Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Hemlock
Josceline Fenton
A witch accidentally marries a monster, and now she and her familiar has to navigate life around her monstrous husband and her even more terrifying in-laws.
Shaderunners
Alex Assan, Lin Darrow
A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
All Known Alternatives
Karolina 'Kajotko' Jankiewicz
Akane has only one way to get back home: collect the 42 keys to parallel worlds. Eri and Ben are just trying to get through the summer before university. When a magical key turns up in an old spare set, all three are forced to change their plans and fast.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
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They wanted the strikethrough to end after “like”, but missed the “/” that indicates a closing tag. Browsers tend to try their best when given invalid HTML, so it automatically closed and then opened a new <strike> element, which… looks like you never closed it.
The Newspaper reported that they escalated. I assume that to escalate they would need to start but clearly my intuition is shot and what I thought were plot hints were nothing so who knows?
I’m imagining that things have been proceeding, the protesters have scrupulously followed the school’s guidelines on peaceful petitioning for redress of grievances, the onlookers are quiet, the administration is keeping its cool, the police see nothing alarming, and the newsies are losing interest because it’s been days of this kumbaya stuff with no heads busted.
Hey, in a universe of infinite possibility it’s gotta happen sometime.
That’s plausible, except for the “the police see nothing alarming” part. Cops are the jumpiest, most paranoid people I’ve ever seen. They could see a friendly game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and interpret that as a violent altercation. A musical instrument looks like a weapon to them, regardless of shape. A hacky sack is a bomb. Snacks are guns. They live in a world where everyone is right on the edge of murder.
Well sometimes. When it’s people they’re already suspicious of. Like black people or protesters.
Other times, they’ll casually overlook the obvious signs – like when a nice white boy from a good family is accused of sexual assault.
Or the friendly and trustworthy neo nazi group exercising their rights to publicly organize while fully armed with automatic weapons, torches, and nooses. That’s fine. Nothing dangerous going on there.
It would be cool to see her at the protest. But I feel like Dorothy’s style is less to participate in the protest, and more to write a sternly worded letter to the university management who make decisions about investments, or whatever. (Of course, Dorothy’s style may be cramped by the fact that she’s depressed or at least not feeling like herself right now)
Jocelyn’s reason for being on campus is to join a student protest that is a paper-thin remask of the campus protests against Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. The goal of the protest is to get the university to stop doing business in Fauxisrael.
I’ve been hoping against hope that Bulmeria isn’t about Israel/Palestine, which is a serious ongoing trauma. It’s not okay. Make it anti-trump, please, for the love of anything you wish.
Yeah, I know.
I’ve been reading Willis comics since I was a college freshman myself. Maybe it’s silly to be so attached to a comic, but, it’s been like the one constant in my life for over 20 years.
And I was so excited about Jocelyne, who was the most like me.
It’s gonna be so sad when she’ll shit all over my triggers such that I’ll need to stop.
Ohh. THAT’S why he pulled up the music on Joyce’s phone, rather than letting her do it. It wasn’t just comedic “how does she not know yet” it was DELIBERATE. Willis, I salute you.
He also used his emotional intelligence to get laid and apparently leave a trail of mostly good times rather than broken hearts.
The being awful was in part a self sabotage against emotional attachment. Be the worst version of himself up front so noone caught feels.
Which was so successful that Not Even Joyce could rose-coloured-glasses her way past it. Joyce at her Most bull-headed unreality manifesting
This reminds me of the difference between who we are in different groups.
Old Joe in a group of women? Emotionally intelligent, high social tactical insight, charming, open and honest about what he wants. Leaves a trail of happy experiences.
Old Joe in a group of men? Extremely emotionally restricted, tries to get others laid by giving them tips. Doesn’t realize that his emotional intelligence and honesty are large factors, thinks it is all about his social tactical insight and charm. His list is an attempt to bond with what he thinks are all men so he can then share his social tactical insight.
That’s a really rose tinted picture of Old Joe in a group of women. He was open about what he wanted, but he used little social tactical insight or emotional intelligence. Telling strangers how much he wants to fuck them isn’t either of those and that’s how old Joe interacted with women.
Even before the list got out, he’d pissed off more women in the cast he’d interacted with than he’d charmed. No one actually liked him, except Joyce, who already had him off his usual script and even she had to tell how awful his usual script made her feel.
photo aside, wonder if joe was told by becky, ‘friendly rival’ act aside that walky said something like ‘does joyce act like she wants to go down on every girl or just dorothy’ lol
I was gonna say. Honestly it’s NOT that big a leap: he went from “I know what to say to girls to get them into bed” to “I’m not afraid to talk to girls and it turns out the same set of skills I used to figure out how to get them into bed also gives me insight into what they’re actually thinking”. It’s not a leap which is often made, but the potential is there.
And reflecting that the comic is posted on 1st March, which is a traditional day to celebrate Wales and Welsh culture as it’s Dydd Gŵyl Dewi / St David’s Day. He’s the patron saint of Wales but it’s mainly a secular thing these days.
Oh, interesting, because there was also an actual British parody of Friends that was also called Chums, as part of some Ant and Dec show the title of which escapes me. All I remember is the voiceover saying “Chums is filmed before anyone can stop us.”
Also “when the rain falls on Wales” is a great metaphor for “always and forever”, so kudos to the 30 Rock writers there.
Or he just paid attention to how Dorothy acts around her. But seing the pictures is probably what sent him from wondering about it to asking her about it.
Joyce did tell him she was sending one, and even took a “panty pic” in front of him to send him. So he at least has reason to believe its a genuine mistake on Joyce’s part and she’s lucky that the person she sent it to wouldn’t show it to anyone. Dorothy’s insistence on sending pics back and her general possessiveness over Joyce, however, would give Joe reason for concern. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/photo/
I laughed loud and repeatedly. I expect to laugh from it a couple more times out of context and everytime I find a context where I can legitimately use it. Thanks!
are we sure his full name isn’t Joe “Tribbiani” Rosenthal
must I read tomorrow’s strip early on Patreon, we all know Dorothy’s gonna deny the accusation.
she’ll gonna deny even more the lewdie pic…
she could deny aiding Joyce achieve bliss…
At the part in Jesus Christ Superstar where Mary sings about how Jesus said Peter would do that, and wondering how he knew, I’ve always been like:
Have you met Peter? This was completely predictable and unsurprising.
The truth is that I was surprised that Joe said that, I mean, chaos is normal in this comic, but to get to the point and not increase the problem in the long term…honestly very good
Now the real uncertainty is the type of response and reaction that Dorothy will give.
wait hold on wait. I know im gonna get a reputation here but like . . . what if we yurify JOE? Trans Joe. I want it, I need it, it wouldn’t fix anything but that’s the best part
1.) I love Joe’s bluntness and how he isn’t here out of irritation or “wtf” but because he’s genuinely concerned about Dorothy (not that I expected the former, I just Like This Interaction.)
2.) I’m really worried that he deleted the text on Joyce’s phone and that’ll be a thing. It doesn’t feel like something he’d do, but I just feel like Joyce would’ve mentioned it by now if she saw it. I dislike that type of drama specifically and if my favorite ship sinks because of that, I will be very upset.
