Dumbing of Age General: /doag/ Abusive Relationships Edition

Some amazing user drew this in the last thread that quickly died. I'm very happy to see it--thank you!

So let's talk about the relationships in this comic.

Joyce/Becky: They aren't dating, but they might as well be. Joyce's entire world revolves around Becky now. Anything that affects Joyce is affecting her because of Becky. Becky accidentally broke Ethan and Joyce up.

Dorothy/Walky: They're mostly okay, but it's going a bad direction right now. Walky is progressively hiding more stuff from her, and he thinks of her more like an annoying dog than he does as his girlfriend. He keeps on lying to her about everything important. She is significantly more attached to him than he is to her. Dorothy loves him, but Walky is feeling smothered.

Billie/Ruth: Everything about how they got together was unhealthy. They have no regard for their own health--mental or otherwise. They drink and screw, and that's about it.

Danny/Amber: He was forced to only date her alter-ego, and she refused to tell him about the things he really needed to know, thus sabotaging the relationship herself. Danny has NO idea what he did wrong. Amber is physically and emotionally controlling.

Danny/Ethan: They wanna bang. But the abusive ex (Amber) is essentially preventing them from moving forward.

Ethan/Amber: Ethan has just been Amber's tag-along for pretty much forever. He doesn't seem to get anything out of their friendship, and Amber defines him by his gayness and nothing else.

Sarah/Jacob: They want completely different things from relationships. Jacob has a girlfriend Sarah hates. Sarah mainly wants him out of spite.

Dina/Becky: Dina has been absorbed into the Beckysaurus. While Dina is socially improving, normal Dina-ness has been replaced with an obsession with Becky, despite knowing she's a rebound.

Marcie/Malaya: Marcie wants to have sex with Malaya. Malaya has no idea.

Does anyone want any writing based on these horrible relationships?

Other urls found in this thread:

sli.mg/a/OpAn4s
sli.mg/a/yARBCg
sli.mg/a/lJGjvn
sli.mg/a/om4Xfh
sli.mg/a/yV028q
sli.mg/a/Uwz6hW
sli.mg/a/zQiRaN
sli.mg/a/gIzMX2
sli.mg/a/RADWNf
sli.mg/S2fNN1
sli.mg/SfIpPY
sli.mg/4iagTF
sli.mg/apktEi
sli.mg/efTFT1
sli.mg/61SJKj
sli.mg/a/8WPQhH
sli.mg/etD55l
itswalky.deviantart.com/gallery/37947681/Pin-Up-Week
pastebin.com/5MwZPhsE
imgur.com/a/X5kU9
mediafire.com/folder/pi3rlni1v293g/DoA_and_Shortpacked
bgrevln8fu.tumblr.com/post/76922723992
youtube.com/watch?v=IIEVqFB4WUo
youtube.com/watch?v=xQ96dy93mP0
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

Your life will improve if you stop reading it, you stop reading about it, and you stop discussing it.

Prove me wrong.

Actually, I think it's really fun to discuss it. I don't let it make me angry. Exasperated, yes, but no negative feeling of significance.

I like to discuss literature and relationships and all the stuff that we talk about in these threads. For me, this is actually quite fun. So don't presume to know what I like and what will make my life better.

Man, Danny got it rough.

It's a cheap soap opera so everyone has to be a dysfunctional freak to make it interesting.

Write about Ethan and Danny escaping from the horrible clutches of Amber by driving of into the sunset and leaving the school where a man waved a gun around, a teacher was involved in a hacking scandal, and a politician was outed as a bisexual by her sister.

