Shame
Posted on November 29, 2021 by David M Willis
Hey, it's Cyber Monday, which is a REAL HOLIDAY, celebrating having sex with people over the internet but on a day that Garfield hates, and the Dumbing of Age store has a fancy new COUPON CODE!  Input JETSON into the discount code text box as you check out, and you'll get 15% off any order more than $20! It'll work on any combination of books, magnets, or anything else in there!  I forget what's in there.

180 thoughts on “Shame”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Don’t let Walky hold your CTC!

    …it’ll get soggy while you try to wrangle Joe! Just snarf it down!

    1. Ana Chronistic

      DoA Book 12: Should I Tackle Him?

      1. merbrat

        DoA Book 12: Just snarf it down.

        1. JA

          DoA Book 12: I Have Returned to Discuss Your Shame

        2. Knuf Wons

          You have been ninja’d by the author! Damn you Willis!

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      We need Riley to steal it.

    3. DrunkenNordmann

      You do know what that means, right?

      Soggies may rule.

      1. Matthew E Davis

        It’s a multiversal constant that runs on a roughly ten-year timetable, and it is about ten years into Dumbing of Age.

    4. Paradox

      Cinnamon Toast Crunch is one of the few cereals best eaten dry

      The cinnamon sugar coating comes off in the milk, and it doesn’t mix, so you get cinnamonless, bland cereal and milk, with a bunch of wet cinnamon at the bottom of the bowl

      Dina is smart enough to know this, so no risk of it getting soggy

      1. Needfuldoer

        I eat almost all cold cereal dry, with a glass of milk. Soggies will never rule in my kitchen!

        (Rice-based cereals are an exception. All the little grains need to be wet so they stick together.)

      2. MacareuxMoine

        So you are telling me, Cinnamon Toast Crunch gets edible when soggy?

        Cinnamon cereal is a crime – well, maybe not in general, but cinnamon cereal with a not-at-all-cinnamon-related name is definitely a crime (committed by a famous German cereal company – twice!)

    5. Decidedly Orthogonal

      It won’t get soggy. It’ll get eaten. Do you really think Walky would ignore being, quite literally, handed breakfast and a show?

      1. StClair

        True. He was told to hold it. Nothing was said about (not) eating it.

  2. DarkoNeko

    Walky’s such an enabler

  3. Svata

    I think I’m with Walky here.

    1. Clif

      Walky makes a persuasive case.

    2. BarerMender

      Dina is too young to say, “Hold my beer.”

      1. Thag Simmons

        Well, not legally, but that doesn’t stop people

  4. The Wellerman

    Now, I wonder just what “clues” she was talking about.

    1. Katerly

      The November 20th comic is where he tells her (as she’s walking away) that sometimes when people say they don’t wanna talk, they really do.
      She Dina’s and says she will keep that in mind. But I assume while getting cereal she had a “Doh” moment.

      1. The Wellerman

        Huh. I assumed she just overheard her friends talking about Joe or something.

        1. The Wellerman

          Seriously though, given how little she’s EVER interacted with Joe, not to mention the fact that nobody’s EVER seen Joe ashamed like this before, the fact that she’d reckoned what Joe needed so quickly with so few “clues” either means that she’s as smart as the frickin Pillar Men, or that I’ve been more derelict to my social duties than I thought.

        2. Madock345

          I would consider Joe’s last statement to her to be pretty overt. There’s no reason to say that then unless he wanted her to act on it.

        3. The Wellerman

          I dunno. Personally I’d feel reluctant to probe any further beyond “I don’t wanna talk about it” (especially with Joe’s emotional display), even with a seemingly overt invitation like that without really knowing the person a little better, or at least some other clues as to what was going on with them.

        4. Needfuldoer

          Those were the words he used, but that’s not what his body language was saying in the November 19th and 20th comics.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-12/02-ill-leave-you-a-phantom/ritualistic/

        5. The Wellerman

          Body language isn’t universal. I think.

