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jamelle @jamellebouie.net ⋅ 12h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Zack Furness @punkademic.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Comicsbeat @comicsbeat.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Chris McFeely @chrismcfeely.bsky.social ⋅ 19h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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now wondering how FABULOUS Jocelyne will need to look for Joyce to STFU before opening her big mouth upon first sighting
(how FABULOUS would it be for the country to not be a trash fire again tomorrow)
Hoping dearly both come true /o/~
“dear Akira Toriyama, a horrific monster threatens all life on this planet. please speed this prayer across the world so we shall save countless innocent lives”
It’ll still be a trash fire, but it will just be smoldering instead of a blazing inferno if things go the right way.
We can but hope.
Now I’m picturing Jocelyne coming out to Joyce by dramatically yanking off a tear-away tracksuit, only to somehow reveal a head to toe red carpet-level glam look underneath.
I’m sorry but that one breakdancing Australian lady has ruined tracksuits for me.
After initial constination and disbelief, Raygun is now considered to be a certifed “Aussie Legend”. Horrifying but true, her failure was so epic we have embraced it as a success. She gave it a go, and that’s what counts.
Tracksuits are in no way ruined for us.
Meme of couple in bed
Wife: “I bet he’s thinking about other women.”
Husband: “Who the hell is the second-best breakdancer in Australia!?”
And Carla shows up out of nowhere to declare she’s still hotter.
we still got time for another dumpster fire on January 6 even if tomorrow goes well
Hell, why wait til Jan 6th? Start the civil war on NOV 6th. You people really don’t take Trump seriously enough.
Dude what the fuck?
I think they mean the red side may actually rise to organized violence if they are denied again, and thus a civil war would begin on the day after the election. Thing is, I’m pretty sure they have fewer supporters than last time, so it wouldn’t be a proper war; it seems more plausible to me that there might be scattered terrorist attacks instead, which isn’t exactly the same thing as a civil war. (Still entirely capable of ending a lot of lives and ruining a lot of survivors, though.)
I’m near a major population center, and a visibly nonwhite minority besides– so this is the kind of thing I have to think about. It ain’t great having to weigh the odds of (another) mass shooting in the transit system every time I go to work. If I’m lucky, it’s “just” (another) hate crime against someone who looks like me.
I’m glad I don’t live in the same world that some of you do. A civil war between urban and rural areas is not practical, particularly since those areas themselves are far from uniform. We will go through the process and abide by the outcome, no matter how stupid, and try again in four years. If there are a few violent nutters, a few people may die and the violent nutters will go to prison. Should Trump win, a 50-50 proposition, and decide not to leave office in four years, THEN a lot of people will die.
This is a very naive thing to say.
Indeed. “It can’t happen here” is a pretty common sentiment in places right before it happens there, and this administration would definitely get a lot of people killed before waiting out the 2024-2028 term just from cutting abortion access and forcibly silencing trans voices outlined in Project 2025. To say nothing of how this comic would be recategorized as pornography and outlawed as well, since it depicts same-sex relationships and portrays trans people as something other than enemies to kill.
That’s not hyperbole. Here’s the relevant excerpt from the Project 2025 document. Straight from the mouth of the party, this is what they want.
The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists. Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.
If there’s anything my now-dead grandfather learned the hard way in early 1930s Germany, it’s that “democracy” by itself can very easily describe a situation where three wolves and a sheep decide what’s for dinner.
That’s right. The most horrific fascist dictatorship in history was forged from a democracy. And it was by no means an isolated incident. What happened in Italy, Spain and the southern US folllowed the same pattern. Being aware of how this pattern happens and why is crucial in defending our rights and even our lives in situations like this.
Stay woke brothaz, and GODSPEED.
Wild how many terms they just made up on their own, like we’re all supposed to just go along with it.
Polle says: don’t be daft!
A civil war between urban and rural areas is absolutely possible. It won’t look like the US Civil War with armies and front lines and everything. It’ll look like Iraq or Syria – insurgents striking at soft targets.
I don’t think it’ll come to that. We may see some violence, but not on that scale and not sustained, but it’s certainly possible.
Legal actions to steal/overturn the election are far more likely. I’m really hoping for a decisive loss, since that’ll make it a lot harder
Urban and rural areas completely depend on each other. Rural areas require the equipment and products produced in urban areas. Without the rural areas, the urban areas don’t eat.
