iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 20h

the distressing thing is that the only woman Hi ever sees when Lois isn't around is the beverage cart girl at the golf course. 5/10 QDUs bsky.app/profile/matt...

Ditto, in baseball cap, to Hi, in armchair: Why do you wear that ring, dad?
Hi, smiling: It's my wedding band.

Hi: If a woman tries to flirt with me, she'll know I'm married.
Lois, in the background, turning to look at them: When does that ever happen?

The background is all pastel-colored gradient for some reason, thought I'd mention that.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

it's nice to see a superfan get to take over a comic strip www.facebook.com/hcnoel/posts...

facebook.com

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

having driven off the elderly male and the youngest cub, the new leader of the pride shares the matriarch's kill with his latest mate. uh, 3/10 QDUs or something? chip gonna chip

Lois, smiling, dipping a ladle into a soup pot: Soup is done. You kids have a seat at the table.

Lois is at the table with Chip, Dot, and Ditto. There does not appear to be any extra room even though Hi and Trixie are absent.

Lois: How is school going for everyone?
Dot, smiling: I like my new teacher.
Ditto, smiling: Gym class has been a blast.
Chip, smiling: I met a girl in my history class...
panel consisting entirely of DING-DONG sound effect
Chip, holding hands with a smiling redheaded girl in the open door: And invited her for dinner.
Lois, mouth wide in surprise: Why didn't you tell me?

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I realized that my pinned thread did not explain what "QDUs" means. It means Quiet Desperation Units! Now I'm going to pin this. Click through for a backgrounder thread on Hi & Lois as I see it! The last strip in the thread is worth your time.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

thought I had: you can't spell "Chip Flagston" without PFLAG

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hi is contemptuous of Thirsty, his neighbor and only friend, who in turn is both deluded and overly embroiled in the toxic aspects of today's digital culture. Podcasts, fie. 4/10 QDUs

Thirsty, sitting in an outdoor chair with a microphone on a stand: I'm starting my own podcast.
Hi, resting concerned face: What will you talk about?

Thirsty: How to be good neighbor.
We see he is sitting next to another outdoor chair on his scruffy unmowed lawn. Hi narrows his eyes with a "can you believe this?" look.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

the bitter complaints of... Gen X. sorry this is a Gen X complaint. zoomers don't care. Gen X doesn't really care either. We don't care about *anything*. 4/10 QDUs really I cannot express how much we, and zoomers, do not care about "the greatest generation"

Chip and Jerry walking along cynically among falling leaves.

Chip: There was the "Greatest Generation."
Jerry: And the "Baby Boomers."

Chip: All we get is a letter of the alphabet.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Lois is worn down by the demands of her children. Also Ditto doesn't let Dawg lick his face. 5/10 QDUs

Dot, angry, holding a pillow: You put Ditto's pillow on my bed!
Lois: What difference does it make?

Dot, really angry: I don't want to lie on his spit and drool.
Ditto, angry: Says the girl who lets Dawg lick her face.
Lois stares glumly.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

0/10 QDUs for cute Trixie strip and WE DO NOT TALK about how she has been abandoned on the lawn again

Trixie in front of a blue sky with the sun peeking out from behind a cloud: The sky is blue...

Trixie on a green lawn: The grass is green...

Trixie looking at multicolored falling leaves around her: And lots of color in between.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Thirsty acknowledges Irma's domestic labor as complementary to his own work, and the Thurstons have a healthy financial arrangment that allows her to restrain his profligacy? haha j/k he is very resentful. 9/10 QDUs

Thirsty, in a brown jacket: Irma has my paycheck depositied directly into her account.

Thirst, walking along with his hands in his pockets alongside Hi, who is carrying a briefcase and wearing a long jacket: I'm the breadwinner, but she makes all the sandwiches.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

the robots have learned to say "it's not my job to educate you." humanity doomed. Lois may not be over Hi's shit but she's within a mile of the target. 4/10 QDUs

Hi, speaking to a box on the desk: Alexa, what is artificial intelligence?

Box: I don't think I should have to explain myself.
Hi, smiling: She's very self-conscious.
Lois rolls her eyes heavenward.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

in his dreams, Hi cheats on his life partner: golf 2/10 QDUs

Hi smiling, falling asleep, as the TV says: We'll be back for the 9th ining after this commercial break...

