It’s probably not actually a pride flag but just pride related stripes aligned in a pleasing fashion. But for my perspective it looks like bi pride merging into lesbian pride.
Jeezus Creezus! Does this mean if I buy a shirt with stripes on it I gotta worry about what flag or movement it might be interpreted as rather than just plain liking the colors and arrangement?
Yes it does. And remember you are responsible for knowing all the latest symbology because claiming you didn’t know what something meant will be dismissed as a lie.
I think you’re safe – the speculation is likely because Willis has hinted at characters’ sexualities through their clothing colours before, e.g. Dina wearing the demisexual flag colours – so I think people are wondering whether a similar artistic choice has been made here 🙂
This is only a concern if you’re the sort who is afraid someone might get the wrong idea you support something pride-related, I think? There’s plenty of stuff people wear that “means” something to those “in the know” but I don’t think most of us have to worry about it – most that is likely to happen is it makes them look for any other symbols to see if you’re communicating something and then forget about it if there isn’t.
Like if you use red or white laces on white doc martens, that *means* something to specific groups (specifically that you’ve used violence to further the race war, or that you support white power) but it’s not something you’ve got to worry about unless you’re doing a bunch of other stuff that signals you are actively a member of the group that cares about that stuff.
Looks to me like they took the German flag and turned it into a gradient. Black-Red-Orange-Yellow-White. So I’m just gonna call it the Beer Pride flag.
If it continued downward to light blue, I’d call it the Black Body Radiation flag.
He and Sal have been getting along pretty decently for a bit, but yeah, he definitely had to make nice with her, and she is at least trying to also be less standoffish. Naturally, it’s a work in progress.
I wonder where this third date criteria came from? Have sex whenever you want. Slut shaming in general is pretty pathetic and I doubt Walky would judge Lucy for it.
The third date rule seems like a concept meant to show you have self respect while also building a sort of expectation that something sexual has to happen on the third date. Lucy didn’t come up with it and personally I don’t really care for it. 3 is an arbitrary designation. Lucy or anybody should have sex when they’re ready, and she at least seems very ready for Walky and is holding herself back. At least that was implied earlier as she’s finding excuses to rush her own self imposed rules.
As far as the rule itself it seems like nothing but a source of relationship toxicity. Putting out too early makes you a slut but if you don’t offer sex on date 3 you’re a tease or getting friend zoned. I question how it got popular?
I’m pretty much with you in all that on a societal level. In Lucy’s case though, even if the reason she’s holding back is because she’s bought into a stupid arbitrary rule that doesn’t change the fact she thinks it’s important to hold back. I think these kids’ll be fine. 🙂
Sorry about this injection of reality into your happy bubble, but I can personally attest that the aphorism “Act in haste, repent at leisure” applies to marriage …
Walky was indeed being a good boyfriend. I appreciate that was Lyle’s style of a test to see if Walky was a good dude for his sister. Can’t say I’ve ever done anything like that with my sisters. Granted one is like 8 years older than me, hopefully I’ve got that right. The other sister is only like a year and a half younger than me so I’ve never done that for her either.
Assuming you have a sister, would you test potential partners of your sister in some form?
I haven’t particularly liked anyone my sister’s been into that I’ve met, but my sister is also extremely strong-willed and would deeply resent any such tests considering it basically amounts to doubting her own judgment as regards her own life.
I’ve got a… conflicted opinion on Lyle and his test, as a result.
It’s all good comedy but in real life, setting a test like this is an absolute dick move. You are undermining your sister (who gets to make her own choices without needing the results of your test) and being exceedingly mean to someone who is likely to be nervous
I think Lyle was just messing with him for the fun of it. If it’s a test, it’s a benign one of “what is this dude’s personality in general” not an approval/disapproval one, I don’t think.
This kind of messing around, especially between siblings partners, is a common type of bonding. My brother would absolutely do this to me and my dates, and me to him and his, but its not an attempt to be cruel – it’s a way to welcome them into the family dynamic in a way we can look back and laugh at later even if they fumble it (because fumbling it is expected and half the fun), to establish right off the bat that this sort of playfulness (and it IS playfulness) is “ok” if they wish to join in the dynamic later on.
I expect Lyle would have backed off momentarily no matter *what* Walky said, and probably apologized for making Walky uncomfortable if he seemed genuinely hurt by things – going off my own family experience.
On the one hand “male family member being extremely protective of their female family member’s ‘purity’” is a profoundly creepy thing (not necessarily what’s going on here, but my first thought reading your comment was thinking about dads who are hyperprotective of their daughters and how disturbing that is). On the other, with how power dynamics and male socialization play into het relationships, I can’t say it’s totally unreasonable for someone to test how their sister’s boyfriend responds to conflict.
On further reflection, it’s definitely a party foul, but in this instance I like Lyle and want him to be a good foil for Walky (it’s also a comic and I don’t have the same expectations for comic chars but w/e)
Right, but Lyle isn’t *actually* being extremely protective of his female family members purity – he’s mocking it as a way to establish a social dynamic and have a little fun with his first impression, teasing his sister by messing with her boyfriend.
