Well, my bet is Joyce is finally ready to have a calmer conversation with Becky about religion, and Becky will go goddamn ape shit when confronted with reality.
A. I assume it’s going to be about the autism possibility.
B. What would the point be? Becky has her faith, Joyce has lost hers. If Joyce is going to try to talk her out of hers, that’s a dick move and I’d hope she knows better than to do that.
Joyce’s Stated Position is that religion is dumb, Becky isn’t dumb, so Becky should stop being religious, just as Becky’s Stated Position is that Joyce should believe the same stuff she does because she always has.
It’s possible they’ve both reconsidered these positions. I certainly hope so.
They’re both in the early stages of Recovering From Spiritual Abuse and Religious Trauma, and they’re coming from a religious and social background that encourages this sort of all-or-nothing thinking. There is approximately no chance that either one has seriously reconsidered yet, though they may have decided to quietly not talk about it, which is *almost* as good.
i was gonna say that but you said it better than i would have. yup. definitely. it took me some years to not completely judge people who are religious. i still don’t *understand* how you can be religious AND trusting science AND being empathic rather than dogmatic, but i am starting to slowly be more open to the possibility than someone’s faith is not tied to ignoring science or empathy.
However, all-or-nothing thinking is veeeery ingrained in my upbringing. Hard to get rid of, even though the moral values i follow have drastically changed. Still hard to be open to middle grounds.
And i’m 31. Joyce and Becky have a decade less life experience. So i would be surprised if they’re gonna be great at it right away.
Being empathic rather than dogmatic was pretty easy for me. There are a lot of verses in the bible that recommend empathy and caring for ones “neighbors”, meaning basically everybody. So one could start that process by being empathic by being dogmatic, and then after doing that for a while, determine which feels more toxic and shedding that.
At least, that’s how I went about things. This path makes it especially easy to learn to not trust ones clergy, because it fairly quickly becomes clear that when they say that they are also sinners, they generally really mean it. For some, it’s the only honest thing they actually say – possibly even if they’re only saying it because they understand it’s a phrase that clergy more or less have to say.
It takes a while to notice that science and religion deliberately exclude each others’ methods, because a combination wouldn’t tell you anything believable. Neither has anything to say to the other, though each has a lot to say that is worth hearing. (“Non-overlapping magisteria”)
Empathy not dogmatism is easy for Christians who read, because we’re commanded to be so. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength, and you shall love your neighbor [see “Good Samaritan” for who this is] as you love yourself. All of the Law and the Prophets depend on these.”
I was under the impression that it was the one who was thrusting who was technically plowing. I mean, I suppose Tony could be pushing back a bit too vigorously, but it was my impression that’s generally considered poor form even if the top isn’t doing needlepoint. Yes, they are usually supposed to be a bit more involved than, say, a field. But they should just be matching, not going above and beyond. I mean, unless that wasn’t what was negotiated.
Thinking about this a bit more, I’m realizing it should be relatively easy to solve by simply having Tony assist with the needlepoint. If he’s focusing on keeping the needlepoint still, he shouldn’t be able to be pushing back excessively hard.
@Subjektivity – best response.
Also, it caused me to have the following train of thought:
Oh hey! It would be fun to do a female focused parody of How I Met Your Mother with a female version of Barney and –
Oh. Wait. We already had that, and it was called Sex and the City. Samantha didn’t get as many good catch phrases, though.
Yeah… I’m not sure what she’s referring to, though. Or where that’s coming from.
Any guesses, y’all?
-Maybe she worries she’ll let Becky down by going through all these changes without her?
-Maybe she worries Becky will disapprove if Joyce starts dating Joe?
-Maybe Joyce worries that if Becky gets word of Joyce’s possible future diagnosis, that Becky will start agonizing over all the “friendly teasing” that Becky’s done over the years?
…Any thoughts?
p.s., hey, y’all. Good to see youse / yinz / you folx / etc.
I think so too. Joyce is projecting a little — some of her first freakouts about Becky coming out were that Joyce had ignorantly wronged Becky. By rejecting her, of course, but also Joyce imagined a whole thing where she’d get back and Becky would be crying about how insensitive Joyce’d been all their lives (when in fact Becky had gone out and gotten a haircut).
It’s entirely possible that she’s cried about that sort of thing, just, without anyone around? Becky experienced a lot of isolation and she loves people, so she wants to have fun and enjoy herself with people around. She has had plenty of time to be sad.