        6. Spencer

          Yep, that’s why Dina’s back. Joe said “sometimes people want to talk” and she only realized now that he meant that he, specifically, wanted to.

        7. anonymsly

          And you can bet she’ll remember this event in future and ask something like Walky’s question. Dina is ON IT.

  5. Thag Simmons

    She would absolutely beat Joe in a fight.

    1. Leorale

      Joe would not want to harm her.

      1. Thag Simmons

        True, but also Dina would easily best Joe even if he did want to

        1. Psychie

          Yeah, Joe’s muscles are largely decorative, and he very likely doesn’t know what to do with them in a fight, Dina on the other hand, I would imagine, is rather healthy, meaning she has at least enough strength to be dangerous, and has experience mimicking predators. Couple that with the fact that she is certainly smarter than him by a large margin (not that he’s stupid, but he’s not particularly clever, outside of some flash-of-genius style inventing here and there) and has studied biology and anatomy (granted, not focusing on human, or even mammalian biology/anatomy, but I’m certain it’s come up in her studies *and* the important bits, like how joints work and which organs are most vulnerable, largely carries over from other land vertebrates), so she also has various strategic advantages. Also, she has demonstrated being slippery, Joe’s best shot given the size and muscle difference would be to turn it into a grapple, and she would be more than capable of avoiding that whilst targeting vulnerable points (which would be here best shot, if that wasn’t clear).

        2. thejeff

          Dina’s been shown to be furious, but fairly ineffective in fights. We don’t have any direct evidence for Joe, but he’s at least in as good a shape as Blaine or Ross.

        3. The Wellerman

          Well, just to be fair, she did take a bite out of Ross that one time, and the Rule of Funny wasn’t even at play there.

          Not to mention the fact that Dina won second place in the “Who would win in a fight” poll.

        4. thejeff

          Well, she clawed at him, but then she was down on the ground with him leaning over her. Similarly she jumped Blaine in the second kidnapping and distracted him, but got thrown aside.

        5. The Wellerman

          As for her encounter with Ross, we didn’t see ALL of the fight in-comic.

          She said she bit his face in this strip, so we should just take her word for it.

          Also, as for “Win in a Fight” poll, just how reliable is the conjecture of 1500 people?

        6. anonymsly

          I don’t think Dina is more intelligent than Joe, if only because we have no idea how his classes not shared by the rest of the cast are going or even what they are, and same with Dina. Dina appears smarter because she’s laser-focused on topics that interest her and talks about or around them constantly, while we don’t even know Joe’s major or actual interests but do know he’s bro-presenting which is often media-shorthand for ‘dim’.

          Tl;dr I don’t think you can fairly compare Dina vs Joe intelligence-wise. We have too few data points for Joe.

    2. MrSmith

      Considering Sal and Amber are both super human she may well be able to

  6. Dean

    The speaker implies, the listener infers.

    1. two-star

      Dina is not an English major.

      1. Otl1973

        I’m guessing it’s Willis who wasn’t the English major – it’s not like Dina to make such an error, so I don’t think it was intentional on the author’s part.

        1. Clif

          She’s pointing at Walky. Walky is the he doing the (correct) inferring.

        2. Bladeglory

          She’s also looking at Walky. I see this as Dina saying “Yes, Walky! I have come to the same conclusion based on what Joe said in our previous interaction. He phrased it in almost exactly the same way. The fact that we have both come to this conclusion lends support to our theory.”

        3. -

          Nah, she’s directly responding to what Walky just said, in reference to Joe, the “he” in question. She means “yes, that is the way [Joe] implied” (i.e., when he said “I don’t want to talk about it” in whatever tone she perceives and is now referencing, the implication was “I actually do want to talk about it”).

        4. Bladeglory

          That’s… exactly what I’m saying.

    2. Agemegos

      Walky listened to Joe.

