The more Joyce smooches Joe the less likely Dotty is to enter in a torrid love affair with her, or at least this is what I’d like to imagine Dorothy’s logic to be.
Dorothy is thinking, “if that keeps up, the readers may stop shipping Joyce and me, and the biggest source of pressure in my life will have vanished, yay!”
She did grant her blessing already. I imagine she’d have been less keen on it like an in-universe week ago, but she’s moved past her initial concerns/anger.
Do we think she was faking the whole mental breakdown in order to make this more convincing, or just the parts where she specifically stated she no longer wanted to be the judgemental “mom friend”?
Wait, voicing disapproval (and low-key trying to dissuade you by planting a seed of doubt) with a passive-aggressive “well, okaayy…” isn’t a universal mom experience?
Dotty already processed that there’s nothing wrong with Joe and Joyce’s relationship. The only real way I could see her being bothered by it would be motivated by possessiveness, be they romantic or platonic feelings. But honestly I don’t see Dotty reacting that way either way.
Honestly I’m kind of annoyed at Dorothy downplaying this hugely important moment for joyce. This is super big, Dorothy should be congratulating her, not just “well you’re supposed to be”
The transitive property of sex is that when one has unprotected intercourse, one is potentially exposed to every* STD of every prior partner and their prior partners and their prior partner… It’s STDs all the way down.
Maybe he’s a collection of every disease and malady known to humanity (and more currently unknown), but they’re all perfectly balanced fighting each other so he’s asymptomatic.
Yeah Dotty’s expression in that last panel is just so affectionate… she truly loves the trainwreck that is Joyce… maybe in 2033 Joyce will realize she’s bisexual or something.
If Carla would stop denying her attraction to a woman I would agree lol. But no Becky is the most openly and flamboyant lesbian I have seen in fiction, unless im forgetting some people.
I think Carla just can’t stand being ignored by someone. People are supposed to bask in awesomeness or burn with the hatred of a thousand suns. Complete non-recognition? That must not stand.
Scandal Savage, in Gail Simone’s Secret Six book. She wound up marrying both of her girlfriends, after they recivered Knockout’s soul with the Get Out of Hell Free card
Yay, I get to be ignorant and hopefully learn by exposing said self-ignorance.
Are “homoromantic ace”, and “lesbian” mutually exclusive? Does lesbian have to include swxual attraction, or is it sufficient that a woman is romantically attracted to women?
Like, if I as a guy were ace, but still liked women romantically, that wouldn’t make me *not* “straight” would it? Isn’t degree of ace/sexual a seperate axis within sexuality than which gender(s) we’re attracted to (and the amounts and types thereof)
And if my phrasing or example are offensive to any, please accept my apology. It’s early and I’m fuzzy, but that is not an excuse to be hurtful. Peace, love, solidarity.
✌❤✊
The real answer is that it depends on the individual and how they choose to label themselves. That said, it’s pretty common for “homoromantic asexual women” to refer to themselves as lesbians or as asexual lesbians. It’s a bit less common for a “heteroromantic asexual man” to label himself as “straight,” though. Again, it’s up to the person, but to me that’s in the range of “definitely would not do without explicit permission from the individual”.
There’s a couple reasons for that! Fundamentally, labels reflect which parts of our identity and experience are most salient in our current culture. A homoromantic asexual woman may have experienced a shared oppression with other lesbians (and also a shared culture, via lesbian art, events, history) and might choose to claim the lesbian label because of that. In contrast, a heteroromantic asexual man has likely been systematically excluded from large parts of straight male culture, particularly since so many of the expectations of straight masculinity focus on sex, specifically. He might not find the heteroromantic part of his identity as salient as the asexual part, and might not choose to identify as straight because of that. There’s also the stereotype of heteroromantic asexual people being “basically straight,” so it’s not polite to call someone that without their permission.
Respect for being excited about shedding ignorance and owning it! Also, honestly, this is just a really good question which lots of ace people struggle with ourselves. Ari provided a really good answer though, I got nothign to really add to it!
Reasonable question! There’s no straightforward answer, because it depends on what the person thinks feels right.
Also, complicating things, some people will summarize their sexuality in the simplest possible word when talking to non-queer people, so I guarantee there are people who say “yeah, I’m a lesbian” to a fair number of folks and then “yeah, I’m homoromantic asexual” to queer folks who actually know what that /means/ and won’t need an explanation and hopefully won’t try to argue about whether it’s a thing.
Somehow I read “homoromantic” but thought what should be called “autoromantic”. Which makes perfect sense for Carla. Doubly so, I suppose, for Ultracar.
