250

Productive
Posted on June 8, 2015 by David M Willis

250 thoughts on “Productive”

  1. Jen Aside

    QUICK, SNARL, STAT

    *is handed Snarl*

    Dina: Mammals are weird.

    1. Black Bumblebee

      I think Dina would enjoy a Beast Wars Neo Archadis. It’s got Dino feathers 🙂

      1. thebombzen

        I think Dina would get stuck on this:
        Is a fast-moving velociraptor
        *Philosiraptor*
        A velocityraptor?

        1. Lurlock

          Given that “velocity” is the actual origin of the word “velociraptor”, it’s hardly surprising. (They were supposedly quite fast.)

        2. Deanatay

          *sigh* It’s a good thing he’s not French, he might think it means ‘bicycle hunter’.

        3. Opus the Poet

          No, different derivation. The “velo” for “bicycle” is a contraction of the original French word “velocipede” or “fast feet”. “Velociraptor” is “fast hunter”. B)

        4. Strife

          Actually we even have the adjective “véloce” which translates to “fast” or “nimble”. Anyway “véloce” and “vélocipède” are close derivatives of their latin origins, very much like “pedestrian” designates a creature that moves on his feet in english ^^

          As for bicycles, it’s either “vélo” or “bicyclette”. The later, of course, is longer to say and as such more used litterary or by old people 🙂

          Well, all this to confirm that we do not mistake “chasseur rapide” with “chasseur à vélo” :p

  2. Jen Aside

    she just wants Ethan via proxy tho

    1. Nono

      Why else do you think she’s playing with his toys from another universe?

  3. Mr. Random

    Toys are wonderful.

    1. Rich

      Especially GoBots. 🙂

      1. JetstreamGW

        Vendetta.

        1. Rich

          Would you have preferred a joke about Erika Moen’s current webcomic?

        2. Opus the Poet

          I love OJST. I read it every Tuesday. (and yes I changed to this grav just for this joke)

        3. Rich

          Oh Joyce, Sex Toy? 🙂

        4. Captain Batson

          That reminds me of the “Vibe Saber” incident.

        5. Rich

          I’m waiting for Willis to do a strip over there. She does love her guest cartoonists.

        6. JetstreamGW

          I don’t know who that is!

        7. Rorror

          A webcartoonist who currently does Oh Joy Sex Toy.

      2. Screwball

        Go…Bots… O.o

        1. Rich

          Don’t pretend you don’t love them.

    2. Ostsol

      That was one of the three Transformers I had, as a kid.

  4. Doc

    Well that certainly transformed Amber.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      It has made her more optimus-tic.

      1. grantimusmax

        As long as she has her gears, she should be fine.

        1. Nono

          Otherwise she would have a bumblebee in her bonnet.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Arcee this has become a pun thread. 😀

        3. Figrin

          Amber’s jacket is so Ratchet.

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          I hope nobody Swoops in and steals it from her.

        5. Plasma Mongoose

          I wonder if I need to Hound more people into contributing to this thread.

        6. Fellstrike

          Hopefully you won’t have to prowl to long. People will come up from the undertow.

        7. Betty Anne

          Do you guys really want a Spike in comments that badly?

        8. Plasma Mongoose

          Maybe people will Drift in and Slapdash a transformers pun at some point.

        9. Screwball

          Hopefully you won’t have to Minicon anyone into doing it, It’s be great if they just Allspark into action…

        10. Tacos

          Puns eh? Maybe I should give it a Whirl.

        11. Plasma Mongoose

          Hopefully this won’t end up being Overkill.

        12. Betty Anne

          I doubt it. There’s not really any kind of Deadlock in this thread yet.

        13. Plasma Mongoose

          If we’re lucky this will go into Overdrive.

        14. jpic89

          Careful. We don’t want to cause any Shockwaves.

        15. Abel Undercity

          Yeah, I can’t abide any of that Jazz.

        16. Andrusi

          Well, I wouldn’t want to Barricade others from joining in on the fun.