I think it’s referring to Becky making fun of some of Joyce’s “quirks”. To reassure Becky she doesn’t have trauma from that prior to telling her yhe “quirks” were autism.
What other changes are there to tell Becky about, where Joyce would have this very specific worry (that Becky would need the reassurance “you’ve never done wrong by me”)?
Autism seems like the one where Becky might feel guilty when she finds out (like for the times she’s unwittingly teased Joyce for being spectrum-y). I’m not sure how taking an art class or dating Joe would make Becky feel guilty. Am I missing one?
Becky already knows about that remember? Came up when she overheard Joyce talking shit about religious people after the anniversary of Becky’s mom committing suicide.
That is a hilariously unkind way of framing that sequence of events, considering that Joyce made a deliberate choice *not* to broach her atheism with Becky on the anniversary of Bonnie’s death, and was clearly keenly aware of the comfort Becky was taking at the idea that her mother was looking down on them from Heaven.
Yeah, that’s what I’m assuming Joyce is worried about telling Becky this time. And considering how Becky reacted to other new stuff about Joyce (her atheism for example), her being worried about telling Becky that she might be autistic seems pretty reasonable to me.
Sounds like Joyce is trying to mend the rift, starting with an assurance that she doesn’t blame Becky for anything. It’s a bit clumsy, as most things of this sort are? Especially at that age?
I’m pretty sure Joyce hasn’t told Becky yet that she got a referral to potentially get diagnosed for autism. I’m assuming that’s what she’s worried about Becky finding out this time.
I am reminded of Winnie the Pooh. ‘If you live to be one hundred, I wish to live to be one hundred minus one day so I never have to live a day without you.’
…is Joyce going for the direct approach about Joe? Ooh, wasn’t expecting that. I like how sometimes these characters throw curveballs and end up revealing things way sooner than I expected, while other times shoes I expected to drop immediately take years.
I think she is bringing up the autism to her, since Joe’s confession has made her more secure about it, along with reaching an understanding with Dina, so she might be more comfortable about telling Becky.
I don’t think she so much would assume Becky would judge her or anything for it, but she’s family, and her longest friend, so change is tough.
*as in gambling with dice, rather than dicing vegetables. … though I wouldn’t put it past Xianity to have some denomination somewhere that gets freaked out over diced vegetables.
There was an episode of Blackadder where his religious aunt would not allow the turnip to be mashed because mashing was of the devil. Unfortunately/fortunately, the unmashed turni looked like a thingy.
what is life but persistence of consciousness? what is death but a discontinuity? If everything that I was is gone, is that person not dead? Am I not a whole new creature under the sun?
I really like that Joyce just needed to feel seen (and also accepted / not controlled) to get comfy enough to tell Becky more about what’s going on with her. Becky acted like a safe person again. Yay.
I remember my teenage friends really did feel like they’d live forever. Whereas I was convinced I’d be dead by 25. Say what you will about pessimism, but at least I set more attainable personal goals.
Isn’t it great how some unhinged, insecure beta male could just press a button in a fit of babyrage and we’d all just be shadows on the wall within hours, over literally anything?
Nah, there are three launch controllers and they all have to unlock and release.
And they watch each other for signs of unhinged-ness. (That would make me unhinged eventually, which is one of many reasons why I would never be selected for launch controller.)
Or just some mistake. There were a lot of near-misses. I’m very thankful, today and every day, that one Colonel Petrov made the call he did (on the basis that if Amerika was gonna launch a first strike, it wasn’t going to be a mere handful of missiles).
I’m still worried I won’t live to see my 40s/50s. Nothing’s wrong with me but if so many rich and beloved people can die so suddenly I don’t know what chance I have to live that long.
This year especially feels like a lot of my childhood heroes have been dropping like flies, as grim as that may be to say. Between Kazuki Takahashi (created Yu-Gi-Oh!) and Jason David Frank (the Green Ranger), I’m not sure which one hit harder, and it really does feel like a reminder that anyone can go at any time.
For me it’s Takahashi, It’s Gilbert Gottfried, It’s Norm Macdonald and now Kevin Conroy. This shit’s never ending I swear. I know everyone’s gotta go but shit.
It’s kinda unsettling when you realize the people you grew up thinking of as “the adults” were younger then than you are now. When you’re a kid, adults have all the answers. Once you’re an adult, you realize they were winging it the whole time.
