You folks are missing the big picture. Whoever procreates and has the longer family line following them will be able to post last, so the winner is whoever sterilizes the other players.
Thanks for the link! Interesting song, interesting clip too. I recognized Gundam, Maccross, the standard DC heroes, & a good few more. Someone got me into Anime…
Don’t forget they’re roommates. For the next week, Mike will be climbing up to the top bunk to whisper “you suck at math” into walky’s ear in the middle of the night while walky is asleep. If his current anxiety keeps him awake, though, Mike just won’t bother whispering.
Yeah, it’s like crossing the Atlantic in a race where you have a motor boat and everyone else has dark, and be told in the middle that “btw, no more fuel”. Say what? My winning trick doesn’t work anymore? How do you swim.anyway?
I’m able to post but not as often. And Becky if you keep this shit up, you ain’t ever getting any. And Joyce has told you already you won’t be getting any from her.
Yeah, kinda. She’ll settle down some when she realizes her personality isn’t defined by her sexuality. Right now, though, she’s kinda basking in the glow of being able to yell “I’m gay” without a ton of bibles being thrown at her. Let’s switch to some other characters until she calms down a wee bit
Man, I would not object if someone actually physically threw an actual physical Bible at her right now, or a dictionary, or really any heavy book. Gender studies textbook, I don’t care. My point is, Becky, stop being annoying and start being cool again.
I’m not so sure that’s the issue. Remember what she’s having to deal with right now. Throwing herself 100% into this lesbian thing is probably more about avoiding reality than anything else. Now that being said it’s obviously annoying, but I’m not blaming Becky.
She is being kind of one note right now, although it hasn’t even been a day since she came out to Joyce. It might be a few weeks our time but she’ll calm down….I hope.
I love Becky, I think she’s really annoying right now, I think she’s still the coolest thing ever and I think she’s a well written character and these aspects are part of complete and believable personality that is fascinating to get to know and see evolve.
See now Daisy’s the obvious hook up. If she meets Becky I’m sure it will probably lead to a pent up lesbian sexplosion. Which means it probably won’t happen for a while..or ever?! Willis does like screwing with our expectations.
I would think that depends on your definition of ‘behind’. And possibly also your definition of ‘jackassery’.
But then, I have a hard time recalling any out-and-out jackassery on Joyce’s part. I don’t remember her ever doing or saying anything malicious or meant to wound, even though I of course recall huge pits of ignorance. Some of which she’s filled in at least somewhat, which does in fact put her ahead of Becky.
Also, I suspect that the ‘best-socialized’ comment, as it came from their pastor, had a lot more to do with how easy sweet, kind, and warm-hearted Joyce is; she’s not hard to get along with, personality-wise. Contrast that to Becky, who seems to have little to no brain-to-mouth filter and even less concern for how what she says will affect other people. Becky, who will continue to say sexualized and harassing things to her alleged best friend (who is also a sexual assault victim, though of course Becky doesn’t know that and I rather hope never will) who is literally the only person she has in the world, in the full knowledge that they legitimately upset her just because LULZ UR FACE.
Joyce will make friends wherever she goes, in the long run. Becky makes some friends, but she also makes waves, irritated and angry people, and possibly enemies. Therefore Joyce is better-socialized, aka better at getting along with people socially. Nothing to do, in my view, with the depth-level of their respective ignorance pits.
I think you nailed it there. An important part of understanding Joyce is her desire and determination to do The Right Thing. That includes be inclusive to people of different faiths, apologize when you (realize you) have done something wrong, don’t (knowingly) insult or hurt people.
Much of her inner conflict comes from reconciling that desire with the long list of people her religion tells her can’t or shouldn’t be helped (such as becky abd Dorothy)
That’s not socialized. Socialized implies an active process acclimatizing someone to social norms. What Joyce has is a personality that’s easy to get along with.
List of things I don’t care about:
Whether people MEAN to be assholes with their ignorance.
You seem to be reading a lot of shit into becky that hte facts don’t currently support. I mean, twigging Joyce seems to be a thing she’s been doing for over a decade. It would probably be weirder if she WEREN’T. At no point did Joyce seem weirded out by the twigging, f’rex.
And frankly, I doubt that her pastor thought she was well-socialized because she’s a good person. He probably said it because he trusted her not to change much, *and* she’s still legitimately reasonably socially skilled (In the skills that are valued in her even-more closed-minded church).
Also, uh, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Joyce has at least one enemy. To pretend that she just can never fail to get along with people is.. pretty contrafactual.
Also Roz. Joyce can annoy people just fine. And that’s a fine thing – The idea that someone just won’t make enemies or really annoy people would be really freaky at best, and self-indulgent at worst (Given that she’s an author avatar in part)
I’m hoping the end of Shortpacked! means we get more Leslie on this side of the universal divide, like we got more Ethan and Amber here after they stopped being central characters over there. Robin I can take or leave, but Leslie is the awesomest.
Umm… Screwball, I don’t think that’s how humans work. I really don’t.
On that note, did you learn everything about us from lame TV shows? (Unless it’s the original Teen Titans, you’re going to have a hard time convincing me it’s not a lame TV show.)
Screwball, you don’t link to TV Tropes without a big neon sign saying “WARNING: INTERNET BLACK HOLE APPROACHING”! Honestly, I almost got sucked past the event horizon! It’s late enough here as it is!
And since I use firefox, when I move the pointer over a link, it tells me the address in the bottom left corner. I think a few others do that too, if it helps…
It’s easy to forget that Becky was just as sheltered as Joyce. Homeschooling can do weird things to your social skills. She’s doing her best. Her best is kind of annoying but it will get better. all she needs is time. Give her a few days and she’ll be apologizing to Billie for her rude comment and will return to being everyone’s favorite character.
I Still think anyone who’s favorite character isn’t becky is a monster, but I admit she has her flaws.
I didn’t vote for Becky as one of my favorite characters (sorry for being a monster =P ), but I agree that this behavior is probably not representative of her usual behavior. After all, if I have my timeline straight, this is the morning right after Becky had a very emotional coming out moment.
I’m starting to think that she got the position of “Joyce’s best friend” almost by default. Very small pool to choose from. She’s not acting like anyone I’d like to be friends with, and there have been hints that at least some of that behavior goes back to long before recent developments.
I think Joyce is more or less okay with her friend being a lesbian, but I’m not sure how she feels about premarital hanky-panky. Would Joyce be more comfortable if becky was looking for a nice girl to marry?
I’d say probably. Especially if Becky stopped pushing it so hard onto Joyce – if that happened, Joyce would probably be aiding in the matchmaking (by the next day, of course, I’d accept a 24 hour buffer to allow her to get over the fact that Becky might be going to hell)
Guys, cut her some slack. She’s been repressing this part of her identity for what may have been years, she went through one of the most horrifying experiences a gay teenager could go through and had her whole life uprooted by her dickhole dad and a severely homophobic religious culture, and for the first time in weeks, Becky’s safe and surrounded by people who don’t hate her for being gay. She’ll calm down eventually, but right now she’s exploding with emotion.
Gee, it’s almost like being gay is a pretty big and all encompassing thing for her right now, as she crashes at her friend’s place because being gay left her without a home or family worth speaking about. So sue her if she does an awkward segue or two.
Not that she should need an excuse for being insufficiently casual and subdued about this in the first place.
From what I can tell he’s never actually had to study before. I have lots of smart friends who told me they never had to study in high school and that totally bit them in the ass in college.when you get used to straight A’s, failure can be Trumatic.
Your ‘First Fail’ can hit you pretty hard, especially when it comes in your first year of college. It feels like this cool new place, where you were just starting to feel at home, has rejected you, declared you unfit to pass. Some never recover from it – that’s why the dropout rate during the first year is so high.
I guess I can back this up too. Ask that human I hang with how HE went at school & he eventually starts griping & whinging about how they stuffed him up, never developing social skills, something about scoring systems changing, IDK, I loose interest…
Hello, Daniel here, Screwball’s Human possibly only friend. I’m just gonna quickly comment while the magnetic-alien-lifelorm is busy with a large magnet. Ever watched someone try getting sticky-tape off themselves unsuccessfully… }:D
I’ll admit, I was the high-School freak, but also highly intelligent. High scores despite getting bored at the teacher’s repetition, probably like Walky. However when I hit Year 12, they introduced a new marking system, meaning all the fields I was getting high scores on meant far less, to the point where they called my parents in & literally said I couldn’t recover my grades, so they booted me. And if it seems I am griping about it, I’ll admit I do hold a bit of a grudge about it…
Now I’m older, I do recognize my intelligence is noticeably high (trying really hard not to sound egotistical :$ ), however it is still rather untrained. If I tried to do more serious training than just a few 6/12 month courses, I’d have to relearn how to learn pretty much. Problem is, if I don’t challenge my brain enough, it can cause problems like it has in the past…
Still, least my mind finds way to “vent” the excess brainpower usually, Anime, coming up with new OCs, building random stuff…
She might’ve. Nobody would’ve batted an eye. Broadcasting heterosexuality is so thoroughly normalized that it’s effectively a non-event.
Though by trade, she never would’ve had to tell anybody she was heterosexual, since it’s assumed by default. Look no further than Billie right now. She’s got a mysterious little special somebody who hasn’t been stated to be of any particular gender, doesn’t loudly claim any particular orientation of her own. Billie gets assumed to be straight, in an opposite sex relationship, until she indicates otherwise. Sometimes despite her mildly stated indications to the contrary.