        17. Screwball

          True, don’t want to Grimlock anyone out of the fun…

      2. LiaHansen

        She does have a certain spark about her

    2. Black Bumblebee

      I think we’ve Bludgeoned the pun

      1. The Other Mike

        Yeah, the puns are getting a bit Scattershot at this point.

        1. AgentKeen

          Megatron.

        2. Marc

          Such a Deluge of comments Sideswipes people who are late to the joke.

        3. Someone

          You guys are on a roll, you’re going all out

        4. Tacos

          Hopefully this thread of puns doesn’t Breakdown.

        5. Twinfold

          Hopefully people will be in it for the Long Haul.

        6. Screwball

          This whole comment chain is a Prime example of what people can do if given the incentive…

        7. The Other Mike

          Oh, we can come up with more Transformers puns. All you have to do is Straxus.

  5. Plasma Mongoose

    By buying toys? Crack is cheaper. ^_^

    1. Disloyal Subject

      Doing the math on that is depressing. I hope Transformers aren’t as ludicrously priced as Warhammer miniatures.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        I wouldn’t be too surprised if Willis has spent more than $10,000 on Transformer merch over the years.

        1. Dammy

          Yeah, but those are collectors items. They hold value alright and sometime even appreciate. It won’t ruin him.

        2. begbert2

          The only way a collector’s item doesn’t ruin you is if you sell it. I don’t get the impression that Willis takes that out any more than I do.

        3. Rowen Morland

          Ah, but surely the Willis himself has become more valuable over the years, which allows for such trappings.

        4. Tacos

          He’s an Internet Pornlord, money probably isn’t an issue.

        5. Rich

          “Pornlord of the Internet” sounds like a 1940’s pulp magazine story.

  6. David Herbert

    They should get her a Dinobot.

    Has Dina ever watched Beast Wars? She might like Megatron better.

    1. Doctor_Who

      They should make some feathered Predacons.

      1. David M Willis

        Here you go: http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Archadis

        1. Doctor_Who

          Sweet. Does Dina like Archaeopteryx, or is she exclusively into dinosaurs?

        2. Kelly

          It is something of a question lately if Archeopteryx was an avian dinosaur or a non-avian dinosaur.

        3. Tacos

          Well it’s still technically a dinosaur so maybe. And if so, I wonder if that would extend to other bird Transformers.

        4. Disloyal Subject

          How about other flying/marine reptiles? I always found them a little more interesting than Dino’s.

        5. Kelly

          I feel like other Mesozoic reptiles where not interesting to Dina… can’t remember where that was from though. Might have been on tumblr or in comments. Pretty sure it was not in-universe discussion.

        6. Tacos

          Maybe. I mean, they’re also Archosaurs like birds and dinos.

        7. Kelly

          Pterosaurs are archosaurs. Ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs were not (plesiosaurs are Archosauromorpha though. Not totally clear what ichthyosaurs are)

        8. nothri

          Are…are you some kind of wizard? A wish granting genie?

        9. Doctor_Who

          He created Dina, Shattered Glass Ravage, and canon Leslie/Robin pornography, so the answer is obviously yes.

        10. Kelly

          Solid reasoning.

        11. Darth

          While not Predacons, the Slash toy from AoE is a good feathered raptor. And in the comics, BW Grimlock also has feathers.

  7. Someone

    someone get Dina some dinosaur toys

    1. Captain Batson

      Like Dinobot?

      1. Tacos

        Too bad he is super-scientifically inaccurate.

        1. Captain Batson

          Then maybe those, uh, flexo-things that Ethan tried to sell once after some boxes fell on his head.

        2. Gangler

          If I recall she enjoys the jurassic park movies for bringing out the fun in dinosaurs even though she doesn’t approve of all the artistic liberties they took with the science.

          Something like Dinobot she might just come up with a headcannon about how the dinosaur DNA was messed up by Energon Radiation or some such. Have fun with it.

        3. Someone

          Should could always forgo the transformers and get some Jurrasic Park action figures.