What’s your point?
They won’t have a Washington where Trump tells the police and national guard not to show up. If the trailer trash and the Gravy Seals show up they are going to meet the National Guard and the police. Not like last time. And a LOT of the ones who wound do this are still in jail or on probation.
Some of our electrical boogaloo domestic terrorist types have indeed been talking about just that.
Many of them are currently in prison.
Nowhere nearly enough of them.
If it ain’t all of ’em, it ain’t enough.
If Harris wins there’s going to be violent reactions, given the character of Trump’s supporters that’s inevitable, just a question of how much and how consequential it ends up being.
All I know is that my partner, who works in state government, and all of his cohorts in every department have been ordered to telecommute or otherwise work remotely through the end of the week. The governor isn’t expecting trouble exactly (so they say) but will be fully prepared if it occurs.
Best of luck Americans. I hope the women of the country save us all (humanity and the the biosphere) from a second Trump term. None of us can afford it.
At about 10:55 Central time, things are not looking good.
No, because this time the police and national guard will be there. They won’t get a safe protected event like Trump gave them.
Jocelyn will return,
But until then, we gotta do what we must to help her and thousands of other trans homies in her situation and even worse.
Giving our allies the energy to go out and VOTE!!!!
WE GOT THIS \o/
*plays “A Sign of Hope” from Dragon Ball Z Music CD on hacked muzak*
They’re in Indiana, “I think we should follow the law” isn’t a super inspiring message for people there
Trump in office means literally being made illegal across the country, with Trump personally promising – this isn’t even Project 2025, this is his own Agenda 47 subset, delivered in video segments by he himself, hosted on his own website – to detransition literally everyone.
As in go through the Federal records and change all of them back.
Harris is not a saviour, but Trump is literally an apocalypse.
(Which doesn’t even get into his other apocalypse promises of turning climate change all the way up, launching an ethnic purge against 15+ million people complete with concentration camps, and in these closing days of the campaign, promising to let RFK, Jr. “go wild” on public health including a ban on vaccinations.)
I mean, how many different apocalypses do you want? Because he’s bringing like… five or six.
Me? I’ll take “follow the law” over that just fine, thanks.
Get up stand up!
STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!
Get up stand up!
DON’T GIVE UP THE FIGHT!
I remember the like, five days where Harris felt like a shot in the arm and a candidate you could be actually optimistic about. That was nice.
It says something about how heinously awful the competition is that I’m still ultimately rooting for her despite everything.
Voting for the lesser evil is a long grudgingly-tolerated tradition in this country
I think that’s true in most democracies, sadly. Not quite to the same extent as in the States, but not many countries go as big as you guys do about anything.
I’m not really sure how widespread it is. Or if it is widespread, people have different ideas of evil. Like there are leftists grudging voting for Harris, despite thinking her nearly a fascist, and life-long Republicans voting for her despite thinking she’s practically a communist. Plus plenty in between who basically like her, despite having reservations about some things.
Hard to imagine a candidate who can satisfy everyone.
Yeah I’m super glad to be in Maine today, even in the 2nd district.
Something something worst form of government, except for all the others….
Best candidate in my lifetime.
And I liked Ike.
The FEDERAL LAW. Which DOES protect us, and she specifically said FEDERAL law.
That’s a misquote, she was referring to federal law and stated in the same breath that it’s a decision between a person and their doctor. Same framing as a lot of pro- gender affirming care organizations. She was framing it as a privacy issue against the invasiveness of anti trans stances. I don’t even like Copala but she’s objectively the right option here and the misinformation that’s been spread by like, coping green party Twitter “lefties” is really pissing me off as someone who isn’t American and can’t vote, but lives way too close to America for comfort and will be directly hit by whatever choices yall make
Also the same framing that’s long been used for abortion rights.
Yeah, it reads as a kind of “Harris is evil, so everything she says has to be seen in the worst possible light” approach.
It also should be considered that she’s been targeted by right wing ads claiming “Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners” based on her time as AG in California, so the “follow the law” part likely comes from that.
Strange how some of the recent attack ads make me feel more favorably about Harris while some of her recent support ads are about things like how she’s pro-cops and therefore make me less enthusiastic.
it’s very clear who those ads are targeting:
the white Christian majority in fly-over Jesus-land states
Already done a week ago!