Aw man. I meant to type “doesn’t.” I keep rewriting and rethinking my comments trying to get them juusst right, only to pos them riddled residual errors. I really suck at proofreading. Thanks for the catch.
It’s tough in a system that brokes no editting after. We are animals, imperfect in the time and place we inhabit. Go with love, and know you deserve it.
I feel like there’s this vibe of “if you start shaving too young, you’re going to be a slut” but also, “if you’re not shaving your legs by a certain age, you’re going to look like a lesbian.” It’s one of those oh so fun balancing acts that put the sexuality of those AFAB on trial.
Nah, honestly, I don’t think her autism (whatever flavor that may be) would permit her NOT to shave em. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she didn’t stop at the legs.
This is my thinking, too. Body hair is often a sensory ick. My sister shaves Everything. I would, but the itching from regrowth is worse than the hair, so I just go out of my way not to have physical contact with my own body.
“Dina. Did you feel that?”
“The exciting buzz of scientific achievement?”
“No, not that! Although, that *was* good. I meant that I just sensed a disturbance in the LesbianForce.”
I may be exaggerating, but there are times when that appreciation that Joyce has with Dorothy, it has something possessive that at the moment has not reached something so murky.
So she is kissing all those girls. And all the boys they kissed. And that includes Roz, so that’s a lot of boys.
To answer the question: YES.
Also viruses. Obviously it varies. You have short term stuff (flu), long term stuff, eternal stuff, airborne and liquid based diseases, skin based diseases, and so on. Resistances vary too.
It seems like kissing is so much more fraught these days! In my teens and twenties, one could just kiss at the drop of a hat. I even attended one “Palentines Day” party (in July) that was just everyone kissing everybody, all the time. Bosses, coworkers — everyone.
Now, with COVID, RSV, flu, herpes, oral HPV, MPox… there’s so much more to think about before puckering up!
He still would have kissed more girls, since he also kissed Joyce.
But also, purity culture fucking sucks! “You’re having sex with everyone that person has had sex with,” like no, actually, I’m not necessarily opposed to this organization scenario you’ve created, but that’s not what’s happening.
It gets even more fun when you realize that “sex” is about more than just intercourse. Once you start thinking about all the people whom everyone has had “sexy times” with, the world of who’s been with whom expands dramatically. *Sigh.*
Actually you are forgetting when Becky kissed Joyce, something joe has obviously not done.
And if you are still counting the transitive property, Joyce would have also kissed Becky’s old roommate (something else joe would not have done). So those 2 extra (lesbian) kisses still put Joyce in the lead.
I mean if we’re talking about on screen hookups I think Joe actually had a fairly reasonable hook up list. Roz, Penny, Malaya, I can’t think of anyone else. That’s three people. You could argue Walky would have the same number if ever hits it with Lucy.
I was thinking if Walky had kissed anyone Joe would have kissed, and hilariously, Walky’s kissed like the three girls least likely to have any kind of intersection with Joe’s web of kisses.
Joe’s actually surprisingly disconnected from the main cast in kissy terms. Roz. Malaya and Penny. Roz does her hook ups away from the dorm it seems. Malaya brings in Marcie. (Right?Or are they still dancing around the attraction?)
That’s basically it.
Oh wait. Liz. Who brings in Sarah through whatshisname. Chris?
They’ve only been in 6 comics together!? Including one where there’s zero interaction, and another where she’s apparently coming on to him and he blows her off.
Honestly last strip wasn’t supposed to happen. It was gonna be Joe going into his room, Amber reaching down and then just a hard cut to a dialogue box that said
“They both came really really hard”
sort of an anti-climax.
But then I drew a climax.
Good question. I could see her doing it, since I can’t imagine she has any real interest in keeping any ties to Blaine. Amber’s old enough to where she wouldn’t really necessarily need to be considered on that front.
Well we do know for a fact Joyce has kissed one girl, Becky. Until proven otherwise we know Daisy has kissed zero girls. One is greater than zero so I think Joyce is winning.
Becky’s radar certainly pinged on the last panel, but I think we can all be grateful she isn’t in the room to hear panel 2 – she’d have a massive nosebleed and die via hemorrhage.
quote:
“When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.”
I think somewhere along the line as a young girl she heard (or was told) that quote from former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (regarding STDs, specifically AIDS), and kinda got that mixed up in her mind…
But the transitive property should apply recursively here, so she’s also kissed all the boys that all the girls that Joe’s kissed had kissed. (And all the girls they’ve kissed too.)