Hi is smiling lying back asleep on a pillow throughout, with thought balloons of his dream.
Very small young Hi in a batting helmet with a bat. Voice says: Hiram Flagston is the last batter...
Scoreboard showing AT BAT: HIRAM FLAGSTON. The score is tied in the bottom of the ninth...
Young Hi swings and hits the ball with a CRACK! He takes a mighty swing.
The ball flies over a chibi black outfielder with a mustache and lands just over the fence. It's going! Its gone...

Hi, sleeping on the couch with his foot on the floor because teh couch is too short for him, sticks his hand up and says "It's gone!"
Ditto: Dad is talking in his sleep.
Dot: He's Lost in his "Field of Dreams."
Lois looks on with a fond, goofy grin.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Hi takes no pleasure in holidays. OK holiday season creep gets on my nerves too, but I don't think of it as a conspiracy to annoy me. And I don't directly squelch my wife about it. 6/10 QDUs

Lois, smiling: There's Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas in December.

Hi, disdainful, leaving the mall, as Lois looks at him surprised: Why do they have to spoil my September?
A sign says: Holiday Sales start now!

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Trixie is happy and enjoys everything! 0/10 QDUs

Lois, smiling, in front of a flat screen TV: How did you like that show, Trixie?
Trixie, smiling: I give it a "Thumbs In."

Trixie, raising her thumb to her mouth: Which is what I give almost everything.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Lois's domestic labor will not be respected, even when she outsources it. 6/10 QDUs

Lois, carrying a steaming chicken on a plate: I got a road chicken at the grocery store.

Lois, looking concerned at a glum Ditto and sober Dot, their plates empty as the chicken sits on a different plate: What's wrong?
Dot: We're used to seeing chicken in nugget form.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

WHAT. THE FUCK. HAPPENED TO LAURA. It's been three days! Jerry, do you think you can toy with the heart of the nicest, prettiest girl in the class and then throw her away like a soiled glove? That's Chip's job! rage/revenge QDUs bsky.app/profile/dark...

Chip and Jerry in the high school hallway. Jerry is smiling a wide-eyed dopey smile at a girl with shortish dark hair, freckles and glasses.
Girl: You plus me would equal bliss.

Girl walks away with a bashful smile.
Chip: Why do you like her?
Jerry, now smiling back at Chip with his eyes half closed: She's good at math.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

ominous news for one small creature bsky.app/profile/c0nc...

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

oh you sweet summer child. today marks the day when Sunbeam begins to lose the eternal struggle against the literal forces of darkness. in a few months he will begin to rise again, but you've never seen that, have you? I forget exactly how old you are 0/10 QDUs, cute Trixie and Sunbeam strip

Lois, smiling, next to a lamp on a dresser, calendar on the wall: Today is the autumnal equinox.
Trixie, pensive: I guess that's a good thing...

Lois and Trixie look out the window at the lawn with a white fence and the sun shining brightly.
Trixie: Because Sunbeam is celebrating.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Flagston finances involve complicated intrafamily accounting, which leads to marital strife. 8/10 QDUs

Hi and Lois are in a nice restaurant, Hi in a black jacket and blue tie, Lois in a black spaghetti-strap dress.

Hi, leaning over to Lois, eyes lustfully half closed: This mean is on me.
Lois, eyes also lustfully half closed, hoisting a mostly empty wine glass: You're so romantic.

Hi, holding out a card with a concerned expression: OK if I use the joing card?
Lois, eyes now half closed in contempt: Chivalry is dead.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

sniffling. bawling. desperately trying to ignore the throwaway panel. 8/10 QDUs

Jerry, with hearts in his eyes: Wowserzzzz!
Chip turns to look over his shoulder with his visible eyes wide open and his tongue hanging down all the way to said shoulder. It is REPULSIVE.

Jerry and Chip on a park path, looking at a smiling redheaded girl.
Jerry: There's Laura. Isn't she great?
Chip: The nicest, prettiest girl in our class.

Jerry, sad: I wish I had the nerve to ask her out.
Chip, smiling: Why not? What have you got to lose?