(It’s amazing how easy NC makes voting from abroad. And there’s a chance my state might actually fucking flip.)
Let’s hope
I just voted this morning
Adding my voice to the encouragement to VOTE! Vote blue the entire ballot and make sure you check out any school board members—censorship hurts kids too.
Yes, please vote. As a non-American I can hardly tell you how absurd it feels to sit and not be allowed to do anything about the surging fascist tide looking to lift all fascist ships while 10% of the people who can do something tell me they won’t because it makes them feel bad.
This. I understand why Palestinian descendant Americans will have a hard time voting for Harris, she is still the lesser evil at the very least even regarding that situation.
Everybody in the US, please use your vote to protect us all.
Harris is still stuck wihh binding treaties with Israel. Trump will send in US troops to finish the job.
Eh, I can’t really blame anyone who can’t stomach voting for someone whose party is actively bankrolling a genocide, especially if they’ve got family in the region.
There’s a lot of people with a lot more power who would deserve a much greater share of the blame if Trump takes power again.
It hopefully won’t matter. I think he’s losing the election, the polling I’ve seen doesn’t look good for him.
ugh… this is what I get for having any optimism
Cannot stress how much no one should have expected a blue wave on Tuesday. That is not how it has ever worked, but the politicization of mail-in / absentee ballots only made the divide that much bigger ever since the 2020 election.
You have 0 reason right now to be depressed. We know nothing right now. We will not know anything until tomorrow at the very earliest, probably not until Thursday, and some states probably won’t be done even then.
Turnout was record-high. Efforts to throw suspected progressive ballots in the trash have been record high, loads of folks are having to cure their ballots at the last minute, there will probably be lawsuits over these last-minute shenanigans. Add to that that some Republican politicians have pushed for hand counts.
There is no reason for feeling doomed right now because we know nothing, and pundits are doing what they do every year, which is completely forget how all of this works.
Breathe. If there’s cause to be depressed, we won’t know for a while yet.
^^ this was all true and I stand by saying it.
Also absolutely beyond frustrating this morning to see people acting like he won on the issues, rather than “absurdly gerrymandered states”, “successfully making it harder to vote in Georgia specifically”, “throwing out thousands and thousands of legitimate votes for non-reasons”, “illegally purging voter registration (but the Supreme Court rubber stamped it because of course they did)”…
Right, somehow none of that turned out to be important, at the last minute it’s just that people really like one of the most unpopular presidents in history. It’s just that Harris didn’t run a good enough campaign. Screaming, lol.
Just as long as we blame the right people, it’s going to be fine.
“No, of course, what really matters is the blame.
Somebody to blame.
Fine, if that’s the thing you enjoy
Placing the blame
If that’s the aim
Give me the blame”
+1
Also, like, obviously it’s “more” the fault of conservative voters continuing to follow Trump off the edge of a cliff, but those people aren’t reachable, and it is just as frustrating if not MORE frustrating when you see someone refusing to vote for Harris out of a naive, misinformed desire to somehow boycott voting and force them to redo the whole election with more progressive candidates.
Gaza is not on the ballot. You cannot vote away what is happening there. All you can do with your vote or lack thereof is make things much, much worse there.
It’s darkly amusing to me to see sentiment swing from “Harris needs to be punished for not ” to “NO DON’T LET TRUMP WIN” as the actual election looms/concludes
Ain’t no concluding happening tonight. We probably won’t know until Thursday. With some of the wild “must count by HAND” demands certain politicians have pulled leading up to this election, even Thursday may be too soon.
To elaborate in a non-sarastic way, it’s completely pointless to assign blame. The only worthwhile thing blame ever does is blaming yourself for things you could have done different when things go wrong, so you can make it right next time.
Could I have done something different? Yeah, I could have tried more to reach people and convince them voting isn’t about morality or about punishing anyone, but about electing whoever you can extract the most leftist policy from. Could the people who didn’t vote for Harris have done something differently? I guess that’s up to them to figure out.
“I need to tell you before you hear it from dad”
So she decided to tell their dad first, wonder how that went
Based on the sudden urgency of the texts, I’m not sure she decided to tell him, seems like he may have found out accidentally to me
It also makes me wonder *who else knows*. Because we know Joyce has one evil brother.
Be good (again), Hank. -_-
I expect all the wrong words but most of the right sentiments.
