It really makes sense if you consider it a side-effect of how her mother acts. Every gift comes with the expectation that she later does something the gift-giver wants. Billie and Walky probably got her gifts for her birthdays, but those are an occasion and not quite the same thing as just being give a gift. Marcy’s family is pretty poor, and then there was the gas station and Sal being sent off to boarding school. It’s quite possible noone has ever given her a gift just because they wanted to do something nice for her.
Under those circumstances I can really understand Sal being tsun about it. She has no experience and no framework for just accepting a gift and being happy. If Danny can just so much as get her started on working through that he will have given her a really great gift.
One day, after many years of their relationship evolving down this path, he’ll propose…by buying a ring, offering it to her, getting rejected, and putting the ring in at the end of a hallway filled with deathtraps.
She’ll naturally steal it, then claim his hand in marriage as her prize for besting him.
I don’t know how comic it has to be. Like it’s definitely comedic, but its also romantic that you believe so much in the strength of someone you like (in part for their strength) that you confidently put the embodiment of your love for them behind all those death traps with no doubt in your mind that they will clear them all safely and claim you.
I figure it’s nice to have someone believe in you like that. Sweet really.
The statue depicts Danny Wilcox clowning with Sal Walkerton, holding a bouquet of pens in his hand. Ten fathers look on listlessly. The image gives an impression of vulnerability. This artwork was made to remember Sal stealing the flowers from Danny on August 11, 2021.
Greenlit, six seasons at 52 1-hour episodes each. You’ve got Steve Buscemi, Olivia Coleman, a 2D cartoon character voiced by Jim Cummings, and a sponsorship contract with Prairie Farms. Do with those resources as you will.
I lost a bet to myself once. Once! YEARS ago! And i STILL gloat about it! Even though I’ve PAID the trillion dollars and four cents, so maybe its time I moved on.
I’m such a jerk sometimes, I swear.
Y’all are *WRONG*. No flowers have disappeared from the bouqette. Sal is secretly adding *more* flowers, because she secretly enjoys her blooming (hehe) relationship with Danny.
All according to his master plan I assure you! The seed has been planted, the bird in flight, the first line crossed, and the first box checked. Let the manipulation begin!
While I don’t find cut flowers particularly useful, I have never had a love interest give me flowers, and I would probably like it if someone did because it would show that I am someone they think is worth buying flowers for. Or any gift, really. I’d just like to be thought of?
Interesting, I occasionally buy my wife flowers and she seems to like them, at the very lest she’ll put them in a vase but does she like the flowers or does she like that I bought her something thats supposed to represent positive feelings.
Some people like flowers for the decor or the smell(my mother is one of those).
The other reason is that it is a gift. You stopped, spent time picking out, and then spent money on, a gift that specifically says “I like you”. The gift is one the other person is supposed to own for ~1 week, displayed where they will be reminded of it, and then discard with no other effort on their part. It’s sort of a very specific ‘generic gift’, and if someone is looking for a nice message, it’s a clear way of doing that with minimal confusion.
(unless the other person is Sal)
I guess it depends on if you actually like flowers and the idea of small gifts to begin with but my mother likes displaying flowers she gets, they are pretty. I’ve never been given flowers but I like them and I like being given small gifts and flowers smell nice.
I *thought* I didn’t get flowers, for the stated reasons, but actually, having flowers and being able to put them somewhere you can appreciate them is lovely. they look nice, they smell nice, they’re a visible reminder of people wanting to give you flowers.
Even condolence flowers- i kind of expected to hate getting flowers when we had a death in the family, but in reality, walking into a house that smells lovely is just. a nice sensory experience. it didn’t mean I wasn’t grieving, but it made the physical context of my grief a bit more pleasant.
My mom gardened, so when I buy any women flowers, they are usually potted, not cut. Cut flowers die too quickly, a small little pot of violets will brighten up a room for the whole season.
I’d rather be given something that is a bit more useful and not gonna die fairly soon, but I wouldn’t mind getting flowers either since they’re pretty and the gesture would be nice. I’ve never been given flowers though, since in American society men usually aren’t given flowers by their SO as a gift.
I never cared for the idea of receiving flowers until my now-husband gifted me some for a Valentine’s Day while we were dating. No one had given me flowers before, which is something I very enthusiastically told him. They were pretty to look at for the 2 weeks they lived on the counter.
And as for growing your own flowers… I am not very good at that. I tried to grow some chamomile, thinking it would be as easy as my vegetable garden, but they made some baby sprouts and then promptly died. And the other flowers I transplanted have had very mixed results. Flowers are hard, wtf.
I love the little smile in the last panel. I think he might be the second person who actually speaks Sal.
On that note, I hope whoever called Sal protesting they aren’t dating and yet continuing to do the date-y thing anyway feels very proud of themselves because this looks like it could end up being bang on.
Y’know, if you’re angry that folks are being nice to you, then you’ll ALWAYS be angry.
That (or a stimulus/emotion combo very similar) is a lesson it took me a very long, very painful time to learn. I do hope Sal is smarter and more well-adjusted than I was.
What’s wrong with liking Danny? In general, he’s good people, even if Ethan might never forgive him about what he said about Mike. Granted, it was unbelievably insensitive but only three characters (Ethan, Amber, and AmaziGirl) were relatively certain that Mike had redeeming qualities and even they seemed to wonder at times.
It’s not a wonder she thinks people just can’t be nice for being nice.
Her whole environment is distorted around the distorted idea that the reward for good comes from authority, from power ever others, from a supreme deity.
But those who think deep, realize that the reward of a good action cannot be given by any power, but that it is the natural result of the good action.
Our reward for doing good is in the nature of things, and not in the comprise of any power, not in the comprise of the supernatural, not even the comprise of the infinite.
We should not strive to be loyal, faithful servants to any person, god, government, culture, color or creed.
I feel like you’re confusing Joyce and Sal again. I’ve never gotten the impression that Sal’s family was religious at all, especially given some early comments from Walky.
