203

Tuned
Posted on January 20, 2018 by David M Willis

203 thoughts on “Tuned”

  1. CandidCanid

    🙁

  2. AnvilPro

    So there’s just nothing Sal can’t do

    1. Doctor_Who

      Like Walky said way back when, she’s basically Batman, so she trained for years to be the best at everything.

    2. Tacos

      Can she build a Transformer? Can she pat her head and rub her tummy at the same time?

      1. Screwball

        Daniel the Human can do that. I just glitch out for about an hour if I try…

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          *Pictures you trying to build a working Dinobot.*

      2. Doctor_Who

        Janet in The Good Place can do the latter now, but it took a few reboots.

        We haven’t seen her build a Transformer yet, but I bet she could do it.

        1. Shade

          You give her the schematics and she should have no trouble.

        2. TemperaryObsessor

          I think even the first version of her could build a transformer, but not soon after a reboot.

      3. Furie

        If she’s dedicated enough, she can do a fully working Starscream with only 80s LEGO.

      4. Severing

        Caboose, right?

    3. Rosicrucian

      Sal would do anything for love,

      but she won’t do that.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        I love that song.

    4. StClair

      Can she breathe in space?

      1. King Daniel

        Only one way to find out

        1. The Chosen One

          and that way is up.

        2. foamy

          Contact Carla?

        3. adjudicus

          “Hey, Carla, about that catapult suit…”

    5. Skater Girl (@syleegrrl)

      Maths, apparently.

      1. BBCC

        Nah, she’s got her grades up to a B.

  3. DarkoNeko

    …fair to Marcie ? 😐

    1. Yumi

      Awww.
      My first thought was more sibling drama, but it being about Marcie makes sense. Plus, I want to learn more about her, so.

      1. Conuly

        It sort of IS sibling Drama. Most people wouldn’t give up singing (if they enjoyed it, which her sadface seems to indicate) to be “fair” to a mute friend. You have to have a very special type of upbringing to think this level of fairness is necessary.

    2. Haven

      Ohhhh.

      Ouch.

    3. StClair

      Yeah, that’s my bet.

    4. BBCC

      Yup~

    5. jeffepp

      Good call.

    6. JessWitt

      Smart thinking.

    7. foamy

      That’s where my money is.

    8. Kinoko

      My brain went there too. Wonder if Marcie used to love to sing? :'(

    9. CJ

      Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.
      I rather sure Sal tried to rob the store when Marcie became mute.
      (I wanted to write “dumb” first, thought, no, that’s the wrong word, wrote “mute”, and then looked it up:dumb would have been a right word, too. Used to describe people who can’t speak, how offensive is it?)

      1. Liliet

        I am so uncomfortable with ever using that word -shiver-

        1. Wright

          *points to the title of the webcomic*

      2. DarkoNeko

        if she stopped at 12, then that’s a few years apart from the robbery attempt I think ?

        1. Needfuldoer

          The aftermath from the robbery attempt is probably why her right hand isn’t so good for playing the ukulele. (Minor tendon or nerve damage from the stab wound.) Bass makes sense because the strings are relatively far apart, and generally with guitar-like instruments you strum with your dominant hand anyway.

        2. Eldritch Gentleman

          Sal should go and look for a temple of mystical mages and then she’ll become a defender of the world!

        3. King Daniel

          That’s a Strange thing to say.

        4. Eldritch Gentleman

          I hope you are not implying that I should see a Doctor about that.

        5. StClair

          IMO, that would require a Supreme leap of logic from their statement.

        6. King Daniel

          Such a thing would indeed be a Marvel.

        7. adjudicus

          I don’t know… maybe you don’t have the Time to see one?

        8. Roborat

          Unless she is left handed it shouldn’t matter, she would still strum the uke with her right hand.

        9. Roborat

          Oops, I am wrong, looks like she is left handed.

        10. ValdVin

          The robbery was at thirteen, give or take months.

          Is Dorothy the only frosh who is known to be nineteen?

        11. thejeff

          Is Dorothy known to be nineteen?

        12. ValdVin

          Yep, where she and Joyce have a heart-to-heart about Joyce being afraid of sin, and not being afraid of it, and seeing others have what she can’t, while Dorothy wants to baste Walky like a turkey.

          Walky, we just saw on Garbage Roof, is eighteen.

          Others, I don’t know, offhand.