I don’t think so either, at least not to that much. I think Dorothy has just told her Joyce helps her by needing Dorothy’s help, so Joyce is acting the part to improve her mood. It’s panel 2 of this strip, but the ways Sarah and Dorothy won’t let her change are different.
Ugh. I remember that lesson in health class. Thankfully in ours it wasnt about kissing and it was followed up with “this is why you use condoms” and not anything about purity. But I know exactly the purity training she’s referencing here and I both hate that it’s still so ingrained and also love the way she’s twisting it.
For all of Joe’s talk, he’s had what, two sexual partners? Just Roz and Malaya? And were they both a one time deal? Just wondering if Joe has technically had the least sex of the guys in the cast.
She’s not wrong you know, about the germs.
Joe hopefully has regular STI tests done?
Even if he *does* use condoms every time, there’s usually stuff people don’t always pay attention to as much as condoms.
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Uh-oh. Mother doesn’t immediately disapprove? What?
Is this reverse psychology?
The more Joyce smooches Joe the less likely Dotty is to enter in a torrid love affair with her, or at least this is what I’d like to imagine Dorothy’s logic to be.
Dorothy is thinking, “if that keeps up, the readers may stop shipping Joyce and me, and the biggest source of pressure in my life will have vanished, yay!”
Are you saying Dorothy has awareness beyond the 4th wall and that knowledge affects her mood?
She has mentioned that to pursue her goals she has to be perfect in every way.
Lol l
The strip’s cast can’t help but be aware of how demanding the fan base is
She did grant her blessing already. I imagine she’d have been less keen on it like an in-universe week ago, but she’s moved past her initial concerns/anger.
She’d have been less keen on it a week ago, but now she’s Keener.
🙂
Booo
Hisss!
(I’m hissing because findus did it first.)
She got over that already after seeing them together.
I forgot about that in my haste and excitement to post first.
(Though it could still be reverse psychology. “Fine, go ahead and make mistakes; I’ll be here to catch you with an ‘I told you so’.”)
Yeah, she’s a sneaky one, that Dorothy.
Do we think she was faking the whole mental breakdown in order to make this more convincing, or just the parts where she specifically stated she no longer wanted to be the judgemental “mom friend”?
Wait, voicing disapproval (and low-key trying to dissuade you by planting a seed of doubt) with a passive-aggressive “well, okaayy…” isn’t a universal mom experience?
Possibly. If it is, that would be all the more reason for a Dorothy who is trying not to be the mom friend not to do it.
She’s getting rewarded with Joyce freaking out. After that buzz wears off, maybe she’ll be ok with it, maybe she’ll be heartbroken, time will tell.
Dorothy is okay with it in panel 1. Joyce starts freaking out in panel 3.
Well Dorothy, have you considered that kissing girls is how *I* became a lesbian?
–Me (a guy) 😉
Dotty already processed that there’s nothing wrong with Joe and Joyce’s relationship. The only real way I could see her being bothered by it would be motivated by possessiveness, be they romantic or platonic feelings. But honestly I don’t see Dotty reacting that way either way.
Honestly I’m kind of annoyed at Dorothy downplaying this hugely important moment for joyce. This is super big, Dorothy should be congratulating her, not just “well you’re supposed to be”
Joyce is good at maths, so she understands the transitive properties of sexuality 🤔
the what? those characters aren’t in the tags!
She understands it because it’s the kind of thing that you learn in religiously oriented abstinence only sex ed.
So fundamentalist suck at both Math and Sociology.
Smoochin’ by proxy.
I beleive ones sexuality is not subject to the transitive property.
The transitive property of sex is that when one has unprotected intercourse, one is potentially exposed to every* STD of every prior partner and their prior partners and their prior partner… It’s STDs all the way down.
Joyce is just (mis)applying this to kissing.
*viral ones and untreated non-viral ones
She’s creatively over-extending the model.
Sex is the act of coitus, sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually.
I apologize for misreading you.
My worldview has been forever changed by her impeccable. brilliant logic.
Only somewhat
Herpes it doesn’t just get on people’s nerves – it gets in them (forever).
Honestly, I don’t know how Joyce isn’t having a panic attack. I mean Joe is probably a carrier for typhoid by now.
Maybe he’s a collection of every disease and malady known to humanity (and more currently unknown), but they’re all perfectly balanced fighting each other so he’s asymptomatic.
Kind of like Mr. Burns.
Joe must now be dunked in carbolic acid.
“Joyce. No. So much more’s the pity.”
Yeah Dotty’s expression in that last panel is just so affectionate… she truly loves the trainwreck that is Joyce… maybe in 2033 Joyce will realize she’s bisexual or something.
