123

Mathsperson
Posted on April 8, 2018 by David M Willis

123 thoughts on “Mathsperson”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    but… Ruth has to collect FEMURS

    and Jason… needs… Turkish delight?yeah no

    1. Doctor_Who

      It occurs to me that with the right coloration, Turkish Delight would look an awful lot like Energon cubes.

      Pardon me, gonna sign up for a booth a the next Transformers con and make a million bucks.

      1. Screwball

        Oooo, sounds yummy! I’d live some Energon Delight! Any chance of some actual Energon in a batch? Or does it all have to be Human friendly?

    2. Deanatay

      Heheh… JaceLess.

      (I know, it flies in the faaaaaace of everything we know about them. But since when does that stop a good ship?)

      1. Felix

        For a nickel. IN YOUR FAAAAAACE!

  2. LordSimian

    But… but afternoon boobies are some of the best boobies…

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      Sky…rockets in flight!

      1. Screwball

        Afternoon delight! 😛

  3. King Daniel

    But were the ones Walky saw masked, brown, Nazca, Peruvian, red-, or blue-footed?

    1. ValdVin

      Freckled. And that’s a personal fave, if only cos I’m a redhead.

      1. King Daniel

        Freckled boobies, freckled boobies…do those count as red-footed?

        1. King Daniel

          ALSO: high-resolution photo of a pair of brown boobies, totes NSFW nudity

        2. King Daniel

          And a pair of great tits

        3. Pablo360

          I clicked on those links knowing what was going to be on the other side, but also sort of hoping that it was an obscure double-prank antijoke to jape certain people who thought they were in on the joke

        4. Inahc

          I can’t read whatever comment you attached to “certain people” because I’m on mobile. 😛

        5. Amazi-Stool

          “Ornithologists”

        6. Kamino Neko

          I’ve occasionally wondered why so many slang terms for breasts also refer to birds… Boobies, tits, hooters….

        7. 3oranges

          Bustards, hornbills, jacanas, palmchats, motmots, bananaquits…I wonder if Abby Howard ever got closer to unraveling the conspiracy?

        8. ValdVin

          Abby Howard and Dina would get along well, I always thought. Well, Abby’s got that whole “human flesh” thing to deal with,but still.

        9. Deanatay

          Probably because birds get some AWESOME names, and we want to name things that sound as cool.

          Or it may just be that catchy names spread and become memes, and bird names are catchy.

        10. idefix

          My guess is that it happened like internet memes: there was an original joke, and then people started mixing it up by using different bird species. Technology changes, but people stay the same.

        11. thejeff

          Not to mention slang for girls – chicks, birds, …

        12. Tan

          Is it particularly surprising when we refer to so many birds as “[color]-breasted”? And the word “bird” itself can be slang for a woman.

          Really, it’s the fruit metaphors that are weird.

        13. Remmington Steele

          No Blue Tits? Or Shags

    2. m-m

      *slow clap*

      so. many. options.

    3. Wright

      https://youtu.be/oYmzdvMoUUA

    4. Roborat

      I knew someone was going to go this way with the jokes.

  4. Maveric1984

    Dotty, it hasn’t been very fair to you either. You wouldn’t have boinked him if you didn’t have emotional needs you wanted to fulfill.

    1. Clif

      Point. Walky is doing fairly well at coping though. Much better than he’s doing at math.

      1. Guest42

        Is he? Didn’t he stop any personal maintainance and upkeep until she gave him a reason to do it again?

        1. Maveric1984

          Yeah, but that’s because he’s an immature slob, not because he was depressed. She makes him want to be better than that, but he isn’t mature enough to want to do it for himself.

        2. thejeff

          Mostly a bit of denial – “See, I’m single again! I can do what I want! This makes me happy!”

  5. Jezi

    Oh man, I am SO here for Ruth and Jason as saltmates.

    1. Lokitsu

      Yes! The Statler and Waldorf of DoA! 😀

    2. Clif

      But they aren’t even opposites. Their orthogonal.