      3. WonderRabbit

        It’s a bit complicated, but I think ‘dumb = mute’ existed first, people started using it as a derogatory insult (the same way ‘retard’ or ‘cretin’ often are), and evolved to mean ‘unintelligent’.

        It’s using a medical condition as an insult that I believe is the real offense, but it’s been used that way for so long now I can completely understand being offended even if it is used correctly to mean ‘mute’.

        1. Freemage

          Yeah, due to linguistic drift, the ONLY time I would consider using “dumb” for “mute” is the specific phrase, “deaf and dumb”, which underlines that you’re only addressing speech issues.

        2. BBCC

          I believe the preferred term nowadays is nonverbal.

        3. Conuly

          Deaf and dumb is considered pretty offensive.

      4. Geneseepaws

        Wow, if you look at the Comic’s title, does it refer to silencing the characters as they approach (legal 18) their 21 years of age (age of Majority in your area)?

      5. BBCC

        Nowadays, it’s considered a derogatory word for a mute person. It would NOT be correct.

      6. Indoor Cat

        Unfortunately, dumb pretty much is synonymous with “ditzy,” “stupid,” or “reckless” (aka dumbass) now, so using dumb to mean mute can be seen as a slur.

        It’s sort of like the term “negro.” It’s not the n-word, and plenty of old-school writings, including those by civil rights activists and black abolitionists, use the term. But if someone uses it today, it’s almost definitely offensive and, if the speaker is a native english speaker, connotes serious racist animosity.

        Similar with dumb or crippled. I would be very surprised if someone used either term in a way that wasn’t bullying or had genuinely ableist sentiments, much more-so than, say, someone who said “handicapped” instead of disabled. Handicapped is actually written on some parking spaces still (in addition to the blue wheelchair icon), so it’s an easy mistake to make.

        But dumb and crippled are generally so widely considered insulting that I’d presume insulting intent. Unless the speaker wasn’t fluent in English; in that case, I’d just correct the person and see how it goes from there.

    10. David DeLaney

      Oh my. Yes, the pieces fit together.

      –Dave, I sing, and now am sad

    11. Jason

      This isn’t the first hint we’ve seen that Sal blames herself, is it? So… I wonder what that’s all about. Hm.

  4. electriccombines

    “STORYTIME!!”
    “No, no damn storytime.”
    “STORYTIIIIME!”
    “Once upon a time when it wasn’t storytime an’ ah was MUCH happier…”

    1. Screwball

      LOL
      Sounds familiar, but not sure where from…

      1. electriccombines

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/05-saturdays-all-right-for-slighting/storytime/ From this strip. 😀

        1. Roborat

          Or a reference to Sinfest.

    2. ValdVin

      You know what other all-loving hero enjoys stories the way Joyce does?

  5. Keulen

    Sal’s right hand is the one Amber stabbed when they were both younger, isn’t it?

    1. Maveric1984

      Yup

      1. Screwball

        Yep, looked it up, confirmed right hand.
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/down/
        Tendon damage perhaps?

        1. BBCC

          According to the books, the knife went THROUGH her hand, not just in her hand. So, yeah, most likely, along with possible bones and muscle and god knows what else.

  6. Nono

    For people who actually know music, how important is your dominant hand for the electric bass?

    1. BBCC

      Sal’s left hand is her dominant one.

    2. butting

      Most string players fret with their non-dominant hand and pick/bow/strum with their dominant.

      Mark Knopfler does it the other way round (he’s left-handed but plays right-handed) but I can’t think of any others.

      1. butting

        s/fret/fret-finger/

      2. Geneseepaws

        Sir Paul McCartney, Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain,… Etc.

        1. butting

          (are lefties who play left-handed. Knopfler plays right-handed.)

      3. Needfuldoer

        Isn’t it fairly common for lefties to play right-handed instruments, since they make up the vast majority of the market?

        1. Inahc

          I went back and forth a lot on guitar; lefty felt slightly better, but it meant not being able to play other people’s instruments (the school did at least have one lefty guitar). restringing is a huge PITA.
          huh. the guitar beside me (which I haven’t attempted to play in years) is strung right-handed. guess that wasn’t the one guitar I ever switched to lefty… or maybe I never did that at all, maybe I’m just remembering replacing a snapped string.

      4. Roborat

        My brother is left handed, but plays guitar righty. Also plays most sports right handed.

    3. Bladeglory

      You can play with either hand, it’s just about which way you’ve learned it. It’s basically just like trying to eat or write with your non-dominant hand; you’ll suck at first but with enough practice they can be equally good.