Becky has to come in now to rectify that SHE is in fact the biggest lesbian
She’s going to run through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man
I was unironically expecting this and feel vindicated that I am not the only one.
I’m still surprised DYW didn’t go for it. Maybe next strip?
I feel like Joyce is taller, though.
… huh. I’m Asher now? Not sure how I feel about that.
I’m not sure how I feel about Asher either. No one is. That’s your burden now. Heavy is the toll of the Asher icon.
Nothing to be done about it. You’re stuck being identified with Asher for now until the end of eternity.
If only there were something simple you could do to change it.
If she is it’s not by any significant amount.
You think? I would have said Carla.
If Carla would stop denying her attraction to a woman I would agree lol. But no Becky is the most openly and flamboyant lesbian I have seen in fiction, unless im forgetting some people.
I think Carla just can’t stand being ignored by someone. People are supposed to bask in awesomeness or burn with the hatred of a thousand suns. Complete non-recognition? That must not stand.
Scandal Savage, in Gail Simone’s Secret Six book. She wound up marrying both of her girlfriends, after they recivered Knockout’s soul with the Get Out of Hell Free card
Carla’s not a lesbian though; I think she’s Ace or maybe just Carla-sexual.
Yeah, Willis has said that characters sexualities are the same as the Walkyverse, and UC says she’s a homoromantic ace.
Yay, I get to be ignorant and hopefully learn by exposing said self-ignorance.
Are “homoromantic ace”, and “lesbian” mutually exclusive? Does lesbian have to include swxual attraction, or is it sufficient that a woman is romantically attracted to women?
Like, if I as a guy were ace, but still liked women romantically, that wouldn’t make me *not* “straight” would it? Isn’t degree of ace/sexual a seperate axis within sexuality than which gender(s) we’re attracted to (and the amounts and types thereof)
And if my phrasing or example are offensive to any, please accept my apology. It’s early and I’m fuzzy, but that is not an excuse to be hurtful. Peace, love, solidarity.
✌❤✊
The real answer is that it depends on the individual and how they choose to label themselves. That said, it’s pretty common for “homoromantic asexual women” to refer to themselves as lesbians or as asexual lesbians. It’s a bit less common for a “heteroromantic asexual man” to label himself as “straight,” though. Again, it’s up to the person, but to me that’s in the range of “definitely would not do without explicit permission from the individual”.
There’s a couple reasons for that! Fundamentally, labels reflect which parts of our identity and experience are most salient in our current culture. A homoromantic asexual woman may have experienced a shared oppression with other lesbians (and also a shared culture, via lesbian art, events, history) and might choose to claim the lesbian label because of that. In contrast, a heteroromantic asexual man has likely been systematically excluded from large parts of straight male culture, particularly since so many of the expectations of straight masculinity focus on sex, specifically. He might not find the heteroromantic part of his identity as salient as the asexual part, and might not choose to identify as straight because of that. There’s also the stereotype of heteroromantic asexual people being “basically straight,” so it’s not polite to call someone that without their permission.
Respect for being excited about shedding ignorance and owning it! Also, honestly, this is just a really good question which lots of ace people struggle with ourselves. Ari provided a really good answer though, I got nothign to really add to it!
Reasonable question! There’s no straightforward answer, because it depends on what the person thinks feels right.
Also, complicating things, some people will summarize their sexuality in the simplest possible word when talking to non-queer people, so I guarantee there are people who say “yeah, I’m a lesbian” to a fair number of folks and then “yeah, I’m homoromantic asexual” to queer folks who actually know what that /means/ and won’t need an explanation and hopefully won’t try to argue about whether it’s a thing.
That’s true, but Carla isn’t *exactly* Ultra-car. Like, UC was literally a robot, who exists as fiction in this world.
That said, Carla does strongly identify with Ultra-Car the fictional character, so asexuality might be the trait that resonates with her.
Somehow I read “homoromantic” but thought what should be called “autoromantic”. Which makes perfect sense for Carla. Doubly so, I suppose, for Ultracar.
Her true sexuality is “roller skates”
Carla is a Girl who exclusively likes other Girls, so you could absolutely call her a Lesbian.
Not if she doesn’t claim being a lesbian, that was the whole point of most of these comments.
Becky’s hairs are standing on end because she’s about to become a Super Lesbian 3.
After that, will Nintendo finally release Super Lesbian World for the Super Fapicom system?
Not to worry, Joyce can have the title of “College’s Biggest Bisexual.”
Joyce is quite short, surely there’s quite a few bisexuals on campus who are bigger.
Canonically, Jennifer has a few pounds on her.
Leslie: “Am I a joke to you?”
