Plot twist: Dorothy decides to become an actual clown. Just straight up go to Clown College, join a circus, perform birthdays.
Even twistier: She’s fucking great at it. Just super hilarious and beloved. She single-handedly undoes the decades of “clowns = creepy”. Gets a TV show, does movies, tons of charity work.
There used to be an honest-to-God Clown Camp held annually at the university in Wisconsin that I once worked at. It was considered to be one of the best in the country, with professional and amateur clowns and wanna-bes in attendance. Since I knew the organization/founder/coordinator I even got to sit in on a class oriented to clown magicians to get some ideas – and pick up some props – for my magic act (that eventually went nowhere).
Nah she is way too fragile to suddenly cut herself off from her entire support network and simultaneously take on a way higher workload. Unless she takes the rest of the semester off for therapy she will have a breakdown and probably flunk out of yale
That, right there, is the defeated expression of a woman who’s just realized that her 40-day free trial period is over, and now she must either buy a license or remove WinRAR from her computer.
The presidency has been her stated goal for a LONG time. And in the last few days/weeks, she realized she isn’t comfortable accepting Yale’s admission, which she has very much linked to the presidency in her mind. But also, Dorothy’s main goal has actually been to lead with the aim of helping other people, and Raidah has just handed her a heaping dose of Reality Check on that. Being the president of the United States does not = helping people, it means being the president. With all the ugliness and death that currently entails. Sure, there’s good stuff and helping, too, but that is not all it is, and Dorothy can no longer look at her childhood dream with the rose-tinted glasses I suspect she’s been wearing until very recently.
So I imagine she’s been stuck trying to reconcile her longtime dream with her perception of herself as a Good Person Who Helps, while at the same time trying to figure out her discomfort with…something I don’t know she’s able to even fully put her finger on. And now Raidah has brought it all to the fore. Because the thing is, Raidah was RIGHT. She was cruel in her delivery, but she was not factually wrong about what being the president will entail, and Dorothy is, I think, less “mindboggled” and more “having a full blown crisis of identity.” Those…don’t resolve easily.
Does anyone know if she’s still seeing her therapist regularly? I would be surprised if she wasn’t, but she has a LOT to work through. Including “I ended two relationships, one of which I did not actually WANT to end, for the sake of a goal I don’t know I even want anymore.” She has made real sacrifices and she’s staring down the barrel of “was it even worth it?” I really hope she brings this to her therapist, even if it happens offscreen.
I could be wrong about any or all of this, it’s mostly speculation. But if she’s been standing here for that long, I don’t think it was just about what Raidah said. Something else is also going on.
…I guess it’s also possible she hasn’t been there the WHOLE time, and we’re just cutting back to a few minutes after her previous interaction? Do we know she’s been standing there this whole time?
Clif
Whether she’s been standing there the whole time or not, she’s been standing there the whole time.
Yeah, this is not going to go well if she decides to stay and then attempts to rekindle things with Walky. He’s obviously still hung up on her as well, and Lucy deserves better.
She’s not even that good at the manipulate thing. The best way to do it is to not let people know your doing it and she’s been too obvious. Drilling him on his family connection, buttering him up, trying to make her case on why his current group is no good.
She’s not the master manipulater she’s portraying his self to be.
I don’t even think she is portraying herself as anything of the sort.
If she was asked to her face, she would confirm that yes, this is exactly what she thinks networking is like, sees nothing wrong with it, and actively hiding it would be a waste of time. All she is doing is dressing it up to look “better”.
Were her definition of “better” not the metaphorical equivalent of wearing a suit made of human skin, she might just made a great case of Affably Evil.
262 thoughts on “B-Clark”
Ana Chronistic
Dotty forgot what she went there to get
Caro
mood
CianM1301
Happens to the best of us.
Hexx
And to the rest of us.
Wizard
It has to happen to the best of us
The rich folks suffer like the rest of us
It’ll happen to you
Gotta slip a little Warrren Zevon onto the Muzak.
Decidedly Orthogonal
Jeeze. I come back 20 hours later and she’s _still_ standing there?