    4. Liliet

      Whichever way you play, you need both hands, and they are both important. If one of them is not okay, you won’t be able to play fast enough / take the right notes. There’s only 6-7 sounds you can make on a guitar or a guitar-like instrument using only one hand and They Are Not Music.

      1. Miri

        She seems able to use the hand in general – just apparently not as well as the left one

        1. BBCC

          Yeah, looks like even when you take into account it’s not her dominant hand, she’s lost full use of her right.

        2. BBCC

          By which I mean, ‘she does not have 100% use of it’ not ‘she can’t use it at all’.

      2. monkyvirus

        Like most things you can probably do adequately with some impairment in either or both hands. I played saxophone up to Grade 5 (not very impressive but not rubbish) and my friend plays piano and flute even though we both have dyspraxia which means we find it very difficult to be co-ordinated and learn physical movements. We couldn’t be professional musicians in an orchestra but we can play instruments.

        I feel your comment is a little dramatic and discouraging for disabled players. “Not okay” covers a lot of conditions that may not make it impossible to play.

      3. leadsynth

        So my right-handed guitarist suffered a bad injury on his LEFT thumb 4 days before our big album release show back in October. (He was opening a bottle of wine, somehow broke it, and sliced his left thumb. Ouch!) He had to get stitches in his thumb, and couldn’t really move it.

        He managed to compensate with the rest of his hand and his right hand, and play the show, like a boss.

        Except there was one tune where he actually plays FLUTE instead of guitar, and that was impossible. I had to make a backing track of the flute part that we could play back live, which was doable because we had just finished recording it for said album.

        The worst part: Dude’s day job is a middle school band teacher. He plays every band instrument…but not with his left thumb wrapped up. This month, he was finally medically cleared to play all the instruments, but still doesn’t have 100% feeling in his thumb.

        He’s a total trooper.

        Here’s the album we made. He’s playing guitar, flute, sax, trumpet and trombone in various places!
        https://daynaclay.bandcamp.com/

        (Not tryna sell my music here…we donate all $ from sales to support sexual abuse survivors and suicide prevention causes)

      4. McBogue

        There’s only 6-7 sounds you can make on a guitar or a guitar-like instrument using only one hand and They Are Not Music

        I beg to differ.

    5. JohnF

      Your dominant hand is the most important one for all the fretted instruments. It’s the hand that makes the noises. The trick is to make them at the right time.

      It’s the right hand (for right handed players) that makes the difference between a back-yard chord basher, and a player.

    6. Badtux

      If Sal is left handed, then her right hand would fret the electric bass if she plays a left-handed bass. The thing about bass is that you’re not playing chords, just single notes, and so if your fretting hand isn’t the best you’re still okay as long as you can manage the rhythm with your plucking hand and transition your notes to the next chord on time. Plop your bass into drop-D tuning and restrict your playing to the lower three strings and you don’t even need more than one working finger. Les Claypool disagrees, I’m sure. But he’s Les Claypool, not the average workaday bass player in a bar band.

      1. Roborat

        Disagree on the not playing chords thing.

  7. miados

    life isn’t fair and you should know that better than a lot of people sal.

    1. Proxiehunter

      While awesome Sal is not life. Therefore Sal is allowed to be fair and should be encouraged to be so.

      1. AeromechanicalAce

        Real life should be encouraged to be fair as well. We have to aknowledge that we’ll never be 100% successful, but we should work at it.

        1. Arian

          Absolutely. I hate it when people say “Life’s not fair” in response to someone trying to make a particular situation fairer. Things outside your control are quite frequently not fair; things within your control should be made as fair as you can make them.

        2. monkyvirus

          “Life’s not fair” is a pet peeve of mine either you actually mean “well random chance decided that” (which ironically is “fair” in that it could happen to anyone) or humans actually have some control over the situation and can do something to make it fairer. It’s basically a phrase used to dismiss someone’s problem / complaint when you can’t bothered to think about it seriously.

      2. Reltzik

        … how is two people no longer singing more fair than one person no longer singing?

        … Is Sal responsible for Marcie being mute?

        1. BBCC

          I think it’s more ‘she doesn’t think it’s fair that she still could when her best friend can’t.’

          No, that’s not strictly rational, but emotional situations are, well, emotional. Plus Sal has a serious thing for fair and I am willing to bet that goes double when her friend is concerned.