It’s a “test” but only in the way any social interaction based around humour or bonding is a test and this is a pretty rapid type of “vibe check”. It’s a test to see if the other person will play along, can play along, to what extent, or if you should adopt a different sort of dynamic (and helps figure out what type of dynamic you should adopt)
I expect that Lyle would have moved on at this point no matter what Walky said, since it had pretty much played itself out, and he’s happy to have found a dynamic he likes that makes him think well of Walky.
Sounds like the grilling the various boyfriends/girlfriends got when things started to get serious in my family. The future husband of my sister got tied to a chair and grilled by my wife (then girlfriend), and my future sister in law, along with various friends. It was all in fun, we all liked him. My wife got grilled by my sister and mother, mostly asking her is she was sure about what she was getting into, and my future sister in law got a pass because we figured anyone willing to put up with my brother had earned it. And the tradition has continued with the next generation.
I can understand teens thinking it is a thing you do because they’re still learning.
But it is not something I would do or think any grown adult should do, because I’d think they should have learned by now that testing people backfires. People don’t like being tested and some people take them WAY too far by making up fake emergencies or stuff too serious to joke about. And it is often manipulative.
I do think Lyle is just trying to be goofy and annoying rather than seriously testing Walky though.
Improving as a person doesn’t mean leaving behind everything you used to be – he’s still always going to be gross or silly, he’s just now a gross and silly person you can count on to step up when the situation calls for it.
Thing is, he’s not even really improving. I mean he has been in other ways, but this has always been part of who Walky is. He likes being silly and gross, and he doesn’t like stepping up, but he’s always been able to do it.
We’ve seen it in his concerns for Billie. We saw it back at the end of his relationship with Dorothy, where he was planning to break up with so he wouldn’t hold her back. We even saw it as early as the recent flashback meeting Billie, when they were first going to school.
But we keep ignoring it, in favor of just attacking his goofy defense mechanism and pretending that’s all there is too him.
is this phrase, “whack in the head with a 2×4” and all variants thereof, like, a new thing? like a recently popular phrase? is it a cultural reference or a meme i’m missing?
i feel like i keep hearing people using it lately when that was not (especially?) the case before (to the point where my french ass had to look up what a 2×4 was recently, cos i was like, ‘i know 2 by 4 is the new baseball bat, but i don’t know, lik, what it is’)
It is not new. I’ve been hearing it for a few years and it has likely been around longer than that. A 2×4 is just a wooden plank basically, the two and four are about size dimensions. It’s kind of like cartoon gag imagery essentially.
Reminds me of some of the words that seem to pop up and then disappear every so often, like a few years back when everyone was suddenly obsessed with the word “soupçon”.
Man I’m just gonna be real vulnerable real quick and just say. I want a girlfriend. I dunno I’ve been lonely a while and I’m almost 30 and haven’t dated since I was 2017. But whenever I’m in public I’m too shy to say or do anything. I’m on a dating app but the same issue. It sucks. =_=
I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling with loneliness, Yoto. I hope you end up in a relationship that you want and are delighted by. You seem like a lovely person and you deserve happiness in whatever form it comes.
I know this is a vulnerable moment but I have to say “since I was 2017” is a very funny typo and now I imagine you as a millennia-old deity or cryptid.
That being said, 30 is still pretty young (I’m 32) and I’m sure you’ll find someone, you seem to be a pretty cool dude 🙂
If you’re shy around everyone, you might first look for a social group that focuses on something you love, so you can practice talking with people. Youve posted some cool fan art, so maybe a drawing class at night? And then you practice talking with new people, and no matter how it goes, you at least got to do.something you liked doing. Covid sucked the life out of meetups and social clubs, but theyre starting to come back now. Find a safe place to practice being social. Being social is a skill. It can be learned.
If its a lack of confidence, maybe go bunji jumping or do something scary. Brains are dumb. Sometimes they make up shit and hold us back. And sometimes the quickest therapy is to do something that proves shit-brain wrong. And then when your brain tries to tell you that you suck, youve got that memory of that badass thing you did. Plus, it gives you something to talk about on the first date
And, maybe look to see if this shyness is a manifestation of some old, unaddressed, trauma. Shitty parents can really do a number on their kids. This comic strip shows so many different variations of trauma a person might have suffered. But its absolute garbage for how to deal with it in a healthy way. If the characters got healthy, what story woukd there be anymore? If you have a history of trauma, then you may need to find a support group who.can helo you unpack things, and/or possibly find a good therapist.
Even if it isnt trauma, you might find that getting help is the fastest way to get you to where you want to be: in a relationship. Speaking of stupid brains, they sometimes tell us we deserve to be miserable, or we cant live a better life, and sometimes the hardest thing is just taking on that you deserve to be happy, that you deserve a fulfilling life, that you deserve being in a relationship, that you deserve someone who loves you and you love them.
So if a character here maybe shines a spotlight on some trauma or shitty experience you had, thats great to become aware of your past. Just keep in mind that most of the characters in this strip then go and do the exact opposite of what would help them address their past, unpack the bullshit, and create the future they actually want. They ignore it, bury it, find new unhealthy ways to avoid thinking about it, yada yada.
If you want an outcome different than what the last ten years have given you, you will have to change something in how you behave, or the choices you make, or the places you hang out, or the things you do, or the people you talk to, or how you look at your past. That could be as simple as join a club, or take a night class, or go do something so awesome that its impossible for you to think of yourself the same way, or maybe look for face to face support from people with experience unpacking any history you need help unpacking.
