!) and I hear them, I’m no longer gonna be polite to them. I assume that even Danny would agree with that.

    6. wwwhhattt

      Judging from his strips with Sal he has successfully transitioned from being a Nice Guy to being a guy who is nice.

    7. Mturtle7

      He’s actually nice. At least, he is now.

      To my knowledge, the defining trait of a “Nice Guy”(TM) is expecting women to fawn over him because he completed a self-determined checklist of supposedly nice things, and getting mad and sullen when they don’t. I can’t remember if pre-time-skip Danny ever really acted like that, but post-time-skip Danny has actually made it very, very, clear that he has no expectations of Sal when he does nice things for her. Skimming the tags points me to three great examples: ,
      , and
      .

      I hope that answers your question!

      1. Mturtle7

        Ok, I screwed up the text for those links, but it looks like they still work. They were supposed to read like “here, here, and here”. But maybe I shouldn’t have tried to get fancy.
        for clarity’s sake, here’s the straight links:
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-13/01-bring-me-to-life-drawing/expectations-2/
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-12/01-sister-christian/impress/
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-11/05-as-long-as-its-free/pickmeup/

  14. Steelbright

    Wow what a typo. dunno why “bread” is in there but “Danny bread” isn’t inaccurate

    1. True Survivor

      I didn’t even think that was a typo.

      I guess he is bread, because all the ladies want a slice?

    2. Bash

      What? Was it corrected later?

      1. True Survivor

        It was in Steelbright’s first comment on this strip – I think it is the 5th primary comment up from this one.

  15. Rabbit

    Bets on Walky and Dorothy waking up together and one of them yelling.

    1. justin8448

      This idea was nowhere near my brain before, but now I simultaneously want this and do not want it.

    2. Thag Simmons

      shit, they’re still unaccounted for aren’t they

      1. Rabbit

        And they both likely got drunk last night. Jennifer, Dorothy and Walky are all unaccounted for.

        1. clif

          Jennifer and Walky wake up together and neither of them would give it a second thought.

    3. Mark

      They’re cuddled up together in one of those isolation chairs. Which will be a shock for both when one awakens.

      Lucy’s little gasp is what awakens them.

  16. Grimey

    I appreciate Sal’s face in the fifth panel. It’s very much giving ‘you just wanna live in your misery, do you’.

  17. EAG46

    Ugh we *get* it Sarah you hate everyone and everything. Peeing in everyone’s popcorn is getting old, sweetie. Find a new personality trait.

  18. BBCC

    Sarah, people who like Jacobs shouldn’t throw stones.

    1. True Survivor

      Jacob is a very cordial and kind man. However, I think Sarah may also be interested in him for other reasons (see biceps).

      1. justin8448

        What would Sarah think of Jacob if he was a jerk? I kind of want to know now.

        1. anonymsly

          She’d probably find him easier to deal with.

        2. Charles Phipps

          Sarah would love a jacob who just wanted sex and no emotional connection.

        3. Francoinblanco

          Like old Joe?

        4. thejeff

          But without the predatory side. Her first intro to Joe was him trying to pick up Joyce to fix her. With his penis.

          If he hadn’t been so aggressive at the start I do think they could have made decent fuck-buddies.

        5. zee

          I mean, he and Joe are built the same. Even if she won’t admit it his sweetness is very likely a big part of what attracts her

  19. abi

    Sarah’s really been more grouchy than usual the past couple in-comic days, hasn’t she? Normally I find her funny, but she’s wearing on even me lately.

  20. UrsulaDavina

    He offers flowers and a bike and he is nice honestly exchange the bike out with dinner at a mid teir resturant and Danny checks most of my boxes.

    1. anon

      that’s def more than anything sarah’s offered jacob

      tho i wonder if she would be mellowed out if she was able to find a partner or at least a fling

  21. HueSatLight

    Danny: “sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays”

  22. DarkoNeko

    Sarah…

  23. nobodybasically

    Wait is this the first time Danny and Sarah have interacted? Also, how do you search multiple character tags at once?

    1. Km

      Just edit the url to be sarah+Danny

      Like so

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/danny+sarah/

      1. Anon A Mouse

        So, she DOES know his name from interactions and still chooses to call him “that guy”. Wow. Sarah’s really trying hard to get hated right now, eh?

        1. Bash

          The emphasis on THAT guy implies that she is familiar with him, yet unimpressed.

    2. Aura

      Just a plus symbol, like so:
      https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/danny+sarah
      🙂

      1. Aura

        Lol get ninja’d idiot

    3. Tan

      She has remembered his name in both of their significant interactions since being introduced. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/05-media-rumble/justice/ and https://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/03-the-first-step-towards-recovery/deign-2/

  24. Steve

    If Men Without Hats were holding ukulele auditions, and Danny showed up, he would be politely but firmly asked to leave.

    1. Dean

      If they hired him he would be simultaneously with and without a hat, causing a paradox and possible multiversal collapse.