        2. thejeff

          Especially if it was a thing they used to do together.

        3. Proxiehunter

          That I don’t disagree about, but “lifes not fair” is a bullshit cop out.

        4. Roborat

          How do we know this is related to Marcie? Am I forgetting something? Couldn’t she be talking about Walkie, wasn’t that about the time he was working on his churchmouse career?

  8. Passchendaele

    (can’t you play with your left hand primarily, or is there something I’m missing, because I’m mainly a piano guy.)

    1. Doctor_Who

      Amateur violinist here, for me left hand is far more important than right. Right mostly just needs to be able to hold the bow straight.

      1. Jack

        Amateur cellist here, beg to differ. I think both are equally important; good bow technique is the difference between getting the best out of your instrument and just scraping away.

        The left hand places the notes but it’s the right hand that plays them. All the expressiveness (well, except for vibrato) comes from the right hand.

    2. DanLovatClark

      That might work for a bowed instrument like violin or cello, but guitar and bass (and ukulele) require fine fingerwork on both hands to pluck individual strings or to change the pitch by placing your fingers on the strings.

    3. Doom Shepherd

      I was told I was locked out of playing a guitar because at 4, I managed to injure my left hand (non-dominant) so that my middle finger does not bend on its own, therefore I cannot finger the strings on any string instrument correctly.

      1. MacDiver

        I wouldn’t listen to them. Jean “Django” Reinhardt was able to play the guitar with two fingers and a thumb. He specialized in “Gypsy Jazz” and is considered to be one of the best musicians of the twentieth century.

        1. Randrius

          I believe Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath had something similar, had the tips of two of his fingers cut off in a factory accident and he turned out just fine. Gave him a unique sound because he had to keep the strings loose to properly fret. Just a matter if your willing to accept to the handicap.

        2. HMH

          I think with Iommi it was literally all 4 of his fret hand fingers. He considered quitting music right there, but was already at the level where he was breaking into being professional and saw it as the only way he would get out of his shitty, dead-end town. He initially made his own prosthetic finger tips by melting down the tops of margarine lids and – I forget how – affixing them where his finger tips would be.

          This was part of what led to him using heavier strings so he could tune his guitar down (making the strings easier to fret), creating the backbone of what would become the Black Sabbath sound and the birth of the heavy metal genre. Ironically – or aptly – it wouldn’t exist without a rogue piece of heavy industrial machinery mangling a man.

      2. Koms

        Accidental birdies??

      3. Roborat

        There is no “correct” way to play chords, just whatever works for you, and the sequence you are trying to play.

        1. Roborat

          Oh, or you could play lefty guitar.

    4. Marsh Maryrose

      The two hands do different things, but both of those things are important for playing the instrument.

      But for accompaniment, as long as one hand can strum and the other hand can finger the chords, you’re pretty much good to go.

    5. Liliet

      so basically it’s up in the air how uninjured your hands need to be to play but there’s no physical way to play with just one, it’s just not how string instruments work

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        Google “one armed guitar player” and you’ll find several of them. Also a guy who has no arms and plays guitar with his feet.

  9. Some1

    Dungeons and Dumbing Part 2

    And so our heroes travel on their merry quest. Over fields of wheat and grass while Danny serenades them with the melody of his instrument.

    Dorothy: Jeez I wish he knew a song other then the Steven Universe opening.

    Walky: I wish we had food.

    Billie: Worst comes to worst, we can eat Danny.

    Joyce: Hey there’s a village.

    Dorothy: Really? Maybe they have some way to get directions

    Walky: Or pizza.

    Dorothy: Walky, were in a magical universe of fantasy, they aren’t going to have a pizza place.

    Walky: Here we are.

    Dorothy looks up to see a hanging wooden sign with PIZZA written on it in dark red letters.

    Dorothy: Oh.

    Soon, they sit around a dark wood table. Waiting for their food. Danny tunes his uke, while Billie nurses a bottle of mead, while Walky and Joyce examine their weapons. Dorothy sits thinking.

    Joyce: You okay Dorothy?

    Dorothy: Just thinking.

    Joyce: About what?

    Dorothy: Nothing here makes any sense, why is there a pizza place, and why is the sign in English? What are the chances that everyone here would speak English?

    Danny: Maybe it’s like the Neverending story?

    Dorothy: You did read it! Still, most of us weren’t reading when we were transported here.

    Joyce: And what’s up with that creepy voice? And why did it give us such poor directions?

