No
Posted on July 12, 2012 by David M Willis
I will be at San Diego Comic-Con!  I'll have Dumbing of Age posters, pin-up postcards, and Shortpacked! books.  If you're in the webcomics area, I'm not far away!

204 thoughts on “No”

  1. Yotomoe

    Joe is still trying to get some money out of his pools.

    1. David Herbert

      His thoughts are probably further down south than greed.

      1. Zoey

        HA! penis!

        1. das-g

          Even further down: Femurs.

      2. BD

        I figured it involved a happy household based on mutual satisfaction that won’t end in divorce.

  2. NCP19

    Was Joe even there before? Or did he just teleport for possible lady lip lockin’?

    1. Yotomoe

      I like the theory that he’s a jumper but only when it involves lesbians or cunnilingus.

      1. Cronomatt

        Isn’t that the same power as Tucker from RvB and Todd from Scrubs? Damn, there’s a lot of those jumpers aren’t there.

        1. Nathan

          “I’m like Superman. I know when I’m needed.”

  3. Mkvenner

    Just stab him the face with a soldering iron.

    1. lele

      im there!

    2. Blob Marley

      Dorothy, you’re talkin’ to my guy all wrong! That’s the wrong tone!

  4. Wonder Wig

    Nice job avoiding a double negative in the 4th panel Walky. That would’ve surely gotten me.

  5. David Herbert

    He was summoned by the talk of girl-on-girl.

  6. addude

    Well that ship sank. Walky deserves someone who will accept him pajama jeans and all. I’m boarding the BillieXWalky for some tsundere goodness

  7. Mister Mercy

    I wanted this to last but… How many strips till they officially split? Votes anybody?

    1. WhiteEyedCat

      Probably depends if Walky values Dorothy higher than pyjama jeans…I give it three strips.

      1. Frodrick

        He could value her more than the pants, but still break up simply because he won’t put up with being told what or what not to wear. As an aside I note that Dorothy most certainly cannot decide who she is attracted to. Biological mechanisms and all that.

      2. Tom T.

        Or at least values making out with Dorothy more than….

      3. Darksen

        Or maybe Dorothy will change her mind and figure that wearing pajamas in public (though not very proper, and something I personally wouldn’t do) is not that big a deal in the big picture. At least not something to break up over.

        On the other hand, if someone you’re seen with is dressed in something silly all the time, it’s understandable why this could be an issue, so I guess it can go either way…

      4. Mister Mercy

        Three strips? That sounds like within the day. Walky mus really love pajama jeans

  8. Yotomoe

    You have no right to talk about style when you’re wearing a turtleneck purple sweater…apparently in like fall.

    1. shoeboxjeddy

      I dunno, I’m sure various Velma fans would vehemently argue there is NO wrong time to wear a turtleneck sweater…

      1. Yotomoe

        but purple?

        1. Yotomoe

          btw purple turtlenecks sounds like the perfect name for people who ship daphne and velma

        2. SplashBoogie

          Done and done. FANFIC TIME.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          It’s a nice purple, as for Walky’s pants, if the colour was bluer, it would look somewhat better.

        4. Shade

          BLASPHEMER! Purple is the best colour!

      2. Roborat

        Purple. It’s the new black.

  9. Croaxleigh

    Silly Walky! You have to do what she says. She keeps The Boobs.

    1. Yotomoe

      I think Walky has had enough mcnuggets that they can BOTH keep the boobs.

    2. lord of dance

      damn shes got him there, cuz im pretty sure he still hasn’t touched them yet

    3. LaurelRaven

      Hmm…T3h Bewbz or Pajama Jeans. Sounds like a tough choice!

      1. Rex Hondo

        She may not want him to wear the pajama jeans, but there are plenty of boob-fish in the boob-sea.

        1. Blob Marley

          Boobfish sounds like best fish to me.

  10. Yotomoe

    Can I also take this opportunity to say that Sierra is my favorite character….like…for how much she’s appeared.

  11. kyojikasshu

    Poor Sierra is like, “What just happened?”

  12. Leon

    Damn, that’s an awesome les-dar!

  13. Paul

    Be careful Dorothy! Unlike your former boy friend, Walky might actually have a spine.

    1. gangler

      Unlike her former boyfriend Walky is remarkably comfortable as a single man.

      1. Heimdallw32

        He’s never single when he has McNuggets or Nachitos!

    2. Groove

      I hadn’t thought of this but it’s a great point. That she’s used to having far too much authority over her partner.

    3. Blob Marley

      It’s part of why we like Walky so much. You don’t see the steel in his spine until you break your knuckles on it.