      1. Casi

        or would it be like an inverse ZZ Top situation, where the only person in the band without a beard is named Beard

        1. Disastroid

          Now all I can see is Danny doing the ZZTop guitar spin with his ukelele

      2. David DeLaney

        it would mean he’d be performing with a cat on his head

        –Dave, which none of the other band members would EVER make any reference to

      3. Mturtle7

        This sounds exactly like something Past Willis would write as a Head Alien evil scheme!

  25. UrsulaDavina

    Sarah if you are trying to be a lawyer you do need to be cordial sometimes.

  26. Suet

    If Sarah was asking Walky, then these questions make more sense.

    If we experience winter comics in July, now we’d have a problem.

  27. CMasta1992

    Sarah Not Be A Judgy Jerk About Other People’s Relationships Challenge
    DIFFICULTY: IMPOSSIBLE

  28. cbwroses

    So I get why Walky and Lucy might not show up to class today, as they wouldn’t exactly be in a mood to see each other and/or having to explain why the other one isn’t there.

    But why is Joyce missing?
    Is she skipping to sleep since she stayed up all night?

    Also, I wonder what prompted Sal to have Danny walk her to class; he must have rocked karaoke.

    1. HueSatLight

      Taking a long time in the shower.

    2. Anon A Mouse

      She might have managed to get Roz to hear her out, which may take longer to unpack than either considered.

    3. thejeff

      Didn’t Lucy say she’d see him in class?

  29. Yotomoe

    “I hope she said hat guy because Ive got a brand I’m trying to build so if I can get as many people to start calling me hat guy, that’d be swell”

  30. Taffy

    Fuckers

    1. milu

      brave.

  31. Cassie

    Sarah are you happy with literally anybody’s choice of partner? Wait, no, strike that.

    Sarah, are you willing to shut the fuck up and let anyone else choose their own partner without feeling the need to insert your opinion?

    1. anon

      well, to be honest that’s how a lot of ppl are even if they don’t respond in a negative way about it, esp in a place as social as college

      tho i can totally imagine some insecure women when their bfs are complimented feel threatened and think that someone’s hitting/thirsty for their partener XP

    2. Rabbit

      My guess is her agitation is stemming from her being single and frustrated cuz she wants Jacob but also not enough to stop being a surly asshole, and now Joyce is with Joe (Sarah hates him) and Danny is just bein Danny and nobody thinks he’s good enough for Sal (except for me).

      Who knows, maybe Dorothy hooked up with Jacob last night somehow. I think Walky is more likey but it would be a hilarious twist.

  32. Imogen

    Sarah has no idea how to make normal conversation, huh? Poor girl.

    1. anon

      to be fair, to her that’s prolly a feature and not a bug to get ppl to go away

      1. anonymsly

        She wants to be a lawyer, aka profession wherein success frequently to constantly involves being persuasive and/or likable. It’s not only abut,it’s a potential gamebreaker, and the dev team just says ‘eff you’ whenever it’s reported.

        1. Rabbit

          I feel like if you told her that she’d either argue that you just need to beat the opposition into submission with proof, or have a dorothy scale meltdown vis a vis president

        2. anon

          well, she still has time/room to grow, better to get it outta your system now than to sass the judge and be held in contempt lol (tho i can imagine her working in the firm as like an assistant/behind the scenes versus actually in court)

          i would love to see an ace attorney crossover with sarah dressed as the charas XD; who would edgeworth and the judge be tho

  33. Francoinblanco

    Here once again our brave heroine, who apparently only wants to be left to her own devices, engages in a conversation in which it turns out that she knows everything better.

  34. Hazel

    The reason why Sal is with Danny is honestly not that different from why Sarah is friends with Joyce. Despite their differences, being around him makes her feel good about herself.

  35. anon

    i don’t know about ‘nice’ but anyone that’s ‘effortlessly charming’ esp at a younger age i’d just assuem would be a serial killer/ulterior motives /shot XD; if they don’t work as a salesman/some kinda job where being socially/’friendly’ is in the job description, or too good to be true

    or a pretty lucky/blessed life so far to be ‘confident’ not affected by too many mistakes yet

  36. EmTaya

    Slipping in the polls, Sarah

  37. ReFlex76

    He’s apparently quite the cunning linguist.

    1. Mark

      That definitely should have been in the brochure.

  38. ReFlex76

    “Washing machine-kun, you’ve been wonderful. Because of you, I have felt things I could never have otherwise. However, *sniff* it’s time for me to move on. I hope you understand I can’t depend on you all the time. Good . . . goodbye . . . I love you.”
    “Yeah, I think I left a sock h- . . . Joyce?! Why do you have your arms arou- . . . are you kissing that washing machine??!!”

  39. Queezle

    Sometimes it is okay to just not comment at all Sarah.

    1. Jeremiah

      To be fair, every single character always comment on things, wherever they should or not. There be far fewer interactions otherwise.