    Walky: maybe this is one of those situations where no matter where you go its, the right way.

    Dorothy: There’s a map store across the street

    Walky: Oh.

    Waiter: Pizza’s ready!

    Joyce: Oooh pepperoni!

    Billie: I see mushrooms.

    Walky: Sausages and ham, and pepperoni…

    Dorothy: So, were all seeing different things?

    Waiter: Ah yes, this is the famed pizza of the magical family Kzar. Each person who consumes it sees the flavor they want the most.

    Dorothy: So, while I see a Margherita

    Walky: I see meat. What do you see Danny?

    Danny: Ham and Pineapple.

    (Message from the writer: if anyone feels like starting an argument about pineapple on pizza in the comments…don’t. (unfortunately, as I am not Willis and as such lack the ability to ban people, if you do feel the need to start an argument related to pineapples and pizza, I shall reply with mean words AND YOU WILL KNOW THE MEANING OF FEAR!))

    Walky: Cool.

    And so, they ate, and then went to the map store, but that my dear friends are a story for another day…specially tomorrow.

    1. King Daniel

      Pineapple on pizza rocks.

      On the other hand, if we’re talking about broccoli…

      1. GoblinScribe

        Broccoli on pizza is weird, but it’s a heck of a lot tastier than pineapple. Do you weirdos put sugarcubes on your ham sandwiches?

        1. King Daniel

          Honey’s pretty much pure sugar, isn’t it?

        2. ninja_jesus

          Pineapple and pizza isn’t any weirder than fruit paste (tomato sauce) on pizza.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      (This comment has nothing to do with pizza.)

      The combination of pineapples and any kind of tomato-based sauce is an abomination. Period. End of story.

      1. Some1

        this entire comment thread is just going to be about pizza isn’t it?

        1. Marsh Maryrose

          No, at least some of it is going to be about how Danny doesn’t even realize he’s playing his ukulele out of tune, and at this point some of his comrades are remembering the fate of Sir Robin. (“And there was much rejoicing.”)

        2. Roborat

          Dammit, I was going to make a Monty Python reference.

        3. foamy

          Pizzas are a type of sandwich.

        4. Reltzik

          I dunno, I could see veering off into a discussion of pineapple generally, even when pizzas aren’t involved.

        5. Some1

          The pineapple pizza represents bisexuality, is something I just decided. But because the symbolism somewhat makes sense I’m going to say that was the plan all along.

        6. ValdVin

          Well, pineapple pizza is really not my taste, but I wouldn’t presume other people enjoy their pizza exactly like mine.

          This het guy asks, Is that the bi symbolism?

        7. Jenny

          Can confirm- am bi and I like pineapple on my pizza

    3. ninja_jesus

      “Dungeons and Dumbing”? Why not “Dumbing and Dragons”?

  10. Mr. Random

    Look, I feel like, yeah, it’s understandable to feel very upset about some stuff that we don’t know about but was more than definitely super tragic.
    And you definitely haven’t been to therapy for it.

    But I’m also getting the sense that you kinda like hanging on to these habits way too much for it to be healthy.

    I mean, you tuned someone’s ukulele.
    THAT’S gotta stop.

    1. Jason

      It’s hard to say without more information but I feel like Sal has latched on to certain things as part of her identity- like Marcy being the only one there for her, who loved and accepted her for her. So there’s an element of clinging to what she has, given what she wasn’t given as a child from her family.

    2. thejeff

      Sal has been to therapy. At least in the wake of the robbery.

      It’s left her with a very low opinion of therapists.

  11. Stephen Bierce

    Flashbacking! Flashbacking! Whenever the plot is lacking!

  12. BBCC

    Is it wrong that one of the first thoughts in my mind was ‘oooh, we have an age where Marcie went mute now?’

    Look, Sal is my favourite character, Marcie’s probably my second, and we don’t tend to get many details about them, so I will take what I can get.

    Also – ouch. That’s honestly older than I thought she might have been but still. Ow.

    Sal’s definitely got a thing for fair.

    1. Bagge

      Absolutely. She has seen way too much unfair in her life.

    2. Marsh Maryrose

      I had no clue what “wouldn’t be fair” was referring to, and I thank you for being the clue-bringer.

      Also, regarding the alt-text: is Willis outing Sal as one of those weirdo music majors?

      1. BBCC

        Sal is currently listed as ‘undeclared’ in the books but I’d not be shocked if she gets nudged into music.