So basically how Joyce will probably react
Hank would tell her gently. Joshua will not. That’s why he wants to get in first.
Nope. Sorry. Mixed up her family. My mind is elsewhere.
I forget, who’s Joshua again?
The deadname of Joyce’s soon-to-be-out-to-her trans Sister.
Jocelyne
Joyce is unaware that she is trans and is using the name she knows her as
Jocelyne, Joyce’s trans older sister.
To Joyce: her cool older brother who likes to tease her a lot but also frequently shielded her from their mom’s craziness while growing up. Also, he was one of the only people in the whole hometown who seemed cool with Becky being gay, for some reason…
To the audience: Joyce’s closeted trans older sister, who writes stories online under the name “Jocelyne”! We only know this because she stealthily shared her online handle with Ethan the first time Joyce’s family came over to visit, though. Up until now, she hasn’t come out to anybody else in the cast. That might be about to change soon, though…
Oh boy, it’s happening.
Ethan gave her the words. Let’s see if she remembers them in the moment.
”Ethan! You’re not gonna believe this, but…!”
It’d better be, I’ve waited years, if that rug gets pulled from under our feet I’m gonna scream.
You saw the storyline title the other day right?
you poor stupid babies
Who is this aimed at?
Who, me?
Famous. Last. Words. Joyce is setting herself up, and Sarah should’ve been named Cassandra – no news here.
“Unamicably Splitterated” though, I’m stealing it for personal use.
BEHOLD, THE UNAMICABLY-SPLITTERATE-INATOR!!!
that was Doof’s first inator. Luckily he was able to keep visitation rights with Vanessa
I’m still convinced he was a high school science teacher on summer vacation, and did his “evil” to get Perry to visit and hang out.
I’ve known many high school science teachers. Can confirm this is a possibility.
I would have assumed he used the unamicable-splitinate-inator to win emancipation from the father and mother who couldn’t even be bothered to show up to his birth.
[voice value=”dalek”]
SPLITTERATE!
SPLITTERATE!
SPLITTERATE!
[/voice]
SUCH a good Phrase! <3
Clearly we all know what the news is.
“Joyce, our missing brother has decided to reach out to us.”
Holy shit. Jordan has never even gotten further than a mention, yeah
Yeah, the comment about not hearing it from their dad first makes me think this isn’t a coming out thing.
Or it’s not meant to be, anyway.
It wouldn’t surprise me. The obvious news is so obvious that it’d work as a fantastic feint to disguise what the ACTUAL big news Jocelyne’s coming to tell is.
Yeah. Like we’re making fun of Joyce for just assuming what the news is, while doing the same. That’d be funny
I mean it’s either that, or that their grandad who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease has gotten worse. I don’t see anything else it could be really.
I mean, Jordan reaching out because their evil mother is gone is actually quite reasonable if Hank was “only” an enabler in the situation.
Especially if Jordan knows about the whole hostage situation.
Something with Jordan maybe? Feels like there’s only one way this can go though.
Jocelyn calls Joyce. Joyce answers “All hail Satan” and hangs up. Jocelyn mutters to herself, “I thought I was the big news.”
I really hope it’s this AND she comes out.
Hell, maybe part of it is Jordan is also gay or something.
It has been hinted at.
… what if Joyce has two trans sisters?
Joyce having a gay brother, a trans sister, and consistently working towards her bi awakening…
Means the only straight sibling is John the preacher, who’s fucking evil, and honestly? Checks out. Real as hell.
Consistently working towards her bi awakeninand AT THE SAME TIME maintaining character consistency by being so oblivious as to all signs of what’s coming.
Though having taken a second look. Well done with the wording of his texts. Just vague enough for her to reasonably misread.
time to stock up on popcorn
*grabs popcorn*
Honestly, $5 says the big secret is actually *not* going to be “Jocelyne” (or however its spelled), its going to be something else, because Willis enjoys blindsiding US as well.
I consider it to be 50-50.
Considering the election is today I really hope the US isn’t going to be blindsided.
I mean, I don’t know if the bad outcome here is a blindside. It’s already happened once.
Wait until it turns out it *is* Jocelyne, BUT she’s got herself a Sugar Daddy, and that SG is none other than . . . RUTH’S GRANDFATHER!
DUN DUN DUNNNNN!
That would be different.
Dramatic irony!