      1. Needfuldoer

        He’s translating unspoken subtext to literal words to be taken at face value.

    3. Decidedly Orthogonal

      Agreed. In this panel, it reads like she is addressing Walky, not Joe, and referring to Joe as he. Ergo implied seems correct. However, the intent may have been that she was talking to Joe, and saying “yes that is the way he,” *points at Walky, “inferred.”

    4. Keulen

      That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that phrase.

      1. Ryek Hvek

        Anyone who ever read Cerebus has it burned into their memory.

    5. -

      Yeah, those below trying to give an excuse for it failed; it’s definitely a simple error. It’s so prevalent in U.S. stuff, though, that one’s hardly surprised people- however skilled a writer they may be- absorb it by osmosis/ it becomes a bad habit.

  7. Katerly

    You know what Walky, same. Hard same.
    Go tackle that shame man Dina

  8. Schpoonman

    Wish I were the kind of person to ever say “Hold my beer,” because “Please hold my Cinnamon Toast Crunch,” is definitely the perfect update.

    1. The Wellerman

      What about Kapri Sun’s “Hold my Pouch”? 🙂

    2. Lanie

      It’s never too late to start something new!

    3. Yotomoe

      Hold my baby.

      1. Leorale

        Hey, I just met you
        And this is crazy
        But my name’s Leora,
        Would you like this baby?!

      2. mrnoidea

        There was a fight at my high school a decade ago between these two girls, and suddenly one of the girl’s moms showed up, baby in arms. She looks to one of the bystanders, says “Hold my baby,” and got into the fight too.

        True story.

    4. Spencer

      So we swap ’em and start saying “can they see why kids love beer?”

    5. brionl

      Doesn’t have quite the same zing to it.

      1. The Wellerman

        Bruh, never underestimate the POWER of Capri Sun!!!

    6. Tan

      Hold my conceptual societal obligations.

      1. milu

        Hold my socially expected given my age and the present time of day food or beverage.

  9. Joe Moose

    Nice book title!

    1. Rocket Relm

      I absolutely second this title. Or fifth, or however many are in line before me I don’t know with the comment section as it is.

    2. Keulen

      “Please Hold My Cinnamon Toast Crunch” is another good potential book title.

  10. Kyrik Michalowski

    While not the wisest idea, I think it is going to be hilarious. Therefore Dina has an obligation to do so.

    Now will Dina have enough strength/weight to knock him down?

    1. The Wellerman

      That depends. Is that her first bowl today? Has she had any meat in the last 24 hours?

    2. Lanie

      She has the element of surprise, so she gets a +4 bonus to her attack from sneak.

    3. Thag Simmons

      obviously yes

    4. Agemegos

      It doesn’t take much of either to do an ankle tap.

    5. Needfuldoer

      She runs back to the commissary and downs a quick bowl of Total as the Popeye the Sailor theme song blares from the PA speakers.

    6. anonymsly

      I wouldn’t entirely mind this upcoming conversation happening while Joe is wearing Dina like a backpack.

  11. anonymsly

    DINA YES

  12. John

    that is what he *implied*, dina. the listener infers, the speaker implies.

    1. Agemegos

      Walky listened to Joe.

      1. Martin Smith

        The line (and its emphasis) makes next to no sense if Dina is referring to Walky.

        1. Agemegos

          Really?

          Walky’s question seems to me to be so direct that I wouldn’t call it an implication.

        2. Agemegos

          I’ve re=read more carefully, and hereby withdraw my support for Dina on this point of usage.

          I feel like a traitor.

    2. Clif

      And therefor Walky inferred.

  13. Regalli

    GLORIOUS.

    1. Regalli

      Also, well-played with the Jetsoning. I take it you need to reassert your internet clout as The Person Who Realized It Was George Jetson’s Conception Window after that Twitter come lately?

  14. Thag Simmons

    Feel like I should point out that Dina is using ‘inferred’ incorrectly, since I don’t think anyone else is going to point that out. The internet is of course notoriously lenient about grammatical errors.

