For multiple types of food, actually. Regular leather is fine for a sandwich like that, but the grease from pizza would ruin them, so for that she uses cheap polyester.
Now of course, with messy foods it’s important to color coordinate as well.
The interaction between undamaged skin, scar tissue, and anything else except clothing you’re used to wearing can be most annoying. It also limits the inevitable “OMG is that a scar? Tell me in embarrassing detail how you got it!” response from others.
It’s possible she didn’t outright break it. I fell off a porch and landed basically toe-first onto concrete. Whole toe turned purple, but it was just heavy bruising, and I somehow didn’t break it. It’s possible she lucked out, too.
This being DoA, though, I am expected us to forget and like a year from now, her toenail falls off to cap off a dramatic moment or as an epic brick joke.
Perhaps salty about the fact that some commenters actually suggested this (Sal and Walky getting each other’s homework and not realizing it) might happen, if I remember right.
I am a twin, people have said far stranger things apparently sincerely. “Do you ever get mixed up who’s who? No, not in photos, like you look at him and think he’s you.”
She’s trying to make Walky feel better without thinking enough steps ahead in the process. As Sal says, she’s a Pollyanna but that doesn’t require that she attach too much logic to her attempts to make everyone smile!
Sal may be a rebel, but she knows when to work hard, even if working hard can also involve illegal stuff. Walky’s passiveness on the other hand doomed him.
Walky fell into the same trap that’s caught so many other bright kids: he never learned how to study. School work came easy to him so he didn’t put in a lot of effort. Now he’s coasted straight into a brick wall and is too proud to accept help.
I was one of those who never learned to study. Oddly it didn’t impact me as much as you might think – in most classes I was still able to blast through, destroying curves left and right, just on what I picked up in classes and from doing homework. The related lack-of-skill of not being able to memorize did come back to bite me in the butt hardcore, though, when I ended up in a calculus class that was being taught as a no-math-at-all-just-memorization-and-pattern-matching class. (I was told later that the teacher was widely considered incompetent.) I went from straight A’s in math to -and I’m not exaggerating here- straight 0%s (except for the one chapter that was taught with actual math, in which I got straight 100%s) – the experience was downright traumatizing, let me tell you.
It looks a bit worse than that. It’s not just that he doesn’t know how to study – it’s that he considers himself smart, that intelligence is a core part of his self image, and if he has to study then that means he isn’t smart after all. It’s an easy trap to fall into given the right messaging, and kids read as bright can easily get the messaging involved.
Alt text: Well, Willis, you did establish Sal’s into at least the stuff she learned at the natural history museum and she’s either interested in or remembered enough to keep up in conversation with Dina about it. I still wanna see them ranking her dinosaurs sometime. 😉
Seriously though, I thought if this silly theory was ever actually brought up in comic, it would be one of the Walkerton parents suggesting it because they don’t want to deal with the fact Walky’s actually struggling and is an anxious mess because of it. Or that Sal’s not the problem child who solely exists to make life hard for them. I mean, if either of those things were(n’t) true, that would mean the Walkertons are terrible, terrible parents and people and that CAN’T be right. Nah, Sal must just be a failure. Should probably call the Dean and have him fix it – and see what can be done about getting the TA who switched their grades kicked out of school too.
Now, onto the fun stuff – how the Walkerton twins learn!
…I’m supposed to be studying right now for an exam tomorrow afternoon, so here, have a copy-pasted comment of mine from patreon!
“Personally, Sal strikes me as someone who likes to figure out how things work and learn on her own and she has a hard time trusting authority figures already (thanks, in part, to teachers and school administrators who looked the other way when that infected pustule of a child, Leland, nearly killed Marcie the first time), plus it’s hard to be interested in things you don’t care about, plus educational racism on top of that – yeah, I can see Sal’s issues with the traditional educational system.
Meanwhile, Walky is really good at assimilating into predominant (white) American culture and is pretty good at absorbing information via listening and (hopefully) just doing his homework. And then he got cocky and started to coast on it so now he’s hit a wall, possibly partially because his parents are no longer there to breathe down his neck and make SURE he gets good grades.”
It’s really hard to learn to study and put in that work when you don’t need to. It’s not so much “got cocky and coasted” as “this has always worked”. Why do all the make work notes and outlining and whatever when it doesn’t help because you just pick it up in class and with graded homework?
Poor wording choice – “believed this would always work and so never put work into it’ is more accurate – though, yeah, he was pretty cocky when he talked about not needing to study, which in a world by Willis is just begging to hit a wall. 😛
I can still see LINDA AND CHARLES getting into their heads that it would be “impossible” for Sal to get so good grades, and “impossible” for David to get so bad grades.
And won’t THAT be fun when they call the dean to put pressure on the math teachers to “fix” that little problem.
I wonder if she might try to “sell” there having been a switch that wasn’t brought to the teacher’s attention as her darling child David trying to help out his sister, even at his own expense.