      1. Clif

        That moment when you realize that you carefully spelled orthogonal correctly and misspelled they’re.

        1. CJ

          You can always blame autocorrect ?

        2. Clif

          True.

  6. Stephen Bierce

    Speaking of boobs, we have some Ted Nugent and Ozzy Osbourne cuts coming up later on our playlist…

    1. Needfuldoer

      Whoa, I know The Nuge has gone off the deep end into red-ballcap territory, but what did Ozzy do? (Besides all the drugs, anyway.)

      1. Stephen Bierce

        I was sorta quoting a DeeJay I’d heard several years ago while on a trip to Kentucky.

  7. Passchendaele

    washing is for the weak. train your noses to handle anything. 😛

    1. Roborat

      Yup, good preparation for your first kid.

  8. DailyBrad

    This is the most Jason has found common ground with someone in ages. And that’s kinda depressing.

  9. King Daniel

    RuthXJason???

    1. dralou

      Nnot really. But I can totally see them bonding over their shared “I’m woefully ineffective at my job, but I try really hard” feelings.

      1. Clif

        Also Ruth is taken. So to speak.

        1. King Daniel

          I guess neither of you noticed the Gunnerkrigg URL I linked to, then. 😛

    2. Deanatay

      JACELESS

      (The characters being in relationships has NEVER stopped shippers before!!)

    3. Roger Sterling

      Limit Break x Survivor

  10. Marsh Maryrose

    Apropos of the current situation…

    While I was hitting the random button waiting for the site to refresh, this came up:

    “I’m so lucky to have a happy, goofy boy that I can retreat to when everything else grows complicated.”

    1. DailyBrad

      Yep. Which in retrospect was kind of shitty of Dorothy. He was hiding it, but it doesn’t mean she wasn’t kind of taking him for granted by treating him like a vacation she could retreat to.

  11. Achallenger

    I feel you math man. This is how I accidentally escaped my first threesome… I’m a little obtuse sometime

    1. Clif

      So that’s your angle.

    2. adjudicus

      Not to go off on a tangent, but could that be a sine of how sociable you are? Cos in this case I think sociability would be a relevant factor

  12. newllend(henryvolt)

    They’re both trying so hard.

  13. Xccj

    I’m sorry, but I’m getting stuck on this; was she about to get upset over someone checking out the last of a library book? Is their school so bad that they don’t have multiple copies of required textbooks? And even if it’s something a little more specific to her needs, did she consider that the other person might also need it and would’ve been equally screwed over if she had beaten them to it? Or are there zero online resources for her to utilize, like a true Millennial? Sorry, just think it’s a terrible issue to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, if that’s where this is heading…

  14. Bagge

    Shut up Faz.

    …Oh, sorry, I thought you showed up in the last panel. My mistake.

  15. Scoops

    It took me a while to realize the title text was probably about pluralizing maths, not boobies.

    1. Peter

      The S in “mathematics” is NOT a marker of a plural — it dervies from the Greek adjective ending (mathema -> mathematikos). While I generally prefer British English spelling (which is how I learned it), I must say that the American usage of “math” makes more sense than the British “maths”.

      1. Elitist Oars

        Βut in Greek it’s referred to with the plural -a ending when used as a noun. Μαθηματικά – mathematika.

      2. Scoops

        Huh. I guess I don’t have any idea what a single mathematic would be.

        And someone would say “mathematics is hard” rather than “mathematics are hard.”

        I guess I was wrong, it’s about boobies.

        1. thejeff

          I’d be far more likely to say “math is hard” than either.

          Any I’m pretty sure the title text is about pluralizing “[Fill in current relationship title here]”, not mathematic or boobie.

  16. JessWitt

    Is the suggestion of an “open relationship” gonna come up?

    1. Lokitsu

      Please, no! These two barely have enough time for each other.

      Unless… you mean some other definition of “open relationship”?