>Ethan: I just can't believe what this school has become.
>Danny: I know! Did you hear about my CS teacher?
>Ethan: No, what happened?
>Danny: Apparently, he's wanted by the FBI for some heavy-duty hacking.
>Ethan: Just last week, Roz outed Congresswoman DeSanto.
>Danny: And the week before that, we had a school shooting and kidnapping at gunpoint.
>Ethan: I'm having a hard time feeling safe here. Is there anyone we can trust?
>Danny: Not really. But where else can we go?
>Ethan: I guess you're right.
>Danny: You know, Google Maps says there's another college pretty close by.....
>Ethan: Yeah?
>Danny: It's not Ivy League, but they haven't ever had a school shooting.
>Ethan: Low bar, but good enough for me.
>Danny: Are you done with classes for the day?
>Ethan: Yeah, why?
>Danny: Let's go check out the campus. I think it would be good to get us some fresh, non-IU air. And Amber doesn't have to know.
>Ethan: How did you know what I'd be worried about?
>Danny: Because that's how I feel all the time.
>Ethan: Maybe we can be friends with her again one day in the future.
>Danny: *settling down into the driver's seat of his car, which we've never seen* That would be nice. Check out that sunset. I can't remember the last time I really looked to the sky. I was so short-sighted, always focusing on whatever my girlfriends wanted.
>Ethan: Then maybe... what you need is a boyfriend instead.
>Yaoi-style blushing
>Danny: You might be right. You just might be right.
>They leave the campus and find a new school, transferring within the next week.
>The two of them elope two years after that.
>Amber finds out five years later, after they've adopted a little girl.

It's a little tongue-in-cheek, but here you go.

That actually makes a lot of sense.

So I want to say this here, and it's on Sup Forums so you guys can just call me a faggot and move on with your day, but I figure if I say it somewhere I'll feel better.

I feel angry and miserable whenever Amber shows up. When people talk about how she's abusive and controlling and a burden it makes me think about myself and whether I do those things, and I feel like if that's true about me, and that I'm abusive and controlling and a burden on the people in my life, then I have to kill myself. Like I read about Amber and I want her to turn around so I can like go "see I'm not shit" and then she keeps being more of a cunt and hurting people, and it makes me think I'm doomed to hurt people too, or that I am and I can't see it. And if I don't try to relate to it or explain why people act that way after a lifetime of abuse, then I'm admitting that I was always right that I was doomed to become my abuser.

tldr: I'm stuck comparing myself to an obese wish fulfillment cartoon character and I'm hoping that by typing it out on a screen I'll realize I'm being retarded.

I actually can see and feel where you're coming from. I've been in a bad relationship before, and I know I've been the bad one before too.

Amber makes me sad too, because I've seen it from both sides.

But here's the difference between you and Amber:
She makes excuses and pushes responsibility onto others, onto Amazi-Girl.

When she broke up with Danny for talking to Sal, she was taking the fruit of her sabotage. Her sabotage was not telling him about Sal or any of her other important issues. She intentionally shut Danny out so she could say it wasn't her fault that he "betrayed" her.

When Amber does something wrong, she blames Amazi-Girl and other people. It's Danny's fault for not knowing about Sal. It's Amazi-Girl who attacks criminals. It's Amazi-Girl who dated Danny, so it's not Amber's fault that Danny's not in a relationship. It's Ethan who dated Joyce, and he *made* her get angry about closeting himself. It wasn't her fault she flipped a table. It was Ethan's for betraying her. Because he wouldn't date her, but he'd date Joyce. Amazi-Girl let Ryan escape--twice. Amazi-Girl started an altercation with Sal at the rally.

Nothing is ever *Amber's* fault. She is incapable of taking responsibility.

If you see yourself acting the way Amber does, then you're better than her, by virtue of acknowledging that you're causing a problem.

Sometimes, we act this way when we are in a depressive episode or if we have other health issues. Amber is being treated like she has DID, but she really doesn't. She's intentionally separating the two so she doesn't have to acknowledge that she's the one who pushes people away and attacks them.

If you are concerned about your own behavior, it might help to see a therapist or talk to an impartial friend. There are sites online like 7 Cups of Tea that can provide free services to get you the help you need.

Getting help makes you leagues better than Amber. It's okay. You are trying. You are not as bad as you think you are.

>Some amazing user
I recognize that art haha.

?
Who? Rainbow?

Latest Patreon strip for anyone who missed it last thread.

Nice strip.

