137

Skimming
Posted on February 25, 2018 by David M Willis

137 thoughts on “Skimming”

  1. Nono

    Is that the most syllables ever in a DoA strip?

  2. butts

    I am a ROCK

    (can you smell what I’m cooking)

    1. Tacos

      Chicken Mcnuggets.

      1. butts

        Well given that third panel I’m thinking french fries from Five Guys

    2. Kepod

      “…I am an iiiiiisland! (‘Cause a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries!) ” *musical interlude*

      1. Wizard

        No man is an island!

        He’s a peninsula.

        1. EvilMidnightLurker

          Gnome Ann is an island.

  3. Coren

    Well, this could lead to another F…

    1. Bruceski

      hanky-panky!

      1. Fire_daws

        Pre-marital hanky-panky

    2. David DeLaney

      … Firesign Theatre?

      –Dave, he’s fallen in the vaaaa-ter!

    3. Emily

      Yeah “fracture” because he could have broken his fool neck.

  4. Archivist

    I SEE YOUR IW! REFERENCE AND YES I AM SCREAMING.

    1. Purblebirb

      Of course he’s wearing THE hoodie…

  5. Trrebi981

    Somebody trying pull some Amazigirl strats on his lady.

  6. Nono

    Also, how did Walky fall on Dorothy from the ceiling in such a way that he landed on her back and she on her front.

    1. Nicole

      I have no idea how one hangs from the ceiling by one’s shoelaces in the first place, but I think this makes sense if Walky is slightly behind Dorothy and falls forward a bit? Dorothy could also be shifting her weight forward in her power stance. And I guess Walky’s would have his back to the back wall of the elevator? I dunno, I can only really picture him falling and not the actual hanging upside down.

      1. Nicole

        Alternatively, *vague hand gestures* cartoon magic!!

      2. Charlie Spencer

        It’s simple. Tie your shoelaces to the floor and then flip the car over.

    2. Agemegos

      Its a matter of the way that they each rotated after the initial collision. Dotty fell forwards, Walky fell backwards.

      Which is of course a HUGE metaphor. Willis is being blatant!

    3. MM

      Law of narrative causality. More specifically, the “nothing’s going to stop me now!” corollary.

    4. Rin

      If he was still hanging onto the ceiling with his hands while securing his shoelaces and then let go just as Dorothy came in he would still be face up to the ceiling as he fell because the shoelaces did not hold.

  7. Haven

    It’s true, when you’re sleep deprived, genre savvy is the first thing to go.

    1. Reltzik

      That, or you get so genre-savvy that you forget you’re in reality.

      1. Doctor_Who

        I find it’s the opposite; it’s when I’ve had more caffeine than the human body can reliably bear that I become aware of the fourth wall.

        1. Tacos

          Well how much caffeine do you need to be aware of the fifth wall then?

        2. Tan

          There is but one wall of infinite angles in a contiguous ellipsoid. At once it surrounds us and yet we are also the wall ourselves.

        3. Reltzik

          About when you start walking without rhythm and seriously invoking the rule that the caffeine must flow.

        4. Chris Phoenix

          Is that anything like speaking about yourself in the 4th person?

        5. das-g

          But how much caffeine can a timelord body reliably bear?

  8. Passchendaele

    It’s not even new years yet, walky

  9. newllend(henryvolt)

    Debunking old AU physics theories I see.

  10. threePwny

    Whatever Dorothy’s an unmovable fixture of, Walky’s an unstoppable force of the exact opposite.

    1. ZerglingOne

      Motivation and Ennui.

  11. Loki

    Please let them fuck and Dorothy fall asleep afterwards, otherwise I am afraid she will work herself to exhaustion, or worse, expulsion.

    1. cbwroses

      Is that a Harry Potter reference? Or am I so sleep deprived that I’m making connections that aren’t there?