  14. Kernanator

    I can’t tell whether Joe interrupting makes things more or less awkward for them.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Looks like Joe derailed the argument.

      1. Kernanator

        Joe Rosenthal: Keeping couples from getting mad at each other by making them mad at him.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          And a good job of it he does as well. 🙂

        2. Raticate5

          Are you guys accusing him of being secretly clever? Maybe his personality is a medium that he uses to work the will of a caring, thoughtful person, staying undetected all the while. Maybe he intended to break up the argument? Maybe he tried to soften the blow for Danny by giving him forewarning of the end? Maybe he slept with Roz because he knew that if it wasn’t him, some other dude would get dragged into that mess?

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          YUP! What a guy!

  15. Equuizzicals

    Are there things more noticeably stupid looking in real life? Cause these look just like normal pants to me.

    1. Yotomoe

      I actually think they’re a bit less noticeably stupid in real life.

      1. Groove

        Do they have jeggings in america? Those are pretty stupid.

        1. Janette

          Yes. But I don’t think they’re in style anymore–at least if they are, they’re on the downward trend/on the way out.

          (and thank god.)

    2. gangler

      I have to imagine that however bad they are Walky’s already worn worse around her. Everybody has their line in the sand though. Apparently pajama-jean hybrids offend her more than butt-tacos and hygienic issues.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Even Evil Dotty Has Standards.

        1. Historyman68

          Oh, tropes…

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Be thankful I didn’t create a link.

        3. Heimdallw32

          I am. I lost four hours yesterday to that site after someone on here posted a link.

        4. Kryss LaBryn

          The good part about spending hours there is that sooner or later, you’ve pretty much read all the tropes pages, and then you can happily start just ignoring them!

          The bad news is that that’s several cumulative days that you will never get back…

        5. Blob Marley

          But then you start looking up your favorite books/movies/shows and checking to see what tropes they invoke. There’s another couple weeks as you look back and say “hey, yeah!”

        6. Plasma Mongoose

          I thought I have read all that can be read but TVTropes is always re-editing a number of their tropes and adding new examples from every media.

          While you are less likely to archive-binge again, it is still possible to spend quite some time checking it out.

        7. Roborat

          I wonder at the sanity of the people who work on the website.

    3. Raoullefere

      Doesn’t matter: Dotty has arbitrary standards, and she does her best to make sure everyone sticks to them. Heil Dorothy! Zie Heil! *(actually, hopefully she won’t win, in this, anyway, Run, Walky, Run!).

  16. Mrogan

    Seriously? At my university, students would venture from their dorms in their pajamas ALL THE TIME. Especially if it was just for food, though that didn’t stop them from walking to classes in pjs. Also, they resemble sweat pants, but cozier.

    Then again, I’m biased. I’d do a person in penguin pajamas, and am generally oblivious to fashion.

    1. Wack'd

      If it were just pajamas, and he’s gonna change out of them later in the day, that’d be one thing. These are pajama jeans, and he fully intends to keep them on as long as he can get away with it. That’s the problem.

      1. Kernanator

        I still don’t see the problem. Granted, my idea of fashion is to throw on whatever’s comfortable, but still.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          He should avoid wearing the same thing for more than 3-4 days even if he doesn’t go outside, but it is better if he wears something fresh at least every 1-2 days.

      2. Mrogan

        What problem? The problem is with compatibility. She cares about social convention. He doesn’t give a wazoo. These are preferences. I happen to empathize with Walky more so than Dorothy. Whatever your preference, she is confronting this compatibility issue in a graceless way, as befits a comic entitled “Dumbing of Age”.

  17. Bekah

    She’s got a point.

    1. DanielleM

      She might have a point about Walky needing to take a little more pride in his appearance but she’s definitely not going about it the right way and Walky has a point too. You CAN’T just tell your significant other what they can and cannot wear.

      1. Yotomoe

        Except for clown suits…You can tell them not to wear those.

      2. Bekah

        She’s not telling him what he can and can’t wear. She’s telling him that she finds him less attractive when he dresses like a slob, which is perfectly valid and within her rights.

        1. gangler

          “No. No you’re not wearing those in public”.

        2. Bekah

          And in the next panel, she says…

          Thanks for quoting the comic for me by the way. I’m too stupid to scroll up.

        3. gangler

          The next panel. You mean the one after she tells him what he can and cannot wear in public?

        4. Bekah

          Yeah, the one where she agrees that she can’t do that, and says almost exactly what I said she’s doing.

        5. gangler

          As her reason for the previous panels, where she what exactly? Remind me what she opened up with?

        6. Bekah

          Oh for fuck’s sake. I’m done here.