I’m older now than Harrison Ford was when Star Wars was released. The 27 Club is far in the rearview. Steve Jobs had been running NeXT for 5 years. And what have I accomplished, some shitposts?
Then you start doing the math to figure out how old you were when your parents were the age you are now, and how close they are now to the ages your grandparents reached…
Similar experience here. I have a pic of my parents when they were still so young…. then I’m reminded that they were a good ten years younger than I am now, and had kids in college. Also, famous people my age who, ya’know, did a bunch of things by the time (checks watch) were several decades younger. Or people running the world. Who are all these youngsters?!
(I guess the Zoomers are just now coming into their own, not quite running the world everywhere just yet. But still, the level of momentum is startling.
As an X/ennial, it’s easy to feel underrepresented in leadership, as everyone is either older or younger.)
When I get to feeling like that, I tell myself, “You’re sober, clean, stably housed, working, fed, getting regular medical care, and not in custody anywhere. You’re doing all right.” So many folks don’t have even that.
It is gross, which is fitting with the idea that absolutely anyone would get upset/angry with the person who “took it” from you in a consenting situation. The whole idea that Becky might (days after banging it out herself) get upset at Joyce for exactly the same thing is so paternalistic and disgusting that I would be genuinely surprised if it happened.
If it does, my estimation of Becky will lower greatly. If it isn’t addressed by the others in the comic as a large problem, then it will lower my estimation of all of them. I hope that, even if the worst happens, Joyce’s friends will snap out of their “Becky never did a thing wrong” comas.
I wouldn’t be stunned if there’s something, not because it’s Joe but because Joe is a dude and the existence of dudes is kind of gross to Becky, at least playfully.
I’ll never promise that I won’t die because I don’t wanna disappoint both of us. That said I’ll at least say I’ll try not to die at a time that’s inconvenient for you.
lol well, something like that does make it seem like joyce is gonna distance herself afterwards, even if she doesnt have a Yale opportunity like Dorothy does
Spoiler Alert, Becky. EVERYBODY dies. Well, unless science succeeds in creating immortality technology in the future. Then everybody except the rich and powerful who can afford the technology dies.
Let’s see if Jennifer will just return to her room or will go check again what Ruth is doing or casually meet her in the hallway. I know they could fight again, but they need to talk and Jason needs to see.
Of course both of them know that’s a promise Joyce can’t make; it’s an emotional statement not a literal request. I’ve said similar things to loved ones I was worried about
I mean “never” done wrong is a stretch but it’s the thought that counts
Gah I know, I know joyce is trying to be nice to Becky despite all their shit.
I worry sometimes people will think I just hate Becky, when I don’t, but dear god does her behaviour drive me insane, especially when no one calls her out when she does some shittybthings.
This has nothing to do with today’s strip but I had a dream last night I was reading old DoA strips and noticed that Walky had a twin that wasn’t Sal… Her name was Gigi and had short hair, which made her look even more like Walky.
I was like, well what the hell happens to Gigi? They just kind of disappear after a few chapters… They still had sex with Jason though in spite of not being Sal. Seduced him with a nice looking one-piece bathing suit.
Can she be thin yet curvy and nerdy? It would contrast with sal… And she could be someone who puts a lot of effort into having good etiquette and maybe wears a choker with a bell on it and wears pastel goth clothing?
As far as personality goes it’s kind of hard to say. She was more serious and watchful than the others, grounded maybe. But then going after Jason suggests something is a bit tweaked in her. The seduction was also very straightforward and a bit calculated. She knew what Jason was attracted to and went for it.
This is a bit cursed, but I could see a little Sarah in there, and a bit of Mike even. Besides that, the dream was pretty vague.
I dunno anything about needlepoint, but crossstitch is pretty easy compared to sewing so you could probably learn it. It’s pretty much paint by numbers but with thread.
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“Promises are like children”
“You’re not havin’ ’em?”
The only death coming soon is “the little death”
SQUEAK?
that made me smile. Thank you for that.
The Grim Squeaker! Coming soon to a cinema near you! (At least if you’re in the UK; coming not very soon to a cinema near you elsewhere!)
Aww yiss!
i have a tattoo of the Grim Squeaker!
This updated my journal
Aww, guess these two are making nice?
Well, my bet is Joyce is finally ready to have a calmer conversation with Becky about religion, and Becky will go goddamn ape shit when confronted with reality.
let’s… keep that for a while later
DO IIIT!