Sal was raised under the false impression that good is by definition putting up a facade for selfish benefit, that niceness is always manipulation.
Her mother, and many others like her, think that good is the sole product of authority because they keep learning from bad example. And some of the most insidious examples are found in and perpetuated by the institution of religion. Especially the major monotheistic religions.
While I agree that the Walkerton family doesn’t seem religious, there was that time when Walky had a stint as a child actor and appeared in one of Joyce’s propaganda shows.
Also, who knows how religious Sal’s boarding school was? The Meet the Parents weekend had Sal dressing up in an outfit I’d expect from a religious boarding school.
It might just be that Catholics have a reputation for that kind of boarding school though. I don’t think there’s any other evidence the Walkerton’s are Catholic or much more than nominally religious at all. The Hymmell video certainly wasn’t Catholic – most likely it was just a child actor opportunity as far as Linda was concerned.
I’m inclined to agree re: the Hymmel bit. Walky remembering it barely-to-not-at-all implies that it wasn’t really a mark of pride or even particular significance for him or his family.
Sal is one of those people who would note Jesus was anti-authoritarian, pacifist, hated the rich, and loathed hypocrites. In short, she’s probably someone who even if not a theist has respect for him as an anarchist philosopher.
Joyce would find Sal’s view like a Lovecraft protagonist and Blue Screen of Death–even if she’s not religious anymore.
Well, she DID call out Booster on “psychological sooth-saying”; vast networks of distortions like that don’t just leave our heuristics overnight. It’s more of a “purge ’em when you find ’em” kind of game.
You know if Sal doesn’t get her shit together soon Danny might get snatched up. He’s one of the more decent available guys that’s not directly related to her. Joe is a project, Ethan is gay, and Jacob is probably hanging with Ethan in not made an appearance yet ville. Also he has dating criteria which is a little cringe. And I’m not sure if she swings nonbinary. All I’m saying is pining for Asher is a lost cause and sweetboy Danny has prospects.
I guess Jacob has some kind of checklist a girl needs to meet to be a dating prospect which is stupid and his brother even kind of criticized him for it.
It’s why he was dating Raidah. She passed but the irony was his brother liked Joyce who checked none of those boxes and so did he. He might have abandoned the idea by now though but we won’t know until he shows up again.
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that, though I really hope it’s not as literal a checklist as it sounds. Everybody’s got deal breakers, of course, and far be it from me to shame people for being choosey, but having a point-by-point list of what a potential partner must have seems like a recipe for serial disappointment.
I mean, it’s not weird to be like “this is what I value in a romantic partner” is it?
It’s weird if Jacob made a list of mechanical benefits and detriments comparing Joyce and Raidah so he could figure out which one he wanted to date, but I kinda figured Jacob just meant it “a list” as the kind of person he likes.
The original checklist seemed more than that, since it seemed to be ticking off qualities he thought he should like, rather than what he actually wanted. Ones that might please his brother, possibly.
He’s likely still a bit too structured about it, but now he’s at least aiming for his own interests, judging by his last comments about it.
They spontaneously had sex twice in the heat of the moment and had two actual conversations afterwards, and that’s basically as close as Sal gets to having an emotional connection with someone who isn’t Marcie.
“Ah got a boyfriend!” *gestures to a guy so far in the background that no details can be made out* “Fine, ah’ll introduce you to ‘im.” *the “camera” refuses to follow*
(Norville’s drama is that he used to date a girl who looked a bit like Amber, but ironically, in this case she turned out to be gay. Also, he misses his dog.)
I would absolutely love to see that. Sometimes it seems like we forget how his parents’ subtle(ish) shittiness has probably influenced his personality.
Dual Tsundere is such a hard balance because it’s hard to get the abrasive behaviour from both ends without it feeling grating, if not abusive.
Fortunately Joe and Joyce are extremely good at being abrasive until they suddenly pull out the longing looks and meaningful ellipses laden speeches about how the other is really wonderful.
Sal reminds me of a girl I dated briefly. She was late for a date but had a reasonable explanation, so I accepted it calmly, which seemed to freak her out, like my not turning into Angry Male was unexpected and inexplicable.
As far as I could tell our social backgrounds were… very different.
Yeah, like, as I said yesterday:
She is sending really, REALLY unclear messages on her boundaries. I think I would be a little confused as to what was okay and what upset her were I in Danny’s position and age.
Especially after he’s gone ‘Oh, alright, no worries, if giving you this is bothering you, I won’t’
*Sal then goes and takes the thing*.
She is saying one thing, doing another, and *meaning* a third.
I’m starting to think he actually does understand her and his usual doofiness has just painted this particular interaction in a weird way. Like I said northward, maybe I misjudged him here. Wouldn’t be the only one.
Sal’s definitely sending some… Interesting signals, but Danny’s lack of temper about it seems genuine.
I think she’s acting like a tsundere.
And yea thats definately an unclear message.
Frankly her stealing from him would give him way more leverage than simply accepting his gift if he was that type of person.
Awwwww. I love this kind of complicated and confused relationship between a nice person and a person unable to trust or open because of some family issue ♡♡♡. I blame “Hey Arnold” for this. The relationship between Arnold and Helga was something amazing, sad, hilarious and very, VERY, complicated. Last panel is so sweet ♡.
Nah, Helga’s mother was much too lethargic all the time to do any real abuse; and her father was too obsessed with beepers to care about anything else. I know it’s kind of like how a bunch of paper cuts on the legs is better than a flesh wound, but still.
They both always referred to her by her older sister’s name more often than not.
I always read Miriam as an alcoholic, and they used “smoothie“ in dialogue as a Nickelodeon-friendly find-and-replace for “margarita”.
There was that one episode where she took Helga on a road trip and entered a mechanical-bull-riding contest, and it turned out she’s not as terrible when she’s lucid. It’s been a while since I saw that episode, but as I recall, Bob didn’t go. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she was more engaged when he wasn’t around…
Yeah if anyone’s likely to pull the toy to the head maneuver here I’d say it’s Sal
Cos Danny literally just said he likes her. Without even like, getting flustered or turning it into a joke. Bless his bisexual face
It’s hard to tell if Danny’s completely platonic here or if he’s romantically into her (he sure as hell didn’t say he was totally uninterested that one time he hit on her) but learned enough by now that he knows coming off that way to Sal would upset her and get in the way of his intention of just doing something nice for her because he wants to.