And also, Hank KNOWS???? We might not only get to see how Joyce reacts but also learn how their father took it??? I swear, every time a strip is about other characters during this arc, I’m going to be booing my computer screen.
Holy shit, I completely missed that! Not sure how, maybe I was just laughing too hard at the dramatic irony to notice anything else?
I’m really, really hoping against hope that coming out to Hank went well for her, but the fact that Jocelyne thinks Hank will convey this info to Joyce and wants to pre-empt him is… well, I don’t know what it is. Even if we assume Hank was totally cool, that’s still something that’s Jocelyne’s to tell the other people in her life, not anybody else’s.
I think it would be very funny if Joyce finds out Hank took it better than she did.
“What? But I’M supposed to be the progressive one tearing down the shackles of the familial past! I’m supposed to be reacting well to all this change!”
It would be quite unsurprising if Hank is simply not yet equipped to convey the news in the manner that Jocelyne would wish. He may not have the necessary vocabulary. He’s probably wrestling with his own emotions and would be a better messenger after a bit of reflection.
And it’s possible she wants to tell Joyce first and then her father. Hoping to gain an ally?
I think she might still be telling Joyce first, too. But I do think it could be a funny twist if Hank pulls the, “I’ve known for years,” card while Joyce is still reeling.
Joyce is not the best at keeping secrets, I’m thinking.
Joyce is, therefore, the last person Jocelyne should reveal this to, before going full-public about it.
Joyce might not be the best at keeping secrets, but she’s gotten pretty good at not talking to her parents.
The use of “Drama King” here, really laying it on thick.
(Not a complaint, far from it. It’s extremely important to emphasize where Joyce is on her sister’s identity so far as she knows.)
DddrrraaaaAAAAMMMAAAaaaa King.
Same thoughts. Also combined with “brother Joshua” (having both next to each other stands out to me), but “drama king” definitely makes it more noticeable.
Unamicably splitterated – she’s channeling becky on that one
This is setting up to be AMAZING… …ly awkward.
Appropriate gravatar is appropriate.
I thought Joyce & Joshua were on good terms.
They are. I think Joyce is just being a bit of a bratty little sister. Normal sibling stuff.
They are, she’s just being a little sister.
Their sibling dynamic of olden-times will hit a very sudden shift when (if?) Jocelyne updates Joyce on her identity.
Dramatic irony is a literary device-
– that occasionally occurs in reality.
Just not as often.
Hank knows? Oh Jocelyn, I hope you are okay.
If Hank did know, I almost suspect he’d greet it with resignation than anger at this point.
Which isn’t great but an improvement.
Considering I had one parent react with resigned disappointment when I came out… no it’s not necessarily improvement.
I’d expect it to be more of an “okay fine sure why not, just throw it on the pile of life changes that hit me in the last 6 months”.
More “I don’t have the bandwidth to fully process this so I’ll accept it at face value” than “disappointment”.
Yes, it’d be better if Hank was uncharacteristically supportive.
And I’m sorry to hear your parents weren’t. Everyone deserves the support of their family during this sort of thing and it always seems so rare to get it.
Better for Jocelyne certainly. Might work better narratively if Joyce is more supportive and helps Hank come round.
Especially with “before you hear it from Dad.” That feels like a “this was not understood optimally by the person on the other end” if there ever was one.
…That or you don’t want that information delivered secondhand and for someone to feel like you don’t love them, I have realized as soon as I wrote that.
It also means that she thinks that Hank would out her to Joyce. Which is also a bad sigin.
Some people just don’t get that they shouldnt.
I know, but all of it makes me worried about Jocelyne (is it Jocelyn or Jocelyne?).
The title is “The One Where Jocelyne Returns” so I’m guessing “Jocelyne”.
Possibly over-optimistic: “I want to be the one tell you because your stories of how Dad treated Becky really helped convince me to tell Dad.”
I think their father knowing is going to be less problematic than their mother knowing.
A sex act and a coming out in the same day? Joyce is going to implode
“Huh. It’s not Carla; it’s you. Dang, I gotta go apologize to Carla.”
*ensues scene of much hilarity and even more awkwardness
If I had a drink I would be taking a very long sip from it and saying nothing more.
Personally, I’m hoping Joycelyne came out to Hank or that Hank found her writing. Either one could be good, and I think the second one might actually be better.
