Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for April 25, 2022

Just ask Dolores from Encanto.

Is this really how Phoebe is going to spend her birthday?

It’ll just be drowned out by the sound of ants clearing their throats in Africa.

I bet Matt Murdock also has trouble listening to many distant conversations at once while trying to pinpoint on an exact one… same with smelling many things at once and pinpoint a certain smell. Heck, all his senses — except sight — are superhuman.

Beware of earworms

Spouse has just gotten new hearing aids. They’re much finer than the first version… and the tech actually has a crinkly petfood bag in his drawer that he uses to test how high she can stand having the high pitched sounds turned up.

Marigold: “…and if anyone nearby farts it could blow out your eardrums.”

Phoebe: “Pass.”

I wonder if the guest list included Sam, who Phoebe is always trying to impress.

Yep, super hearing can sometimes be just as much of a curse as it is a blessing…

Super hearing, fun until some idiot uses a gong, or cymbals, or anything.

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out…

It’s like a mukbang video where someone eats a banana loudly with the microphones picking up every chewing sound.

EVERY. CHEWING. SOUND.

Why don’t you go over and join the conversation, Phoebe!

HOORAY! Phoebe will have a personal superpower! Now she will become “The little girl than hear too much”!

Scooter already filled us in on the sound that’s made by worms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQ4CxgZ0xI

I didn’t know ‘fraught’ could be used without ‘with’, as in ‘fraught with danger’. This is another thing I’ve learned from this comic.

Ah, don’t, Phoebe, just … don’t.

…admittedly, so am I now…

I mean, what if the worms are talking about Phoebe?

Doesn’t the word ‘fraught’ have to be used with another word, i.e. ‘fraught with emotion’.

Merriam-Webster indicates Marigold is applying definition 2. (Sorry, I am a word nerd)Definition of fraught

1: full of or accompanied by something specified —used with with a situation fraught with danger The paper was poorly researched and is fraught with errors.2: causing or characterized by emotional distress or tension: uneasy a fraught relationship3 archaic a: laden b : well supplied or provided

Other peoples opinion of you is absolutely none of your business.

I’d have worried about hearing every biological process in nearby companions. Heartbeats and breaths are just the start.

My take on this is Phoebe wants to hear what worms sound like more than what her friends are saying.

there are no private areas in the forest, these days….