    1. The Wellerman

      The last character I can ever recall caring about this error is Wayne Salinsky from the Honey I Shrunk the Kids TV series.

    2. davidbreslin101

      It’s an error I NEVER made growing up.

      Because I didn’t know the word “infer.”

    3. a/snow/mous/e

      i herd you’re idea’s and they’re definately good.

  15. Yotomoe

    Walky and Dina. That is a dynamic I am quite fond of.

    1. The Wellerman

      Great work as usual!!! ?

      Speaking of which, who do you think should be the next victims characters I should do in my pixel art? ?

      1. The Wellerman

        Ooops wrong comment. Please excuse the duplicate.

  16. Yotomoe

    https://imgur.com/a/bbfdjnk (slightly nsfw)
    Super sketchy drawing of what I think a Sal/Danny/Amber(?) threesome would look like.

    1. The Wellerman

      It says it isn’t available.

      That’s odd. ?

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      When I try to open it, it says it was deleted. Wrong link? Or did imgur take it down?

    3. Yotomoe

      https://imgur.com/a/6TDX2NP
      Sorry try this.

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Much better, and well done on this one. Fingers crossed for more. 🙂

    4. Spencer

      Oh my.

      I can’t deal with messy hair’d Danny. It’s doing things to me.

      Walky could only tap into a fraction of that power.

      1. The Wellerman

        What kinds of things? ?

        1. Spencer

          Indignant betrayal because bisexuals aren’t allowed to have nice hair.

          It’s the law.

        2. King Daniel

          Like

          how dare you call me out on this

          my hair can look plenty nice

          …if I actually have the energy to spend spend time on it

          …okay maybe you’re on to something

        3. Spencer

          The four holy tenants of bisexuality are:

          – Bad haircut

          – No fashion sense

          – You can’t sit properly in any chair

          – Puns

        4. King Daniel

          The four holy tenants? I hope they pay rent at least. 😛

        5. Spencer

          God damn it.

        6. Roborat

          I assumed that was one of the puns.

    5. The Wellerman

      Great work as usual!!! ?

      Speaking of which, who do you think should be the next victims characters I should do in my pixel art? ?

  17. Nayann Martinelli

    Dina tackling people to ask about their problems and hang ups should be a weekly occurance, IMO

  18. BBCC

    GO DINA.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      Still on your search for Sal?

      1. BBCC

        Yep! Changing my grav every day until I get her.

  19. AbacusWizard

    I love the “hold my cinnamon toast crunch” line.
    I also love the fact that cinnamon toast crunch has its own tag.

  20. Sirksome

    Some people may find enjoyment in this but I kinda wish characters wouldn’t mess with Dina like this. Last thing I want to see is her buying Joe a new shirt because she realized her actions were actually inappropriate.

    1. Needfuldoer

      I don’t think it’s “messing with her, rather she completely missed Joe’s implication until she had time to process it with the benefit of hindsight. Walky’s translating neurotypical nonverbal communication to clear, upfront dialogue, which has given her theory concrete support.

      Sometimes this just happens when you’re learning the intricacies of in-person communication that don’t come naturally to you.

      1. Sunny

        I think the messing-with bit is “yes, you should tackle him”, which is mean, but would also be really entertaining. In Walky’s place I would definitely feel the temptation to tell Dina she should tackle Joe.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, that’s probably a step too far. She’ll take that at face value too, even if Walky was kidding.

  21. John Smith

    Jokes aside, I think it’s interesting that Joe wanted to talk to Dina about his shame, but not Walky. She’s less threatening? Less likely to judge? Or just because she’s a she?

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      I’m guessing he just doesn’t think Walky is a good person to talk to about this. Not entirely sure what makes Dina more qualified other than she’s a good(if slightly slow to pick things up) listener.