      1. sdrainbow

        There’s an early Hermione quote along the lines of “or worse – expelled!!”, though I can’t recall which exact set of shenanigans to which it refers. Probably the “we all got caught out of bounds” caper in Sorcerer’s Stone.

        1. podian

          Something like “We could have all been killed! Or worse, expelled!” after the first run-in with Fluffy the Cerberus.

  12. Stellar

    Oh Dear, this is not getting Walky a passing grade in Calc…

  13. Achallenger

    Dramatic reentrance! Foul sack of meat, you shall be consumed for the Queen’s hive

  14. Benet

    Don’t know if I’m glad or slightly disappointed it’s Walky Dorothy’s run into and not Faz…

  15. Stephen Bierce

    “Heads break before laws of physics.”–Al in Masamune Shirow’s Dominion
    “Turning adversity into perversity”–The Red Green Show

  16. Tawdry Quirks

    Meanwhile, Carla overhears Walky’s statement and quickly gets to work on engineering shoelaces that will let you hang from the ceiling.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Just swap your laces for 440 paracord. one shoe will support me with a roughly 4X safety margin, both shoes are 8X together.

      1. Chris Phoenix

        And you can turn them into Prusik knots and ascend a rope!

      2. Tawdry Quirks

        Will this work with any kind of shoe eyelet, or do they have to be the metal rivet reinforced kind? I’m wondering if it’d rip right through the punched style of eyelet.

        1. Opus the Poet

          The only time I tried it I was wearing 1980s Army-issue combat boots with the metal eyelet. Experimentation (a la the MythBusters) would be required for other types of footwear.

  17. Tacos

    What exactly possessed him to even try this in the first place?

    1. AGV

      It’s Walky?

      1. Clif

        Personally, I blame too many Spider-Man movies.

      2. Deanatay

        … with too much free time, and no GF to force common sense into his head.

    2. Needfuldoer

      The “old enough to know better, but still too young to care” mindset of a bored teenager.

    3. ruhrow

      His ex who he is trying to let be showed up in the elevator, and he is immature enough to immediately scramble for the ceiling?

  18. Nicole

    Well, at least FWUMP starts with F? See, Walky’s totally helping! With alliteration!

    1. Roborat

      I had all the alliteration I could handle in panel 3, thank you very much.

  19. Shiro

    That’s it that’s the whole relationship

    (Which they both really thrive in, honestly)

  20. Nicole

    What I wanna know is, how long was he hanging from the ceiling and how did he even get up there? I know he has a great metabolism and all but that doesn’t come with actual strength if you don’t exercise ever

    1. cbwroses

      They did manage to keep in eyesight of amazagirl (sp) forcing her to use a vehicle to actually allude them. So he must have some smidgen of athleticism.

    2. Leo

      Actually it kinda does for some people.
      I personally am way to strong for the shut-in I was for the last two months.

  21. motorfirebox

    Boy, that is just half a step away from being super dark.

    1. ruhrow

      Ehh, more half a full rotation away…

  22. BBCC

    Oh, Dorothy, no

    Do your fitbit THEN take your shower, have you learned nothing?

  23. Keulen

    I wonder how long Walky has been in that elevator hanging from the ceiling.

  24. Keulen

    Also, unless Walky was Spidermanning across the ceiling until he fell, Dorothy’s been talking to herself here.

  25. not someone else

    …Ahhh. This single strip has enlightened me greatly as to the point of this ship.

    Still not entirely my thing but I hope they’re happy.

  26. Falcon

    I think Dorothy was almost having fun by making a game out of not having fun.

  27. Black

    Seriously, the fuck is wrong with that boy?

  28. timemonkey

    Dorothy is this universe’s Leslie Bean. She can’t help but set herself up over and over and over.

  29. Mr D

    Dorothy stop it. That kind of studying doesn’t work, you’ll over-fill your brain with useless trivia, you have to absorb the IMPORTANT PARTS of the fucking textbook, not quoting it verbatim.

