well, there are supportive parents out there but most ppl set more realistic goals, i imagine there are some kids out there that would say ‘ i wanna be president’ but parents would prolly go like ‘sure, honey’
You don’t really need leadership talent to become president, just be corrupt and willing to do whatever your super-wealthy donors want over what’s best for the people.
I mean “not being willing to use a tragedy for your own personal benefit” is a massive impediment to succeeding in politics, she’s right to be re-evaluating her dreams because of that
It’s maybe a little less good that the main reason he’s expressing for not entertaining the idea seems to be the effect it could have on Dorothy’s career prospects, not the effect it would have on his current relationship,
It’s what he is telling Dorothy, based on the way she is acting and what she is saying – that is, he is reacting to her (and trying to support her “dreams”), which he did when they originally broke up. That may or may not have anything to do with what he feels about himself and Lucy.
People keep talking about “cheating”. What, exactly, is Walky and Lucy’s commitment here? IIRC it’s all in Lucy’s head, and Walky’s qualms about acting on feelings for Dorothy, relative to his relationship with Lucy, would center on violating Lucy’s perception of commitment. Which is decent of him.
Given that they’ve literally gone on dates to meet her family and Walky is fully aware of how much this girl is in love to him. He has at the very least committed enough to her to warrant at the very least telling her he wants to break things off before he even considers wanting to fool around with Dorothy.
Sure if Lucy was just crushing on him one sidededly with no encouragement or acknowledgement of a relationship from him then he’d be clear and commitment free. But in this case he’s already started dating the girl full well understanding just how much the act means to get and he’d be incredibly shitty to not at least give her the courtesy of knowing that he doesn’t feel the same way / that they should break what they currently have going on off before he goes to hook up with somone else.
They’re in a relationship. No matter how young or one sided that relationship is that is still a commitment to not fuck around on eachother
Meagan
Very mononormative.
I support communication between any people getting intimate with each other, in any way. And part of that communication is making clear requests and expressing expectations. There’s no such thing as implied monogamy.
Exactly; I’m guessing Bryy missed the hyphen at the end of the first line. Caucus-blocking is the verb here, the subject is just “the mean dean”, not “the mean dean caucus”
Damn this scene is giving me a stress reaction just waiting for the page to load!
As I thought, Walky is still hung up on the idea he’d be holding her back… Yet the only one who really believed in her.
I still ship them.
I’m starting to think that maybe Dorothy ought to go to Yale. Or maybe not Yale – I doubt the environment there is what she needs right now – but somewhere else where she can have a fresh start in a new space with new people.
Maybe, but I genuinely think that a wholly new setting would be beneficial.
Heck, at this point I’d even cosign onto her taking a year off to travel, to work, to do freaking Americorps or something. *Anything* to make a clear break between the past and the future.
Student exchange in Germany, then she changes her name to Dorothea Kiener and becomes in a few years president of Germany, only to realize that german presidents have no power.
Interesting that Walky’s biggest reason for not getting back together with Dorothy is that he doesn’t want Dorothy to fail, and believes that he would cause her to fail. He isn’t saying they can’t get back together because of Lucy, although that might be another reason. It shows just how much he wants Dorothy to be able to follow her dreams, and he truly believes she can do it.
Is Lucy going to find out about this? If she does, what is going to happen?
well, he did still ask her out even if dorothy gave him the idea, if he didn’t think it was leading her along or just asking her out because he think he ‘should’ ask someone out/make the first move, i don’t know if he’d rly just start a relationship that easily (tho i suppose they are at that age where ppl would ‘date’ each other for two weeks and then it’d end)
Yeah, I think Walky’s interest in Lucy extends past convenience. If he was just wanting to hook up, he could have with Amber regardless of the Sal thing since even Sal told him it was fine. Walky doesn’t do things with women he doesn’t feel right about doing.
Otl1973
He probably can’t. Amber booted him on Halloween because of the comments he made about Mike.
DailyBrad
He can’t now, no, but the opportunity was there before. They ended up settling for grinding.
Kyrik Michalowski
Except he and Amber are not on speakingnterms at the moment; unless they have patched things up since then, but I doubt it.
Owlmirror
Of course they’re on speaking terms. It’s been a couple months or so since Halloween. Even though Amber was angry at Walky, she’s not the type to hold a grudge over him being dumb and not processing grief the same way that she does.