3.) I also really hope Joe doesn’t do the opposite and try to martyr this relationship because Dorothy fixes people as opposed to breaking them (as his perception that he struggles with himself).
I just want this to be a nice, good heart to heart between two longtime acquaintances who never really got on but have both grown beyond what they were. Again, I don’t think any of the above will happen/has happened, I’ve just been anxious about it for a while lol.
Fwiw I expect Joyce looked at it, missed all the signs, told him about it and fully was like “just gal pals doing pal things!” And he caught all the context Joyce missed
Not that I know what it’s like to be a deeply repressed queersexual raised in a toxic homophobic religion or anything
Oh, thank god. There have been hints for a while that Joe might have seen the booby pics. Even worse, there’s been hints that Joe might be holding onto Joyce’s phone so she doesn’t see the booby pics. (Not cool.) And I’ve been terrified that this was going to turn into a sitcom-y “JOYCE! HAVE YOU BEEN SEXTING WITH DOROTHY!! HOW COULD YOU!!” “JOE!! HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING THROUGH MY PHONE AND THEN HIDING IT FROM ME!! HOW COULD YOU!!” “GRAAAGGGHH!!” “GRAAAGGH!!!!” And then Dorothy walks in, and Joyce goes “DOROTHY!!! HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JOE AND HIS PRESUMABLY AMAZING DONG WITH YOUR CONFIRMED AMAZING RACK!!! OUR FRIENDSHIP IS NOW OVER!!!!” And Dorothy tries to mend the friendship with an escalating series of comedic hijinks, but it’s not enough and Joyce runs out of the room and gets hit by a car, so Joe can then cry at her funeral over the relationship he could have had if he had just trusted his girlfriend more.
And, like, I love drama, but Joe has been getting more and more mature, and I really, REALLY don’t want to read a storyline of him hiding information from Joyce out of petty jealousy or a story of Joyce and Dorothy fighting with each other over a misunderstanding. These characters care about each other, I don’t want to see them lash out at each other. I want to see them try to figure out how to deal with their feelings.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong in tomorrow’s strip, but this feels less like a confrontational “Why are you sending my girlfriend boobs?” and more like the understanding place I feel Joe is right now: he knows Joyce is into him, but he’s also seen a lot of signs that Dorothy might be into Joyce (mentions of a mutual masturbation, the new “booby” incident) and he’s giving her an opportunity to talk about this. Because he does care about Dorothy and he wants to figure out what this is. (Although, if he’s stealthily been keeping Joyce from her phone, that’s not okay. I reeeeaaally hope this story isn’t going in that direction. Maybe he’s just been doing that temporarily as he tries to figure out Dorothy’s side of things? Would that be better.)
I also love these characters AND would like to see them lash out at each other because that would lead to fun character analysis (see my love and constant Dunkin of Jennifer)
I’m honestly glad to see things turn out this way not just because it proves Joe has done the work and grown from how we first saw him (and the fact that he would come to Dorothy like this shows for all intents and purposes that Joyce was right in putting faith that Joe had changed).
Also glad that you touched on Joe caring about Dorothy. He’s known Dorothy a long time..Longer in fact than he’s known Joyce. I feel with that length of time, you get to know certain tics and tells. Joe might have had an inkling all the way back to that drunken picture Dorothy and Joyce took. Something along the lines of him remembering Dorothy used to look that happy around Danny for a time, and Walky at one point or another…But every so often he can catch Dorothy positively glowing in Joyce’s presence.
Wow, I’ve never seen a really fascinating comment, I’m serious, yes, chaos is the daily life of the comic, but if we take into account everything the characters have dealt with.
Yes, there are moments where you say “hey, they’ve already been through a lot, it’s better to solve it by talking”
Joe probably saw the photos and that’s why he got to the point.
Joyce/Dorothy is not to my liking because no matter what, Dorothy is the only one who is really harmed and taking into account the downward spiral in which she seems to continue, that would have made it even worse.
Oh my, I love Walky/Dorothy and I just hope Walky doesn’t get hurt.
I think / hope that your concerns about people getting hurt are misplaced.
Joyce can be in two relationships – One with Joe and one with Dorothy.
Dorothy can do the same with Walky and Joyce.
No one needs to be break up with anyone or even be left out! These can be “V” relationships, rather than triads. Which means Dorothy and Joe can mostly ignore each other, as can Joe and Walky, if that’s what they choose.
You make a good point in between all the shape jokes.
This makes me realize I don’t have the mental stamina or self reflection skills to handle a relationship of any form, even a monoamorous relationship with myself.
Or should that be egoamorous? Depends on whether you consider yourself as a single being or if your self reflection is advanced/distorted enough that you can see yourself as The Other.
This just gave me the oddest mental image of someone breaking up with their hand, and the hand like, tearfully putting on a glove like an overcoat and storming out of the apartment.
Yeah, like, I worry sometimes that I come off as being anti-polyamory when I’m not (I have characters that I’ve written into such relationships and my mom has two husbands and two boyfriends). 99% of the time when someone says a situation would be solved by polyamory, it’s involving characters who lack the maturity and communication skills to make it work. Like, most love triangles in fiction are at the point where the hinge absolutely should not do polyamory because they’ve already shown to have the communication skills of an empty billboard. Just because it’s the easy looking solution does not mean it’s actually an easy solution.
[That said, I think Joe could make it work. Joyce could make it work with a little more growth, not much. I do not believe Dorothy or Walky are healthy or stable enough right now to handle it.]
Joyce is honestly the weakest link. She’s barely emotionally ready to bang *herself* let alone handle bisexuality being an option.
Then there’s unpacking of her relationship with Becky, her sexual trauma from the assault that we’ll never actually see being handled, and her mental hang ups from being raised in a cult…
And then the sheer WTFism of Dottie being her College Mom… Who also now wants to bang her, and had torpedo’ed every relationship she’s been in that we’ve seen, and possibly suggested cheating.
Who ALSO has unresolved anger issues at Joyce’s current boyfriend, the poorly-thought-it-out ethical manslut who has major trauma about infidelity.
And then there’s Walky… Who would honestly probably be fine with everything.
Solve all of your un-acknowledged/examined/confronted emotional issues by jumping into a sexual relationship! (aka “just fuck already”)
Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. But shippers wanna see it, so…
Joyce has trusted him to screen other things on her phone, so this isn’t very transgressive. They have to navigate their boundaries, and they communicate well.
Plus Joe clearing things up with Dorothy first might be the smart thing.
Also, Joyce is sometimes bad about checking her messages. Even if Joe told her she got a text, she might not have gone back and read it yet. The funny thing to happen would be for Joyce to send Dorothy more lewd pix in the middle of this conversation.
It’s a strikingly mature turn for Joe. He is now doing the emotional work of looking into a friend, testing her mental state, and asking difficult questions that might be something to avoid in the future. And not just bombing it on purpose so he doesn’t have to be vulnerable.
Maybe I’m just overly trusting, but I never got the impression Joe was keeping Joyce away from her phone. (This mean to be comforting but I know tone can be weird.)