  40. Juanoku

    I’m glad those two just get to be happy. But last time two people were happy in this comic they broke up, so we’ll see how long this lasts

    1. Thag Simmons

      Becky and Dina have been happy together for basically their entire run of comics.

  41. Chris

    THAT guy is a disparaging remark on Sal’s choice. Which is kind of awful to do to his face. OK, not even kind of, it simply is.

    HAT guy would (probably) be meant to be just as disparaging, but is an identifiable identity, meaning she’d (Sarah) noticed him and mentally packaged him not in any of the usual way (race, etc). Still offensive to do to his face, but would have been easier to ignore.

    In any event, Wonderbread IS a nice guy, and probably so nice that he’ll not even notice OR understand the underlying insult(s).

  42. Da Boy

    Get a coffee cup Sarah, your bitterness is spilling and if you collect it maybe you can sell it to some hipsters.

  43. AY

    I keep reading “I’m Danny!” With the exact tone as “I’m Webby!” Because I’ve been showing my friend 2017 DuckTales for the first time

  44. BadRoad

    He’s pissing off you, Sal.

    1. BadRoad

      ugh I meant Sarah, he’s pissing off you Sarah

  45. Rogue 7

    Sarah has gotten exceptionally tiresome.

    1. Zaxares

      Yeah. I KNOW for a fact that Sarah is smart enough to understand that attraction is variable, and quiet, nice, low-drama guys are just some people’s type (even if they may not realize it at first because pop culture has conditioned us to believe that guys must be strong, fierce, in-your-face or have some kind of deep-seated trauma/problem that only love can solve), so this is just her being more bitter/misanthropic than normal.

  46. morhek

    He’s Hat Dan, the Dan with a hat!

  47. Schpoonman

    Sarah continues to channel Mike, and therefore fucking suck.

    1. clif

      Nah. Mike would have gone into it with a motive and a plan. Sarah isn’t going to cause any painful self examination.

      1. Schpoonman

        And he’s about as useful as you typically are, at that!

        1. HoopsieDaisy

          Yeah, insult other people in the comments who are trying to have a character discussion. That’s a great look. Your initial post was the epitome of wit and insight.

  48. Steamweed

    “I also play the ukulele!”
    “Ah, _that_ variety of pissing someone off.”

  49. Harmony

    To be fair, niceness pisses off the entire Republican Party.

  50. Segnosaur

    So Sarah, despite wanting to be an anti-social longer, decided to wait outside the hall for SOMEONE to walk with. Which to me raises the question of why.

    – is this an indication that despite her abrasive attitude she actually likes interacting with people
    – is it (as some have suggested) that she likes being abrasive and is using the opportunity with whomever shows up?
    – maybe she is forcing herself to interact more (even f she doesn’t like/want to) because it is useful in her goals (learn how to converse with Jacob, learn how to be a better lawyer)

    1. HueSatLight

      I’d say it’s mostly #1 https://www.dumbingofage.com/agoodbye/

      I don’t know where people are getting the idea that being well-liked is a necessary quality of an effective lawyer. Have you all been watching that show, “Trustworthy Cops and Charming Lawyers”?

      1. Segnosaur

        I never said sarah wanted to be ‘well liked’ in order to be an effective lawyer, I said she might want to be able to interact better (pick up on social cues, etc.) Plus, as I said, it would also help her with her relationship with Jacob.

        Yeah, you can probably be a good lawyer even if you are a malcontent, but the ability to at least put up a veneer of “friendly” might be a useful tool (even if its not necessary or used..)

  51. Rabisch

    I’m starting to see the possibility of a future where Lucy and Sal might be united by a shared dislike of Sarah.

    1. anon

      double date hangouts aside i can imagine them being alright friends, i don’t think sal esp disliked lucy other than the one time she agreed with malaya about her

  52. staszu13

    Just wondering if male DJ Wilcox came from this particular pairing in the Dumbiverse and somehow did the crossover to the Walkyverse

  53. PigmyWurm

    I really don’t want to give any credit to Rhadia and her clique but, with how Sarah has been acting recently, if this is at all how she started acting last year, I can see why they saw her as the villan.

  54. HueSatLight

    Hat’s looking a little worse for the wear. compare the first day he wore it: https://www.dumbingofage.com/compromised/

  55. egg egg

    “let women be mean” you guys can’t even handle when a [insert Sarah’s age] year old female character is slightly rude and has a bit of an attitude.

    1. anon

      lol it’s one thing if it’s just a single strip outta context but from what i’ve seen no one’s exactly cheered on any of the previous female chara’s ‘meanness’ towards another c hara unless they deserved it like mary

    2. tunasammich

      It’s funny because Sarah is my favorite character and has been forever but somehow in my mind THIS is where she’s going too far

      I mean maybe it’s not just her I just want Sal to defend him in earnest, or for him to defend himself

  56. GoblinBagsSumo

    Once again, Sarah proves she is the biggest b-hole in the comic. I honestly can’t stand her.

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