A. I assume it’s going to be about the autism possibility.
B. What would the point be? Becky has her faith, Joyce has lost hers. If Joyce is going to try to talk her out of hers, that’s a dick move and I’d hope she knows better than to do that.
Joyce’s Stated Position is that religion is dumb, Becky isn’t dumb, so Becky should stop being religious, just as Becky’s Stated Position is that Joyce should believe the same stuff she does because she always has.
It’s possible they’ve both reconsidered these positions. I certainly hope so.
They’re both in the early stages of Recovering From Spiritual Abuse and Religious Trauma, and they’re coming from a religious and social background that encourages this sort of all-or-nothing thinking. There is approximately no chance that either one has seriously reconsidered yet, though they may have decided to quietly not talk about it, which is *almost* as good.
i was gonna say that but you said it better than i would have. yup. definitely. it took me some years to not completely judge people who are religious. i still don’t *understand* how you can be religious AND trusting science AND being empathic rather than dogmatic, but i am starting to slowly be more open to the possibility than someone’s faith is not tied to ignoring science or empathy.
However, all-or-nothing thinking is veeeery ingrained in my upbringing. Hard to get rid of, even though the moral values i follow have drastically changed. Still hard to be open to middle grounds.
And i’m 31. Joyce and Becky have a decade less life experience. So i would be surprised if they’re gonna be great at it right away.
It’s pretty great that you’ve put an effort into that, btw.
Being empathic rather than dogmatic was pretty easy for me. There are a lot of verses in the bible that recommend empathy and caring for ones “neighbors”, meaning basically everybody. So one could start that process by being empathic by being dogmatic, and then after doing that for a while, determine which feels more toxic and shedding that.
At least, that’s how I went about things. This path makes it especially easy to learn to not trust ones clergy, because it fairly quickly becomes clear that when they say that they are also sinners, they generally really mean it. For some, it’s the only honest thing they actually say – possibly even if they’re only saying it because they understand it’s a phrase that clergy more or less have to say.
It takes a while to notice that science and religion deliberately exclude each others’ methods, because a combination wouldn’t tell you anything believable. Neither has anything to say to the other, though each has a lot to say that is worth hearing. (“Non-overlapping magisteria”)
Empathy not dogmatism is easy for Christians who read, because we’re commanded to be so. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength, and you shall love your neighbor [see “Good Samaritan” for who this is] as you love yourself. All of the Law and the Prophets depend on these.”
Kind of a false choice, Jennifer.
She could do needlepoint while plowing the football team.
It’s all about multitasking.
That would get very prickly, very fast.
That does seem like a situation where there would be lots of pricks.
If Joyce uses a strap-on, the football team’s pricks may be irrelevant to the action.
But would her peg have a needle point?
thank you, very important contribution. LOL.
When my parents married, the advice my father got from his married male friends was: “Do NOT let her sew in bed!”
Or she could do a needlepoint OF plowing the football team. Equally as adventurous without the need to seduce 45 to 50 people.
A needlepoint of plowing the football team while needlepointing WHILE plowing the football team? How recursive can we go? 😛
“Stop thrusting so hard , Tony, you made me mess up on the stitching on Arnold’s face”
I was under the impression that it was the one who was thrusting who was technically plowing. I mean, I suppose Tony could be pushing back a bit too vigorously, but it was my impression that’s generally considered poor form even if the top isn’t doing needlepoint. Yes, they are usually supposed to be a bit more involved than, say, a field. But they should just be matching, not going above and beyond. I mean, unless that wasn’t what was negotiated.
Thinking about this a bit more, I’m realizing it should be relatively easy to solve by simply having Tony assist with the needlepoint. If he’s focusing on keeping the needlepoint still, he shouldn’t be able to be pushing back excessively hard.
How crewel!
I mean, not really. YOU try doing needlepoint while plowing the whole football team. It’s very distracting.
All I’m hearing is a challenge to be accepted.
@Subjektivity – best response.
Also, it caused me to have the following train of thought:
Oh hey! It would be fun to do a female focused parody of How I Met Your Mother with a female version of Barney and –
Oh. Wait. We already had that, and it was called Sex and the City. Samantha didn’t get as many good catch phrases, though.
skill issue
Which one is the distraction from the other, though? 😉
“hey can you plow me a bit quieter and softer, please? i’m needing a steady hand for this pattern.“
That is that is definitely not true, but it’s nice of Joyce to say so.