Jerry, smiling with realization: Yeah! Why not?!
Chip, manly arm around his shoulder: Go for it, Bro!

Chip unsmilingly looks on as a smiling Jerry walks up to a smiling Laura.

Jerry, eyes and smile wide: Guess what? She said yes!
Chip, smiling: Cool!

Silhouettes of Laura and Jerry farther down the path, holding hands. Chip, heartbroken, thought balloons: I wish I'd had the nerve.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

the mass wedding of Chip to the entire teenage girl population of Wilton, Hi. don't you read the strip? uh, let's not QDU that one

Lois, wearing a black dress, smiling: I got this new dress for the wedding.
Hi, befuddled: What wedding?

Lois, making bedroom eyes in front of a closet that has a couple dresses hanging in it: I'm sure we'll get invited to one sometime.
Hi looks on, distressed, his hands clenched into fists at his side.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Chip has droit de seigneur in Wilton, Connecticut. Everyone seems pleased with this arrangement. 0/10 QDUs

Redheaded girl in a lavender sweater, talking to a smiling chip, against the background of a blue sky with a few falling leaves: My family just moved to town.

Chip, walking along with her by a sign saying The Town Green, on a curving paved path with a bench visible in the distance: And I just volunteered to be the official ambassador of the welcoming committee.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Dot is excluded from the boys' play but turns her snitching powers to good. She winds up as the only one enjoying herself. 4/10 QDUs

Ditto, lying on the ground in football uniform: That was pass interference.
Another boy lying on the ground behind him, having clearly just tackled him by the ankles: Prove it!

Ditto to Dot, as the other boy scowls: Did you get that on video?
Dot, smiling, holding up her phone: Yup!

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

0/10 QDUs but what *monster* uses their high beams in the daytime? (rare three-paneler)

Trixie, smiling: The sun and moon are like nature's headlights.

Trixie, smiling, looking out the window at a sunny day: Him beams in the day.

And at a moonlit night: Low beams at night.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

according to the latest report of the Hi & Lois Economic Sentiment Index, we are *fucked* fucked. 9/10 QDUs

Lois is adjusting an OPEN HOUSE sign out of doors. A late-middle aged couple walks up behind her. The woman is wearing a pink coat dress and carrying a white purse; she has brown slightly bowl cut hair. The man is bald with gray hair on the sides, hands in the pockets of his khakis, and a black sweater over a white collared shirt. Both are kind of chunky.

Woman: You're a real estate agent.
Man: We'd like to buy a house.
Lois, smiling: What can you afford?

Woman, scowling: Nothing!
Man, absolutely furious: And we're not happy!
Lois turns around and looks at them, disconcerted.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

when Lois, who has a job, comes home from work after her husband, does she say "Hi, honey, I'm home" or "HI, Hi honey, I'm home"? 0/10 QDUs as Hi's last-panel smile indicates that he has happily acquiesced to Lois's quite reasonable point

Lois, with a little smile: Hi, honey...
Hi, looking up from his newspaper in his chair: Yes, dear?

Lois: Time to start dinner.
Hi: Ok.

Hi: You fix the salad and some corn...

Hi, walking away with a smile: And I'll go cook the steak.

Lois: Why does it always have to be that way?
Hi, looking back over his shoulder: It doesn't.

Outside by the picnic table. Hi walks up carrying a salad with a little grin.
Lois, wearing a Grill Queen apron, holding a fork next to a grill with two steaks, smiling a sly triumphant smile: No gender bias in our house.
Irma, making a fist-bumpy fist, similar smile or possibly drunk: Right on, sister.

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Reposted by Dark Hi And Lois

Josh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

[rockwell freedom of speech guy] curtis is a good comic strip

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

golf. golf. Golf. GOLF. GOLF!!!! classic golf here. this honestly effectively conveys exactly why this is a knee-slapper if you like golf. I have learned that you get a mulligan if your shot lands in standing water, and the lake doesn't count. but I didn't want to learn that! 3/10 QDUs, Hi is mad

Hi stares into the distance, astonished, as Thirsty says, smiling: My ball landed in the standing water. Rules say I get relief.

Hi, scowling furiously: That's a lake!

