Dumbing of Age Book Twelve
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Tire fire

Posted on October 15, 2016 by David M Willis

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Tags: jacob, sarah

Discussion (203) - “Tire fire”

  1. butts

    10/15/2016, 12:03 am
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    “welp, time to go find other jacob”

    1. JA

      10/15/2016, 2:51 pm
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      “We’re going to need another Timmy!”

  2. Doctor_Who

    10/15/2016, 12:03 am
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    Jacob’s hotness caused a brief fugue state in which she unknowingly acted outgoing and social.

    If he had taken off his shirt, she’d awaken weeks later to find that she now has a popular youtube channel called Genki^_^Sarah where she sings showtunes and has 2 million subscribers.

    1. StClair

      10/15/2016, 12:27 am
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      substitute “chocolate body” for “chocolate creme eggs”…

      1. Talantus

        10/15/2016, 2:23 am
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        She probably secretry dreams of sucking on his tootsies roll

    2. Adept Arcanist

      10/17/2016, 12:37 am
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      I dunno, I can imagine Sarah doing a pretty good performance of “I won’t say I’m in love” as is…

  3. AnvilPro

    10/15/2016, 12:03 am
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    Sarah is on fire today! Making positive social interactions left and right

    1. inqntrol

      10/15/2016, 12:05 am
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      I think the real Sarah got replaced by a body snatcher.

      1. Leorale

        10/15/2016, 12:58 am
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        She’s reached peak optimism!

        1. Lipke the Articulate

          10/15/2016, 1:20 am

          Oh shit, oh shit, optimism is reaching critical mass. ABORT, ABORT!

        2. The Other Mike

          10/15/2016, 5:45 am

          Too late. She has become… Optimist Prime.

        3. Reltzik

          10/15/2016, 8:06 am

          I didn’t realize how much she had transformed.

        4. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 1:59 pm

          She’s come such a long way since her days as Ornery Pax.

  4. Mr. Random

    10/15/2016, 12:04 am
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    It’s kinda nice she lost self-awareness for a couple seconds.

    1. AveryAves

      10/15/2016, 5:42 am
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      I wish I could lose self-awareness for a couple seconds

      1. Reltzik

        10/15/2016, 8:06 am
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        Take a nap?

        1. Foxhack

          10/15/2016, 2:57 pm

          That would be a very short nap.

  5. Joebo

    10/15/2016, 12:04 am
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    I imagine that they’re in a cult of some sort.

    1. SgtWadeyWilson

      10/15/2016, 12:06 am
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      I should’ve been quicker.

    2. Doctor_Who

      10/15/2016, 12:12 am
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      I literally just finished watching Rosemary’s Baby 5 minutes ago, so you just put all kinds of weird thoughts in my head.

      1. JustCheetoDust

        10/15/2016, 12:17 am
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        I kinda hate that I initially read that as “Rosemary’s Baby 5.”

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 12:23 am

          If Rosemary has 5 babies, and they’re all evil enough for seperate horror films, why am I phrasing this like a word problem?

        2. a snow ʍousɐ

          10/15/2016, 12:59 am

          The answer is 42!

        3. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 1:25 am

          I want to say the mice wouldn’t like that question, but…

        4. a snow ʍousɐ

          10/15/2016, 10:02 am

          What do you get when you multiply Rosemary by five babies?

        5. begbert2

          10/15/2016, 11:05 pm

          Thyme?

        6. -Sentinel-

          10/15/2016, 12:24 am

          Is that the crossover with the critically acclaimed Baby Geniuses film series?

        7. Doctor_Who

          10/15/2016, 12:29 am

          Rosemary’s Baby was never THAT horrific.

        8. JustCheetoDust

          10/15/2016, 12:32 am

          I like how the original Baby Geniuses gets 2% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the sequel manages to lower that bar.

        9. -Sentinel-

          10/15/2016, 12:39 am

          At one point there was even an IMDb page for a prospective THIRD movie. Thankfully the project was aborted, like the babies should have been.

        10. JustCheetoDust

          10/15/2016, 12:54 am

          I can only imagine how they beat the 0% RT score that the second one managed. Do they screen the new film at Cannes or TIFF in the hopes that a citywide riot erupts?

        11. Foxhack

          10/15/2016, 2:57 pm

          The production team should’ve carried the project to full term.

          😀

  6. Yotomoe

    10/15/2016, 12:05 am
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    Ok, real talk. Has anyone actually had a “naked in public” dream? They’re like the immediate cliche’ nightmare to go to and yet I’ve never once had a nightmare about that.Hell, even if I DID have a dream where I was naked it probably wouldn’t be a big deal

    1. Cheshrin

      10/15/2016, 12:09 am
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      Once or twice. It’s not as common as the media suggests it is, but it’s happened to me on occasion.

      One time I dreamed I went to Hogwarts naked. That was a weird night.

    2. SgtWadeyWilson

      10/15/2016, 12:10 am
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      Nope. Mostly just the horrifying recurring nightmares and wierd surreal stuff like dying, but when I become a ghost, it’s the ghost of a Transformer.

      1. Leorale

        10/15/2016, 5:09 am
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        One time I dreamed that there was a T-Rex who really wanted to be a businessman. There was a lot of rampaging through Tokyo, but he achieved his dream in the end!

        (Being a businessman involved everyone having suits and briefcases in a penthouse office, readying themselves for a meeting with high-powered Japanese businessmen and one businesswoman. One businessman’s briefcase had his children’s drawings in it instead of his papers, whoops, and another had a picture of the T-Rex with crosshairs on it and the word TARGET. The T-Rex said, ‘hum hum, hum hum, good progress!!” and was ever so pleased.)