        7. begbert2

          Gangler won an internet argument!

          Yay!

        8. Bekah

          @begert, he didn’t win anything. His stubborn idiocy pissed me off so I stopped responding to him.

        9. AstroRocket

          That’s almost the exact definition of wining an argument on the internet.

        10. Raticate5

          @Bekah That’s what winning an internet argument means. And I’m pretty sure that begbert’s comment was meant to shoot down any sense of accomplishment that gangler had for pissing you off.

        11. DarkVeghetta

          gangler has a point (and you’re ignoring/sidestepping it) – she only took one step back from telling him what to do after he told her it was inappropriate. I doubt she’d specify if he just agreed. Not to mention both attempts at control are quite lacking any grace in delivery. It boils down to ‘do it’ and then ‘do it or I won’t like you anymore’ – rather crude, don’t you think? But heck, so is
          Walky.

        12. Jon

          On the internet, you can’t read tone. I’m reading that as said in a dry “You gotta be kidding me” voice. As in “No, please tell me you’re not actually WEARING that in public!” Essentially, “Come on!” rather than “I forbid you!”

        13. Rex Hondo

          Except her facial expression makes it pretty obvious that she is telling him what he can and cannot wear.

        14. Plasma Mongoose

          Obviously she wants to be the one to ‘wear the pants’ in this relationship.

        15. TheLastOutlaw

          So she’s jealous of the pajama jeans, get her her own pair and all will be well.

        16. Rex Hondo

          So, switching to blackmail only when flat-out forbidding him to wear them didn’t work is better how?

        17. Bekah

          How is stating her preferences blackmail, exactly?

        18. Rex Hondo

          Maybe we’re reading different comics, but the one at the top of my page doesn’t have the words, “Walky, I don’t like those pants,” or any permutation thereof.
          The one I read has a naked attempt at emotional blackmail. She threatens to withhold the physical aspect of their relationship if he does not dress in a manner of which she approves.

        19. Bekah

          We are reading very different comics. She’s not threatening anything of the kind. She’s telling him she finds him unattractive in those pants, which is precisely a statement of preference.

        20. DarkVeghetta

          “She’s not telling him what he can and can’t wear.” – she just did. Soon after explained why, but that doesn’t change the fact she did and never even cared to apologize for such (and yes, she should). From your posts I can surmise you don’t think it’s a big deal for her to do so, but won’t accept that for others it may very well be a very big deal, hence the little flamewar with gangler (though that might just be him approaching the matter from a literal viewpoint and you from a context-centered one – i.e. what she sed versus what she meant).
          No punchline, just an observation.

      3. Echidnae

        Particularly not a “significant other” that you’ve been dating for a week. After months or years, sure, “I’ve always hated that [article of clothing], would you mind not wearing it so often?” After a week? That’s just insane.

        It’s sad, too, because this is a situation where tact and positive reinforcement could have worked so well. Just tell him what he looks hot in, not what he looks terrible in. The promise of boob-touching will make him wear the clothes you compliment 😀

        1. Bekah

          I disagree strongly with the insane thing. Using sex as a weapon to change someone is disgusting. Telling them you don’t like their pants is pretty sane.

        2. DarkVeghetta

          What would you find worse:
          a) “Those pants make you look bad in public, stop wearing them.”
          or
          b) “If you’d only wear those -other- pants I like I’d so want to grab your cute ass more.”
          Now me, as a hypothetical recipient of the two lines would ALWAYS go for b. It’s cute, non-confrontational, arousing, doesn’t put me on the spot and respects my choice in the matter. Not to mention not demeaning in front of a small crowd.
          Sadly it’s evident Dorothy is as clueless about having a relationship as Walky is. Not that I’m surprised – they’re still only barely legal, if that. Mistakes will be made, likely entirely avoidable ones such as this one.

        3. gangler

          Didn’t this start out as some kind of non-committal no-strings attached dealie too? That fell apart rather quickly.

          I kind of hopes Walky responds with “So the pants are cool so long as we’re not making out?”

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          “So the pants are cool so long as we’re not making out in public?”

          FIXED!

        5. DarkVeghetta

          As expected, if rather cliche. But really, very very
          expected from the wannabe-prez and the obstinate man-child.

        6. DarkVeghetta

          Worked for the shirt, damnit!

      4. Raticate5

        Oh my god, been there, done that. To my fellow heterosexual men, if she starts telling you what to wear you should hear this.