She “blows up” the conversation with a wild Dina taunt, but I think that’s because of the then-new Walky hotness overload.
JRivest
Walky was friends with Lucy before they started dating. I think it’s possible he would have been perfectly happy remaining friends. But Lucy wanted more, and Dorothy seemed to think it was a good idea, and why not after all, she’s not bad looking, he’s a boy she’s a girl, it seemed like the thing to do. He doesn’t feel for her the way he felt, and still feels, for Dorothy, but then again he doesn’t think he’ll ever feel that way for anyone else, what, is he supposed to be alone forever? Those are the things I presume are happening in his head. He feels uncomfortable with how fast things are going. He probably realizes Lucy really is in love with him, and he’s not sure it’s right to keep going through the motions hoping his own feelings reciprocate hers in time, not when she is pushing for their relationship to become sexual, something that appears to be a big, important step for her… He can tell she’s under the impression he loves her as she loves him, and that it is under that belief that she wants to have sex with him.
Walky and Lucy need to have an open and honest discussion about their feelings, and that’s just not Walky’s strong suit.
Lucy will find out immediately after it is settled that W&D aren’t getting back together, but of course because of incomplete information and miscommunication she will think W&D are getting back together.
The big question is does she sink into gloom, depression, and excessive ice cream consumption like Dana, or does she go knife-crazy berserk like in that anime?
Dorothy just expressed regret about setting them up, to say “well too late” would just be rubbing it in. She understands that Lucy is an obstacle here.
See this is why the kidnapping plot is impossible to take seriously as something that would actually traumatize people: the characters themselves use the word supervillain completely unironically. It’s cartoonish, so one should expect equally cartoonish consequences
I think that Walky is the only one who would use “supervillain” which may be due to his love of cartoons and comics. Either way, someone can use overblown language and still be seriously affected by something.
This. And like, it was exaggerated because Amazi-Girl’s superheroics exist in their universe, too, but actual IRL abusers’ actions can sound cartoonish when you’re describing them to someone outside that place and time. That doesn’t make them less real, less potentially dangerous, or less traumatizing.
Discussion (174) - “Mistake”
Ana Chronistic
college is all about learning to foist jobs onto others
Ana Chronistic
swear it’s tricky not repeating what Willis says
Yumi
You used the word “foist,” though, and I appreciate that.
Decidedly Orthogonal
Mmmm… now to hoist some moist petard!
Opus the Poet
Alliteration!
Clif
No Literating
Clif
Or, as my Aunt Begonia used to say, “Who’s on foist?”
Roborat
That’s right.
BBCC
Walky being Dorothy’s biggest cheerleader has always been one of my favourite things about them.
Schpoonman
Great recognizes great.
DailyBrad
Yeah, he believes in her even more than Joyce does, honestly. Like, not sure even her parents believe in her as hard as he does.
Abdomino
His reverence seems more… grounded. Joyce worships Dorothy, Walky just recognizes her greatness for what it is.
anon
well, there are supportive parents out there but most ppl set more realistic goals, i imagine there are some kids out there that would say ‘ i wanna be president’ but parents would prolly go like ‘sure, honey’
Jamie
Walky is exhibiting true leadership talent. Maybe he’ll be president.
GholaHalleck
He’d have to be from Georgia for that to work though.
jflb96
That’s more of a General Secretary area
Keulen
You don’t really need leadership talent to become president, just be corrupt and willing to do whatever your super-wealthy donors want over what’s best for the people.
Plaaaa
Hey, you need some natural charisma too. It’s not like a handsome face and no morals are rare qualities in people.
anon
i could totally see him being some kinda “youtuber/streamer” type bro that reacts to political memes and shit
Dana
Walky has a fairly good understanding of his strengths and weaknesses.
Schpoonman
Aw, geez, the both of you.
Sirksome
I was about to say. I love the spirit but Walky’s got no juice behind that jab!
anon
well, he did get asher a good jab by his standards
C.T. Phipps
Dorothy: I’ve decided not to go to Yale because I don’t want to profit from your kidnapping.
Walky: You mean the one good thing to come out of this? I want you to benefit from it! So does everyone else.
Dorothy: STOP IT.
