Behold, the awkward mating dance of Dorkus Awkwardus.
Unlike the overt displays performed by specimens of Canis Hornus such as Joe, the Dorkus genus is destined to mate only rarely, due to the subtlety of their courtships making it difficult for prospective partners to even tell they are signaling.
SAME! Like, I try to signal, but I honestly can’t tell whether I’m being ignored because I’m horribly overdoing it or because the other party didn’t notice. Being a Dorkus is *hard*.
That version has totally eclipsed (I swear I didn’t mean to do that) the real one in my head. If I am ever called upon to sing this song for karaoke, this is the version I will do.
Leanin’ on myself cause there’s two of me here, but now there’s only one in this shot~
I don’t remember it in full but parts bump into my head periodically. Finding out the song was originally written for a vampire musical* explained a LOT about that video to me.
* Not Tanz der Vampire, which it ended up in, a different one that was canned.
The story that has always been repeated was that Steinman originally wrote the song (along with “Making Love out of Nothing At All”) for Meat Loaf’s album “Midnight at the Lost and Found”, but Meat Loaf’s record company wouldn’t cough up the cash for either of them so he gave “Total Eclipse” to Bonnie Tyler and “Making Love” to Air Supply. Steinman himself has denied this rumor many times, but like a vampire itself, the old story refuses to die.
I never did buy that entirely, though. Those two songs weren’t in Meat Loaf’s style at that time. Only when he made his comeback with the semi-sentimental “I Would Do Anything For Love” in the mid-1990s would either of those two songs been appropriate.
every now and then I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes) every now and then I fall apart
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
We’ll be holding on forever
And we’ll only be making it right
‘Cause we’ll never be wrong
Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)
I don’t know what to do and I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
We don’t really know. There’s mutual attraction, but it hasn’t really come up in a long while. Meanwhile, Ethan’s been getting action, and Danny seems pretty content figuring out himself, since he’s previously been kind of absorbed by Dorothy, then Amber, and their needs and wants.
Thank god we’ve moved into a plot that’s funny awkward instead of trainwreck awkward. Hopefully that ‘date’ is done by the time the story shifts again.
I’ve been reading Dumbing of Age religiously for a pretty long time now (since a little while before Becky arrived), but this storyline made me pause reading. I just don’t want to see the trainwreck. (Joyce’s and Jacob’s friendship is one of my favourite relationships in the whole comic and I just cannot see that coming out of this intact.)
I mean, I still check the site every day so I can read the strips that aren’t centered on the trainwreck. I hope the trainwreck finishes soon, so I can go back to reading normally.
Is it weird that I’ve done this before? Where I notice that I’m close to someone I want to talk to, but pretend I haven’t seen them because I’m too shy to strike up a conversation?
And yet, when someone needs the ol’ bum’s rush while I’m working security, I have no problem dealing with people. I don’t get it.
I’m relatively old compared to the characters in this comic and, I expect, many of the commenters (I’m in my 30s) and I’ll admit that sometimes I get nostalgic for the days of intense “life-threatening” crushes and the associated drama. It was so EXCITING!
And then I remember how stressful it all was and I’m happy that I’m not dealing with that anymore. My partner and I have been together for about a decade and this is a slight paraphrase of a conversation we had a few days ago. I am NOT making this up.
My partner, on his way out of the bathroom: Why are you staring at me?
Me, in the bedroom, directly across from the bathroom: I am not staring at you.
My partner: Yes, you are. You are staring straight ahead, right at me. You’re making fun of me.
Me: I’m not staring, I’m *thinking.* You’re just in my line of sight.
My partner: You’re a lying liar who lies.
Me: F*&% you. I was THINKING about whether or not I want to make dinner or order out.
My partner: *pause* If we’re ordering out, what do you want to get?
Me: Mexican. That okay?
Not terribly romantic, I know, and my partner and I have a tendency to toss verbal barbs at one another. But while I miss the intensity of early relationships that Willis captures so well, I am also relieved to *not have to go through that again.*
At least you and your partner aren’t like my sister and her wife. If one or the other of them doesn’t call, upset about what the other said in the middle of a blazing argument about something stupid, for at least a week, we have to stop by their apartment to make sure that they’re still alive.