If Becky just shut up about being gay for a little while, I wonder how long it would take Joyce to decide that was a thing of the past like she has for Billie?
I wasn’t aware that people needed to “broadcast” their sexuality no matter which side of the fence they are on.
And considering that heterosexual is currently the assumed default orientation with most people (like it or not, it’s true), I think being over the top in broadcasting how heterosexual one is actually COULD make people think you are the exact opposite. After all, why should you have to keep repeating what people already assume that you are?
I think what i more tried pointing out is that becky seems to be more someone who seems okay in the first couple of hours before you start feeling more and more annoyed as time pass by with what comes out her mounth as she feel more “friends” with the rest of people around her….
Or just a “normal-until-you-get-friends-with-her-type” as i call them:-P
C’mon, Joyce, she’s been putting up with everything being future husbands with you for years now. You can deal with her sudden girlfriend obsession for a day.
(You don’t even have the additional irritant of wanting to say, “I want to be the person you marry!” and not being able to.)
Becky is not my favorite character (I am NOT a monster btw) but I do like her. I’m guessing since it’s not been a full day since she cannoned out of the closet, it may take a day or two to calm down.
Joyce is actually taking all this better than I would’ve thought, can blame her (for once) for being a bit miffed at her friend-she is a bit over the top right now.
Walky is not used to having to study or to failure. It just bit him on the ass big time. He will probably come back to earth about the time Becky does.
I’d love to have Becky meet Mary since the big coming out: I don’t think Mary will push Becky to far.
And yes, somebody introduce Becky to Daily before she freakin’ explodes or implodes or something.
Bye Bye Shortpacked. Going to miss you. Hope Galasso and his daughter make it over to DoA. I hope Robin makes it over here too, and Ninja Rick. Don’t really care if Faz makes it, he really annoyed me.
Faz too. He’s Amber’s younger sibling here. In the familial sense, not just the biological. Still annoying, but just a kid being raised by single parent Blaine, so it kind of seems like you’ve gotta forgive a little while he figures out where he’s going in life, what kind of person he wants to be.
There’s a small list of characters who are based on real people, and will never get brought over to the Dumbiverse due to authorial preference. Ninja Rick is on that list.
Ok, I get she is letting stuff out after repressing, and jumping into a new interest a little too hard, but as much of a Becky fan as I am (I mean, just look at my avatar), it is getting a little annoying…
Every time Becky gets screentime, I’m stuck between; “come on now, tone it down because this is getting annoying,” and “LMAO, nice one Becky.” I do wish Roz and Jacob would get more screentime, specifically together. I still have money on Jacob being able to convert her into a real relationship!
Y’know, part of me thinks that maybe Becky keeps bringing the whole gay thing up/rubbing it in Joyce’s face partly because she knows Joyce isn’t 100% okay with it, and is hoping to get Joyce to admit it.
It’s been less than 12 hours since she had to decide whether she’s okay with it, that kind of harassment after so little time when Joyce is literally feeding and clothing her right now would be a massively bongo move.
It’s harassment to deliberately make someone uncomfortable, and she was sexually harassing Joyce justa few strips ago.
I’m gay myself and there are boundries of what you should and should not do. Becky is being very loud and very pushy right now and that’s not okay. I know she’s been repressed and letting loose feels good but she needs to reign it in.
Shit, if she wanted to sneak around being quietly gay without bothering anybody she could’ve done that at her Dad’s place. Joyce will hopefully survive the inhumane abuse of hearing Becky mention girlfriends.
No. It’s not okay to act like screwing with your friend about summet with which they’re uncomfortable is equivalent to sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is scarring, and forever, and not a friend being a bit weird with you, and it’s not okay to belittle it like that.
No, it’s harassment to deliberately make your best friend uncomfortable by loudly proclaiming just how gay you are, which she has in fact admitted to doing.
I get that it’s only been less than half a day since Joyce and Becky had the big talk, but it’s still pretty frustrating to see them both act how they are right now. I love Becky, but the whole one-note ‘LESBIANS’ thing she’s doing right now, while understandable is getting pretty annoying.
Plus Joyce while she’s accepted Becky, she still doesn’t seem to approve of her friend’s sexuality, which can be hard to read. Everytime Becky’s brought up anything to do with lesbians/girlfriends/whatever Joyce has cut her back down again and ughh. Again, understandable, because this is a huge change for Joyce to adjust to – but still hard to read.
I just want to fast forward to the point where, idk, Becky gets a girlfriend and calms down a lot, and Joyce then /has/ to accept her for who she is, and also would probably be more accepting as Becky would just stop hitting on her all the time.
tl;dr: BECKY NEEDS A GIRLFRIEND FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE
We don’t even know for how long she’s been bottling up all the gay inside of her. Also, she’s trying to cope with having been kicked out of home and college and having neither anywhere to go or any plans for the future. So yeah, I think we can count on her to stay on annoying hyper crazy lesbian mode for a while…
In order to be rolling in girlfriends, you must not roll to them, Becky. You must let them roll to you, lest you spook them and they roll away in fear.
I can’t the only one who thinks it’s a little unfair for anyone to expect Joyce to instantly acclimate herself to (from her perspective) Becky’s total 180. It’s not like Joyce isn’t doing her best, and it’s not like Joyce isn’t going above and beyond what even a lot of “tolerant” people would do to help their friend. Doesn’t she deserve a little patience? A bit of breathing room? It’s not her fault she got raised in a stiflingly intolerant culture, and it’s not easy fighting against that.
It’d be different if we were talking about someone who was being cold and distant and didn’t bother interacting with Becky one way or another, but… Joyce is breaking a lot of rules and taking a big risk just for Becky’s sake, while being really supportive! (Housing someone in your dorm room is still against the rules in this fictional version of the university, isn’t it?)
It just feels like a bit of a double standard for anyone to judge Joyce for trying her best but oh no her best just isn’t good enough, you know?
She deserves a lot more than that. She should get patience, a councelor, a pamphlet on how to deal with these things, some breathing room, and maybe a talking to (though Sarah may be covering that last part). Lets face it, Joyce’s behavior is a little unacceptable, but completely understandable. I vote someone (Daisy?) handles both parts of that situation.
But so is Joyce’s. She is interested in boyfriends and potential husbands. She could probably stretch that to Becky’s girlfriends and potential spouses without too much effort. But this rolling in giblets thing makes her very uncomfortable.
Joyce got uncomfortable the moment Becky mentioned the possibility of somebody else having a girlfriend.
She also got uncomfortable earlier when Becky started telling people she was gay.
There’s a hair trigger on that discomfort. I don’t think Becky could make Joyce comfortable by limiting herself to expressing more chaste, monogamous sentiments about women.
I don’t think it’s homophobia, I think it’s emotional overload mixed with panic. Give the girl a day to finish freaking out before labeling her a homophobe – she has had less than one day to figure THIS out on top of dealing with all of her best friends being likely to be damned (according to what she’s been taught). Now that I think about it, has Joyce come across a single person who wasn’t either a jerk or someone she thought was probably damned?
Mike: Jerk (Mike)
Walkie: Damnation status unknown, can be considered a jerk
Dorothy: damned (atheist)
Becky: Now damned (lesbian)
Billie: Possibly damned (from lesbian experiences, status changing)
Glasso: Definitely a jerk
Parents: JERKS (written off by Joyce. Reason: Parents)
Mary: Jerk (Unknown by Joyce)
Ruth: Jerk
Dina: Damned (probably an atheist, definitely not Christian)
That’s very true and a large source of underlying stress for Joyce. Both because she fears for hear friends and because she fears for herself. She said as much to Dorothy at one point – finding out that people who she has been taught her whole life is bad for her is actually good people, is exactly what she’s been told her whole life to be afraid of.
Sarah – does nasty thing with a toy. Not necessarily damned but at risk. A bit of a jerk.
Sal – too cool not to be damned.
Roz – Very damned.
Joe – Very damned, very jerk.
Worse: she has no rock – no one she’s allowed to get close to. And in that, if she does go to heaven, she’ll be alone while her friends end up together in hell (which is why I DON’T want to go, and would easily explain Willis’ desire to be damned). If you ask me, THAT’S the part that would create the most stress, why she’s so upset at Becky’s changes and why she might want to convert Ethan from gay-itude – she doesn’t want to be alone for eternity.
Becky is being so hyper, that I’m worried. Looks like she’s trying to forget the predicament she’s in right now. Seriously, she’s like high on sugar xD
Shortpacked! is so far the only webcomic I’ve been reading regularly from the first update to the last. And now that it has ended, there is an empty void in my heart that can only be filled with sentient milky sludge (or a substance of similar appearance).
And so I say: Make me yours, Sogmaster! My body is ready!
I believe she phrased it as Billie having previously engaged in homosexual activities but everyone makes mistakes. I mean those weren’t her exact words, but that’s the gist of it. (I don’t have the link but I’m getting this from the strip after Joyce introduced Becky to Billie, where Becky said “so that’s Billie, huh?”)
So far, Joyce has been incredibly accepting of Becky, far more than I think anyone expected of her. She even went to such lengths as intentionally trying to interpret the Old Testament in a different way, something she openly admitted is wrong according to her personal beliefs.