I think Danny’s largely approached his friendship with Sal platonically, but the second she blushes at him in his line of sight his head’s going to explode. Remember that before the timeskip when Sal responded positively to his absurd overture that he went full Plankton “I don’t know. I never thought I’d get this far.”
Yeah, he absolutely had no idea what to do with the fact that his silly joke was actually a plausible pass at Sal XD …am I truly in a position to laugh.
Anyway I like to think the experience was significant enough that he’ll be less flabbergasted this time around. Does that mean he’s now flirting-flirting… Maybe not
David Willis’ entire 24 year writing career was for the sole purpose of developing and honing their craft to a degree that now they could write a college webcomic where everyone wants Danny and Sal to hook up.
Some of them might be Allium species; they’re most famous for being grown for food – onions, garlics, leeks, chives and so on are all alliums – but some of them (while technically edible, I suppose) are primarily grown for their beautiful flowers instead.
And by “beautiful flowers”, I mean stuff like this. Not far off at all in appearance from what Danny’s holding in the comic, though allowing for artistic license of course they could be something else.
I’m kinda thinking about something vis-a-vis Joe and Joyce (my other Flag Ship), but if Sal started getting closer to Danny I think she’d start resenting too things about it.
One is that someone would have a comment and Sal hates those. Sal can’t get emotionally intimate with Danny because otherwise now those people have expectations of her, let alone Danny’s own expectations, whatever they are.
Two, and I think this is the real pisser for Sal, is that Linda and Charles would love Danny because he’s nice, hard working, respectful, white perfectly normal, just the exact kind of guy their unruly daughter had to find to straighten her out.
Fucking html tags. That last paragraph is supposed to be:
Two, and I think this is the real pisser for Sal, is that Linda and Charles would love Danny because he’s nice, hard working, respectful, white perfectly normal, just the exact kind of guy their unruly daughter had to find to straighten her out.
I doubt Danny actually said “Nevermind,” the title of a Nirvana album, which would be a complete non sequitur here. He probably said “Never mind,” the phrase indicating one should disregard previous statements or events. Although in Danny’s case, he may have meant the absurdity, you neverknow.
If a member of the commentariat successfully points out a spelling or grammatical error they should be allowed to decide the topic of the monthly Patreon bonus strip.
technically if anyone enters your field of view or utters a single syllable to you they are manipulating you, since you will be forced to react to whatever the stimulus was. That’s what paranoia does, it makes mundane experiences and interactions into some nefarious 4-D chess game stacked against you.
1. She rejected you.
2. you keep trying.
3. welcome to sensitivity and sexual harassment re-education, don’t bother struggling, it only makes your electrocution therapy look funnier.
Like I’m pretty sure you’re actually serious and I have no idea how to process that so I’m, I dunno, trying to will sarcasm into reality?
How do you even write this in a strip where Danny explicitly says, outright, using words that are processed using his vocal chords with clear and understood contexts from within the English language that he’s not going to push anything because he intended to make Sal feel better and she didn’t appreciate it, so he’s backing off in that regard and letting her approach this how she wants.
AND THEN SHE STEALS A FLOWER BECAUSE SHOCK AND HORROR SAL ACTUALLY WANTS ONE. BECAUSE HER ISSUE ISN’T GIFT GIVING IT’S THAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO PROCESS GETTING A GIFT THAT ISN’T A MOVE TO STAKE A CLAIM ON HER.
Spencer, what’s ‘romantic’ and ‘cute’ in fiction gets you reported to the authorities in real life for stalking and harassment. That’s why the comic strip is fun-it isn’t anything remotely approaching reality. (come on, superheroes?)
but all the good jokes were exhausted, sorry I hurt your feelings.
Nothing is more indicative of harassment than offering a gift, seeing it isn’t appreciated, and then explicitly stating that it’s totally fine and he won’t broach the issue any further and that he appreciates the friendship they have now and on Sal’s terms.
Like, “she rejected you, you keep trying” is literally the thing these last few strips have emphasized that Danny has not been doing! You’d actually have to try to read a narrative as bad you are here.
Uh… Danny’s just sitting on a wall and had flowers. When Sal approached *him* they talked and he offered her the flowers, and then she left and he let her be. Seriously dude, there *is* an area which allows you to talk to a woman without being #MeToo.
I just worked it out. In the live-action adaptation of Dumbing of Age, Sal will be played by Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Detective Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn 99.
For that matter, the characters map pretty well:
Walky: Jake Peralta
Joyce: Amy Santiago
Danny: Charles Boyle
Becky: Gina Linetti
Jacob: Terry Jeffords
And I shouldn’t have to say it because it’s so obvious, but…
Dina: Captain Raymond Holt
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“…while you’re watching”
that, or she thinks those flowers are “space” and is just taking what Danny said she could
Never expected her to be such a Tsundere…
It really makes sense if you consider it a side-effect of how her mother acts. Every gift comes with the expectation that she later does something the gift-giver wants. Billie and Walky probably got her gifts for her birthdays, but those are an occasion and not quite the same thing as just being give a gift. Marcy’s family is pretty poor, and then there was the gas station and Sal being sent off to boarding school. It’s quite possible noone has ever given her a gift just because they wanted to do something nice for her.
Under those circumstances I can really understand Sal being tsun about it. She has no experience and no framework for just accepting a gift and being happy. If Danny can just so much as get her started on working through that he will have given her a really great gift.
It’s like if Shinji and Asuka were kind of healthier.
No how, no way, I won’t say it
It’s too cliche, I won’t say it
You swoon, you sigh
Why deny it oh-oh
Why Danny it?
omg
Oh, he has plenty of time yet to Danny it.
