258

Friday night
Posted on November 9, 2021 by David M Willis

258 thoughts on “Friday night”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    You can commit every error and still lose

    …wait ?

    1. ThunderNight

      failing downwards

      1. UrsulaDavina

        That’s his modus operandi.

    2. Thag Simmons

      I mean, it’s true. You can commit no errors and still lose, true. You can commit no errors and still win, also true.

      You can commit every error and still win, unfortunately also true.

      1. Reltzik

        Is it? Aren’t some errors mutually exclusive?

        1. Casi

          by committing mutual exclusive errors, you are in fact committing another error

        2. Just_IDD

          You would think that, but the top 10%-15% richest people prove that wrong regularly.

          Where did Danny mess up with Ethan? I remember they were talking after amber said no more talking so long ago.

        3. Needfuldoer

          This strip and the two that follow it.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/04-is-a-song-forever/alonetime/

  2. Doctor_Who

    I have to say, I kinda appreciate how Ethan is doing this in the most Ethany manner.

    Ethan: Plays with his Transformers.

    Emo Ethan: Plays with his Transformers while sad.

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      Well, if they’re post death of optimus, the transformers would be sad too.

  3. Yotomoe

    “Gonna go hang with some friends”
    Some of us don’t have friends to hang with anymore, Daniel.

    1. ThunderNight

      he’s trying his best
      even if that’s not very good

      1. Clif

        So where is he going to go to kill time. Even money on Sal’s.

      2. The Wellerman

        And that’s what matters!

        Danny, go reward yourself with an ice cream cone, or better yet, whatever you were gonna do with that pillow and laptop! ☺

        1. Clif

          He was going to kill time on the couch. Where’s he going to find another couch?

        2. Beef

          Ikea

        3. The Wellerman

          Yeah, and while he’s at it, might as well pick up one of their great hotdogs too!

        4. eh, whatever

          Hotdogs???

          Does IKEA somehow not have köttbullar in America!?!

        5. eh, whatever

          (New gravatar fits because that’s a depressing thought.)

        6. Clif

          If they had kotbullar, they’d have to have noodles and some kind of sauce as well cause Americans aren’t going to gulp down naked kotbullars and the sauce would get all over the furniture. Of course Americans aren’t going to gulp down naked hotdogs either, but they come with their own bun.

        7. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Absolutely they have “Swëdish Meåtbałłs” and they’re frìken delicious. But some prefer a dollar-dog than buck-a-balls.

        8. Clif

          Wait. Swedish meatballs are just disguised kotbullars?

        9. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Maybe? When I googled “köttbullar” it threw a swedish page at me with a recipe and a picture of meatballs and pasta.

        10. khn0

          yeah while he’s at it burn it to the ground. I mean, that’s the usual reward for trying to get unionists locked in mental institution just for being a pain in their arses

        11. Clif

          Sounds like there’s a story there somewhere.

        12. GLaDOS

          Plays Mitch Benn’s “Ikea” on the hacked Muzak.

        13. Geneseepaws

          IKEA, Ikea; just a handful of boards and some Norsemen.
          IKEA, IKEA; furniture for college kids and divorced men,
          Everyone needs a home,
          But if you don’t have a home,
          You can buy one there!

        14. Clif

          Chorus:
          IKEA, IKEA
          They called the furn IKEA.

        15. King Daniel

          Don’t kill time, that just messes things up for everyone.

        16. Psychie

          Time has it coming, there’s nothing you can say or do to convince me otherwise, and I am quite certain that the vast majority of everyone will find themselves far better off after it’s done.

        17. King Daniel

          But if you do kill time, there won’t be an “after” to enjoy!

        18. Needfuldoer

          There was a land before time, logically there should be one after time, too.

          (Aw man, now I want a post-apocalyptic Don Bluth movie…)

        19. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Gruff Narrator In 2024, ice caps have melted, continents sank, and the La Brea tar pits disolved releasing Littlefoot, Ducky, Chomper and all your old friends. They’re back now to adventure in the apocalyptic future. Joining forces with Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken they must

          Escape from Kalifornia

        20. Abel Undercity

          Time knows what it did.

        21. JBento

          You don’t have to kill time anyway, it’s always passing on its own.

    2. RassilonTDavros

      …I’m trying to think if there’s anyone in the cast that Ethan is still friends with. Anyone at all.

      …I’m pretty much drawing a blank. Mostly he hung around Amber (fell out over her not warning him about what Amazi-Girl saw), Danny (fell out over his remarks about Mike) and Mike (lived like an asshole ans died to an hero). And Joyce, I guess, but considering he didn’t give any response when she invited him to the birthday party yesterday, it’s probably safe to say they aren’t really talking anymore either.