If Joyce had been some obnoxious intolerant fundie, I wouldn’t mind so much, but she’s not. She’s making an intense effort to seperate herself from the bigotry she was raised to feel. I’m sorry to say, but to me, Becky doesn’t come off as someone finally enjoying the freedom to express her true self. She comes off as someone who ignores the discomfort of her supposedly best friend and just rubs it in her face.
If we see Becky’s actions and Joyce’s reaction solely on today’s page, then yes it seems absolutely unreasonable and petty. However, we’re not. We’re looking at this as a pattern that’s been repeated over and over. Say the same thing enough times and it doesn’t matter how valid it is, it loses its meaning and becomes uncomfortable even to people who initially agree with it.
However will Joyce cope with mentions of non-straightness in two whole conversations in one day? I hope her heart doesn’t break from the repeated battering Becky’s giving it today.
Mentions of non straightness and also the obvious flirting despite the face that Joyce made it pretty clear that she only wants to be a friend. Becky, if anyone, is more than entitled to express her sexuality, given the treatment she got from the college staff and her father, but here it just feels like she’s deliberately singling Joyce out. She’s not just being exposed to it, she’s a direct target. Maybe I’m completely wrong and it’s nothing like that at all, but that’s definitely the impression I’m left with.
Yeah yeah, but be real, Joyce hasn’t only been made uncomfortable by Becky’s flirtations. Certainly that’s not what prompted your little sob speech today. Today Becky mentioned the fact that Billie might have a girlfriend, Joyce got uncomfortable, and you went on a ditty about how cruel Becky is for rubbing Joyce’s face in her homosexuality.
I’m perfectly capable of responding to your sarcasm with sarcasm of my own if that’s what you prefer. I would like to avoid it though, as that runs the risk of pushing this from a discussion to a heated flaming. At this point, I don’t see either of us convincing the other, so I’ll just agree to disagree.
No one is asking for a total ban on all mentioning of homosexuality. But to people in Joyce’s culture changing your mind on something like that is a Pretty Big Deal, and she is absolutely trying her best. She didn’t ask to be raised in a fundamentalist Christian environment. She didn’t choose to be virtually brainwashed with the belief that homosexuality will literally send you shipped off into a dimension of eternal hellfire. Is it SO fucking much to ask for just a LITTLE bit of breathing room? Or is patience and understanding suddenly a limited resource we should only reserve to the people in the absolute worst circumstances in existence?
Having been raised in a third world shithole I’m sure I can personally name many people who’ve been screwed over even worse than Becky, but I’m not going to act like that entitles me to sanctimoniously ignore her difficulties in life just because she has resources and access to an accepting environment that those people lacked. Everyone has their problems, and the psychological fuck-ups that can come with an extreme religious up-bringing isn’t something people can just shrug-off. I think Joyce SHOULD just shrug it off, that’s IDEAL, but I can recognize that it’s just not that fucking easy in reality and that she IS trying her best despite the difficulty and the risks (both from her own spiritual viewpoint and from a practical objective viewpoint, ie, seriously doesn’t housing a person in your dorm room get you expelled?) she is taking.
Oh and the social risks too, assuming her family would alienate or even disown her over something like this, I’m not sure how hard they stand on this issue.
Joyce is helping her friend despite ALL this shit that could come piling down on her… and we’re giving her shit because she’s not getting used to something immediately in less than a day? Not EVEN because she’s not putting in the effort, because she clearly IS, but because it’s not happening fast enough? Fuck’s sake. Give her a god damn break.
Someone should give them both a good talking to though. Becky is out of line and Joyce is completely clueless. Would it really hurt either of them if someone stepped in and educated the both of them on exactly how this kind of thing works? (I really hope they get into gender studies and that turns into the topic, causing Joyce to yell out about what she wants and Becky to finally get it.)
That’s fine and all. Joyce is uncomfortable. That’s just how she feels. I’m not faulting her for that.
Seems a little bit much to be coming down on Becky simply mentioning girlfriends though. Joyce is gonna be uncomfortable, she’s gonna need to process that, but if her “breathing room” requires Becky to avoid even mentioning the possibility that other people might have girlfriends then yeah, I think that’s a bit much to ask for. Becky didn’t come here to shove her homosexuality into a quiet corner where it won’t bother all the people who are bothered by homosexuality.
And honestly, I really think Joyce is gonna get through this. She’s gonna be uncomfortable, she’s gonna wrap her head around all this, and she’s gonna come to terms with it, accept it for what it is, get to a point she’s not so squeemish around homosexuality that the mere casual mention sets her at edge.
It’s not just “mentioning girlfriends”, it’s shouting it down Joyce’s ears at every single opportunity while knowing exactly how it makes her feel. A LITTLE moderation and sensitivity. That’s it. Give her some time to get used to it, because a transformation like that can’t happen over-night, it’s impossible to expect it and it’s unreasonable to demand it.
Yeah because supporting your gay friend is SO homophobic, let’s just brush Joyce with a big old homophobia brush because she can’t flick a switch and instantly change her feelings within minutes like some sort of robot. Let’s ignore all the effort Joyce is putting into being helpful and in changing herself because she’s experiencing emotions that she can’t help.
That sounds so fucking reasonable. Why don’t we just make the whole world black and white while we’re at it. Nobody is allowed to gradually improve themselves or become open-minded over a period of time. It’s either NOW OR NEVER, and if you can’t do it NOW then you’re BAAAAAAD because that’s how the world works all of a sudden!
Breathe Alexis. I’m sure the people who disagree with you will see this in the future comics. You are being lighter on Joyce than I would be, not without good reason, but your frustration will not change the minds of others here. I promise, however, that it’ll be okay. Just breathe and know that you are right in that Joyce deserves a high level of patience in this situation, especially as she continues to push back the restrictions her raising did put upon her, and that everyone else will see that in time. (time being probably within 10 strips, according to my own unfounded guess)
poor homophobic straight people (like I’m getting really uncomfortable with this. Joyce will change and that might take time but no one has to tolerate her homophobia. It’s not our job to make life easier for homophobes.)
I don’t think Joyce is being all that homophobic yet. Becky is WAY out of line here, and Joyce would probably tolerate a lot more if Becky wasn’t pushing so hard.
Joyce isn’t homophobic, she literally just rewrote her deeply, lifelong held beliefs for Becky. Joyce is still uncomfortable with the situation, Joyce is uncomfortable with sexuality in general, and even thinking of her own causes panic attacks and sobbing.
FACT: Shortpack! ends with Dina and Soggies
FACT: Dumbing of Age Dina was just eating cereal
THEREFORE: All of Shortpacked! was a brief fantasy Dina dreamed up while eating her cereal, Tommy Westphall style. Ten years in a single tablespoon.
So almost this exact same thing happened to me. I started to think I might not be straight, and one year later I came out. Of course, I had told my twin beforehand, but he’d already gone through his own phase of realizing he wasn’t gay, so he thought I was doing the same thing. So I come out, no problems with my family, I start dating, I ask my friends if they want to join me at a gay club, I talk about my love life and generally keep reminding people that I am gay, because guess what, when everyone else is talking about their love life, you want to also. So I’m on the phone with him complaining about something or another, and he just tells me I should go date this girl I joked seemed to like me. I blew up at him, and things got uncomfortable for awhile, but now we’re back to how we used to be, and more open.
My point being, Becky doesn’t realize she’s making Joyce uncomfortable, because she’s finally getting to express who she is, and Joyce sees this as her friend changing, and doesn’t understand whats going on. Becky has a right to finally express herself, and I don’t think its wrong of her to do so. In fact, its the best thing she can do to help Joyce, who is always talking about boys to Becky, because it will prevent her from thinking this is just a phase, and realize her friend is still the same person she always was, just more honest.
Personally I think this is Becky just being Becky and gay and very, very happy about being able to be openly gay (and also on the lookout for giblets). This was Becky making Joyce uncomfortable for shit and giggles.
Perhaps it´s just a bit too much at the moment for Joyce. Yesterday her best friend came out to her and kissed her. Then she had a sudden new sleeping arrangement snuggling with her best friend who just told her, she likes her tushie. Now Becky is telling everyone willing to listen (or not) that she´s a lesbian and attracting a lot of attention. If someone inquires about Becky it could be bad for both of them.
Perhaps I am old fashioned but I think intimate matters like gender preferences, sexual habits and so on are a topic more appropriate for a more private setting talking about it with friends and not something you shout out in the hallway to people you met once.
Ok it´s probable that there is a bit of homophobia but there is also the sudden shift in their relationship when Becky wanted more than friendship, the problem to find a place for Becky to sleep on a more permanent basis etc.
So far churchmouse Joyce took the whole thing quite well, Becky could give her a break. Did she actually sleep last night?
Also Joyce is really worried about Becky since she’s fallen out with her family, denied God’s will and is going to hell, and Joyce doesn’t know how to help her.
We’re not angry at Becky for being gay, we’re angry at Becky for not respecting Joyce’s boundaries, and, in fact, gleefully disrespecting them. Yes, Joyce comes of as homophobic, and that’s bad, but she doesn’t have much to defend herself with.
I’m angry that Becky has repeatedly made unwarranted sexual comments towards Joyce and trying to bi-erase Billie. But nope, Becky’s a fun, loveable gay character and Joyce is a bible thumping homophobe with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever despite defying every belief she’s held to in order to provide for Becky. Ergo, Joyce is wrong and needs to be catapulted into the sun.