OK, loneliness is a big issue. Human beings are cabled to connect with other people (or objects if people aren’t available or recognizable) ; what you are feeling is normal, even if we can sometimes feel like it’s improper to talk about it in public.
A prerequisite to dating people is meeting people, either in real life or online. It’s best to connect with as much people as you can stomach and not concentrate your efforts on one person or you risk to induce the “emergency-falling-in-love-with-the-first-person-that’s-nice-to-you”-mechanism like you’re an abandoned toddler in a public place trying to bond with the first grown-up you can find.
You might think you are “too shy” for that but the truth is you do not have to be a perfect person to find other humans who want to connect, you just have to be a person. Have nothing interesting to say? Congrats, you are now a “great listener”.
If you have a little bit of time and money to spare socializing, what’s going on around you, web and IRL-wise? Art exchanges? Get-togethers for newcomers in your town? Is someone trying to create a “artists of [your city]” group on Facebook? If you say you are shy I wouldn’t recommend big things like “go to a café and talk to everyone there” or “go to a club and pay girls drinks”, but small semi-public events regarding your interests certainly exist!
Once you’ve like, bathed in the dim light of basic human connexion, the next hard step is to make it known that you’re down to date, in general. Say it like it’s a cool, romantic part of your personality and not a deep shame that you have to be human and to need intimacy. If you’re really lucky someone will step up and ask “well if you’re such a date-oriented person how comes you’ve never invited me on a date?!” but it may very well not happen. Sometimes people you will have come to know will spontaneously give you gossip and advice like “Oh, X is down to date too! You should make it happen!” or “Who do you want to date? Y? Yeah, get in line lol, but it’s not happening for any of us fools”.
The next hard step is to invite people on dates. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to them because you have advertized that you were down to date. They say yes or no. If you’re unlucky some people will tell you “oh no, you’re down to date in general and I want to find an aloof guy that I can somehow convince to make an exception to his no-dating rule for me”, but also, you will have dodged a bullet.
Good luck out there. Recently I’ve made new friends after 30, I’m on a high, and I want to share the love.
THANKS for the advice. I do go to conventions and to a kick back my friend hosts. They were cute girls last time but I was afraid to try to hit it off. I also joined tinder but it’s teallt making me realize that I’m not very interesting. I don’t have fun stories or go out. I mostly just immerse myself in media. So if I can’t impress you with my art skills or dragon ball knowledge there’s nothing left for me to say.
fwiw, from the little i’ve got to know you around here, and unless idk you never shower or something, i’d say you’re a total catch.
i’ve told you all this before, but besides being a talented artist (duh) i also find you express yourself with a rare level of clarity and elegance. Reading your comments is always just so pleasant to me, just coherence and smarts and humility and sanity and open-mindedness… you’re a rare one for sure. i wish you strength, and i wish you luck <3
Well thank you. I guess I just feel like I have nothing to offer. Shitty job, my art career is going nowhere and I don’t have any hobbies outside of watching cartoons and playing video games. I wish I could make something happen organically but I’ve never managed to pull it off. If anything I worry that I’d end up wrecking a friendship by trying to ask them out. I dunno how to not feel like a creep
In this shitty ass world falling apart at the seams, some people are starving for someone to be a little kind towards them. Thats all you need to offer.
“wish I could make something happen organically”
Thats a myth pushed by hallmark channel. Real life relationships usually take effort to find, filter, and foster.
“wrecking a friendship by trying to ask them out”
Dont ask out friends. Get yourself out in the world where you can meet lots of people and ask a whole bunch of them out and probably wont see most of them again.
Dont go at them like Ruth “my parents died and please fix me by moving in with me”. Dont go after them like Lucy so wrapped up in her boyfriemd that she forgot to ask him out. Dont go after them like joyce coming up with names for children. Something simple, straightforward, that you can both enjoy for a brief time, make the invitation, and if they say no, dont turn imto Goth Ethan in front of them. No stalking.
Do all that and you’ll be better than 80% of the cast of Dumbimg of Age.
The problem with good-natured shit-giving is that it is dependent on all participants being on the same page. So they all understand what is meant and what is and isn’t serious.
Which you can’t count on with people you don’t know well.
Also, if we’re talking about how characters react to things, the fact Lyle’s response to Walky standing up to him is “You have Passed the Test” suggests that this was the intended goal all along. So you can like both things!
I disagree. The “I have been rehearsing this moment in my head for 18 years” suggests to me Lyle is doing this for long-dreamed-of fun, and nothing in particular was at stake. Walky just also accidentally proved himself a perfect boyfriend.
I think Booster will be able to improve everyone’s life, except their own. Because that’s what usually happens to psychologists, they help everyone live better but they have a very difficult life.
make up your mind now!! you will need to be relentlessly passing judgment on this character every time they appear!!!! it’s the law!!!!! and you can’t just keep changing your opinion willy-nilly because that’s just not fair to all the other commenters who take THEIR job seriosly and commit to a sympathetic or adversarial reading FROM THE GET-GO and will defend it with their DYING BREATH!!!!!!!!!! !!!
I’m just saying he went from Walky’s best new friend to a potential antagonist to a potential good brother or guy who makes bizarre tests. There’s a lot of tonal dissonance going on, and I’m not sure if he’s chaotic good, neutral, or evil. Feeling the presence of chaos pretty strongly, though.
