190

Super awkward
Posted on September 18, 2023 by David M Willis

190 thoughts on “Super awkward”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “Then I suppose I would HAVE to sweep her off her feet to get her to emergency care while possibly ALSO considering having to prosecute you for attempted murder or murder one!”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      eyepatch would prolly be hot tho

      1. Thag Simmons

        The post-timeskip eyepatch is a classic bit, would have been funny.

        1. Cholma

          I thought for sure that was going to be a TV Tropes link, but you surprised me! Can’t go wrong with OotS strip!

        2. KM

          Here’s another example maybe

          https://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/in-a-fight

      2. Decidedly Orthogonal

        The eyepatch could still be added in alt-text. Talk like a pirate day is tomorrow (Sept 19). You still have time!

    2. John Campbell

      Bad idea, you don’t want to move someone with a neck injury.

      The eyepatch is how you know it’s the future.

      1. Ana Chronistic

        I know, but jokes are hard

    3. Da Boy

      Actually, is Jacob still studying to be a lawyer? Last time we saw him he seemed to have been considering his life choices.

  2. Corronchilejano

    Ethan’s right there, heard everything and is coming to tell Joyce to bang Joe isn’t he

    1. Corronchilejano

      *To bang Joe and Jacob, at the same time.

      1. Tan

        *In fact, forget Joyce!

    2. Carla's #2 Fan

      Hope so!

    3. CrimsonStorm

      Ethan’s gonna channel Mike and spite-bang Joe for maximum chaos

      1. plasticwrap

        good lord my mind is warped, I read that as “spit-bang” and was about to comment if that meant to bang somebody with little to no foreplay and only use spit as lube… i.e. maximum chaos

  3. Thag Simmons

    Alright Sarah, hoping this derails this extremely dumb plan, ideally before you tell Joe’s workout buddy that you’re going to try and break up his current relationship

  4. quark

    sarah should really take up boxing. get out that violent energy

  5. shadowcell

    murder: the next problem it solves might be yours!

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      ? Oh please. Oh please.Oh please! ?

  6. Doopyboop

    Jacob: *Zoidberg voice* I’m not hearing a no…

  7. Sirksome

    What’s Ethan’s major actually? I never bothered to care until just now.

    1. DailyBrad

      I don’t really know that it’s come up. I feel like we know like half the cast’s majors, tops. Sarah’s an obvious one, Walky’s communications, Joyce was getting into teaching (dunno if she still is), but I am unsure I really know anyone else’s offhand. Maaaaaybe computer science for Danny and/or Amber?

      1. Bruno

        What’s Sarah’s major, being a jerk?

        1. Thag Simmons

          If I’m not mistaken, Law, so basically.

        2. Sirksome

          She’s pre law.

        3. Leorale

          Yes, pre-law.

        4. Leorale

          whoops, we all answered at the same time.
          And comp sci is right for Amber and Danny.
          Sal’s music (or so the other music major said). Jennifer’s in journalism (though she should be in…….. drama). Mary’s in [studio] art. Dorothy’s in political science, and so is Becky (as per the terms of her scholarship from Robin). Dina is whatever is closest to paleontoloy; probably bio. Ruth’s in English. Carla’s in engineering. Booster’s in psych.
          I think those are all the ones I know.

        5. milu

          Roz: poli-sci?

        6. BBCC

          Roz is in gender studies.

    2. UrsulaDavina

      Becky and Dotty are political science majors.

    3. HueSatLight

      English, I think. He plans to be a writer. It came up when he was talking to Jocelyne, maybe other times too.

    4. Thag Simmons

      Law, I think, which is why he and Raidah were a thing

      1. Thag Simmons

        Ethan and Jacob aren’t even remotely similar names how did I mess that up

        1. Needfuldoer

          They both have five letters?

        2. Roborat

          Well, they both do have an “a” in them.

      2. Otl1973

        “Law” isn’t an undergraduate major. Neither is “pre-law”.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Thag not go to college, Thag live in cave

        2. Sirksome

          Isn’t “law’ or “pre-law” just widely accepted shorthand for what the actual graduate is. Like criminal justice or paralegal studies or forensic science or whatever?

        3. Quirdry Tawks

          Not completely true. An L.L.B. is a thing where I attended, and probably elsewhere. Sorry to be pedantic. :/

        4. PirateTawnee

          but that’s the best kind of antic!