      Presumably he’s still roommates with Jacob, but we also haven’t seen him since January 2020 so– yeah, pretty much not connected to any of the main cast anymore. I suppose it’s possible he and Jocelyne have kept in touch? Man, remember when people thought “Sister Christian” was gonna be her grand return

      1. woobie

        January 2020?!

      2. Sam

        Technically he would still be friends with Joyce since there is no indication their relationship has broken down. You can be friends and not talk much. But yeah, that’d probably be about it really. Joyce will be everyone’s best friend soon enough because they won’t HAVE any other friends so she will win by default.

      3. Thag Simmons

        Ethan and Jacob are still probably friends, but much less close than they were prior to Mike’s death. Ethan seems to have withdrawn from everyone.

      4. Norah

        He was friends with Joyce after they broke up.

      5. Clif

        Technically, Sister-Christian isn’t over yet.

    3. Reltzik

      Well, it’s the Internet era, so even if I and my friends can’t hang together, we can log into Zoom and hang separately.

      …. wait.

    4. Spencer

      “Maybe if Mike managed to hang off that railing he’d still be here.”

  4. Joe Moose

    Well then.

    1. Clif

      Yes.

      1. Sunny

        Indeed.

  5. Crotonhurst

    Smoooooooth Danny, so smoooooth

  6. Thag Simmons

    Flawlessly executed.

  7. King Daniel

    Dumbing of Age Book 12: Probably Equal Amounts of Fun as Sitting Alone on a Couch

    1. Steelbright

      it would get my vote.

    2. powerpowerpow

      Oh this is a really good one. I hope this ends up being it..

      1. Clif

        Would you buy a book for entertainment that advertised itself as comparable to sitting alone on a couch by yourself?

        I might, but I’m not a large demographic.

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          But like… isn’t that what books *are*? Like, it’s truth in advertising man.

        2. Clif

          When I’m opening a DOA book, I get to hang with the characters and read Willis’s interspersed comments. When I’m sitting on a couch all by myself, I’m looking for WIFI because life is too short to sit all alone on a couch by yourself.

        3. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Who are you man? Everytime I look you’re wearing a different face.

          And life is too long, which is why I sit alone on a couch.

  8. Yotomoe

    Also you can hang out with friends with a computer and a pillow. Maybe you’re gonna get in a circle and play games together.

    1. UrsulaDavina

      You can never have enough pillows and laptops at a party or hang session.

      1. Doctor_Who

        Maybe it’s a LAN party, and that naturally explains the laptop, but also there’s a lot of people so he brought a pillow to sit on the floor.

        1. Yotomoe

          Hell, maybe they’re all gonna play jackbox together and prefer to play on computer instead of phone.

        2. Axel

          playing with keyboard and touchpad sounds terrible but hey some people have terrible taste

        3. Clif

          If you had changed “some people have terrible taste” to “some people taste terrible” you would have saved an entire word.

        4. Axel

          I misread this as “saved the entire world” which is a bit of an exaggeration, but still good advice. Some people taste terrible.

    2. newlland(Henryvolt)

      There’s a joke here somewhere, I think one about circles and doing something with a hand jerking motion.

      1. King Daniel

        I’m waiting with bated breath to hear it.

      2. A Red Balloon

        You don’t know where my mind just went after reading this, but it’s probably wrong LOL ??

  9. C.T. Phipps

    I actually think this is decent evidence that Ethan has more or less forgotten all about Danny’s rude comment about wanting Mike to die. This is about Mike dying and not Danny’s fo-pah. It’s just Danny think Ethan hates him because of it — but Ethan isn’t thinking about Danny at all.

    1. Fay

      He seems more sad that he’s seemingly lost all of his friends. Even though Danny didn’t care for Mike, I’m wondering if Ethan still might prefer having someone around to support *him*.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Depending on what happened over the timeskip, this could be a salvageable relationship. The scar will never heal, but this bridge could, potentially be mended.

      Alas, this comic is not called Smarting of Age.

      1. Reltzik

        But Ethan DOES seem to be smarting.

        1. PirateTawnee

          No wonder he’s not in the comic much anymore. This is Dumbing of Age, not Smarting in Rage.

        2. Azhrei Vep

          You’re fired. I want your desk cleared out within half an hour, security will be here to escort you out.

        3. Clif

          Wait! Where are we going to find another pirate?

        4. Max

          At Arrrrby’s

        5. Clif

          Does Arby’s serve pirates?

          I’d like mine with horsey sauce.

    3. Steelbright

      I think a big part of why Danny sucked so much in his last convo with Ethan (that we saw) was that he was *always* relating everything to how Ethan felt about him and not realizing when Ethan wasn’t thinking about him at all, sooo…kinda par for the course? If Danny hasn’t figured that out yet, it might take a lot more than that for him to change.