        1. DarkVeghetta

          Depends if she’s asking for a special ‘treat’ or if she wants you to change how you dress all the time, period. I wouldn’t mind wearing something she picked out every now and then in order to be more pleasing for her. But I do expect more butt-grabs in return – kind of how Dorothy handled the shirt thing, that was rather spot-on cool girlfriend behavior. Huh. Why did she do this again? She’s really better then this. I have to say I feel this is somewhat out of character for her given prior happenings, and she’s only doing so because the Author Says So.

  18. Melizza

    meh, this is bullying, and make-out-blocking. i don’t like!

    1. Rex Hondo

      “If somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!”

      (Thank you Melizza. I’ve been waiting for somebody to set that up for me.)

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        ‘Lip Lock Block’ to be precise.

      2. Melizza

        Hahaha that is a response I didn’t expect 🙂

    2. begbert2

      I’m kind of okay with one of the participants lip lock blocking. I mean, they’re her lips. If Walky makes himself unappealing to her, then that’s his problem.

      1. Melizza

        Personally, I didn’t think she felt he was unappealing to her, rather instead that he was embarrassing to be around in public with. Why? Simply because she didn’t complain when he wore the same shirt with the same stain on it for a couple, or a few, days, and I believe they made out even after such a revelation (not 100% sure). I’d go back and check the strips out, but I’m too lazy and unfocused for that. So, she’s only lip lock blocking because she’s embarrassed. It’s as evil as blackmailing, imo.

  19. WhiteEyedCat

    Sierra’s hair really annoys me, I want her to push it out of her face! I have the same problem with Connie, any character with hair in their face really.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      What if she has a justified reason for it, like a missing eye, scar or birthmark?

      1. Rex Hondo

        Maybe she knows that the moment when a girl brushes the hair back out of her face is hot, and is suitably prepared.

      2. Historyman68

        She’s actually Odin, the Allfather.

  20. AliaPie

    I like to think that any time a potential lesbian interaction is mentioned, Joe just pops up.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      …and if any ACTUAL lesbian interaction occurs, his ‘Little Joe’ pops up.

  21. Doctor_Who

    I prefer the theory that Joe was there in potentia all along. In fact, he’s potentially everywhere.

    He’s Schrodinger’s Perv. He is both there and not there until the possibility of lesbian interaction either does or does not present itself, at which point the probability waveform collapses and the Joe either does or does not manifest.

    I shall write a paper on it. But first I’m gonna need some girls to make out so I can gather data. Volunteers? Your contribution to my research will be credited, and I’m certain my professors will take a deep interest.

    1. Yotomoe

      of course it will all need to be recorded, both written and taped…for science!

    2. Tom T.

      Joe manifests in a superposition.

  22. TacosForever

    Ouch. Not cool, Dorothy.

  23. Joebo

    It doesn’t help when you live in the same building as said old friends.

  24. DanielleM

    Sierra seems pretty laid back and she and Walky would look pretty cute together.

    Just sayin’.

  25. Khrene Cleaver

    Mike’s Just as planned.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Just As Keikaku!

      1. LionHeart

        TL Note: Keikaku means plan.

        1. Zanosuke_Kurosaki

          TL Note: This joke was never funny.

          Note to the TL Note: “Funny” means something humorous.

    2. TheLastOutlaw

      Yea, Mike saw this coming.

  26. DT

    “Don’t know it till you tried it” makes me want to ship Joe with Ethan.

    1. Usayasha

      I’ll ship it, but what will we call it? What do you call a ship full of nerdy, Jewish, homoerotica?

      …USS Enterprise, that’s what.

      1. Raticate5

        *high five*

  27. Benny

    Dorothy, you haven’t been in college very long. Very soon, everyone will start wearing pajama pants 24/7 because they’re much more comfortable to study in. Jammies and coffee.

  28. lightsabermario

    Joe appears wherever he is needed. He’s like Tucker from Red vs. Blue. Bow Chicka Bow Wow!

    1. Blob Marley

      I always hated you, Tucker. I always hated you the most!

  29. Rex Hondo

    Damn. And to think I had some hope for this ship.
    Less than a week and she’s already using sex (or at least kissy-time) as a weapon. Abandon ship now, Walky.

    1. Aydr

      Not exactly. She’s just raising the valid point of just because she started dating him doesn’t mean that she has to keep dating him. Could this lead somewhere bad? Sure could. Quite easily. Is it bad now? meh.

      1. Rex Hondo

        In just about the most inflammatory and public way possible, over pants. Maybe I’ve been out of the dating scene for too long, but it seems pretty bad to me.

        1. Aydr

          Most inflammatory and public way possible? Doesn’t exactly look like she’s yelling and screaming about it to me. Yeah, maybe she’s being a bit controlling but this really isn’t that bad at all.