I mean I sorta figured if it came from anywhere, it’d originate from a mutual affection for- and with- Joyce. it’s been mentioned elsewhere that a big reason for Dorothy’s distaste for Joe stems from her not being around for all of his character development. she’s never actually seen him being a better person, which I reckon would change if they spent enough time around Joyce (and by extension each other)
but enough mechanics discussion back to our regularly scheduled OH MAN
She DID decide that actually, she’s okay with Joe and Joyce after seeing/hearing them together. Whatever her personal thoughts on Joe (and there are many thanks to his years of being ‘my boyfriend’s sleazy gross best friend he refuses to let go of’) she at least realized and recognized that Joe is legit and seriously into Joyce. Their mutual love of Joyce is pretty much the door they would have to go through in order to become real friends.
And I think Joe WOULD be a good real friend for Dorothy, now. He knows her really well, he’s well off the objectification train, she’s very disconnected from Danny which would have been a complication earlier, and Joe is intelligent, perceptive, and doesn’t ‘require’ parenting from Dorothy.
So like.
I’m SUPER curious how Dorothy’s going to respond to this? ‘Cuz I’m not 100% sure if even SHE necessarily knows the answer, even if she might initially think she does, and that makes this a veeeeeeery interesting conversation for Joe Specifically to initiate.
even if she does admit it to herself after idk if she’d be talking a bout it too much with joe, or even if she was willing to be honest with joe i can imagine her being like “so what/it doesn’t matter b/c i wouldn’t pursue joyce even if you werent’ dating her”
“To a certain extent. I’m not too fond of the more outre formal experiments that he’s most famous for, but Dubliners is one of the best short story collections of the 20th century.”
Love the fact that Joe is asking it to her in a respectful serious way. But I don’t think Dorothy will answer him. Not only because she don’t like him, but because is very probable that she doesn’t have an answer or is avoiding thinking about it.
i mean i would hope he isn’t flippant/wouldn’t make a joke about it tho i can totally imagine someone like walky being like “i know ur into my gf, thanks for not making a move on her b/c you’re objectively a better catch” or so in his snark
Everyone’s going on about the last panel, but I think panel 6 may actually be my favorite. The almost Sarah-like bluntness, calmly delivered because it’s not the main point, but he’s still not going to take your bullshit, Dorothy, he knows you too well for it to work on him.
Can’t help hoping that, in addition to resolving Checkhov’s Sext, this could produce an angry exchange that also begins to unpack Dorothy’s curiously personal animus against Joe.
I guess it’s hard to accept /believing about ppl changing esp if you had a bad impression of them at the start, like the line billiefer told joyce about how ppl are never gonna let you forget the person you were or so
And by “bad impression of them at the start”, we mean “known them to be a creep for years”.
It also helps when you’ve got more of a reason to think they’ve changed than that your naive friend has a crush on them. When Dorothy was still really opposed to them getting together, Joyce didn’t even try to explain that Joe had changed or talk about the connection they’d been building for months. Instead, she denied liking his butt, which wasn’t exactly reassuring about her rational assessment of the situations.
was he a creep tho? I mean the ‘list’ thing wasn’t exactly the best reflection of himself but other than that i imagine in high school he was more of a ‘gigolo/male slut’ as opposed to someone who say, ‘pressured/seduced innocent unpopular ‘nerdy/ugly girls’ more likely to say yes/kinda girls who would normally never get anyone’s attention at that age’ or stealing girls that already had boyfriends; i imagine he also didn’t have a scenario like what jen/alice had to deal with
Yeah, he was a creep. Not as bad as Chester – not a rapist. He presented himself as worse than he was in many ways, but his whole thing was objectifying women and interacting with them only to get sex. Even in college, he’d basically alienated most girls in the cast. Even before the list came out.
Joyce had to have a whole talk with him about why his thing was still bad and harmful, even if he was doing it to avoid hurting women by cheating on them like his dad.
It’s his whole character arc. Let him have development rather than pretending he was good all along.
Keep in mind that Joe is not such a creep that he was being rejected by every woman he meets. He had a very active sex life, and had no problem finding partners. Women like Robin’s sister (forgot her name sorry) who also want a purely sexual relationship didn’t really have an issue with Joe.
Just because we haven’t seen Joe’s many sex partners doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Other characters have commented on it.
Mm. Word of God can’t make anybody ship something they don’t, nor is it likely to make most people stop shipping something they do.
But when a ship has been teased enough (even if that teasing was tongue-in-cheek), being told firmly and unambiguously that the ship is never going to happen…
Well, speaking from experience, it can really sour your enjoyment of the ship’s dynamic.
Like. S’not gonna make anyone think this whole arc was less obviously gay, but it might put some people off reading the strip. Not because they “lost” the “ship war”, but because it might feel, suddenly, less like they’ve been being fed fun little treats, and more like they’ve been the butt of an unkind joke for a long time.
Not saying Willis owes anyone anything, but addressing it this directly at least creates an expectation that it will get an honest examination, instead of being brushed off as a joke.
(imho, it did start as a joke — making Joyce say accidentally suggestive things is always funny — and perhaps a bit of a loving homage to Parks & Recreation. But by the point where Daisy was telling Joyce outright that if she doesn’t make good on the romantic tension between Julia and Doris, it might feel queerbait-y, I think Willis was proooooooobably planning on at least having something one-sided where, for example, Dorothy comes to the realization that her feelings aren’t completely platonic? Either out of anxiety that the dynamic WAS becoming bait-y, or because they’d decided it would be an interesting thing to explore.
I mean ‘3 way aside’ i wouldn’t be surprised/half expect joyce to say something like she’d be comfortable if dorothy was in the room for her during the experience
I wouldn’t be surprised if Dorothy is bi but doesn’t know it yet. Either that or she learned how to behave towards other girls she’s friends with from a girl who’s bi or a lesbian.
So, how poorly do you think Becky will react upon learning that Joyce is bi, and the issue is that they were too close at a young age and the Westermark Effect served to torpedo that relationship?
As I recall, they’ve figured out that the Westermark Effect is from seeing someone being cared for by your mother at a young age. So if Carol and Bonnie did a lot of babysitting exchanges, maybe.
i would hope she woudl be fine with it considering she has an awesome gf now and they’re more like ‘family’ at this point
tho i think she did half joke early at the beginning like “good thing you’re not gay b/c i’d roast you for being in to scrawny nerds” or something like that
a) how have i been reading these damn comics for like 13 years and THIS is the one i miss the night it comes out (i miss a lot the night they come out but still im mad)
b) how is this not the biggest comment section ever
The White House just announced plans to go after funding for libraries and museums. The Cartoon Art Museum runs on a tight budget, and losing the modest support it gets from federal grants would be devastating. Now's a great time to show CAM and other small museums your love.
www.cartoonart.org
Shaenon K. Garrity@shaenon.bsky.social ⋅ 11d
Have you enjoyed my candy lady thread? I am pleased to announce that you can get a phone wallpaper and ebook for the price of any donation, with all proceeds going to the Cartoon Art Museum.
www.shaenon.com/candyladies/
Researchers showed clips of the podcast to survey respondents and had them share their thoughts. 57% expressed a negative reaction to his agreement with Charlie Kirk on "woke" language and 63% had a negative reaction to his comments on trans athletes
The great thing about writing for a Transformers Wiki is occasionally getting to write sentences like "Megatron has a theory that he can attract young men by wearing cat ears and ending his sentences with meow." because it's a thing that happened in a cartoon once.