      1. justin8448

        I like Danny on the whole, but I’m glad other commenters have repeatedly pointed out the occasions when he was clueless in a way that stems from being self-centered (as opposed to all the other times he’s just regular clueless).

        I didn’t see it for myself at first, but over time I saw exactly what they were talking about.

        1. Spencer

          If the last major conversation you have with someone ended poorly, and then got viscerally, unforgivably worse in time, you’d probably focus real hard on it if you ever saw them again.

          Like, these interactions kinda struck me as Danny being as on top of the ball as he could for “not offending Ethan again”, because right now he’s more concerned with not upsetting him than he is in trying to justify himself or anything.

        2. justin8448

          Yeah, Danny is doing his best on this occasion, and his best is fine.

      2. Spencer

        At the hospital?

        He stuck his foot in his mouth and then bailed when Ethan told him he’d be fine if Mike laughed at him while in a coma.

    4. Dr. Sharks

      Just to let you know for future reference, it’s “faux pas” instead of “fo-pah”. I hope I’m not committing either with this correction but I figure you’d rather be corrected in a webcomic comment section where nobody’s actually judging you than out in the wild somewhere that it might matter.

      1. Clif

        Hey, it’s a foreign word, so we Americans get to mangle it how we will.

        I suggest we just skip ahead to fope.

        1. Axel

          fopa deez nuts

        2. zee

          It’s french so feel free to mangle, no one’s going to stick up for that language

        3. Clif

          Oh. Well if it’s French we should respect that and render it as phope’.

        4. Spencer

          As a somewhat French-speaking Canadian this is actually completely true.

        5. Clif

          Hey, we mollified the Chinese by renaming Peeking to Beijing. That should count for something. The French gave us a statue and everything so we don’t have to try as hard.

  10. Pizzawiz

    You could always just run away without talking.

    1. TemporalShrew

      Danny’s inability to shut his mouth is exactly what’s got him staging this not-so-great escape in the first place, though!

  11. Reed

    man… i remember when i wanted these two to smooch big time. oh those halcyon days…

    1. Clif

      wait for it.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Give it another decade of comics and maybe

        1. woobie

          I’ll probably have died first.
          Of natural causes.
          After a long retirement.

  12. woobie

    awkwarrrrrd….

    1. Spencer

      Hey you found dialogue from the Dumbing of Age movie by Illumination, creators of the upcoming Super Mario Bros. film.

  13. newlland(Henryvolt)

    Danny: I’m going to go hang out with some friends.

    Ethan: I used to have a friend

    Danny: I won’t have to much Fun.

    Ethan: Me and Mike used to have Fun.

    Danny: You’re probably wondering if that’s true since I have a pillow and laptop.

    Ethan: Me and Mike used to share a pillow and laptop-

    Danny: OK I get it, I get it I’m just going to go goodbye. *Leaves*

    Ethan:…..Me and Mike didn’t get to say goodbye.

    1. Spencer

      This has big “Tony about to weep over his dead father and then Walky puts a silly hat on him” energy.

      I approve.

      (I swear to god I’m the only person who remembers Tony)

      1. Thag Simmons

        With Jason and Daisy getting some renewed attention, not inconceivable that Tony gets to do character things again.

        1. Clif

          Better Tony than Beef.

          After Becky kills Joyce in a misguided attempt to save her soul, the comic switches to following Tony and Beef and the rest of the football team. Then one day Mike shows up with no explanation ever.

        2. Spencer

          I like to think Beef has quietly assessed the kind of person he’s being and decided to improve himself.

          Like he’ll walk up to Danny to apologize for bullying him on orientation day and it just comes out as *grunt* but Danny understands and forgives him.

          Dude deserves less of a bum deal in at least one reality.

        3. C.T. Phipps

          Wasn’t Danny the guy who went up to him and went, “Aren’t you going to buly me?”

          “What? No!”

        4. Clif

          That was Tony, not Beef.

        5. King Daniel

          Yeah, Beef was one of the guys who tried to beat up Danny (and got beat up in turn instead by Amazi-Girl) on night one.

        6. JBento

          I liked Tony, on the scant times we’ve seen him. I mean, he went with what is possibly the ONLY right way to respond here:
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/03-the-first-step-towards-recovery/insulted/

          (also, while looking for Tony strips, I found like, 4 more reasons to laothe Robin, as if I needed them:https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/junior/ )

        7. Spencer

          Now if any of the It’s Walky! cast needed less of a bum deal, Tony’s entitled to a lifetime of spa days.

          Dude had it rough.

        8. Clif

          Well, at least we know his father won’t die in this universe on account of …

          Never mind.

  14. TemporalShrew

    I wonder how early into this, uh, “conversation” Bryan made the correct decision to get the hell out of there.

