Last night, we got some more Uke Danno, and a little bit of Sal posturing for Willis's viewpoints. How fun.
Willis mentioned that the keys in the strip are an actual song, but I don't think anyone in the Patreon comments got it right.
Anyone here care to try?
I sure do love it when Willis rapidly changes topics without resolution.
Anyone able to read the music and see what Danny boy is playing?
I will be disappointing if it's not Danny boy
Third for Ethan needs to fuck Danny
are we back to Sal talking about racism?
Remember when she claimed her parents were racist to her because Walky was a little whiter?
And here's the rare "early-version" post from Willis of the strip posted here:
dumbingofage.com
(turn on your ad-blockers before clicking)
His words:
>This one does SOME things that I like, but it stumbled over some other things along the way and so I went with the simpler, final version: dumbingofage.com
>The biggest thing that jumped out to me is that, like, Billie and Ruth SHOULD be all too happy to be transparently aggro. They wouldn't deny it, and that they had to be coy about it in order to properly set up the punchline correctly didn't sit well with me.
>Also, I kind of had to pull some things about Billie and Ruth to hate about each other (in the moment) out of my ass. I *do* like that all that Ruth needs, apparently, is a color scheme, but, alas, over all it was stretching too far to get to the goal.
>(note: Ruth probably does not actually hate teal, canonically)
This is arguably one of the most depressing possibilities for this strip. I can't imagine an author even considering posting this crap as if it is totally normal for a couple to think like this.
>Anyone able to read the music and see what Danny boy is playing?
It's just a chord progression, no melody, so hypothetically it could be anything with those chords.
I played it on keyboard, sounds like "Creep" to me.
>Creep
I think we have a winner. A Patreon supporter said the same thing, but I didn't want to give it away without giving you guys a shot.
I'd say that's what Willy was going for.
Sure didn't doesn't fit what he seems to be putting across right now though:
>When asked about the song in 1993, lead singer Thom Yorke said, "I have a real problem being a man in the '90s… Any man with any sensitivity or conscience toward the opposite sex would have a problem. To actually assert yourself in a masculine way without looking like you're in a hard-rock band is a very difficult thing to do… It comes back to the music we write, which is not effeminate, but it's not brutal in its arrogance. It is one of the things I'm always trying: To assert a sexual persona and on the other hand trying desperately to negate it."
Hasn't Willis said that he personally believes it's a dysfunctional relationship, though?
why are we supposed to support this relationship again?
Because lesbians you fucking bigot
Willis' "accents" really annoy me so I'm bummed that Danny's gonna pick up one. He wasn't talking like that in earlier...
>Creep
It's the same chord progression but I think it's the Steven Universe theme 100%. Not the long one which starts on F but the regular title sequence one. I used a progression song finder, but it also just matches when i figured out the chords as I am a fan.
Ah'm gonn' haf'ta dis'gree wit' ya t'ere bruth'r.
Removing vowels and consonant digraphs arbitrarily is a hallmark of a great writer of character voices, right?
....right?
He says that but there's nothing in the comic that suggests the audience is supposed to get that idea. Yeah, anyone who's not a mongoloid can look at them and go "that's fucked up, those girls shouldn't be together" but the comic presents the relationship as "awww, isn't their love-hate thing so romantic? Look! They're making a sucide pact in order to get each other to stop drinking so much! That's soooo cute!" and that's the version his audience has accepted
reposting again:
So I'd like to try and do something...a little ambitious, and something I doubt many of you are interested in participating in, but what the fuck.
With school starting for me soon, I'll once again have access to the Adobe suite, which means I'll be able to do more video editing...thus, I'd like to set on something ambitious: A Sup Forums narrated telling of Dumbing of Age, done with more effort than willis has ever given.
To that end, however, I'll need more than just my own, and therefore, I'd like to open it up to you guys. email me your auditions and the characters you're interested in.