>Dorothy/Walky: They're mostly okay, but it's going a bad direction right now. Walky is progressively hiding more stuff from her, and he thinks of her more like an annoying dog than he does as his girlfriend. He keeps on lying to her about everything important. She is significantly more attached to him than he is to her. Dorothy loves him, but Walky is feeling smothered.

I really think Willis missed the boat in rewriting the Ruth/Billie reveal strips. Dorothy being there for Walky could've started to turn their dynamic around. He wouldn't have had to start sharing with her immediately, but at least he could start to understand the value in having someone there for you when you're going through a tough time. And then he could start facing the dilemma of choosing to ask for real help or just flailing uselessly as his identity as the "smart kid" dissolves.

It seems like he's more interested in letting Walky free-fall more into failure before the facts get revealed out of his control.

I like the Dorothy Walky relationship fine, I think he showed his work with how they got together and they have had some sweet moments and pitfalls, and I much prefer it to other stuff going on in the strip. However, this extended grades thing (that's been going on since January 13, 2015) has been a real slow burn.

Also, if Walky really wants their relationship to not have any deep emotional/personal sharing, then I wish Dorothy would take more issue with that. Their relationship really started going when Dorothy went to hang out with him because she was overwhelmed by the attempted rape of Joyce. And then yeah, she found out he was somehow hot, and they started being physical. But since then, Dorothy hasn't avoided talking to Walky about what matters to her, and I would be pretty annoyed if I did that and got nothing in return. I wouldn't gently prod the person and then get ecstatic whenever they shared a scrap, I'd start feeling like I was an emotional drain.

It was everything I ever wanted.

Panels 4-6 are pretty insightful. Good show

As someone said previously, this is a good Dorothy moment, outside of the joke at the end. I actually identify with Dorothy on a lot of things, including a few of the things that people say make her a terrible person (shout-out to the anons above who identify with Amber's tendencies).

I know I can look back at my experiences in high school and see pretty easily that I was in all the after-school stuff because I'm an overachiever--but also because I didn't have anything else to do. I didn't spend time with people outside of class and my clubs. I didn't realize how much time people spent with each other outside of school overall.

I felt pretty content with my life, but was I happy? Not really. Even among the clubs and stuff I was in, I still felt like an outcast. I was unappreciated, no matter how hard I worked.

I don't think I was okay until after I got to college and was around people who really wanted to spend time with me. You don't really realize it until you're out.

January 2015? For real? Ughhh. I didn't realize it had been going on this long.

I agree. Walky has been pretty two-dimensional in their relationship. It's more than time for her to pick up on that. Maybe this will help her realize that they're not in a great position right now.

Yay! I'm glad you liked it.

Do we still have no one who can post the latest pin ups?

I'd sign up to Slipshine to get them, but that would break the 20 year run I have going on never paying for porn.

Don't kill yourself, user. If you are afraid of being a burden without even knowing if you are really one, you are probably not that bad of a person.

I'd advice you to start working on yourself. Self love is the place where all love starts. After all, if you don't love yourself, you'll have difficulties believing you are worthy of the love of others, or that your love is worth giving.

Talk with someone about this. Someone you trust or a therapist. They'll be able to give you perspective on wether your worries even have any grounds in reality, or if they are real, how to deal with them. This is very difficult to do on your own, so if you really want to improve yourself and start to become a better and happier person, I'd strongly advice you to get some outside perspective.

Best I can do is give you the old stuff. I think VA user said Walky/Dorothy wasn't working. Anyone have it?

---Pornographiques---
Walkyface (Walky Performs a Sex)
sli.mg/a/OpAn4s
Walkyface on roz (My Lesbian/Once We Hit 88MpH We're Gonna See Some Serious Clit)
sli.mg/a/yARBCg
Mask (Mask or No Mask?)
sli.mg/a/lJGjvn
Mike and Amber are terrible parents (The Most Epic of Hatefucks)
sli.mg/a/om4Xfh
Sal fucks her way to A (Head of the Class)
sli.mg/a/yV028q
Lesbians featuring speed lines (Finally)
sli.mg/a/Uwz6hW
Ropelingus (To the End of the Line)
sli.mg/a/zQiRaN
That one with the dick frotting and a batman reference (Tales of Sinterest)
sli.mg/a/gIzMX2