  15. Clif

    alt text, I believe Dorothy would be the least convincing liar because lack of practice.

    1. King Daniel

      Taking a Third Option beyond the two the hovertext is offering, are we?

      1. Clif

        That was a very informative link. I had no idea that peeing on everything was a valid third option.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Dorothy has yet to demonstrate the same inability as Joyce and Danny, so difficult to judge. She probably is better, even if she’s not good, because the bar is pretty low here.

    3. Reltzik

      Side-by-side comparison, Dorothy and Joyce. Dorothy analyzed the situation out loud and choked on the “okay but how do you solve it genius” front, while Joyce crafted a convincing distraction/decoy.

      Also, Joyce convinced Harrison that she and Jacob were dating.

      Also, Joyce deceived Becky about being an atheist for months.

      Joyce can be a pretty good liar, so yeah, I’ll buy that Dorothy might be the worst.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Puts her ahead of Danny, if nothing else.

        1. Clif

          Joyce has tons of experience at lying to herself and is accomplished at it.

          Danny can’t disconnect his mouth from his thoughts.

          Dorothy has promised Becky that she will be the first to know when Dorothy is accepted into Yale, and when the semester ends she will go out of her way to tell Becky first.

      2. Spencer

        Probably depends on how much she wants to believe in it, which come to think of it sounds like pointed commentary on how she processed her religious teachings.

        Though with declaring Joe her friend with rewards program, she lucked out on finding the only person who is as Joyce as Joyce herself.

  16. ADLegend21

    Damn, someone talk to Ethan STAT

    1. StClair

      I don’t think Ethan’s interested in having an actual conversation, just Brooding.

  17. Pivitor

    I bet Jacob’s having a great semester

    1. Clif

      Wonder how his search for a Joyce substitute is going.

      1. Spencer

        Dana, probably.

        It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

        1. Clif

          Well Sarah can’t have that. She’ll have to dress Liz in a sweatervest and aim her at Jacob.

        2. Spencer

          That would be DoA’s best running gag.

          Jacob is dating someone Sarah has a bad history with, so she sends one of her littler sisters to be a homewrecker.

        3. Clif

          WIth Sarah and Joyce both coaching her, what could go wrong?

  18. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    A big part of me is feeling, “Dangit, Danny, go be supportive to your friend,” but the rest of me is unsure what I expect Danny do actually DO, including a part wondering if Danny and Ethan are actually friends anymore.

    1. alongcameaspider

      I mean the last time they interacted on screen they pretty efficiently burned bridges with each other

      Mostly due to Danny Danning it up

    2. Spencer

      Given that strip two of this got into Danny’s head about it, he seems like he’s hyper aware of anything he could say that could upset Ethan given that he draws for a negative interpretation of how dating Sal could make him feel when he already knows(?) that Ethan and Sal made peace.

  19. Dara

    I’m astounded the alt-text isn’t a poll. (I’d vote Danny. See also Joyce pulling bible verses out of her ass at Becky’s mom’s birthday party.)

    1. Reltzik

      Those technically weren’t lies, though.

      1. newlland(Henryvolt)

        Yeah I’m sure those were real bible verses doesn’t mean they were were real to her.

        1. Reltzik

          But she didn’t SAY they were real to her, so still not a lie.

        2. alongcameaspider

          Lies by omission are still lies

        3. Spencer

          You gotta work fast when your BFF is demanding you get your Joyce Nonsense out of your head when you go see her to be by her side on an emotionally trying day that could be made worse by all the times Joyce said “wow Becky it sucks your mom died of cancer.”

    2. Thag Simmons

      Danny is the clear loser. Joyce has a mixed record, but that’s better than what Danny’s got

  20. BBCC

    Y’know what, this wasn’t anywhere near as bad it could’ve been. Good job, Danny.

    1. BBCC

      Cool! Liz!

    2. King Daniel

      Let’s see who I get tonight?

      1. King Daniel

        Noooope. The search for an alternative phone grav continues!

        1. Clif

          I’ll probably go back to Sal and Joyce, but I’m going to keep it up till I get to Becky.

    3. Keulen

      There’s still time for it to get worse, though I kinda hope it doesn’t.

  21. Clif

    I assume that the few Becky’s I’ve seen are the result of grav roulette and not customized avitars.

    1. Clif

      Though I haven’t managed to score a Jennifer either.

      1. Clif

        Sarah took, 52 tries. (Not kidding or exaggerating).

        1. Clif

          Snagged Jennifer on try 71.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Yeah, I think Becky is still in rotation. I don’t think anyone was removed

      1. Fist_of_Life

        Unless it changed since I checked mine, yes, Becky is still in the rotation.

        1. Clif

          Thank you.