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

"also you slept with at least five other girls this summer and unsuccessfully hit on two more! do you think I don't read the strip?" 4/10 QDUs

Chip walking next to a brown-haired girl by a bank of lockers.
Chip: We had such a nice summer. Why did we break up?
Girl: We went back to school.

Chip, upset: What does that have to do with it?
Girl, grinning slyly: More boys to choose from.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I don't think the saying implies you're only going to get one? also it doesn't really apply to cookies unless your mom is the sort of person to hide carob in among the chocolate chip, which Lois frankly is. also I don't know if I've ever seen carob outside of jokes. cute interaction, 1/10 QDUs

Ditto, pointing and smiling: Life is like a jar of cookies...

Ditto: You never know what you're going to get.
Lois, grumpily investigating the comically huge cookie jar that is on the drawer, of the kind only found in comic strips: It looks like you got more than one.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

did she just say "U up?" to the sun? 2/10 QDUs for second-panel worried expression

Trixie, looking up into the shining sun, smiling: What's up, sunbeam?

Trixie, looking out her picture window with the sun in the background, in a landscape of lawn, fence, bushes, tree, etc., her expression slightly worried: I know YOU are, but what's going on in the rest of the world?

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

gonna bump this all the way up to 10/10 QDUs for its callback to one of the greats. especially because we learn that Hi has completely given up bsky.app/profile/matt...

Ditto, in red pajamas: You put off paying your taxes for six months.

Hi, holding a steaming mug of coffee, looking back at Ditto totally unimpressed: It's called an "Extension."
Ditto: Why can't I do that for school?
Lois, as annoyed as Hi: Go get dressed!

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

0/10 QDUs aw sweet! we will bracket the fact that moms can be workers too--in fact your mother has a job--and also that "labor" is literally what (biological) mothers do, to become mothers

Trixie, looking thoughtful and worried: This is a holiday for workers.

Trixie: But what about moms?

Smiling Trixie being held by joyfully smiling Lois (by a dresser with a changing mat on top and a can of wipes and also a box that, unfortunately, appears to be labeled "BUM COVERS"): Everything they do is a labor of love.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

the Flagstons' financial issues cause their children distress. 6/10 QDUs

Dot, thinking: Quite possibly the lamest summer ev.

Ditto: School starts on Tuesday.
Dot: Don't remind me.

Ditto, heavy-lidded with ennui: We had such a boring summer.

Dot, the same: We didn't go anywhere.

Ditto: What are we going to tell our classmates?
Dot: We'll have to make something up.

Dot, rolling her eyes heavenward like Tim Curry (RIP) about to say "Space!": Let's start with a Disney cruise.

Ditto, concerned: Do you think they'll believe us?
Dot, plottingly, holding a pen: As long as we keep our stories straight.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

golf golf golf golfity golf I don't know why Hi delivered this sententious platitude to Thirsty, they are employed together and he knows Thirsty already never works a day in his life. I also don't know if Thirsty thinks the golf pro gets to spend all day at the 19th hole. 4/10 QDUs

Hi, in a golf outfit with red polo and red ballcap, with the appropriate dumb smug smile for delivering this line: Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.

Thirsty, broad smile, golf club over his shoulder: I'd love to be a professional golfer.
Hi, worried expression, holding his club over his shoulder with his index finger on the middle of the haft in a way that doesn't really look right: It also has to be a job you can do.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

one of part of the fanfic is Dot's explanation of why she dropped out of grad school. 4/10 QDUs

Lois, smiling: What's your goal fro the coming school year, Dot?

Dot, arms wide with excitement and eyes narrowed in plotting: I'm goign to be the teacher's pet on the first day.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Rake Season begins with blatant pro-rake propaganda and damn right. twin-stroke leaf blowers a la lanterne. -5/10 QDUs

Chip, smiling over the fence to Mr. Wavering, an old man in a beat-up hat and sweater vest who is an honest to God recurring character: What do you miss about the old days, Mr. Wavering?
Mr. Wavering, pointing: Well, right now...

Mr. Wavering, to a no longer smiiling Chip, as we see a guy with a leaf blower going RRRRR on the other side of Mr. Wavering's austere green square of a lawn: I miss teh quite sound of leaves being raked.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

maybe the other baby is thought-ballooning something unkind about you, Trixie. did you think about that. 4/10 QDUs

Trixie: I like playdates.