(Honestly, I think Hank will be chill. At worst he’ll be overwhelmed and need time to process.)
Hank has, over the course of this comic, taken less and less time to come down on the correct side of reactions.
The father has a way of doing the right thing, eventually. Joyce is developing to be a good person, too. Both of them do ultimately arrive at humane mindset and right action.
I too ignore life changing news from my family
Dang Joyce got over the wangtouching fast!
I think this is the next day?
She’s a woman of the world now. Matured totally; reassessed everything in life through new lenses (literally and metaphorically both). She has ALL the wisdom. No need to reassess her old childhood sibling dynamics. Clearly no surprises will be forthcoming from _there_, right?
(*me settles back in comfy chair with snacks and drinks at hand)
YES
IT IS TIME
For fuck sakes Joyce, for once just choose to be safe rather than sorry.
I bet it’s about Jordan. Or maybe that John was found out to be faking being a missionary.
All of the above?
This should be interesting
One day she’ll learn to answer her phone but today was not that day.
Incidentally, one day her family will learn to leave a voicemail but this isn’t that day either.
Maybe Jocelyne wants to tell her in person.
I mean, she’s sending texts that say basically all she’d want to say in a voicemail – and Joyce actually read them, while she might not even listen to voicemail.
Maybe a voicemail would convey more urgency, but I wouldn’t bet on that working.
We’re gonna get to see another shocked Joyce face, aren’t we.
Oh that family is going to keep having drama.
Heh, the drama is far from over for that family.
Yeah, we STILL don’t know what’s going on with Jordan.
One comic circa December is just gonna be Carla leaning into the room and going “HA!” with the bubble filling the entire space.
After Dina winding up in a bank vault, Worst Girl can bend the comic enough for a proper Coyote moment.
Carla is not Worst Girl. That title goes to Alfie (of InCase fame). Carla is Cool Girl.
she is most certainly not cool, she’s a dork-ass loser
Not a fan of Carla?
Oh no, she told her dad? I hope it went well. You really never know.
My brother was my best friend until I came out to him, and even if he was vaguely okay with queer people, he cut me off. Meanwhile, my fundie dad was surprisingly not pissed about it. He’s still not the *best* at the right name/pronouns but that’s partially bc he can’t afford to slip up around my mom (who never needs to know until she dies)
I hope Joyce takes it okay. Her sister deserves the world
The way this is phrased implies that Hank found out, rather than being told.
Hmm yes perhaps this is true
Yeah, the urgency implies that Hank discovered this. Jocelyne not being sure how Hank will communicate it to Joyce, and Jocelyne not knowing anything (or at second hand at best) about Joyce’s new mentality changes.
The last we saw of Jocelyne, Joyce had told her how Hank had sided with Becky and supported her and Jocelyne seemed to be trying to gauge whether to trust Hank or not.
Hey Kesha, Chekhov called.
D-worded
Dicked. They got dicked.
Getting dicked is getting amicably splitterated.
Joyce, do yourself a favour and unassume what you’ve assumed
You know what happens when you assume, right?
Sometimes you’re wrong.
I’ve heard that.
Plot twist, it’s the news that Carol sent Snoop to the pound.
OH NOOOO!!!
:O
*insert Joyce Face gif here
Quick, everyone vote for Snoop in the patreon polls, I’m sure nothing bad will come of it!
Coincidentally, I found out today that my therapist needs some education about why it’s really important for trans kids to have medical support to avoid dysphoric puberty.
If she’s transphobic, I’ll simply fire her. In case she’s just ignorant, does anyone have some good academic/psychological papers to try to explain in her native language why “wait till 18” is awful and completely unreasonable and hostile as a policy?
What’s her native language? You didn’t specify that part.
The implication of “my therapist needs education in this field” and “can I find good academic psych studies to assist” is Chris Phoenix is trying to see if the therapist will reconsider their stance when provided with evidence and results in a manner they respect (as opposed to ethical logical reasoning, mass albeit anecdotal explanation, etc).
Given that, I think they mean psych papers are her “native language”.
Should be enough to say, ‘but what if they go through the wrong puberty?’ can be defeated with a mirror.