      1. BBCC

        Walky dates other people while Dorothy is busy? That would be polyamorous but I don’t think it’s an open relationship. That sounds more like mono-poly.

        1. jeffepp

          She`s gonna bring Joyce as their official third.

        2. JessWitt

          Yeah that’s what I mean: polyamory but poly- sided towards Walky.

          Although if Dorothy heavily divests herself of their relationship, it might as well be Walky x other girl which sounds as bad as an overall dumping.

        3. thejeff

          I don’t see it. No real advantage. Walky’s not stressed over this because he could be having sex with someone else if the relationship status was clearer, he’s stressed over it because he cares about his relationship with Dorothy.

        4. thejeff

          More: And you certainly don’t switch to a poly relationship of any kind, because you’re too busy for the one you’ve got. There tends to be a lot more work invested in keeping the larger relationship functioning.

        5. Needfuldoer

          That doesn’t sound like something either of them would feel okay with. They’ll end up bickering over their rules, even on something as simple as free parking. Nobody passes Go and collects $200.

  17. Keulen

    Dorothy is trying to do too much at once, but if she’s gonna drop some of those things it’s probably not a good idea to drop the boyfriend who makes her happy.

  18. cbwroses

    I am so confused right now. What hasn’t bern fair to Walky?
    That they went on pause? He was planning a full on break up.
    That they had sex? It wasn’t like he didn’t want it, but he was also of the understanding prior to that that there would be no more sex in the foreseeable future.
    That she’s making the major decisions? She just beat him to it.
    That they’ve muddled their current status? It’s been a day. Just un muddle it, set the boundaries, and carry on.
    I don’t understand why this feels so serious.

    1. DarkoNeko

      maaybe just wait for them to say that on tomorrow’s page

      1. cbwroses

        This is the second strip in a row with this heavy set up.
        I expected it to be cleared up today.
        But lo and behold, it’s just as heavy.
        And that makes me think I’m missing something.

    2. nlips

      It hasn’t been fair that she is in a relationship with him when he can’t possibly be her lifelong boyfriend/husband. It isn’t fair that she calls all the shots. It isn’t fair that she called a pause, then decided to have sex with him — she almost certainly wouldn’t have allowed him to initiate sex, which makes it a one-sided pause. It isn’t fair that she is letting him think he still has a chance with her by putting the relationship on pause at all, instead of just breaking up like she knows she should probably do. And it isn’t fair that she’s ABOUT to break up with him, after putting him through this roller-coaster. It isn’t fair that she’s going to break up with him when he’s making some sort of effort to improve himself for her. It isn’t fair that he’s the only one who is expected to change himself.

      1. Mr. Random

        Only one I disagree with is the first one. IIRC she told him she was planning on moving on towards another school, and this was a fun relationship, and he was okay with that. Everything else though? Yeah, she’s been a little self-centered.

      2. lilyliv

        I take issue with the “allowed to initiate sex” remark too. Like… both parties consented to this here? There’s nothing one-sided about that; they were both down for it. You raise some other valid points about the relationship but this one is, no offense, a total miss. Maybe this is just me being “oversensitive” as a survivor or something, but something about that statement seemed really gross to me.

        1. TemporalShrew

          I don’t believe that that is quite what he meant, although I definitely see where you’re coming from.

          The point being raised, I think, is that Dorothy knows exactly what boundaries she has in mind for their “pause,” as well as the deeper meaning behind it for her. Walky does not. Walky is, frankly, not very bright, and immature on top of that. The boundaries for their pause having not been well-defined, he has no fucking clue what they are and, as in all cases where he’s remotely uncertain, he defers to Dorothy’s judgement. Notice that in the comic where they establish the pause, Dorothy asks if he gets what she means, but they never have a real discussion about it.

          Trusting her judgement, he assumes that her initiation of sex is acceptable to her, and if it’s acceptable to her in the framework of the pause, he has no reason to refuse. This muddies the waters of what the pause means, and he’s left even more confused as to what they are and what they are not. She would never have agreed if he had propositioned her, but he doesn’t have the information or even the maturity to question her if *she* initiates it, assuming she has the whole thing figured out. It’s not about the consent to the sex – they both clearly consented – it’s about what the sex means in the context of their “pause.”