        5. zee

          Damn. I better let our law faculty and all the law undergrads know they’re doing it wrong. Better stop by med undergrad too just to be safe

        6. BBCC

          It is in some places, but as Jacob explained, the University of Indiana is not one of them. It’s more like a selection of courses you can take as an undergrad with an intent to go to law school, rather than a full major. Regardless, Sarah, Jacob and Raidah all describe themselves as pre-law.

    5. Sirksome

      I’m actually kind of surprised we have all these law students and not a single character is interested in medicine. I don’t know anything about IU curriculum though so maybe they aren’t the best place for pre-med education. I just think a doctor in training has a lot of story potential.

      1. drs

        Doesn’t Linda want Walky to be a doctor?

        1. Archieve

          Yep and so far she’s the only one.

      2. eskimolos

        Idk how it is for medicine-related undergraduate in the US, but in the UK you have to do a Medicine degree. You start it in freshman year and it only ends after about 5-7 years, and then just so you can specialise. Also, very few schools offer a Medicine track – if the US is anything like it, IU probably wouldn’t offer one either. It tends to be prestige universities – so here in the UK, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Imperial College London all have a Medicine degree programme, but not most other universities you could attend. Indeed there may be in total five universities that even have a Medicine-related degree programme. I think this is to keep quality of graduates high, both by making sure there are a limited number of universities with more resources available to ensure strict adherence to grading standards required by governing authorities, and by keeping spaces in classes low, ensuring only the most dedicated can manage to become doctors.

        I’m Biomed personally, and would have tried to do Medicine if it weren’t so phenomenally hard. Still, it feels like a nursing or veterinary programme wouldn’t be unusual at a school like IU, however that’s normally a different campus, and having a gander at IU’s website it does appear there are multiple campuses, so this comic may largely encompass a single campus and the majors associated.

        1. CardinalFan

          It’s a little different in the US. Not just the prestige universities offer it. Most do. You do a pre-med related major, then you apply to medical school and complete that. Many colleges, not just prestigious ones also have medical school. You also have to take the MCAT and do reasonably well to get admission. Then you do a residency program and obtain a medical license in whatever state you are looking to practice in. The process can take up to 10-14 years depending on how long your residency is.

        2. Mano308gts

          Well, from the top- IU is a prestigious university, if not Ivy League (it’s a significant step above community college as well as low-end 4-year colleges, as a ‘university’ it offers graduate programs… but it’s also one of the higher ranked universities in the US).

          But also, literally any university (offers graduate programs) might have a medical school for teaching doctors- sure, not all do, but many do.

          Then there’s also the fact that we don’t go directly from secondary school to medical field route- you get a science-based undergrad (usually biology), then typically a Master’s (sometimes medicine based, “pre-med”, but usually also science based) then you get into the MD program, which can take around 4-6 years, rarely it can be completed in about 2 years.

        3. Miri

          I don’t think it’s quite that limited in the UK – one of my friends did it at Queen Mary’s (another London uni), as the JR is also a teaching hospital I’m pretty sure Oxford also does it (although that doesn’t negate your point about prestigious schools)… But it also depends if you consider the whole range of medicine options: https://www.ucas.com/explore/subjects/medicine-and-allied-subjects

          But, for example, there is a Hull York Medical School, and a Kent and Medway Medical School…

        4. eskimolos

          I think from what I understand after looking into it more, the unis listed may be unique for offering the whole programme, whereas other schools (like St Andrews here in Scotland) offer parts of the degree with a feed in for grad, or possibly vice versa. It’s all pretty unusual, but yeah it does seem different in the US especially.

        5. SomethingGlitter

          There’s 45 in the UK, not 5. Cambridge actually isn’t one of the better medical schools, or at least wasn’t when I was applying for college (might have changed now), but people still went for it for the prestige of going to an Oxbridge uni (I didn’t apply for medicine but I went to the kind of school that churned out doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, and oxbridge students so I heard alll about it)

      3. Mark

        With a sizable School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Dentistry, and a multi-unit hospital system, it would be surprising if IU weren’t at least trying to offer good pre-medical education to feed them.

      4. Nicoleandmaggie

        Maybe the premeds are too busy studying?

        I think I read somewhere that premed is down (and computer science way up).

      5. zee

        In my experience living on hall with med students, it’s because none of them would even have the time for all this bullshit. Law students are hard to get a hold of too but they’re just isolationist by choice. Bc they’re assholes.

        1. RacingTurtle

          I say this with a great deal of affection for the character: Sarah Clinton, most accurate fictional law student?

          (No seriously I adore Sarah, even when she’s making poor decisions.)