Yeah… I’m not sure what she’s referring to, though. Or where that’s coming from.
Any guesses, y’all?
-Maybe she worries she’ll let Becky down by going through all these changes without her?
-Maybe she worries Becky will disapprove if Joyce starts dating Joe?
-Maybe Joyce worries that if Becky gets word of Joyce’s possible future diagnosis, that Becky will start agonizing over all the “friendly teasing” that Becky’s done over the years?
…Any thoughts?
p.s., hey, y’all. Good to see youse / yinz / you folx / etc.
The big secret that Joyce has been keeping from Becky has been her potential autism diagnosis. So I’m pretty sure that’s what it is.
I think so too. Joyce is projecting a little — some of her first freakouts about Becky coming out were that Joyce had ignorantly wronged Becky. By rejecting her, of course, but also Joyce imagined a whole thing where she’d get back and Becky would be crying about how insensitive Joyce’d been all their lives (when in fact Becky had gone out and gotten a haircut).
It’s entirely possible that she’s cried about that sort of thing, just, without anyone around? Becky experienced a lot of isolation and she loves people, so she wants to have fun and enjoy herself with people around. She has had plenty of time to be sad.
Eh, my bet is with all the changes she’s been going through without Becky.
This comic is a modern soap opera that lives on drama, and her diagnosis is a source of it that Demon Lord Willis surely would not waste.
I think it’s referring to Becky making fun of some of Joyce’s “quirks”. To reassure Becky she doesn’t have trauma from that prior to telling her yhe “quirks” were autism.
What other changes are there to tell Becky about, where Joyce would have this very specific worry (that Becky would need the reassurance “you’ve never done wrong by me”)?
Autism seems like the one where Becky might feel guilty when she finds out (like for the times she’s unwittingly teased Joyce for being spectrum-y). I’m not sure how taking an art class or dating Joe would make Becky feel guilty. Am I missing one?
Her atheism perhaps? Who knows, really?
But one things for sure, this isn’t Smarting of Age, this is gonna get messy in any case, to say the least.
They’re about to have Round II but with a more mature Joyce.
Yeah but it’ll still be messy, 666 comments doesn’t just happen.
Becky already knows about that remember? Came up when she overheard Joyce talking shit about religious people after the anniversary of Becky’s mom committing suicide.
That is a hilariously unkind way of framing that sequence of events, considering that Joyce made a deliberate choice *not* to broach her atheism with Becky on the anniversary of Bonnie’s death, and was clearly keenly aware of the comfort Becky was taking at the idea that her mother was looking down on them from Heaven.
OMG now i want a Smarting of Age spinoff where all characters are 20 years older and make great life choices only ;D
Yeah, that’s what I’m assuming Joyce is worried about telling Becky this time. And considering how Becky reacted to other new stuff about Joyce (her atheism for example), her being worried about telling Becky that she might be autistic seems pretty reasonable to me.
Sounds like Joyce is trying to mend the rift, starting with an assurance that she doesn’t blame Becky for anything. It’s a bit clumsy, as most things of this sort are? Especially at that age?
It’s obvious.
Joyce is going to Yale.
I wasn’t sure what Joyce was referring to either.
All of the above?
I’m pretty sure Joyce hasn’t told Becky yet that she got a referral to potentially get diagnosed for autism. I’m assuming that’s what she’s worried about Becky finding out this time.
Y’know I just absolutely assumed it was about Joe. Literally no other thoughts had entered my brain cuz I’m too busy shipping Jojoyce.
“I promise to outlive you” can be very touching or very creepy.
Depends on whether the person saying it is wielding a knife.
somebody’s gotta cut the cake at the wake.
I am reminded of Winnie the Pooh. ‘If you live to be one hundred, I wish to live to be one hundred minus one day so I never have to live a day without you.’
I really like that coral colored hoodie Joyce is wearing under her vest, that’s cute.
Her outfits are consistently cute. This comic has very good outfits across the board actually.
This is IU, so it’s supposed to be crimson. Must’ve faded in the wash.
You’ve never done wrong by me, but there’s a possibility that at some point Joe and I will engage in premarital hanky-panky
That would be really funny, if only for Becky giving her a, “FUNNY YOU SHOULD MENTION THAT-“
…is Joyce going for the direct approach about Joe? Ooh, wasn’t expecting that. I like how sometimes these characters throw curveballs and end up revealing things way sooner than I expected, while other times shoes I expected to drop immediately take years.