    I mean, fuck, one of the important parts of studying is spacing it out a bit, let your brain assimilate the information so YOU can understand it.

    It’s like when you’re watching a TV show, you don’t actually start questioning and analyzing until you’ve stopped watching and given it a few hours to sink in. Usually in the shower or on the toilet.

  30. laladoria

    Walky why were you doing this in the girls wing?! Trying to sneak peeks??

    For shame.

    1. cbwroses

      I believe the elevator is in the middle where the guys’ and girls’ wings connect.

    2. Roborat

      Sneak peeks at what, the tops of girls heads?

  31. DarkoNeko

    Yeah, that last panel is a pretty good summary of their relationship lol

  32. Rukdug

    …trust me those aren’t healthy study habits Dorothy. Devoting to much time to studying leads trivia overload where you know what is written in the book but not what the book is trying to actually tell you.

    1. Ivy

      I haven’t heard heard is before but it makes me feel better about hardly studying

  33. Prior Semblance

    Well at least its not gum this time

  34. Ivy

    Can someone please tell me how a freshman as studious a Dorothy can be so worried about failing her freshman classes?
    Is she even STEM?

    1. notYash

      speaking from experience, she’d probably have come in with a lot of credits and started college taking higher-level classes. Also, non-STEM classes can definitely still be difficult lol depending on how academically rigorous they actually are.
      (Source: am currently a sophomore taking almost all 4000- level classes, which are the highest non-graduate student level classes)

      1. Tawdry Quirks

        Upper division history classes require a lot of papers, and many of those classes require at least one 20 page paper. And you’ve got to write until your arm falls off on the essay exams. I never could fill an exam book, although admittedly, my handwriting is tiny.

    2. Amanda

      A student who wants to transfer out to an Ivy League ASAP is going to freak out about everything. And she hasn’t learned yet that the way things are taught in college is not the same as in high school so she needs to adjust her study methods.

      Right now she’s doubling down on what she already knows, and the house is gonna win.

    3. BenRG

      She desperately wants to transfer to an Ivy League college as part of her personal political ambitions. Not unreasonably, keeping her grades in the top few percentile points is a priority for her to that end.

    4. Dalben

      I have to assume she’s just not that good a student. I’m not saying she’s bad, but she if her goal is Yale, she’s not in Indiana for in state tuition or staying close to home, so there are a whole bunch of higher ranked schools she also didn’t get into.

      And while Indiana is a good school, all classes are graded based on your fellow students test taking abilities, and those abilities are roughly sorted by school rank so if she’s struggling in Indiana even with a difficult course load, she belongs in Indiana not Yale.

      Also, and this probably makes a big difference, it doesn’t seem like she had anyone who could give her advice about study techniques, planning your classes, general career advice.

      Better study techniques can be a huge help, but if you don’t know them and don’t even know to find out about them you can date a lot of effort. Seems normal, but unfortunate.

      She probably picked the most challenging course load she could to impress Yale, and while there are no doubt limits to how many and what level courses you can take, a more normal courses would probably help. Also, if you take the right classes you’ll be competing with the higher end of the curve of Indiana students, many of whom could have gone to higher ranking schools, and are at Yale for scholarships or other reasons.

      She also has a kind of disjointed career plan, although of course she’s only a freshman.

      Going to Yale is good for any career, but it’s impossible so basing your plans on that won’t work well

      Doing well academically could be good for political ambitions if you’re going into certain career like law as a stepping stone. But she’s expressed no interest in any career except journalism and politics. Also, if you’re interested in politics, it would be kind of important to get involved in political activity now, and see how it works and make connections. You can certainly do that later in life as a millionaire lawyer or CEO, but the sooner you start the better for your ambitions.

      She could really use an actually good guidance counselor, although I don’t recall ever meeting one myself.

      1. Dalben

        Sorry, it’s already way to long, but I meant to add, if you’re interested in journalism your writing and reporting are way more important than your academics. Your academics probably don’t matter at all except possibly which school you went to.