Thag Simmons
I mean “not being willing to use a tragedy for your own personal benefit” is a massive impediment to succeeding in politics, she’s right to be re-evaluating her dreams because of that
Clif
Also she was willing to profit from Walky’s kidnapping, she just wasn’t willing to benefit from Becky’s.
Suet
A brawn signal, Walky? Figures, since you’re the FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
*plays Never Gonna Let You Go by Sergio Mendes*
Suet
“No, Walky, the [Yale] dean isn’t cauc–blocking me, I conceded from the race.”
RassilonTDavros
…Does Ruth’s grandpa count as “somebody else’s dad,” even if he’s technically not her dad and has no living children (that we know of)?
He’s definitely got the whole “the talky kind” schtick down, at least.
Dana
He is some evil approximation of a father figure, especially for Howard. I’d say so.
cbwroses
Sure.
The “grand” is silent.
And there’s always Jason’s dad.
Azhrei Vep
In order to be a grandpa, he had to be someone else’s dad. Still totally counts.
Yumi
Just punch everyone you see. It’s the only way to be safe.
Dana
Something like this?
pickonecard
it’s good that Walky doesn’t seem to even be entertaining the idea of cheating on Lucy. It’s also nice that he’s trying to cheer her up.
TerribleTransit
It’s maybe a little less good that the main reason he’s expressing for not entertaining the idea seems to be the effect it could have on Dorothy’s career prospects, not the effect it would have on his current relationship,
Otl1973
It’s what he is telling Dorothy, based on the way she is acting and what she is saying – that is, he is reacting to her (and trying to support her “dreams”), which he did when they originally broke up. That may or may not have anything to do with what he feels about himself and Lucy.
DailyBrad
Walky is sort of like Danny in that respect, very loyal. Fidelity must be one of Dorothy’s attraction points.
Mark
People keep talking about “cheating”. What, exactly, is Walky and Lucy’s commitment here? IIRC it’s all in Lucy’s head, and Walky’s qualms about acting on feelings for Dorothy, relative to his relationship with Lucy, would center on violating Lucy’s perception of commitment. Which is decent of him.
Nalim Skarro
Given that they’ve literally gone on dates to meet her family and Walky is fully aware of how much this girl is in love to him. He has at the very least committed enough to her to warrant at the very least telling her he wants to break things off before he even considers wanting to fool around with Dorothy.
Sure if Lucy was just crushing on him one sidededly with no encouragement or acknowledgement of a relationship from him then he’d be clear and commitment free. But in this case he’s already started dating the girl full well understanding just how much the act means to get and he’d be incredibly shitty to not at least give her the courtesy of knowing that he doesn’t feel the same way / that they should break what they currently have going on off before he goes to hook up with somone else.
zee
They’re in a relationship. No matter how young or one sided that relationship is that is still a commitment to not fuck around on eachother
Meagan
Very mononormative.
I support communication between any people getting intimate with each other, in any way. And part of that communication is making clear requests and expressing expectations. There’s no such thing as implied monogamy.
Bryy
So, by “Mean Dean Caucus” does he mean Raidah’s group or did he buy that story?
foamy
I suspect though cannot prove it is a reference to one Dean, Howard, circa 2004.
Gigafreak
No, he means something else.
“Is a mean dean (i.e. McHenry, with whom Walky’s family is connected) performing a
cock-blockcaucus-block upon you?”a/snow/mous/e
Exactly; I’m guessing Bryy missed the hyphen at the end of the first line. Caucus-blocking is the verb here, the subject is just “the mean dean”, not “the mean dean caucus”
Masumi
Damn this scene is giving me a stress reaction just waiting for the page to load!
As I thought, Walky is still hung up on the idea he’d be holding her back… Yet the only one who really believed in her.
I still ship them.
Jenniffniff
Always. My OTP of the comic for sure.
Uly
I’m starting to think that maybe Dorothy ought to go to Yale. Or maybe not Yale – I doubt the environment there is what she needs right now – but somewhere else where she can have a fresh start in a new space with new people.
GholaHalleck
She needs to find herself a nice leaf blower and settle down.
Dana
She doesn’t need to go anywhere, she just needs to expand her circle of friends. I’ve thought so for a while.
Thag Simmons
She could have that without moving away.
Uly
Maybe, but I genuinely think that a wholly new setting would be beneficial.