I think she is bringing up the autism to her, since Joe’s confession has made her more secure about it, along with reaching an understanding with Dina, so she might be more comfortable about telling Becky.
I don’t think she so much would assume Becky would judge her or anything for it, but she’s family, and her longest friend, so change is tough.
I know I’m late to the party, but I realized one way Joyce can take pills is by putting them in sushi rolls.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/chopsticks/
But only if Dorothy is there to feed her.
…Is that where this is going?
I don’t know of anyone besides you and Willis that can answer that one.
That’s why Joyce is going to Yale, so when Dorothy goes to Yale she can still take her meds.
That would get expensive quickly, I think.
Think Joyce is gearing up to tell becky her diagnosis. Either that or she’s already heard Becky shouting about her and Dina through the walls.
Or she just heard Becky and Dina…through the walls.
College dorms are not known for their sonic privacy. If a room was suddenly playing music suspiciously loud, you knew what was up.
Just realized that she also likes Joe back
From the sound of this strip, she just realized she has to cut herself off from Becky if Becky continues to be a snob.
“Maybe Liz had the right idea.”
It could be a “we’ll always be there for each other but right now I need more space”. But how is she going to break up with her other mom-friends?
Some friendships have a limited life span, I’d say Joyce and Beckys is well over due
I mean technically she hasn’t aged in over ten years so keeping that promise is very possible.
Dicing is Satanic, apparently.
*as in gambling with dice, rather than dicing vegetables. … though I wouldn’t put it past Xianity to have some denomination somewhere that gets freaked out over diced vegetables.
There was an episode of Blackadder where his religious aunt would not allow the turnip to be mashed because mashing was of the devil. Unfortunately/fortunately, the unmashed turni looked like a thingy.
They’re probably fine if you mix them with crinkle-cut. But if you mix them with julienned? Straight to
jailhell.As opposed to “carding,” playing with cards, vs. carding wool.
I’m told it’s because the Roman soldiers at the crucifixion used dice to decide who got the prisoners’ clothes.
No, it’s because playing dice used to be gambling.
(…so did chess… which was expressedly forbidden several times in a row…)
This is a nice start! I’m hoping it evolves into a nice conversation.
Are…those the only 2 options?
Sadly, yes.
What, dying or not dying? Seems like a pretty clean-cut situation. I guess you can un-die, but that does sorta require dying in the first place.
That’s sort of a ‘when not if’ choice.
No, the only choices are dying or needlepoint.
Maybe if you don’t set the dye you can undo dying?
If you’re serious about glam and don’t have a few extra terebinths on hand, you’re doing it wrong.
“I will never die.”
Followed by four panels of marionettes banging each other like drums.
Hehehehe
“I’m gonna date Joe”
“Thank God I thou-WAITWHAT???”
what is life but persistence of consciousness? what is death but a discontinuity? If everything that I was is gone, is that person not dead? Am I not a whole new creature under the sun?
“Everything dies baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back”
“That is not dead which can eternal lie, / And with strange aeons even death may die.”
I really like that Joyce just needed to feel seen (and also accepted / not controlled) to get comfy enough to tell Becky more about what’s going on with her. Becky acted like a safe person again. Yay.
(Also that of course Becky’s instant fear is always that somebody she loves is abandoning her, especially by dying. That Becky!)
T_T honestly that’s such a normal reaction to how her past few years have good
“Good news! We are not dying. We are going to live forever!”
I remember my teenage friends really did feel like they’d live forever. Whereas I was convinced I’d be dead by 25. Say what you will about pessimism, but at least I set more attainable personal goals.
I spent a good part of my own teen years half expecting to die in a nuclear war. Between that and AIDS, the 80s were a real fun time, let me tell you.
Kids these days don’t know how easy they’ve got it. There’s treatments for AIDS now.
(It’s gallows humor about the perpetual threat of nuclear Armageddon.)
Isn’t it great how some unhinged, insecure beta male could just press a button in a fit of babyrage and we’d all just be shadows on the wall within hours, over literally anything?
Regrettably, this has made me anxious for the night
Sorry ’bout that. If it’s any consolation, I’m also very anxious about it. Not…not sure why it would help to know that, but just in case.
Nah, there are three launch controllers and they all have to unlock and release.
And they watch each other for signs of unhinged-ness. (That would make me unhinged eventually, which is one of many reasons why I would never be selected for launch controller.)