        4. AgentKeen

          I just saw a commercial for a Jurassic World version of those Hero Mashers toys. Those seem like they’d keep hands busy.

          (I’m not sure if that would help Dina, though. Different people need different things to help them.)

        5. begbert2

          Somewhat interestingly, the Jurassic movies took all their scientific liberties in-universe, since it’s repeatedly stated in the movies and ancillary materials that the Jurassic park dinos aren’t actual dinosaurs and are actually just genetic playthings made by Ingen. This has been used to explicitly justify all the massive inaccuracies (like giant velociraptors), since the park was screwing with the genetics and both made mistakes and also deliberately made some things more ‘interesting’. By the look of the trailers this continues in the upcoming movie where they start making new pseudo-dinos out of whole cloth.

        6. Rycan

          Well, so is Barney.

  8. Doctor_Who

    Cyclonus?! I don’t have one yet! My Tailgate is lonely! Gimme!

    Yes, I just demanded Amazi-Girl hand over her toy. My gravestone will read “But it was Cyclonus.”

    1. Rich

      “My Tailgate is lonely!”

      Is that some sort of sexual innuendo?

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Huh. I want to expand on the double-endendres, but I don’t know nearly enough Transformers’ names.

        1. Fellstrike

          Well we have Thrust, Erector, Hardhead, I mean really it’s not like the problem is a scourge, just ramjet one in there.

        2. Doctor_Who

          Tailpipe, Midnight Express, Clench and Thrust, Powerhug, Hot Rod, Erector, Discharge.

        3. Roborat

          Are you describing transformers, or porn star moves?

        4. Doctor_Who

          Yes.

        5. Tacos

          Dipstick. Shothole.

        6. JetstreamGW

          I’ll give you all the sexually suggestive Transformer names I can think of off the top of my head.

          Ramjet, Thrust, Slag (for the Brits!), Clench, Powerglide, Drill Nuts, Erector, Discharge… Yeah I’m running out of things here.

        7. Chrissy

          Hahaha I lost it at drill nuts

        8. David M Willis

          You’ve really gotta look out for Black Discharge.

      2. Opus the Poet

        MMMmmmaaaaybeeeee?…

  9. Captain Batson

    Transformers: Anxiety in Disguise

    1. Doctor_Who

      MTMTE could use that as an alternative title.

    2. otusasio451

      Anxiousbots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Depressioncons!

  10. Darth

    Dina then discovers the joys of collecting Transformers, and makes it her goal to collect as many Dinobot toys as possible.

    1. a4lbi

      You now see Dina doing a Grimlock impression.

      …that’s probably not in-character, but awwww.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      Dina is actually portraying the best defense against the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.

      “The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is a wild animal from the planet of Traal, known for its never-ending hunger and its mind-boggling stupidity.  The Guide calls the bugblatter the stupidest creature in the entire universe — so profoundly unintelligent that, if you can’t see it, it assumes it can’t see you.”
          …..from Douglas Adams’ “Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

      1. biggo

        The Bugblatter Beast is just a reverse cat.

        1. Rich

          So, if it falls it never lands on its feet?

  11. boomwolf

    Nope, cannot pin down what Transformer that is. Granted that looks like a Decepticon and for some reason I can only name like, three of those guys. Yet I can name like 10 Autobots right off the bat.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Amusingly, a running gag in the comic is that freaking everyone mistakes Cyclonus for a Decepticon.

      1. Kris

        Funny cause I would’ve sworn that was Skywarp.

      2. boomwolf

        Wait, he isn’t a Decepticon? Not to be robot racist, but the dude is purple. That’s usually a Decepticon thing.

        1. Doctor_Who

          He was a Decepticon in the original cartoon (first appeared in the ’86 movie), but this toy is Combiner Wars Cyclonus, who is neither an Autobot or Decepticon. He did fight for the Decepticons once, but he was sort of brainwashed at the time, and people tend not to let him live it down. He’s also a grumpy bastard, and when combined with a purple paint job and a jet alt-mode, yeah, that sort of reads Decepticon to most people.