  22. Bagge

    Can”t talk
    Killing spiders

    1. Clif

      😛

      Got Sal on try 4. But only twice in, let’s see, this is try 61.
      Robins and Lizzes by the score.

      1. milu

        Do let us know when the cracked the formula ^^

        1. milu

          *you’ve

        2. Clif

          Since it’s probably a hash function, I’m unlikely to actually crack the code. I’m putting my faith in exhaustive search. Try number 85.

      2. Roborat

        . . . But who cares?
        No big deal
        I want more

  23. heliska

    *You’re a shit friend, Danny*

    1. Clif

      Sh! Don’t tell Sal.

      1. Spencer

        Sal might know a thing or two about feeling guilty towards Ethan.

    2. zee

      See for this to work Ethan and Danny would actually have to be friends, and i don’t think that’s been the case for months

  24. Minim

    Joyce sometimes struggles with lying, Danny just can’t lie full stop.

  25. Mr. Random

    Ah there’s that Danny we all know.
    Genuinely oblivious and putting his foot in his mouth.

    I DO wonder if this is the first time he’s seen Ethan since Mike passed away.

    1. Needfuldoer

      This might be the first time he’s interacted with him, but he probably saw him a few times before. (And knowing Danny, I bet he avoided confronting him until now.)

    2. Spencer

      … he’s walking away and constantly trying to downplay himself in front of Ethan by affirming how he’s definitely not going to go and have a good time, then feeling like he has to somehow justify his obvious lie until he notices Ethan doesn’t care so he bails, two strips after he sees Ethan again and immediately leaps to panicking over what he thinks would be the worst possible thing he could say to him in the moment.

      Like, that doesn’t strike me as putting his foot in his mouth, that seems a lot more like Danny deeply regrets how their last argument went down and has no idea how to make it right, let alone whether making it right is within his power.

  26. Sombrero

    Why is Dinobot not tagged in this strip? Something is fishy here…

    1. Spencer

      It’s representative of how fleeting everything Ethan loves truly is.

      1. Clif

        It’s no longer Dinobot. It’s transformed into Mike.

        Why isn’t Mike tagged?

        1. Spencer

          Dinobot was Mike in disguise all along.

        2. Sombrero

          Cunning of Willis to omit the Jennifer tag.

  27. Rabisch

    Danny is going to “hang” with his very good friend Sal ♡… HOORAY!!! But there is an interesting possibility that he will later tell Sal about this and then they will both go and talk to Ethan. I wonder if Malaya will be part of all of this.

  28. Needfuldoer

    Danny’s as subtle as a freight train.

    1. Clif

      Or a truck.

      A large truck speeding down a slick road with no regrets in the rain that falls off the shoulder of Orion.

      It was the best it could do.

      1. Clif

        Damn it. That was supposed to be the rain that falls in each of our lives off the shoulder of Orion. Please edit your memory to insert it in the correct place.

  29. LovelyMonsters

    Danny continues to be a cowardly scumbag, oh good

    1. Spencer

      Meanwhile in an alternate universe

      I can’t believe the audacity of Danny, sticking around and trying to force a conversation out of Ethan when he’s clearly incapable and unwilling to talk, let alone to Danny after their last argument.

    2. zee

      Ah, was wondering when someone was going to more explicitly frame a teenager being awkward as a moral failing
      God you people are weird with your standards. I can’t stand amber but at least i recognize that most of her worst traits are results of trauma and mental illness and not a moral failing on her part

      1. zee

        Like, seriously i genuinely want to know what he should have done here

        1. Alex

          Had a conversation with Ethan? I’m mad purely because I’ve been deprived of this.

        2. Spencer

          He did?

          He tried. He explicitly noted that Ethan was playing with his figures again (probably because it’s the healthiest thing Danny’s seen him do since Mike’s death), and then Ethan made it as clear as day that he’s still outside Mike’s door waiting for him to wake up.

          He left because he thinks his presence is discomforting Ethan, and I think this is pretty apparent considering that when Danny noticed Ethan, he immediately began panicking at the thought of saying something that could upset him and he’s thinking that so hard that “dating Sal” is something he’s twisted into “hey Ethan I’m dating the girl who took you hostage that’s awesome.’

          Like, Danny’s not just leaving the room right now, he’s leaving the room while affirming to Ethan that he’s going to go have a shitty boring time, and then feels the need to explain it when his story doesn’t add up.

          So if anyone’s worried about Danny being callous around Ethan, there it is. Danny said the right thing at the wrong time, and it doesn’t look like he’s forgiven himself for it.

        3. zee

          If it’s just for the drama i respect that

        4. Clif

          Alex, are you really that desperate for Transformers references?

        5. Spencer

          I started reading the Beast Wars comic again so I can help with that.