What I'm looking for:
clear voices - I don't need sound booth quality, but ideally, minimal noise in the background, and a clear enough voice that what's being said can be made out.
decently long recordings - not a full paragraph, but a few lines so I can hear what you sound like
the ability to speak at full volume - this one is a bit weird, but I know most of these threads happen at 1 am EST, which means those of you with roommates/family may not be able to speak at full volume. However, whisper talking is VERY obvious.
recording software: vocaroo will NOT cut it. Audacity is free, and will more than suffice. just record and export the files as .wmv or .mp3.
What I do NOT need:
Genders to match - I'm quite fond of my own interpretation of Becky, and I gave her a deep, manly southern twang. have as much fun with the voices as you like
huge amounts of effort - Willis doesn't care about his comic...why should you? All I ask for is what I mentioned above.
perfect, professional level voices - none of us are professionals. go nuts.
>continued in my next post with what I'd kinda like to see, auditions-wise
Joyce - a soft-spoken, cute voice. M or F
Walky - nothing picky, ideally M
Dorothy(cast) - a more confident voice, ideally F
Billie - whatever you like...maybe a drunken slur?
Amber(possibly cast) - I'm looking for a quiet voice that can also pull off full Bale batman...or if you have a better idea, go for it.
Danny - if you believe your voice is 'shit' and you've no confidence in it, this is the audition I want. male or female.
Sarah - the best STRONG SASSY BLACK WOMAN
Becky - if you think you can top my voice, go for it. male or female, I want to hear it.
Sal(cast) - the strongest accent I can hear, as long as it isn't tennessee. Male or female
Dina - not super picky on this one.
Ethan - I'd love to hear a feminine voice for the self-insert. Female or just cracked male.
Ruth - the strongest wisconsin/noofie accent you can give me. M or F
Joe(possibly cast by the Dewd ) - something bassey, or super feminine, sultry if you're a woman
Mike - whatever you'd like
Roz (cast)- not sure on this one...something valley-girl like?
Carla - this one, I'd really rather a female voice. I've not voiced her myself for that reason alone. Any sort of female voice is fine
Jacob (cast)- see Joe
Marcie - already cast.
Mary - condescending, uppity. M or F
Robin (cast) - another accent, preferably southern. doesn't need to be super strong. M or F
extras - send me whatever. (galasso cast)
>Send all auditions to [email protected]
Where's Becky???
Tonight, I have severe doubts if Willy even knows what the genre of "death metal" actually is.
But hey, at least Sal is still smoking those cigs in a style unlike any human ever would naturally smoke anything.
who the fuck puckers up like that while smoking...and just talks around the cigarette in the middle of their mouth?
>sundown
The day's almost over? Already?
Feels like it only just got started with how little has actually happened.
Well, here's hoping that we get Danny and Sal banging each other. The password is "cannoodlin".
>Colonialism
No one talks like this. Especially not the woman that Sal has been established to be.
Ironically dropping his "g"s makes Danny sound more Southern than Sal.
I can't tell if Sal actually likes Death metal or if she just wanted to say the most un-ukulele genre of music.
I would love it if Danny knew some Slayer.
I think it's Willis writing Sal as edgehard roughcore, or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays.
sal does know southern blacks didn't invent the ukelele right?
progressive, couple usually have to live together for decades before they start actively wanting to murder each other
Ruth and Billie got there in only a few months
>Hey guys remember TMNT
>TMNT theme
he can barely play that thing, Willis just wants to fit in more pop culture from his childhood
You could have easily put in "hot cross buns" and the joke is the same
it would actually be better. Hot cross buns is a song you might actually learn while starting an instrument
cig smoke is white, not this weird bluegray color
I hope hipster Danny tries to bang Sal.I hope anyone tries to bang Sal.
The Marcie aspect is the most interesting thing here to me. She should be in the strip more.
Weird thing to write, weird thing to share. I have to admit I actually prefer t he final version in this case, the "Shoves is not loves" line is cute, it sounds like something Carla picked up as a kid.
What friend is Sal talking about? Marcie?
I guess we should start taking bets on who the new roommate is gonna be. New character? Somehow Becky? Becky disguised as a real student?
