My first interaction with anyone who was gay was in high school when my best friend sent me a love letter. I was shocked and sat around in a locked bathroom (where no one would bother me) for at least an hour thinking about it and working through how I felt, whether I could return her feelings, and how to respond. Even as someone who never had any issue with homosexuality, it was a disorienting experience.
I agree, as I’ve been through that, too, though not until college. But I’m not sure how Joyce would react. She’s not being approached by somebody off her own gender that’s interested in HER. She’s just being exposed to a homosexual in general. The reaction might be different.
I have to say though, even when you KNOW you’re straight, it’s never as easy to reject that person as you think it would be, especially if they’re already a friend that you care about.
That’s not interacting with the person, that’s interacting with their being gay. There’s a difference. Being sensitive to people’s differences is bunk, it’s easier to just not give a damn.
It’s not random. A highly sophisticated algorithm examines the content and context of your message, uses your IP to track your browsing history, compares your probable personality traits to those possessed by the characters…and then assigns you the same avatar it picked randomly the first time you posted.
I’ve had a sudden terrible flashback to a rather Joyce-like girl I used to know who was convinced the openly gay guy she had a crush on ‘just hadn’t met the right girl yet’.
I love it when people say stupid stuff like that. It’s particularly funny, because I heard a girl say that about a gay guy once, while the guy was making out with his boyfriend four feet away. 😛
Well, if I recall, Shortpacked! Ethan came out as gay after having previously had straight experiences (and presumably had self-assumptions of straighthood that he’d never really challenged before).
DoA Ethan having confirmed his ‘out’ status already but having a ‘straight’ dalliance afterward would be…kinda opposite, actually.
Oh My God! That would be the craziest thing if the Amazigirl all started from some comment Ethan made about Batman at some point, and things just got out of hand.
Amber: So, what’s your type?
Ethan: I like a strong woman. Capable, assertive. A woman of danger and secrets. Like Batman. Yes, Batman is my ideal woman.
Amber: *Grim look of determination*
Only after prom would it occur to Amber how odd it was that it didn’t occur to Ethan that Batgirl would work just fine for the point he was making.
Amber: Hmm. I suppose there were signs weren’t there?
That… actually would be a pretty cool story. There ain’t just sheep and goats after all. And watching Amber trying to deal with Ethan being “too gay” for a relationship with her but “straight enough” for a relationship with some other girl… ooh, juicy.
Of course when I imagine the kind of deep, personal connection with someone that might lead Ethan away from the high end of the Kinsey scale, I’m not sure I’d imagine Joyce.
I actually hope this goes well. After the initial shock I mean. Ethan has already had enough awkward in his day as it is. Then again, since he’s hanging around Mike of his own volition I suppose you could consider it self-inflicted.
…Joyce converts Ethan? Ethan remains horribly conflicted because he can’t believe he “stopped being gay,” when in reality he was just closer to the center of the Kinsey scale than he realized, and thus has not changed at all? The comic becomes a highly-complex discussion over the many different shades of sexual orientation, blurring the line between straight and gay, and thus creating a deeper social commentary?
…Or Joyce gets shock-hiccups, and Mike bangs her mom for a nickel.
You know, I wonder. Joyce is having all these shocks to her value system, and we know she grew up homeschooled (which means presumably her parents’ beliefs are on a similar plane), so I wonder…if/when Joyce gets a boyfriend, will her mom be jonesin’ hard for premarital-hanky-panky-spawned grandchildren in this universe, too?
Probably not right off the bat. Keep in mind that at the time Joyce reasonably deep into her twenties and had taken every opportunity to show her parents she was likely incapable of having a lasting functional relationship with a man. Times were desperate and Mother Joyce needed the babies to come from somewhere.
If her religion is anything like what I was raised in, about the only thing more sinful than premarital hanky panky is not procreating at all. Babies must be had. There comes a point where no one cares what the story is behind it, they just want you to spawn a new generation of christians, no questions asked.
Regardless, the basic point I’m making is that Joyce Prime had given her mother a lot more reason to worry about grandchildren than this one has right now, and had aged far deeper into the worry zone as well. Not married by twenty “Give her time. Let her enjoy her youth and smell the roses” is what people will say. Not married by thirty and you’re a lost cause. Joyce wasn’t a lost cause yet, but she was way past “Let her take her time and smell the roses”, and reputedly crazy in such a way that she drove all men away. Different situation entirely.
Finally Ethan interacts with somebody who isn’t Mike or Amber! I was beginning to think he was a figment of Amber’s imagination, and that Mike was just going along with the charade to further mind-screw her.
By the end of the week she’s going to be in catatonic shock. Will she eventually figure out that every person she meets is going to have SOMETHING about them that conflicts with the way she was brought up?
Standing on peoples sides is why I bought an “I’m with stupid T-Shirt”.
Random people will walk up to you to take pictures, and ask you to stand next to thier friends.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen when Joyce finds out Ethan is gay, but it’s definitely going to be hilarious.
I feel a little bad for Joyce, though. Girl is totally out of her element and probably feeling some culture shock. Though that may be a side effect of my Perverse Sexual Lust. (Which would probably frighten her more)
Okay, while everyone is completely entitled to their opinions, it seems a good number of people are determined that Joyce is going to have a bad reaction to Ethan’s sexuality. While this could happen, why does no one seem to think that maybe it won’t go badly? Heck, Joyce handled the Atheist thing quite well, with the only major problem being she accidentally gave herself hiccups.
I’m not asking people to assume Joyce will react well. I’m just saying consider both sides of the coin.
There’s not like a 50/50 here. We’ve been given every set up to think that she is going to have an over the top reaction, which is not the same as a bad one (though there are some people in that camp). If she is indifferent to it, it’ll have a hell of a comedic twist.