          Hence his obvious befuddlement here, hence in a broader sense his misbegotten belief their relationship will be “fixed” if he just makes himself “good enough” for her, and hence her belief that none of this has been fair to him.

        2. cbwroses

          Walky is bright as well as perceptive.
          Don’t confuse immaturity with stupidity.
          The biggest issue here though is not his immaturity, but his inexperience. He’s never had a girlfriend before, never been on pause before, never broke up with someone before, and never loved anyone romantically before.
          All he has to go on is what Dorothy tells him, what cues he can pick up (like in today’s strip when he knows their status is confusing so he’s not putting a label on it) and tv, which is not ever helpful in this situation, especially with the shows he watches.

        3. TemporalShrew

          That’s fair. He’s an intelligent kid. I would argue that not only is he lacking in experience, but another contributory factor is that he lacks both common sense and instinct control. He just has so many attributes against him for him to be able to handle a situation like what he’s being presented with well.

        4. Clif

          He’s a very bright lovable lazy goofball and so far this has served him well.

        5. thejeff

          I’m pretty sure Dorothy has little more idea what “pause” meant than Walky did and that having sex during it wasn’t part of the plan. It’s not that Walky didn’t understand it, it’s that, as he correctly figures out after the fact “The pause was a lie!”

          This is a pattern with Dorothy and it’s something she needs to work on. She sets these relationship boundaries, based on what she logically and rationally thinks will be good for her and then lets her emotions run right over those boundaries.
          This is clearly not just a for-fun relationship, even if she still intends it to be a time limited one. The pause was never going to work, because she’s in love with him. Even the start of the relationship was kind of like that – from “you’re not my type” to a kiss in a day or so.
          She needs to understand that she has emotional needs, not just the rational plan she’s laid out.

        6. Jago

          I think you misunderstood. They mean, if Walky had come up with the idea of having sex, Dorothy would have reacted negatively, and said no, as well as be mad at Walky that he ignored their pause. Her boundaries regarding her studies are very important to her.
          It’s not about consent at all, it’s out of the question, I mean, we all read that comic (assuming they mean the one in the elevator).
          It’s more about hypocrisy.

        7. Clif

          In any human relationship there is a disparity of power, at least in different areas. It’s inherent in having a human relationship. In most modern hetrosexual relationships the woman has more power in the timing of intimacy including sex. I would strongly argue that this is as it should be. No hypocrisy involved.

        8. nonabee

          How do women have more power when it comes to deciding sex? The only way I could possibly see your argument is if you’re referring to the stereotype about men “always wanting sex” and women “never” wanting it by comparison, except… That’s just a stereotype. And also ignores that women are still frequently forced into sexual encounters we don’t want in many modern heterosexual relationships. (Men can be as well; anyone can regardless of gender, before anyone jumps on me about that, but that isn’t especially relevant to the statement atm.)

      3. cbwroses

        1. They never planned to be together for the rest of their lives.
        2. She doesn’t call all the shots. Let’s not forget that Walky broke up with her once over pants. And he was going to break up with her this time as well. As I said, she just spoke up first.
        3. It doesn’t really matter if the situation was reversed, she might not have had sex with him. He didn’t mind sex now, and he wasn’t planning to have sex earlier, so there’s nothing unfair about it.
        4. Again, Walky was planning a full breakup, no pause. So the pause in and of itself is not unfair to him. As for the idea that she should break up with him, Walky is not the problem with her grades. Finding balance is the problem. Breaking up with him isn’t finding balance. If anything, it’s over correcting.
        5. She’s said it hasn’t been fair to him. That implies she’s talking about what she did, not what she’s about to do. And like I said, it should be a simple thing to un muddle this.