Well, Leslie, you work in a comic strip, so….
“MY NAME IS LITERALLY ‘LESLIE BEAN’. HOW AM I NOT THE ‘BIGGEST LESBIAN’?!'”
“Well, you’re old, so…”
“I’M 26, GODDAMNIT.”
(caveat: I can’t actually remember how old Leslie is in-canon. I doubt she’s older than 30, though.)
top ten, though, for sure
Joyce shaves her legs? I’m surprised that doesn’t somehow make her a harlot.
Well at least it does make her a hairlot.
If she’s shaving, wouldn’t that stop her from being a hairlot?
Aw man. I meant to type “doesn’t.” I keep rewriting and rethinking my comments trying to get them juusst right, only to pos them riddled residual errors. I really suck at proofreading. Thanks for the catch.
It’s tough in a system that brokes no editting after. We are animals, imperfect in the time and place we inhabit. Go with love, and know you deserve it.
I feel like there’s this vibe of “if you start shaving too young, you’re going to be a slut” but also, “if you’re not shaving your legs by a certain age, you’re going to look like a lesbian.” It’s one of those oh so fun balancing acts that put the sexuality of those AFAB on trial.
… And yet another point according to which I would make an excellent lesbian. To bad I’m not XD
That’s why I was all about the Nair in high school.
That’s why I’m all about Nair now. Well, no it’s because leg hair hurts in jeans. And it makes my hands all smooth and soft after I use it
Oh ew Malaya. No
Recent revisions to evangelical doctrine: good girls shave their legs. Had girls wax. Bad girls wax EVERYTHING.
“Had girls”
Non-virgins have to wax?
she wills her leghair to retract.
Nah, honestly, I don’t think her autism (whatever flavor that may be) would permit her NOT to shave em. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she didn’t stop at the legs.
This is my thinking, too. Body hair is often a sensory ick. My sister shaves Everything. I would, but the itching from regrowth is worse than the hair, so I just go out of my way not to have physical contact with my own body.
Hey! Switching my gravatar worked! How about that!
Nobody is shocked Joyce kisses her legs though.
Of course not. Wouldn’t you be willing to kiss her legs?
Joyce, you’re such a goof.
They really make a good pair.
Yeah it’s a standout dynamic in a comic which is not exactly hurting for strong character dynamics.
“Dina. Did you feel that?”
“The exciting buzz of scientific achievement?”
“No, not that! Although, that *was* good. I meant that I just sensed a disturbance in the LesbianForce.”
LesbianForce? Was that comic Marvel or DC?
dorothy missed joyce neuroses
That smile in the last panel says “well, back to the status quo”
I kind of suspect Joyce exaggerates her neuroses so Dorothy spends time with her, at least subconsciously. I don’t think this status quo can last.
I may be exaggerating, but there are times when that appreciation that Joyce has with Dorothy, it has something possessive that at the moment has not reached something so murky.
So she is kissing all those girls. And all the boys they kissed. And that includes Roz, so that’s a lot of boys.
To answer the question: YES.
Also viruses. Obviously it varies. You have short term stuff (flu), long term stuff, eternal stuff, airborne and liquid based diseases, skin based diseases, and so on. Resistances vary too.
This is how 28 Weeks Later started after all.
lol that’d be an interesting realization too like “this means i’ve hooked up with roz too!” once they finally get together lol
That said i’d assume joe hasn’t kissed anyone other than joyce recently (tho my first thought is herpes /cold sores lol)
It seems like kissing is so much more fraught these days! In my teens and twenties, one could just kiss at the drop of a hat. I even attended one “Palentines Day” party (in July) that was just everyone kissing everybody, all the time. Bosses, coworkers — everyone.
Now, with COVID, RSV, flu, herpes, oral HPV, MPox… there’s so much more to think about before puckering up!
> In my teens and twenties, one could just kiss at the drop of a hat… everyone kissing everybody, all the time
Was this a really long time ago or were you just part of a cool and sexy crowd?
LOL, you’re silly. No, it really was a long time ago. x-D
To get kisses at parties at the drop of a hat sounds like you’d also have to be, “part of a cool and sexy crowd.”
Or just a particularly inebriated crowd with some wild Palentine’s Day traditions! *Facepalm* *SMDH*
You reckon we’ll have an “I missed the.lips.that missed you!” Moment of awkwardness?
He still would have kissed more girls, since he also kissed Joyce.
But also, purity culture fucking sucks! “You’re having sex with everyone that person has had sex with,” like no, actually, I’m not necessarily opposed to this organization scenario you’ve created, but that’s not what’s happening.