Really? She’s been pretty Tsundere since day one.
Day 1 http://www.itswalky.com/comic/college-ho-page-8/
Well that’s not even the same continuity.
Let’s look at her previous relations in DoA instead.
Mainly that English teacher’s aid comes to mind.
Aint this a quaint little dysfunctional ship :v
One day, after many years of their relationship evolving down this path, he’ll propose…by buying a ring, offering it to her, getting rejected, and putting the ring in at the end of a hallway filled with deathtraps.
She’ll naturally steal it, then claim his hand in marriage as her prize for besting him.
This feels like some kind of genderswapped Atalanta, somehow. I’m down for it.
Eh, is it really the Atalanta myth if there weren’t a bunch of other suitors who tried and died before you? That’s kind of the best part.
Hang on, are we sure Jason’s still alive?
He’s been “dating” Ruth for a full day now, so let’s say 50/50 odds.
But does he still have his femurs?
As long as he takes her somewhere nice.
That would actually be a decent romcom idea. Kind of pushinf the classic tsundere dynamic to a comedic extreme.
I don’t know how comic it has to be. Like it’s definitely comedic, but its also romantic that you believe so much in the strength of someone you like (in part for their strength) that you confidently put the embodiment of your love for them behind all those death traps with no doubt in your mind that they will clear them all safely and claim you.
I figure it’s nice to have someone believe in you like that. Sweet really.
Unless, of course, it doesn’t work out.
Impaled by a spike trap and flattened by the giant boulder.
Look, if you love someone you have to let them go.
To hell.
The wedding can be held there!
well, I’M not going to cater that event
Well, someone has to! We’ve got 300 greek guys waiting to dine!
“Ah’m not marryin you! You’re marryin me.”
He’ll have to take her last name too! Daniel Walkerton doesn’t sound too bad.
As long as he doesn’t get caught writing it down to see how it looks.
Danny Walkerton…
Danny Walkerton-Wilcox?
Danny Wilcox-Walkerton!
Ooh, Danny Wilkertox! Wiltercox?
Danny Wilcox Walkerton?
Damn he’s moving fast!
He walks the Walk, but can he cox the cox?
Alternatively: Walkerton? I hardly know ‘er!
I feel like Sal would be happier ditching her last name, tbh…
Oooh, third option: she changes her legal name, and Danny takes that!
She could go with “Walters”.
Classic reason for a breakup in Rimworld.
The statue depicts Danny Wilcox clowning with Sal Walkerton, holding a bouquet of pens in his hand. Ten fathers look on listlessly. The image gives an impression of vulnerability. This artwork was made to remember Sal stealing the flowers from Danny on August 11, 2021.
Sal strikes me as someone who’d want to propose herself but Danny would have this specific perfect vision of how he wants proposing to go.
So they’d get into all these wild shenanigans where they try to one-up the other on proposals.
Or she’d just bluntly ask him during the set up to his perfect romantic vision.
I don’t really see Sal as wanting to do the complex perfect proposal thing.
Shut up, I have a great idea for a romcom now.
Two idiots trying to tie the knot but their egos keep forcing them to make wilder and wilder proposals.
Greenlit, six seasons at 52 1-hour episodes each. You’ve got Steve Buscemi, Olivia Coleman, a 2D cartoon character voiced by Jim Cummings, and a sponsorship contract with Prairie Farms. Do with those resources as you will.
Was really confused why Danny was smiling at the end… then I noticed Sal’s hand in the final panel.
D’awww.
He isn’t smiling. If anything, he’s looking a bit confused.
Yeah, I don’t think Danny realizes yet that she’s snuck back around to take flowers.
Someone help me figure out what’s happening in the last panel please
Sal is swiping from flowers from the bouquet.
Sally, no swiping!
But if she swipes them, he doesn’t own her.
Its already been agreed by the majority on here that Linda owns Sal
No it hasn’t and no she doesn’t.
Are you having an argument with yourself?
Just making sure is all
It’s It’s only bad if you lose arguments with yourself.
I lost a bet to myself once. Once! YEARS ago! And i STILL gloat about it! Even though I’ve PAID the trillion dollars and four cents, so maybe its time I moved on.
I’m such a jerk sometimes, I swear.
Sal is grabbing a couple flowers while Danny isn’t looking
Sal snuck around and grabbed a few flowers from the bouquet.
Is she stealing flowers?
No.
Danny offered the flowers. She is merely accepting his offer. Secretly.
Oops, that was fast nvm
people got quick fingers
So does Sal.
Oh ho.
Additional unit!
Sal is behind the wall pinching a couple of flowers
Thank you, I totally missed that anything was going on there because I was staring at the other half of the panel… it’s me, I am the Danny.
You’re not the only Danny here.
Don’t feel too bad. I had to look twice and zoom in a little to get it.
I saw the hand, but couldn’t tell what it was doing at first. I didn’t identify the things in it as flowers.
Yea, I missed it too, on the first read through.
It’s confusing because Damnyouwillis left off the obligatory “Yoink” sound effect.
Y’all are *WRONG*. No flowers have disappeared from the bouqette. Sal is secretly adding *more* flowers, because she secretly enjoys her blooming (hehe) relationship with Danny.
I will die on this hill. 😍
In the spirit of positivity, those are some good colours on Danny though its winter so he really should get another hat.
Don’t suggest that, he’ll somehow find a hat even worse than the last one.
There will be earflaps. Do you want to be responsible for earflaps?
He’s ok with flat caps, just not with too wide a brim or you get into Goodies territory
I think he needs a cunning hat.
That or a toque with a pom-pom the size of a tennis ball on top.
Straight up the red hunting hat from Catcher in the Rye?
A hat that doesn’t keep your ears warm in winter is useless. Earflaps all the way.
Praise pom-poms.
He should get a hat of a preferred video game enemy type that costs $40 to prove that he is a true dork.
Aww
You’d think Sal would be more familiar with… womanipulation.
No way am I gonna Google that.
Danny is being nice to manipulate Sal into liking him, what an asshole. Who does that?
perfection
Even worse, it’s working.