      1. Sirksome

        I actually think Dina’s lack of social knowledge makes her feedback pretty honest and effective. Sometimes people who don’t know what you’re talking about come up with answers from a perspective you never considered.

        1. anonymsly

          Agreed, and from what we’ve seen about how Joe’s mind works, the blunt-straightforward-factual and probable lack of obvious emotional beats from Dina might make whatever statement or advice she has easier for him to take.

          Like, I think Joe doesn’t want to do earnest and painful voyages of self-discovery even when the subject is himself, and that’s what he thinks he’d get from, say, Danny on this subject. Dina’s style, by contrast, might let him keep a little distance from Feelings while explicitly talking about them.

    2. Sirksome

      Probably all 3. But honestly no offense to Walkman but he isn’t really the go to guy to talk to about stressful subjects. He doesn’t really offer much more than a sympathetic ear and a joke response. Sometimes that’s all it takes, but if you’re looking for actually feedback or advice it comes up short.

    3. Spencer

      Dina and Joe have an established acquaintance of talking about sex things and not much else. She’s not a close friend and so Joe doesn’t have to worry about her opinion of him radically changing, while the shame he’s feeling at the moment is related to sex, the thing that Dina is the person he knows he can openly talk about that without it getting weird.

      You’d think Danny, but I think Danny would have expectations on that conversation, or at least I think Joe would fear those expectations.

    4. Matthew E Davis

      I think it’s also that Joe is still very invested in the shibboleths of straight male sexuality, and talking to another guy, even if it is Walky, is a bridge too far. Which is ironic, because while he’s woefully ill-prepared to give useful advice Walky is probably he best character to talk to about this, save Danny, because he’s also unlikely to really judge or think negatively about it.

      1. anonymsly

        I don’t know, one of the things Joe knows about Walky is he thinks/thought only girls have more than one pair of shoes. No one wants to have an adult conversation about a painful subject with a dim child.

    5. MrSmith

      Its Walky, why would anyone talk to Walky about anything even vaguely serious?

      May as well talk to a child

    6. Agemegos

      Walky is a clueless and insensitive ass, and not very discreet. I would neither value his advice nor trust his discretion, and I can’t see why Joe should.

  22. thakoru

    Dumbing of Age Book 12: Please Hold My Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

  23. AGV

    Joe Rosenthal, we’re having the talk!

  24. Uly

    I somehow don’t see Dina as the sort of person to use “infer” here instead of “imply”. I know that she’s laser focused on dinosaurs, but somehow I suspect that the shibboleths of SAE are situation normal to her.

    1. The Wellerman

      Wayne Salinsky, eat your heart out!

    2. HeySo

      I can’t see Dina misusing basic words, either. It’s not really something neurologically atypical people are known for being as prone to as average people, to begin with. Though I am masochistically curious about how many people actually think the words DON’T have opposing meanings [ie, You imply, I infer; An opposition of perspective framing].

      I gotta assume Willis just typoed “he” in place of “I’..

  25. NinjaNick

    Dino tackle!

  26. VanVelding

    Sometimes I get hit out of nowhere by remembering the Walkyverse relationships of these characters.

    Interested in finally seeing the internal Joe drama unfurled.

    1. VanVelding

      I was going to say “The memory of Walkyverse relationships hit me like a truck sometimes,” but that seemed inappropriate.

      1. Spencer

        It was the best you could do.

        1. King Daniel

          Vanvelding’s comment is going to blow up, I just know it.

        2. The Wellerman

          Must be nice to get so much attention.

          JoJo references can’t stay funny forever.

        3. Thag Simmons

          You guys are really crushing it with these

        4. King Daniel

          It was a well-aimed shot.

      2. Matthew E Davis

        Comment with integrity. No Regrets.

  27. Paradoxius

    Big props to Dina here. I have never once had the guts to return to a social interaction after I realized I misread social cues.