For the record, they love each other more than you could ever imagine. They just, for whatever reason, feel the need to get in blistering fights over the dumbest things. Even the couples counselor couldn’t figure it out; he just told them to seek help if they start going at it over serious stuff instead of things like “How dare you use my favorite mug to make me a cup of tea when you knew I wanted one?” (this was an actual fight, by the way). Maybe they’re just trolling us.
Nah, just bring us back to watching Joyce’s TERRIBLE mistake, please.
Though, running into Joyce’s ex-boyfriend and Jacob’s current roommate is gonna suggest shenanigans, and we know Ethan is too spineless to do anything but play along.
Grooooan. Thank you so much for getting that stupid song stuck in my head, Willis. It was playing Mozart’s 25th Symphony until then. Going to listen to something else now, drive that pop junk right out.
Why yes, I am on the spectrum, however did you guess?
Huh. I know a lot of useless folks and probably about 20 or so queer folk, but I don’t actually know any useless queer folks (that I know of). I hadn’t noticed/thought about it till you said that. But probably not a large enough sample to be significant.
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ehh just have Pokémon GO open, COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDABLE
THERE WAS A RATTATA
They’re up to Gen V now. A Lillipup is more likely.
Shiny Turtwig, starting from 11 to 2 local time today!
Wait Gen V? When?!
Monday at 1PM PT.
Behold, the awkward mating dance of Dorkus Awkwardus.
Unlike the overt displays performed by specimens of Canis Hornus such as Joe, the Dorkus genus is destined to mate only rarely, due to the subtlety of their courtships making it difficult for prospective partners to even tell they are signaling.
They’re like freakin’ pandas.
I can’t even tell if I’m signaling at times, let alone if someone else is signaling.
Same. I don’t understand these signal things at all.
SAME! Like, I try to signal, but I honestly can’t tell whether I’m being ignored because I’m horribly overdoing it or because the other party didn’t notice. Being a Dorkus is *hard*.
Dammit! How long has Willis known how the interior of my brain works??
can confirm: this is gay culture
I love these two and I appreciate the break from the train wreck that is Jacob and Joyce right now.
If awkwardness could kill, the whole campus would be dead now.
*by the way, this is the album version of the song, not the singles/music video one*
How about the Literal Music Video version?
That version has totally eclipsed (I swear I didn’t mean to do that) the real one in my head. If I am ever called upon to sing this song for karaoke, this is the version I will do.
Leanin’ on myself cause there’s two of me here, but now there’s only one in this shot~
I don’t remember it in full but parts bump into my head periodically. Finding out the song was originally written for a vampire musical* explained a LOT about that video to me.
* Not Tanz der Vampire, which it ended up in, a different one that was canned.
♫♫
What kind of private schoold would let in these kind of guys?
It started out as Hogwarts, now it’s Lord of the Flies
♫♫
Oh, literal videos. A fad that burned bright and faded far too quickly.
I am glad I wasn’t the only one to see the literal version.
With every damn verse and chorus, the way Jim intended.
It’s not a true Jim Steinman song if it doesn’t break the 7 minute barrier.
The story that has always been repeated was that Steinman originally wrote the song (along with “Making Love out of Nothing At All”) for Meat Loaf’s album “Midnight at the Lost and Found”, but Meat Loaf’s record company wouldn’t cough up the cash for either of them so he gave “Total Eclipse” to Bonnie Tyler and “Making Love” to Air Supply. Steinman himself has denied this rumor many times, but like a vampire itself, the old story refuses to die.
I never did buy that entirely, though. Those two songs weren’t in Meat Loaf’s style at that time. Only when he made his comeback with the semi-sentimental “I Would Do Anything For Love” in the mid-1990s would either of those two songs been appropriate.
Yeah, those two are totally of a piece with the last one, and not at all with the rest.
There’s a lot of stories about Meat, Jim, record companies, disagreements, ‘Midnight…’, and ‘Bad for Good’.
Every now and then we get a music reference.
Or one of you could try saying ‘Oh, hi! I didn’t see you there. How’s it going?’
Says she who would probably do the exact same thing. Let’s hear it for mild hypocrisy! 😀
The ‘oh’ is crucial here, you need to clearly express surprise.