*ORGY scenario, autocorrect is a prude
No no, I’m now imagining a whole structural organization chart here. It’s a business these days!
It’s important to keep your orgies organized.
To keep your private parts properly prioritized.
To keep the nipples neat and the testicles tidy.
Maybe do a Kickstarter to get a whole office block devoted to the world’s largest* polycule and set yourself up as the concierge.
*Until someone adds an antenna on top of theirs.
Welcome to The Continental.
The term is “Langdon Chart.”
In college we called it a “sex web”. Same thing!
There’s a certain amusement in figuring out who’s had vicarious sex as long you don’t take it too seriously.
It gets even more fun when you realize that “sex” is about more than just intercourse. Once you start thinking about all the people whom everyone has had “sexy times” with, the world of who’s been with whom expands dramatically. *Sigh.*
But if by kissing Joe she’s kissed all the girls he’s ever kissed then she’s also kissed Joyce.
Joyce: Clone fucker
AU where Anti-Joyce helps NotAnti-Joyce come to terms with her sexuality
Wouldn’t the meeting of Anti-Joyce and NotAnti-Joyce cause a massive explosion?
Or maybe just a massive erection…
If I remember correctly it caused an explosion alright, but it wasn’t in the pants.
Plays “My Clone Sleeps Alone” on hacked Muzak.
“I think I’m a clone now. Always seems to be two of me around…’
Begun, the Clone Worgy has.
Actually you are forgetting when Becky kissed Joyce, something joe has obviously not done.
And if you are still counting the transitive property, Joyce would have also kissed Becky’s old roommate (something else joe would not have done). So those 2 extra (lesbian) kisses still put Joyce in the lead.
But now because of the transitive property, Joe has also kissed Becky and her old roommate!
I mean if we’re talking about on screen hookups I think Joe actually had a fairly reasonable hook up list. Roz, Penny, Malaya, I can’t think of anyone else. That’s three people. You could argue Walky would have the same number if ever hits it with Lucy.
He also kissed Liz even if they didn’t go much farther
It’s implied that he’s hooking up with a lot of people off-panel.
Specifically, he’s hooking up with a new person in every time there’s a new panel published that he’s not in. He’s VERY efficient.
Alright Joyce; better start kissing Dorothy to check.
But then she’d be kissing Walky too.
Tough decision on her part…
Very bad for Joyce, hehe
I was thinking if Walky had kissed anyone Joe would have kissed, and hilariously, Walky’s kissed like the three girls least likely to have any kind of intersection with Joe’s web of kisses.
Walky’s interacted with Joe’s web of kisses now. Just not in the right chronological order.
Joe->Joyce->Ethan->Amber->Walky
Ah, good catch.
Joe’s actually surprisingly disconnected from the main cast in kissy terms. Roz. Malaya and Penny. Roz does her hook ups away from the dorm it seems. Malaya brings in Marcie. (Right?Or are they still dancing around the attraction?)
That’s basically it.
Oh wait. Liz. Who brings in Sarah through whatshisname. Chris?
Malaya has kissed Marcie.
I like how the message in today’s strip is “kissing doesn’t work that way”, and our response is, “let’s make a chart!”
Somewhere Faz gets a boner and doesn’t know why.
Faz is used to this.
Yeah, even if Faz wasn’t Faz, realistically, that’s likely going to happen regardless at that stage of development.
If kissing were transitive, Joe has kissed Becky, and Becky would never. Therefor, kissing isn’t transitive.
By fire and forge, I love proof by contradiction so much.
Pardon, when did Joyce and Becky kiss? Did that happen or did I misunderstand?
When Becky came out to Joyce, she kissed her.
Omg how could I forget?!?! I mean …there is a lot of canon tho. Anybody have the reference link to the comic she talks about it?
https://www.dumbingofage.com/jealous/
and when she talked about it
https://www.dumbingofage.com/tool/
Thank you much.
First time Becky showed up on campus
Huh. I didn’t know we had new faces. Looks like I’m f*ckface now.
Sexuality is a spectrum but it is not subject to the transitive property.
Good ole Joyce
Well that went better than expected, well done Dorothy
Is this really happening? Did Dorothy actually find that groove? I mean, sure sounds like.
Hey you, with the dream to rule
Best friend whose eyes are blue
You got that funky groove
…well? Innit, tho?
Dorothy’s amusement in the last panel is nice, at least.
Also, it just hit me that it is kind of a minor miracle that Joe and Billie/Jennifer never had sex.
After ListBro labeled her Desperate, Chubby Cheerleader? Noooo, that ship didn’t even sail; it burned down in port.