---Pinups---
Dorothy/Walky
sli.mg/a/RADWNf
Sarah
sli.mg/S2fNN1
Ethan
sli.mg/SfIpPY
Amber/Danny
sli.mg/4iagTF
Marcie
sli.mg/apktEi
Grace/Mandy
sli.mg/efTFT1
Mary
sli.mg/61SJKj
Exploitable Mary
sli.mg/a/8WPQhH
Mike
sli.mg/etD55l
Free Pinups
itswalky.deviantart.com/gallery/37947681/Pin-Up-Week

Missing Pinups:
Ruth/Billie
Joe’s Dad (and Amber’s mom?)
Dorothy (and Walky?)

---“Joyce and Walky” Dump---
pastebin.com/5MwZPhsE

---Patreon-Only Bonus Strips---
imgur.com/a/X5kU9

---VA user’s generous voice-over work---
mediafire.com/folder/pi3rlni1v293g/DoA_and_Shortpacked

Seconded.

This might not always be true, but if you're introspective to that degree about it, I feel like you're probably on the right track to not acting like that.

Definitely don't connect your success with Amber turning around. She'll probably continue to get worse while somehow becoming even more of a "tragic" hero.

Also, if you can bear the possible responses, I would recommend talking to a close person you fear you're abusing or being a burden to. I think they would appreciate you showing a genuine display of introspection, an interest in how your treatment of them has made them feel and a resolve to change your behaviour accordingly. And just an attempt at empathy, where they know you care about how they feel instead of just yourself. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate when someone just seems like they give a shit about anything but themselves and Pokemon GO.

To continue working with the train of thought of Amber being abusive and controlling, let's talk about Ruth.

Ruth is quite a bit worse than Amber, in terms of both emotional and physical control. Since Word of Willis says that no one will die, what should happen with Ruth from here?

Should she get moved to another dorm?
Lose her job?
Stay with Billie?
Continue getting psychiatric help?
Get arrested?

And so on.

Amber pretty much just needs therapy, but Ruth is a whole other mess. Try to imagine that Ruth is someone you know, someone that you hope will eventually be okay. How would you get Ruth to a better place?

I'm not going to go into what SHOULD happen, but I'm 100% sure that one of two things WILL happen.

1) Ruth's Grandfather will show up at the college in a Toedad-esque moment to spark off some lovely drama

or

2) Ruth will have to go back home and the cast will have to make a road trip to rescue her from her abusive Granddad.

If Willis is educated about one thing, it's tropes. I can't believe that he has made a point to mention Ruth's Grandfather in so many cases to just NOT have him be an eventual antagonist. It's Chekhov's Gun 101.

My guess is that we're gonna have the RA election shenanigans, then after we get a "winner", Puddinghead shows up and says "What? We're not getting a new RA, we don't fire people for requiring mental health care, lol." Ruth comes back, and all appears well and fine, status quo restored, and eventually abusive grandpa shows up so drama can happen. Billie fights for her woman, grandpa disappears and is never seen again, and the worst relationship in the comic gets to carry on.

Let me know if you think I missed anything.

Is it hypocritical of me to think Danny/Amber was salvageable and at least had the groundings of a decent relationship, but Billie/Ruth is ridiculous garbage that is continued solely through the fetishizing of abusive lesbian relationships?

No. Danny/Amber could have gone interesting places.

The secret password is "counselor".

Thanks for these.

For what it's worth, I talk a lot about this with the people in my life, and all of them don't think that of me at all. It's more that I can't convince myself that I'm not somehow making their lives worse, or that I won't somehow hurt my partner. Every time I get angry I start to abuse myself physically and mentally, and it's basically been a constant feedback for months now.

I guess it's like, I'm afraid of the potential that I could become my abuser. That inevitably I'll hurt somebody no matter what if I let my guard down and stop treating myself like shit. If I stop hitting myself for being angry. You guys brought up how I can overcome and recognize that I'm having a problem, but I think it's that I'm terrified of that potential even being there. That I even have to think about it being a possibility. It makes me want to die.