    6. Tan

      Last we heard he was undeclared but possibly thinking about English

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/undeclared/

      1. Tan

        (I say “possibly” because that may have just been his infatuation with Jocelyne talking, as Joyce mentioned he’d previously discussed the idea of going into education)

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/freelance/

      2. Sirksome

        I was just wondering if his major involved a heavy course load considering he wasn’t studying. I wonder if an english major is something you can snooze through? Probably, right?

        1. eskimolos

          Maybe? I’m having to learn scientific writing for research, despite having aced all my english-related classes without any effort to study throughout K-12, my scientific reports have some of the worst scores of my assignments to date. If the English major is trying to teach people multidisciplinary writing techniques it could actually get pretty hard, and it involves heavy critique of one’s writing, which is likely going to be quite hard on young students aspiring to be writers and the like.

        2. Leorale

          English will be entirely paper-heavy courses (as opposed to test-heavy courses or labs). So it’s possible that an English major could disappear for a couple weeks without burning everything irreparably.

          Like, if all their due-dates haven’t passed yet, and/or if they actually ask their professors for extensions, a hypothetical English major might be able to catch up in a mad caffiene/adderall-fueled dash at midterms, write very well, and still pass their courses.

          But that would be the ‘Smarting of Age: Stress And Stimulants’ solution to a ‘Dumbing of Age’ problem. Moreover, it would require the English major to care. Ethan currently can’t care, at all.

          I don’t think Willis feels a need to tie everything up for Ethan in an academically-happy ending. It’s likely gonna be way more interesting to write/read the crash and burn.

        3. thejeff

          We’re a couple of weeks into the semester. If Ethan can recover from his depression and start working and going to class in the fairly near future, he’ll likely be able to recover his grades.

        4. Leorale

          I agree he could! He’d have to choose to go to class and keep up his coursework, in the face of his self-destructive depression. (Hopefully with help — an accountability buddy walking him to class is a good start!)

          It’s a hard slog, but Ethan wouldn’t be the first writer to struggle through depression enough to recover his grades. If Ethan doesn’t get help and turn things around, though, he also wouldn’t be the first writer to get a severe mental illness and flunk some things, so, both outcomes would be realistic at this point.

          If he was a real person, he’d be suffering, and I’d only want to see him heal and do very well in every way, as soon as possible: please get this grieving fellow some therapy, maybe a semester off. But, because he’s a character, I’d kinda like to see him continue to interestingly self-destruct, at least for a while, first.

        5. thejeff

          Yeah, I’m just saying that at this point, it’s more a matter of him being able to deal with the depression than of already being far behind in the school work.

        6. Tan

          Even if he’s declared a major by now (and honestly I doubt it; he hadn’t on-screen by the time Mike died, and afterwards seems incredibly unlikely), his first semester was definitely general-education courses which he’d presumably been doing fine in up to midterms, so probably squeaked through passing grades in most if not all of em

          As for this semester, course selection didn’t open up until after Mike died, so he was hardly motivated to pick challenging courses, and also it’s only a couple weeks into the semester. If there are to be consequences, they are yet to come.

    7. Wraithy2773

      Well, he’s a freshman, he might not have one yet. Its not exactly that uncommon.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Yeah, he can fill the year with the gen ed classes he’d have to take regardless of major.

    8. BBCC

      He was undeclared last we heard, but he expressed interest in English (though that might be because he was into Jocelyne).

      Majors we know of, last we heard

      Elementary Education – Joyce
      Pre-Law (Not an actual major at the school but a selection of courses) – Sarah, Raidah, Jacob
      Political Science – Dorothy, Becky
      Journalism – Jennifer
      English – Ruth
      Computer Science – Rachel, Danny, Amber
      Music – Sal
      Art Education – Mary
      Telecommunications – Walky, Lucy
      Biology – Dina
      Computer Engineering (not the actual title but I’m not looking it up right now) – Carla
      Gender Studies – Roz
      Psychology – Booster
      I don’t think we know Malaya’s or Asher’s and Marcie’s not a student so that brings us up to speed.
      Undeclared – Joe

      Mike’s was social work.

    9. Angel

      i don’t think it’s come up since it’s not plot relevant, but is this a college where you ‘need’ to have a major? I’m sure a handful of students, whether main chara or not, are just attending because they’re ‘socially/culturally obligated’ to rather than having an ambitious job/career goal.

      1. Tan

        While it isn’t an IMMEDIATE concern (going a semester or two undeclared is extremely common), you do need a major to graduate, and if you aren’t making progress towards graduation, at some point the university administration is gonna start looking at you funny.