    3. ninja_jesus

      Totally read that too. Maybe Marcie was a great singer?

      1. BBCC

        Or maybe they liked to sing together? Who knows.

  13. kitty

    here is kitty’s finnish word of the day!

    varvas (toes)

    varvas looks like a homestuck word. i can make a fan troll named sokeri varvas and most people would not realize their name is really sugar toes

    have a nice day!

    1. RacingTurtle

      You’re silly. I like that. I hope you also have a nice day.

    2. Liliet

      please make this troll

      1. kitty

        ok http://i64.tinypic.com/14ngwpf.jpg

  14. Beef

    I SO want to see this back story. DON’T TEASE ME WILLIS

  15. Bagge

    Panel 4 is SUCH a Danny moment. Sal raises a challenge and he deflects it with a compliment.

    A good egg.

    1. Rachel

      Definitely agree!

  16. jeffepp

    And, the smile is gone.

  17. Poskie

    Oh my god sal tell me more i love you

    1. BenRG

      I think that Marcie probably feels more than a little guilty that Sal is punishing herself for her.

      1. thejeff

        Sal will punish herself for that too.

  18. Koms

    Poor Marcie. Sal is a good friend.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Oooh…that sucks

  19. Morrison

    She gave her best talent up. Just for her friend. And her hand is related. Was Marcie a guitarist who gave it up for Sal’s hand? So many questions. There are answers too. A huge strip.

    1. BBCC

      I think she just brought up her hand because it was stabbed, but that would be too adorable.

      1. ValdVin

        Stopped singing at twelve, convenience store holdup a year later. One big year in her life.

        This is gonna be turbulent and full of feels.

        1. BBCC

          Yeeeeep.

        2. Morrison

          Amber was 13. Sal could have been 12.

    2. ValdVin

      Nice “Gift of the Magi” nod. That is something two people who love each other (romantic or non) strongly enough would do.

  20. BBCC

    That alt text though – How much of a fit do you think Linda would throw if Sal became a music major?

    I’m not sure Linda would normally care but A) I presume she and Charles are paying for her to go to college and we KNOW she thinks that gives her special input. And B) She seems like she doesn’t pay much attention until Sal does something ‘wrong’ or ‘unseemly’ or ‘unwise/unprofessional’ at which point there will be arguing. A lot.

    1. BBCC

      * how much of a fit do you think Linda AND Charles will throw.

      I’m not letting him off the hook, dammit, he’s a shitty parent too.

      1. dethtolldotmid

        let’s be completely real, charles has no say in this

        1. BBCC

          No say in majors, I will buy. No say in treating his daughter like shit, nah uh. Not letting him off the hook for it.

        2. Jason

          There are degrees of shittitude. I didn’t get a strong vibe of shittiness from Charles. He seemed genuinely happy to see both his children and sad to see Sal leave.

          As for his comment on her hair- here’s the thing. In a situation like that I would assume it’s NOT about Sal at all. I would assume it’s more about his own insecurities being projected onto Sal. Does that make it okay? Hell no, but if I’m right it does explain it, allow us to understand him.

          I feel like Charles was a problematic parent not really in what he did, but in what he failed to do- that is, failing to call out Linda on her shit. I might be wrong but I feel like on the shittiness scale he’s relatively low. Not a good parent, sure, but made so much worse by his counterpart. What would he have been like as a parent with a different wife? Who knows. But I think it’s telling that in flashbacks he’s barely been seen at all, and I don’t think he’s ever spoken- he’s only ever in the background if there at all. She made the impact. He failed to stop her.

        3. BBCC

          I ….really don’t agree. Every time Sal talks about her problems at home, she says it was BOTH parents. And of the two, Charles is the only one we’ve seen insulting her to her face. I’d think if he was projecting, he’d have his hair relaxed as well, but he doesn’t and he seems cool with that.

          And failing to stop Linda still makes him pretty shitty. But I’m pretty sure this was a team effort, with Linda being the (more) obvious hacking at insecurities and criticizing and Charles poking at sore spots until they’re busted open. The thing is, neither of them are SUPPOSED to look like blatantly obvious bad parents. They’re both pretty subtle. So, yeah, I expect the smiling and the ‘oh but you’re so pretty’ and the ‘aw, you’re leaving? Why ever for?’ crap. That’s the point – they think they’re good people and good parents and yes, they’re capable of acting happy to see Sal and being disappointed she left, but it doesn’t change that both of them have been pretty terrible.