        1. Leorale

          10/15/2016, 5:15 am

          oh! oh! also there was the one in which senior citizens had a whole coordinated synchronized dance involving their assistive devices (walkers and wheelchairs) as the music played, “I, wanna walk and roll all ni-i-ight, and party every day.”
          Apparently my brain really prioritizes this sort of thing.

    3. Some1

      10/15/2016, 12:11 am
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      You are Yotomoe though…

    4. Fart Captor

      10/15/2016, 12:12 am
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      Yes, many times, though not as often as the no pants dream.

      1. Fart Captor

        10/15/2016, 12:15 am
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        For some reason the no-pants dream liked to escalate into me running around the 2nd floor of a mall around the food court, and somehow running through the railing (maybe it disappeared? I dunno) and desperately trying to turn around mid-air before falling to floor below as I woke up.

    5. Doctor_Who

      10/15/2016, 12:13 am
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      I’ve had dreams where I realize I’m dreaming because I’m wearing the clothes I like to sleep in (t-shirt and oversized basketball shorts – very comfy!). I imagine that if I slept naked, I’d probably be naked in my dreams a lot.

      1. butts

        10/15/2016, 12:14 am
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        I don’t tend to, but I suppose I don’t really consider what I’m wearing while I’m asleep.

      2. a snow ʍousɐ

        10/15/2016, 1:01 am
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        Lucid dreamer, eh? Interesting.

        1. Doctor_Who

          10/15/2016, 1:27 am

          I usually wake up pretty quickly after that, but sometimes it lasts for a few minutes.

    6. John

      10/15/2016, 12:16 am
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      I had one once, when I was in about third grade. I dreamed that I was in school naked, and the other kids were like, “John, why aren’t you wearing any clothes?” and I was all, “Well, I’m having one of those naked-in-school dreams,” and they were all, “Oh, that explains it.” And then it kind of stopped being a thing, like stuff does in dreams when it stops being relevant.

      My nightmares are about having to talk to strangers.

    7. Nicolumbia

      10/15/2016, 12:20 am
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      In the one such dream I remember having, I was only slightly embarrassed because I was preoccupied with being slightly worried that I may have failed an exam, and also being pleased with myself for engaging in social interaction. So, kind of the opposite of Sarah??

    8. motorfirebox

      10/15/2016, 12:26 am
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      I’ve had in-my-boxers dreams once or twice. Though, like most dream-releated stuff in media, the dreams are nothing like what they’re “supposed” to be like. Never dreamed about finding myself in class or anything.

      1. Got any grapes?

        10/15/2016, 11:15 pm
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        How the dreams got in my boxers, I’ll never know.

    9. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      10/15/2016, 12:27 am
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      I rarely remember my dreams in any detail. But I do recall numerous times I’ve dreamed of realizing I am at work in the office, but forgot to dress. So I say, yes, they do happen.

    10. newllend(henryvolt)

      10/15/2016, 12:35 am
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      One time but it was really weird since I was in someone else’s body.

    11. -Sentinel-

      10/15/2016, 12:42 am
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      I did once have a dream of biking to school while naked. But you’re right, that dream doesn’t seem that common.

      Much more common (for everyone, I think) is the dream where you’re sitting an exam you weren’t expecting, or must hand in a written assignment you had forgotten about.

      1. Cybersnark

        10/15/2016, 10:35 am
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        Or you need to get to a class and don’t know where or even what subject it is. Or it’s the end of term and you suddenly remember a class you signed up for but never attended, but NEED in order to graduate.

        I’m in my late 30s and I still have those.

        1. skaryzgik

          10/15/2016, 11:29 am

          Yeah, I have a lot of “It’s finals day and I haven’t been to a single class all semester and I don’t even know what the classes even are” dreams. I wake up so exhausted after that much panic. And the last class I had irl was five and a half years ago now.

    12. pjeseb

      10/15/2016, 12:43 am
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      I had a nightmare once when I was like ten that would disgust and/or terrify (mainly disgust) most grown adults. Not even kidding. If I tried to describe it here, I would probably get banned or thrown in jail or something.

      But that was only the one time. My only recurring nightmares are the sleep paralysis one, where you feel like you’re awake but it’s like you only have enough energy to squirm around a bit, and one where I’m running around in high school, late, unable to find the class I’m supposed to be in.

      The sleep paralysis dreams aren’t scary, just exhausting and really boring. I seem to get one every time I fall asleep in the sunlight.

      The other nightmare probably comes from the fact that I DID spend a lot of time running around my high schools, late, trying to find the class I was supposed to be in.

    13. Disloyal Subject

      10/15/2016, 1:23 am
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      Nudity isn’t usually a concern to me even in life, but if it crops up in any form of nightmare I tend to have… other concerns. I don’t often have nightmares anymore.

    14. Leorale

      10/15/2016, 2:02 am
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      Taking the cliche further, nakedness is supposed to represent feeling vulnerable, and people’s reaction or lack thereof is supposed to indicate how comfortable you are with that vulnerability. Your mileage may vary, obviously.

      1. Fart Captor

        10/15/2016, 2:07 am
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        If you ever have a single dream that combines public nudity, the test you didn’t prepare for, driving from the back of a car, and the one where your teeth fall out, probably seek a therapist immediately.

        1. miz

          10/15/2016, 2:23 am

          omg…I have the “driving from the backseat” dream all the time but I’ve NEVER heard anyone else mention it before now. Is it a thing???

        2. Fart Captor

          10/15/2016, 2:34 am

          I’d heard of it being one of the common ones people have, though I don’t recall where.