          But he’s currently working on a ship full of Autobots, his one friend (two if you count Whirl, and he wouldn’t) is an Autobot, and he’s gone from being an asshole to only being about 60% of an asshole.

        2. boomwolf

          Y’know, I never understood that. Why is it the Autobots have stuff like cars and trucks and stuff, while the Decepticons have friggin fighter jets and tanks?

          Just wanna say this upfront, my knowledge of Transformers is limited at best. My knowledge stems mainly from the shows, and even those memories are hazy at best. So if my statements are erroneous, my apologies. In all honesty, I’ve been meaning to get into the series a bit more, but I’m lazy. Like… too lazy to even get that into it.

        3. Disloyal Subject

          I’m even more ignorant, but I assumed it was meant to reflect the Decepticons’ aggressiveness and warmongering whereas the Autobots try to live in harmony.

        4. Doctor_Who

          Well, both sides have both, but yeah in the beginning the Autobots were all cars (it’s in the name really), while the Decepticons were…weird. Guns, boomboxes, a frigging camera (they needed three guys to become that one, because obviously you couldn’t manage a camera with just one), etc. But they also tended to have a lot of military hardware in their ranks, which means jets.

          Didn’t last too long. By the seventh episode of the original cartoon, the Autobots had already picked up a jet and some dinosaurs. There have been a couple of different canon explanations over the years, not of all which I’m familiar with, but I think it usually goes back to most of the military types joining the Decepticons, while Autobots tended to be regular laborers.

        5. boomwolf

          I remember there was a trafic light Transformer. So y’know… that happened.

        6. Tacos

          In the current comics he isn’t a ‘Con. Just an ex-zombie millions of years older than Optimus or Megatron.

        7. Kelly

          whoa, cool

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Going by the tags, Cyclonus.

    3. Tacos

      It’s Combiner Wars Cyclonus.

      Yeah I sorta surprised myself by knowing which specific Cyclonus toy that is.

      1. Soylent Daveage

        You know, I’d be more impressed if it was G1 Cyclonus. Transforming that guy without at least one of his arms falling off halfway through was nearly impossible…

  12. Twilightomens

    Oh hey wait a second.
    I see what you did there.
    You got Sal to conveniently leave before Amber arrived.

    1. Rich

      So your theory is that the text she got was actually from Willis? That’s pretty meta.

      1. Captain Batson

        Nah, this universe’s Willis created Dexter & Monkey Master and lives on a cliff with a lawn made of solid gold. Sal seems like she’s know someone like that.

        1. JustCheetoDust

          …with a lawn made of solid gold.

          The extravagance shouldn’t end there. And by that, I mean it should be maintained by a Lamborghini lawnmower.

        2. Rycan

          A lawnmower of solid gold – just taking that out of the garage would require a construction crane.

        3. Nina

          I think you are really overestimating the payouts on creating a successful cartoon series.

        4. Rycan

          And you are seriously underestimating the payouts of a sold gold lawn. Well, payouts in gold lawn clippings, that is.

        5. Deanatay

          …Brings a whole new meaning to “You Damn Kids Get Off My Solid-Gold Lawn!!”

  13. Kris

    It’s like a rubik’s cube for cool people.

    1. Charlie

      Excuse you Rubix cubes are already cool.

      1. Joseph

        Poor Rubik, always getting pushed out of the name of his own cube…

        Where did the word “Rubix” come from? Was it a trademark thing?

        1. Opus the Poet

          Phoneticising “Rubic’s”. If you only heard that and didn’t know it was named for the inventor you would probably spell it as “rubix”.

        2. biggo

          I did an interview with the guy some 25 years ago. While beating him at his own board game (can’t remember the name).
          I think this deserved a ittle bragging .-D

  14. grantimusmax

    Pop?! What is is this pop you speak of? Down here, we have all kinds of flavors of Coke.

    1. Someone

      Soda dammit

      1. grantimusmax

        Sodey water!

      2. Plasma Mongoose

        Carbonated syrup water.