        2. Rex Hondo

          Note the way she lowers her eyebrows and throws her chin forward in panels 3 & 4, taking an agressive physical stance.
          Of course she’s not the first one to yell. That’s not how emotional manipulators work. Let him be the first one to yell. That way he seems like he’s the one being unreasonable.
          Granted, I’m willing to consider that she’s not consciously doing it, but given that her HS sweetheart was Danny, I think it’s safe to say that this girl has no idea what constitutes a healthy relationship.

        3. Aydr

          …gotta be honest. You seem to have some serious relationship paranoia here. Yeah, she’s angry… but she’s not trying to make him start screaming and she’s not doing it herself. This is not some manipulative bongo trying to make a scene, this is a couple having their first fight. You’re reading waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much in to her being a little on the controlling side.

  30. John Madden

    Silly thing to fight about.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Wars have started over less.

      1. Blob Marley

        BUTTER SIDE UP, DAMN YOU, OR I’M PRESSING THE RED BUTTON!!!

        1. Historyman68

          Nice Seuss reference!

      2. Raticate5

        God dammit Jenkins. You and your ear!

      3. Keulan

        For example, the Pig War.

        1. Roborat

          Wow, thanks. I learned something today. See mom, webcomics are not a waste of time.

        2. Historyman68

          Geez, there’s moms everywhere!

  31. Olive

    Ooh, Dorothy. That’s not the way you should go about getting Walky to dress nicer.

  32. Uniqueantique

    Honesty is the only thing that works if a relationship has any chance at all I think. If I’m keepin’ on keepin’ on with someone for a few months and then he pops up out of the blue with, ‘oh by the way, I hate those pants’;
    I have to wonder what in Hell took him so long to speak his mind.
    There is nothing wrong with candor, but honesty is good. Dorothy could’ve said I dont think those pj’s do much for you, or some other way. Forbiddin Walky is a big mistake. And all of those pj jeans that I’ve seen personally, belong in the bedroom, not on the street. They look pretty cheesy.

  33. Rex Hondo

    Since this is an amalgam response to multiple threads, I’ll just start anew down here. Let’s break it down, shall we?
    Firstly, she is not merely expressing distaste for his pants. She is very specifically and very publicly forbidding him to wear them. Not suggesting, not asking. Forbidding.
    Also, the fact that this is in public is very telling. If she had waited until they were in private to talk to him, we would be having a very different conversation. As it is, whether she means to or not, she is attempting to publicly assert dominance in the relationship. And that’s just in the first couple of panels.
    Once he has the unmitigated gall to not be cowed, she resorts to the threat, and make no mistake, it is a threat. She can choose to not be attracted to him any more, as if she chose to be attracted to him in the first place. If he wants kissy-time, then he will do as he is told, like a good doggy.
    She might have had room to say that she didn’t find them attractive if they were on a date, but they just happened to bump into each other. She shouldn’t care one way or the other how he dresses when they’re apart. Taken together, the last few panels show pretty clearly that she simply and shallowly doesn’t want to be known as the girl who makes out with with the guy in the pajama jeans.

    1. Heavensrun

      I think you’re overanalyzing this. “She is attempting to publicly assert dominance in the relationship”? Seriously.

      Dorothy sees pants. Dorothy hates pants. Dorothy expresses her displeasure in no uncertain terms. I don’t think her motivations are any more complex than that.

      I can’t particularly blame her, either. He’s wearing sleep clothes in public. Sure, they’re pajamas that have a print to make them look like jeans. I’m actually not sure if that makes the situation better or worse. It’s tacky, it -will- garner negative attention from people that notice, and that isn’t something that has even -occurred- to Walky at this point. Which is why Mike got them for him in the first place. Because in this case, quietly handing Walky exactly what he asked for with no strings attached -was- the dickest move possible.

      1. Rex Hondo

        You haven’t been witness to a lot of emotionally abusive relationships, have you? Whether Willis intended it to or not (and I tend to believe the former), Dorothy’s behavior is sending up warning flares like crazy. That the pants are tacky is utterly irrelevant. That Dorothy chose to start an argument in public and give an ultimatum about their entire relationship over pants is more telling than some folks seem to want to admit.

        1. Janette

          As someone who’s been in an emotionally/physically/sexually abusive relationships, and a clinical pysch major, I have to say your first sentence is totally uncalled for. How dare you to try judge what someone has or hasn’t been through.

          People are too quick too label relationships as abusive when they’re not. And honestly, Dorothy is a COLLEGE FRESHMAN GIRL and acting like such. Having also been a high school girl, girls put a lot of stock and get very demanding about how they’re partners look in public until someone teaches them that this is not okay.