My psychiatrist and my counselor keep telling me I'm not doomed to this. That only a small percentage of victims of abuse perpetuate it, but it's just always there eating at the back of my brain.

Any VA requests?

You could do one of the dialogues?

That's honestly is what comes from the mentality of being abused. That's part of it. Your abuser has convinced you that you are bad, that you *made* them treat you the way they did.

That is PTSD, depression, whatever you want to call it talking. You are not your abuser. You are not your PTSD.

The more time away from your abuser, the better.

It takes a long time, especially if your abuser keeps bothering you, like mine does. He makes new Facebook accounts and messages me, despite me having blocked him 7 times now. If you are physically and electronically separated from your abuser, you will be okay one day.

Can you do "My Lesbian"? And make it sound as awkward and uncomfortable as possible?

Alternatively, I'd like to see the one where Mike and Amber are terrible parents.

Hide the thread and move on, autist

link me to the edits again?

Found one. I really should keep better track of these.

bgrevln8fu.tumblr.com/post/76922723992

They're all there. Just hit one of the tags at the bottom.

While I'm dropping my trip, I might as well say that I'm not averse to eventually buying a Slipshine subscription myself, but I'm gonna wait and see how long WTTFZ lasts. I have an idea for censorship, but I'd rather get them all at once, know what I'm sayin'?

alright, I'll finish this tomorrow.

For now, here's the new strip.

youtube.com/watch?v=IIEVqFB4WUo

speaking of emotional tone...

And on tonight's episode of Everybody Hates Danny, Joyce and Sarah wear stupidly tiny sweatshirts to see if anyone will say anything.

Let's see what happens!

What the fuck is this? Jacob and Joe know each other?!

Joking, of course. But when were these two seen together last, if at all?

Also, Panel Four. I'm sure it's not the case, but it seems like Joyce is gripping Sarah's arm with just her fingers. No thumb.

Also, Panel Three. Joyce is staring into your soul. No matter what direction or angle you look at her, she is looking right back at you.

Also, the secret password is "approachable".

Oh shit, they're eating at Galasso's.

Prepare for Becky in the next strip or two.

look, I know it's been asked before but I'll say it again

Why is Jacob so hot in-universe?

He's got a diglet face and no personality

he's big, burly, and black.

he's willis' type

is this Jacob as perceived by Willis?

youtube.com/watch?v=xQ96dy93mP0

This 2013 strip is the only time that I could find of them interacting other than when Joe introduced Danny to Jacob a few real-time months earlier.

And as a side note, I knew Jacob didn't show up often, but there are literally only 49 posts tagged with his name in the archive, and about 10 are news posts and not comics.

>Dorothy fucked Danny in high school
Y'know, that might explain why she fucked Walky. She's just a nympho.

it's sad that I know Dorothy joking about Danny making a picture of him and Joe being best friends is actually a secret jab at Willis himself because he did the EXACT same thing

>diglett face

Oh. My. God. I KNEW I had seen his character in something before!

>Will Joe and Joyce have cute interactions?
>Will Sarah be able to make it through the salads without ordering the spaghetti special?
>Will Becky pop in for a needless appearance?
>Will Jacob develop a personality and storyline of his own?

they already have
pfft, no.
there's a good chance
>giving a minority man a storyline
are you high?

>yes
>no
>abso-fucking-lutely
>hahahahahahaha no

Hey, he has a personality.

He likes Marvel comics and uh... being black?

>Will Joe and Joyce have cute interactions?

Meanwhile, on the It's Walky! repost....

I am confused by Joyce's actions in this strip.

I'm more confused by the shit writing.

So he's Ethan with less drama in his life?

Nah, not really. I enjoy reading the comic, and coming to these threads is a nice way to get funny edits and those pinups Willis did, since I refuse to sully my computer by going to Deviantart with it

Stopped reading the comic a while ago, just looked into this thread to see why the strip is in black and white.
Can confirm, not caring improved my life. Instead of thinking about bad webcomics like DoA, I started my own instead.