It’s not that unusual for Becky to look for “teh gay” in everything after her personal self-discovery. Isn’t there a psychological term for that? Not confirmation bias, I think, but…I forget what. It’s when something is on your mind so much that you see it everywhere, or perform mental gymnastics in order to do so.
That’s probably what’s going on here with Becky, aside from intentionally bugging Joyce about it, and her own excitement over being out of the closet. Though she’s not wrong about the secret girlfriend thing, of course.
It wasn’t really mental gymnastics in this instance. Billie had admitted to being into girls sometimes. She has a mysterious romantic partner. Really could be a girlfriend.
If anything Joyce is the one who does mental gymnastics to assert this as a definitely oppostite-sex relationship. Seeing straightness everywhere.
I read it as Becky just changing the subject to talk about something she is interested in. “Speaking of partners – how about GIIIIIRLFRIENDS. They have giblets ‘mIright?”
She is not uninterested in Billie and her mystery partner, but she has spent her whole life talking boyfriends/husbands/cute little mouseboys with Joyce. Now she really, really wants to talk about something that’s closer to her heart.
There’s probably some of that too. She does want to talk about girlfriends and homosexuality. That much seems pretty clear.
Still, even if the segue was a little bit awkward that hardly means she was in the wrong to even think up the possible girlfriend angle there. Seeing same-sex relationships everywhere and performing mental gymnastics in order to do so. She saw a potential same sex relationship after Billie admitted to occasionally being into her own sex, not ruling out either possibility entirely as Joyce has.
Frankly, it seems a little bit weird to be seeing that kind of talk since we in the audience know that Billie really is in a “Sexy Lesbian Suicide Pact” and has given no particular indication to either Joyce or Becky that she’s in the sort of traditional relationship Joyce has been imagining.
She’s REALLY good at projecting a persona (we saw that the full day she spent not telling Joyce about being on the run and so on). She also has a tendency of making flippant but ultimately non-committal statements (“nakedy-scrubs time!”). For me, that’s part of the appeal with the character. I can never be sure she’s not hiding something and I’m interested to gradually get to know the different layers of Becky.
I suspect she might be one of those “I laugh so I won’t cry” type jokesters, turning the humor up to the 11 so that things don’t get too heavy or serious.
Really having trouble getting a read on that aspect of her though. Could be way off base.
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Billie has a secret boyfriend hiding inside Ruth??
How did you even post first
I mean
I was here
what
Posting first is easy. Let’s play a different game. Last one to post wins.
WIN
No, I win
Noooooope
I have less important things to do than you.
<3
Im game i can juggle between this an elo hell
You can not, for there is no end to ELO hell.
And i always need to equip CV, because my team won’t ward and IHAVE BOT COVERED.
Win.
nope!
Oh please. I’ll come back once a month and just post “win” and I’ll win.
Google Calendar reminder for me to post on this page on 1/17/2020 is set.
2/1/21 set. ^.^
You folks are missing the big picture. Whoever procreates and has the longer family line following them will be able to post last, so the winner is whoever sterilizes the other players.
*Grinds grindstone*
Game on.
Aaand Willis closes the comments, forces us to subdue to his rule and leaves just one post behind: “I. Win.”
I think not. I’ll be back in 2 years to claim this victory.
I will bookmark this page and check back in 2 years just to take that victory from you.
Kinda spiteful, don’t ya think?
It may be, but that’s where the underdog swoops in and takes the win =P
http://crazyhead42.tumblr.com/post/108398178900/spiiiiiiiiite
Game is broken. As I just said over yonder, the nature of the forum is such that you are always last, until you’re not.
Jen Aside always posts first, you should know that. You are questioning a fundamental law of the universe… no wait, Walkyverse, no… Dumbiverse?
Inside every girlfriend is a boyfriend waiting to messily tear themselves out like an Alien spawn.
The proper term for the internal boyfriend is a foetus.
That sounds like a gender-swap Breaking Dawn pairing
Did I accidently make a Twilight reference and it wasn’t to do with ponies or ELO? ACK!
On the plus side, you just reminded me to go fire that song up.
Yes indeed, ELO’s Twilight is the best.
As long as it’s never Twilight Imperium.
srsly, still mad we sat for THREE HOURS and finally quit, and I won because I took the “I get points” role
Thanks for the link! Interesting song, interesting clip too. I recognized Gundam, Maccross, the standard DC heroes, & a good few more. Someone got me into Anime…
That would be her hidden twin brother Not Howard.
Daisy: Could be a loooong time.
… someone needs to introduce Becky to Daisy. ASAP. Like, yet today.
Yeah. I’m gonna second this.
Becky/Daisy OTP.
What’s with Walky’s face?
He’s still recovering from yesterday’s strip
Hahaha!…heh….continuity.
Mike’s there, too!
He knows, Walky.
HE KNOWS.
Don’t forget they’re roommates. For the next week, Mike will be climbing up to the top bunk to whisper “you suck at math” into walky’s ear in the middle of the night while walky is asleep. If his current anxiety keeps him awake, though, Mike just won’t bother whispering.
Do you honestly think being roommates changes that situation any? After all, he did sleep with both Amber and Ethan in Shortpacked.
Honestly, Becky is sort of starting to get on my nerves.
Yeah, me too, just a little.
OMG I’ve seen you around GWS comments! 😀
she already got on my nerves a long time ago jfc
I’m with you
CHALLENGE HETERONORMATIVITY
WITHOUT PANTS!
Pants Are Evil!
Pants are for squares! Evil squares!
Oh you’re rollin’ in it alright.
lesbian shipping FTW
now I am even more confused on where Becky got the idea that Billie was into chicks, Joyce doesn’t seem to think so…
Joyce mentioned the thing with Alice, but said it was a mistake that was fixed forever because Billie was now in love.
Also, she may have been able to pick up the subtext when Mary glared down Billie while asking whether lesbian acts were sinful.
thanks
Joyce told her.
yeah I forgot that part XD thanks for clearing it up
It all comes out like a broken dam, huh?
In a David Willis comic? The Slipshine is already on its third draft.
I love how Mike is in the tags even though only his hair and 1/3 of his face appear.
Willis wants to be sure we know he’s there – I suspect it’ll be important, later.
Chekhov’s asshole.
+1. Just don’t be there we it goes off.
Awwwwww. Sad Walky is sad.
Maybe he’s just sick from eating paper.
Unless he has a weak stomach or there was a LOT of bleach in it, he shouldn’t be sick from the paper. I ate a lot of it back in 4th grade.
More likely, he’s terrified. For a guy like him, this is probably his first bad grade ever – he now sees a future of inadequacy and failure ahead.
Yeah, it’s like crossing the Atlantic in a race where you have a motor boat and everyone else has dark, and be told in the middle that “btw, no more fuel”. Say what? My winning trick doesn’t work anymore? How do you swim.anyway?
Everyone else has SAIL
Are you okay? It sounds like you’ve had this nightmare.
So many sails…
(Actually I just wanted to make a nautical metaphor)
I’m able to post but not as often. And Becky if you keep this shit up, you ain’t ever getting any. And Joyce has told you already you won’t be getting any from her.
Aggressive shipping means no sex? I’ll need to share this wisdom with my wife, we’ve been doing it wrong.
………
Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks Becky is very annoying now.
Yeah, kinda. She’ll settle down some when she realizes her personality isn’t defined by her sexuality. Right now, though, she’s kinda basking in the glow of being able to yell “I’m gay” without a ton of bibles being thrown at her. Let’s switch to some other characters until she calms down a wee bit
Also… RIP Shortpacked 🙁
Man, I would not object if someone actually physically threw an actual physical Bible at her right now, or a dictionary, or really any heavy book. Gender studies textbook, I don’t care. My point is, Becky, stop being annoying and start being cool again.
I’m not so sure that’s the issue. Remember what she’s having to deal with right now. Throwing herself 100% into this lesbian thing is probably more about avoiding reality than anything else. Now that being said it’s obviously annoying, but I’m not blaming Becky.
I always blame people for being annoying.
Let’s be honest, I did the same thing when I came out… when I was 13.
Ask yourself this: who would you rather see rule–soggies, or Becky? THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
It seems the other characters feel your pain.
Becky’s been annoying for a while now. She was okay for the first few strips, then got annoying, then was sympathetic and went back to annoying.
Not the only one.
Fuck yeah Becky’s annoying I’m expecting someone to slap her and scream “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
She is being kind of one note right now, although it hasn’t even been a day since she came out to Joyce. It might be a few weeks our time but she’ll calm down….I hope.
One can only hope. Hopefully sooner
I love Becky, I think she’s really annoying right now, I think she’s still the coolest thing ever and I think she’s a well written character and these aspects are part of complete and believable personality that is fascinating to get to know and see evolve.
Oh Becky, you lil horndog.
I’m with you. I mean, I never adored her as much as some people here did, but at this point she’s just plain annoying.
She just needs to let off some steam — release those overflowing hormones. She needs to meet Daisy
And on slipshine, everyone can watch. O.O
Man, it’ll be weird to only see one David Willis comic update every night from here on out…
It’s Walky is being reposted every night, with commentary!
Meanwhile, Walky is questioning his very existence.
Where’s Daisy?