Yeeeep.
That’s the hard part.
Social awkwardness? I can’t relate to that at all. AT ALL!!!!!!
There’s histerical blindness and there’s histerical “he’ll understand I didn’t see him”ness.
The first “really exists” and the second is caused by awkawrdness.
I…..I do this……
You’re not alone.
Oh my gosh it’s me! I’m in the comic! What an honor!
every now and then I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes) every now and then I fall apart
And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
We’ll be holding on forever
And we’ll only be making it right
‘Cause we’ll never be wrong
Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)
I don’t know what to do and I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Daniel the Human taught me “Google-fu”. I can find things now…
https://youtu.be/lcOxhH8N3Bo
My first thought for a comment was to just post “Bright Eyes” and see how far it went. And then I saw your post, and my hopes were dashed.
Well played, fellow being. Well played.
Does…that mean I win? That I won at something? I……don’t know how to process this feeling…
You’re experiencing an annular eclipse of the heart.
Yes, Screwball, you won. Enjoy the feeling.
Awkward friends! Being awkward! Honestly it’s a wonder any of us with social anxiety focus so well!
Sal: “This is the gayest thing since Marcie’s NSFW sign language.”
Ruth: I admit that I’ve only been out of the closet for fourteen days but that is the gayest thing I’ve ever seen.
Now leaving the drama trainwreck for the social anxiety trainwreck.
(what monster keeps messing with all the railroad line switches anyway)
What, do you want non-wrecked trains? What kind of madness would that be?
Moral philosophers, no doubt.
Which switch do I have to pull to make the train hit five awful dads instead of 1 Amber? I will crank on that lever as hard as possible.
“Now leaving the drama trainwreck for the social anxiety trainwreck.
(what monster keeps messing with all the railroad line switches anyway)
Gomez Addams.
I am reminded of the early (late) Mad magazine.
The key to navigating complex social interactions such as this one…
…is to just say “Hi”
H-h-HWADOAKDNAKFOBFOFFKDSFGFHGH!
or to say “SOCIAL INTERACTIONS ARE HARD” and start sobbing
My memory’s fuzzie, do Danny and Ethan still have their “I’m interested but we can’t do that to Amber” deal going on?
We don’t really know. There’s mutual attraction, but it hasn’t really come up in a long while. Meanwhile, Ethan’s been getting action, and Danny seems pretty content figuring out himself, since he’s previously been kind of absorbed by Dorothy, then Amber, and their needs and wants.
Ah, anxiety.
You two dorks.
Thank god we’ve moved into a plot that’s funny awkward instead of trainwreck awkward. Hopefully that ‘date’ is done by the time the story shifts again.
I want to see how Joyce will try to get herself out of the mess she’s gotten herself into.
I’m just sipping my coffee, waiting for the inevitable Raidah entrance.
I’ve been reading Dumbing of Age religiously for a pretty long time now (since a little while before Becky arrived), but this storyline made me pause reading. I just don’t want to see the trainwreck. (Joyce’s and Jacob’s friendship is one of my favourite relationships in the whole comic and I just cannot see that coming out of this intact.)
I mean, I still check the site every day so I can read the strips that aren’t centered on the trainwreck. I hope the trainwreck finishes soon, so I can go back to reading normally.
Oh wow, it’s been a while since we’ve seen these two interact, hasn’t it? …Still waiting on them to interact, really, lmao
I hope they do interact…
Is it weird that I’ve done this before? Where I notice that I’m close to someone I want to talk to, but pretend I haven’t seen them because I’m too shy to strike up a conversation?
And yet, when someone needs the ol’ bum’s rush while I’m working security, I have no problem dealing with people. I don’t get it.
Willis—I was not looking for that song reference! It’s not often I’m caught so off guard. Kudos!!
I’m relatively old compared to the characters in this comic and, I expect, many of the commenters (I’m in my 30s) and I’ll admit that sometimes I get nostalgic for the days of intense “life-threatening” crushes and the associated drama. It was so EXCITING!
And then I remember how stressful it all was and I’m happy that I’m not dealing with that anymore. My partner and I have been together for about a decade and this is a slight paraphrase of a conversation we had a few days ago. I am NOT making this up.