        1. Angel

          seems kinda like a pain, i mean 4 year degrees aside i’d assume there’d be some local community colleges that’ll let you pay for a single class/ppl going in on the weekends to learn specific things rather than hiring a private tutor

        2. Tan

          Community colleges absolutely do this, yes (my local community college has a whole catalogue of non-credit personal & professional development courses, and 1-year certificate programs that can be taken on an individual basis), but that is not the same thing as being enrolled as a full-time student as the cast is

  8. Yeet

    Honestly Sarah it probably would have been easier to just bring him to hang out and study in a non-depressed environment and work from there
    But it ain’t called smarting of age

  9. Carla's #2 Fan

    I like Jacob’s new look!

    1. Vanessa

      Yes, very sexy! And mush looser and more casual, as of getting out from under Raidha’s thumb has been good for him.

      1. Laura

        This is more lip color than I’m used to seeing on DOA characters. Are Jacob and Sarah both wearing lipstick? Flavored chapstick? I can’t tell.

        1. Angel

          it might be ‘natural’ to make her look more feminine in contrast but usually not a lot of makeup in this comic, we know booster wears some b/c joyce pointed it out but idk if sarah would go outta her way to put on lipstick for it (tho these days tinted lip balm is a thing to give a hint of color without it being overly shiny/sticking out like lipstick/gloss would be lol)

      2. RacingTurtle

        I don’t see it as “he was under Raidah’s thumb”; more that he was trying to be someone he isn’t and dating Raidah was one symptom of that

    2. Raja

      Me too! The new hair is a good look

  10. jeffepp

    To do it right, the patch would need to flip from eye to eye at random.

    1. StClair

      “What hump?”

  11. Just an Armadillo

    Jacob buddy, I know you’ve probably been dealing with this for a while now and want to get it off your chest but this is not casual discussion material. Genuinely shocked you managed to be the first person to make this conversation weird.

    1. eskimolos

      True enough, though this kind of exposure is pretty common in more rural communities.

    2. Mark

      Wondering how Sarah could possibly not already be aware of most of this.

    3. Angel

      i mean, it’s not exactly anyone’s business for ethan’s personal stuff but at the same time if you just took a look at him, and knew what he was like/looked like before i think most ppl would be able to tell he’s going through stuff. tho given that jacob’s not rly studying psychology like booster is idk how much he can be other than like some emotional support but even before then they weren’t super close as friends

  12. BBCC

    Sarah you don’t admit to planning a murder out loud in front of a future lawyer, c’mon!

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      Well, not without retaining them as counsel first.

    2. Angel

      i’m sure ppl are used to hearing/expecting sarah saying she’d snap someone’s neck lol

  13. HueSatLight

    the glass eye looks real good though.

  14. Jamie

    Sarah, you will not become a good lawyer this way.

    1. Angel

      I mean if she’s ruthless enough she can be a harsh lawyer and so, other than being careful with words most ppl do see lawyers as stereotypically not associated with being “heroic” unless they succeed in defending someone super innocent or so lol.

      But yeah i don’t think she’d have the personality to not rly wanna roll her eyes/face palm if someone wants to hire her for a “stupid” reasons

  15. RassilonTDavros

    I wonder if this universe also operates on “snapped neck equals body completely disintegrates leaving nothing behind” logic.

    1. True Survivor

      Only if your carrying around enough carved whale bone. I know its Dishonorable to comment with a reference you might not get, but I didn’t want to feel like an Outsider. Sorry.

      1. DaveM

        Insert “I understand that reference!” Gif. 🙂

  16. Mr. Random

    “I just think it looks cool.”

  17. UrsulaDavina

    New plan Sarah will sweep Joyce off her feet into a chokehold.

    1. eskimolos

      Best comment of the day so far, amazing work.

    2. Angel

      “This better not awaken anything in me”

  18. MisterJinKC

    At his worst Joe has never done anything even remotely close to as vile as this shit Sarah is pulling. Trying to whore Joe and/or Joyce off. Doesnt matter to whom as long as they aren’t together. What a piece of shit Sarah turned out to be.

    1. Leorale

      Wow, meddling in your roomie’s lovelife is indeed obnoxious, but Joe and Joyce have been college-dating for all of ten seconds, it’s not like they’re married or something. Sarah’s trying, without skill, to get Joyce a date with a cool wholesome dude whom Joyce legitimately liked, because she thinks she’s protecting Joyce from a manipulative womanizer. We know Sarah’s wrong, but she doesn’t.