Countries other than the USA have nuclear weapons and presumably different safety procedures since they are entirely different governments.
Or just some mistake. There were a lot of near-misses. I’m very thankful, today and every day, that one Colonel Petrov made the call he did (on the basis that if Amerika was gonna launch a first strike, it wasn’t going to be a mere handful of missiles).
I’m still worried I won’t live to see my 40s/50s. Nothing’s wrong with me but if so many rich and beloved people can die so suddenly I don’t know what chance I have to live that long.
This year especially feels like a lot of my childhood heroes have been dropping like flies, as grim as that may be to say. Between Kazuki Takahashi (created Yu-Gi-Oh!) and Jason David Frank (the Green Ranger), I’m not sure which one hit harder, and it really does feel like a reminder that anyone can go at any time.
For me it’s Takahashi, It’s Gilbert Gottfried, It’s Norm Macdonald and now Kevin Conroy. This shit’s never ending I swear. I know everyone’s gotta go but shit.
It’s kinda unsettling when you realize the people you grew up thinking of as “the adults” were younger then than you are now. When you’re a kid, adults have all the answers. Once you’re an adult, you realize they were winging it the whole time.
I’m older now than Harrison Ford was when Star Wars was released. The 27 Club is far in the rearview. Steve Jobs had been running NeXT for 5 years. And what have I accomplished, some shitposts?
Then you start doing the math to figure out how old you were when your parents were the age you are now, and how close they are now to the ages your grandparents reached…
“Oh, I made myself sad.”
– Professor Farnsworth
Similar experience here. I have a pic of my parents when they were still so young…. then I’m reminded that they were a good ten years younger than I am now, and had kids in college. Also, famous people my age who, ya’know, did a bunch of things by the time (checks watch) were several decades younger. Or people running the world. Who are all these youngsters?!
They are Gen Z. The Zoomers. And they have so much momentum right now…
(I guess the Zoomers are just now coming into their own, not quite running the world everywhere just yet. But still, the level of momentum is startling.
As an X/ennial, it’s easy to feel underrepresented in leadership, as everyone is either older or younger.)
When I get to feeling like that, I tell myself, “You’re sober, clean, stably housed, working, fed, getting regular medical care, and not in custody anywhere. You’re doing all right.” So many folks don’t have even that.
(Sorry, that came out wrong. What I meant to say was that each of us has SOMETHING to be proud of.)
Gotta say I was not expecting this deep of a conversation to come from quoting Team Fortress 2.
Don’t worry, I’ve been teleporting bread this entire time.
I fear no man. But that… thing…
[beat panel of a clock]
It scares me.
But will we learn how to fly?
That is easy, you just have to learn to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
For extra altitude, wait til the rubble bounces.
Huh. So the realization was about her friendship with Becky.
Who’s taking bets on how long it takes Becky to kill Joe after he takes Joyces V card?
10 bucks she’s wearing Joe’s skin before spring break.
She’ll always have Joyce’s kiss virginity.
Didn’t Joyce kiss Ethan?
Did she? I honestly don’t remember. If so then Becky really is always a bridesmaid.
Yeah, in Galasso’s that one time. Not too long before Becky showed up, either. As I recall, she had a freakout about it in the bathroom.
Damn so she JUST missed it.
The Flame, The Shame, and The Dame
i dont think becky’s that hostile towards joe? since that’d be hypocritical of her after also sleeping with dina
if anything she was ‘amused’ by her crush on jacob like “Joyce is /horny/, i might switch shifts just to see what happens” or so
Can we not call it that? It’s gross.
It is gross, which is fitting with the idea that absolutely anyone would get upset/angry with the person who “took it” from you in a consenting situation. The whole idea that Becky might (days after banging it out herself) get upset at Joyce for exactly the same thing is so paternalistic and disgusting that I would be genuinely surprised if it happened.
If it does, my estimation of Becky will lower greatly. If it isn’t addressed by the others in the comic as a large problem, then it will lower my estimation of all of them. I hope that, even if the worst happens, Joyce’s friends will snap out of their “Becky never did a thing wrong” comas.
I wouldn’t be stunned if there’s something, not because it’s Joe but because Joe is a dude and the existence of dudes is kind of gross to Becky, at least playfully.
What about saying that Joe accepts it. Or is it the “card” bit?
But I don’t think we’re going to see that in the near future.
Anyway, Becky will have to get in line behind Sarah. There may be nothing left for her.
Do needlepoint with the football team?