See how devious he is.
He’s as insidious as Root Beer.
This chat widget needs likes.
All according to his master plan I assure you! The seed has been planted, the bird in flight, the first line crossed, and the first box checked. Let the manipulation begin!
Is now a good time to mention that I really don’t get the appeal of giving someone flowers? It might have made sense for an older paradigm, I guess.
While I don’t find cut flowers particularly useful, I have never had a love interest give me flowers, and I would probably like it if someone did because it would show that I am someone they think is worth buying flowers for. Or any gift, really. I’d just like to be thought of?
I guess?
If they can’t go in a garden they’re just a pretty thing that’s going to quickly wither away. It’s not a great gift.
Interesting, I occasionally buy my wife flowers and she seems to like them, at the very lest she’ll put them in a vase but does she like the flowers or does she like that I bought her something thats supposed to represent positive feelings.
Damn, that’s a tough one. If only there was an easy way to find out.
But if I just ask her she’ll manipulate me with her feminine wiles or something
Careful, down that path may await smooching.
Well I’d hope so, we’ve been married nearly 12 years but I don’t want to rush her.
aww… no more *CAW* (translation…) Mrs Crow? (Or Mr or non binary or appropriate sign of respect)
I would say there’s a few layers:
1. They’re pretty
2. If they remembered someone’s favourite flower or arrangement, points for attention to detail.
3. Language of flowers. Some people are into that I guess.
4. They can be easily accompanied with other things. Chocolate, a poem, mixtape, etc.
5. They’re not a super cheap gift, but they’re not going to break the bank. So it can show commitment without buying like jewelry.
A parfait’s got layers. I don’t know anyone gonna say “I don’t like no parfait”
Some people like flowers for the decor or the smell(my mother is one of those).
The other reason is that it is a gift. You stopped, spent time picking out, and then spent money on, a gift that specifically says “I like you”. The gift is one the other person is supposed to own for ~1 week, displayed where they will be reminded of it, and then discard with no other effort on their part. It’s sort of a very specific ‘generic gift’, and if someone is looking for a nice message, it’s a clear way of doing that with minimal confusion.
(unless the other person is Sal)
My wife likes tulips. Sometimes I buy her tulips because she likes them. Do they wilt? Sure, but she likes them.
I guess it depends on if you actually like flowers and the idea of small gifts to begin with but my mother likes displaying flowers she gets, they are pretty. I’ve never been given flowers but I like them and I like being given small gifts and flowers smell nice.
I *thought* I didn’t get flowers, for the stated reasons, but actually, having flowers and being able to put them somewhere you can appreciate them is lovely. they look nice, they smell nice, they’re a visible reminder of people wanting to give you flowers.
Even condolence flowers- i kind of expected to hate getting flowers when we had a death in the family, but in reality, walking into a house that smells lovely is just. a nice sensory experience. it didn’t mean I wasn’t grieving, but it made the physical context of my grief a bit more pleasant.
My mom gardened, so when I buy any women flowers, they are usually potted, not cut. Cut flowers die too quickly, a small little pot of violets will brighten up a room for the whole season.
I’d rather be given something that is a bit more useful and not gonna die fairly soon, but I wouldn’t mind getting flowers either since they’re pretty and the gesture would be nice. I’ve never been given flowers though, since in American society men usually aren’t given flowers by their SO as a gift.
I never cared for the idea of receiving flowers until my now-husband gifted me some for a Valentine’s Day while we were dating. No one had given me flowers before, which is something I very enthusiastically told him. They were pretty to look at for the 2 weeks they lived on the counter.
And as for growing your own flowers… I am not very good at that. I tried to grow some chamomile, thinking it would be as easy as my vegetable garden, but they made some baby sprouts and then promptly died. And the other flowers I transplanted have had very mixed results. Flowers are hard, wtf.
Flowers are easy. Just remember to feed them people parts until they’re big enough to start talking.
Flowers are pretty and smell nice and it’s nice to have.
A mix of sad to see and absolutely adorable.
I love the little smile in the last panel. I think he might be the second person who actually speaks Sal.
On that note, I hope whoever called Sal protesting they aren’t dating and yet continuing to do the date-y thing anyway feels very proud of themselves because this looks like it could end up being bang on.
Y’know, if you’re angry that folks are being nice to you, then you’ll ALWAYS be angry.
That (or a stimulus/emotion combo very similar) is a lesson it took me a very long, very painful time to learn. I do hope Sal is smarter and more well-adjusted than I was.
Sal is stealthy, but Danny isn’t exactly rolling 20s on perception checks.
I would make a joke about perception being Danny’s dump stat, but they kind of all are.
Well hes not unintelligent, wisdom on the other hand…
Today he’s doing fine.
I wouldn’t bet on tomorrow, but today he’ll pass for wise enough.
That’s fair actually, he does seem pretty smart with math and computers
Wait, are we talking SDCIWC stats, or SPECIAL stats?
It’s perfectly possibility to have SDCIWC stats that are Special.
Works with either extra high or low luck stats, or more commonly with cheating.
I don’t know, but Sal clearly uses FASERIP.
Getting a lot of Jeff the Spider from Billy and Mandy vibes from their relationship, except Danny isn’t as needy.
Sal’s also a little more open to being around Danny than Billy was with Jeff.
Dangit Danny, don’t make me like you.
What’s wrong with liking Danny? In general, he’s good people, even if Ethan might never forgive him about what he said about Mike. Granted, it was unbelievably insensitive but only three characters (Ethan, Amber, and AmaziGirl) were relatively certain that Mike had redeeming qualities and even they seemed to wonder at times.
It’s not a wonder she thinks people just can’t be nice for being nice.
Her whole environment is distorted around the distorted idea that the reward for good comes from authority, from power ever others, from a supreme deity.
But those who think deep, realize that the reward of a good action cannot be given by any power, but that it is the natural result of the good action.
Our reward for doing good is in the nature of things, and not in the comprise of any power, not in the comprise of the supernatural, not even the comprise of the infinite.