      Meanwhile Joe at his worst was really, *really* obnoxious. He regularly tried to derail Gender Studies class to talk about whatever interested his boner. He objectified every woman he met, often didn’t back off until the lady in question screamed at him, was really mean to his lifelong BFF Danny, provided Ryan and others like him with a handy dandy map to potential victims, and I’m probably forgetting some.

      Sarah is incorrect, and everyone is telling her to cut it out — she’s acting the fool, but she’s not a POS. I look forward to her changing course.

      1. milu

        PA system: *Please get onto the “Sarah is Evil” bus, the “Let’s Think Critically for a Minute” town is being evacuated*

      2. MisterJinKC

        Joe acted out of youthful stupidity while being good natured. Sarah is being actively malicious and going directly against Joyce’s stated wishes, while not caring who gets hurt as long as she gets her way. These are not the same.

    2. Angel

      Like danny said, Joe does skew towards benevolence

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/skew/

  19. DailyBrad

    I like Jacob’s hair, I think. Also really kind of wondering what Jacob’s getting at here, like if he’s kinda into her (I do honestly think that he does/did like Sarah to an extent, but found her walls around herself offputting, but it’s been a while), or if this is him kind of asking in a roundabout way why Sarah is trying to push for something that, at first blush, would appear to be against her own interests.

  20. Sirksome

    Snapping Joyce’s neck does solve Sarah’s problem. Neck braces are a complete turn off.

    1. Angel

      ngl my first thought was those tweets of like “hospitalized/broke my neck during sex/oral” lol

  21. Owlmirror

    AlL dRamA aNd nO NoOkiE mAKeS sAraH a dULL giRL

    (redrum redrum)

    1. Owlmirror

      (Shining of Age)

  22. UrsulaDavina

    Hopefully the power of horniess will detract Sarah from this Folly. I would prefer if some one explain how batshit this plan is or she comes to that conclusion on her own.

    1. Angel

      i think that’d only happen if jacob propositioned sarah immediately and he’s not a one night stand kinda guy from what we’ve seen

  23. Otl1973

    Sarah is (in her view) trying to protect Joyce, but it’s hard to see how any of these plans if successful would do that.

    1. milu

      She thinks (and has non-zero reasons to believe this) that Joyce is Terminally Horny and that’s affecting her judgment. Getting her to either see through (what she thinks is) Joe’s Don Juan spiel, or getting her elsewise laid, would presumably fix the issue? No?

      1. smolgrlboi

        Man it sucks that she sees Joyce as a child 🙁

  24. shrub

    Turns out Raidah, while being a major jerk, was also right about Sarah

    Nicely played Mr Willis

    1. True Survivor

      It what way exactly? I trust your correct I just don’t remember exactly what Raidah said.

      1. shrub

        Just generally disliking her

        Actually did Raidah ever find out that Sarah tried to use Joyce to break her and Jacib up?

        1. Bryy

          Yeah, which why she started the Revenge Club in the first place.

          As for Raidah being right about Sarah, that would require there to be something generally bad about her, when the only reason (besides Jacob) that Raidah has to dislike Sarah is because of Dana.

          And no, Raidah doesn’t have good intentions there. Otherwise, she would not have told Walky an extremely cherry-picked version of events.

          Raidah doesn’t want people to like Sarah because SHE doesn’t like Sarah. Raidah views people as THINGS.

        2. thejeff

          I don’t think she did explicitly. She obviously knew (or at least suspected) Joyce was the cause of the breakup, but I don’t know how she would have known Sarah was pushing her to do it.

          She’s still against Sarah because of Dana and she’s added in Joyce because of Jacob.

    2. Da Boy

      Broken clocks and all that I guess.

    3. Chubsius

      To paraphrase Dorothy: nothing has been okay for Sarah for a very long time. While she may have been a bit of a crank to begin with, she had made friends. After Dana went home, she was shunned, bullied, and isolated. And then Joyce suffered from multiple violent incidents, and Sarah has been there either with a bat or just to walk Joyce to classes. Sarah herself was kidnapped and witnessed a murder. Sarah has been through a lot.

      Sarah is overreacting, but in an understandable way. The poor girl’s been through so much that her fight or flight response is on a hair trigger. She’s responding to Joe as if he were a Ryan or Blaine level threat. I feel for her.

      1. thejeff

        Nah, if she were treating Joe as a Ryan or Blaine level threat, he’d have already gotten the bat.

        She is treating him as the creep who wanted to fix Joyce with his penis though.

        1. Chubsius

          Fair, that was bit of an exaggeration for dramatic effect. Got carried away. Still, she has been mentioning murder as her second option…

    4. Segnosaur

      While we might not agree with what Sarah is doing, she (probably) not trying to break up Joyce/joe out of pettiness. She seems to have a genuine concern for Joyce and her actions stem from over-protectiveness (wanting to keep her from dating a potential sleaze-ball) rather than maliciousness.