        4. Joy

          Thank you.

  21. JessWitt

    Oh Sal didn’t pick a major yet? No big, she has plenty of time to decide.

  22. Marsh Maryrose

    It took me eight years to declare the major that I would eventually graduate with.

    1. Ivy

      Were you attending college the whole time?
      College is so expensive…

      1. David DeLaney

        Relevant Roger Zelazny book: _Doorways in the Sand_.

        –Dave, contains roof-climbing and dimensional transposition as well

      2. Marsh Maryrose

        My parents paid for my first two years at a small liberal-arts college. I repaid them by dropping out and becoming a short-order cook.

        At the time, community colleges in California were essentially free, and I took a few courses there.

        When I returned as a full-time student, I went to a local California state university, which was not free but was still cheap enough that I could pay for it by working full-time in the summer.

        If we as a state, if we as a country, were smart, we’d still be subsidizing education to the degree that we used to. 🙁

  23. Ivy

    Bet she just screwed up his tuning

    1. Badtux

      Nope. There’s plenty of evidence elsewhere that Ukelele Danny is utterly tone deaf. Just watch the reaction of people around him when he starts playing….

  24. BenRG

    This is the first time that it’s been said that Amber has left Sal with permanent injuries. Suddenly a lot of her personality snaps into focus if that stupid cry for attention that night took away something from her that she loved.

    1. BBCC

      I don’t think she learned to play bass yet. She said she learned it by screwing around at school. I guess that COULD mean her elementary school, but I interpreted that as her boarding school.

      But yeah, considering the knife apparently went through her hand, I’m not surprised there was permanent damage done.

      1. ValdVin

        The first paragraph: Ooh, I hadn’t thought of that. Agree with your take.

        She’s a lefty who holds the ukulele rightly. Now wondering if that would be different without the stabbed hand.

        1. BBCC

          Nah, the robbed the place holding the knife in her left. She’s always been a southpaw.

    2. CJ

      I’m not sure it was just a cry for attention. More like was she trying to raise money for an operation that could help Marcie?

      I wonder what would happen if Amber and Sal told their stories about the hold-up to each other. They’ve both been severely damaged by it, and part of that damage is not what they inflicted themselves but the acts of desinterested (Sal) or malignous (Amber) parent figures.
      Would Sal wish to be fair be strong enough not to hate Amber for damaging her hand? Would Amber be able to see herself as anything else than a mega monster (as if having stabbed a helpless girl in the hand wasn’t enough to feel like a monster, how could she deal with a tragic back story and having left permanent damage?)

      1. Reltzik

        Assuming she could even stay coherent in Sal’s presence long enough to hear and process the story, Amber would definitely spiral down the garbage-hole. Hell, some (most) of the reason for the Amazi-Girl alter is that she’s completely convinced that she’s a violent rage monster who needs to be someone else in order to be kept in check. It seems much of that belief is rooted in her attack on Sal. Learning that Sal’s not that objectionable, that she did permanent damage, that she took away the music Sal loved, and that (speculation) Sal was trying to steal money to pay for a medical treatment to save a young girl’s voice would just make that all a thousand times worse.

        Sal… huh. I’ve got no fuggin clue about how Sal would react. Shrug her shoulders, say it was years ago? Apologize for the robbery? Hold a major grudge? Go berzerk? Be terrified? (She’s tough, but she’s gotta still have nightmares about that moment.) Reveal that it wasn’t Amber who stabbed her and that Amber’s memory and Willis’s evil have been feeding us an unreliable narrative all along? Aside from mentioning that she robbed a convenience store, we’ve seen her give pretty much zero reflection to that event. We have very little clue how she’d react to meeting Amber and knowing their shared past.

      2. thejeff

        I really don’t like the idea that she was trying to raise money for Marcie. It’s possible, but I prefer it being more of an acting out thing rooted in her various traumas. Something unambiguously wrong that she’s recovering from, rather than something with noble intentions.

  25. PB

    It took me a minute to realize she was referring to Marcie.

  26. Chaucer59

    Come on, Sal, SING! You can do it. You know you want it ? SING!

    1. Reltzik

      Maybe some Sound of Music will inspire Sal to sing!

      *commence screaming in 5… 4… 3…*

  27. Danni

    the get along ukulele

  28. Vika

    =c

  29. Nenja

    ooooh, can we get some more backstory?