And then there’s the third category of commenter (to which I belong), who base our reactions on who’s hottest in each strip. For example, I believe Ruth has done nothing wrong at any point, because she’s the hottest character in the series.
They go to taco bell. And face 3 devices of lethal cunning.
Remember: Only the penitent man will pass.
Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed
Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.
Choose wisely
I fucking despise people who play mind games like this. Please fuck off Lyle because you are actually being a dick by testing Walky the first time you meet him.
The cool thing about doing it in fiction is it always goes exactly according to plot. No misunderstandings unless plot requires it. No hard feelings unless llot requires it. No unintended harm unless plot requires it.
So… I started reading Shortpacked! and while it’s fun reading familiar characters in different form, Faz’ first appearance is very disturbing. Seeing as he’s a fourteen or so year old, here. https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/blood
I tried and I think I am too dumb to do that haha. I just couldn’t let go of who they were in DoA. It was like seeing Emma Watson in another movie and keeping having to recalibrate that she is not playing Hermione in this one
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siblings gonna troll (and troll Walky in particular)
Lyle: Congratulations Walky, you have passed my little test!
Walky: Yes! I passed a test! ^^
Well done Walky, you passed the first test.
Now on to Lucy’s next two brothers. One always lies, and one always tells the truth…
Does she also have three sisters?
Lucy is one of three identical triplets.
Walky must identify the real one, but he only gets three questions and they must all be about Starfire.
One question must be about the original cartoon, one from TTG!, and one about the comics version.
Any questions about “Red Hood and the Outlaws” will result in an immediate breakup.
That’s no fair, bringing up that book would be a great way to identify Lucy. Look for the triplet with steam coming out of their ears.
The “original” one was in TT! TTG was later!
Yes, but there’s only one boat to get them across the river…
and don’t forget her eleven evil exes
Bravo, Walky!
A successful test drive for his new spine!
just thinking of spine transplantation
don’t mind me
HELL YEAH WALKY THAT’S PROGRESS
Don’t trust it Walky; it’s a setup.
At this rate, Lyle will reach the top of the cast list in no time! Yes sirree!
It will only take 1568 more consecutive appearances, assuming Joyce never appears again!
Based on the last four strips, he’s got it in the bag!
That twinkle in Lucy’s eyes…. she must find Walky’s confidence admirable.
It’s Happening! 😎
Huh. Just noticed, which pride flag is that on Walky’s shirt?
It’s probably not actually a pride flag but just pride related stripes aligned in a pleasing fashion. But for my perspective it looks like bi pride merging into lesbian pride.
from previous discussion: apparently just stripes, though the colors happen to be similar to the genderfluid flag (but in the wrong order)
but maybe it’s a new flavor of sexuality where you are attracted to eating chicken nuggies in pajama jeans
Shouldn’t Lucy be wearing it, then?
After their third date.
That’s just called “being human”.
“Just a little time. Just a little something else instead.”
nah, the Genderfluid flag has a black stripe, also I don’t think it has orange (or whatever that second-to-last color is).
Macy’s https://twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/1531452393375809536
Jeezus Creezus! Does this mean if I buy a shirt with stripes on it I gotta worry about what flag or movement it might be interpreted as rather than just plain liking the colors and arrangement?
Yes it does. And remember you are responsible for knowing all the latest symbology because claiming you didn’t know what something meant will be dismissed as a lie.
I plan on forgetting everything I know about Victorian fan and handkerchief etiquette in order to learn this. But it won’t be easy
I think you’re safe – the speculation is likely because Willis has hinted at characters’ sexualities through their clothing colours before, e.g. Dina wearing the demisexual flag colours – so I think people are wondering whether a similar artistic choice has been made here 🙂
You can wear it ironically. Or if you are old, you can wear whatever you want. No one expects us to keep up with these darn kids.
This is only a concern if you’re the sort who is afraid someone might get the wrong idea you support something pride-related, I think? There’s plenty of stuff people wear that “means” something to those “in the know” but I don’t think most of us have to worry about it – most that is likely to happen is it makes them look for any other symbols to see if you’re communicating something and then forget about it if there isn’t.
Like if you use red or white laces on white doc martens, that *means* something to specific groups (specifically that you’ve used violence to further the race war, or that you support white power) but it’s not something you’ve got to worry about unless you’re doing a bunch of other stuff that signals you are actively a member of the group that cares about that stuff.
Looks to me like they took the German flag and turned it into a gradient. Black-Red-Orange-Yellow-White. So I’m just gonna call it the Beer Pride flag.
If it continued downward to light blue, I’d call it the Black Body Radiation flag.
At the risk of showing my age, it looks like a sunset gradient from old Activision games.
Queer Zoomers seeing horizontal lines be like
(I am a queer Zoomer, i can make this joke)
It’s also similar to the asexual flag but that doesn’t seem right for him.
I wonder how much Wally’s “be nicer to your sister” is something he’s been trying to tell himself.
He and Sal have been getting along pretty decently for a bit, but yeah, he definitely had to make nice with her, and she is at least trying to also be less standoffish. Naturally, it’s a work in progress.
About 3.5 months worth of it.
A perfect boyfriend would also be banging Lucy on the reg. Walky ain’t quite there yet, but he’s close.
Lucy’s said not until the third date, anyway~
Does lunch with the big brother count as the second date?