Gavin Newsom sees 10-point net drop in favorability since launching his podcast. Survey finds "the podcast only made 13% of voters have an improved perception of the Governor, with 26% saying that it harmed their perception."
today in #9ChickweedLane I learned we should ask our parents completely normal, not fucked-up questions like "hey what was sex with the other parent like"
So many opportunities for a good old-fashioned booing
paulaptb@paulaptb.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Schumer begins a book tour this week.
Mon 3/17 7pm Central Library, Baltimore
Wed 3/19 Politics & Prose, DC 7pm
Thursday 3/20 at the Weizman, DC 12:30PM
Sunday 3/23 · 3pm Moss Theatre Santa Monica, CA
Mon 4/21 MJCCA Atlanta 7:30PM
Line the sidewalks. (List may not be complete)
These are the same Senate Democrats who lectured the base for years about the importance of preserving the filibuster so it would still be available when Democrats were in the minority
new from me: I wrote about the mess that just went down in the Senate, where Democrats under Chuck Schumer look disjointed and rudderless in the face of Trump's agenda, especially compared to their House counterparts
The most annoying thing about this cowardice by the book-touring Dems is that MAGA will lose. A full-throated opposition will win. This administration is brazen and corrupt, but they're overconfident and incompetent and not people to run away from. We'll win, even if we have to do it ourselves.
today in #9chickweedlane i've learned that the fetishization of post-marital hanky-panky has resulted in the straining of everyone's mental health, #somehow
paulaptb @paulaptb.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Winter’s Politics
@winterspolitics.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
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Joe marches in like a lion and out like a lesbian
…wait no
[coincidentally, found a game that is literally unplayable without the lesbians lol]
Joe marches in like a lion and out
likes a lesbianI don’t understand html tags, and again wish you could edit comments
What were you intending to write?
They wanted the strikethrough to end after “like”, but missed the “/” that indicates a closing tag. Browsers tend to try their best when given invalid HTML, so it automatically closed and then opened a new <strike> element, which… looks like you never closed it.
Do you see what you did?!?
I’d like to hear more about this game. Much like high school, I’m missing the lesbian content.
there’s a link to it?
if you meant specifically about the lesbian content, turning off the “Lesbian Toggle” disables the playable characters XD
yay lesbians!
At least she didn’t gasp in shock, or Joe might be taking her to the campus medical center to have that highlighter removed from her throat.
Might not be too bad. At least it’d not be Joe lodged in her throat.
Tomorrow’s strip might show that highlighter lodged in _Joe’s_ throat.
Joe’s throat? If he’s lucky. Or unlucky. I’m not judging.
Animal Crossing shocked sound.
Oh we’re going there! Good!
Yay! I was excited to see what came of that phone buzz. The cutting away made it extra enticing because it was definitely going to be something.
someone FUCKING SAID IT! ~<3
Two steps forward, one step back there, Joe.
At least SOMEONE knows she needs therapy.
Aw I was wrong. She’s not at the protest. She’s just bisexual brooding.
Has the protest actually started yet?
The Newspaper reported that they escalated. I assume that to escalate they would need to start but clearly my intuition is shot and what I thought were plot hints were nothing so who knows?
They might still be plot hints they are just not happening right now.
So no heads are getting busted at the moment?
I’m imagining that things have been proceeding, the protesters have scrupulously followed the school’s guidelines on peaceful petitioning for redress of grievances, the onlookers are quiet, the administration is keeping its cool, the police see nothing alarming, and the newsies are losing interest because it’s been days of this kumbaya stuff with no heads busted.
Hey, in a universe of infinite possibility it’s gotta happen sometime.
That’s plausible, except for the “the police see nothing alarming” part. Cops are the jumpiest, most paranoid people I’ve ever seen. They could see a friendly game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and interpret that as a violent altercation. A musical instrument looks like a weapon to them, regardless of shape. A hacky sack is a bomb. Snacks are guns. They live in a world where everyone is right on the edge of murder.
Well sometimes. When it’s people they’re already suspicious of. Like black people or protesters.
Other times, they’ll casually overlook the obvious signs – like when a nice white boy from a good family is accused of sexual assault.
“Nice” of course meaning “wears brand-name clothes and doesn’t look too ethnic”, and “good family” meaning “family with a certain amount of income”.
Something like that, thought rural “good old boys” can pass the test too.
Or the friendly and trustworthy neo nazi group exercising their rights to publicly organize while fully armed with automatic weapons, torches, and nooses. That’s fine. Nothing dangerous going on there.
I think she’s making protest signs
Nope never mind. There’s an open textbook.
Well… It is Dorothy. Maybe her protest signs have citations.
But does she use APA, Bluebook, or MLA for her citations?
(this is a very important question that i must have answers to)
Every citation will be presented in all three formats.
Damn, that’s gonna require some _big_ signage.
It would be cool to see her at the protest. But I feel like Dorothy’s style is less to participate in the protest, and more to write a sternly worded letter to the university management who make decisions about investments, or whatever. (Of course, Dorothy’s style may be cramped by the fact that she’s depressed or at least not feeling like herself right now)
Best approach for her would probably be to play journalist and write a positive article about it for the paper.
I have forgotten the protest. Please remind me?
Jocelyn’s reason for being on campus is to join a student protest that is a paper-thin remask of the campus protests against Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. The goal of the protest is to get the university to stop doing business in Fauxisrael.
Timeline weirdness again. Now campus protests would likely be against the latest Trumpian crisis.
I’ve been hoping against hope that Bulmeria isn’t about Israel/Palestine, which is a serious ongoing trauma. It’s not okay. Make it anti-trump, please, for the love of anything you wish.
“Bulmeria” can’t really be about Trump.
Yeah, I know.
I’ve been reading Willis comics since I was a college freshman myself. Maybe it’s silly to be so attached to a comic, but, it’s been like the one constant in my life for over 20 years.
And I was so excited about Jocelyne, who was the most like me.
It’s gonna be so sad when she’ll shit all over my triggers such that I’ll need to stop.
Jocelyne*
Ohhh! Right, thank you!
RECORD SCRATCH
Ohh. THAT’S why he pulled up the music on Joyce’s phone, rather than letting her do it. It wasn’t just comedic “how does she not know yet” it was DELIBERATE. Willis, I salute you.
Wait. Joe has emotional intelligence?
We’re all doomed.
*that one astronaut meme*
Always did
Yeah. He previously used his emotional intelligence to be upfront with everyone about not wanting to be involved in anything emotional.
It was still there all along though.
Hobie Brown meme:
– When did you get this emotionally intelligent?
– I was this emotionally intelligent the whole time.
Well, she sent Joyce a pic of her boobs. (And Joe was the one who saw it.)
Okay, suddenly Joe’s question has an actual basis. Thank you!
He also used his emotional intelligence to get laid and apparently leave a trail of mostly good times rather than broken hearts.