        1. leecatjones

          Speaking as a journalist, you basically just need a bachelor’s degree to prove you can pay attention, read, and count. No one cares where you got it from so long as you have it and it isn’t from a for-profit university.

          If you’re good at school but terrible at writing, journalism isn’t for you. Find another path.

    5. Needfuldoer

      She loaded up on extracurriculars and higher level classes to accumulate credit quickly and transfer to an Ivy League school.

      At the same time, I think she has the same problem as Walky: she cruised through high school and had an unrealistic expectation of what college classes would be like. She’s more persistent and disciplined than he is, but that was only enough to postpone running into the wall. Now she’s trying to overcome it by brute force, which never ends well.

    6. JBento

      I don’t think Dorothy issues are that she needs to adjust to different teaching methods or how classes are taught or anything like that. I think Dorothy’s issue is that she’s trying to cram an unrealistic amount of workload – there’s no way ANYONE would do well if they tried to do everything she’s trying to.

    7. Inahc

      I don’t think she’s worried about *failing*. she’s worried about not getting the absurdly high GPA she needs to theoretically get into Yale.

  35. Bagge

    It’s raining men, Hallelujah…

    1. cbwroses

      How did so many of us miss this opportunity?

      1. Emperor Norton II

        Come on, as if anyone else but Bagge/Becky popping her head in could be allowed this honour.

  36. Lareth

    Mr. Belly Button says “Happy New Year!”

  37. Sol Karas

    No, Walky, you’re supposed to use bubblegum.

  38. ValdVin

    If they weren’t already cute and met, this would be a meet cute.

    Also does.this mean Walky tied his shoelaces to something? If so, about time.

    1. thejeff

      Maybe that was the flaw in his plan. He still didn’t tie them.

      1. Deanatay

        He used his shoelaces to tie his shoes to the ceiling, but fell out of his shoes because they weren’t tied closed.

        Then his shoes fell. Because he didn’t tie them right.

  39. Barduwulf

    Ya know, I’ve been waiting for the inevitable crash, but I didn’t suspect it to be so literal

  40. BenRG

    Strangely enough, I suspect the only thing whirling through Dorothy’s dazed mind right now is the question: “Why was Walky trying ot hang from the ceiling by his shoelaces?”

  41. CleverTrousers

    Yeah, Dorothy, you’re not going to get anything from ten minute’s skimming (except maybe section titles?) and are just wasting ten minutes.

    1. Chris Phoenix

      A 5 minute overview of the chapter can tell you what topics it’s going to talk about, how the info will be organized, and how many of the necessary concepts you already know.

      Put that in the back of your brain for half an hour, and you’ll likely be better able to read the chapter at an appropriate speed, and slot in its information in your mental framework.

    2. Clif

      Not get anything from 10 minutes skimming?. – I disagree. How much depends on subject matter and size, but miles from nothing.

    3. Vulcanodon

      Think of it as sketching the outlines of a drawing that you will come back and fill in with detail

  42. David DeLaney

    aaaand Black wins the award for having predicted this in detail in yesterday’s comments!

    –Dave, cassandraically

  43. Woof

    And so the temptress returns unto her life…

  44. Dana

    I’d say that’s not what shoelaces are for, but it might well be what Walky’s shoelaces are for.

    1. Mitsukara

      Not like they have any other usage.

  45. Zaxares

    But now, Strictly Business Dorothy must face her ultimate challenge: the tempting visage and alluring scent of her lover, Walky of the Fifty McNuggets! Fear his adorkable ways!

    1. ValdVin

      Now all I can picture is Walky in a Vanity Fair-style ad for Fifty McNuggets Cologne. With a scent panel.

      Hope you’re happy.

  46. Em

    I have never been more attracted to dorothy. is it the flannel? the hair?

    1. Em

      are we sure she’s straight ok

      1. Drake

        I mean, *she* seems pretty sure, and I’m a big believer on just taking people at their word on this whole sexuality business.