    1. Queezle

      Right? For me it’s more of a “do I avoid that Person for the time being?, Should I apologize, but how do you even apologize for stuff like that?, Maybe just do not talk to people at all any more, clearly you are bad at it”

      Dina is brave and the best.

      1. The Wellerman

        I do so admire her for this as well, especially here since she doesn’t even KNOW Joe all that well and deduced EXACTLY what he wanted with so few “clues”, in so little time.

        Either she’s insanely smart or I’m even more socially challenged than I realize. ?

        1. Queezle

          Yes very much so. But even knowing that “I do not want to talk about it” can mean that they do want to talk about it does not really help me. Because sometimes they really do not want to talk about it. So how am I supposed to know? My solution is always answering with “okay, if you change your mind I am willing to listen”
          But things would be so much easier if people just meant what they said.

        2. thejeff

          In general that’s certainly true and can be a quite tricky thing to master. In the specific case where they say they don’t want to talk about it and then immediately tell you that sometimes means people do want to talk about it, it’s pretty clear.

        3. The Wellerman

          My logical brain might say “that’s a hint to try it out”. But the other part of me would say “you’ve never seen this person like this before. What’s gonna happen? What if it turns ugly? It’s not worth the exhaustion. Screw it. Trying to read people’s minds like that with so little information is a frickin guessing game.”

          The deciding factor in that specific case though is just how well Dina and Joe have gotten to know each other over the timeskip.

    2. anonymsly

      From what little we’ve seen of Dina/Joe interactions, he seems like he might be amazingly easy for her to interact with. We’ve seen him take her both as she is and in the spirit intended (responding to a promise of performative eye contact at a later time with an easy ‘looking forward to it’ for example) without talking down to her or treating her weirdly. Those are both things she notices when they happen but doesn’t action. He also (mostly) directly and precisely explains social things when she doesn’t understand, without prefacing it with a question like ‘really?’y

      It’s possible that Dina genuinely regards Joe as a friend, or is rapidly reaching that point. If I belatedly realized a friend was requesting help, I like to think I’d probably consign my tasty cereal to sog to get it done.

      1. The Wellerman

        Yeah I guess there’s a lot here to suggest that Dina and Joe have gotten to know each other at least a little bit better outside of the very scarce times we’ve actually seen them talking in-comic.

        Perhaps they interacted with each other more during the time-skip?

        1. anonymsly

          Not even necessarily during the time skip. They may have had classes together last semester.

    3. Keulen

      Usually by the time I realize I missed some social cues, it’s too late to return to the interaction anyway.

  28. jufreire

    The image i have in my head for the next strips is that Dina will jump on Joe’s back, who will fall face first and start crying. Dina will ask if she hurt him and Walky might be mortified & realize Joe’s never been like this. Joe either runs away alone or they take him somewhere more private in which he can vent & both Walky and Dina say their feedback which is surprisingly accurate but not helpful for moving forward

    also grav roulette?

    1. jufreire

      YES HELL YES

  29. King Daniel

    So like I mentioned a day or two before, here I present potential Sindarin/occasional Quenya equivalent names for the Dumbing cast, based off the translated etymology of their names as a fun project. 😛 Going from the official Cast page, and Sindarin unless otherwise specified:

    01) Joyce = Hirwen
    02) [David] Walky = Melthion Pelebad, the latter being his epessë or after-name/nickname (such were not uncommon among Tolkien’s Elves; even “Galadriel” itself was a translated epessë)
    03) Amber = no direct etymological translation, but I would submit the homonymous Ambarien (Quenya, meaning “woman of fate/fate’s daughter”) as a possibility.
    03a) Amazi-Girl = Anwariel
    04) Dorothy = Eruian, perhaps Rodian or Rodianna
    05) Jennifer [“Billie”] = Fëavanya Atlanda (Quenya)
    06) Becky = Erthien
    07) Sal = Arwen Pelebad (the shared epessë with her twin brother is to distinguish her from Sarah below)
    08) Sarah = Arwen Peleglim
    09) Ruth = Mellonil
    10) Danny = Erunámyawë (Quenya, perhaps shortened to Erunámwë)
    11) Dina = Náma (Quenya)
    12) Ethan = Taugon
    13) Joe = Andir
    14) Carla = Nerwen (Quenya; this was incidentally one of Galadriel’s own birth names–specifically her mother-name–and referred to how unusually tall she was even among Elves)
    15) Leslie = Eressantil
    16) Jacob = Camdal
    17) Lucy = Galadiel
    18) Roz = Roheth
    19) Robin = Calaglareth
    20) Malaya = Legol
    21) Booster = Orthad