  30. Pidgey

    Hey so the whole ‘my right hand isn’t so good’ made me think. I went back and when Sal is being tutored she has her pens to the right of her paper. Does anyone know of any other evidence for or against her using her right hand to write? Wondering about nerve damage and how severe it could be.

    1. Pidgey

      Was she stabbed in the right or left?

      1. ValdVin

        She was stabbed in the right hand.

        I have my sinister reasons for rooting for left-handed characters. Link:

        http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/88122537107/dumbing-of-age-has-four-left-handed-main

        1. Pidgey

          Thanks! To me this means maybe she means that it’s a right handed instrument and so awkward for her? As opposed to actually being unable to play now?

        2. Pidgey

          Also my brain read this as

          “I have my sinister reasons for rooting for left-handed characters like Link”

          Which I just went ‘oooh legend of zelda!’

        3. Yossarianduck

          “Sinister”
          I see what you did there.

    2. ValdVin

      Sal is canonically left-handed. It’s mentioned somewhere in the Tumblr but I can’t zip to it.

      I know nothing about whether she might have been a righty before the hand stabbing.

      1. BBCC

        She wasn’t. She held the knife in her left hand.

        1. ValdVin

          Somehow I shoulda remembered that. It was a big moment.

        2. BBCC

          Eh, I usually don’t remember details like what hand people hold things in. I just remember it because Willis commented on it when people were wondering if she was born left handed.

  31. JBento

    So, uh, I hear that for the 1st-year anniversary of this presidency, you got a government shutdown as a gift? What’s the implications of something like that? Over here, if the government fails to govern (generally by being unable to pass their budget) we just get a new one.

    1. BBCC

      Here’s a pretty decent article explaining what happens: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/19/us/politics/government-shutdown-employee-effects.html

      1. JBento

        Thanks. That doesn’t look TOO bad. I mean, the EPA, Labour, and Agriculture would suck are terrible, but it’s not like they’re allowed to do much now, anyway?

        Thanks.

      2. JBento

        Wait, hold on, how are the military working if they’re not getting paid? Doesn’t that go against theeee… uh… 15th ammendment?

        1. King Daniel

          The military (like all federal government employees) get back-pay for any lost salary once a government shutdown is over.

        2. JBento

          Oh, ok, thanks

        3. JBento

          Oh, turns out the military will not, in fact, get paid. According to people in the military, they’ve already been informed of this, Granted, I don’t know these people and they could be lying about being in the military or about nor getting paid, but some dude called Mick Milvaney (who apparently has the authority for it) has already said he’s going to make sure they’re not getting paid.

        4. King Daniel

          Doing a quick Googling of that name brings up Mick Mulvaney, who’s apparently the Trump appointee to Director of the Office of Management and Budget; since he’s apparently responsible for the “President’s Budget”, though, I’m not sure he’d have any authority over whether or not the military will get back pay afterward (I’d imagine that would be under the authority of the Department of Defense or similar – the salary is only paid on the 1st and 15th of every month anyway, so unless this shutdown lasts for two weeks or more…). I could be wrong, though the part about the back pay is what I was told myself.

  32. R.J.C.

    I wonder what would happen if Amber saw Danny and Sal got together?

  33. PB

    I feel like Sal DEFINITELY has perfect pitch, based on the third panel. If so, WHEEE REPRESENTATION!

  34. Pebble

    Huh. Everyone’s probably right about this being about Marcie. But my first assumption was that it was about the good twin/bad twin thing and the way their parents had them performing on TV, etc. Maybe Walky was a perfect and lovely boy soprano, and while he was having singing lessons and being encouraged in his singing talent, Sal was allowed to go along to the lessons as well; then at 12 Walky’s voice broke and his adult voice was much less wonderful and praiseworthy, so he gave up singing at that point. And if Sal sang at all from then on, her parents would discourage her from “showing off” and rubbing her brother’s face in her talent. So she was forbidden her music and self-expression in order to coddle Walky’s ego.

    1. TemperaryObsessor

      I think if her parents did that to her, her answer would be I sing but not like in a choir or anything it was always more Walky’s thing and when his voice broke he lost interest. I don’t see her giving up something she really loves because her parents say she doesn’t deserve good things if Walky would have to put even a little effort into having them.

      1. rectilinearpropagation

        I could see her giving it up if her parents wanted her to (she still straightens her hair because her parents prefer it that way) but I don’t see her agreeing with her parents that it wouldn’t be fair.

  35. RandomRedMage

    Yup shipping it.

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