          I’ve had it a few times. As a kid I remember it starting where there was someone driving and I just started in the back, but I would suddenly find myself alone in the car, and would have to desperately try to keep it from crashing.

          In later instances, I was usually driving at first, and it just became harder and harder to reach the wheel until I was basically in the back.

        3. miz

          10/15/2016, 2:39 am

          Mine usually start in the middle of the drive and I’m already in the backseat, swerving down a dark road unable to control my speed. Sometimes I’m on the wrong side of the road too, or driving in reverse. But for some reason I’m never worried or scared or anything; just super exasperated at how inefficient the whole thing is.

          Brains are so weird.

        4. skaryzgik

          10/15/2016, 11:35 am

          Gah! The teeth!

        5. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          10/15/2016, 8:31 pm

          Driving the back seat? Having your teeth fall out?

          I’d never heard of either of those before, or had them.

        6. Orion Fury

          10/16/2016, 12:37 am

          The teeth one has always freaked me out. I practically drink mouthwash for a week after that.

    15. EvilMidnightLurker

      10/15/2016, 2:06 am
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      Yes, but no one around me seems to care.

    16. kittykatgo

      10/15/2016, 2:11 am
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      I have had one naked in public dream. In the 5th grade, I dreamt that I was in class (which was being held in the hallway in a circle) and nobody seemed to care or notice that I was naked so I just accepted it and felt slightly uncomfortable. Then I had to go and stop my cat from getting run over in the parking lot (still naked), and that’s when I felt very uncomfortable. Not uncomfortable enough to let my cat die though.

    17. Rukduk

      10/15/2016, 2:25 am
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      Ehh…sorta, but I don’t think it counts because I’m always drowning in the ocean just within sight of a beach in that dream.

    18. Badgermole

      10/15/2016, 2:43 am
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      I had a naked in public dream at least once. Just naked and meeting people, doing things… nakedly. It was much more comfortable than waking life would suggest.

    19. doubleW

      10/15/2016, 2:48 am
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      My nightmare is always, specifically, that my lower half is nude under my desk and I’m trying to hide that fact.

    20. Opus the Poet

      10/15/2016, 2:51 am
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      I sleep naked, so I get the naked in public dream all the time, almost as often as I get the running at high speed without effort dream while I kick the sheets into the next room.

    21. Idontcarenomore

      10/15/2016, 3:24 am
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      I used to have a recurring dream, small details changed, where I was standing in front of my locker in the school hall. I removed my coat, I was wearing only my slip (back in days when we had a strict dress code in public schools), my shirt or sweater, shoes. No skirt, or sometimes no dress.

      I usually thought to myself in dream, this is ridiculous, I’d never leave home half dressed. Then I’d wake up.

    22. Minotaur

      10/15/2016, 3:44 am
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      I seem to recall a dream where I was naked from the waist down while holding a sermon. Most pulpit are waist high, so I’m not sure if that counts as a “naked in public” dream…

    23. JCfromNC

      10/15/2016, 5:22 am
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      Not I. My nightmares usually involve being chased by something, and not being able to stand up and run but only scramble along the ground on all fours. I have no idea what that says about me.

    24. Koms

      10/15/2016, 7:22 am
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      I have dreams of teeth falling out. Also of being a super stealthy hero. Also I once dreamed the secret service wanted to snatch a baby frock that I was sewing irl.

    25. Joe

      10/15/2016, 8:37 am
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      I’ve had most of the other cliche dreams, like teeth falling out and being unprepared for an exam in a class I didn’t know I had, but I don’t think I’ve ever been naked in dream-public.

    26. Dragon_Nataku

      10/15/2016, 10:30 am
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      I have naked-in-public dreams all the time, but I wouldn’t call them nightmares. Aren’t nightmares supposed to make you scared or some other negative emotion? In those dreams I’ll be like, “… oh, I’m naked. Weird” and everyone else around me is just interacting with me like normal, so it’s not really a problem. It’s probably cause, like others have said, I also sleep naked so maybe that’s why I get them really often.

      I do, however, often have a dream where I’m failing Spanish class and somehow forgot to attend class all semester and today is the final. It’s weird because Spanish is my first language, and in my country we have both Spanish and English class as a normal thing every year, and I haven’t actually had Spanish class since like 1998.

    27. ObiKemnebi

      10/16/2016, 12:03 am
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      Usually my nakedness in dreams is a side note. Like, I hit my period and don’t have a pad with me, then I notice I’m not wearing any clothes, but at that point I am much less worried about being seen naked than I am about leaving a mess on the floor or something. Or I’m running away from some monster and every few minutes I notice I’ve got one less article than I did before, but I don’t really care seeing as A SPIDER THE SIZE OF MY HOUSE WANTS TO EAT ME RIGHT NOW. That sort of thing. Never standing up in front of a bunch of people and being in my underwear or anything. Speech dreams, yes, but apparently that’s terrifying enough fully clothed that my brain doesn’t even bother.

  7. Doopyboop

    10/15/2016, 12:05 am
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    Aaw, Sarah. That’s actually super sweet! She really does mean it when she says she wants to make things better!

  8. SgtWadeyWilson

    10/15/2016, 12:05 am
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    I like the hoodie dress thing. It’s like cultist robes, but modern!

    1. Stephen R. Bierce

      10/15/2016, 12:09 am
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      My friend used to say the same thing about Snuggies.

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      10/15/2016, 12:27 am
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      It is all for The Greater Good.

      1. SgtWadeyWilson

        10/15/2016, 12:33 am
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        Did you just say The Greater Food?

        1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          10/15/2016, 12:37 am

          We serve that at the cult feasts.

          And it isn’t true about … you know.

        2. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 12:57 am

          I most certainly do not know! Do you take me for a gossip?