          I have Opinions on new character Skold and those Opinions are that she is good and cool and her spotlight issue affirmed the identity of the whole comic and how it’s deliberately forging a new take on Beast Wars.

        6. Clif

          Picks up pillow and laptop and backs away slowly.

        7. Spencer

          are you backing away so you can go buy the comic

    3. Thag Simmons

      This isn’t a well executed withdrawal, but in this case backing off is probably the right move

  30. JBento

    I wonder how a Venn diagram of the people who thought Joyce was terrible for humouring Becky at her dead mum’s party and the people who thought Danny was terrible for NOT humouring Ethan at the hospital looks like.

    1. Daibhid C

      It’s a big circle labelled “People who think upsetting other people dealing with complicated emotions is bad, regardless of how you go about it.”

    2. Alex

      There isn’t actually a good way out of this kind of dilemma. Someone’s going to get hurt no matter what.

    3. C.T. Phipps

      I mean, I’m solidly in, “Joyce and Danny should not have brought up their own issues when someone is dealing with heavy grief/worry.”

      1. Spencer

        Joyce brought up her issues in a private conversation that Becky stalked her to.

        1. C.T. Phipps

          Mind you, “shit talking you behind your back” is hardly better.

        2. Spencer

          Yeah I thought it was real messed up when Joyce affirmed how her death cult upbringing was cool and awesome and would have been incredibly improved had no good stupid fartmaster Becky not been there making it lame.

        3. C.T. Phipps

          Because nothing says friendship like saying how you consider your friend and her beliefs utterly stupid that you’re comfortable telling a complete stranger how stupid you think they are.

        4. Spencer

          It’s weird how Becky and her and Joyce’s death cult upbringing are on exactly the same moral wavelength and weighed with the same amount of importance in Joyce’s mind.

        5. C.T. Phipps

          Yes, it is. Almost like it doesn’t justify crap talking on your friend.

        6. Spencer

          It’s weird as a reader to think that Becky and her and Joyce’s death cult upbringing are on exactly the same moral wavelength and weighed with the same amount of importance in Joyce’s mind.

        7. alongcameaspider

          She wasn’t talking about Becky until Becky decided she was talking about Becky

      2. Wendy

        Yeah that’s about where I am too. To be fair to Joyce, unlike Danny, she didn’t know Becky was there, though that doesn’t excuse the fact that she has some character development to do in the department of “Becky is an idiot for believing in God.”

    4. thejeff

      Well, I’ve argued that lying to Becky there was probably the least bad option at the moment, but was also a predictable result of hiding her loss of faith from her for months. Which was her right, but the consequences remain on her.
      As for Danny at the hospital, he didn’t even really have to “humor” Ethan, just not blurt out the awkward thing at the wrong time.

      Mind you, I don’t think either of them are monsters for it.

      1. Spencer

        The consequences of keeping things in your head and saying them in private conversation when your possessive friend cyberstalks you to insert herself in front of your new friend.

      2. Spencer

        Oh and the “things” are the absolute dissolution of your belief in the litany of facts that define the origin of life, human morality, and what your own personality is supposed to be, foisted onto you by a death cult who made you believe cartoonish nonsense like fire-breathing dinosaurs that everyone around you routinely mocked you for asserting existed, and then your death cult tried to shoot you in the face and kidnapped you and then cried that they were being oppressed.

        1. C.T. Phipps

          Except it’s not about the death cult. Its about respecting your friend and not talking about her behind her back.

        2. Spencer

          It’s actually about the death cult yeah.

    5. Wendy

      It’s not the “not humoring Becky” part people reproach Joyce for, it’s for her mindset that Becky is flat-out stupid for believing in God, and doubling down when confronted about making fun of Becky behind her back.

      It’s also not “not humoring Ethan” that people are on Danny about. It’s for straight up suggesting Ethan’s dying friend deserved to be dying. He could have neglected to humor Ethan and still not done THAT.

      1. Clif

        I wonder if you could point me to the comic where Danny suggested Mike deserved to be dying. I don’t believe I’ve read that one.

        1. Wendy

          Ethan and Mike’s last conversation in the comic, I believe,

        2. Clif

          I believe you believe wrong.

        3. thejeff

          OTOH, given the circumstances, it’s not at all unreasonable if Ethan took it that way, despite Danny not meaning it that. Ethan had had enough time by then to pick up a little bit on the likely meaning of long term comas.

      2. Spencer

        Nah.

        He asked, completely off the cuff, foot in mouth, directly called back to two strips ago, that would it be so bad if it took Mike a while to wake up. Mike dying never entered the equation and he apologized in the first panel of the next

        1. Wendy

          Oh, I’m sorry, you’re right, he said it wouldn’t be so bad if Mike stayed in a coma. That makes it okay that he said that to Mike’s friend. Also, his apology was a lot like Joyce’s: followed by doubling down on the initial comment. So I don’t blame Ethan for not accepting that apology.