    5. Angel

      well, i think sarah was in the right for helping out dana even tho she didn’t give her a choice ‘for her own good’ but i’d hope she’d at least be doing better with her father around

  25. Leorale

    Wait, *did* Joyce tell Jacob that?
    (Or did he just figure it out, back when she was still trying to set him up with Sarah?)

    1. Sirksome

      Joyce told him multiple times. Her goal while seducing him was ironically to talk up how cool Sarah was.

      1. Leorale

        Haha, awesome.

    2. Bash

      During the diner scene, she said she was trying to hype up Sarah. It’s not technically a confession, but if you’re doing that for a friend it’s a safe bet that she told you she is interested.

  26. True Survivor

    The caption is completely correct by the way.

  27. Cmasta1992

    I really hope Sarah and Dorothy get their just desserts for trying to mom Joyce. I know in universe it hasn’t been long but this shit is so old

    1. Icalasari

      Hell, I wouldn’t even call what Sarah’s doing “Momming”, just pure assholery because she despises Joe

    2. Archieve

      It’s looking like Sarahs getting some karma right now atleast. She tries to get Jacob to steal Joyce from Joe only for Jacob to let Sarah know that he knew she liked him much to her mortification.

    3. smolgrlboi

      Seems like Dorothy is somewhat getting the message (she seemed to accept Joe & Joyce upon actually seeing them together) but yeah I’m kind of sick of Sarah’s bullshit. Like it’s fine story-wise but I am also waiting for them to face some sort of consequence, like at least a confrontation from Joyce or something.

  28. Angel

    Plot twist this ends with Joyce getting a threeway between the two large attractive men.

    Thanks, Sarah!

  29. CJ

    I think I’ll take a break from doa. This storyline is not something that lightens my mood in the morning.

    1. NGPZ

      You heard the audience! We need a greater concentration of Dina strips, and soon!

      1. shrub

        More Dina and Joe interactions

    2. Bash

      Is it just the comments, or the story specifically?

    3. Steve C

      Yeah, Sarcastic Sarah is funny. So is Murderous Rage Sarah. Scheming Sarah, IMO, has her moments. Scheming Sarah–Now With Murderous Rage, not so much. (BTW, Sarah, it’s bad form to blame Joyce for being part of a plan you set in motion.)

  30. Dday

    That’s a fine snarl in panel 7, reminds me of the 90s:
    https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/the-nineties

  31. Thomas

    Marked contrast between Jacob & Sarah in handling a depressed roommate. The diference being that Ethan is not into pot. Should Jacob have involved Ethan’s parents?

    1. Bash

      Well personally I don’t think it was ever right to involve the parents, but I seem to be a minority there. Increased drug use can be a symptom of childhood trauma, and I don’t think we should just assume that parents are going to be calm and reasonable about their kids doing drugs. I think the correct response with Dana would have been trying to get another adult involved. Like when Carla got people to take Ruth to the health center because she was depressed and was (illegally) abusing alcohol. I’m not sure if Ethan was at the level where something like that was necessary, because we didn’t see a lot of the details.

      1. Mr D

        You sure that it is a response to childhood trauma and not, y’know, a response to trauma in general that some people can go through?

        1. Bash

          I don’t see these as being separate. Trauma, including childhood trauma, can lead to depression and addiction. Losing her mother is of course a trauma, and maybe that was the start and end of the problem. Or maybe there were further issues at home. They only follow up information we have is Raidah saying Dana isn’t doing well.

        2. Sirksome

          I hate that line so much. “Dana isn’t doing well.” It means nothing. Of course she wasn’t doing well. Her mom died! Yet there was speculation for some reason that meant her home wasn’t safe or her dad is abusive. Blegh.

          Not trying to rant at you specifically, I just hate that moment and you can’t convince me Raidah didn’t choose those vague words to try and hurt Sarah. She could be doing poorly because her dad’s a jerk, or because the death of her mom less than a year ago is still very fresh, or maybe the grocery store ran out of her favorite breakfast cereal!

          I really want Dana to come back some day. Maybe she could be friends with Becky.

      2. HueSatLight

        Sarah thought Dana might commit suicide, or she was doing drugs you can OD on. Sarah tried to get their friends to get Dana to therapy, and they blew off her concern.

        Anyways, the school called Ruth’s grandfather when she was taken to the health center, so ….