BBCC
Oh, sweetie. Someone hug her!
Doctor_Who
I wouldn’t. Don’t apply any more pressure to her just now, people could get hit by the shrapnel.
Tan
Someone grab a paperclip and reboot the Dorothy.
Taellosse
I hesitate to ask but…where, exactly, do you suggest one insert the paperclip?
Uly
Behind the ear.
Ryan
Broken Dorothy is broken. Bring duct tape.
Uly
It is now time for me to hum The Duct Tape Madrigal.
bagge
Seconded
acebender
you ok bud?
AeromechanicalAce
Dorothy, no. You’re a few years too young for a Quarter-Life Crisis.
Masumi
Well she’s very efficient.
zee
Well if she’s 19, 19 X 4 is 76
I’d say it’s the perfect she for a quarter life crisis
Doc Harleen
Oh gosh Dorothy is realizing a lot of things lately huh
Schpoonman
Aw, jeez, Dorothy.
Stephen Bierce
–The Tears of A Clown/When there’s no one around
not someone else
*bops*
Doctor_Who
Plot twist: Dorothy decides to become an actual clown. Just straight up go to Clown College, join a circus, perform birthdays.
Even twistier: She’s fucking great at it. Just super hilarious and beloved. She single-handedly undoes the decades of “clowns = creepy”. Gets a TV show, does movies, tons of charity work.
Living her best life.
Kyrros
While wearing a giant peanut costume, gets trampled in a circus parade… by an elephant.
Mourners the world over don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
Opus the Poet
I saw that Mary Tyler Moore show in first run.
Stanistani
A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.
JoeCovenant
Thats a route into the presidency!
Being a clown…
…and orange.
Bicycle Bill
There used to be an honest-to-God Clown Camp held annually at the university in Wisconsin that I once worked at. It was considered to be one of the best in the country, with professional and amateur clowns and wanna-bes in attendance. Since I knew the organization/founder/coordinator I even got to sit in on a class oriented to clown magicians to get some ideas – and pick up some props – for my magic act (that eventually went nowhere).
Mark
Well, yeah, right down the road from The Circus….
Mr. Random
Dottie, someone’s going to make those choices.
Might as well be you.
C.T. Phipps
Dotty, you CAN be a murderer.
Golden Yak
We believe in you!
Francoinblanco
Get In The fricking Oval Office Dorothy
jflb96
I don’t trust anyone with this power, but I trust me least
jflb96
Distrust me least, gorrammit
The Wellerman
Oh no. I know what this is. I almost can’t bear to watch. ?
*plays “Rain” by the SeatBelts on hacked muzak*
Chaucer59
Excellent choice, Mr. Spiegel.
The Wellerman
Spiegal’s great, but really, Edward is the best! ????
Opus the Poet
Take my imaginary upvote for referring to Radical Edward.
Wizard
One of the highlights of an outstanding soundtrack.
Sajuuk-Khar
DOTTY OH NO ?
Reltzik
Ouch. With just one sentence, er plans, hopes, and dreams for her entire life have been raidahcally upturned.
C.T. Phipps
I believe in you Dotty! You can kill all the people!
Sirksome
It has to have least been like an hour now, damn.
Yeet
🙁
RacingTurtle
DOROTHY GO TO YALE
Yeah, she’s not sure what her ambition is anymore after this morning’s conversation, but she worked so hard to get there
zee
Nah she is way too fragile to suddenly cut herself off from her entire support network and simultaneously take on a way higher workload. Unless she takes the rest of the semester off for therapy she will have a breakdown and probably flunk out of yale
Hrodvitnir
I’ve been yelling NOOOOOOOOO in the back of my head ever since we saw that acceptance letter. GO TO YALE.
Shit’s complicated, but she should follow her dreams. Your dreams change as you learn, anyway. (I know she won’t !@#%$%^**)
Suet
It has been one and a half hours… Now we wait for her to realize something is wrong…
How long is this going to take?!?
shadowcell
Dumbing of Age Book 13
RassilonTDavros
That, right there, is the defeated expression of a woman who’s just realized that her 40-day free trial period is over, and now she must either buy a license or remove WinRAR from her computer.