The being awful was in part a self sabotage against emotional attachment. Be the worst version of himself up front so noone caught feels.
Which was so successful that Not Even Joyce could rose-coloured-glasses her way past it. Joyce at her Most bull-headed unreality manifesting
This reminds me of the difference between who we are in different groups.
Old Joe in a group of women? Emotionally intelligent, high social tactical insight, charming, open and honest about what he wants. Leaves a trail of happy experiences.
Old Joe in a group of men? Extremely emotionally restricted, tries to get others laid by giving them tips. Doesn’t realize that his emotional intelligence and honesty are large factors, thinks it is all about his social tactical insight and charm. His list is an attempt to bond with what he thinks are all men so he can then share his social tactical insight.
Ah, the harms self deception can do.
That’s a really rose tinted picture of Old Joe in a group of women. He was open about what he wanted, but he used little social tactical insight or emotional intelligence. Telling strangers how much he wants to fuck them isn’t either of those and that’s how old Joe interacted with women.
Even before the list got out, he’d pissed off more women in the cast he’d interacted with than he’d charmed. No one actually liked him, except Joyce, who already had him off his usual script and even she had to tell how awful his usual script made her feel.
Intelligence: well known to be a binary on/off switch.
photo aside, wonder if joe was told by becky, ‘friendly rival’ act aside that walky said something like ‘does joyce act like she wants to go down on every girl or just dorothy’ lol
I was gonna say. Honestly it’s NOT that big a leap: he went from “I know what to say to girls to get them into bed” to “I’m not afraid to talk to girls and it turns out the same set of skills I used to figure out how to get them into bed also gives me insight into what they’re actually thinking”. It’s not a leap which is often made, but the potential is there.
Ahhhh yesssss there’s a reason Joe is Bestest Boy for me
Joe I don’t think she’s going to take that question very well
maybe but it still needed to be asked
By her face, I think Dorothy, just this instant, came out to herself.
Notice how Dorothy’s PEN IS rising at the mention of Joyce’s name? Very telling.
Joe is going to fix her. With her PEN’S [rising].
*salutes you
I thought that expression was “where in all the universe of time and space did that come from?” but you could be right.
Enough about this love triangle- I want to know what’s in Dina’s box already
Ummm…. Becky is. Often.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/shifts/
I think they mean this, a literal box from Amazon XD
Yes, but the phrasing invited intentional misunderstanding for the purposes of humor.
Excellent gravatar for that remark.
Oh, like with her vagina.
*applauds
You can choose between the potential lesbian pining or….THE MYSTERY BOX!
There’s probably a really cool dinosaur toy in the box
They’re both pretty great, NGL.
It could be anything. It could even be lesbian pining.
A pine box?
From an island in Greece?
Greek women are gorgeous. Who could fault ’em for picking each other?
Well, I never thought this day would come.
would be great timing for becky to walk in now too
Re: alt-text:
…What?
It’s a parody of the Friends themesong, prompted by Joe’s impression of Joey Tribbiani’s iconic flirt in today’s comic.
Oh. Huh. Thanks!
I would never have got that one!
And reflecting that the comic is posted on 1st March, which is a traditional day to celebrate Wales and Welsh culture as it’s Dydd Gŵyl Dewi / St David’s Day. He’s the patron saint of Wales but it’s mainly a secular thing these days.
Specifically, it’s a parody from the show 30 Rock, from a fictional British version of the show called “Chums.”
Oh, interesting, because there was also an actual British parody of Friends that was also called Chums, as part of some Ant and Dec show the title of which escapes me. All I remember is the voiceover saying “Chums is filmed before anyone can stop us.”
Also “when the rain falls on Wales” is a great metaphor for “always and forever”, so kudos to the 30 Rock writers there.
I love Joe’s growth as a person. I really do
Oh DAMN.
He either saw the picture on Joyce’s phone or this is a shot in the dark. Regardless..
Or he just paid attention to how Dorothy acts around her. But seing the pictures is probably what sent him from wondering about it to asking her about it.
Or he heard when Joyce told him directly about the fact that she masturbated in the laundry room with Dorothy.
Just gals being pals!
Gal pals!
Good friends!
Roommates!
(4 out of 5 archaeologists and historians agree)
Joe doesn’t know that Joyce was trying to send him pics either, does he?
Joyce did tell him she was sending one, and even took a “panty pic” in front of him to send him. So he at least has reason to believe its a genuine mistake on Joyce’s part and she’s lucky that the person she sent it to wouldn’t show it to anyone. Dorothy’s insistence on sending pics back and her general possessiveness over Joyce, however, would give Joe reason for concern.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/photo/
Thanks. I forgot about that scene. What neither Joe nor Joyce know is that the pics are going to Dorothy.
Okay, I can tell it might be needed so:
Here’s where we saw Joyce’s phone buzz in Joe’s hand in the strip after Dorothy sent the pic: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/forgetyou/
Thank you for the source.
Holy shit.
Nobody told her this was gonna be so gay
(Clap clap clap clap)
Her goals are smoked, she’s choked,
She stars in DoA!
Seems like she always lives in current year!
And this isn’t just about the time she and Joyce went out for a beer!
I’ll be Dumb for youuuuu
When you need me to be Dumb
I’ll be Dumb for youuuuu
And you’ll be Dumb for me tooooo
Drama Button ON!
Drat! Forgot to post the link
https://www.dramabutton.com/
I laughed loud and repeatedly. I expect to laugh from it a couple more times out of context and everytime I find a context where I can legitimately use it. Thanks!
I almost said “better the drama button on than the drama tag pulled!”
But uh… If there were a drama tag, it got pulled a long time ago.
5000th strip!
My brain just blue screened. I didn’t think it would be acknowledged in comic.
I gotta respect Joe’s directness here.
Joe’s been dating an autistic girl for a bit, I bet he’s learned that directness while being sincere is very helpful.
and he probably learned how to do that by growing up with his autistic mom
are we sure his full name isn’t Joe “Tribbiani” Rosenthal
must I read tomorrow’s strip early on Patreon, we all know Dorothy’s gonna deny the accusation.
she’ll gonna deny even more the lewdie pic…
she could deny aiding Joyce achieve bliss…
oh no she’s Peter
She’s going to deny it, but is she going to do it tomorrow or are we going to switch to another storyline for a week?
At the part in Jesus Christ Superstar where Mary sings about how Jesus said Peter would do that, and wondering how he knew, I’ve always been like:
Have you met Peter? This was completely predictable and unsurprising.
Joey Tribbing
“Yeah, probably. That’s why I took her virginity.”
“All the signs were… You What!?”
“Just messing with you. As far as you know.”
“Have _you_ put her on a dryer yet?”
“Uh, no.”
(*smug smirk) “Well!”
The truth is that I was surprised that Joe said that, I mean, chaos is normal in this comic, but to get to the point and not increase the problem in the long term…honestly very good
Now the real uncertainty is the type of response and reaction that Dorothy will give.
WHAT. HAVE. I. BEEN. SAYING. ABOUT. THE. TOXIC. YURIFICATION. OF. THIS. COMIC.
…”more”?