          Seriously, though, it’s long-pig, isn’t it?

        3. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          10/15/2016, 12:59 am

          [Shoves bag of skulls back behind the curtain.]

          No, of course not!

        4. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 1:16 am

          Of course. *Sighs.* And I suppose those are for the 13 simultaneous productions of Hamlet tonight?

        5. Lipke the Articulate

          10/15/2016, 1:19 am

          Yes.

          All thirteen of them.

          At once.

        6. Orion Fury

          10/16/2016, 12:39 am

          At least it’s not the play that can been named.

        7. JustCheetoDust

          10/15/2016, 1:19 am

          Skulls? Who eats meat from the face?

        8. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 1:23 am

          Sociopathic cannibals? Or maybe just really environmentally conscious ones who don’t want to waste anything.

        9. Disloyal Subject

          10/15/2016, 1:39 am

          Ironic that muscles designed for chewing are so tender and juicy.

        10. JustCheetoDust

          10/15/2016, 8:36 am

          Thank braising for that.

        11. JustCheetoDust

          10/15/2016, 9:31 am

          Sociopathic cannibals? Or maybe just really environmentally conscious ones who don’t want to waste anything.

          I just remembered jowls. Kinda like bacon. Makes me wonder if a cannibal ever went on a Bubba Blue food rant after looking at Nixon or Hitchcock.

          As for non-human meat, pig jowls and beef cheek [tacos] are pretty good.

        12. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          10/15/2016, 9:42 am

          “Environmentally Conscious Sociopathic Cannibals” is the name of my next Fine Young Cannibals cover band.

        13. Foxhack

          10/15/2016, 2:58 pm

          We have beef cheek tacos down here in Mexico. Apparently they’re good, but I’d rather eat other, less chewy parts.

    3. Reltzik

      10/15/2016, 7:42 am
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      Someone alert Pat Robertson.

  9. Stephen R. Bierce

    10/15/2016, 12:06 am
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    *plays Alice Cooper’s “Welcome To My Nightmare” on the hacked Muzak*

  10. caesaria82

    10/15/2016, 12:07 am
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    Cute as heck Sarah face in panel 3 🙂

    1. miados

      10/15/2016, 12:13 am
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      she is smiling. wait have i seen this before or is it just so rare i forgot.

      1. Dean

        10/15/2016, 12:33 am
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        Are you sure it’s not just a muscle spasm?

  11. fillerusername

    10/15/2016, 12:07 am
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    That’s a really harsh if not inaccurate description of Billie that totally justifies her attitude towards Sarah.

    1. Idontcarenomore

      10/15/2016, 3:32 am
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      I agree that it is harsh. But Billie is the cause of many of her own problems, imo.
      She leaned too heavily on her cheer leader role than was healthy for a college freshman. She did not try to expand her self with other activities. She was not really interested in too much around her, it seemed, except parties.
      She knew that Ruth and she were not healthy for each other and yet she was an enabler of the worse sort for Ruth.
      I know that that does not make her a bad person, it makes her human. We all ‘know’ what is best for us, and often do the opposite anyway.

      Sarah is just a strong responsible person with little tolerance for ‘party girls’. She is hard on Billie, I agree. But there is a bit of reason for her opinion of Billie.

      1. skaryzgik

        10/15/2016, 12:09 pm
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        This reminds me of a question I often have. *Could* Billie have done otherwise? Could she *really*?

        This probably sounds silly at first, but I’m still questioning the concept of free will in general, and find it difficult to declare any person as an entity to be a cause of anything. It always seems like there’s “why”s behind the “why”s, ad almost infinitum.

        (How’s that for the split-infinitive-complainers: I just split an “ad”-phrase! 😛 It *could* have been avoided, but “to almost infinity” feels more accurate to what I’m trying to describe than “almost to infinity”. Luckily, language is malleable–almost sufficiently so–to make such distinctions.)

        Back to the topic of Billie, she *did* stake too much of her identity in one place, which made it quite a blow when that place disappeared for her. At that point, parties were the only thing she had left. But to me it seems obvious that there was some *reason*, known to her or not, known to us or not, that she staked her identity proportioned out in the way that she did. The existence of such a reason for this or any other action seems to follow directly from the premise that no effect lacks a cause.

        Once everything was already falling apart, her enabling of Ruth’s most destructive tendencies is easier to understand. Still not good obviously, but it is easier to see the “why”s of what Billie was doing.

        1. Clif

          10/15/2016, 10:36 pm

          The premise that no effect lacks a cause? You must love quantum physics.

      2. Sam

        10/15/2016, 1:02 pm
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        In addition, she has been shown to be an unapologetically poor friend multiple times to Joyce which is another reason for Sarah to be hard on her – in particular Billie has been quite disrespectful towards Joyce.

        Even if she has also done kind things, we’ve seen that, Sarah hasn’t seen the nicer side of Billie much at all from my memory.

      3. BBCC

        10/15/2016, 1:12 pm
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        Except she DID try to expand – that was literally the point of her stint in journalism, hence her accusations of Sal being Amazi-Girl.

        1. Fart Captor

          10/15/2016, 1:42 pm

          This is true. Before her run-in with Alice, Billie was making a lot of progress in shaking off her past Mean-Girl attitude, as well as being a better friend/sister to Walky. She was expanding her interests, finding new ways to feel good about herself that didn’t rely on cheerleading, and generally being nicer to people. She even quit drinking!

          …and then they ran into Alice. Who, after watching Billie realize she didn’t want to be the mean, self-destructive person she used to be anymore, turned that epiphany into a dagger and nearly stabbed the New, Improved Billie to death right there. This is what caused her to start drinking and self-destructing again. Why she calls herself poison.