        I know there’s a lot of talk about how horrible most of the parents are in the strip, but Sarah’s must be ok, because she doesn’t assume that all parents are child abusers.

        1. Bash

          I think you bring up an interesting point. If Sarah has a good relationship with her parents, she might think involving someone’s parents is the best option. When Becky showed up in a crisis, Joyce’s initial reaction was to call Becky’s dad, because at the time she saw parental authority figures as trustworthy and helpful.

        2. Sirksome

          This needs to be highlighted more. It’s rare for parents to be as consistently awful as they are in this comic and calling them is usually the right move if a student is in crisis. Despite being legal adults they are very much still children. Sarah did the right thing with Dana. I’m not sure with Ethan though, his mom seems very homophobic and I’m not sure how that can relate to her concern for his mental health.

          I also don’t think Ethan is as in crisis as Dana apparently was. He just kind of became a doomer, but he still functions in a way Dana clearly wasn’t. He doesn’t spend his nights sobbing or smoking himself numb.

        3. Da Boy

          If Boomer is to be believed Ethan has been constantly avoid classes and pretty much any interactions. He seems to be clinically depressed.

          The situation seems to be reversed actually, Ethan is clearly and obviously depressed and not in a good state.

          Dana on the other hand was a high-functioning addict because Sarah was the only one who saw how badly she was doing, in front of Raidah and her friends she was chirpy and normal. This was actually the source of Raidah’s hate for Sarah. From her perspective Dana was doing fine.

        4. Da Boy

          DAMN! Booster! I meant Booster!

        5. Bash

          Personally I don’t think a parent has to be a child abuser or consistently horrible to mess up a situation involving depression or addiction. Some of the older generations are lacking adequate education around mental health and might take a “you just need to try harder” approach. As for drug-related issues, I think punishment would be a common response. Maybe there are parents who would get their kids medical treatment and be nothing but supportive and understanding the whole time, but I don’t think they are the majority. That’s why I think medical professionals are the right people to deal with this situation. They are neutral adults who have experience handling these types of problems.

        6. Da Boy

          You are ignoring the fact that the parents are often the sole source of resources and generally a safety net for their child. Government and professionals can help but it will be much more difficult for the kid not to have the parents involved. Also if you go behind their backs like that they will feel betrayed and pissed off, not exactly conductive to helping the kid out.

        7. Bash

          It’s true that I did not think about the financial aspect. It’s possible that the family cannot afford treatment or would refuse to pay. I still don’t agree that having the parents involved is always positive. Parents can mean well but do a lot of things to make difficult situations worse. The kid is probably the most reliable source of information as to whether the parent is a safe person.

        8. thejeff

          But a roommate can’t make someone get medical help. Sarah even brought up trying to get her to see a therapist to their group, but they thought she’d just “snap back”.

          She could have brought the drug use to the attention of the school, but that’s certainly going to end poorly.

        9. HueSatLight

          “Parents can mean well but do a lot of things to make difficult situations worse.”
          So like a bureaucracy, but with meaning well, and with a better chance of understanding the kid.

          There’s also the assumption that Sarah could not have had any impression at all about how Dana got along with her dad.

    2. Angel

      well, ethan hasn’t turned to drugs (as far as we’ve seen) or do any self destructive behaviors but i’m sure jacob was aware of ethan’s other friends to reach out/ask for help and such (or it’s possible that jacob’s so busy with his own work/study load that he hasn’t rly had time to rly keep an eye on ethan/his behavior getting in the way of his own college time)

      (tho i don’t think ethan’s parents would help much since his mom is seemingly homophobic/didn’t want him dating any guys and she knew about ethan’s crush on mike so knowing he was ‘mourning’ the loss of someone like that probably wouldn’t have been good if he stayed at their home again)

  32. Quirdry Tawks

    Yes. Good. Completely robbing another human being of agency. For their own good, of course.

    Nope, don’t see that much in the real world at all.

  33. Raja

    I would love for this to turn into a convo about Sarah. Steer it away from Joyce, Jacob! Please.

  34. Reaver

    Damn Sarah, every new post with her has made her so unlikeable… Jacob dont do it. I know she’s cute but she’s not really showing any good relationship traits.

  35. Bryy

    I like the implication that Ethan failing to find an enabler led him to at least start getting out of his funk.

    1. milu

      Or maybe he’s just smitten. Asher’s non-enabler-ness (enabler of what?) seems like extra steps

      1. Da Boy

        Ethan will get his shit together, will get on top of his grades and when he is back to full Power he will ask Asher out again.

      2. Mark

        Woops! I totally missed this bit of foreshadowing.