After this – it totally does
It could count as the first date with the brother.
I’d think so, isn’t second date supposed to include having someone you trust objectively evaluate if they are a creep?
No, stripping to his undies and changing in front of her just this morning was the third date. This gets him fourth-date privileges.
… I have no idea how they differ from third-date privileges, but it’s a definite upgrade.
I think he just changed his shirt, not his whole outfit.
I wonder where this third date criteria came from? Have sex whenever you want. Slut shaming in general is pretty pathetic and I doubt Walky would judge Lucy for it.
I was under the impression they came from Lucy, in which case it seems right to respect them.
The third date rule seems like a concept meant to show you have self respect while also building a sort of expectation that something sexual has to happen on the third date. Lucy didn’t come up with it and personally I don’t really care for it. 3 is an arbitrary designation. Lucy or anybody should have sex when they’re ready, and she at least seems very ready for Walky and is holding herself back. At least that was implied earlier as she’s finding excuses to rush her own self imposed rules.
As far as the rule itself it seems like nothing but a source of relationship toxicity. Putting out too early makes you a slut but if you don’t offer sex on date 3 you’re a tease or getting friend zoned. I question how it got popular?
I’m pretty much with you in all that on a societal level. In Lucy’s case though, even if the reason she’s holding back is because she’s bought into a stupid arbitrary rule that doesn’t change the fact she thinks it’s important to hold back. I think these kids’ll be fine. 🙂
Correction, it was Jesus said not until the third date. Lucy’s just a good, observant christian woman.
In his appropriately-titled Sermon on the Mount
People can date and just not have sex sometimes.
Certainly true, but I don’t think that’s what Lucy’s looking for.
Bridge troll, but it’s Lyle. What’s for lunch?
Title has “Oh, behaaave” vibes
“Don’t let his star fall too fast.”
Well, it’s a meteoric rise… and really, if it was going UP, it wouldn’t be a meteor.
Meeting Lyle and passing his test is nothing. Just wait until Walky has to face Lucy’s seven evil exes! Dun dun DUNNNN!
At least then he can bring over his fighting skills from the other comic.
He must answer these five questions…
And all questions related to the airspeed of various migrating birds have been removed from the list, so no easy way out!
Three questions!
I hope Lyle still messes with him sometimes.
Proud of you Walky.
You sure about that marrige thing, Walky? Because Lucy might take you up on it here and now if you were to ask.
Sorry about this injection of reality into your happy bubble, but I can personally attest that the aphorism “Act in haste, repent at leisure” applies to marriage …
Lucy might absolutely be ready to act in haste
Fuck reality. Instant marriage as the
pornplot demandsWalky was indeed being a good boyfriend. I appreciate that was Lyle’s style of a test to see if Walky was a good dude for his sister. Can’t say I’ve ever done anything like that with my sisters. Granted one is like 8 years older than me, hopefully I’ve got that right. The other sister is only like a year and a half younger than me so I’ve never done that for her either.
Assuming you have a sister, would you test potential partners of your sister in some form?
I haven’t particularly liked anyone my sister’s been into that I’ve met, but my sister is also extremely strong-willed and would deeply resent any such tests considering it basically amounts to doubting her own judgment as regards her own life.
I’ve got a… conflicted opinion on Lyle and his test, as a result.
It’s all good comedy but in real life, setting a test like this is an absolute dick move. You are undermining your sister (who gets to make her own choices without needing the results of your test) and being exceedingly mean to someone who is likely to be nervous
I think Lyle was just messing with him for the fun of it. If it’s a test, it’s a benign one of “what is this dude’s personality in general” not an approval/disapproval one, I don’t think.
Mmm I’d still say that messing with someone in such a way is unkind. But it was funny 🙂
This kind of messing around, especially between siblings partners, is a common type of bonding. My brother would absolutely do this to me and my dates, and me to him and his, but its not an attempt to be cruel – it’s a way to welcome them into the family dynamic in a way we can look back and laugh at later even if they fumble it (because fumbling it is expected and half the fun), to establish right off the bat that this sort of playfulness (and it IS playfulness) is “ok” if they wish to join in the dynamic later on.
I expect Lyle would have backed off momentarily no matter *what* Walky said, and probably apologized for making Walky uncomfortable if he seemed genuinely hurt by things – going off my own family experience.
On the one hand “male family member being extremely protective of their female family member’s ‘purity’” is a profoundly creepy thing (not necessarily what’s going on here, but my first thought reading your comment was thinking about dads who are hyperprotective of their daughters and how disturbing that is). On the other, with how power dynamics and male socialization play into het relationships, I can’t say it’s totally unreasonable for someone to test how their sister’s boyfriend responds to conflict.
On further reflection, it’s definitely a party foul, but in this instance I like Lyle and want him to be a good foil for Walky (it’s also a comic and I don’t have the same expectations for comic chars but w/e)
Right, but Lyle isn’t *actually* being extremely protective of his female family members purity – he’s mocking it as a way to establish a social dynamic and have a little fun with his first impression, teasing his sister by messing with her boyfriend.
It’s a “test” but only in the way any social interaction based around humour or bonding is a test and this is a pretty rapid type of “vibe check”. It’s a test to see if the other person will play along, can play along, to what extent, or if you should adopt a different sort of dynamic (and helps figure out what type of dynamic you should adopt)
I expect that Lyle would have moved on at this point no matter what Walky said, since it had pretty much played itself out, and he’s happy to have found a dynamic he likes that makes him think well of Walky.