Yeah, dropped plotline from the beginning of the year.
I'm putting money on it being Marcie. Willis randomly brought up her being mad at Sal and it'd allow for easy drama generation.
mary or roz
leaning towards mary because willis hates her more
>I hope hipster Danny tries to bang Sal.I hope anyone tries to bang Sal.
Would throw more of a wrench into the idea of Ethan and Danny getting together, which would make Mike's job a lot easier. Now I kinda hope Mike and Ethan end up actually together instead of Mike sexing him and moving on.
>I hope anyone tries to bang Sal.
I'm gonna be completely honest here, I'd love to see Joyce bang Sal.
Mike gets with Ethan, Danny gets with Sal, Mike sleeps with Sal to break them up, uses it to get Ethan to dump him, then gets Danny to hook up with Ethan.
Sal is referencing the fact that Portuguese colonials invented it. So, while not colonialism in the sense that most folks use it today, it is literally the sound of colonialism.
so with Patreanon submitting a FANTASTIC danny, we're almost ready to start doing pages!
Hey Yoto, how about drawing "cool rebel" Joyce banging Sal?
It's actually a native modification of Portuguese instruments.
Haha, thanks VA user. I look forward to it!
Just never ask me to play the ukulele or I. WILL. FIND. YOU.
I want a metal ban composed of uke, cello, pedal steel guitar, and tuba.
>progressive, couple usually have to live together for decades before they start actively wanting to murder each other
I can vouch for that.
Wait, where'd Lewd Mary go?
Anyone remember the strip where Roz offered help to Joyce after she found out about Joyce's trauma?
Away. It's impossible to see Mary happy for more than a few seconds at a time. It'll be like six weeks before we see her again.
I still want to believe that she's trying to make Carla jealous.
>The Ukelele is not itself a product of colonialism
>somehow, people in the middle of the Pacific Ocean managed to independently create a miniature guitar.
Actually cig smoke is pretty blue, dude.
However, you don't really see it as blue unless you're smoking weed which is a purer white or...other things that are even more pure white...at the same time against a good, pure-light bulb. In the natural light of day like Sal is in, it looks as white as any other smoke.
We can hope! In the meantime... fanart?
Not really "Death" metal, but youtube.com
youtube.com
he's not even original.
But they're literally the exact same color.
Besides, if even ONE of their parents were actually racist, they wouldn't have gotten married to start with. Interracial couples can't be racist.
I literally cannot see why he would start playing the Ukulele. I don't see the appeal to it. It's never been considered cool. The only college boys who play them wear heavy fur coats and appear in Looney Tunes cartoons IN THE FIFTIES.
with danny age he would have to remember only the most recent series
>Interracial couples can't be racist.
Eh... I'd say it's possible. Much, much more unlikely but I'd say it's within the realm of possibility. The argument that gets trotted out by the defenders of this idea is that the [NOT-RACE] partner fetishizes [RACE] and the [RACE] partner has internalized racism or what-have-you.
Naturally, a self-hating half-black man and a racist white woman despising one particular child for racial reasons is the most obvious rationale. Instead of, like 99% of the rest of the world's parents, subconsciously preferring one child over the other for non-racial reasons and that preference expressing itself in how the kids are treated. The problem that like every other damn major plot point in DoA. It's not something that's shown to the reader, but it's an informed trait that you either have to pick up on from uselessly vague hints "Carla is tall and can't play rollerball! That means she's trans!" or trawl through thousands of comments on the site, his twitter and tumblr to find where Willis has to set his readers' straight to prevent wrongthink.
>>Willis still under the impression that Sal is cool.
>Pop over to TvTropes
>One fan expressed possible amusement at the idea that Mary could have a crush for Carla and the wacky justifications behind her sexual conservatism and Carla being trans (specifically "I'm not gay!")
>Literally everybody responds with self-righteous disgust and passive-aggressive attempts to correct their sense of humor
Geez, lighten up
I don't get the punchline.