Link?

Ethan likes DC and Transformers

learn da lore

this strip was after joyce realized how being a super duper mega Christian was sabotaging her relationships as she was a fucking massive stick in the mud, so she went try-hard slut mode to try and be better, and so she went after the biggest manslut in the comic, joe. but joe knows joyce and knows that this act is her lying to herself. next couple strips is a dialoge and joe walks away. joyce finally realizes that the middle road is the correct one, not a stick in the mud or slut.

oh I thought that was his dad

I don't recall those two interacting previously

Yeah, I didn't think that one interaction would ever matter. And I am sure we're expected to remember it.

This seems like this could also be okay.

You guys do raise a good point that despite a comic showing Joe and Jacob as being good friends, we literally have never seen them since. It comes with trying to make Joe a more important character, similar to the older strips where he went from just slutty to more serious by the end of It's Walky.

>And on tonight's episode of Everybody Hates Danny, Joyce and Sarah wear stupidly tiny sweatshirts to see if anyone will say anything.

They seem pretty cute.

And then at some point the ultra-slut-mode comes alive as Anti-Joyce and Joyce shoots it in the face, or something.

Nah that happened before. She's basically cosplaying Anti-Joyce.

It's weird to me that some of you people say Willis used to have good comics, and yet keep posting examples that show he didn't.

Well I mean, he wasn't writing like Watchmen-tier shit or anything. The plot did revolve around fighting Hobbit-sized aliens in a NERV-ripoff with evil clones, machines that reversed genders, a giant robot monkey, etc. but for what it was, and especially compared to what he writes now, it wasn't at all terrible.

My theory is that he grew up immersed in sci-fi and relevant franchises, so he's much better suited to sci-fi oriented stories himself, rather than creating a PC-friendly Tumblr-circlejerk of a story.

I vaguely liked Shortpacked, but I mostly read it out of curiosity. Every time I try to remember a good strip from it, I realize none of them are good on their own.

He's said in the past that his parents were into science fiction and he grew up with those influences.
Then he goes on to criticize his mother, of course.

Has anybody in here bought her eBook yet? Does anybody know how to rip it in a DRM-free format?

Why is she doing that if she's already married to Walky? Because Joe calls her "Mrs. Walkerton."

She's not married to him yet.

What do you mean "you people?"

I, personally, never say, "oh I miss when x comic of his was good." I do remember reading them, but I read a *lot* of webcomics, and a lot of it was just killing time. I don't for a second imagine it would hold up to scrutiny if I went back now.

I think the big issue with DoA is that his attitude now is incredibly shitty and it's very apparent in DoA at times. Like, those old strips were more about grappling with stuff honestly, but now he is writing from the perspective that he thinks that he has figured stuff out.

Oh, and he doesn't know what hands look like.

Oh, I understand. Mrs. Walkerton is the older lady who runs SEMME. He's recalling her because older women are gross and will stop his boner that is touching Joyce. It's pretty problematic ageism, famiglia.

This is really the best I could find and relevant to the post you were replying to.

Going back and looking at the other strips, you're kinda right. It's Walky and a lot of other webcomics of that era (and even today) the artists always pigeon-holed themselves into the "the final panel has to end in a joke" carry-over from newspaper comic strips. Even if 90% of the jokes were forced and shitty and cheapened any actual drama or serious moments.

DoA still suffers from this. I know there's a ton of other issues aside, but the constant tone and atmosphere being yanked away because "Oh shit, it's the last panel on the page, BETTER MAKE A JOKE!". That stuff is now better suited to actual gag-a-day comics, not something that's trying to be story-heavy. Let the humor flow in naturally.

I don't know if this help, but it did to me when I was feeling depressed.

Every time I hit myself or got angry at myself or did something unhealthy because I thought I had fucked up I asked myself "would I be okay with treating another person the way I'm treating myself now as punishment for whatever I did".

Most of the times I could conclude that it I would look like an insane person if I went off on others like I did to myself. That helped me a bit with stopping to overreact against myself.