Sounds like the grilling the various boyfriends/girlfriends got when things started to get serious in my family. The future husband of my sister got tied to a chair and grilled by my wife (then girlfriend), and my future sister in law, along with various friends. It was all in fun, we all liked him. My wife got grilled by my sister and mother, mostly asking her is she was sure about what she was getting into, and my future sister in law got a pass because we figured anyone willing to put up with my brother had earned it. And the tradition has continued with the next generation.
I can understand teens thinking it is a thing you do because they’re still learning.
But it is not something I would do or think any grown adult should do, because I’d think they should have learned by now that testing people backfires. People don’t like being tested and some people take them WAY too far by making up fake emergencies or stuff too serious to joke about. And it is often manipulative.
I do think Lyle is just trying to be goofy and annoying rather than seriously testing Walky though.
Well damn, I feel like I just clubbed in the head with a 2×4 made from all of Walky’s character development thus far. Not bad, Walky.
And Lyle remains a DELIGHTFUL brother whom I adore.
He is certainly learning to be a better person overall since he started, I am happy he has made so much progress in (relatively) short time.
Dorothy achieves her goal of leaving him a better boyfriend for the next girl.
Not like she has any reason to want to make up for past events or anything
Don’t worry, everyone will have completely forgotten it next time we see him being gross or silly. Just like every other time Walky stepped up.
Improving as a person doesn’t mean leaving behind everything you used to be – he’s still always going to be gross or silly, he’s just now a gross and silly person you can count on to step up when the situation calls for it.
Thing is, he’s not even really improving. I mean he has been in other ways, but this has always been part of who Walky is. He likes being silly and gross, and he doesn’t like stepping up, but he’s always been able to do it.
We’ve seen it in his concerns for Billie. We saw it back at the end of his relationship with Dorothy, where he was planning to break up with so he wouldn’t hold her back. We even saw it as early as the recent flashback meeting Billie, when they were first going to school.
But we keep ignoring it, in favor of just attacking his goofy defense mechanism and pretending that’s all there is too him.
i have an O/T question,
is this phrase, “whack in the head with a 2×4” and all variants thereof, like, a new thing? like a recently popular phrase? is it a cultural reference or a meme i’m missing?
i feel like i keep hearing people using it lately when that was not (especially?) the case before (to the point where my french ass had to look up what a 2×4 was recently, cos i was like, ‘i know 2 by 4 is the new baseball bat, but i don’t know, lik, what it is’)
It’s been a thing in the IT world for a long time, it’s often referred to as a “clue by four,” to teach end users to not be so stupid.
It is not new. I’ve been hearing it for a few years and it has likely been around longer than that. A 2×4 is just a wooden plank basically, the two and four are about size dimensions. It’s kind of like cartoon gag imagery essentially.
Reminds me of some of the words that seem to pop up and then disappear every so often, like a few years back when everyone was suddenly obsessed with the word “soupçon”.
The 2×4 thing and its clue by four variant are things I’ve been hearing since i was a wee child. I’m almost forty. So … nah. Not that new.
What do they call the quarter pounder?
secret test of character… passed! √
Wow. Good job, Walky. Guess that communications major is paying off. 😛
Walky handled that excellently.
Dang walky, what’re all this hard, knobby things behind your organs?
Is this a spine, or are you just happy to see Lucy?
Seriously though, love this for him. Yay!
haha nice 👌
Stupid point… It would seem that Lyle’s hair is an upward continuation of Lucy’s hair…
Their parents had to make choices…
Budget cuts have hit us all pretty hard.
Is that a hat?
What is this, Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald?
I was convinced for years that the boy character had white hair, until I saw fanart of him taking off the hat.
Was Lucy even in Roomies? Or just Shortpacked.
She was introduced to Shortpacked! in 2011, after Amber left the store.
https://walkypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Lucy
i may not have the highest standards but i would actually marry a man on the spot if he did this
Holy crap! Wally is acting like…like…an ADULT.
Man I’m just gonna be real vulnerable real quick and just say. I want a girlfriend. I dunno I’ve been lonely a while and I’m almost 30 and haven’t dated since I was 2017. But whenever I’m in public I’m too shy to say or do anything. I’m on a dating app but the same issue. It sucks. =_=
I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling with loneliness, Yoto. I hope you end up in a relationship that you want and are delighted by. You seem like a lovely person and you deserve happiness in whatever form it comes.
I know this is a vulnerable moment but I have to say “since I was 2017” is a very funny typo and now I imagine you as a millennia-old deity or cryptid.
That being said, 30 is still pretty young (I’m 32) and I’m sure you’ll find someone, you seem to be a pretty cool dude 🙂
You are a Highlander immortal and I claim my five quickenings.
I meant to say I haven’t dated since I was 17. Which was in 2011. So it’s been over a decade.
Lonliness sucks. I feel for ya.
If you’re shy around everyone, you might first look for a social group that focuses on something you love, so you can practice talking with people. Youve posted some cool fan art, so maybe a drawing class at night? And then you practice talking with new people, and no matter how it goes, you at least got to do.something you liked doing. Covid sucked the life out of meetups and social clubs, but theyre starting to come back now. Find a safe place to practice being social. Being social is a skill. It can be learned.