        2. Spencer

          Nah.

          He asked if it’d be so bad if it took a while for him to wake up before moving onto how Mike’s been a huge douchebag to every single person in their immediate vicinity and it kind of sucks to need to pretend that he’s a good dude.

          Ethan can not accept that Danny is tearing into his friend with whom It’s Complicated currently in a coma because he saved the life of their mutual friend, and Danny can also assert himself enough that he can say that it’s kinda sorta bullshit that we’re now pretending Mike’s just good and cool enough that Ethan will flat out say that he’s extremely okay with Mike laughing at Danny were he in a coma on the grounds that Ethan’s known Mike longer, ergo Ethan would not register a complaint about the behaviour he’s now angry with in Danny.

          I don’t know why the feelings of the characters matter less than the flat text of a character drama.

      3. JBento

        I hate to break it to you, but there were, in fact, people arguing that the whole overheard conversation thing was only a problem because Joyce did not tell Becky the truth when Becky asked her if she thought Becky’s mum was eating cake in heaven.

        1. Wendy

          Eh, too bad for those people. I don’t read the entire comments section.

        2. misanthropope

          the nerve of her, not being forthright with her overbearing friend over an important difference of opinion.

        3. thejeff

          If I’m one of those people it was never intended as “only”, but it does hurt more for Becky to find out she didn’t mean it when they were talking about Bonnie in heaven

  31. Reaver

    Meh, not really a fan of Danny as a whole, Not s fan of Ethan either… so who do I get mad at?

    CURSe YOu NECK TIE!!!

    1. Clif

      The necktie made Danny uncomfortable enough to look around. Otherwise he would never have seen Ethan.

      It’s all the necktie’s fault .

      1. Reaver

        BURN IT!

  32. thumb

    Danny, the best in the room at conversations

    1. Clif

      So the third guy did already leave the room then.

  33. sammyred8

    I just want Ethan to be happy…

    and also to have really hot gay sex amirite

  34. Daibhid C

    Danny has engaged Lie Mode.

  35. Dave Stell

    Been waiting very, VERY, patiently for Ethan’s return. And now, now I wish it hadn’t happened. Gosh, I’m so sorry Ethan. Grief is effing hard. Willis – help this young man. Write an impossible solution that solves all of his problems.
    Wait, I have it. In the comic book world, where super heroes exist, you know, like Amazi Girl, villains return from the dead all the time. I mean Mike’s an evil-neutral-chaos villain/rogue influence. He should be resurrected in some implausible fashion that i will simply accept. WILLIS, are you listening?!

    1. thejeff

      As an outright villain, who will blame Amber and Ethan for his injuries and use their guilt over it to drive them further into despair.

      1. Clif

        And have his revenge on Walky. And finally punch Joyce.

        His new catch phrase: “Nickels. We don’t need no stinkin nickles.”

        1. Clif

          which is marginally better than “Woodpeckers? We don’t need no stinkin Nickles.”

        2. khn0

          Well all that, but disguised-as-villain Mike is actually disguised-as-Mike Ethan.
          And Booster is in fact a decoy planted by Ethan to avoide final reveal: he’s Batman. And he can grieve in space.

  36. Leadsynth

    I’m confused as to why Danny and Sal aren’t hanging right now anyway. Weren’t they just about to play Mario Kart in Danny’s dorm room before Liz/Joe sexiled Danny?

    1. Spencer

      That was hours ago.

      They spend a big chunk of the day together already, Danny might not want to be clingy.

      1. Clif

        On the other hand, he now has an excuse and a story. Seriously, where else is he going to go?

        1. Spencer

          It’s a big campus, he’s only going to be maybe an hour.

          He might just not feel the need to go see her, let alone Sal herself might not be comfortable throwing that much time of her day into any one person other than Marcie, and especially since she opened up a lot to him today about her insecurities and making it official with Danny. A lot of their friendship has been about Sal taking it at her own pace, so today was a big deal for her.

        2. Clif

          Fair enough.

  37. Alan in DC

    Did ANYONE in this strip go see a school mental health counselor or a shrink once the kidnapping ended?

    1. Spencer

      Walky, probably. It didn’t take.

      Ethan kinda strikes me as too emotionally numbed to make the effort, while Amber made a promise that most likely got broken once Mike died and she slid even harder into “I’m a horrible shit monster and ruin everything”, but without Amazi-Girl as an outlet anymore.

      1. Sam

        Walky said that Amber wasn’t officially diagnosed because the therapists there aren’t very good. So Amber kept her promise of trying, it just didn’t go well because mental health care can be hit and miss.