This is the best I have, though unfortunately it’s more along the lines of “does the use of a puberty blocker encourage transition on its own or simply provide time for an early puberty aged mind to settle on its preference?” It does come down on the side of Yes for the latter though. It’s also considered and balanced, which may be an issue if she’s ignorant and reactionary (or phobic and set against transition, of course), since she might suddenly start worrying about your bone density instead. But it demonstrates the utility of puberty blockers as a relatively reversible tool to permit exploration before the irreversible and potentially incorrect puberty hits them, actually shows a reduction in early rush transition vs not using any, and describes all compounds via their medical name and effects. I hope it helps!
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9793415/
Executive summary: her native language is the one they speak at PubMed Central.
I will stick my neck out a bit and say that “professionally conservative” can come across as “ignorant and reactionary” if the provider is not a good listener. That I think medical school tends to act as a filter* so that we see mostly conservative practice, and I for one prefer a practitioner who listens to my unique concerns and will research new findings but by default will go with established thinking, over one who hacks my mind or body because it’s exciting to try new stuff.
* I.e. the highly creative, experimental types may graduate but are encouraged not to leave.
Thank you – that’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
My personal recommendation is that you suggest to your therapist that she try to educate herself about the issue and see how she responds. I say this because I once had a transphobic therapist, and my first approach was to try to educate her, and it turned out to be a waste of effort (and printer paper).
Educating my therapist about autism was a frustrating experience I can only imagine bringing one up to speed on trans
Dysphoric puberty is a thing anyway. I’m as cis as they come, but I really wouldn’t have minded if my puberty had only begun at age 18. I simply wasn’t ready for it.
Joyce is being an arsonist right now.
IT’S HAPPENING!!!
I’m *so* hyped.
Wouldn’t be Joyce if she didn’t stare right at something and get the complete wrong idea about it.
Be fair. What is suggested by the preponderance of evidence that she has seen?
That Jocelyne has something new to tell her, because the divorce shouldn’t be a surprise at this point?
Her parents have been divorced for a bit now, long enough for her mom to sell the house, and Jocelyne has made it abundantly clear over the times they’ve talked together that she is more of a rebel than her or their brother. Joyce has every reason to not assume Joyce is as neurotic as she is.
But Joyce is famously willfully blind when it comes to things like this. And besides — it’s funnier this way.
Oh yeah, it’s absolutely in character for Joyce to like this, but it’s weird for commenters to assume she’s got no reason to think it could be something else.
This is going to be a horrendous train wreck, isn’t it.
Salivation among the commentariat intensifies.
It’s why we keep coming back.
Didn’t Jocelyn have a blog at one point? I tried to find the website.
It’s jocelynejbrown.com, but when I tried it, it just redirects to this website.
Damn this is one hell of an ominous foreshadow.
Not sure if that’s the right terminology, but I’m not sure if there’s a name for “the audience knows the thing that the character is lampshading hard for in the other direction”.
There has to be a TV Trope for that (there’s one for everything), but I don’t have time to disappear down that rabbit hole to go looking for it right now…
The TVTrope for it is also just “Dramatic Irony.”
I think that’s dramatic irony.
This is correct.
Former English teacher here of a couple decades. Yeah, totally “dramatic irony”. The Ancient Greeks loved that stuff. BUT, they had the Chorus. We don’t see that there. Which means that WE are the Chorus.
Sarah is the solo Chorus.
Seems Joyce is also going into the culinary arts cos she is gonna eat those words
D’oh! Of course, I should have remembered this was coming up and realised why we got the well-meaning fail with Carla recently.
DUN DUN DUNNNNNN
DUN DUN
aaaaaaa it’s happening
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUN….!
Let’s think this through. The writing has been on the wall since before the timeskip. And how long ago was it Carol told her they did get divorced a week ago? At least two or three weeks? Why does she think Josh thinks she “wouldn’t” know about it? Why does she think she has to be the one to come and tell her about it in person? Why does she think she has to tell her before Dad does? Just for the drama? Boy, the apple of presumptiousness didn’t fall far from the tree did it.
I guess she’s just putting off talking to her sibling and they usually only ever talked about parents before, like when she had that phone call asking if she thought /asked if she considered their Mom a “good person”
Tho i imagine the mom still wouldn’t know or so otherwise she would’ve blurted it out to joyce, as opposed to like, disowning jocelyne and like never bringing their name up again in front of joyce
Also, I think you’ll find that Joyce talked to her mom six days ago in comic. So the news isn’t that old.
….oh no. This is why Joyce just learned about Carla, isn’t it.