100 thoughts on “Switched”
Ana Chronistic
*TWIST* Professor Rees is punking them by erasing their names and switching them
*DOUBLE SHYAMALAN* the new TA did the same, so the correct names are back
Doctor_Who
“We’re confusing the polarity!”
Bicycle Bill
Is that like crossing the streams?
Reltzik
Somehow Walky’s scientifically-inaccurate dinosaur doodles were also transferred over.
Reltzik
….. aaaaand that’s why I should read the alt-text first.
AustSakuraKyzor
Plot twist! Walky’s work is returned to Dina. Is Dina even in this class? Doesn’t matter, she gets them.
NickG
Dina did get Walky’s notes at least once, the T rex made her very happy.
Clif
You’re mind must be an interesting place to live. Is there room for one more?
Slartibeast Button, BIA
We should give them numbers and take away their names.
jeffepp
“I am NOT a number!”
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Why did you resign?
Clif
Who is Number One? You are, Number Six.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
One is the loneliest number that you ever do.
Needfuldoer
Make it so, Number One!
NickG
Aimee Mann ref?
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Sorry, never heard her version. Off to youtube now.
Delicious Taffy
We are Number One?
Kendyll
…HEY.
Clif
Memory wipes to test security are a thing. Rewatch the series with this in mind.
Clif
Though on a rewatch I’m always struck by how quaint the futuristic technology seems.
jeffepp
So, does Sal have gloves just for eating?
Doctor_Who
For multiple types of food, actually. Regular leather is fine for a sandwich like that, but the grease from pizza would ruin them, so for that she uses cheap polyester.
Now of course, with messy foods it’s important to color coordinate as well.
Keulen
I’m assuming Sal has many pairs of gloves for all occasions.
DaveM
The interaction between undamaged skin, scar tissue, and anything else except clothing you’re used to wearing can be most annoying. It also limits the inevitable “OMG is that a scar? Tell me in embarrassing detail how you got it!” response from others.
Derek
Random thought: is Joyce’s toe still broken? Did she get over it? has the swelling gone down enough for her to wear regular shoes?
Schpoonman
Yeah, that was a while ago.
King Daniel
but has the toenail fallen off
or did joyce staple it to her toe
ShinyNeen
And is she using it as a guitar pick!?
Piotr W
… these are two mental images I didn’t need.
King Daniel
Both were potential “solutions” brought up previously (by Joyce and Walky, respectively).
Victor
Nah. She gave it to Danny to use as a ukulele pick.
DailyBrad
It’s possible she didn’t outright break it. I fell off a porch and landed basically toe-first onto concrete. Whole toe turned purple, but it was just heavy bruising, and I somehow didn’t break it. It’s possible she lucked out, too.
This being DoA, though, I am expected us to forget and like a year from now, her toenail falls off to cap off a dramatic moment or as an epic brick joke.
Pablo360
I don’t know why, but I get this weird feeling that Willis was feeling salty about something
jeffepp
As opposed to when?
Lingo
Perhaps salty about the fact that some commenters actually suggested this (Sal and Walky getting each other’s homework and not realizing it) might happen, if I remember right.
Bruceski
I am a twin, people have said far stranger things apparently sincerely. “Do you ever get mixed up who’s who? No, not in photos, like you look at him and think he’s you.”
…the answer is no.
Agemegos
When did “salty” come to mean whatever it does now, and what does it mean?
BBCC
It’s like the opposite of sweet – think like cranky, pissy, etc.
AntJ
So is Joyce implying that Walky should be doing better in math than Sal?
Doctor_Who
Maybe she just wants a shenanigan to occur. It seems wasteful to have twins without shenanigans.
She was disappointed to learn their parents were still together, she had a whole “Parent Trap with Crossdressing” thing planned out.
John
However, since it ended with Walky dropping dead people on the Dean, it’s probably just as well that it didn’t happen.
King Daniel
Hey, we don’t know that Beef’s parents are dead in this ‘verse.
Bagge
Hopefully Walky will clue her in on that whole ‘Telapathy’-thing
BenRG
She’s trying to make Walky feel better without thinking enough steps ahead in the process. As Sal says, she’s a Pollyanna but that doesn’t require that she attach too much logic to her attempts to make everyone smile!
Agemegos
Yes. The sexist attitudes of her upbringing are habits that she will take time to identify and revise.
Piotr W
Noooooo, go back to the Becky / Robin plotline! I want more Robin :\
Dana
I kind of feel guilty that Robin is one of my favorite characters.
Needfuldoer
Robin was more fun in Shortpacked, when her antics didn’t have such wide-reaching consequences. She was still a selfish jerk, mind you.
Keulen
Robin is one of my favorite characters in Shortpacked. I really don’t like the DoA version of her so far.