The Tony icon absolutely makes this
it did work out nicely, didn’t it
lmfao
I learn something new every day. Often in the comments section of this comic.
wait hold on wait. I know im gonna get a reputation here but like . . . what if we yurify JOE? Trans Joe. I want it, I need it, it wouldn’t fix anything but that’s the best part
The long game of this threesome is crazy
Kinda hilarious that Joyce is closer to enabling a threesome than Joe ever was by himself.
1.) I love Joe’s bluntness and how he isn’t here out of irritation or “wtf” but because he’s genuinely concerned about Dorothy (not that I expected the former, I just Like This Interaction.)
2.) I’m really worried that he deleted the text on Joyce’s phone and that’ll be a thing. It doesn’t feel like something he’d do, but I just feel like Joyce would’ve mentioned it by now if she saw it. I dislike that type of drama specifically and if my favorite ship sinks because of that, I will be very upset.
3.) I also really hope Joe doesn’t do the opposite and try to martyr this relationship because Dorothy fixes people as opposed to breaking them (as his perception that he struggles with himself).
I just want this to be a nice, good heart to heart between two longtime acquaintances who never really got on but have both grown beyond what they were. Again, I don’t think any of the above will happen/has happened, I’ve just been anxious about it for a while lol.
Fingers crossed for no.3
Fwiw I expect Joyce looked at it, missed all the signs, told him about it and fully was like “just gal pals doing pal things!” And he caught all the context Joyce missed
Not that I know what it’s like to be a deeply repressed queersexual raised in a toxic homophobic religion or anything
Takes one to know one, I guess.
Oh, thank god. There have been hints for a while that Joe might have seen the booby pics. Even worse, there’s been hints that Joe might be holding onto Joyce’s phone so she doesn’t see the booby pics. (Not cool.) And I’ve been terrified that this was going to turn into a sitcom-y “JOYCE! HAVE YOU BEEN SEXTING WITH DOROTHY!! HOW COULD YOU!!” “JOE!! HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING THROUGH MY PHONE AND THEN HIDING IT FROM ME!! HOW COULD YOU!!” “GRAAAGGGHH!!” “GRAAAGGH!!!!” And then Dorothy walks in, and Joyce goes “DOROTHY!!! HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JOE AND HIS PRESUMABLY AMAZING DONG WITH YOUR CONFIRMED AMAZING RACK!!! OUR FRIENDSHIP IS NOW OVER!!!!” And Dorothy tries to mend the friendship with an escalating series of comedic hijinks, but it’s not enough and Joyce runs out of the room and gets hit by a car, so Joe can then cry at her funeral over the relationship he could have had if he had just trusted his girlfriend more.
And, like, I love drama, but Joe has been getting more and more mature, and I really, REALLY don’t want to read a storyline of him hiding information from Joyce out of petty jealousy or a story of Joyce and Dorothy fighting with each other over a misunderstanding. These characters care about each other, I don’t want to see them lash out at each other. I want to see them try to figure out how to deal with their feelings.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong in tomorrow’s strip, but this feels less like a confrontational “Why are you sending my girlfriend boobs?” and more like the understanding place I feel Joe is right now: he knows Joyce is into him, but he’s also seen a lot of signs that Dorothy might be into Joyce (mentions of a mutual masturbation, the new “booby” incident) and he’s giving her an opportunity to talk about this. Because he does care about Dorothy and he wants to figure out what this is. (Although, if he’s stealthily been keeping Joyce from her phone, that’s not okay. I reeeeaaally hope this story isn’t going in that direction. Maybe he’s just been doing that temporarily as he tries to figure out Dorothy’s side of things? Would that be better.)
I also love these characters AND would like to see them lash out at each other because that would lead to fun character analysis (see my love and constant Dunkin of Jennifer)
I would like that, in the sense of clearing the air and making room for improvement of their acquaintanceship.
I’m honestly glad to see things turn out this way not just because it proves Joe has done the work and grown from how we first saw him (and the fact that he would come to Dorothy like this shows for all intents and purposes that Joyce was right in putting faith that Joe had changed).
Also glad that you touched on Joe caring about Dorothy. He’s known Dorothy a long time..Longer in fact than he’s known Joyce. I feel with that length of time, you get to know certain tics and tells. Joe might have had an inkling all the way back to that drunken picture Dorothy and Joyce took. Something along the lines of him remembering Dorothy used to look that happy around Danny for a time, and Walky at one point or another…But every so often he can catch Dorothy positively glowing in Joyce’s presence.
Wow, I’ve never seen a really fascinating comment, I’m serious, yes, chaos is the daily life of the comic, but if we take into account everything the characters have dealt with.
Yes, there are moments where you say “hey, they’ve already been through a lot, it’s better to solve it by talking”
Joe probably saw the photos and that’s why he got to the point.
Joyce/Dorothy is not to my liking because no matter what, Dorothy is the only one who is really harmed and taking into account the downward spiral in which she seems to continue, that would have made it even worse.
Oh my, I love Walky/Dorothy and I just hope Walky doesn’t get hurt.
I think / hope that your concerns about people getting hurt are misplaced.
Joyce can be in two relationships – One with Joe and one with Dorothy.
Dorothy can do the same with Walky and Joyce.
No one needs to be break up with anyone or even be left out! These can be “V” relationships, rather than triads. Which means Dorothy and Joe can mostly ignore each other, as can Joe and Walky, if that’s what they choose.
Polyamory is great!
Look, it’s true that I don’t want there to be serious conflicts, but I won’t lie, I don’t really like Joyce, I’ll clarify, it’s not that I hate her.
However, what you mention, well, it looks interesting and it could work.
What does you not liking Joyce has tondo with anything? Genuine question, that fell out of of the left field.
There is no one in this Dodecahedron of Lust that has either the mental stamina OR self reflection skills needed to handle polyamory in a healthy way.
No. This is a teseract of heartbreak in the making.
This is some sixth dimensional abstractly terrible idea that we can’t even measure with our current tech levels.
I cannot wait to watch it.
You make a good point in between all the shape jokes.
This makes me realize I don’t have the mental stamina or self reflection skills to handle a relationship of any form, even a monoamorous relationship with myself.
Or should that be egoamorous? Depends on whether you consider yourself as a single being or if your self reflection is advanced/distorted enough that you can see yourself as The Other.
Ipsamorous!
This just gave me the oddest mental image of someone breaking up with their hand, and the hand like, tearfully putting on a glove like an overcoat and storming out of the apartment.
beautiful
Yeah, like, I worry sometimes that I come off as being anti-polyamory when I’m not (I have characters that I’ve written into such relationships and my mom has two husbands and two boyfriends). 99% of the time when someone says a situation would be solved by polyamory, it’s involving characters who lack the maturity and communication skills to make it work. Like, most love triangles in fiction are at the point where the hinge absolutely should not do polyamory because they’ve already shown to have the communication skills of an empty billboard. Just because it’s the easy looking solution does not mean it’s actually an easy solution.
[That said, I think Joe could make it work. Joyce could make it work with a little more growth, not much. I do not believe Dorothy or Walky are healthy or stable enough right now to handle it.]
Joyce is honestly the weakest link. She’s barely emotionally ready to bang *herself* let alone handle bisexuality being an option.