          The relationship with Ruth allowed her to hold on to a little bit of the progress. She didn’t start being mean to Walky or anyone else again. Instead, she just withdrew from trying to help people, and from people in general. Now that’s gone, or at least nearly so.

        2. BBCC

          10/15/2016, 2:02 pm

          Yeeeeep. Much as I can’t fault Alice for cutting Billie off, she definitely turned progress into a weapon to bludgeon Billie with. Not okay, and I’m wondering if we’ll ever see any conversation (or further flashbacks) on this.

        3. thejeff

          10/15/2016, 4:45 pm

          I don’t think Billie ever quit drinking. Even right before the Alice encounter.
          Did I miss something?
          I suppose the puking there could have been a detox symptom.

        4. Fart Captor

          10/15/2016, 6:24 pm

          Going back and actually checking, it looks like I remembered it wrong. Billie ran into Alice after Ruth caught her drinking again, not before.

        5. thejeff

          10/15/2016, 8:19 pm

          Ah, I thought you were suggesting she’d stopped drinking after being caught by Ruth, possibly trying to make it up to her.

          Near as I can tell, she’s never stopped drinking, probably not even now. We’ve never seen her have the kinds of symptoms Ruth has shown when she’s stopped. We haven’t even really seen Billie acknowledge she has problem or that stopping would be a good thing.

        6. Fart Captor

          10/15/2016, 8:37 pm

          Yeah, if she did actually quit, she couldn’t have held out long, since she never seemed to detox at all.

          I agree she’s definitely not sober now. I’m not sure the doctors at the health center even realized she had a drinking problem. 🙁

  12. miados

    10/15/2016, 12:11 am
    • Reply Report comment

    I always would tend to sit in the second row the seat immediately left of the center. at least when we could pick our seats.

  13. Athedia

    10/15/2016, 12:14 am
    • Reply Report comment

    My repeating nightmares throughout college were the “You didn’t take an art class in high school and now you didn’t actually graduate and we aren’t telling you the layout of the new highschool or which art class we registered you for and by the way the semester is almost over and you have to get an A.” and the more classic “Your teeth fall out. You wake up, wait no still a dream and there go your teeth. You wake up for REAL this ti- wait still dream. And again with the teeth. Is this rea- nah whoops, teeth. Lets do this a few more times-.” Then bam wake up for real and don’t really believe it until your roommate convinces you this is reality.

  14. Rukduk

    10/15/2016, 12:14 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Hmm. That’s a somewhat chill reoccurring nightmare. At least from my perspective.

    1. SgtWadeyWilson

      10/15/2016, 12:18 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Yeah, if you don’t wake up convinced that someone or something is trying to kill you, I’d say you’re lucky.

      1. inqntrol

        10/15/2016, 12:34 am
        • Reply Report comment

        Yeah, once I dreamed that I ran out of coffee(I can’t function without my caffeine) and quickly rushed to the kitchen drawer to check. Fortunately I still had one package.
        Now to make myself some coffee. *opens drawer* *gasps*(there’s no coffee package) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!……well, at least it’s Saturday.( True story, I actually ran out of coffee today. FML)

        1. geneseepaws

          10/15/2016, 11:21 am

          I am severely offended that you would use -or even- mention the words **Cough**Out of Coffee**cough-cough** That’s disgusting. Ugh! How Could you, I don’t … just…. Aaahhh! Nightmare on DoA Street. You seem so intelligent, how could you not keep a spare can of the elixer of awakeness on reserve at all times? Even the Heathen Atheists acknowledge the singing of the “Coffee Angels” upon the first sip. Who hasn’t heard them chorusing as you lower your cup, feeling the rich smooth deliciousness course down your esph. to fill the tummy with warmth. Heard their Harmony that signals the Triumphant Beginning of Awake, Alert, Alive, and Enthusiastic!?? Priorities!!!

        2. geneseepaws

          10/15/2016, 3:47 pm

          Gosh, that sounds all spiky and stabbity. I apologize, I was just horrified at the though. I was projecting your statement on my life. I was wrong. I am sorry for that. **Offers Internet Cookies, with Choco-Chips**

      2. John

        10/15/2016, 12:47 am
        • Reply Report comment

        I stopped having nightmares like that sometime after I started doing armored combat as a hobby.

        The last one, I was being chased by a bunch of skeletons, and instead of waking up with a slug of adrenaline in my bloodstream, I turned and split the first one’s skull with my broadsword… and woke up because I almost broke my hand on my nightstand. Only reason I didn’t actually break anything, I think, was because I couldn’t get all the body mechanics engaged properly lying in bed. Sword blows are so deeply ingrained in my muscle memory that they slide right under the RAS override that’s supposed to keep you from moving around in dreams. Even when awake, if I think too hard about it, I get little involuntary muscle twitches in my sword arm.

        But that was the last time I got attacked by monsters in my dreams,

        I don’t remember many of my dreams these days, but the ones I do are mostly either flying dreams, or vague nostalgic ones about old friends I haven’t seen in years. Often introducing friends from different periods who would have never met each other in reality.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          10/15/2016, 1:52 am

          I had a similar experience.
          Then the nightmares got creative, starting with having me realize I was in the monster role only toward the end.

      3. Rukduk

        10/15/2016, 2:13 am
        • Reply Report comment

        Switch “kill” with “slowly eat alive” and you have half of my reoccurring nightmares. The others always involve drowning.

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 4:25 am

          Most of my dreams are like:

          “Hey, remember that voice that tells you monsters aren’t real?”
          *Nods.*
          “Yeah, we turned that off again.”
          *Shakes head, eyes wide.*
          “What do you mean, aren’t you the one who keeps hoping for something exciting?”
          *Facepalms.*
          “Now run, I think it’s either Pennywise or Slender this time.”