        1. Someone

          with caffeine

        2. chris73

          Soft drink or fizzy drink ftw!

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Proper Aussie terms right there. ^_^

        4. chris73

          Thats kiwi to you mate!

        5. JustCheetoDust

          Some people struggle with the distinction.

        6. Deanatay

          Using the word ‘distinction’ to describe Aussies and Kiwis? THAT I’d struggle with! *BA DUM TISH* *ducks thrown fruit*

        7. Plasma Mongoose

          Close enough, NZ is practically the 7th and 8th states of Australia already.

        8. Disloyal Subject

          I got the impression it was more like the Shire: everyone ignores it unless they want to visit somewhere pleasantly uneventful.

        9. Plasma Mongoose

          NZ is a lot greener than Australia in a literal sense, like how Ireland is greener than England.

        10. Screwball

          West Australia’s pretty green in plenty of places. Just ignore those 3 deserts I think it is it has. And how big it is compared to all the green bits. And….yeah, alright, you may have a point…

        11. Agemegos

          Lolly-water.

      3. Kelly

        Pop!
        And I’m from MT, not the midwest!

    2. Nono

      It’s a kind of music.

      1. Deanatay

        Everybody talk about

    3. Captain Batson

      Ah, a fellow Southerner.

    4. Jimmy

      You just need to move to the right place to know what pop is 😉

      1. JustCheetoDust

        Like the Neverland Ranch?

    5. Tacos

      Heh, I like how whenever the term “pop” comes up in the comic, everyone comments about what they call it. For the record, I use “soda” and “coke” interchangeably.

      1. JustCheetoDust

        Yeah, once I saw it in the first panel I stopped reading to check the comments and see if someone is going to be a dick about it makes a big deal out of it.

        I still stand by the idea of auto-correcting “soda” in the comments section, as well as tagging “pop.”

        1. Opus the Poet

          Soft drink. 😛

        2. JustCheetoDust

          I haven’t live in Detroit since the ’90s, so I’m over it.

      2. MrZombieScordo

        Calling things that aren’t Coca-Cola, coke, just doesn’t make any sense. that’s what coke is short for. That would be like if I called every girl katie, because it’s short for katelyn and every guy jon because it’s short for jonathan.

        1. begbert2

          My headcanon is that people call it that because they assume it’s made of cocaine, due to its seeming addictive nature.

          Okay, that isn’t *really* my headcanon, but I wish it was!

        2. Rich

          You do know the original formula for Coca Cola included enough coca leaf that a glass contained almost 10 milligrams of cocaine, right? They stopped using that formula in 1903, but the company still produces significant amounts of raw cocaine as part of their manufacturing process, which gets sold for use in making purified cocaine for medical usage.

        3. No Name

          I hate tell you MrZombieScordo, but referring to men as “guys” undermines your point. The word “guy” is derived from Guy Fawkes, whose claim to fame was helping blow up the British Parliament.
          Further, “Coke” is an officially trademarked name for Coca-Cola. It’s the only product that has the honor of two names.

      3. Robin

        I call it “frisdrank”, literally “fresh drink”. We also use “iets fris” (“something fresh”) to mean various cold drinks, including soft drink, juices and lemonades. Basically every non-alcoholic drink except for tea, coffee and tap water.

        (Dutch, BTW.)

        1. Joseph

          Do you call chocolate milk frisdrank as well? I haven’t noticed.

          (For those not familiar with the Netherlands, they have a lot of chocolate milk here)

    6. Peter Sadlon

      Soda/Pop: any carbonated syrup water
      Cola: any carbonated syrup water based on the taste of kola nuts
      Coke/Coca Cola: a brand of cola which originally included an extract fom the coca plant

  15. caesaria82

    Ethan is really sweet here. Ethan has become a lot more relaxed and chill lately, I like it. The fewer secrets you have, the lighter your heart becomes.

    1. Rich

      Not having to pretend to be Joyce’s boyfriend has to be a considerable relief.

      1. Nono

        Exceeeept that his parents don’t know they’ve broken up, right? It’s going to come back.