Then there’s unpacking of her relationship with Becky, her sexual trauma from the assault that we’ll never actually see being handled, and her mental hang ups from being raised in a cult…
And then the sheer WTFism of Dottie being her College Mom… Who also now wants to bang her, and had torpedo’ed every relationship she’s been in that we’ve seen, and possibly suggested cheating.
Who ALSO has unresolved anger issues at Joyce’s current boyfriend, the poorly-thought-it-out ethical manslut who has major trauma about infidelity.
And then there’s Walky… Who would honestly probably be fine with everything.
I think the comic has well established that Joyce is fully emotionally ready, willing, and able to ‘bang herself,’ so to speak.
Everything else is spot on.
Walky once jokingly referred to Joyce as “my girlfriend’s girlfriend” forever ago, back when he and Dorothy were dating the first time.
Walky may not be mature enough to handle it, but I’m guessing he’s already had times to come to terms with the possibility.
Solve all of your un-acknowledged/examined/confronted emotional issues by jumping into a sexual relationship! (aka “just fuck already”)
Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. But shippers wanna see it, so…
Joyce has trusted him to screen other things on her phone, so this isn’t very transgressive. They have to navigate their boundaries, and they communicate well.
Plus Joe clearing things up with Dorothy first might be the smart thing.
Also, Joyce is sometimes bad about checking her messages. Even if Joe told her she got a text, she might not have gone back and read it yet. The funny thing to happen would be for Joyce to send Dorothy more lewd pix in the middle of this conversation.
It’s a strikingly mature turn for Joe. He is now doing the emotional work of looking into a friend, testing her mental state, and asking difficult questions that might be something to avoid in the future. And not just bombing it on purpose so he doesn’t have to be vulnerable.
Maybe I’m just overly trusting, but I never got the impression Joe was keeping Joyce away from her phone. (This mean to be comforting but I know tone can be weird.)
Yeah, I also never got that impression and am not sure where it came from.
I was mostly joking when I brought up this potential throuple but OH MAN
Man I don’t know if that’s in the cards. Joe and Dorothy begrudgingly tolerate each other at best
I mean I sorta figured if it came from anywhere, it’d originate from a mutual affection for- and with- Joyce. it’s been mentioned elsewhere that a big reason for Dorothy’s distaste for Joe stems from her not being around for all of his character development. she’s never actually seen him being a better person, which I reckon would change if they spent enough time around Joyce (and by extension each other)
but enough mechanics discussion back to our regularly scheduled OH MAN
She DID decide that actually, she’s okay with Joe and Joyce after seeing/hearing them together. Whatever her personal thoughts on Joe (and there are many thanks to his years of being ‘my boyfriend’s sleazy gross best friend he refuses to let go of’) she at least realized and recognized that Joe is legit and seriously into Joyce. Their mutual love of Joyce is pretty much the door they would have to go through in order to become real friends.
And I think Joe WOULD be a good real friend for Dorothy, now. He knows her really well, he’s well off the objectification train, she’s very disconnected from Danny which would have been a complication earlier, and Joe is intelligent, perceptive, and doesn’t ‘require’ parenting from Dorothy.
Still, I really don’t see them ever dating being a good idea
AO3 fanfic has been written about a hypothesized Dorothy/Joe/Joyce grouping.
Read, enjoy, and leave comments.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/55752664?view_adult=true
AND WE’RE OFF!
Going straight (ha) into it I see.
YES, rip that bandaid off!
mmmmmmm now I really see what’s going on here!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NHrjvT0uzNQ
So like.
I’m SUPER curious how Dorothy’s going to respond to this? ‘Cuz I’m not 100% sure if even SHE necessarily knows the answer, even if she might initially think she does, and that makes this a veeeeeeery interesting conversation for Joe Specifically to initiate.
even if she does admit it to herself after idk if she’d be talking a bout it too much with joe, or even if she was willing to be honest with joe i can imagine her being like “so what/it doesn’t matter b/c i wouldn’t pursue joyce even if you werent’ dating her”
“also I’m back with Walky now”
(oh man my avatar gonna be ALL wrong for this)
“Not yet, but if you want a third at some point…”
To further enrich Joyce’s education in these matters, of course.
HE SAID IT??? Good golly I was not expecting it from Joe of all people. Really putting those surprising depths of emotional intelligence to use.
Oh! Oh! Is my ship coming in?
“To a certain extent. I’m not too fond of the more outre formal experiments that he’s most famous for, but Dubliners is one of the best short story collections of the 20th century.”
Wow this is exactly how I feel about James Joyce
Joe’s expressions in panels 3 and 4 are FANTASTIC
Ah so that is why joe asked Walky where Dorothy was
I know Joyce x Dorothy is probably endgame, but Joe x Joyce was nice while it lasted
Joe is truly one of the worst people to bring this up (also the only one who reasonably can/would but stlll) . really excited for this
Joe, askin’ the real questions with the real Friends references!!
I didn’t remember to roulette.
Oh, I dunno if this is gonna be fantastic or terrible BUT EITHER WAY I’M PULLING OUT THE POPCORN
can’t wait for becky to hear about this one.
Holy shit.
Appropriate gravatar is appropriate.
It was weird the joke Joe has brought here, but I forget they know each other, like, since high school
“It’s just, you sent her a bunch of tiddy pictures?”
Wait, hold up. Is Joe pulling the “🤨
?” on Dorothy???
Dang dude.
Didn’t think Joe actually noticed.
He had Joyce phone in his hand when she sended the picture.
Love the fact that Joe is asking it to her in a respectful serious way. But I don’t think Dorothy will answer him. Not only because she don’t like him, but because is very probable that she doesn’t have an answer or is avoiding thinking about it.
Can’t read, some kind of evil uk mobile ad.
I was just on a 30 Rock clips binge on YouTube, so the alt-text was a very happy surprise.
OH SHIT ARE WE DOING THIS????
Yes, but only until Willis pulls a scene change or time skip on us.
either she’ll be in denial or angry like with jen like “Joyce isn’t ‘mine'”
Joe, that would be YOUR job
Thank you, Joe!
For both the regular concern and for asking the question without turning it into a joke.
i mean i would hope he isn’t flippant/wouldn’t make a joke about it tho i can totally imagine someone like walky being like “i know ur into my gf, thanks for not making a move on her b/c you’re objectively a better catch” or so in his snark
..I mean if you’re just gonna say it,
Wait, is it Valentine’s Day again?
Joe quoting Joey; brilliant!
This is a very sweet moment but I hope this doesn’t stop any potential chaos
Chaos in relation to Joyce and Dorothy realising their desires to be clear
Everyone’s going on about the last panel, but I think panel 6 may actually be my favorite. The almost Sarah-like bluntness, calmly delivered because it’s not the main point, but he’s still not going to take your bullshit, Dorothy, he knows you too well for it to work on him.
Can’t help hoping that, in addition to resolving Checkhov’s Sext, this could produce an angry exchange that also begins to unpack Dorothy’s curiously personal animus against Joe.
Joe has been very sweet for a long time now. I hope this doesn’t blow up in his face too badly. Dorothy has never seemed to like him much.