    1. Amós Batista

      OMG, I loved!! I miss the times I read Tolkien books!
      And Walky really deserves a buffon name like Melthion Pelebad.

    2. milu

      …yeah my silly long comment with lots of links was held up by the spambot. in other news birds sing and stars twinkle ¬_¬

    3. milu

      …and Attempt #2 got kidnapped by the spiteful spambot *shakes fist*

      oh well goodbye pointless links, hello comment (???)

      whaaaaa ok this is awesome, how long did you spend on this
      [later: how long did I spend on this, omg]

      anyway i’ve had made time today to look up Sindarin, i watched the jan misali video about it, read through sections of the wikipedia article, found and perused one online dictionary and then another, even skimmed some of the most technical articles on Sindarin out there just to see how esoteric it could get… yeah, i’m committed. Let me try and crack these.

      01) Joyce = Hirwen
      So, there’s actually two possible etymologies for “Joyce”
      1) old Fr. josse < lat. ludocus < Breton judoc: “lord”
      2) Mid. Eng. joise: “rejoyce”
      Apparently you went with 1).
      Sindarin: hîr + gwen “lord” + “maiden; feminine suffix”

      …but i wonder if the 2nd one wouldn’t make more sense (the 1st one was a male name, also subsists in surnames), also fit the character better?
      something to do with gell (joy, triumph), gelir (cheerful person), mereth (feast)? Gelwen? Merethiel?

      02) [David] Walky = Melthion Pelebad
      “David” < Hebrew "beloved"
      Sind. melon, meltha = “beloved”
      -ion = masculine name suffix (from “son”)

      as for the epessë,
      Sind. pad = to walk” (lenited to “-bad”), but i couldn’t figure out where the Pele- comes from? Something to do with the English ending -ton i guess? is it a common toponymic prefix? to do with gnomish pel, “village, hamlet” or quenya opele, “walled house/village/town”?

      03) Amber = no direct etymological translation, but I would submit the homonymous Ambarien (Quenya, meaning “woman of fate/fate’s daughter”) as a possibility.

      Did you notice that among its several meanings, Ambar was Early Quenya for “bosom”? XD

      Couldn’t you make up the word for “amber” from the roots for, say, “tree” and “gold”? “Galadhgol”? Hmm, not so pretty.
      golden light of trees? “galadhlawar”?

      Or maybe connecting amber to trees is not so obvious, and it’s likely to be primarily seen as a stone or gem, so— honey stone: “glîharn”? sparklestone: “sarnvíriel”? (i’m probably doing the lenitions wrong)

      From wikipedia, “The classical names for amber, Latin electrum and Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ēlektron), are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ (ēlektōr) meaning “beaming Sun””

      -> so maybe: “Faelharnien”? (“fael: gleaming brilliance (of the sun)”)

      03a) Amazi-Girl = Anwariel
      04) Dorothy = Eruian, perhaps Rodian or Rodianna

      This is Quenya right? i skipped Quenya classes today =P

      05) Jennifer [“Billie”] = Fëavanya Atlanda (Quenya)

      06) Becky = Erthien
      Eng < Heb. "Tied, bound [to God]"
      Sind. ertha- “unite” + -ien (feminine suffix)
      why not gwedh, “bind”?