      2. Eldritch Gentleman

        She could be defined as Ambitionsexual.

        1. cbwroses

          That comment with that face is slightly creepy.

  47. showler

    If she can identify the animals, I think she passes the test.

  48. Regalli

    Dorothy, noooooo.

  49. Deanatay

    Dotty’s immovable object of srs bsns just got hit by the goofiest irresistible force on the planet.

  50. JBento

    Is that shoe being balanced by its own lace on the elevator railing? What are the laces made of, osmium?

  51. C.T Phipps

    I hope Dorothy decides at this point to tell Walky that “break” actually means “Dumped.”

    1. dralou

      … Because he doesn’t know that already ? He’d rather be stuck on the elevator’s roof in a really uncomfortable position than being seen by her and having an awkward ride…

      1. cbwroses

        Ah! It never crossed my mind that he did it to avoid her! He’s so goofy, I chalked it up to regular Walky behavior.
        But now that you’ve said it, I can’t see it as anything else (at least until tomorrow’s comic makes the claim untenable).

        1. C.T Phipps

          Walky clearly thinks the break up is temporary. Poor thing.

        2. thejeff

          It might be or it might not be, but I’m pretty sure the point of the story isn’t “Dorothy needed to get rid of Walky and then she’ll be fine.”

          I suspect they’ll get back together, but whether or not, Walky will be a big part of helping get through the upcoming meltdown.

        3. Fart Captor

          They both do, since that’s what they decided, and so far there’s been nothing to make either one assume otherwise.

          “Not blindly assuming the worst will happen” isn’t something that usually merits pity

        4. cbwroses

          Considering she told him it was temporary, I’d expect him to believe so. Whether that plan continues or falls to one side or the other has yet to be seen.
          That said, she’s the one who’s been shown to be thinking of him, going by her looks of longing towards Monkey Master. The only longing looks Walky’s been shown giving are towards his McNuggets.

        5. dralou

          The way I see it: he says it’s only a break, he’ll stand by this affirmation any time the subject is broached, but the way he talks about it and makes super-duper clear it’s a break makes me think he doesn’t believe in that. He says “woo, temporary freedom”, but his actions (without counting this incident in the elevator) look more like he is crumbling down because “it’s only a break, until she realizes I really am a deadweight and decides it’s definitely over. But yeah, totally only a break. For now.”

          But that might be my overly pronounced taste for drama that taints his previous interactions in my mind.

  52. Bicycle Bill

    No, if you’re going to hang from ceilings you need to be bitten by a radioactive spider and invent a web-fluid shooter….

    1. cbwroses

      Or be Batman. But Sal already has that covered.

      1. thejeff

        Amazi-Girl might disagree, if I remember one of the slipshines correctly.

  53. Saaaam

    I have no idea what course-load dorothy took this semester, but this seems ridiculously ambitious for a first semester freshman.

    1. NoHeart

      Ridiculously ambitious for a first semester freshman describes Dorothy pretty well.

  54. Rosstifer

    Dorothy just realised she forgot another ‘F’ that she’s could probably do with right now…

    1. Stellar

      Fusilli?

  55. Vukodlk

    Calling it here the elevator breaks down and they get stuck.

  56. FinalOwen

    Dorothy would have a bit more time on her hands if she abandoned her ambitions to attain alliterative aptitude.

  57. the GrumpyBear

    A bulwark against the absurd? Pffft!

    INCOMING TACTICLE WALKY!

  58. Roborat

    There is a very annoying ad rotation at the top of the page that keeps dragging the screen up about every two minutes. Makes reading the comments very tedious.

  59. steelbright

    Why does the minute difference in Dorothy’s hair that shows it’s still wet look so cute? It’s like four different lines! Maybe i’m just so used to seeing it one way that another way is refreshing. Or maybe the art is just really good :3

  60. a_feeling_robot

    I’m just surprised she’s willing to end a sentence with a preposition.

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