They’ve only been in 6 comics together!? Including one where there’s zero interaction, and another where she’s apparently coming on to him and he blows her off.
No, Joyce, that’s not how that works
Sorry for the false flag, I got fat thumbs.
But he could have mono or mouth herpes, but that’s not necessarily from kissing! I caught mono from sharing a drink with a girl
No.
Or maybe YES?
“… unless you’re about to kiss me, too.”
Dumbing of Age, Book 15: Joyce. No.
The change in Dorothy’s facial expression between the first and second “Joyce. No.”
Glad to see Dorothy looking a bit more cheerful. Hopefully she’s come back from whatever edge she was teetering on
There is still a long way to go, but seeing her smile is really encouraging.
You’re not the biggest lesbian, and if you are, you’ve kissed me, because Joe got to me back in high school.
joyce logic: kissed a boy. must be The Most Lesbian now
reminds me of those “fellas is it gay to have sex with a woman” meme or so
For the record, yes, it is gay for a man to have sex with a woman. There are multiple passages about it in the Bible.
ok, but I worked with a woman in RL who said that in earnest, because a guy suggested cowgirl position when they were having sex.
If Dorothy is a pirahna she definitely has an angle to strike at Joyce
And it was contemplating this question that led Joyce to become an epidemiologist.
For some reason, this makes me think of Ruth’s “no, but yes.”
Final Part (suggestive)
A bit late but here it is. The end. This was not supposed to be this long.
<3
I do see how the joke at the end was meant for a shorter format, but I don’t think anyone minded you drawing it out.
Honestly last strip wasn’t supposed to happen. It was gonna be Joe going into his room, Amber reaching down and then just a hard cut to a dialogue box that said
“They both came really really hard”
sort of an anti-climax.
But then I drew a climax.
Honestly, the punchline of this one is way funnier when it’s given the context of the last strip!
Just another day at the Rosenthal/Insert-Amber’s-last-name house.
O’Malley, unless Stacy changed her name before marrying Richard and Amber went with it.
Wait, did Stacy take Richard’s name? I can imagine Amber not wanting either name from her mother’s husbands.
Good question. I could see her doing it, since I can’t imagine she has any real interest in keeping any ties to Blaine. Amber’s old enough to where she wouldn’t really necessarily need to be considered on that front.
Gosh and golly, the open plaid shirt. A real 🦐🥦🥡🥢🥠 type of situation, if you take my meaning.
Chinese food on Jewish Christmas?
Damn now I’m hungry for Chinese food…
Argh the little head-tilt in panel 6 should not be that powerful.
Just me? Oh, ok.
No. Not just you. 😊
Also me. Which is why I drew it :3
A sweet end to a hot story. Yoto, you’re the bestest. Thank you.
I kinda-sorta envision this last part ending thus:
Joe and Amber: (smile with a bit of a blush)
Joe: (touches Amber’s hair)
Amber: (grins) “Yeah. Me, too.”
Joe: (kisses Amber’s forehead)
Amber: (closes eyes with a silent giggle)
Joe: (separates, heads towards kitchen) “…have you eaten?”
END.
Haha extremely cute. So sweet its rotting my teeth. Love it.
Amber’s smilling is so creepy. I loved it, ad it fits well on herself.
Not as long as Daisy walks this Campus.
Given daisy’s ‘luckless’ schtick/gimmick, at this point i wouldn’t be surprised if joyce has kissed more girls than she has
Well we do know for a fact Joyce has kissed one girl, Becky. Until proven otherwise we know Daisy has kissed zero girls. One is greater than zero so I think Joyce is winning.
daisy kissed billie once iirc
She got close but we don’t see any contact.
Daisy has somehow kissed negative women.
Daisy kissed Valentina Vostock from the seventies version of Doom Patrol?
Internet points for you
Such a huge matter-antimatter explosion would have vaporized Indiana.
Leslie: “….Worth it.”
That was supposed to say Daisy but I guess Leslie fits too??
Daisy is the biggest lesbian with the fewest partners.
Becky’s radar certainly pinged on the last panel, but I think we can all be grateful she isn’t in the room to hear panel 2 – she’d have a massive nosebleed and die via hemorrhage.
I am fully on Team Joyorthy now.
Not Doyce?
lol if that’s how it worked ppl would’ve left a hetero relationship more easily lol
quote:
“When you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.”
I think somewhere along the line as a young girl she heard (or was told) that quote from former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (regarding STDs, specifically AIDS), and kinda got that mixed up in her mind…
A little something that goes along with the good doctor’s quote, in a light-hearted musical ditty…
‘I Got It From Agnes’
So wait, is all sex also a form of masturbation?