      07) Sal = Arwen Pelebad (the shared epessë with her twin brother is to distinguish her from Sarah below)

      Oh right, “The name originated as a pet name for the Hebrew name Sarah, but has since become used independently”, i did not know that.

      08) Sarah = Arwen Peleglim

      Sarah < Heb. "Princess", therefore Sind. Arwen “Noble woman” (ar, “king” + gwen, “woman”)

      Clinton < “from Glympton or Glinton in Britain”; Glinton < "village on the Glym brook” according to probably the same wikipedia page you ended up on XD

      ….OK i’m kind of drained (and starving) so i’ll stop here. this was fun =)

  30. Black Drazon

    I hope the next comic is just Joe, flat on the ground and whiplashed while Dina continues to talk about his feelings.

  31. Rabisch

    GO DINA!!!! MAKE HIM TALK!!!!!

  32. Wendy

    Okay, fine, that’s pretty funny.

    1. The Wellerman

      I’m checking out your website now, and must I say Nami, I think your work is absolutely SPLENDID!!! ?

      The energy of the colored pieces remind me a lot of the stuff done by manga artist Hirohiko Araki. Surreal stuff like that really gets me I guess!

      I especially love that “Morning Coffee” piece!!! ?

      1. milu

        wow! yeah, your art is very awesome =)

  33. Vulcanodon

    Say goodbye to your Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Dina…

    1. davidbreslin101

      Good point, that’s a theory of mind fail right there.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Walky unhinges the top of his head at the jawline like a trash can lid and downs the cereal, bowl and all.

      1. Roborat

        So you are saying Walky is Canadian?

  34. davidbreslin101

    It’s the new “Hold my beer”….

  35. Octo

    This is an unexpected trio but I’m here for it

  36. J

    While you should tackle Joe, Dina, it may be foolish to hand Walky your cereal.

  37. Deanatay

    Joe: It might be OK to talk about it in front of a girl, but Walky’s a guy! No can do!

    Walky: Damn straight I am!

    Dina: I question whether I am particularly feminine, but i will accept the classification as biologically rigorous.

    1. Eldritchy

      Considering Walky’s obsession with being “manly” He might run away when he realizes Joe wants to talk about Feelings.

  38. Heather

    Dina’s a good friend.

    (Though would Joe and Dina be friends? Hmm, she’s a good acquaintance maybe to Joe with possibilities towards friendship, and given that Amber is his stepsis I could understand wanting to at least get along with him/help him in that area too in addition to just wanting to be helpful.)

    1. anonymsly

      I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. Joe feels like easy interaction for Dina. He takes her as she is, doesn’t talk down to her or treat her differently, and readily explains social conventions she doesn’t understand without any ‘you should know this already’ subtext. If they’re not already friends, I think they should be: easy interaction feels like it may be a rarity in Dina’s life.

  39. Wilson Phillips

    We all know the book title is “Please Hold My Cinnamon Toast Crunch.”

  40. Kitsune

    I still want to know what happened to the other two Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bakers?.

    1. John

      No…No you don’t.

  41. Bagge

    Refrain from taking advice from Walky, Dina

  42. Ragingagnostic

    Hold my purse, Walky!

  43. Amós Batista

    dumbing of age book 12: WE have returned to discuss your shame

  44. ziggy78eog

    Yes, we would all like to see that.

  45. Amós Batista

    One more character to update the Dumbing of Age chart: cinnamon toast crunch.
    Better improve it as soon as possible.

  46. Zee

    It’s the taste you can see, unlike the tackle from behind.

  47. 0phidiophile

    Dina cracks me up because I’m pretty sure she doesn’t realize that “hold my …” is a meme.

    1. The Wellerman

      I’m pretty sure “Hold my pouch” was a thing before major meme platforms existed. Just saying.

  48. Diane

    I swear, Willis put the Jetson gif in main news and here only to keep in the archive forever to torment us.

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