          While I wouldn’t threaten to break-up, I wouldn’t want my boyfriend to wear pajamas while we were in public. If he refused to wear proper clothes, I’d understand I couldn’t force him, but I wouldn’t go out with him in public and would question if the relationship dould work. I don’t see what’s wrong with asking someone to get dressed before going out, I wouldn’t ask someone to get rid of their clothes or change their style.

          What she is doing wrong. 1) They are no-strings attached non-exclusive. 2.) She is discussing it in public. 3.) Acting as if a college campus is public when many students treat it as a their own private house and walk out in pajama pants. But I don’t know what UC is like, just what my experiences with college was like. Plus, Dotty did have a boyfriend who would do whatever she wanted and worshiped her. She’s use to always getting her way. I don’t think she’s abusive, but she does lack relationship experience.

        2. Rex Hondo

          And yet, you immediately judge whether or not I have any idea what I’m talking about. I’ve been in in emotionally abusive relationships and dealt with emotional blackmail more times than I like to contemplate, and this strip right here is how that sort of thing starts.
          And I fail to see how any of your other paragraphs refute my point in any way. Just because she hasn’t learned that emotional blackmail isn’t OK doesn’t excuse the behavior.

        3. Shade

          See now you’re quick to jump to emotionally abusive.

          My first boyfriend was a smoker, I dislike smoking but never required him to quit for the sake of the relationship. BUT I also refused to kiss him after he had smoked, he did eventually quit on his own. Was I emotionally abusive? I had a distaste for the whole thing and had rules in place after all, even witholding acts of affection, for my own comfort.

        4. Rex Hondo

          You’re comparing apples and, well, cigarettes. The two situations are not even remotely the same.
          Walky is not doing something unhealthy or self-destructive like smoking (which, incidentally, is actually a perfectly acceptable reason for a break-up). He’s not even doing something offensive, like wearing a “No fat chicks” shirt. His one and only sin is wearing a pair of pants that Dorothy doesn’t like.
          If you honestly think wearing tacky pants is comparable to smoking, then, I’m sorry, I can’t help you.

        5. Historyman68

          And if you honestly think that what Dorothy is doing is comparable to being in an emotionally manipulative relationship (which I have too), you’re equally wrong.

      2. Dr.Z

        ‘“She is attempting to publicly assert dominance in the relationship”? Seriously.’

        She did decide to do this in public, instead of taking him to the side, so I do not think Rex Hondo is over-thinking things.

        1. Rex Hondo

          To be fair, I was perhaps a tad verbose, as is my wont when discussing a subject about which I am particularly passionate.

      3. Raticate5

        Maybe this is all just an argument about whether or not it’s acceptable for Walky to wear pajama pants in public. Consistently, the people who say Dorothy is threatening Walky also say that they don’t see anything wrong with him wearing the pajama jeans. And, likewise, most of the people who say that Dorothy is just sharing her opinion also say that it’s gross what Walky is doing.

  34. LiC

    But Dorothy… they’re pajamas… that look like JEANS. How can you hate them?!

  35. Brasca1

    And as we can clearly see anything Mike does will always cause problems even when he’s not around. Seriously I think Dorothy should cut him some slack considering what most college kids wear anyway. Unless he’s been living in it for a week it’s passable.

    1. Zanosuke_Kurosaki

      Yes and no. You should remember, those are -unwashed- pants from the night before. Even if one isn’t a complete neatness freak, that would make some people a tad uneasy to learn such about their makeout partner.

      1. Blob Marley

        Hey, man. Pants can survive a few days without a wash. *Especially* in college, living in a dorm.

        1. Kernanator

          Hell yeah!

  36. Aesir

    Overly-controlling women like Dorothy usually find themselves very alone before long

    1. Klondike

      I don’t think she’s being all that unreasonable, really. Walky is wearing sweatpants while hanging out at the mall, which seems a little inappropriate, in my opinion. It isn’t Walmart.

      1. Klondike

        ALSO I would like to point out that not only is he wearing sweatpants, he is wearing unwashed (it’s Walky, come on now) sweatpants from the night before.

        1. Raticate5

          Those pants can’t have gotten dirty in one night unless those two were getting dirty. Granted, I usually don’t wear the same pants two days in a row, but I don’t wash my pants every day, it’s a waste of energy and water. Unless he wears them nonstop for days on end I don’t really think it’s that gross.

  37. Rex Hondo

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/jammies/

    And that, boys and girls, is what we call irony.

    1. Heavensrun

      In fairness, in that case, she was trying to improvise to fit in to a social element that was completely foreign to her, whereas Walky is convinced that he’s found some cunning social loophole that allows him to wear pajamas in public without consequence.