We should not strive to be loyal, faithful servants to any person, god, government, culture, color or creed.
We should be good, intelligent, free individuals.
I feel like you’re confusing Joyce and Sal again. I’ve never gotten the impression that Sal’s family was religious at all, especially given some early comments from Walky.
Joyce and Sal were switched at birth and, unbeknownst to themselves, each is actually the other.
Sal was raised under the false impression that good is by definition putting up a facade for selfish benefit, that niceness is always manipulation.
Her mother, and many others like her, think that good is the sole product of authority because they keep learning from bad example. And some of the most insidious examples are found in and perpetuated by the institution of religion. Especially the major monotheistic religions.
While I agree that the Walkerton family doesn’t seem religious, there was that time when Walky had a stint as a child actor and appeared in one of Joyce’s propaganda shows.
Also, who knows how religious Sal’s boarding school was? The Meet the Parents weekend had Sal dressing up in an outfit I’d expect from a religious boarding school.
I’m pretty sure it was a Catholic boarding school, yeah. Sal was expected to find Jesus, not leather.
“Why not both?”
It might just be that Catholics have a reputation for that kind of boarding school though. I don’t think there’s any other evidence the Walkerton’s are Catholic or much more than nominally religious at all. The Hymmell video certainly wasn’t Catholic – most likely it was just a child actor opportunity as far as Linda was concerned.
I’m inclined to agree re: the Hymmel bit. Walky remembering it barely-to-not-at-all implies that it wasn’t really a mark of pride or even particular significance for him or his family.
Sal is one of those people who would note Jesus was anti-authoritarian, pacifist, hated the rich, and loathed hypocrites. In short, she’s probably someone who even if not a theist has respect for him as an anarchist philosopher.
Joyce would find Sal’s view like a Lovecraft protagonist and Blue Screen of Death–even if she’s not religious anymore.
Well, she DID call out Booster on “psychological sooth-saying”; vast networks of distortions like that don’t just leave our heuristics overnight. It’s more of a “purge ’em when you find ’em” kind of game.
incredible.
I mean y’all can use my gravatar to judge how happy this makes me.
I didn’t notice Sal’s arm until after I read the hovertext. Awww, Sal likes flowers. (No one can know.)
Huh. Maybe he’s not as dense as I thought.
His density is honestly pretty overstated. I think he rises to the occasion more often than not.
I admit I may have been uncharitable toward Danny, yesterday. There was a lot of that going around.
Or maybe he is that dense, but that’s all right. Some very nice things are dense. Maybe a sweet, perfect pound cake made with Good Egg.
Great now I want pound cake.
https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Brand-Vanilla-Pound-Cake/dp/B08M7DHY95/ref=sr_1_2_0g_fs
The listing says it’s unavailable, you absolute tease. ☹️
This one should always be available, it’s an official upload:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y6HXTbyqQ4E
I let out a loud “Ha!” at the last panel.
Same!
That’s a cute punchline to cap it off, and very Sal.
You know if Sal doesn’t get her shit together soon Danny might get snatched up. He’s one of the more decent available guys that’s not directly related to her. Joe is a project, Ethan is gay, and Jacob is probably hanging with Ethan in not made an appearance yet ville. Also he has dating criteria which is a little cringe. And I’m not sure if she swings nonbinary. All I’m saying is pining for Asher is a lost cause and sweetboy Danny has prospects.
Could you clarify on the “dating criteria” part? I’m not sure I get it and don’t want to make any assumptions.
I guess Jacob has some kind of checklist a girl needs to meet to be a dating prospect which is stupid and his brother even kind of criticized him for it.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/01-birthday-pursuit/checklist/
It’s why he was dating Raidah. She passed but the irony was his brother liked Joyce who checked none of those boxes and so did he. He might have abandoned the idea by now though but we won’t know until he shows up again.
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that, though I really hope it’s not as literal a checklist as it sounds. Everybody’s got deal breakers, of course, and far be it from me to shame people for being choosey, but having a point-by-point list of what a potential partner must have seems like a recipe for serial disappointment.
I think Sirksome means that Jacob has a list of things he wants in a partner, which (in Sirksome’s opinion) isn’t a good way to go about romance.
If I recall correctly, Jacob’s last words to Joyce were something like “My new list is going to look a lot like you, minus some things.”
It’s like his brother said it’s good to have goals but why cut yourself off from the unexpected. You’ll never know what or who you’ll miss out on.
I mean, it’s not weird to be like “this is what I value in a romantic partner” is it?
It’s weird if Jacob made a list of mechanical benefits and detriments comparing Joyce and Raidah so he could figure out which one he wanted to date, but I kinda figured Jacob just meant it “a list” as the kind of person he likes.
The original checklist seemed more than that, since it seemed to be ticking off qualities he thought he should like, rather than what he actually wanted. Ones that might please his brother, possibly.
He’s likely still a bit too structured about it, but now he’s at least aiming for his own interests, judging by his last comments about it.
Sal was with Jason for a while. Ok, it was more or less just a sexual thing, but she seemed rather… peeved… when she found him in Ruth’s room.
So maybe she sort of has a thing for the skinny, smart/nerdy types.
That was never an actual relationship, especially from her perspective.
So she tries to believe.
You’re both correct.
They spontaneously had sex twice in the heat of the moment and had two actual conversations afterwards, and that’s basically as close as Sal gets to having an emotional connection with someone who isn’t Marcie.
Perfectly fitting avatar.
Yeah, but maybe she doesn’t realize she’s in a comic strip and thinks there are more options at this major university. (No, she’s hung up on Asher.)
It would be amazing if Sal got a boyfriend and he turned out to just be Some Guy who’s nothing but a background character.
“Ah got a boyfriend!” *gestures to a guy so far in the background that no details can be made out* “Fine, ah’ll introduce you to ‘im.” *the “camera” refuses to follow*
It’s like 3 panels of distant silhouettes and speech bubble full of indecipherable squiggly lines.