Also, WTF!
If mortality strikes, everything is a timeskip. Thankfully… Becky is subscribed to Willis’ Patreon, question mark, smile?
Hesitation? Does Joyce really think maybe, just maybe, confessing attraction harms that fateful night
Jesus the art style has changed.
I’ve noticed this with every long-running comic. Compare 1950 Charlie Brown to 2000 Charlie Brown.
Or Questionable Content #1 versus #4900.
I’ll never promise that I won’t die because I don’t wanna disappoint both of us. That said I’ll at least say I’ll try not to die at a time that’s inconvenient for you.
this is one of those comics where i am becky and becky is me
I are she as you are she as you are me
And we are all together?
From Becky’s point of view, it’s like asking Joyce she’ll never go to heaven
lol well, something like that does make it seem like joyce is gonna distance herself afterwards, even if she doesnt have a Yale opportunity like Dorothy does
Spoiler Alert, Becky. EVERYBODY dies. Well, unless science succeeds in creating immortality technology in the future. Then everybody except the rich and powerful who can afford the technology dies.
Trust her, Joyce. Becky’s always got your back.
Technically we’re all dying, it just takes most of us several decades to do so.
Let’s see if Jennifer will just return to her room or will go check again what Ruth is doing or casually meet her in the hallway. I know they could fight again, but they need to talk and Jason needs to see.
“You also have to tell me if you’re a cop, Joyce.”
Of course both of them know that’s a promise Joyce can’t make; it’s an emotional statement not a literal request. I’ve said similar things to loved ones I was worried about
I mean “never” done wrong is a stretch but it’s the thought that counts
Gah I know, I know joyce is trying to be nice to Becky despite all their shit.
I worry sometimes people will think I just hate Becky, when I don’t, but dear god does her behaviour drive me insane, especially when no one calls her out when she does some shittybthings.
Are you me? Because I could have written this.
Same.
This has nothing to do with today’s strip but I had a dream last night I was reading old DoA strips and noticed that Walky had a twin that wasn’t Sal… Her name was Gigi and had short hair, which made her look even more like Walky.
I was like, well what the hell happens to Gigi? They just kind of disappear after a few chapters… They still had sex with Jason though in spite of not being Sal. Seduced him with a nice looking one-piece bathing suit.
Ah yes, the Walkerton triplets. I can’t believe both Gigi and Sal had sex with the same guy.
How much can I pay you to draw Gigi, Yotomoe?
There’s a strong chance that I’ll do it for free. Any other details other than, Walky’s twin who also has short hair?
Can she be thin yet curvy and nerdy? It would contrast with sal… And she could be someone who puts a lot of effort into having good etiquette and maybe wears a choker with a bell on it and wears pastel goth clothing?
Haha hell yeah! I’ve seen a lot of your work and you’re very talented, so I’d feel honored if you did it.
She had kind of a pixie cut I suppose… and I remember the one-piece bathing suit having an open back and being salmon colored.
As far as personality goes it’s kind of hard to say. She was more serious and watchful than the others, grounded maybe. But then going after Jason suggests something is a bit tweaked in her. The seduction was also very straightforward and a bit calculated. She knew what Jason was attracted to and went for it.
This is a bit cursed, but I could see a little Sarah in there, and a bit of Mike even. Besides that, the dream was pretty vague.
Got it. If Walky is Riley and Sal is Huey, She’s Caesar.
🤣 Thanks Yoto, you made me smile.
May the one constant in life be your Dorito smile.
The Lost Girls:
Study all day, party all night
Never grow old, never graduate
It’s fun to be a toon. Being wild is in their ink.
I continue to enjoy Jennifer’s sense of humor
I am, based on my own college experiences, only increasing in the amount I hate the Joyce and Becky relationship.
I wish I could learn needlepoint, because I learned how to sew in this year, and I love Pixel Art.
I dunno anything about needlepoint, but crossstitch is pretty easy compared to sewing so you could probably learn it. It’s pretty much paint by numbers but with thread.
If you live near a Micheal’s, they sometimes have cross stitch classes. I’ve gone for some at mine, anyway.
JOYCE WILL RIDE ETERNAL
Joe running to the court to get renamed Eternal.
and I’m glad that you caught that ;D
Shiny and chrome!
The only way I want that first promise from anyone I care about in real life, is if I get the second.
Everyone dies.
It’s just a matter of when, how, and under what circumstances 《eyeroll》