      1. gangler

        I think you’ve got that backwards. She thought she’d found a cunning social loophole which would allow her to wear pajamas at that party without consequence. He just thinks pajama jeans are really freaking cool and enjoys wearing them. I don’t think social consequences were ever what was restricting Walky’s wardrobe.

        1. Raticate5

          I like this. They both think they’ve found cunning social loopholes which would allow them to wear pajamas in a public setting. They are definitely both improvising to fit into social elements completely foreign to them. So the problem is that Walky just thinks pajama jeans are freaking cool and Dorothy doesn’t want her slob to be a slob.

        2. gangler

          Could be they’re more similar than we realize.

  38. ADHadh

    Walky’s got a point with Sierra there. She should at least get flip-flops ;P

    1. Rex Hondo

      I think Walky should just dump Dorothy right now and ask Sierra out so they can have some delicious, sticky caramel-on-caramel action.

      1. Dr.Z

        0-0 I never thought of this ship.

        Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

  39. Dr.Z

    I do hope Walky shows a spine to Dorothy, here. She is out of line.

    I think a lot of this stems from Dorothy’s pride and ambition. Walky’s slob behavior will never meet her high standards.

    I doubt there is anyone at this college that will, especially as she sees this college as beneath her final aspirations.

    1. Zanosuke_Kurosaki

      That right there, is some of why I’m not so fond of Dorothy. She sees things as beneath her. Ambition is all well and good, it’s when one goes and decides something one isn’t personally seeking after or wanting is “beneath them”, that it starts to turn into unwarranted arrogance. Billie is going to have the other version of this problem until she gets it into her head that “ex-cheerleader” means nothing to these people.

  40. Maycroft

    there was some Joeness missing these days.

  41. Jack Faire

    “Joe you can teleport?!?!?” *wicked grin* “Only when it’s funny!”

    1. George

      Joe is a Toon?

  42. Raoullefere

    Soooo in the other reality (It’s Walky!”) Dotty lost Walky by insisting he toe one of her lines… and here she goes again.

    You can change reality, you can change circumstances, but you can’t change people? Is that the idea?

  43. gangler

    It’s actually kind of interesting now that I think about it. Her problem with Danny was that he didn’t allow for independence. It wasn’t cool how he stuck around even though she had desires and ambitions that didn’t necessarily include him. She very clearly felt that he should’ve left of his own volition at that point.

    So she puts off breaking up with him for months after she admittedly knew she should have done so, and only even works herself up to it after getting some encouragement from a counselor. Two days later she’s with Walky.

    Now Walky’s perfect in theory. He’s completely content to just let each of them do their own thing. There’s no commitment in this. They each get to live based on their own particular sets of ambitions and desires without consideration for the other. All the problems of the previous relationship are no longer an issue.

    Then she reaches this point. Walky reveals a turn off severe enough that she has no desire to touch him while he’s like this. Now any other person faced with a turn off like that one week into a relationship would view this as an opportunity to ask whether they wish to continue making out with this person, and probably come up with the answer of “No”. All the moreso in a situation like this where there’s very specifically been no commitment made towards future makeouts and they’re both still just seeing where this goes.

    That’s not what Dorothy does though. She sets out to get Walky to change his behavior. To sacrifice some of his own desires in order to preserve the couple unit.

    Now admittedly we’re looking at two unhealthy relationship extremes on a spectrum of absolute codependency to absolute independence. There’s definitely a healthy middle-ground where you can consider what your partner wants in regards to your physical appearance without sacrificing larger ambitions.

    She didn’t jump to the healthy option though. She very specifically jumped to the other extreme because she thinks that’s what she wants. Somebody who won’t make any demands of her time and let her live an entirely independent life. What I think she’s gonna find is that she doesn’t actually enjoy the other side of that. She would prefer to have somebody that she can make some demands of. Unfortunately that’s give and take. You can’t have a guy who’s willing to change the way he dresses for you but also has no expectations of your time or a shared future together. So the question she’s gonna have to face is whether she’d rather be single or give up a little bit of that independence.

    This is, to me, a very relatable conundrum. It can be a lot of work to discover what type of relationship if any you’re happy in. The prospect of giving up nothing can be quite appealing but she has desires which cannot be fulfilled without giving up at least a little.

    1. kschenke

      It’s so nice to scroll down to the end and find a reasonable, thoughtful cordial comment. With correct grammar, no less. 🙂

    2. icepyrox

      I would like to take this moment to point out that you did, in fact, call this a scale, and as such, imply that while the situation involves extremes, there are more degrees than “extreme left, middle, extreme right”. There are many degrees between the extremes. That’s something to consider, but now that I think about it, it is not the point I am trying to make.