Trixie, cynical expression: But I'll never go on a date with this crybaby again.
A baby with dark curly hair, sitting on the floor by Trixie, cries with eyes closed, WA!
The baby's dark-haired mother rushes over frantically.
Lois looks on with concern.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Lois's love-hate relationship with pickleball continues. it has drummed up business but will make business more difficult. 4/10 QDUs

Lois is talking to an old couple on a lawn in front of a brown house.
Old man (balding with light blue shirt, black vest and glasses: We've lived here a long time.
Lois: Why did you decide to move?

Old woman (gray-haired, glasses, white shirt and shapeless brown cardigan): They put in pickleball courts next door.

From a pink house next door with a window with a grid-style screen on it come loud POP POP POP noises.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Does... does Ditto know what "bucket list" means? Probably not, because he's only eight? Enjoy your innocence, kid. 2/10 QDUs

Ditto, wearing a thinking face that makes him look pretty dopey, thought balloons: Time to plan.

An inset of smiling Ditto among four small pictures showing him performing the following activities (captioned as such):
Baseball. Swimming. Fishing. Cycling.

Among two more: Skateboarding. Tree climbing.

Two more: Camping. Hiking.

Dot, at the table with Ditto, curious expression: What's that?
Ditto, holding up a paper: My bucket list for the last week of summer.
Chip, standing, unimpressed: Better get started.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

GOOOOLLLLFFFFF Hi is undercutting his friend, 4/10 QDUs

Thirsty, smiling: If I sing this putt, I win the FedEx Cup.

Hi, behind him holding the flag, serious:With a score of 106?
Thirsty, frowning: Don't ruin my fantasy.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

THE KEYBOARDIST HAS A NAME! it's Sid! Chip is in a band with two old Jewish guys! One of whom is black on the weekends! 1/10 QDUs because I didn't know Boyz Noyz even got gigs. and Hi is being supportive and Chip isn't that upset

Hi, smiling: How was the gig?
Chip, walking in the door with his guitar case: A disaster! I broke a string, sid's piano turned over, and Jerry's bass drum fell off the stage.

Hi, sombrely: Sorry to hear that.
Chip, unbothered: Well, we did get some big laughs.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

RED ALERT RED ALERT NEW RECURRING CHARACTER OBJECT PERMANENCE IMMINENT also, phrasing right, QDUs. uh, 2/10? bsky.app/profile/dark...

Ditto, holding a baseball: It's almost time to go back to school.

As he throws the baseball from right to left to the girl with curly red hair who we saw in a previous strip, who catches it with a POP!
Girl: Does that mean our "summer fling" is over?
Ditto: No, I'll keep flinging with you.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Lois tries to ease her youngest daughter out of a destructive relationship with a gentle intervention. It doesn't take. 6/10 QDUs.

Lois, bending down, offering a reluctant Trixie a huge purple floppy sunhat: It's bright out today. You should probably where this bonnet.

Trixie, being pulled in a wagon, unhappy in the sun hat as the sun shines down on her: I'm not trying to hide from you, sunbeam.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

It would be perfectly normal for everyone to be smiling. Perfectly normal! But they aren't. 4/10 QDUs

Hi, looking over his shoulder with raised eyebrows: Did you go the beach today?
Lois looks back at him somewhat blankly.

Lois: no, Trxie was playing in her sandbox.
Trixie crawls on the floor and makes a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound. She looks over at her parents, blankly, as if she has just stopped crawling. Hi, holding his briefcase, continues to stare, dumbfounded.

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Dark Hi And Lois @darkhiandlois.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

branching out from my usual to bring you Mary Worth's boyfriend talking about eating out her ass

Mary Worth, an older woman, on the phone: Hello, dear...
Phone: Hi, Mary! Do you have plans tonight? I'd like to tkae my favorite girl out to dinner!

Dr. Jeff, a graying but not nearly as gray muscular man leaning muscularly against a convertible with its hood popped up, holding the phone.
Phone: That sounds great, Jeff! Where do you feel like eating?!
Jeff: I'm in the mood for seafood! How about the Bum Boat?

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