My partner, on his way out of the bathroom: Why are you staring at me?
Me, in the bedroom, directly across from the bathroom: I am not staring at you.
My partner: Yes, you are. You are staring straight ahead, right at me. You’re making fun of me.
Me: I’m not staring, I’m *thinking.* You’re just in my line of sight.
My partner: You’re a lying liar who lies.
Me: F*&% you. I was THINKING about whether or not I want to make dinner or order out.
My partner: *pause* If we’re ordering out, what do you want to get?
Me: Mexican. That okay?
Not terribly romantic, I know, and my partner and I have a tendency to toss verbal barbs at one another. But while I miss the intensity of early relationships that Willis captures so well, I am also relieved to *not have to go through that again.*
At least you and your partner aren’t like my sister and her wife. If one or the other of them doesn’t call, upset about what the other said in the middle of a blazing argument about something stupid, for at least a week, we have to stop by their apartment to make sure that they’re still alive.
For the record, they love each other more than you could ever imagine. They just, for whatever reason, feel the need to get in blistering fights over the dumbest things. Even the couples counselor couldn’t figure it out; he just told them to seek help if they start going at it over serious stuff instead of things like “How dare you use my favorite mug to make me a cup of tea when you knew I wanted one?” (this was an actual fight, by the way). Maybe they’re just trolling us.
It’s not a social obligation to greet someone you know just because they’re near by. You two are weird.
It’s way easier to pretend not to notice them, though. I do it all the time!
Just start playing the Uke, Danny, and he will have the perfect reason to turn around.
This is like watching someone with only a hammer staring in confusion at a nail. Come on! You got this!
How long has your comment been there? Well, it’s too late to answer it now without it being awkward.
Though I do think that Joe would approve of using the uke as a hammer.
I think he left it in his room.
Quickly, Danny! Download a ukulele app and start strumming that!
goddamit, Danny. Don’t leave your room without your ukulele. Hat. Ukulele. Two things. Two! How hard can it be.
Twice as hard as one thing.
And if he’s too busy trying to remember those two things, he might forget everything else.
At least Ethan wouldn’t pretend to ignore him then . . .
Nah, just bring us back to watching Joyce’s TERRIBLE mistake, please.
Though, running into Joyce’s ex-boyfriend and Jacob’s current roommate is gonna suggest shenanigans, and we know Ethan is too spineless to do anything but play along.
So much awkward but the S.S. Ethdan is getting close to docking someday.
DoA Book 10: Well, It’s Awkward
That’s the name for the omnibus.
Those two seem to be the epitome of ‘socially awkward to the point of it being a disability’.
These two cannot possibly be the epitome of social awkwardness when Amber, Dina, and Faz still exist.
Danny!!!! 😀
why am i being personally attacked i came here to have a good time
Grooooan. Thank you so much for getting that stupid song stuck in my head, Willis. It was playing Mozart’s 25th Symphony until then. Going to listen to something else now, drive that pop junk right out.
Why yes, I am on the spectrum, however did you guess?
Me regarding Ethan and Danny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJqWPnlEp-Y
Too much thinking. This can be the beginning of something interesting.
I feel so called out by this strip.
Just open Pokémon Go and then notice he’s nearby. Then suggest a trade or team raid.
But happy to be two dumb dramas away from the evil dads.
I’m in this image and I dont like it.
Oh no, they’re perfect for each other… in the way all useless queer folk are.
Huh. I know a lot of useless folks and probably about 20 or so queer folk, but I don’t actually know any useless queer folks (that I know of). I hadn’t noticed/thought about it till you said that. But probably not a large enough sample to be significant.
I think Cerberus means „useless queer folk“ in the sense of people who are oblivious to their mutual attraction to each other.
Totally different topic: I updated my iPad and now I don’t get to see your avatars any longer. Does anyone know which safety-setting does that?
Hi Cerberus, always good to have you drop by. Hope everything’s going well.
3 weeks.
3 weeks to read ALL the dumbing of age (free) content.
i’m finally free, and i can say, good work my man, you made a real good improvment in your art. 🙂
These two are so adorable, it just HURTS!!
Seriously, I have bruises!