Usually the jokes aren't funny, but at least I get them.
Are those songs, like Classical Gas?
You are correct, it's the SU theme he's playing. Willis confirmed in the comments.
Stroking ones politically correct cock is a 24/7 job, I see.
I'm sad there are no responses to this.
Good luck user!
>Creep and the Steven Universe theme song have the same chords
How has nobody taken advantage of this?
Its the nerdy geek thing to do. Like the 70s and geeks getting into black magic to meet hot chicks and try to father the Antichrist.
Yay!
Who's left? I was kinda too lazy to find samples to read, but if you just need a few (not often showing up) characters I'd get off my ass and find a few comics to audition with.
Willis is implying through Sal that playing a ukelele is somehow colonialism (I guess because he's a white guy playing an instrument used by brown people?) and that colonialism smells bad, like gas.
i can never tell if this guy actually likes Willis or just likes making fun of him
also Willis bases most of his character off of aspects of himself and if not just cribs from Scrubs
I think she's talking about the "rhythm in [Danny's] soul" actually being colonialism or gas not the act of playing the ukelele.
It's like a bad version of a joke where a usually uncaring person sees something sad and is like "I'm feeling an uncomfortable tingle near my heart." and someone says "indegestion?" and that person is like "not this time, I think it's guilt!"
The line would probably work better just as gas, but he threw in colonialism to gesture towards Danny's "cool speak" of dropping gs off words (which I'm sure lots of people are calling appropriation in the comments).
A large part of the cast is still available:
I guess that remotely makes sense, in a very SJW "we don't know history or understand nuance but we won't let that stop us from being self-righteous moralfags" sort of way.
History is relative though, as its only written and kept by those who 'won'- which, by and large, was white colonial powers. Just because they have a different view of 'history' doesn't mean that they don't know it. However, this is not meant to be an endorsement of their views, because while they may agree with the above statement as it pertains to them, it can also be used to view 'history' through the lens of people like Leon Degrelle, a noted nazi apologist. They would disagree with his view of history, but they both have a legitimate claim here, using the relative history claim.
Yeah. Implying negros and hawaiians are the same cause they're not white.
SJWs are the most hilarious racists.
I've been getting emails
I always took that to mean Walky acted whiter. Like he's interested in more traditionally white things like cartoons and other white things Willis never bothered to show us, while Sal is interested in black things Willis never bothered to show us.
See, the colonialism stuff almost makes sense. Almost. India and Hawaii suffered a lot of cultural changes because white people thought they could show them how to live "better" and moved in without any consideration for their culture.
But ukuleles aren't traditionally used by groups that drop the "g" at the end of words. Colonialism doesn't have anything to do with Danny's language.
The ukulele bring out the ~rhythm~ in his soul could be colonialism, because he's sort of appropriating Polynesian culture, but not really.
I have no idea what gas has to do with the rhythm of his soul or his ukulele.
Walky's stereotypical white traits:
>likes cartoons
>easy to get along with
>got good grades
>didn't get in trouble with the law
>accent is probably meant to be midwest
Sal's stereotypical black traits:
>underage drinker
>abrasive
>poor student
>once robbed a convenience store
>accent is probably meant to be lower class southern
And this is troubling because the stuff he has chosen to show us about Sal is her being delinquent, fighting, drinking, smoking and doing poorly in class.
I'm personally of the opinion that if kids do bad things, it's because a parent fucked up. And every kid is an individual case so they can even mess up if they treat different kids the same. So, I can buy Sal's issues being because of parents failing to address her anger and authority issues. Or even that their favouritism towards their "smarter" kid had a bad effect on Sal. But I think he's even failed to show the work on that, let alone that they are racist. And I could buy that in theory too, but I doubt we'll ever see enough of her backstory to prove it.
Don't forget that Sal has to spend at least an hour (probably more) straightening her hair so she can feel more "normal."
She felt the need to dress up really nicely for her parents' arrival so they could see that she was being a "good girl."