If its a lack of confidence, maybe go bunji jumping or do something scary. Brains are dumb. Sometimes they make up shit and hold us back. And sometimes the quickest therapy is to do something that proves shit-brain wrong. And then when your brain tries to tell you that you suck, youve got that memory of that badass thing you did. Plus, it gives you something to talk about on the first date
And, maybe look to see if this shyness is a manifestation of some old, unaddressed, trauma. Shitty parents can really do a number on their kids. This comic strip shows so many different variations of trauma a person might have suffered. But its absolute garbage for how to deal with it in a healthy way. If the characters got healthy, what story woukd there be anymore? If you have a history of trauma, then you may need to find a support group who.can helo you unpack things, and/or possibly find a good therapist.
Even if it isnt trauma, you might find that getting help is the fastest way to get you to where you want to be: in a relationship. Speaking of stupid brains, they sometimes tell us we deserve to be miserable, or we cant live a better life, and sometimes the hardest thing is just taking on that you deserve to be happy, that you deserve a fulfilling life, that you deserve being in a relationship, that you deserve someone who loves you and you love them.
So if a character here maybe shines a spotlight on some trauma or shitty experience you had, thats great to become aware of your past. Just keep in mind that most of the characters in this strip then go and do the exact opposite of what would help them address their past, unpack the bullshit, and create the future they actually want. They ignore it, bury it, find new unhealthy ways to avoid thinking about it, yada yada.
If you want an outcome different than what the last ten years have given you, you will have to change something in how you behave, or the choices you make, or the places you hang out, or the things you do, or the people you talk to, or how you look at your past. That could be as simple as join a club, or take a night class, or go do something so awesome that its impossible for you to think of yourself the same way, or maybe look for face to face support from people with experience unpacking any history you need help unpacking.
Just try something different.
OK, loneliness is a big issue. Human beings are cabled to connect with other people (or objects if people aren’t available or recognizable) ; what you are feeling is normal, even if we can sometimes feel like it’s improper to talk about it in public.
A prerequisite to dating people is meeting people, either in real life or online. It’s best to connect with as much people as you can stomach and not concentrate your efforts on one person or you risk to induce the “emergency-falling-in-love-with-the-first-person-that’s-nice-to-you”-mechanism like you’re an abandoned toddler in a public place trying to bond with the first grown-up you can find.
You might think you are “too shy” for that but the truth is you do not have to be a perfect person to find other humans who want to connect, you just have to be a person. Have nothing interesting to say? Congrats, you are now a “great listener”.
If you have a little bit of time and money to spare socializing, what’s going on around you, web and IRL-wise? Art exchanges? Get-togethers for newcomers in your town? Is someone trying to create a “artists of [your city]” group on Facebook? If you say you are shy I wouldn’t recommend big things like “go to a café and talk to everyone there” or “go to a club and pay girls drinks”, but small semi-public events regarding your interests certainly exist!
Once you’ve like, bathed in the dim light of basic human connexion, the next hard step is to make it known that you’re down to date, in general. Say it like it’s a cool, romantic part of your personality and not a deep shame that you have to be human and to need intimacy. If you’re really lucky someone will step up and ask “well if you’re such a date-oriented person how comes you’ve never invited me on a date?!” but it may very well not happen. Sometimes people you will have come to know will spontaneously give you gossip and advice like “Oh, X is down to date too! You should make it happen!” or “Who do you want to date? Y? Yeah, get in line lol, but it’s not happening for any of us fools”.
The next hard step is to invite people on dates. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to them because you have advertized that you were down to date. They say yes or no. If you’re unlucky some people will tell you “oh no, you’re down to date in general and I want to find an aloof guy that I can somehow convince to make an exception to his no-dating rule for me”, but also, you will have dodged a bullet.
Good luck out there. Recently I’ve made new friends after 30, I’m on a high, and I want to share the love.
THANKS for the advice. I do go to conventions and to a kick back my friend hosts. They were cute girls last time but I was afraid to try to hit it off. I also joined tinder but it’s teallt making me realize that I’m not very interesting. I don’t have fun stories or go out. I mostly just immerse myself in media. So if I can’t impress you with my art skills or dragon ball knowledge there’s nothing left for me to say.
Hey if it’s any consolation, Willis met Maggie because she was a fan of Shorpacked. 🙂
I have no advice but please consider this a hug or other gesture of support.
ouch my dude ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ )
fwiw, from the little i’ve got to know you around here, and unless idk you never shower or something, i’d say you’re a total catch.
i’ve told you all this before, but besides being a talented artist (duh) i also find you express yourself with a rare level of clarity and elegance. Reading your comments is always just so pleasant to me, just coherence and smarts and humility and sanity and open-mindedness… you’re a rare one for sure. i wish you strength, and i wish you luck <3
^^^ What Milu said! ^^^
Well thank you. I guess I just feel like I have nothing to offer. Shitty job, my art career is going nowhere and I don’t have any hobbies outside of watching cartoons and playing video games. I wish I could make something happen organically but I’ve never managed to pull it off. If anything I worry that I’d end up wrecking a friendship by trying to ask them out. I dunno how to not feel like a creep
“just feel like I have nothing to offer”
In this shitty ass world falling apart at the seams, some people are starving for someone to be a little kind towards them. Thats all you need to offer.