      What I really feel is happening here is that Dorothy mistook Walky for being in the middle (since he actually does want to be with her) when really he is much closer to the independent side. That staggering realization caused a knee-jerk reaction of the other extreme in the thought that this would pull Walky back to the middle where she thought he was.

      She doesn’t want someone like Danny, that’s still pathetic in her mind. But what she does want is someone who is dependant enough to care about what certain people think of him and this dependancy is displayed in the normal manner of looking appropriate in public. She’s highly attracted to his independance, but completely turned off by this going to the extreme of not caring about appearance.

      Some have stated that there are different degrees of what people consider public. Whether Walky feels the campus as a whole is his home and therefore not public has not been addressed yet, but Dorothy clearly feels that outside dorm rooms is public. Therefore she completely dislikes the idea of being seen making out with a guy who would wear PJs in public. Personally, I commend this, though the method is a bit extreme.

    3. Raoullefere

      Wish I could come up with an eloquent comment on Gangler’s post, but all that comes to mind is “Dotty is a doodie-head.”

      I can do slightly better with icepyrox’s, though: “She’s still is a doodie-head.”

      1. Raoullefere

        Christ, I even repeated my verb. Brain, wherefore art thou?

        Mr. Brain: On vacation. Just because *you* won’t take one doesn’t mean I can.t”

  44. Ryan Balis

    a relationship where you don’t like the person for who he or she is ends being only about the physical stuff, poor Walky

    1. Dr.Z

      Your words are wise, Balis.

  45. Kirt Dankmyer

    Raise your hand if you were surprised this was their first fight…

    It’s Chekhov’s pajama pants!

    1. Aydr

      Mike always plans ahead.

  46. Darksen

    You know, panel five could have been an appropriate punchline. Does Joe always have to-

    Okay fine, so it’s Joe. He always has to. Being promiscuous is his only character trait. Though I think it kind of killed the mood here.

  47. begbert2

    “What?”

    “No, you’re not wearing those in public.”

    “Um, yes I am. Unless you don’t consider this hall public, I guess.”

  48. ajm5007

    Why would you even WANT pajamas that look like jeans if you’re not going to wear them in public?

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Best Point Yet!

    2. madd

      Yes. Really.

  49. Blob Marley

    Way to be shallow, Dotty. Way to be shallow. He didn’t get you a matching set. He’s not harming anybody with those things. You’re just so image-conscious that you can’t live and let live, allowing Walky to do his thang.

  50. penguintruth

    Dump the controlling bongo, Walky. You’re going to break up sooner or later because you’re… you, so you might as well pre-empt and dump HER, because it raises your social status and you can get better women.

    1. Melizza

      Yes! And one day when she is president, you can tell everyone about how you dated her for a couple days, but dumped her over a pair of pajama pants. Definitely raised social status.

  51. Rust

    Man, this whole thread was a downer.

    You know, rereading it, Dorothy is being pretty shitty. But I’m still slightly inclined to be on her side because I feel similarly about my own boyfriend, who wears shirts 3 or 4 times before washing them and showers two or three times a week. In my opinion, that’s gross, but I don’t live with him so he can do whatever he wants when I’m not around. Still, I shower every day, wear my shirts once and my pants twice before washing them, so it’s kinda gross to me. But that’s all personal preference.

    Maybe we’re all right and all wrong. I’m going to go eat ramen and stare blankly into the distance and think about shitty things I’ve done.

  52. Eve

    …geeze I don’t understand why everyone has a problem with Dorothy. I’d say telling someone you aren’t attracted to them when they’re dressed a certain way is hardly controlling. She agrees with Walky that she can’t tell him what to wear but she’s just telling him that she’s not attracted to people who wear that stuff.

    It’s really not the end of the world if someone stops hooking up with you because they aren’t attracted to you anymore

    1. Aydr

      She’s supposed to love him totally and unconditionally, not in spite of but because of his quirks. That’s what she said when she married him remember?

      Oh wait.

  53. Greg

    What does Sierra do in the summer when the pavement gets too hot to walk on?

    1. Roborat

      Take up jogging.

    2. Melizza

      I’m sure that if you really walk around barefoot all the time, your feet naturally grow tough skin which helps during the heat. She’s probably also used to it. Don’t quote me on any of this stuff, though, I’m not a rocket scientist.

      1. historyman68

        I talked to a doctor who had treated Native American children who walked around barefoot so much they had pebbles and stuff embedded in their calluses. Do you think we evolved with shoes on our feet?

        Then again, we also didn’t evolve walking around on pavement… hmm, I’ll get back to you on this one.

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