        1. thejeff

          It’s not simple to unmuddle, because it’s muddled in Dorothy’s head.

          In Dorothy’s head it should be simple to put the relationship on hold for awhile so she can sort out her other problems, then pick up right where they left off. Unimportant things like emotional attachments can just be put aside.
          Except it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for her. She can’t do it, even if she thinks she should. First time they’re together since the “pause” started, they’re jumping each other.
          The “simple” way to unmuddle this is to admit that the pause was a mistake, that pushing him away won’t actually help her and for that matter neither will not sleeping, skipping meals and exercise. But that’s hitting directly at Dorothy’s self-image and it will not be easy.

        2. cbwroses

          Oh I’ve been in situations in which my head was messed up romantically.
          And the solution was usually to look at things from a different perspective, another head space if you will.
          I guess my mistake is expecting this to be done quickly. I need to remind myself that they’re teens and it’s only been a day.

    3. Badgermole

      Most relationships have a power imbalance. In this one, Dotty has always been calling the shots, from dressing Walky to going on pause, while he thinks she’s perfect and he’s the one who needs to improve so he can “deserve” her. I think Dorothy is realising the power she has in this relationship is unfair. Of course both of them are wrong and this will be healthier if they can accept that Dorothy is also a flawed individual who needs to accept emotional support from Walky rather than be his math tutor/mother surrogate.

      1. Tom T.

        She similarly had all the power in her relationship with Danny. She’s necessarily going to seek out guys who understand that they’re not her priority.

    4. BenRG

      Expecting him to ‘get’ anyone else’s needs or concerns or asking him to be more than what he really is.

      Actually, I think that the reality is that Dorothy has bit off more than she can chew, academically and is looking for someone or something to blame. She’s decided to blame her intense attraction and emotional link with Walky.

      1. Clif

        Remains to be seen. I doubt it though. All this could equally be putting the pause on pause.

      2. thejeff

        “Expecting him to ‘get’ anyone else’s needs or concerns or asking him to be more than what he really is.”

        This would be the Walky that was planning to break up with her so that he and his problems wouldn’t be a distraction? He may not get her real needs any more than she does, but he’s certainly trying to look out for them.

  19. TemporalShrew

    Someone? Is that a cold, hard *offer* I hear there, Jason?

    1. Clif

      Pretty sure it isn’t. Fortunately it hasn’t occurred to Dorothy to wonder how Jason is familiar with the state of Walky’s underwear.

  20. BenRG

    Dorothy, if the book is a problem and you can’t find an equivalent text on-line somewhere then your problems are a bit bigger than Walky.

  21. HeySo

    Walky: Duke of Thingly, Baron of Butt-tacos, and Mayor of Awkwardtown.

    1. Clif

      You may have left out a few. General of the Generically Beige.

      1. Clif

        Sultan/King of Sculpted Carmel

        (I think sculpted carmel is what Dorothy called him to Joyce, but I’m too lazy to actually go back and actually check).

  22. GenJen

    Not to mention she was the one who set the “This is just gonna be fun” setting, then said that she loved him, and then called the pause. Like, it’s not like she did anything wrong. They both fell for each other and she’s never forced anything on him.
    He’s just kinda been in the side car of their emotional motorcar ride and that’s rough for a kid who kinda takes things at face value and let’s his desires lead the way.

    And both aren’t really dealing well with college. Honestly, she may be in more trouble than him. Failing a math class Freshman year can be a bit less damaging than burning yourself out Freshman year. And while you should never sacrifice your education/ambition for a relationship, especially a new one, it’s not like Dotty’s floundering at all. I think their both really good for each other, but due to the power balance of the relationship, it’s less obvious to most how Walky helps her in their relationship (Except maybe Sierra. She kinda fully sees how off the rail Dotty went without Walky acting as a kind of brake/break). I wanna see them stay together, but I think both not figure out how to deal with deal with their problems (Her overworking and him not working enough) without using the other person.

  23. Clif

    You may have left out a few. General of the Generically Beige.