She works hard for their approval, but they didn't seem interested in talking to her at all.
They mostly wanted to know how Walky was doing.
Sal works to make them happy, and it doesn't even matter to them. It's definitely the parents and not Sal actually being blacker.
Yes but this after apparently years of delinquency and outright criminality. I can fully imagine a parent getting burned out by one child's constant mistakes and focusing on the one that is least likely to be an embarrassment.
This would probably be a somewhat compelling storyline if it didn't turn out that the parents were simply evil and racist (again).
As it is, it looks like Sal spent her adolescence acting like a crazed delinquent, tried to rob a store, then when her parents act understandably distant because of it she cries "It's because I'm BLACK!"
from what I gathered, she robbed the convenience store, then got shipped off to boarding school to hide her shame.
iirc wasn't walky shocked to see how she was acting day 1?
>I can fully imagine a parent getting burned out by one child's constant mistakes and focusing on the one that is least likely to be an embarrassment.
I can see lots of parents doing this, but it's bad parenting, that is probably following prior bad parenting.
In some ways I'd agree with you, but there's a whole debate of nature vs. nurture + outside influence in the discussion.
The heart of the matter is that we've only ever seen Sal screw up, her parents' reaction to it, and Sal's word that it's totally not her fault for realz.
>if it didn't turn out that the parents were simply evil and racist (again).
You know, the "parents have a favorite" is one angle this comic could roll with, but the "racist" one still makes no sense. They're the same skin tone, and their parents are mixed-race. The only thing left is their differing behaviors, which means Willis thinks being a delinquent makes you more black.
Something that really shouldn't be ignored in this conversation is that the Walkertons were able to get an incredible amount of leniency from the legal system, to the point that Sal presumably never faced any judicial punishment for robbing a convenience store and taking a hostage, put Sal up for boarding school, an incredibly expensive schooling option, and are paying her tuition. They've gone to incredible lengths to provide for her.
TBF Sal did get stabbed in the hand by a crazy fat girl like 30 seconds after she robbed that store. Maybe that incident got her some leniency out of pity?
The threat of a lawsuit for the arresting officers allowing one of the victims to grab collected evidence and attack the suspect in custody is more than likely what got her leniency, but even that would be as stretch as it'd open them to a countersuit by Amber and Ethan's parents and the convenience store.
I think they try to imply that because Sal had black people hair that they naturally gravitated to the one with straighter hair "subconsciously". But even then the worst thing they showed is a flashback where they could only have ONE kid in a cartoon role and they chose Walky. She brought BOTH of them to be on the show and when she had to make a choice she chose Walky.
You could make JUST as a much of a case( if not even more of a case) that it was because she was a GIRL and not her being BLACKER.
That is true.
Unfortunately, all if that would be handily and casually spun into negatives by Willy's substandard bootlickers. The only truth is delusion.
Willis is such a privileged pile of shit that he doesn't even understand how goddamn lucky it is to have your parents pay for college. I have a GREAT life and my mom didn't pay any of my college payments.
My voice is too nerdy and deep so I can't do it. Sorry
would have said to try danny, but he's taken.
On a flashback, the mother seems to shout angrier towards Sal with the inflection but not towards Walky
That kinda hurts thinking about it
Hell you could make the case that she flipped a fuckin coin.
>mfw alternate universe shenanigans show Walky wailing about his parents' racism because they picked Sal to be in a stupid Christian television show
Try Ethan or Dina, maybe Walky.
It's probably cheaper (and more portable so he can get in more practice time) than a guitar, do the skills transfer?
Salswap AU has a lot of potential for interesting deviations from the main universe. Do we switch their entire situations, slacker womanchild Sal who was the apple of her parents eye and angry, aloof Walky who never got a break? Do we play with the relationships, unfavorite child Sal becomes her parents sole focus after golden boy Walky snaps under the pressure? Do we keep everything the same just switch background, Sal is still bitter, neglected, and angry at her parents who still dote and fawn on Walky even though he's a childish idiot who robbed a convenience store for a giggle?