Stephen Bierce
I Am, I Said…
Marsh Maryrose
Bloomington’s fine, but it ain’t home
La Porte’s home, but it ain’t mine no more
butts
also that’s basically saying “hey Sal maybe you’re actually just dumb”
Poofdepoof
Joyce has been doing better wrt Sal but guess it takes time
BBCC
Nah, Becky’s the one who was hoping Sal was dumb so there’d be something wrong with her. 😉
I guess Becky will have to keep looking. I mean, there’s a few things, but she’s not really privy to them.
abysswatcher1993
Sal may be a rebel, but she knows when to work hard, even if working hard can also involve illegal stuff. Walky’s passiveness on the other hand doomed him.
Needfuldoer
Walky fell into the same trap that’s caught so many other bright kids: he never learned how to study. School work came easy to him so he didn’t put in a lot of effort. Now he’s coasted straight into a brick wall and is too proud to accept help.
begbert2
I was one of those who never learned to study. Oddly it didn’t impact me as much as you might think – in most classes I was still able to blast through, destroying curves left and right, just on what I picked up in classes and from doing homework. The related lack-of-skill of not being able to memorize did come back to bite me in the butt hardcore, though, when I ended up in a calculus class that was being taught as a no-math-at-all-just-memorization-and-pattern-matching class. (I was told later that the teacher was widely considered incompetent.) I went from straight A’s in math to -and I’m not exaggerating here- straight 0%s (except for the one chapter that was taught with actual math, in which I got straight 100%s) – the experience was downright traumatizing, let me tell you.
Knayt
It looks a bit worse than that. It’s not just that he doesn’t know how to study – it’s that he considers himself smart, that intelligence is a core part of his self image, and if he has to study then that means he isn’t smart after all. It’s an easy trap to fall into given the right messaging, and kids read as bright can easily get the messaging involved.
I’ve been there. It’s not fun.
Woomy
A+ in English, Walky
Marsh Maryrose
To live outside the law, you must be honest.
Marsh Maryrose
Supposed to be a reply to abysswatcher1993. Some funky things with this comment system but compared to the Patreon comment system, I can’t complain.
Geneseepaws
Funk, aside, I like this commenting system MUCH better than Discus, (which I despise with a hot hatred of one thousand suns).
BBCC
Alt text: Well, Willis, you did establish Sal’s into at least the stuff she learned at the natural history museum and she’s either interested in or remembered enough to keep up in conversation with Dina about it. I still wanna see them ranking her dinosaurs sometime. 😉
Seriously though, I thought if this silly theory was ever actually brought up in comic, it would be one of the Walkerton parents suggesting it because they don’t want to deal with the fact Walky’s actually struggling and is an anxious mess because of it. Or that Sal’s not the problem child who solely exists to make life hard for them. I mean, if either of those things were(n’t) true, that would mean the Walkertons are terrible, terrible parents and people and that CAN’T be right. Nah, Sal must just be a failure. Should probably call the Dean and have him fix it – and see what can be done about getting the TA who switched their grades kicked out of school too.
Now, onto the fun stuff – how the Walkerton twins learn!
…I’m supposed to be studying right now for an exam tomorrow afternoon, so here, have a copy-pasted comment of mine from patreon!
“Personally, Sal strikes me as someone who likes to figure out how things work and learn on her own and she has a hard time trusting authority figures already (thanks, in part, to teachers and school administrators who looked the other way when that infected pustule of a child, Leland, nearly killed Marcie the first time), plus it’s hard to be interested in things you don’t care about, plus educational racism on top of that – yeah, I can see Sal’s issues with the traditional educational system.
Meanwhile, Walky is really good at assimilating into predominant (white) American culture and is pretty good at absorbing information via listening and (hopefully) just doing his homework. And then he got cocky and started to coast on it so now he’s hit a wall, possibly partially because his parents are no longer there to breathe down his neck and make SURE he gets good grades.”
thejeff
It’s really hard to learn to study and put in that work when you don’t need to. It’s not so much “got cocky and coasted” as “this has always worked”. Why do all the make work notes and outlining and whatever when it doesn’t help because you just pick it up in class and with graded homework?
BBCC
Poor wording choice – “believed this would always work and so never put work into it’ is more accurate – though, yeah, he was pretty cocky when he talked about not needing to study, which in a world by Willis is just begging to hit a wall. 😛
Darkoneko
Your papers got hard to identify since you started eating them
Bagge
That’s a fair point.
newllend(henryvolt)
Lol
Bagge
I can still see LINDA AND CHARLES getting into their heads that it would be “impossible” for Sal to get so good grades, and “impossible” for David to get so bad grades.
And won’t THAT be fun when they call the dean to put pressure on the math teachers to “fix” that little problem.
Owlmirror
I think it would be mostly Linda.
I wonder if she might try to “sell” there having been a switch that wasn’t brought to the teacher’s attention as her darling child David trying to help out his sister, even at his own expense.
Charles might roll his eyes at that.