“wish I could make something happen organically”
Thats a myth pushed by hallmark channel. Real life relationships usually take effort to find, filter, and foster.
“wrecking a friendship by trying to ask them out”
Dont ask out friends. Get yourself out in the world where you can meet lots of people and ask a whole bunch of them out and probably wont see most of them again.
Dont go at them like Ruth “my parents died and please fix me by moving in with me”. Dont go after them like Lucy so wrapped up in her boyfriemd that she forgot to ask him out. Dont go after them like joyce coming up with names for children. Something simple, straightforward, that you can both enjoy for a brief time, make the invitation, and if they say no, dont turn imto Goth Ethan in front of them. No stalking.
Do all that and you’ll be better than 80% of the cast of Dumbimg of Age.
Have some hugs, Yoto. Hope next year thing get better for you…
Next comic Lyle gets Isekai’d by a truck off-panel, never seen or tagged again.
He’ll get to be in eight strips of whichever comic comes after DoA.
No, not truck-kun!
Conflicted. I like Walky standing up to Lyle, but I also kind of like Lyle giving him shit good-naturedly.
The problem with good-natured shit-giving is that it is dependent on all participants being on the same page. So they all understand what is meant and what is and isn’t serious.
Which you can’t count on with people you don’t know well.
This.
Also, if we’re talking about how characters react to things, the fact Lyle’s response to Walky standing up to him is “You have Passed the Test” suggests that this was the intended goal all along. So you can like both things!
I disagree. The “I have been rehearsing this moment in my head for 18 years” suggests to me Lyle is doing this for long-dreamed-of fun, and nothing in particular was at stake. Walky just also accidentally proved himself a perfect boyfriend.
This was my impression as well, yeah.
It can be two things!
Alt-text: next time Lyle shows up, he will get into TOP 5 main character list.
“I had to test you Walky, and you passed the test!”
Walkys a good egg, good job Walky
Lucy’s smile!!!
I suspect living with Booster has been good practice for this moment.
I think Booster will be able to improve everyone’s life, except their own. Because that’s what usually happens to psychologists, they help everyone live better but they have a very difficult life.
Ok, now my brain hurts, and I don’t know what to think about Lyle. And all in 4 strips. Sheesh.
Walky II
make up your mind now!! you will need to be relentlessly passing judgment on this character every time they appear!!!! it’s the law!!!!! and you can’t just keep changing your opinion willy-nilly because that’s just not fair to all the other commenters who take THEIR job seriosly and commit to a sympathetic or adversarial reading FROM THE GET-GO and will defend it with their DYING BREATH!!!!!!!!!! !!!
I’m just saying he went from Walky’s best new friend to a potential antagonist to a potential good brother or guy who makes bizarre tests. There’s a lot of tonal dissonance going on, and I’m not sure if he’s chaotic good, neutral, or evil. Feeling the presence of chaos pretty strongly, though.
And then there’s the third category of commenter (to which I belong), who base our reactions on who’s hottest in each strip. For example, I believe Ruth has done nothing wrong at any point, because she’s the hottest character in the series.
…I like your system can I have it
Idk, Lyle, you might be the perfect boyfriend for Walky
Yep. Lucy and Walky are a good couple. Walky is actually becoming a better person and Lucy seems really happy. Good!
Lucy’s smile is EVERYTHING!!! <3
You did good Walky, congrats.
They go to taco bell. And face 3 devices of lethal cunning.
Remember: Only the penitent man will pass.
Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed
Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.
Choose wisely
I fucking despise people who play mind games like this. Please fuck off Lyle because you are actually being a dick by testing Walky the first time you meet him.
I’m pretty sure he was just being a dick for the fun of it, without considering how Walky should react. It just happened to melt his heart.
The cool thing about doing it in fiction is it always goes exactly according to plot. No misunderstandings unless plot requires it. No hard feelings unless llot requires it. No unintended harm unless plot requires it.
you can do it irl though, it’s called believing in fate.
“the failure mode of clever is asshole”.
Agreed, 100%
He backed off the exact second he received the slightest pushback. It’s fine, actually.
“I just met you, and I shall make you pass my test!”
Nobody appointed you Bridgekeeper, Lyle.
WHAT
…is your favourite colour???
Red. No, blue!
Aaiiiiyyyeeeeeee!!!!!!!
What kind of colour? African or European?
They could grab it by the husk
Aaaawwwwwwwwww
Wow Walky passed a test!
So… I started reading Shortpacked! and while it’s fun reading familiar characters in different form, Faz’ first appearance is very disturbing. Seeing as he’s a fourteen or so year old, here. https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/blood
I tried and I think I am too dumb to do that haha. I just couldn’t let go of who they were in DoA. It was like seeing Emma Watson in another movie and keeping having to recalibrate that she is not playing Hermione in this one
Lucy’s face in the background. Aww ♥
Walky stands up, and Lyle stops being a dick, all in one strip? I am suddenly loving this.
My favorite part of this strip is that it’s a reflection of all of Walky’s character development up to now.
Aww
Next page:
Lyle: So Lucy, where did you find such an incredibly mature and thoughtful boyfriend who never makes potty jokes?
Walky: Uh…..
Walky matured, a bit. Too bad it took Mike’s death