Oh boy! Foreshadowing!
A good divorce can be really nice for a family. Look, Jocelyne was able to come out only after Carol left the house.
If you need to remodel your house to open a closet door, the house was badly designed in the first place.
She can say fuck but not divorce. Lmao.
There’s a country song that has to literally spell it out.
The eyebrows in this strip are a fuckin roller coaster.
I’m so glad that, even with all of Joyce’s character growth, we still have these perennial Dumbing of Age moments. Also, incoming Jocelyne content! Carla is great and can do no wrong, but it’s also nice to have a grounded, more reserved woman for contrast!
I just really want to see Joyce’s acceptance as her looking at Jocelyne with wide, teary eyes and say “I…I have a SISTER!!!!” and then hug her.
Do you, tho
Willis you magnificent bastard
It’s interesting that she tolld Hank before Joyce. Curious othat went, and why she chose to (I’m not saying it was a bad decision, just that Joyce seems lower pressure).Might have not wanted Joyce to have to keep anlther secret.
“I want you to hear it from me,” is something I say when the information has gotten out unintentionally and I am doing damage control.
Yup.
If Hank stayed with her for an extended period of time through the divorce, he may have found something she didn’t want him to.
Does she know chat
Ok, Willis, now you’re just taunting us.
Oh the Joyce Face we can expect when she realizes what’s happening will be truly ponderous
Willis getting Joyce to climb up that ladder before the faceplant
oh i love her so. god i dont miss being this age. I think these are the main two emotions this strip generates, besides ‘Popcorn eating glee’ and ‘DAMN YOU WILLIS’.
Oh! It’s finally happening!!!
I am giddy with excitement
(Obligatory Damn You Willis)
Wait for it.
Oh my Cheese I am so excited!
Intentional hand position and mouth like that in the first panel. Yeah I see you.
Guess Joyce hasn’t seen the storyline title…
I don’t think it’s been too long to where she’d be that far ahead on HRT progress, but it would be interesting if Jocelyne showed up looking more ‘feminine’ than joyce (though I imagine it would be a nice sisterly bonding moment to go clothing shopping together)
Next up, Joyce with her mouth wide open and an increasingly higher pitched “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?” coming out of it.
Joyce making an ass out of
u and meherself, to a painful degree.And I can’t imagine what Jocelyne did to be referred to as “dumb” like this.
She got born as a big sister. Inherently dumb to her little sister. It is the nature of things.
lmao Joyce, just wait until he tells you he’s gay
We already know that’s not it.
It is most definitely more gender related than sexual preference.
well, we don’t know what sexuality jocelyne is but it’d be interesting if she was also ace like Carla for the parallels.
… Not all trans women are ace o_o
That’s a whole new sentence.
No, no, I know. I worded this badly. Just… Yes, many trans women are ace, and two ace trans women in a comic isn’t too much.
But she doesn’t need to be just like Carla. She’s already a tall and bespectacled girl Joyce looks up to, though more begrudgingly (because sisters gonna sister.)
i know? I was saying ‘also’ but it would be amusing if they both got along well enough for carla to be like “Wow can’t believe you two are actually related?”
Narrator: She did not know what it was this time.
Maybe Jordan heard about the divorce and is cautiously returning to the periphery of their family.
i’ve been waiting for this moment for SO FUCKING LONG THANK YOU WILLIS
Ah yes. What a drama “king”.
Joyce your brother (as far as you know) who you are on good terms with has been trying to reach out to you for weeks (I think, it’s hard to keep track sometimes), just talk to them.
LOL hopefully Jocelyne stops by to say hi to ethan first, although i guess he doesn’t know that he said the ‘sister’ speech to carla lol
I do kind of want her to see Ethan and tell him that she’s going to come out to Joyce, and then Ethan can be like, “Wait, then who did I give her advice about?”
Imagine there being a montage of Joyce saying “you’ll always be my sister” to any girl she considers vaguely queer/among the lgbt community lol
I’m worried for Joyce. Hearing/seeing this revelation so soon after finding out about Carla and touching a dong might make her brain explode Scanners-style.
In other news: Sarah’s outfit is quite nice today.
it’s a cute bird? pattern, tho it would’ve been hilarious if she wore diff variations of a smiley /happy face kinda shirt or so each time and not forcing her smile but still saying ‘positive’ things lol