So is Jacob or Sarah the Progressive Black Friend of the crew? There's always at least one in these stories.

Jeez, this turned out rougher than I expected it to.

I think that role is taken up by Dorothy.

It may be a red flag, but it's a red flag I'd gladly ignore.

You're doing the lord's work, user.

Well I was thinking more the "I need my thoughts and opinions about ethnic issues affirmed by an Ethnic Person" kinda role, but Dorothy tries to fill that niche with everyone, as part of her long game.

Nah, I know what you mean.
But it's more of Willis affirming his views through every protagonist, not simply limited to a specific ethnicity.

>tfw you find a new LGBT comic with a focus on unhealthy relationships for the sake of drama and it's a million times better than Dumbing of Age

I would highly recommend The Quick and Dirty Life of Fritz Fargo if you want a version of DoA that isn't awful and offensive in every way

Jacob. Sarah occasionally resorts to violence and is very focused on sex--she's more of a stereotype. Jacob is a gentle black guy interested in law. Yes, Sarah is studying law too, but she fits into other stereotypes.

>Jacob is [...] interested in law.
>Sarah is studying law too
No wonder "Dumbing of Age" will never end.

So how many strips until Becky shows up?

So Jacob likes capeshit and being black, and Ethan likes capeshit and being white. Gotcha

I'm pretty sure Sal is the character who fits that mold closest.

This is so goddamn beautiful. I'd love to see you do some more arts in the old Walkyverse continuity, Yoto.

I'd love to see more art in general!

So in 40 or so years, when Willis is 80-something years old, DoA will just be about Jacob and Sarah in post-grad studies?

Hot damn. Thank god I'm drinking myself into an early grave.

Body of an olympian god, basically

>Finally find the DoA thread (OP threw me for a loop with thst BW strip)
>Discussion is 25% analyzing relationships and 25% talking an user out of depression

DoA has become something very unusual, and while I am not complaining, I am perplexed.

It's a slice of life comic that makes us analyze people who are supposed to live in the real world, and during such analysis, we take time to look inward and see what aspects of our life parallels with these characters. Like, I see a lot of Joe in me and find myself normally attracted to Joyce/Mary type girls. I looks at there actions and see how maybe I've done something like that and what I could do to change myself so I'm not a huge jerk.
Then I realize the comic is written by a dipstick sjw who wants lgbt gold stars, so I just trash it with the rest of the anons.

user, remember that just because you identify with a fictional character at point x of their narrative doesn't mean that you're doomed to repeat their actions and choices throughout, because they're
a) not you
b) fictional
c) written for the sake of the drama in the narrative
d) written by someone who you probably wouldn't identify with, and so they don't really act like you would in that situation, the author writes them from their own viewpoint and to their own needs (drama in the narrative)

I think it's our smaller group of more mature probably older anons that help too. You'll notice that outside of Dewd and a few others, this general is pretty devoid of name/tripfags unless there is a momentary need.
>Discussion is 25% analyzing relationships and 25% talking an user out of depression
As you say, the discussion here often starts briefly with the comic and just ends up wherever, with only a smattering of empty reaction-pic posts along the way. It's one of the most un-general-like general threads I've ever been a regular part of, and I like it.

I just noticed that Sarah is digging in her heels in as she's getting pulled in frame in panel 4. At first I thought it was just one leg. It seems like the panel could've been panned to the left anyway.

I don't like Willis' layouts.

Wow. Yeah, I always kinda liked the IW! Sunday strips and the general layout of Shortpacked!, but I never really thought of how impossible some of his better strips of the past would be in his current framework from which he will NEVER EVER depart from here on out because this status quo is easier.

That's really how I feel every time I see a decent Shortpacked strip. Sometimes, strips really need room to breathe, but Willis is hardly capable of deviation.

But he IS capable. That's what pisses me off more than anything. He DID make those decent and sometimes legit funny Shortpacked strips, and he DID make those It's Walky strips that made his characters likable and relatable.

He just kinda....stopped.