        1. Gangler

          Apparently this school has two parent visitation events that happen in pretty rapid succession.

        2. Em

          They broke up fairly recently. I doubt Ethan’s first reaction would be to contact his parents.

    2. Greenygal

      I think it’s also helping that his best friend is on good terms with him again, which hopefully will not be sunk by any sort of Danny-related drama.

  16. wakimaniac

    The transformers thing is just Willis talking through his characters.

    1. Tenn

      As opposed to the fundie Christian background thing and the social anxiety thing?

  17. JessWitt

    When I was a kid, a lump of clay helped.

    1. Rich

      Koosh balls. So soothing. Squish squish squish. I destroy three or four of them a year through overuse.

      1. saltchocolate

        My friend got a job only after she started taking her koosh ball to interviews.

    2. Leorale

      Similar to clay, if I don’t want to pick apart my fingernails and eyebrows, I just draw constantly…

      I like the kooshball idea, too, I could stick it in a pocket for stealth-anxiety.

      1. Rycan

        Stealth-anxiety: that knot in your stomach you get when you’re hiding and somebody is so close you can hear them breathe.

  18. Someone

    Now the question is, could you exchange an unopened transformer for a book if you saw Willis at a convention?

    1. Tacos

      If it was a Hot Shot, maybe.

      1. Captain Batson

        I sometimes lie awake at night wondering why Hot Shot was my favorite when I was little.

        1. timemonkey

          Because you were a slave to their marketing.

        2. Screwball

          Cause he’s a cheap knock off of renamed Hotrod, 1 of the cooler Autobots back in the day. He probably got his name changed because it has potential other meanings, but still…

          Wait, Damn you Daniel the Human & Sister, you’ve infected me. Least I don’t have his liking of Airraid too…

        3. David M Willis

          Hasbro lost claim of the trademark to “Hot Rod” for action figures. That’s why they haven’t used it since 1987 and have started opting to call him “Rodimus.” I believe Mattel has it and won’t let go.

          Also, Hot Shot was conceived as an update to Bumblebee (it’s on his early model sheet) but Hasbro had also lost the trademark to that at the time. (They got it back in time for the live action movie.)

        4. Screwball

          So they’ve lost the right to use the names HotRod & HotShot? Bugger.

          Still, probably won’t change the Sister’s mind, she likes the character Hotrod (hopefully innuendo avoided), she grew up watching the 1980s movie with hr brothers. Seen the video tape, it. Is. DEAD…

  19. Catty

    Holy visual metaphor, Batman!

  20. MightionNY

    …does she have four limb-bots in that bag? She’s gotta at least have Offroad and Alpha Bravo, who need the work. 🙂

  21. Architex

    Amber! So cute!

  22. nothri

    Clearly we need to buy Dina one of these as a pet:

    http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150512-bird-grows-face-of-dinosaur

  23. Anima

    Social anxiety attack..? Never heard it phrased that way before.

    1. Kelly

      It’s not unusual…

      1. Spencer

        To be loved by everyone!

        I’m not sorry.

  24. AgentKeen

    Huh. That might explain why I like to twist up paper in my pocket.

  25. Idon'tcarenomore

    I’ve lived in various areas and heard various descriptions of fizzy sweet drinks: from soda, pop, soda-pop, soft drink, cola, and even carbonated beverage by an odd friend of mine.
    Ethan does seem less stressed out now it was mentioned, it seems he his.
    Danny has had a drink tonight, is going to say something he shouldn’t now that Amber-Amazi is here.

    1. Tacos

      Danny hasn’t had any alcohol though that might warrant him blurting something unintentionally.

    2. timemonkey

      Billie and Walky are the only ones who’ve had alcohol tonight so far.

  26. Idon'tcarenomore

    Drat cant type. Meant …it seems he is.
    And also…’is he going to…

  27. DarkoNeko

    Throught transformers, that’s how.

    1. DarkoNeko

      …I meant that as a joke since I thought he meant Amazi-girl, but…

      joke’s on me ? I guess.