You wold think Daisy’s gaydar would be pinging loudly, especially since Becky practically smashed her way out of the closet like the Kool-Aid Man.
The closet door hit Daisy in the head as it flew off. She’s still unconscious.
“Like the Kool-Aid Man”.
How do you even think of comments so amazing; who even are you? Are you real?
It’s the million monkey theorem at work, but with like a thousand people instead of monkeys because people can think of this shit.
See now Daisy’s the obvious hook up. If she meets Becky I’m sure it will probably lead to a pent up lesbian sexplosion. Which means it probably won’t happen for a while..or ever?! Willis does like screwing with our expectations.
That level of gaydioactive exposure would wipe all heteronormative behaviour within a 30 mile radius. :O
Nope, heteronormative is unstoppable.
That’d mean some strong transmitters on the cameras catching all the action. You know, for science… 😛
They may not even like each other.
Exactly. It might turn out Daisy hates red heads or something. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the crotch.
Only on Slipshine.
I believe the words Becky was looking for were “tragically self destructive yet amazingly hot”.
Adorafying
Oh, Becky. You may be a step ahead of Joyce on some parts, but you’ve still got a LOT of learning to do.
Is she really all that ahead, even? We haven’t had many opportunities to test other forms of jackassery.
As another commenter noted previously, maybe Joyce really was the most well-adjusted out of her peer group.
The cynic in me notes that Becky being behind Joyce in much jackassery means she’s better socialized according to society.
I would think that depends on your definition of ‘behind’. And possibly also your definition of ‘jackassery’.
But then, I have a hard time recalling any out-and-out jackassery on Joyce’s part. I don’t remember her ever doing or saying anything malicious or meant to wound, even though I of course recall huge pits of ignorance. Some of which she’s filled in at least somewhat, which does in fact put her ahead of Becky.
Also, I suspect that the ‘best-socialized’ comment, as it came from their pastor, had a lot more to do with how easy sweet, kind, and warm-hearted Joyce is; she’s not hard to get along with, personality-wise. Contrast that to Becky, who seems to have little to no brain-to-mouth filter and even less concern for how what she says will affect other people. Becky, who will continue to say sexualized and harassing things to her alleged best friend (who is also a sexual assault victim, though of course Becky doesn’t know that and I rather hope never will) who is literally the only person she has in the world, in the full knowledge that they legitimately upset her just because LULZ UR FACE.
Joyce will make friends wherever she goes, in the long run. Becky makes some friends, but she also makes waves, irritated and angry people, and possibly enemies. Therefore Joyce is better-socialized, aka better at getting along with people socially. Nothing to do, in my view, with the depth-level of their respective ignorance pits.
I think you nailed it there. An important part of understanding Joyce is her desire and determination to do The Right Thing. That includes be inclusive to people of different faiths, apologize when you (realize you) have done something wrong, don’t (knowingly) insult or hurt people.
Much of her inner conflict comes from reconciling that desire with the long list of people her religion tells her can’t or shouldn’t be helped (such as becky abd Dorothy)
That’s not socialized. Socialized implies an active process acclimatizing someone to social norms. What Joyce has is a personality that’s easy to get along with.
List of things I don’t care about:
Whether people MEAN to be assholes with their ignorance.
You seem to be reading a lot of shit into becky that hte facts don’t currently support. I mean, twigging Joyce seems to be a thing she’s been doing for over a decade. It would probably be weirder if she WEREN’T. At no point did Joyce seem weirded out by the twigging, f’rex.
And frankly, I doubt that her pastor thought she was well-socialized because she’s a good person. He probably said it because he trusted her not to change much, *and* she’s still legitimately reasonably socially skilled (In the skills that are valued in her even-more closed-minded church).
Also, uh, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Joyce has at least one enemy. To pretend that she just can never fail to get along with people is.. pretty contrafactual.
Also Roz. Joyce can annoy people just fine. And that’s a fine thing – The idea that someone just won’t make enemies or really annoy people would be really freaky at best, and self-indulgent at worst (Given that she’s an author avatar in part)
I don’t know what to do without Shortpacked! . . .
You can always visit Frivolesque every Monday, that webcomic can always do with some more love. ^_^
There’s also Snow By Night.
It updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 🙂
This is a good substitute, sure you won’t see THAT much of Robin and Leslie, But here Ethan’s being even more of a Dumbass
I’m hoping the end of Shortpacked! means we get more Leslie on this side of the universal divide, like we got more Ethan and Amber here after they stopped being central characters over there. Robin I can take or leave, but Leslie is the awesomest.
Nice play there Becky, and I’m glad she’s not still on the bisexual thing.
Well, it means she didn’t get educated about it.
I actually think Becky could benefit from a run in with Joe.
“Helloooooo redhead.”
“Lesbian.”
“Oh, OK. File in Not-Do list, subsection Lesbian.”
“…can I have a look at that?”
“Threesome with Roz?”
Roz hasn’t seem much screen time for quite some time…
Wait, who else would be in that threesome?
I think Roz is holding doing girls in reserve for when Robin tries to drag her onstage at the RNC.
Joe and Becky already met. It was, however, brief, as Joe was being his usual self and Joyce was being her usual self.
Joe was super hot that panel.
Oh dear. Walky’s suffering an Out of Nachitos error. Someone better reinstall the Dumbiverse and reboot.
I just hope his McNuggets don’t come with a soggy white sauce.
You mean that icing stuff they put on cinnamon buns? Because that sounds amazing.
More likely to be Mike’s sabotage than actual Soggies in this continuity.
Correct.
Soggies will rule… your taste buds! Now at McDonalds, get your 50 chicken McNuggets with our new special Soggies Sauce!
I’ve seen soggy human breakfast. Not for me thanks.
If Walky’s Windows-to-the-soul is having a temporary meltdown, Maybe he just needs a good reboot, that seems to work on most human computers. And some humans. Well, it helps once they’ve woken up…& the bruises heal eventually…
Umm… Screwball, I don’t think that’s how humans work. I really don’t.
On that note, did you learn everything about us from lame TV shows? (Unless it’s the original Teen Titans, you’re going to have a hard time convincing me it’s not a lame TV show.)
Not how it works? huh, learn something new every day…
I may have watched some TV shows…
…And read some webcomics. Haven’t seen any AnthroPCs yet, getting bored of looking…
Screwball, you don’t link to TV Tropes without a big neon sign saying “WARNING: INTERNET BLACK HOLE APPROACHING”! Honestly, I almost got sucked past the event horizon! It’s late enough here as it is!
Sorry! All I know is it’s rather useful to me…
And since I use firefox, when I move the pointer over a link, it tells me the address in the bottom left corner. I think a few others do that too, if it helps…
Joyce, follow Becky example and be more perceptive
It’s easy to forget that Becky was just as sheltered as Joyce. Homeschooling can do weird things to your social skills. She’s doing her best. Her best is kind of annoying but it will get better. all she needs is time. Give her a few days and she’ll be apologizing to Billie for her rude comment and will return to being everyone’s favorite character.
I Still think anyone who’s favorite character isn’t becky is a monster, but I admit she has her flaws.
I didn’t vote for Becky as one of my favorite characters (sorry for being a monster =P ), but I agree that this behavior is probably not representative of her usual behavior. After all, if I have my timeline straight, this is the morning right after Becky had a very emotional coming out moment.
And still only a few (2 or 3?) days after she got found out and pulled out of college by her parents. I say we allow the girl some diversion.
I’m starting to think that she got the position of “Joyce’s best friend” almost by default. Very small pool to choose from. She’s not acting like anyone I’d like to be friends with, and there have been hints that at least some of that behavior goes back to long before recent developments.
Becky is the new Joe.
LOL! I can kind of see that. Joe may actually have a better sense of boundaries and when to stop, scarily enough.
So she plans on fixing people with her vag?
I thought Joe was the new Joe.
I think Joyce is more or less okay with her friend being a lesbian, but I’m not sure how she feels about premarital hanky-panky. Would Joyce be more comfortable if becky was looking for a nice girl to marry?
I’d say probably. Especially if Becky stopped pushing it so hard onto Joyce – if that happened, Joyce would probably be aiding in the matchmaking (by the next day, of course, I’d accept a 24 hour buffer to allow her to get over the fact that Becky might be going to hell)
joyce’s look of annoyance/possibly anger in the last panel bothers me
deep down, in my plums
Guys, cut her some slack. She’s been repressing this part of her identity for what may have been years, she went through one of the most horrifying experiences a gay teenager could go through and had her whole life uprooted by her dickhole dad and a severely homophobic religious culture, and for the first time in weeks, Becky’s safe and surrounded by people who don’t hate her for being gay. She’ll calm down eventually, but right now she’s exploding with emotion.
Gee, it’s almost like being gay is a pretty big and all encompassing thing for her right now, as she crashes at her friend’s place because being gay left her without a home or family worth speaking about. So sue her if she does an awkward segue or two.
Not that she should need an excuse for being insufficiently casual and subdued about this in the first place.
Naw , man, that just makes too much sense.
is becky really even being over the top though, she came out like 12 hours ago people, and her personality hasn’t shifted or anything.
how are some of you feeling more annoyed than joyce
Walky seems rather upset. Is he so unused to failure?
From what I can tell he’s never actually had to study before. I have lots of smart friends who told me they never had to study in high school and that totally bit them in the ass in college.when you get used to straight A’s, failure can be Trumatic.