RowenMorland
You guys don’t just buy WinRAR when you’re really drunk?
Taffy
40 days? Fuck, mine’s been going for closer to 4000.
zee
..y’know Dorothy WOULD pay for the license instead of just closing the prompt window every time she uses winRAR
newlland(Henryvolt)
Holy crap she’s been standing the entire time!? Was the recent realization really that mind boggling?
dalniente
The presidency has been her stated goal for a LONG time. And in the last few days/weeks, she realized she isn’t comfortable accepting Yale’s admission, which she has very much linked to the presidency in her mind. But also, Dorothy’s main goal has actually been to lead with the aim of helping other people, and Raidah has just handed her a heaping dose of Reality Check on that. Being the president of the United States does not = helping people, it means being the president. With all the ugliness and death that currently entails. Sure, there’s good stuff and helping, too, but that is not all it is, and Dorothy can no longer look at her childhood dream with the rose-tinted glasses I suspect she’s been wearing until very recently.
So I imagine she’s been stuck trying to reconcile her longtime dream with her perception of herself as a Good Person Who Helps, while at the same time trying to figure out her discomfort with…something I don’t know she’s able to even fully put her finger on. And now Raidah has brought it all to the fore. Because the thing is, Raidah was RIGHT. She was cruel in her delivery, but she was not factually wrong about what being the president will entail, and Dorothy is, I think, less “mindboggled” and more “having a full blown crisis of identity.” Those…don’t resolve easily.
Does anyone know if she’s still seeing her therapist regularly? I would be surprised if she wasn’t, but she has a LOT to work through. Including “I ended two relationships, one of which I did not actually WANT to end, for the sake of a goal I don’t know I even want anymore.” She has made real sacrifices and she’s staring down the barrel of “was it even worth it?” I really hope she brings this to her therapist, even if it happens offscreen.
I could be wrong about any or all of this, it’s mostly speculation. But if she’s been standing here for that long, I don’t think it was just about what Raidah said. Something else is also going on.
dalniente
…I guess it’s also possible she hasn’t been there the WHOLE time, and we’re just cutting back to a few minutes after her previous interaction? Do we know she’s been standing there this whole time?
Clif
Whether she’s been standing there the whole time or not, she’s been standing there the whole time.
milu
Sure, but is the whole time, you know – the whole time?
Adam Black
Another possibility: the whole time.
Steve C.
I prefer skim time
Stanistani
1% time feels like being a dishwasher.
Durandal_1707
Vegan almond-cashew time is trendy these days
a/snow/mous/e
@Stanistani I’m pretty sure 1% time is becoming a multibillionaire?
a/snow/mous/e
or like a day to celebrate them? (ewww)
JBento
She had intended to, but had to take a bathroom break. It just made things worse, because now she has failed at standing forlornly as well.
Matthew Davis
Yeah, this is not going to go well if she decides to stay and then attempts to rekindle things with Walky. He’s obviously still hung up on her as well, and Lucy deserves better.
C.T. Phipps
Dorothy should swear allegiance to Raidah and learn how to be a war criminal and social manipulator.
newlland(Henryvolt)
She’s not even that good at the manipulate thing. The best way to do it is to not let people know your doing it and she’s been too obvious. Drilling him on his family connection, buttering him up, trying to make her case on why his current group is no good.
She’s not the master manipulater she’s portraying his self to be.
Council
I don’t even think she is portraying herself as anything of the sort.
If she was asked to her face, she would confirm that yes, this is exactly what she thinks networking is like, sees nothing wrong with it, and actively hiding it would be a waste of time. All she is doing is dressing it up to look “better”.
Were her definition of “better” not the metaphorical equivalent of wearing a suit made of human skin, she might just made a great case of Affably Evil.
thejeff
But if her main motivation is revenge on Sarah and Joyce and she’s hiding that behind the obvious social climbing, that’s a little more subtle.
Miri