Heck, at this point I’d even cosign onto her taking a year off to travel, to work, to do freaking Americorps or something. *Anything* to make a clear break between the past and the future.
zee
I mean she needs to not leave her support system in the middle of a mental breakdown.
After this is all settled then maybe
khn0
Student exchange in Germany, then she changes her name to Dorothea Kiener and becomes in a few years president of Germany, only to realize that german presidents have no power.
Kyrik Michalowski
Interesting that Walky’s biggest reason for not getting back together with Dorothy is that he doesn’t want Dorothy to fail, and believes that he would cause her to fail. He isn’t saying they can’t get back together because of Lucy, although that might be another reason. It shows just how much he wants Dorothy to be able to follow her dreams, and he truly believes she can do it.
Is Lucy going to find out about this? If she does, what is going to happen?
anon
well, he did still ask her out even if dorothy gave him the idea, if he didn’t think it was leading her along or just asking her out because he think he ‘should’ ask someone out/make the first move, i don’t know if he’d rly just start a relationship that easily (tho i suppose they are at that age where ppl would ‘date’ each other for two weeks and then it’d end)
DailyBrad
Yeah, I think Walky’s interest in Lucy extends past convenience. If he was just wanting to hook up, he could have with Amber regardless of the Sal thing since even Sal told him it was fine. Walky doesn’t do things with women he doesn’t feel right about doing.
Otl1973
He probably can’t. Amber booted him on Halloween because of the comments he made about Mike.
DailyBrad
He can’t now, no, but the opportunity was there before. They ended up settling for grinding.
Kyrik Michalowski
Except he and Amber are not on speakingnterms at the moment; unless they have patched things up since then, but I doubt it.
Owlmirror
Of course they’re on speaking terms. It’s been a couple months or so since Halloween. Even though Amber was angry at Walky, she’s not the type to hold a grudge over him being dumb and not processing grief the same way that she does.
Here’s a conversation, after the break. Yeah, they don’t “hang” anymore, but she’s willing to converse.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/location/
She “blows up” the conversation with a wild Dina taunt, but I think that’s because of the then-new Walky hotness overload.
JRivest
Walky was friends with Lucy before they started dating. I think it’s possible he would have been perfectly happy remaining friends. But Lucy wanted more, and Dorothy seemed to think it was a good idea, and why not after all, she’s not bad looking, he’s a boy she’s a girl, it seemed like the thing to do. He doesn’t feel for her the way he felt, and still feels, for Dorothy, but then again he doesn’t think he’ll ever feel that way for anyone else, what, is he supposed to be alone forever? Those are the things I presume are happening in his head. He feels uncomfortable with how fast things are going. He probably realizes Lucy really is in love with him, and he’s not sure it’s right to keep going through the motions hoping his own feelings reciprocate hers in time, not when she is pushing for their relationship to become sexual, something that appears to be a big, important step for her… He can tell she’s under the impression he loves her as she loves him, and that it is under that belief that she wants to have sex with him.
Walky and Lucy need to have an open and honest discussion about their feelings, and that’s just not Walky’s strong suit.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
Lucy will find out immediately after it is settled that W&D aren’t getting back together, but of course because of incomplete information and miscommunication she will think W&D are getting back together.
The big question is does she sink into gloom, depression, and excessive ice cream consumption like Dana, or does she go knife-crazy berserk like in that anime?
thumb
“Biggest reason”? or “reason relevant to the current situation”. If he has twenty reasons, does he need to list them all in order of importance?
Blue
Dorothy just expressed regret about setting them up, to say “well too late” would just be rubbing it in. She understands that Lucy is an obstacle here.
Derek
See this is why the kidnapping plot is impossible to take seriously as something that would actually traumatize people: the characters themselves use the word supervillain completely unironically. It’s cartoonish, so one should expect equally cartoonish consequences
Kyrik Michalowski
I think that Walky is the only one who would use “supervillain” which may be due to his love of cartoons and comics. Either way, someone can use overblown language and still be seriously affected by something.
Bryy
We IRL use the phrase “cartoonishly evil” all the time.
Regalli
This. And like, it was exaggerated because Amazi-Girl’s superheroics exist in their universe, too, but actual IRL abusers’ actions can sound cartoonish when you’re describing them to someone outside that place and time. That doesn’t make them less real, less potentially dangerous, or less traumatizing.