Your ‘First Fail’ can hit you pretty hard, especially when it comes in your first year of college. It feels like this cool new place, where you were just starting to feel at home, has rejected you, declared you unfit to pass. Some never recover from it – that’s why the dropout rate during the first year is so high.
I guess I can back this up too. Ask that human I hang with how HE went at school & he eventually starts griping & whinging about how they stuffed him up, never developing social skills, something about scoring systems changing, IDK, I loose interest…
Hello, Daniel here, Screwball’s
Humanpossibly only friend. I’m just gonna quickly comment while the magnetic-alien-lifelorm is busy with a large magnet. Ever watched someone try getting sticky-tape off themselves unsuccessfully… }:DI’ll admit, I was the high-School freak, but also highly intelligent. High scores despite getting bored at the teacher’s repetition, probably like Walky. However when I hit Year 12, they introduced a new marking system, meaning all the fields I was getting high scores on meant far less, to the point where they called my parents in & literally said I couldn’t recover my grades, so they booted me. And if it seems I am griping about it, I’ll admit I do hold a bit of a grudge about it…
Now I’m older, I do recognize my intelligence is noticeably high (trying really hard not to sound egotistical :$ ), however it is still rather untrained. If I tried to do more serious training than just a few 6/12 month courses, I’d have to relearn how to learn pretty much. Problem is, if I don’t challenge my brain enough, it can cause problems like it has in the past…
Still, least my mind finds way to “vent” the excess brainpower usually, Anime, coming up with new OCs, building random stuff…
Ah, seems becky real personality starts to surface more and more as the hours pass by;)
I can’t see how this would be Becky’s real personality. I doubt she went around telling everyone she was heterosexual before she went off to college.
She might’ve. Nobody would’ve batted an eye. Broadcasting heterosexuality is so thoroughly normalized that it’s effectively a non-event.
Though by trade, she never would’ve had to tell anybody she was heterosexual, since it’s assumed by default. Look no further than Billie right now. She’s got a mysterious little special somebody who hasn’t been stated to be of any particular gender, doesn’t loudly claim any particular orientation of her own. Billie gets assumed to be straight, in an opposite sex relationship, until she indicates otherwise. Sometimes despite her mildly stated indications to the contrary.
If Becky just shut up about being gay for a little while, I wonder how long it would take Joyce to decide that was a thing of the past like she has for Billie?
I wasn’t aware that people needed to “broadcast” their sexuality no matter which side of the fence they are on.
And considering that heterosexual is currently the assumed default orientation with most people (like it or not, it’s true), I think being over the top in broadcasting how heterosexual one is actually COULD make people think you are the exact opposite. After all, why should you have to keep repeating what people already assume that you are?
I think what i more tried pointing out is that becky seems to be more someone who seems okay in the first couple of hours before you start feeling more and more annoyed as time pass by with what comes out her mounth as she feel more “friends” with the rest of people around her….
Or just a “normal-until-you-get-friends-with-her-type” as i call them:-P
That’s it Becky get all the repression out.
C’mon, Joyce, she’s been putting up with everything being future husbands with you for years now. You can deal with her sudden girlfriend obsession for a day.
(You don’t even have the additional irritant of wanting to say, “I want to be the person you marry!” and not being able to.)
Becky is not my favorite character (I am NOT a monster btw) but I do like her. I’m guessing since it’s not been a full day since she cannoned out of the closet, it may take a day or two to calm down.
Joyce is actually taking all this better than I would’ve thought, can blame her (for once) for being a bit miffed at her friend-she is a bit over the top right now.
Walky is not used to having to study or to failure. It just bit him on the ass big time. He will probably come back to earth about the time Becky does.
I’d love to have Becky meet Mary since the big coming out: I don’t think Mary will push Becky to far.
And yes, somebody introduce Becky to Daily before she freakin’ explodes or implodes or something.
Bye Bye Shortpacked. Going to miss you. Hope Galasso and his daughter make it over to DoA. I hope Robin makes it over here too, and Ninja Rick. Don’t really care if Faz makes it, he really annoyed me.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/Galasso/
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/conquest/
They did make it over! They run a pizza joint over here.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/faz/
Faz too. He’s Amber’s younger sibling here. In the familial sense, not just the biological. Still annoying, but just a kid being raised by single parent Blaine, so it kind of seems like you’ve gotta forgive a little while he figures out where he’s going in life, what kind of person he wants to be.
There’s a small list of characters who are based on real people, and will never get brought over to the Dumbiverse due to authorial preference. Ninja Rick is on that list.
Is Lucy on that list? Please tell me Lucy’s not on that list!
I don’t think so? I can’t actually name any of the others off the top of my head.
You forgot (and subs).
Ok, I get she is letting stuff out after repressing, and jumping into a new interest a little too hard, but as much of a Becky fan as I am (I mean, just look at my avatar), it is getting a little annoying…
She needs to stop. It’s too much.
Every time Becky gets screentime, I’m stuck between; “come on now, tone it down because this is getting annoying,” and “LMAO, nice one Becky.” I do wish Roz and Jacob would get more screentime, specifically together. I still have money on Jacob being able to convert her into a real relationship!
Roz and Jacob? Nooooioooo D:
Yessssssssss!
And to think people actually voted for her to be best character. Pff, you guys ain’t got a clue what you’re talking about.
Billie is best grill. And boy.
Sal > Becky!
I’ll grant you some, I put both Billie and Sal on my 3 votes. The third one is one of the guys, can you guess who it is? 😛
It should have been Dina
Dina’s on my 4th spot I’d say, together with Mike. Mike’s the dickiest nice guy ever.
Our future president Dorothy is best woman.
All.Hail.DINA!
Agreed
I picked Dina, Sarah and Ethan. Moar screentime for them all!
Billie>Sal any day. Unless Sal has another storyline, I wouldn’t miss her if we didn’t see her for a month. I wish the hair thing lasted longer.
Where are the Jacob votes? The fine body needs more screentime.
Sal x Jacob! Lmao, yea, I’m going crazy now.
All about that sal! Billie is my number 2 though! The story could be all about Sal as far as I’m concerned lol.
“Billie is best grill.”
Do they have alcohol grills now?
Y’know, part of me thinks that maybe Becky keeps bringing the whole gay thing up/rubbing it in Joyce’s face partly because she knows Joyce isn’t 100% okay with it, and is hoping to get Joyce to admit it.
It’s been less than 12 hours since she had to decide whether she’s okay with it, that kind of harassment after so little time when Joyce is literally feeding and clothing her right now would be a massively bongo move.
Harassment? It’s harassment to talk about being gay? Blow off.
It’s harassment to deliberately make someone uncomfortable, and she was sexually harassing Joyce justa few strips ago.
I’m gay myself and there are boundries of what you should and should not do. Becky is being very loud and very pushy right now and that’s not okay. I know she’s been repressed and letting loose feels good but she needs to reign it in.
Shit, if she wanted to sneak around being quietly gay without bothering anybody she could’ve done that at her Dad’s place. Joyce will hopefully survive the inhumane abuse of hearing Becky mention girlfriends.
Hey, you nailed the hyperbolic misrepresentation thing perfectly! You are worthy of that Walky flair.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/dorkyeye/
She was sexually harassing Joyce?
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/discreet/
She did direct some sexual comments at Joyce, that she clearly knew were unwelcome.
No. It’s not okay to act like screwing with your friend about summet with which they’re uncomfortable is equivalent to sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is scarring, and forever, and not a friend being a bit weird with you, and it’s not okay to belittle it like that.
No, it’s harassment to deliberately make your best friend uncomfortable by loudly proclaiming just how gay you are, which she has in fact admitted to doing.
lol but Joyce gets to talk about boys literally all the time to Becky okay
False equivalence. Joyce never shouted. Becky is. and furthermore Becky has admitted that making Joyce uncomfortable turns her on, to Joyce’s face no less
This, right here.
Irony, thy name is Willis. Irony Willis. That’s you / thee.
Becky is like any male entering college-expects to be drowning in pussy by the end of the semester.
…Which in this case is taking a pretty damn long time to get to, considering in-comic days take months.
I get that it’s only been less than half a day since Joyce and Becky had the big talk, but it’s still pretty frustrating to see them both act how they are right now. I love Becky, but the whole one-note ‘LESBIANS’ thing she’s doing right now, while understandable is getting pretty annoying.
Plus Joyce while she’s accepted Becky, she still doesn’t seem to approve of her friend’s sexuality, which can be hard to read. Everytime Becky’s brought up anything to do with lesbians/girlfriends/whatever Joyce has cut her back down again and ughh. Again, understandable, because this is a huge change for Joyce to adjust to – but still hard to read.
I just want to fast forward to the point where, idk, Becky gets a girlfriend and calms down a lot, and Joyce then /has/ to accept her for who she is, and also would probably be more accepting as Becky would just stop hitting on her all the time.
tl;dr: BECKY NEEDS A GIRLFRIEND FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE
Becky: Officially Annoying as hell.
You know that person who literally only holds one topic of conversation during every situation?
Even during the height of puberty with hormones raging I don’t think I was this one-track-minded….