          Except as an experience, not some meta conversation with personified parts of my own brain.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          10/15/2016, 4:51 am

          I had two main recurrents as a child, and one of them was a direct consequence of seeing the trailer for Jurassic Park. It involved being chased and near-inevitably caught and devoured, torn apart, or just splattered by a single persistent predator too big to oppose, while the other was much the same except instead of being hunted in a cozy house I got chased around a 3+ story deep pit with sheer sides and had a slim chance of rescue.

    2. motorfirebox

      10/15/2016, 12:27 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Yeah, hardly any spiderclowns at all!

    3. Bluewind

      10/15/2016, 2:15 pm
      • Reply Report comment

      I have weird nightmares. One that I had for years was that I was chewing gum and would try to take it out, but not all of it would come out. So I would start pulling gum out of my mouth. A giant pink pile would form, but there was still more. And it would keep swelling. Going down my throat. Filling my nose and lungs. Choking me. My throat burning raw from friction as I tried to frantically pull it out. I had that dream all the time for years. I still won’t chew gum while I’m awake. I sometimes had it with string (would find a piece of string on my tongue and go from there and yes, pulling the string out if my throat burned and hurt much more) instead of gum.

      Then I have nightmares based in reality like being stuck back with my abusive mother and nobody will believe me. Or ones based on my fears like the little family I have left and my friends turning their backs on me so I’m all alone, finding a family member dead (I watched my papaw die when I was a kid and got there right after my mamaw did), or someone showing up with a gun (my mother tried to kill me at one point, but instead of more subtle methods, my subconscious goes straight for the action sequence). Then there’s the bittersweet dreams where mamaw is alive and I’m happy… and then I wake up and realize that she’s gone and it’s like losing her all over again because of that moment between being asleep and awake when there is confusion (it doesn’t hhurt as much as it did the first year at least).

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        10/15/2016, 9:22 pm
        • Reply Report comment

        8~~~-({

        1. Bluewind

          10/15/2016, 9:43 pm

          I swear, if you keep reading my posts that face is gonna become a shortcut for you 😉

  15. keet

    10/15/2016, 12:18 am
    • Reply Report comment

    oh, sarah. this is why you are my fave.

  16. Fart Captor

    10/15/2016, 12:19 am
    • Reply Report comment

    I finished college almost 10 years ago and I still get the “I overslept for class and there was an important test today” dream from time to time.

    NOT COOL, BRAIN

    1. inqntrol

      10/15/2016, 12:24 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Tell me about it. It happened to me a couple of times as well, though sometimes I manage to realise it’s a dream and wake up instantly.

      1. Fart Captor

        10/15/2016, 12:35 am
        • Reply Report comment

        It would usually take me a few moments after waking up to fully shake it and realize “Oh right, I haven’t been studying because that test was YEARS AGO”

      2. Disloyal Subject

        10/15/2016, 1:53 am
        • Reply Report comment

        You wake up when you realize it’s a dream? That usually just makes me go lucid.
        It’s happened enough that I’ve somehow gotten bored with flying.

        1. Rukduk

          10/15/2016, 2:15 am

          I wish I could lucid dream. I really do. Cause then my nightmares would involve less drowning.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          10/15/2016, 4:45 am

          Yeah, once you get the hang of hijacking them most of the nightmares just give up.
          The rest get tricky and keep you from catching on.

    2. Lipke the Articulate

      10/15/2016, 12:30 am
      • Reply Report comment

      It’s funny, I tend not to notice that my somewhat similar dreams are nightmares until after I wake up.
      By “somewhat similar”, I mean that every so often I dream of being in school, talking to my old teachers or what not. It’s weird- I’m almost ALWAYS in the wrong classroom for the teacher who is present in the dream.

    3. Nicolumbia

      10/15/2016, 12:32 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Are those dreams more of a thing during/after college? I’m in my last year of high school and I think I’ve only had one or maybe two of those.

      Also, I keep reading brain as Brian – curse you, Brian, whoever you are!

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        10/15/2016, 12:34 am
        • Reply Report comment

        I’ve gotten them occasionally all my life (late middle aged now). They changed into “naked at the office” ones later on. A subset of anxiety-themed dreams.

      2. Fart Captor

        10/15/2016, 12:41 am
        • Reply Report comment

        I definitely had the test one most often during and right after college. As I’ve gotten older and figured more stuff out, the “Oh shit oh shit I’m not prepared for this” dreams have petered out.

    4. anonymsly

      10/15/2016, 9:40 am
      • Reply Report comment

      I get the ‘I overslept’ dream every so often and I hate it. I can never tell it’s not real because I don’t dream (that I remember) at all otherwise. So I’ll wake up in a total panic and start tearing through the house getting ready for work, and it’s usually not until I’m practically out the door that I think to look at a clock and find… it’s like two hours after I went to sleep in the first place.

    5. Lone Wolf

      10/15/2016, 1:37 pm
      • Reply Report comment

      I recently had a dream where I woke up, got ready for work, then laid back down for a few minutes and wound up oversleeping half an hour past when I should’ve already been at work.

      And then I woke up for real and saw I still had at least two more hours before I had to be up to get ready for work.

    6. Bluewind

      10/15/2016, 2:20 pm
      • Reply Report comment

      Me too! It’s either I’m late for class, I didn’t study, or utter confusion when I realize I had this class that I totally forgot about in my class load and I have to show up to it weeks into the semester with no book as they talk about stuff that makes no sense.