      3. Bryy

        The only reason he went after Asher is because Amber said it would be unhealthy. Do I think Ethan is actually depressed? Yes. But I also think he’s being performative in that he is trying to *be* Mike.

        I mean, at this point in time, we’ve had TWO characters (Joyce and Danny) voice that Mike wasn’t a good person and that there are parts of him that they don’t miss. This could be Ethan’s way of trying to justify, or mythologize, Mike.

        Being sad that a shitty person is dead is an uber-complicated emotion.

        1. milu

          hm right. i think i see what you mean. i like it

  36. PedanticJerkass

    Where’s Lucy to come up behind Sarah out of nowhere and say, “Well, that seems like just an incredibly stupid idea,” when you really need her?

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      Payback!

  37. Rabisch

    Yep! She likes him and this doesn’t seem to bother him. In fact, he seems to appreciate it a lot and also he seems really happy to see Sarah. Happy in the sense that he likes her. Go Jason! Get Sarah to admit that you sweep her off her feet! ! Maybe the big love story she’s always tried to avoid will begin and it will be so big that she will not even have the time for thinking about destroying Joe and Joyce’s relationship.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      Jacob*

  38. FacelessDeviant

    Yeah okay, Sarah, Sarah okay. Time to chill out a bit and reflect on whether or not you are doing the right thing, or if you should be minding your own business this time.

  39. milu

    Sarah continues to be committed to her whacky plan. What a girlboss. What a hero ❤️‍?

    1. NGPZ

      hero in a pretty loose sense,

      the same way that SpongeBob and/or Squidward are heros lol

      1. HueSatLight

        ☑ strong
        ☑ fast
        ☑ fresh from the fight

  40. Felgraf

    There is still time to abandon this plan, Sarah.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      hopefully she’s about to spill the beans to Jacob, and then he can tell her she’s overstepping, and then maybe Sarah can start respecting Joyce’s autonomy? Remember, you’re the friend-sister. Dorothy is the friend-mom, so she should be the one to wildly overstep Joyce’s boundaries. (Please let this be a moment of clarity…)
      (“with the Willis? No way!” Awww… *Magic School Bus music intensifies*)

  41. Nicoleandmaggie

    Was it sally brown who had the eyepatch in peanuts? The internet says yes.

    1. Mark

      She did, to treat amblyopia.

  42. Amós Batista

    ALT: Jacob is still great, Willis. His hair is nice.

    1. Schpoonman

      I really like it.

  43. Big Z

    I am choosing to read panel four as confirmation that Sarah knows full well that Joe overheard her ranting at Joyce about him and was therefore messing with her in https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/01-everybodys-looking-for-nothing/philanderer/

  44. Pseudowolf

    I’m glad to hear that despite Ethan still being a mopey nihilistic jerk when he’s out and about (justified or not), he’s actually studying and working on his academics again and not just essentially waiting until he fails out which is what it looked like he was doing.

  45. Schpoonman

    I actually like Jacob’s new hairstyle. He felt way too much like he was parroting Harrison, down to having points he very much did not actually feel on his “partner checklist”, and letting his freak flag fly a bit means he’s living more truthfully to himself and will almost certainly be happier for it. Harrison showed up with a spiky afro (is that the right term?) and the more we can wrench back society and let people express themselves visually while taking ourselves seriously professionally the better our society will be.

    Before the planet burns down, of course.

  46. zee

    Ooh Jacob, was that meant to be a flirt? I’d, love it so much if this whole dumb plan got immediately detailed by Jacob flirting/asking Sarah out

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      Do you mean “derailed”? And yeah, that’d be cool. I suspect it’ll come after he scolds her for her intrusion into Joyce’s personal life.

      1. a/snow/mous/e

        (Feels like a phone autocorrect or swipe misinterpretation, now that I think about it.)

    2. Insanenoodlyguy

      Little did she know Joe anticipated all of this and prepped Jacob to distract Sarah with his own convoluted scheme.

  47. Willoughby Chase

    Love will find a way

  48. Alan in DC

    Yep, Joyce be liking her mens big and biblically proportioned, dunt she?

  49. eskimolos

    Is the alt text a reference to Dark? Because that was one of the best parts of that show.

  50. HueSatLight

    Jacob should suggest that if Sarah is trying to set Joyce up with someone, she should ask Joe. That he seemed genuinely interested, different than his usual baseline horniness.

  51. Aggrax

    I find it amusing that Joe is now dating someone Jacob was interested in and Joe’s Dad is married to a woman Jacob slept with in an alternate universe

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