      1. Kamino Neko

        Amazi-Girl is the channel for her anger issues, the Transformers are for her social anxiety.

        1. DarkoNeko

          …I guess.

  28. Bagge

    Dina would like to be taken at face value and not have to confirm that she is sure.

    if course, it’s hard to be taken at face value when they can’t see your faaaaaaace

  29. Lan Mikoto

    Man when I get fidgety in public I try to have my DS or my phone handy so I don’t get myself worked up and bite my nails real bad. It’d suck to be on their levels.

  30. BenRG

    Darn it, Willis! Don’t imply or tease, tell us! Just what shenanigans did those two get up to? Probably something innocent and superhero-themed, given the parties involved but I’d still like details.

    So, Amber isn’t totally satisfied with her night so far! Was she hoping to run into Sal out there? Did she fail to find sufficient wrongdoers to pummel?

    1. neeks

      The implication you seem to be missing is that Amber got into toys that she can occupy her hands and part of her mind with while dealing with social interactions. Case in point the transformer that mysteriously changed from a robot to some kind of jet in between panels.

  31. Chengrel

    …That’s actually a pretty creative way to deal with anxiety. I might have to copy that.

    1. Charlie

      Stim toys are a really common way for people on the spectrum to channel anxiety/over-stimulation. Therapists often try and teach it to neurotypical people as well, but they just call it “mindfulness” (my therapist gave me a stim toy as a gift once how lovely).

  32. Ryuksan2021

    Just gotta say, Ambers face and eyebrows in that last panel are adorable

    1. No Name

      I especially love how Willis style means you have to specify face and eyebrows.

      1. Ryuksan2021

        If they go any further, they may achieve orbit, then what’ll amber do?

  33. Theycallmechugs

    I’ll bet Dina is going to become Amazi-Girl’s sidekick. And wear some kind of adorable dinosaur costume.

    1. Someone

      Amber, Dina and Danny will form some sort of Indiana Justice League. With Dina as Dino-Girl and Danny as Wonder-Bread.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      Love the idea of Dina becoming Amazi-Girl’s sidekick, but she would need some other name than “Dino-Girl”.  “Amazi-Girl and Dino-Girl”?  Just doesn’t sound right.

      Actually, I think Becky came up with the better name a few panels ago — “Dinosaur Chick”.  AMAZI-GIRLâ„¢ and Dino-Chick sounds MUCH better.

      1. Someone

        How about: The Raptor

      2. neeks

        Not to mention all her acquaintances would immediately guess her “secret” identity if she went with a dinosaur theme for fighting crime.

  34. BenRG

    Am I a nerd for recognising Cyclonus on sight?

    1. Mickeymau5

      Yes. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

  35. Shteevie

    Has Dave ever tried a Rubick’s Cube? I use them in the same way that he / Amber use transformers. Less worry about damaging something valuable [metaphor not intended].

  36. Jesse

    Hmm, I fidget with stuff too, maybe I should keep some of my transformers on hand at home.

  37. Lorcan Nagle

    So, about 10 years ago I go to Bristol comic convention, meeting up with a number of internet friends for the first time in person. While there I buy BINALTech Hound. Now, I don’t suffer from social anxiety issues, but one friend’s comment online during the week was something along the lines of “Lorcan was full of energy and bounding around all the time, except when he was playing with his transformer, and he was totally focused on it”

  38. Lira

    It still totally throws me of that people actually call sodas ‘pop’. And that is, I think, the most important takeaway from today’s strip.

    1. Tenn

      I have yet to come across an English synonym for “carbonated beverage” that I actually like. CB itself is too formal. Soda, to me, is just unflavored mineral water. Pop is a music genre. Soda pop sounds outdated. Fizzy drink sounds childish. Soft drink is stupid (It’s not soft, it’s prickly!). Cola is just a small subset of drinks with bubbles in them. Coke is a specific brand.

      It’s a good thing English isn’t my first language, or I’d have to choose one of them.