We don’t even know for how long she’s been bottling up all the gay inside of her. Also, she’s trying to cope with having been kicked out of home and college and having neither anywhere to go or any plans for the future. So yeah, I think we can count on her to stay on annoying hyper crazy lesbian mode for a while…
In order to be rolling in girlfriends, you must not roll to them, Becky. You must let them roll to you, lest you spook them and they roll away in fear.
I can’t the only one who thinks it’s a little unfair for anyone to expect Joyce to instantly acclimate herself to (from her perspective) Becky’s total 180. It’s not like Joyce isn’t doing her best, and it’s not like Joyce isn’t going above and beyond what even a lot of “tolerant” people would do to help their friend. Doesn’t she deserve a little patience? A bit of breathing room? It’s not her fault she got raised in a stiflingly intolerant culture, and it’s not easy fighting against that.
It’d be different if we were talking about someone who was being cold and distant and didn’t bother interacting with Becky one way or another, but… Joyce is breaking a lot of rules and taking a big risk just for Becky’s sake, while being really supportive! (Housing someone in your dorm room is still against the rules in this fictional version of the university, isn’t it?)
It just feels like a bit of a double standard for anyone to judge Joyce for trying her best but oh no her best just isn’t good enough, you know?
She deserves a lot more than that. She should get patience, a councelor, a pamphlet on how to deal with these things, some breathing room, and maybe a talking to (though Sarah may be covering that last part). Lets face it, Joyce’s behavior is a little unacceptable, but completely understandable. I vote someone (Daisy?) handles both parts of that situation.
She just needs to keep this up until she’s in earshot to Daisy and then the situation will resolve itself.
Given the fact that Daisy is, well, Daisy, Becky probably is within earshot by now. Even if Daisy’s on the other side of campus.
Becky’s behavior is very understandable.
But so is Joyce’s. She is interested in boyfriends and potential husbands. She could probably stretch that to Becky’s girlfriends and potential spouses without too much effort. But this rolling in giblets thing makes her very uncomfortable.
Joyce got uncomfortable the moment Becky mentioned the possibility of somebody else having a girlfriend.
She also got uncomfortable earlier when Becky started telling people she was gay.
There’s a hair trigger on that discomfort. I don’t think Becky could make Joyce comfortable by limiting herself to expressing more chaste, monogamous sentiments about women.
I see what you did. You just wanted an excuse to say “giblets”. =D
lol homophobia is not “understandable”
I don’t think it’s homophobia, I think it’s emotional overload mixed with panic. Give the girl a day to finish freaking out before labeling her a homophobe – she has had less than one day to figure THIS out on top of dealing with all of her best friends being likely to be damned (according to what she’s been taught). Now that I think about it, has Joyce come across a single person who wasn’t either a jerk or someone she thought was probably damned?
Mike: Jerk (Mike)
Walkie: Damnation status unknown, can be considered a jerk
Dorothy: damned (atheist)
Becky: Now damned (lesbian)
Billie: Possibly damned (from lesbian experiences, status changing)
Glasso: Definitely a jerk
Parents: JERKS (written off by Joyce. Reason: Parents)
Mary: Jerk (Unknown by Joyce)
Ruth: Jerk
Dina: Damned (probably an atheist, definitely not Christian)
Forgot Ethan: Damned (gay)
That’s very true and a large source of underlying stress for Joyce. Both because she fears for hear friends and because she fears for herself. She said as much to Dorothy at one point – finding out that people who she has been taught her whole life is bad for her is actually good people, is exactly what she’s been told her whole life to be afraid of.
Sarah – does nasty thing with a toy. Not necessarily damned but at risk. A bit of a jerk.
Sal – too cool not to be damned.
Roz – Very damned.
Joe – Very damned, very jerk.
Worse: she has no rock – no one she’s allowed to get close to. And in that, if she does go to heaven, she’ll be alone while her friends end up together in hell (which is why I DON’T want to go, and would easily explain Willis’ desire to be damned). If you ask me, THAT’S the part that would create the most stress, why she’s so upset at Becky’s changes and why she might want to convert Ethan from gay-itude – she doesn’t want to be alone for eternity.
SERIOUSLY, HOW LONG UNTIL I’M ROLLIN’ IN IT?
Becky is being so hyper, that I’m worried. Looks like she’s trying to forget the predicament she’s in right now. Seriously, she’s like high on sugar xD
Shortpacked! is so far the only webcomic I’ve been reading regularly from the first update to the last. And now that it has ended, there is an empty void in my heart that can only be filled with sentient milky sludge (or a substance of similar appearance).
And so I say: Make me yours, Sogmaster! My body is ready!
Wait what? Didn’t Joyce supposedly tell Becky that Billie was a lesbian?
Yes, she did, sort of, but this is Joyce we’re talking about.
I believe she phrased it as Billie having previously engaged in homosexual activities but everyone makes mistakes. I mean those weren’t her exact words, but that’s the gist of it. (I don’t have the link but I’m getting this from the strip after Joyce introduced Becky to Billie, where Becky said “so that’s Billie, huh?”)
That’s why Becky asked if Joyce thought her own lesbianism was a mistake, she was parrying Joyce’s own wording back to her.
So far, Joyce has been incredibly accepting of Becky, far more than I think anyone expected of her. She even went to such lengths as intentionally trying to interpret the Old Testament in a different way, something she openly admitted is wrong according to her personal beliefs.
If Joyce had been some obnoxious intolerant fundie, I wouldn’t mind so much, but she’s not. She’s making an intense effort to seperate herself from the bigotry she was raised to feel. I’m sorry to say, but to me, Becky doesn’t come off as someone finally enjoying the freedom to express her true self. She comes off as someone who ignores the discomfort of her supposedly best friend and just rubs it in her face.
Oh poor widdle Joyce heard the G Word. Whatever will she do? Cry me a fucking river.
That was meant to be in response to Trolldrool.
If we see Becky’s actions and Joyce’s reaction solely on today’s page, then yes it seems absolutely unreasonable and petty. However, we’re not. We’re looking at this as a pattern that’s been repeated over and over. Say the same thing enough times and it doesn’t matter how valid it is, it loses its meaning and becomes uncomfortable even to people who initially agree with it.
However will Joyce cope with mentions of non-straightness in two whole conversations in one day? I hope her heart doesn’t break from the repeated battering Becky’s giving it today.
Mentions of non straightness and also the obvious flirting despite the face that Joyce made it pretty clear that she only wants to be a friend. Becky, if anyone, is more than entitled to express her sexuality, given the treatment she got from the college staff and her father, but here it just feels like she’s deliberately singling Joyce out. She’s not just being exposed to it, she’s a direct target. Maybe I’m completely wrong and it’s nothing like that at all, but that’s definitely the impression I’m left with.
Yeah yeah, but be real, Joyce hasn’t only been made uncomfortable by Becky’s flirtations. Certainly that’s not what prompted your little sob speech today. Today Becky mentioned the fact that Billie might have a girlfriend, Joyce got uncomfortable, and you went on a ditty about how cruel Becky is for rubbing Joyce’s face in her homosexuality.
Boo fucking hoo.
I’m perfectly capable of responding to your sarcasm with sarcasm of my own if that’s what you prefer. I would like to avoid it though, as that runs the risk of pushing this from a discussion to a heated flaming. At this point, I don’t see either of us convincing the other, so I’ll just agree to disagree.
No one is asking for a total ban on all mentioning of homosexuality. But to people in Joyce’s culture changing your mind on something like that is a Pretty Big Deal, and she is absolutely trying her best. She didn’t ask to be raised in a fundamentalist Christian environment. She didn’t choose to be virtually brainwashed with the belief that homosexuality will literally send you shipped off into a dimension of eternal hellfire. Is it SO fucking much to ask for just a LITTLE bit of breathing room? Or is patience and understanding suddenly a limited resource we should only reserve to the people in the absolute worst circumstances in existence?
Having been raised in a third world shithole I’m sure I can personally name many people who’ve been screwed over even worse than Becky, but I’m not going to act like that entitles me to sanctimoniously ignore her difficulties in life just because she has resources and access to an accepting environment that those people lacked. Everyone has their problems, and the psychological fuck-ups that can come with an extreme religious up-bringing isn’t something people can just shrug-off. I think Joyce SHOULD just shrug it off, that’s IDEAL, but I can recognize that it’s just not that fucking easy in reality and that she IS trying her best despite the difficulty and the risks (both from her own spiritual viewpoint and from a practical objective viewpoint, ie, seriously doesn’t housing a person in your dorm room get you expelled?) she is taking.
Oh and the social risks too, assuming her family would alienate or even disown her over something like this, I’m not sure how hard they stand on this issue.
Joyce is helping her friend despite ALL this shit that could come piling down on her… and we’re giving her shit because she’s not getting used to something immediately in less than a day? Not EVEN because she’s not putting in the effort, because she clearly IS, but because it’s not happening fast enough? Fuck’s sake. Give her a god damn break.
Someone should give them both a good talking to though. Becky is out of line and Joyce is completely clueless. Would it really hurt either of them if someone stepped in and educated the both of them on exactly how this kind of thing works? (I really hope they get into gender studies and that turns into the topic, causing Joyce to yell out about what she wants and Becky to finally get it.)
Lucky us, as that’s the next class! Things should get interesting.
That’s fine and all. Joyce is uncomfortable. That’s just how she feels. I’m not faulting her for that.