Is this gonna lead to Dorothy making a move? That last panel looks like it’s gonna be her making a move of some sort.
As a Joe/Joyce shipper I feel much conflict, because Joyce/Dorothy is also just very sweet. I don’t want either ship to sink like this though lol
I think she feels comforted by her usual role of talking Joyce down from her neuroses.
“As someone who likes kissing boys, you would technically be bisexual.”
“But I have, through the transitive property, kissed so many girls that Joe is a statistical outlier and shouldn’t be counted!”
“How are you arguing both for AND against homeopathicdilution in your love life?”
“I don’t know! This is what I have you for!”
But the transitive property should apply recursively here, so she’s also kissed all the boys that all the girls that Joe’s kissed had kissed. (And all the girls they’ve kissed too.)
you… you can all feel it coming now, right guys? I’m not alone here?
Hence the common phrase “Ladies and Germs”
And thus, Dorothy’s center is rediscovered.
Is it Tootie roll? or Gum?
Neither; it’s kind of **gooey…** 🤭
The Dorothy Keener Center for Presidential Aspirations?
Somehow this was just what Dorothy needed.
Has anyone else read/seen “La Ronde”?
i can’t explain why, but panel 3 may be my new favorite Joyce Face
She looks so much like her mother!
This is not the first time she has induced transitive property about girls and attraction. Good grief, there will be more, won’t it?
Just their germs? Joyce, maybe kissing a girl in actuality would set the record
straightI had been wondering how Joyce could have escaped the clutches of Purity Culture, but it looks like she didn’t. Probably going to be a cascade.
I don’t think Joyce’s concerns is about germs…
I don’t think so either, at least not to that much. I think Dorothy has just told her Joyce helps her by needing Dorothy’s help, so Joyce is acting the part to improve her mood. It’s panel 2 of this strip, but the ways Sarah and Dorothy won’t let her change are different.
New book title in panel 5?
Ugh. I remember that lesson in health class. Thankfully in ours it wasnt about kissing and it was followed up with “this is why you use condoms” and not anything about purity. But I know exactly the purity training she’s referencing here and I both hate that it’s still so ingrained and also love the way she’s twisting it.
“his face kinda felt like my legs when I don’t shave them” isn’t something I expected to read this week lol
I like this conversation so far. Very funny, very Joyce, Dotty ain’t freaking out either and/or disapproving. Would be cool if it stayed that way.
I sort of want to see Joyce continue this line if thought, for the possibility of seeing another Joyce Freak-Out Face.
Trust purity culture to try to sabotage sexual happiness by manufacturing icky thoughts.
For all of Joe’s talk, he’s had what, two sexual partners? Just Roz and Malaya? And were they both a one time deal? Just wondering if Joe has technically had the least sex of the guys in the cast.
Not as long as Faz exists.
Canonically a couple of times with Roz, before she got fed up with his objectifying bullshit. There was also Penny.
It’s heavily implied he’s had a lot more – Danny talked during the Liz incident about being frequently sexiled, but we haven’t seen it.
I forgot about Penny.
Dorothy says Joe slept with as many girls as he has pairs of shoes, so 6 or 7.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/manliness/
“At least”
And that was just a week or two into the semester, so probably mostly his high school exploits.
There’s an old saying: “the ones who talk about it the most, do it the least.”
Dorothy loves Joyce so much. It’s so sweet.
Dorothy looks like someone who is happy to come back to a familiar space-
To me, Dorothy looks like the kind of person who was the school yearbook editor in high school, and was the Queen Beeyotch in the process.
Panel 7:
DOROTHY: Not yet.
New Slipshine up!
At last. Gravatar Roulette, I can rest in peace now.
If his face is too prickly, just squeeze it until he grows it out more.
Oh noooo no no nononono.
Between stubble-sexy and short-beard-sexy lies… The Itch.
If Joyce figures out STD:s exist, we can only hope Joe has been getting regularly tested, and can show clean paperwork.
By the same transitive property Joe has also kissed Becky.
She’s not wrong you know, about the germs.
Joe hopefully has regular STI tests done?
Even if he *does* use condoms every time, there’s usually stuff people don’t always pay attention to as much as condoms.
Are you trying to trigger our poor friend who’s just trying to figure out being a regular person with glasses and new medicines and diagnoses?
It was a kiss. Simmer down, now.
Joyce! How dare you say this in a universe where Becky exists!
Joyce should kiss girls who have kissed boys to be more straight.
it aint gay if you’re just evening out the statistics.
Becky: I sense a disturbance in the force.