    1. Clif

      And this came out as a new post instead of a reply. Damn it, I’m reposting it as a reply, so pretend that these two messages have been deleted.

  24. abysswatcher1993

    The problem is that Dorothy wants fun and love, but she is obsessed with academic success that she is harming herself and Walky, and Walky feels guilt of dragging down Dorothy just because he is the love interest of Dorothy. These two people help each other, but they believe they are harming the other when in reality their only problems are being a control freak and a lazy smartass.

    1. thejeff

      Nice pairing, actually. Both have what are essentially work/life balance issues, just from the opposite ends.

  25. nightshade

    am I the only thinking the line about the book is a stall because walky and jasons there ? because that seems something awfully minor to get worked up over …….

    1. Jaime

      Could be, but as a former college student and current college professor, I can say that sometimes there is ONE BOOK that you desperately need and land up having to put your work on pause if you can’t get it. I don’t know about the fictional college library in DoA, but in my very real college library, people don’t necessary return books on time or at all, and even if they do, then you have to wait until the book is re-shelved…

      (I think I’m single-handedly supporting Amazon because so many times it’s just been easier and more efficient to *buy* the dang book than wait for the library to make it available again.)

  26. Bagge

    I love how, by no virtue of her own, Ruth ended up being the sanest person in this conversation.

  27. bigbigtruck

    The missing a book you really need because you napped for an hour is TOO REAL, dang. (esp if you went to college before e-books)

  28. Puckish Rogue

    Dorothy and Walky demonstrate why Joyce and Jacob wouldn’t work in that they’re both in two different places with different goals and Walky is considerably less mature mature, like Joyce is compared to Jacob

    1. C.T Phipps

      I think Dorothy’s baggage is why their relationship wouldn’t work.

      1. Puckish Rogue

        Oh for sure, its looking like she has a thing for easily manipulated, emotionally immature guys so yeah shes got some baggage to work out (like we all do)

    2. thejeff

      That’s of course assuming that “Dorothy and Walky don’t work”, as opposed to “Dorothy and Walky, like all couples, are not perfect and will have some troubles to overcome.” Especially in drama.

      In this situation, while it’s certainly easy to argue that Walky is less mature, the root of the problem is not him, but Dorothy. It’s her overscheduling that’s pushing her to the edge of a breakdown and driving her to push away her support system, including Walky.

      I fully expect them to get through this, because I don’t think the point of Dorothy’s arc here is “You need to just focus on school and avoid emotional entanglements.”

      1. Thulcandran

        Do I wait four weeks for them to return the book, or do I wait between one week and four months for ILL to get it to me?

      2. Puckish Rogue

        I just think that, at the moment, Dorothy’s goals are: go to Ivy league school, get into politics, become president whereas Walkys goals seem to be…*cue crickets chirping*

        Unless both reassess where they’re at and where they’re going then I don’t expect this relationship to last especially in light of its Walkys first relationship

        1. thejeff

          Yeah, and?

          How does that apply to day to day life? Which is far more important to any relationship at this stage.

          They’re college freshmen. They support each other. They make each other happy. Walky respects her ambitions, even if his don’t match hers. They’re good for each other.

          And, as I said, it’s not Walky’s immaturity or lack of goals that’s causing their current problem.

        2. Puckish Rogue

          Apart from Walky failing at math which caused Dorothy to give up some of her, perceived, precious time to help Walky

        3. C.T Phipps

          Basically, if you ask Dorothy that question the answer is, “Work. Work. Work.” So, yes, I foresee dumping.

  29. C.T Phipps

    Dump her Walky before she dumps you!

    1. Bagge

      …winning?

  30. Batman

    you guys checked shortpacked yet for the april fools comic. pretty damn good yo

  31. Hielario

    Walky’s mind literally runs on comedy tropes, doesn’t it?

  32. wixvhen

    Is Jason about to give a detailed explanation of the Sunk Cost Falacy of ‘if we leave now it becomes a problem’?

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