      1. Rich

        Soft drink refers to lack of alcohol content, not…prickliness, I guess? Hard drinks are anything with an alcohol content over .5% by volume. Technically soft drinks don’t need to be carbonated, but most people don’t use the term to refer to juice, milk, etc.

  39. Spencer

    It’s pretty interesting that, seeing Dina having social anxiety issues, Amber tries to take her away, while it was Ethan who accommodated her so that she didn’t have to be alone.

    1. timemonkey

      Ethan also offered to take her away.

      1. Gangler

        Amber also pretty quickly got brainstorming about how they could further accommodate her.

        “How did we figure out how to channel all that nervous energy again?”

        So they both kind of had the same two step approach. Offer to escort her out, then once she decides to stay start working on ways they can make that easier for her.

        1. Spencer

          Which I think is really great, because social anxiety tends to get someone branded as strange right from the get go.

          It’s nice to see everyone accommodating Dina’s anxiety and not make a scene out of it. Oh hey, girls got a sweater fort going on. Someone pass me a pop?

  40. Gamaran Sepudomyn

    The coat of solitude is apparently starting to jump dimensions.
    …
    This link is definitely not going to work.

    1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

      Yup. See http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-27. How do you link stuff in comments?

      1. Kamino Neko

        <a href=”Linkydinky”>Words go here.</a>

        1. Tacos

          Thank you. I’ve been wondering for ages how to do that.

        2. Kamino Neko

          HTML is fun.

          (Also, I am amused by the fact I responded to that particular post with a Tedd grava…also, this Tedd is very good for being educational.)

  41. Kerouac

    I wouldn’t call what Dina has social anxiety. She seemed to struggle with information processing, which is much more related to spectrum disorders.

    1. Saelmve

      I think so, too. I think her attack may have been a meltdown and her covering up with the coat may have been her way of blocking out all the visual information (“stop the faces”) coming to her mind. My friend, who also reads this strip, specualted about how she may have a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum. He has Asperger’s and he saw a lot of himself in Dina.
      I, however, see myself in Amber in that I have social anxiety and I like to fidget or have a stimulation toy with me in social situations. These stim reactions can be common in both autism spectrum disorders and anxiety, which is why I think Dina and Amber get along well.

      1. Kerouac

        Absolutely, yeah.

  42. Deanatay

    Hey, I think Willis just did one of those auto-biographical things, right there. I saw it. What he did.

  43. John

    I just got spam alleging to be from “Dr. Joyce Brown”.

    1. DarkoNeko

      Mail from the future !

      1. David M Willis

        It’s what Joe writes in the margins of his notebook before furiously erasing.

        1. Spencer

          This is now canon!

        2. DarkoNeko

          Oh my…

        3. John

          The subject was: “Do this every morning with coconut oil.”

  44. Cheryl

    OMG thats perfect Willis! I use to do that but with playdoe!

  45. Kennerly

    Someone needs to get Dina some blackout glasses.

    1. Eric

      Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses?

  46. Kaoy

    Heh, funnily enough this is why I enjoy playing party games at parties. It is also why I get weirdly competitive about them.

  47. Aaron Bourque

    Wait, Cyclonus?

    1. Aaron Bourque

      Oh, what’d I do to deserve Mary.

      1. DarkoNeko

        You know what you did.

  48. Tenn

    I can still remember
    How Transformers used to make me calm

  49. Ritch

    She can transform a Cyclonus without even glancing at it. Impressive.

  50. brute

    Silly as it may be, i just want to thank you for even including social anxiety in this comic. It’s nice to be reminded that i’m not alone.

    Also i’ve never had a god therapist so, hey, i learned of a way to deal with it! yaaaay!

  51. Screwball

    Gotta ask, how far into the Combiner Wars thing does Cyclonus get released? Daniel the Human is rather interested (it’s kinda scaring me a bit, he’s got that convertion-idea-face…), but down Under there’s only the 2nd wave of limbs out, Daniel needs the torso for Menasor, already got Superion. I think he’s even got another Silverbolt to make into a custom. Kinda hoping I’m safe…

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