  17. motorfirebox

    10/15/2016, 12:24 am
    • Reply Report comment

    So that’s not Sydney Yus coming in behind Sarah?

    1. JessWitt

      10/15/2016, 12:42 am
      • Reply Report comment

      The day Sydney enters the Dumbiverse is the day it comes to an end.

      1. Nicolumbia

        10/15/2016, 12:48 am
        • Reply Report comment

        So, November 28th in our time?
        Mark your calendars, folks
        http://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/post/149962052112/november-28-2016

        1. JessWitt

          10/15/2016, 12:49 am

          Serves me right for avoiding preview panels.

    2. Nicolumbia

      10/15/2016, 12:44 am
      • Reply Report comment

      That was my first thought too! I think Sydney Yus might be running against Robin but I’m not sure. There was a preview panel of her a little while ago so I guess we’ll be seeing her sometime soon?

      1. JessWitt

        10/15/2016, 12:48 am
        • Reply Report comment

        Oh noes, DoA is ending! Hoisted by my own petard.

      2. Fart Captor

        10/15/2016, 12:49 am
        • Reply Report comment

        No, she’s running against that Manley guy whose first name I forget

      3. John

        10/15/2016, 12:58 am
        • Reply Report comment

        Robin’s opponent is Jake Manley.

        1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          10/15/2016, 9:24 pm

          Maybe Yus is his campaign manager or aide.

    3. maxyai

      10/15/2016, 5:17 am
      • Reply Report comment

      I have no idea who that is so I will just say “Aaaah snap!”

  18. Aislashu

    10/15/2016, 12:25 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Nice to see he hasn’t been totally corrupted against her due to who he’s dating.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      10/15/2016, 12:55 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Jacob seems to be a smart enough guy to want to get both halves of the story. I mean he’s majoring in law for a reason.

      Wait is he majoring in law in this AU?

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        10/15/2016, 1:03 am
        • Reply Report comment

        Yes he is. I think that is a law class they are in right now.

        1. Dean

          10/15/2016, 5:20 am

          They’re in Hoodie Dresses 101. Neither Sarah nor Jacob realise that they’re both falling this class.

        2. SgtWadeyWilson

          10/15/2016, 1:28 pm

          Yeah, looks like Sarah has a 33.334% at best, and Jacob just has 0%.

  19. Romanticide

    10/15/2016, 12:26 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Well at least Sarah’s day is going okay so far.

  20. Tenchan

    10/15/2016, 12:29 am
    • Reply Report comment

    “Human Tire Fire”?! That’s an interesting phrase. Someday I’ll refer to someone as that and see how they react…

    Something tells me I better learn how to dodge, block and run.

    1. Some1

      10/15/2016, 12:41 am
      • Reply Report comment

      I wouldn’t particularly care personally.

    2. The Chosen One

      10/15/2016, 1:00 am
      • Reply Report comment

      It’s a good place to start, but those are only really important as stepping stones to Air Cancels and Wavedashing.

    3. Disloyal Subject

      10/15/2016, 1:58 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Dodging, parrying, and running are good, but blocking should be a last resort – most stuff worth blocking will still stagger you and leave you open for another hit if it lands squarely on your guard.

      1. Cybersnark

        10/15/2016, 10:45 am
        • Reply Report comment

        And it only works at all if you and your attacker are either evenly matched or if you’re stronger than them. If they’re stronger, your block might as well be tissue paper.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          10/15/2016, 6:57 pm

          Better to block a stronger hit and be sent sprawling than to let it stave in your ribs. Better still to sidestep.

  21. Monk_Master

    10/15/2016, 12:29 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Wow, is this the first genuine Sarah smile we’ve seen?

  22. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    10/15/2016, 12:30 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Sarah, You are tlaking to Jacob, that is good. Can you think of something to talk about other than Joyce or nudity?

    1. Leorale

      10/15/2016, 1:55 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Just don’t combine the two subjects, that’s weird.

  23. Doribi

    10/15/2016, 12:31 am
    • Reply Report comment

    I get the whole “family killed in front of you by your best friend, who then frames you for the crime” nightmare, never fun waking up from that one as you have the weird mix of anger, sadness and fear.

  24. Lipke the Articulate

    10/15/2016, 12:31 am
    • Reply Report comment

    After everyone talking about how horrible Billie was for saying those things, I find it somewhat funny how Sarah is just brushing it off.
    Hell, she’s the happiest we’ve seen her in a long time.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      10/15/2016, 12:51 am
      • Reply Report comment

      What she said was somewhat uncalled for but again most hope everyone here realizes that that’s just Billin lashing out in reaction to her grief so it’s going to take some time to get by this.

      But I don’t think letting her deal with her own self destructive tendencies on her own is a good thing, especially since that’s how most of our problems animals of everybody else’s problems start in the first place. Give her some space but make sure you still holding on to your friend.

      In a sense this is what Sarah is learning to do right now.

      1. Lipke the Articulate

        10/15/2016, 1:17 am
        • Reply Report comment

        Oh, yeah, I get all that. I was just pointing out the vague humor I found in it, is all.

        1. newllend(henryvolt)

          10/15/2016, 1:43 am

          Yeah I know I’m sorry I think I I just went on a tangent

  25. JessWitt

    10/15/2016, 12:41 am
    • Reply Report comment

    I’m stealing that “human tire fire” moniker for my sister.

  26. PSadlon

    10/15/2016, 12:48 am
    • Reply Report comment

    “Thing”, Sarah?

    1. The Chosen One

      10/15/2016, 1:01 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Yeah, you know.
      The whatsit.

    2. John

      10/15/2016, 1:02 am
      • Reply Report comment

      When Sarah’s dreaming about Jacob naked, I don’t think it’s a nightmare.