Stop giving Willis ideas.
Unless, you know, they’re ideas I approve of.
His voice is a muted trombone but everyone understands him anyway, like the adults in Peanuts.
Or maybe Woodstock’s muttering.
The Sal/Norbville shipping starts here!
(Norville has his own drama, but nobody cares.)
(Norville’s drama is that he used to date a girl who looked a bit like Amber, but ironically, in this case she turned out to be gay. Also, he misses his dog.)
That’s a cool Josie and the Pussycats reference.
When Sal went to see Asher and got into a fight with him and his weird snob friends, she never imagined the man of her dreams was among them.
Yes, Carl.
I mean, Tony’s around and seems decent enough
It would almost be like keeping it in the family.
Oh god that’d be hilarious. Sal meets Tony, gets a good vibe, hits it off, and then “your dad was married to my mom?”
D’awwwww
She does care
Ok, so considering his relationship with Sal, and how his own parents are, Danny is pretty much guaranteed a “calling the old man out” scene right?
I would absolutely love to see that. Sometimes it seems like we forget how his parents’ subtle(ish) shittiness has probably influenced his personality.
That Danny is a good egg
The tsundere is strong in this strip.
I’ve been sensing some tsundere vibes from Sal for a while now.
Danny and Sal are the tradition Tsundere relationship where one’s calm and the other is prickly.
This is in contrast to Joe and Joyce, who are both Tsunderes.
The dual tsundere is the best form of tsundere
(Say you’re a ranma ½ fan without saying you’re a ranma ½ fan)
Dual Tsundere is such a hard balance because it’s hard to get the abrasive behaviour from both ends without it feeling grating, if not abusive.
Fortunately Joe and Joyce are extremely good at being abrasive until they suddenly pull out the longing looks and meaningful ellipses laden speeches about how the other is really wonderful.
Sal reminds me of a girl I dated briefly. She was late for a date but had a reasonable explanation, so I accepted it calmly, which seemed to freak her out, like my not turning into Angry Male was unexpected and inexplicable.
As far as I could tell our social backgrounds were… very different.
Did the rest of the date go well? After the initial shock, of course?
From what you’ve told me, I feel very sorry for her. For it seems she was also nigh starved of models of genuinely healthy people.
Oh dear. Danny has graduated from the guy who always said the wrong thing to the guy who always says the right thing.
The problem is, people who always say the right thing are almost as annoying.
you’re wr.. wait, you’re r… wait… listen, I don’t know anymore.
Yeah, like, as I said yesterday:
She is sending really, REALLY unclear messages on her boundaries. I think I would be a little confused as to what was okay and what upset her were I in Danny’s position and age.
Especially after he’s gone ‘Oh, alright, no worries, if giving you this is bothering you, I won’t’
*Sal then goes and takes the thing*.
She is saying one thing, doing another, and *meaning* a third.
I’m starting to think he actually does understand her and his usual doofiness has just painted this particular interaction in a weird way. Like I said northward, maybe I misjudged him here. Wouldn’t be the only one.
Sal’s definitely sending some… Interesting signals, but Danny’s lack of temper about it seems genuine.
I think she’s acting like a tsundere.
And yea thats definately an unclear message.
Frankly her stealing from him would give him way more leverage than simply accepting his gift if he was that type of person.
I fully expected Sal’s shouting to get to Danny on this page, so I’m impressed and amused by his continued positivity.
I did imagine he’d tell her he likes her, though, so I at least got that part right.
There is something sadly sweet about this!
Hey. Hey BBCC. Hey.
You completely fucking called it, like, BULLSEYE.
Oh, Sal. <3 And Danny, buddy, you’re a good egg.
Danny is being a real good egg at last and Sal is suspicious because nobody has ever been good to her for nothing and HUG THEM BOTH
Awwwww. I love this kind of complicated and confused relationship between a nice person and a person unable to trust or open because of some family issue ♡♡♡. I blame “Hey Arnold” for this. The relationship between Arnold and Helga was something amazing, sad, hilarious and very, VERY, complicated. Last panel is so sweet ♡.
…
Oh my god she is Helga.
Nah, Helga’s mother was much too lethargic all the time to do any real abuse; and her father was too obsessed with beepers to care about anything else. I know it’s kind of like how a bunch of paper cuts on the legs is better than a flesh wound, but still.
They both always referred to her by her older sister’s name more often than not.
I always read Miriam as an alcoholic, and they used “smoothie“ in dialogue as a Nickelodeon-friendly find-and-replace for “margarita”.
There was that one episode where she took Helga on a road trip and entered a mechanical-bull-riding contest, and it turned out she’s not as terrible when she’s lucid. It’s been a while since I saw that episode, but as I recall, Bob didn’t go. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she was more engaged when he wasn’t around…
Now throw a toy in her head
Sal will throw a $5 gift card at Danny’s head to pay for the flower she took.
It is the Walkerton way.
Yeah if anyone’s likely to pull the toy to the head maneuver here I’d say it’s Sal
Cos Danny literally just said he likes her. Without even like, getting flustered or turning it into a joke. Bless his bisexual face
But he followed immediately with “you’re cool”, which goes a long way to disarm any romantic connotations.
It’s hard to tell if Danny’s completely platonic here or if he’s romantically into her (he sure as hell didn’t say he was totally uninterested that one time he hit on her) but learned enough by now that he knows coming off that way to Sal would upset her and get in the way of his intention of just doing something nice for her because he wants to.
I’m leaning towards the former, mostly.
I think Danny’s largely approached his friendship with Sal platonically, but the second she blushes at him in his line of sight his head’s going to explode. Remember that before the timeskip when Sal responded positively to his absurd overture that he went full Plankton “I don’t know. I never thought I’d get this far.”
Yeah, he absolutely had no idea what to do with the fact that his silly joke was actually a plausible pass at Sal XD …am I truly in a position to laugh.
Anyway I like to think the experience was significant enough that he’ll be less flabbergasted this time around. Does that mean he’s now flirting-flirting… Maybe not
@thejeff: that’s true.