I guess it’s hard to accept /believing about ppl changing esp if you had a bad impression of them at the start, like the line billiefer told joyce about how ppl are never gonna let you forget the person you were or so
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2022/comic/book-12/04-dont-stop-billie-ving/missus/
And by “bad impression of them at the start”, we mean “known them to be a creep for years”.
It also helps when you’ve got more of a reason to think they’ve changed than that your naive friend has a crush on them. When Dorothy was still really opposed to them getting together, Joyce didn’t even try to explain that Joe had changed or talk about the connection they’d been building for months. Instead, she denied liking his butt, which wasn’t exactly reassuring about her rational assessment of the situations.
was he a creep tho? I mean the ‘list’ thing wasn’t exactly the best reflection of himself but other than that i imagine in high school he was more of a ‘gigolo/male slut’ as opposed to someone who say, ‘pressured/seduced innocent unpopular ‘nerdy/ugly girls’ more likely to say yes/kinda girls who would normally never get anyone’s attention at that age’ or stealing girls that already had boyfriends; i imagine he also didn’t have a scenario like what jen/alice had to deal with
Yeah, he was a creep. Not as bad as Chester – not a rapist. He presented himself as worse than he was in many ways, but his whole thing was objectifying women and interacting with them only to get sex. Even in college, he’d basically alienated most girls in the cast. Even before the list came out.
Joyce had to have a whole talk with him about why his thing was still bad and harmful, even if he was doing it to avoid hurting women by cheating on them like his dad.
It’s his whole character arc. Let him have development rather than pretending he was good all along.
Keep in mind that Joe is not such a creep that he was being rejected by every woman he meets. He had a very active sex life, and had no problem finding partners. Women like Robin’s sister (forgot her name sorry) who also want a purely sexual relationship didn’t really have an issue with Joe.
Just because we haven’t seen Joe’s many sex partners doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Other characters have commented on it.
Why is your door open, Dorothy?
Tomorrow’s strip is going to be
SteveDina eating cereal, right?Or Amber waking up in her bed thinking about midterms.
Oh pshaw. Shirley you can’t think Willis would do that to us!
I do, and don’t call me surely.
the blurred patreon strip does show it continuing at least lol
Tomorrow a lot of shippers are gonna be really happy or really mad.
Not too much. WoG never stops a true shipper.
Mm. Word of God can’t make anybody ship something they don’t, nor is it likely to make most people stop shipping something they do.
But when a ship has been teased enough (even if that teasing was tongue-in-cheek), being told firmly and unambiguously that the ship is never going to happen…
Well, speaking from experience, it can really sour your enjoyment of the ship’s dynamic.
Like. S’not gonna make anyone think this whole arc was less obviously gay, but it might put some people off reading the strip. Not because they “lost” the “ship war”, but because it might feel, suddenly, less like they’ve been being fed fun little treats, and more like they’ve been the butt of an unkind joke for a long time.
Oh, yeah, definitely. “You made me believe in X+Y, but pulled the rug out from beneath me, laughing all the way.”
Yep.
Not saying Willis owes anyone anything, but addressing it this directly at least creates an expectation that it will get an honest examination, instead of being brushed off as a joke.
(imho, it did start as a joke — making Joyce say accidentally suggestive things is always funny — and perhaps a bit of a loving homage to Parks & Recreation. But by the point where Daisy was telling Joyce outright that if she doesn’t make good on the romantic tension between Julia and Doris, it might feel queerbait-y, I think Willis was proooooooobably planning on at least having something one-sided where, for example, Dorothy comes to the realization that her feelings aren’t completely platonic? Either out of anxiety that the dynamic WAS becoming bait-y, or because they’d decided it would be an interesting thing to explore.
Just my impression, though.)
i mean, is that not what the fanartists are for? she did canonically teach joyce about the washing machine tho
Nah, just got tired to be baited.
Right because your crush’s boyfriend is exactly who you want to talk to about your crush.
What do I need to offer the God/Goddess of Shipping, to get my Joe/Joyce/Dorothy ship, out of dry dock?
I dunno, I kinda feel like this question should come from a friend of the couple so it seems less intimidating…
But that would involve telling someone else about the suspicions, which is bad in its own way.
unless it was becky but i imagine even if she’s ‘over’ joyce she wouldn’t necessarily wanna put that thought into dorothy’s head either
O MERCIFUL GODDESS, don’t let this turn into an awkward attempt at a 3-way. I ask for all the characters involved.
Please let this turn into a poly relationship instead!
I mean ‘3 way aside’ i wouldn’t be surprised/half expect joyce to say something like she’d be comfortable if dorothy was in the room for her during the experience
im so down for an awkward attempt at a threeway
This looked fun to draw. So many emotive stuff going on.
Aw hell yeah I didn’t expect this at all how exciting
THE PERFECT GRAVATAR FOR THIS SENTIMENT
Why are all these plot thickenings about plot thiccenings? The world may never know (it’s because college. obv.)
The thicc doesn’t stop from plottening
Weird. That made perfect sense in my head.
It made perfect sense. English is a versatile language.
joe is pretty often on the ball, as joyce said
Jeeeezzz, Joe, that’s some deep end diving there. Armful of cinder blocks and dropping right into the deepest end.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Dorothy is bi but doesn’t know it yet. Either that or she learned how to behave towards other girls she’s friends with from a girl who’s bi or a lesbian.
That’s the rationale for Joyce being the way she is in female friendships, she learned how to be friends with other girls from Becky.
I knew Dorothy was into Joyce! Good to see her finally coming out of the closet!
So proud of her.
feels like joe’s opening the door slightly for her and offering a hand/slightly pullling her out lol
SO PROUD OF HER
I really enjoy how Dorothy holds highlighters in her mouth. It’s cute.
I knew he was the one who got the text!
Joyce is unwittingly assembling a harem
“me too”
So, how poorly do you think Becky will react upon learning that Joyce is bi, and the issue is that they were too close at a young age and the Westermark Effect served to torpedo that relationship?
As I recall, they’ve figured out that the Westermark Effect is from seeing someone being cared for by your mother at a young age. So if Carol and Bonnie did a lot of babysitting exchanges, maybe.
i would hope she woudl be fine with it considering she has an awesome gf now and they’re more like ‘family’ at this point
tho i think she did half joke early at the beginning like “good thing you’re not gay b/c i’d roast you for being in to scrawny nerds” or something like that
a) how have i been reading these damn comics for like 13 years and THIS is the one i miss the night it comes out (i miss a lot the night they come out but still im mad)
b) how is this not the biggest comment section ever
A combination of “No one’s really arguing that much” and “We’re all holding our breath”, I think
My dog died today
This makes it a little less painful
Thank you
My sympathies
well, it’s like they say
takes one to know one
Joe knows quite well the telltale signs of being into Joyce
I’ve been reading this comic for three weeks straight and _this_ is the cliffhanger on which I finish???
Re: the latest poll: Is Dorothy into Joyce?
I mean, it’s unfair. I wanted to vote for BOTH the options of “Yes” and “She harbors perverse lust”.
But, alas, (and indeed a lass), I was limited to just one option.
That was LAST NIGHT?
Jeez, the time dilation in this strip is amazing. One could live forever!