Seems a little bit much to be coming down on Becky simply mentioning girlfriends though. Joyce is gonna be uncomfortable, she’s gonna need to process that, but if her “breathing room” requires Becky to avoid even mentioning the possibility that other people might have girlfriends then yeah, I think that’s a bit much to ask for. Becky didn’t come here to shove her homosexuality into a quiet corner where it won’t bother all the people who are bothered by homosexuality.
And honestly, I really think Joyce is gonna get through this. She’s gonna be uncomfortable, she’s gonna wrap her head around all this, and she’s gonna come to terms with it, accept it for what it is, get to a point she’s not so squeemish around homosexuality that the mere casual mention sets her at edge.
It’s not just “mentioning girlfriends”, it’s shouting it down Joyce’s ears at every single opportunity while knowing exactly how it makes her feel. A LITTLE moderation and sensitivity. That’s it. Give her some time to get used to it, because a transformation like that can’t happen over-night, it’s impossible to expect it and it’s unreasonable to demand it.
please stop telling people to tolerate homophobia it’s soooo fucked up
Yeah because supporting your gay friend is SO homophobic, let’s just brush Joyce with a big old homophobia brush because she can’t flick a switch and instantly change her feelings within minutes like some sort of robot. Let’s ignore all the effort Joyce is putting into being helpful and in changing herself because she’s experiencing emotions that she can’t help.
That sounds so fucking reasonable. Why don’t we just make the whole world black and white while we’re at it. Nobody is allowed to gradually improve themselves or become open-minded over a period of time. It’s either NOW OR NEVER, and if you can’t do it NOW then you’re BAAAAAAD because that’s how the world works all of a sudden!
Breathe Alexis. I’m sure the people who disagree with you will see this in the future comics. You are being lighter on Joyce than I would be, not without good reason, but your frustration will not change the minds of others here. I promise, however, that it’ll be okay. Just breathe and know that you are right in that Joyce deserves a high level of patience in this situation, especially as she continues to push back the restrictions her raising did put upon her, and that everyone else will see that in time. (time being probably within 10 strips, according to my own unfounded guess)
“Breathe Alexis”
NEVER
*HOLDS BREATH IN*
MMMMMMMMMMRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
How are you going to argue with ANYONE like that?
poor homophobic straight people (like I’m getting really uncomfortable with this. Joyce will change and that might take time but no one has to tolerate her homophobia. It’s not our job to make life easier for homophobes.)
I don’t think Joyce is being all that homophobic yet. Becky is WAY out of line here, and Joyce would probably tolerate a lot more if Becky wasn’t pushing so hard.
Joyce isn’t homophobic, she literally just rewrote her deeply, lifelong held beliefs for Becky. Joyce is still uncomfortable with the situation, Joyce is uncomfortable with sexuality in general, and even thinking of her own causes panic attacks and sobbing.
There, see? Sexaphobe, not homaphobe.
I love you
FACT: Shortpack! ends with Dina and Soggies
FACT: Dumbing of Age Dina was just eating cereal
THEREFORE: All of Shortpacked! was a brief fantasy Dina dreamed up while eating her cereal, Tommy Westphall style. Ten years in a single tablespoon.
Oh my gosh. It all makes sense.
Somehow, I think the only way anyone’s going to get ten years in a single tablespoon is if Walkyverse!Robin took another dose of Cadbury Egg Cereal.
Alternately, Dina tries that for the next meal she eats, then turns the throwback on its head by declaring it disgusting.
Illuminati confirmed.
Is Becky REALLY as clueless as Joyce?
So almost this exact same thing happened to me. I started to think I might not be straight, and one year later I came out. Of course, I had told my twin beforehand, but he’d already gone through his own phase of realizing he wasn’t gay, so he thought I was doing the same thing. So I come out, no problems with my family, I start dating, I ask my friends if they want to join me at a gay club, I talk about my love life and generally keep reminding people that I am gay, because guess what, when everyone else is talking about their love life, you want to also. So I’m on the phone with him complaining about something or another, and he just tells me I should go date this girl I joked seemed to like me. I blew up at him, and things got uncomfortable for awhile, but now we’re back to how we used to be, and more open.
My point being, Becky doesn’t realize she’s making Joyce uncomfortable, because she’s finally getting to express who she is, and Joyce sees this as her friend changing, and doesn’t understand whats going on. Becky has a right to finally express herself, and I don’t think its wrong of her to do so. In fact, its the best thing she can do to help Joyce, who is always talking about boys to Becky, because it will prevent her from thinking this is just a phase, and realize her friend is still the same person she always was, just more honest.
But she does realize- in fact she did point out she likes making Joyce uncomfortable.
Personally I think this is Becky just being Becky and gay and very, very happy about being able to be openly gay (and also on the lookout for giblets). This was Becky making Joyce uncomfortable for shit and giggles.
Perhaps it´s just a bit too much at the moment for Joyce. Yesterday her best friend came out to her and kissed her. Then she had a sudden new sleeping arrangement snuggling with her best friend who just told her, she likes her tushie. Now Becky is telling everyone willing to listen (or not) that she´s a lesbian and attracting a lot of attention. If someone inquires about Becky it could be bad for both of them.
Perhaps I am old fashioned but I think intimate matters like gender preferences, sexual habits and so on are a topic more appropriate for a more private setting talking about it with friends and not something you shout out in the hallway to people you met once.
Ok it´s probable that there is a bit of homophobia but there is also the sudden shift in their relationship when Becky wanted more than friendship, the problem to find a place for Becky to sleep on a more permanent basis etc.
So far churchmouse Joyce took the whole thing quite well, Becky could give her a break. Did she actually sleep last night?
Also Joyce is really worried about Becky since she’s fallen out with her family, denied God’s will and is going to hell, and Joyce doesn’t know how to help her.
people are more pissed at Becky for talking about being gay than they are at Joyce for being homophobic :/
We’re not angry at Becky for being gay, we’re angry at Becky for not respecting Joyce’s boundaries, and, in fact, gleefully disrespecting them. Yes, Joyce comes of as homophobic, and that’s bad, but she doesn’t have much to defend herself with.
I’m angry that Becky has repeatedly made unwarranted sexual comments towards Joyce and trying to bi-erase Billie. But nope, Becky’s a fun, loveable gay character and Joyce is a bible thumping homophobe with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever despite defying every belief she’s held to in order to provide for Becky. Ergo, Joyce is wrong and needs to be catapulted into the sun.
Shes like a lesbian joe.
It’s not that unusual for Becky to look for “teh gay” in everything after her personal self-discovery. Isn’t there a psychological term for that? Not confirmation bias, I think, but…I forget what. It’s when something is on your mind so much that you see it everywhere, or perform mental gymnastics in order to do so.
Aha! Frequency illusion! Found the phrase in the “you are not so smart” post on confirmation bias, funnily enough.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion
That’s probably what’s going on here with Becky, aside from intentionally bugging Joyce about it, and her own excitement over being out of the closet. Though she’s not wrong about the secret girlfriend thing, of course.
It wasn’t really mental gymnastics in this instance. Billie had admitted to being into girls sometimes. She has a mysterious romantic partner. Really could be a girlfriend.
If anything Joyce is the one who does mental gymnastics to assert this as a definitely oppostite-sex relationship. Seeing straightness everywhere.
I read it as Becky just changing the subject to talk about something she is interested in. “Speaking of partners – how about GIIIIIRLFRIENDS. They have giblets ‘mIright?”
She is not uninterested in Billie and her mystery partner, but she has spent her whole life talking boyfriends/husbands/cute little mouseboys with Joyce. Now she really, really wants to talk about something that’s closer to her heart.
There’s probably some of that too. She does want to talk about girlfriends and homosexuality. That much seems pretty clear.
Still, even if the segue was a little bit awkward that hardly means she was in the wrong to even think up the possible girlfriend angle there. Seeing same-sex relationships everywhere and performing mental gymnastics in order to do so. She saw a potential same sex relationship after Billie admitted to occasionally being into her own sex, not ruling out either possibility entirely as Joyce has.
Frankly, it seems a little bit weird to be seeing that kind of talk since we in the audience know that Billie really is in a “Sexy Lesbian Suicide Pact” and has given no particular indication to either Joyce or Becky that she’s in the sort of traditional relationship Joyce has been imagining.
Becky’s way to happy all the time. That has always creeped me out.
She’s REALLY good at projecting a persona (we saw that the full day she spent not telling Joyce about being on the run and so on). She also has a tendency of making flippant but ultimately non-committal statements (“nakedy-scrubs time!”). For me, that’s part of the appeal with the character. I can never be sure she’s not hiding something and I’m interested to gradually get to know the different layers of Becky.
I suspect she might be one of those “I laugh so I won’t cry” type jokesters, turning the humor up to the 11 so that things don’t get too heavy or serious.
Really having trouble getting a read on that aspect of her though. Could be way off base.
Often the people who are the most happy on the outside are the most fucked up on the inside.
‘Fucked up’ might be a poor choice of words. ‘The most depressed’ would be more appropriate.
Becky is so obnoxious.
I think the word you’re looking for is ex-repressed. It’s natural she’d go a little the other way.
Last, I win!
Last post.
Heheheheh.
Hg
Well, I suppose I’m the winner for now
Becky cracks me up, she’s like a joyce with her strings cut lol.
As far as I can tell, over a year later and no one else commented on the low-key Canadian joke in panel 3 yet. Willis, I salute your efforts at jokes.