It still feels like an impressive achievement for an 18-year-old boy.
…or am I projecting
oh gee
David Willis’ entire 24 year writing career was for the sole purpose of developing and honing their craft to a degree that now they could write a college webcomic where everyone wants Danny and Sal to hook up.
It all comes full circle.
Can someone with a keen eye for fliwers tell me what the heck kind of flowers Danny has?
Or are they a DoA specific breed
I don’t. But it’s probably carnations or marigold
Some of them might be Allium species; they’re most famous for being grown for food – onions, garlics, leeks, chives and so on are all alliums – but some of them (while technically edible, I suppose) are primarily grown for their beautiful flowers instead.
And by “beautiful flowers”, I mean stuff like this. Not far off at all in appearance from what Danny’s holding in the comic, though allowing for artistic license of course they could be something else.
Danny has become powerful since the time jump. So incredibly well done.
He has reached Ultra Instinct Good Egg.
Adding Sal to the “In Desperate Need of Therapy” list. It’s pretty sad when distrust turns to paranoia.
She’s been in desperate need of a therapist for a long time.
I thought she was already on the ‘In Desperate Need if Therapy list…
If you’ve given a gift, you’re obligated, and the giver can hold it over your head for the rest of your life.
If you STEAL it, you’re a badass, and the owner is a sucker.
The choice is obvious.
I think you nailed it
Except that harmless dick, right, Sal?
I’m kinda thinking about something vis-a-vis Joe and Joyce (my other Flag Ship), but if Sal started getting closer to Danny I think she’d start resenting too things about it.
One is that someone would have a comment and Sal hates those. Sal can’t get emotionally intimate with Danny because otherwise now those people have expectations of her, let alone Danny’s own expectations, whatever they are.
Two, and I think this is the real pisser for Sal, is that Linda and Charles would love Danny because he’s nice, hard working, respectful,
white perfectly normal, just the exact kind of guy their unruly daughter had to find to straighten her out.Fucking html tags. That last paragraph is supposed to be:
Two, and I think this is the real pisser for Sal, is that Linda and Charles would love Danny because he’s nice, hard working, respectful,
whiteperfectly normal, just the exact kind of guy their unruly daughter had to find to straighten her out.I doubt Danny actually said “Nevermind,” the title of a Nirvana album, which would be a complete non sequitur here. He probably said “Never mind,” the phrase indicating one should disregard previous statements or events. Although in Danny’s case, he may have meant the absurdity, you neverknow.
I hole-heartedly agree with you’re sentiment. The english language is going to the dogs and people scarcely seem to notice, nevermind care!
Your exactly right!
If a member of the commentariat successfully points out a spelling or grammatical error they should be allowed to decide the topic of the monthly Patreon bonus strip.
Danny is watching her walk away and she somehow sneaks up beside him and steals the flowers? How did she…? But she was… But…
Yes, I know. It’s Sal plus comic strip logic and rule of funny, but still….
Possibly a bit more time passed than is apparent – letting her circle around out of sight.
Besides, she’s Batman.
Nanananana BatSal!
Or he’s letting her think she’s stealing them without him noticing, thus accepting his gift on her terms.
technically if anyone enters your field of view or utters a single syllable to you they are manipulating you, since you will be forced to react to whatever the stimulus was. That’s what paranoia does, it makes mundane experiences and interactions into some nefarious 4-D chess game stacked against you.
Well malignant intent is really what matters most to Sal, and it can be hard to determine with such limited data.
Abusive people, people who manipulate, have actions and words that often conflict. The actions reveal the person.
Let’s see, Wilcox.
1. She rejected you.
2. you keep trying.
3. welcome to sensitivity and sexual harassment re-education, don’t bother struggling, it only makes your electrocution therapy look funnier.
hahaha good job pal you punked us with your incredible sarcasm
Like I’m pretty sure you’re actually serious and I have no idea how to process that so I’m, I dunno, trying to will sarcasm into reality?
How do you even write this in a strip where Danny explicitly says, outright, using words that are processed using his vocal chords with clear and understood contexts from within the English language that he’s not going to push anything because he intended to make Sal feel better and she didn’t appreciate it, so he’s backing off in that regard and letting her approach this how she wants.
AND THEN SHE STEALS A FLOWER BECAUSE SHOCK AND HORROR SAL ACTUALLY WANTS ONE. BECAUSE HER ISSUE ISN’T GIFT GIVING IT’S THAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO PROCESS GETTING A GIFT THAT ISN’T A MOVE TO STAKE A CLAIM ON HER.
GOSH
Spencer, what’s ‘romantic’ and ‘cute’ in fiction gets you reported to the authorities in real life for stalking and harassment. That’s why the comic strip is fun-it isn’t anything remotely approaching reality. (come on, superheroes?)
but all the good jokes were exhausted, sorry I hurt your feelings.
Nothing is more indicative of harassment than offering a gift, seeing it isn’t appreciated, and then explicitly stating that it’s totally fine and he won’t broach the issue any further and that he appreciates the friendship they have now and on Sal’s terms.
Like, “she rejected you, you keep trying” is literally the thing these last few strips have emphasized that Danny has not been doing! You’d actually have to try to read a narrative as bad you are here.
Uh… Danny’s just sitting on a wall and had flowers. When Sal approached *him* they talked and he offered her the flowers, and then she left and he let her be. Seriously dude, there *is* an area which allows you to talk to a woman without being #MeToo.
Just ask her out Danny! Don’t do these dumb romantic gestures!
I had to come back to reread this panel because I didnt notice she stole some white flowers in the last panel, so todays panel confused me lol.
I just worked it out. In the live-action adaptation of Dumbing of Age, Sal will be played by Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Detective Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn 99.
For that matter, the characters map pretty well:
Walky: Jake Peralta
Joyce: Amy Santiago
Danny: Charles Boyle
Becky: Gina Linetti
Jacob: Terry Jeffords
And I shouldn’t have to say it because it’s so obvious, but…
Dina: Captain Raymond Holt