  27. John

    10/15/2016, 1:01 am
    • Reply Report comment

    She keeps her tires in her shirt.

  28. nobodybasically

    10/15/2016, 1:37 am
    • Reply Report comment

    So just to be clear, she dreams about her entire class, including Jacob but EXCLUDING herself, being naked?

    I can’t tell if that’s really hot or kinda sad, like everyone enjoying Jacob except herself? Really gives you a peek into her psyche.

    1. Leorale

      10/15/2016, 1:58 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Or everyone allows themselves to be vulnerable except Sarah. Sarah’s subconscious knows how it is.

    2. Scar Man!!!

      10/15/2016, 11:24 am
      • Reply Report comment

      perhaps the dream only starts out that way before it gets really interesting

  29. BP

    10/15/2016, 1:41 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Oh. Oh my god. I just actually literally clutched my heart.

    Sarah. Sweet, precious Sarah. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU.

  30. Reltzik

    10/15/2016, 1:52 am
    • Reply Report comment

    “OKAY QUICK WE BOTH NEED TO GET NAKED NOW!”

    “…. uhwut?”

    “Uh…. we’re just in Dream Type 3 where I say ludicrously embarrassing things for no reason.”

  31. Reltzik

    10/15/2016, 1:53 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Calling it now: In less than 10 strips, Sarah is going to be tripping over Dina and Becky.

    1. inqntrol

      10/15/2016, 2:12 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Becky: Maybe we should get up, this is the fourth time this happened today.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        10/15/2016, 9:28 pm
        • Reply Report comment

        Epidemic of students tripping on “Dina & Becky”, the nickname for the latest drug of abuse to afflict IU. Film at 11.

        1. Orion Fury

          10/16/2016, 12:47 am

          NOT ENOUGH TRIPPING

  32. Ryek Hvek

    10/15/2016, 2:20 am
    • Reply Report comment

    That isn’t Sarah, it’s the Duchess of Thingley. Tell no one you saw her.

  33. Teddae

    10/15/2016, 2:37 am
    • Reply Report comment

    there’s positivity and hope for sarah? huh.

    1. Reltzik

      10/15/2016, 8:16 am
      • Reply Report comment

      There are three distinct possibilities of interest.

      First, she got it from Joyce’s invitation to walk. Got her in a social mood or something.
      Second, it got kickstarted by her interaction with Billie somehow.
      Third, it’s a consequence of her having branched out in general, befriended Dina, etc.

      …. I’m not sure which one’s more terrifying.

      1. Clif

        10/15/2016, 10:49 pm
        • Reply Report comment

        Number 3 obviously. There are certain things that contravene nature.

  34. BenRG

    10/15/2016, 2:56 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Never mind, Sarah! Someone will surely invite you to one of <i.those parties one day…

    Maybe…

  35. Idontcarenomore

    10/15/2016, 3:35 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Good for you Sarah. You can do this.

    Now just find other things then Joyce to talk about as that subject undone you with Jacob the first time you tried talking to him.

    I am keeping my fingers crossed for Sarah, she is learning from her friends examples and I hope it sticks long enough for her to do it on her own.

    1. thejeff

      10/15/2016, 8:36 am
      • Reply Report comment

      But she’s not talking about Joyce in the same way, she’s not just telling funny stories about her.
      She’s talking about how Joyce and her other friends are doing and about how that’s affecting her.

      1. Bluewind

        10/15/2016, 2:24 pm
        • Reply Report comment

        Exactly! It’s exactly what Jacob asked for a while back. He wanted to know how she was and she’s doing that ^_^

  36. Keulan

    10/15/2016, 3:51 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Holy shit, Sarah’s actually having a normal conversation with Jacob. And it’s not just talking about Joyce either. Wow.

  37. Arianod

    10/15/2016, 4:05 am
    • Reply Report comment

    It gets better, Sarah. Not much, but it does.

  38. Bagge

    10/15/2016, 4:22 am
    • Reply Report comment

    Sarah, last panel: “Crap, Joyce put him up to this, didn’t he?”

    1. Bagge

      10/15/2016, 4:23 am
      • Reply Report comment

      *she

    2. Reltzik

      10/15/2016, 8:19 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Nope. Good-news-bad-news time!

      Good news! Jacob actually thinks of you as a friend all on his own without being put up to it!

      Bad news! You’ve just been friend-zoned!

  39. Larkle

    10/15/2016, 9:44 am
    • Reply Report comment

    1st panel Jacob: Hell, I’ll just try and see what happens.
    2nd panel Jacob: Tentatively initiates contact.
    4th panel Jacob: Oh, wow. She even smiled! This is going great and engagingly!
    5th panel Jacob: Well, something malfunctioned. On stand by.

  40. darkoneko

    10/15/2016, 11:06 am
    • Reply Report comment

    So chirpy

  41. ObiKemnebi

    10/16/2016, 12:10 am
    • Reply Report comment

    What do you mean, “And Becky, I guess”? I am not belittling Joyce’s trauma or how hard this has all been hitting her, but wasn’t Becky the one being kidnapped at gunpoint? Dina fought off Toedad, but he wasn’t really interested in her except as an obstacle between him and Becky; once he saw red hair off in another direction, he left her alone. So I’d think Dina would be the addendum, right?

    1. Fart Captor

      10/16/2016, 12:17 am
      • Reply Report comment

      Sarah was not there to actually witness any of that, and she barely knows Becky at all.

      Joyce and Dina are (already) Sarah’s friends, so they get top billing.

  42. Onion

    10/23/2016, 6:43 pm
    • Reply Report comment

    How does one use parentheses while talking?

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