        1. Spencer

          Given that strip has Walky say the campus counselors suck before going “or so I’ve been told”, I took that to mean both that Amber is undiagnosed and that his own grief counseling did not take.

          Amber also could have, she promised, but it feels weird if she fulfilled that promise and then no one able to help her and she’s more miserable than ever when part of Amber’s cycle is the inability to accept she can be flawed and not be irredeemably broken.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Ethan and Amber might have, it just probably didn’t click

  38. Keulen

    Noping out of this situation is probably one of the least bad ways Danny can handle this right now.

    1. Clif

      He could tell dead Mike jokes until Ethan laughs.

  39. Kravis

    Emo Ethan doesn’t give a shit, Danny.

  40. nobilis

    Luckily, ABBA keep an eye on Dan(ny).

  41. DarkoNeko

    I’m kinda worried now

    1. Needfuldoer

      Just now?

      1. Clif

        It’s never too late.

  42. Megz

    Outside of Joe and Walky (to an extremely lesser degree) does Danny HAVE any other male friends? I don’t see him getting away with spending the night in any of the girls’ dorm rooms and I can’t think of any of friends Danny could have at this point. Like other than currently dating Sal, trying “weird” hobbies, and hanging with Joe, what does Danny even do?

    1. Spencer

      Well, he’s got his computer science classes. Otherwise yeah his main relationships with the cast have been with Joe, Amber, Ethan and Sal, everyone but the former being romantic since Danny’s character is centered a lot around his romantic life.

      There’s not a whole ton of dudes in the cast to begin with. Walky doesn’t have any, for example.

    2. Clif

      He’s not looking to spend the night. He could ask Dorothy for floor space for an hour or two. It’s not as big an ask as her asking for the loan of his shoes for her new boyfriend.

      1. Megz

        I think he may need a place to sleep that night given that Joe is playing sex-experienced host to novice Liz, who admitted she ditched her ride back to her own college. I doubt she’s aiming to leave before morning and, even if she did, I doubt she’s going to let her half-sister know she indeed ran away from helping out Joyce only to stay behind to hanky panky someone Liz probably really shouldn’t. Danny even knows he’s out for the night hence why he has his pillow with him.

      2. thejeff

        Hang out in the lounge on the girl’s side. Go to the library. Plenty of options.

  43. Wendy

    A bit off topic, but I think it’s interesting people are like “Aww, they’re all just teenagers, cut them some slack” but come Slipshine time suddenly they’re all definitely adults it’s cool it’s fine.

    Genuinely not being reproachful here, I just think it’s, like I said, interesting. Was wondering what others think.

    1. Alex

      I dunno, I think older teens should be able to have sex as long as no one’s being coerced or there’s no weird power dynamic.

      1. Wendy

        That’s obviously fine, it’s more about people’s desire to consume content of teens having sex that I’m somewhat surprised people don’t take more issue with around here. I’ve seen some discussion on Twitter about it. A lot of folks there tend more on the side of “just because the teenagers are technically legal and fictional doesn’t make it unProblematic” (which is also a lot of people’s beef with comics like Lore Olympus, for instance).

        There WAS some “weird power dynamic” involved in Sal and Jason, for instance, and IIRC there was a Slipshine about that, wasn’t there? Correct me if I’m wrong, though.

        1. Clif

          The line between teen and adult is arbitrary and for many individuals, it gets it wrong on one side or another. But we have to draw the line somewhere and that’s where we draw it.

        2. thejeff

          We also draw the line for adulthood differently for different things – working, driving, drinking, sex, porn, to name a few.

          I’m not really sure what’s supposed to be problematic here.

        3. thejeff

          “teenager” is sort of arbitrary in that it’s an artifact of the language – which numbers are designated with a “teen” rather than being a separate word, but that designation doesn’t really link directly to any of our legal notions of adulthood or childhood.

    2. thumb

      I could be wrong, but I haven’t seen anyone calling them teens. But they are still young adults in the process of learning what that’s about, and that’s still worth cutting them some slack. Including when it comes to sex.

      1. Wendy

        I’ve definitely seen people here calling them teens.

    3. alongcameaspider

      One can be a teenager and an adult, thats what ages 18 and 19 are

      1. J. Gawain

        was never both. I jumped from 17 to 20 (this way I can stay 29 for 2 extra years).

        1. J. Gawain

          dang it. *I* was never both.

    4. zee

      Yes, they’re adults that can consent to sex and teenagers who make dumb decisions. Both can be true.

      1. StClair

        and frequently are!

  44. Doc Harleen

    Yeah, Danny definitely isn’t as nice as he believes himself to be. Good to be reminded of that, I was starting to forget.

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