Well, the big reason for this is how Joyce has behaved so far. She’s in awe of the fact she has a black roommate, even though for most people different races aren’t such a huge deal. She’s been claiming that any other faith different from her own is wrong, and that the other person should be converted. She BEAT UP a man because he doesn’t share her opinions about sex, and thinks her behavior is justified. She freaked out at discovering that Atheists do in fact exist.
Considering her conservative she’s been behaving, and how many religious organizations (not all mind you) generally view being gay as a sin, and if her own church taught that (and Joyce right now would NEVER oppose anything she was taught in church), its understandable that most of us assume the worse case scenario.
Not to mention, we want to see if Joyce’s head will finally explode by this.
If Joyce hadn’t behaved as bad as she has been to everything else, I’d think a lot more of us would expect a less wacky reaction.
This is all we got. It’s not much to go on, as she’s not really talking about herself, and she clearly speaks in jest. Not only that, but Joyce’s reaction could be interpreted multiple ways.
Stil, there it is. That’s Joyce’s experience with homosexuality thus far.
I guess Joe also mentioned lesbian porn in her presence once. Joyce didn’t react on screen. decide for yourself if that counts or means anything.
So far she’s met a black, a rebel, a jewish boy (who also wants pre-marital hanky panky and got some from Roz), Mike, an atheist and now a gay guy! Probably a lesbian too, what with Leslie being her teacher.
So what else is needed here? Hmm… some non-anglo-saxon foreigner? A muslim? Someone who is WORSE than she is, a sort of dark mirror?! An abortion specialist? The Space Pope?
but she could team up with the abortion specialist in a cross-dimensional battle against shortpacked! galasso to foil his attempt to cease control over sp! amber’s second born.
Actually, I half suspect Ethan and Mike might be a couple in this continuity. At the very least, Mike tolerates Ethan. If Mike was bitter towards Ethan for any reason, Ethan would be clutching his balls in agony by now.
I’m actually hoping to see Joyce give the Biblical beatdown to some overly doctrinaire bigot. The ol’ “You’re not even hating the sin but loving the sinner, you’re just loving to hate” line.
The most resounding example of that I’ve witnessed in real life was the blind guy who told schooled a street preacher asking him about the wages of sin visited upon him: “Are you insane? Read John 9. No verse — it’s the whole chapter.” Note: Link goes to a King James Version of that particular chapter.
Lol. “No verse. Read the whole chapter”. Love that. Wish more people would cite entire stories with all the context in place when they wish to extol the virtues of the good book. Doing it right. That’s what you’re doing.
Honestly, that would be a pretty cool moment that would really help Joyce to shine in a better light and help to separate her from some of the negative associations of her practices. I’d love to see it.
I can see that happening, but I suspect it would have to come at the end of an arc where she learns that it’s possible for Christians to be truly cruel and hateful. As she is now, she probably assumes that all Christians are automatically good and loving people, and that everything the outside world considers “intolerance” is actually misinterpreted zeal for saving sinners. She’d be making excuses for said overly doctrinaire bigot until they went truly over the top, at which point she’d probably go Old Testament on his ass. Forget locusts and frogs, we’re skipping straight to fire from the sky.
Why include Mike? He seems to be the only person that Joyce doesn’t have some sort of moral or religious issue with. He’s the only one she hasn’t offended or who thinks she’s crazy. In fact, I’d say he actually likes her because she lets him beat up her dates.
Considering Joyce’s less than appropriate responses to Judaism, atheism, the normal mating behavior for a 18 year old boy… I wonder if meeting her first homosexual might finally push her completely over the edge.
Band camp. Arguably she may be more prepared for Ethan than anything else yet.
Which is why I think she should crush on him for a while first before The Big Reveal – more shocking that way! (I can’t see that happening though – it’s not really a secret.)
Joyce got freaked out by the concept of sex and someone not believing in god. If she can’t handle people having different beliefs from her, I’m pretty sure same gender couples which are pretty far from her Christian norms, are WAAAAAAAAY outside her comfort zone.
While less than ideal, her reactions to those things weren’t *that* bad.
And Ethan’s not her first homosexual. She’s encountered Leslie, listened attentively to her first class after learning she was a lesbian, returned to her second class without mentioning it again, and was even pleasantly discussing the course material with a classmate as she left.
She actually had nothing to do with it. Mike was running around interrupting dates with furious punching sessions and was only confused by Joyce’s unusual reaction to his intrusion and subsequent acts of violence. Spent the night puzzling over the strange creature and its’ unusual ways. When she joined him in the beatdown, he knew he had found love.
Now if only he could find love’s mother and a nickel he could call this a solid evening.
Ooo… new idea. What if Joyce doesn’t know what gay even is? I mean, what if she’s so sheltered, she never learned about Homosexuals, gay marriage and all that stuff.
Instead, she assumes gay just means “happy”, which results in “Oh you’re gay? So am I! I try and be gay all the time!”
I don’t see why people are expecting her to freak out about Ethan being gay. Heck, she only really freaked out about Dorothy because she’s atheist, which makes sense because it’s harder to believe that someone doesn’t believe in anything as opposed to them believing in something else.
I actually expect more of a “You just haven’t found the right girl.” and her meddling in his life than anything else.
I didn’t say open minded or understanding. I expect her to be pretty close minded and confused and downright nosy. She reacted pretty well to someone of a different religion with just the intention to change him. There should be no more difference here.
People assume so easily that Ethan’s sexuality is likely to just casually come up in a conversation with someone he’s just met. I can see the reasoning, with Joyce being there and all… But he doesn’t seem the type to just bring it up randomly.
I’d sooner expect the two to just get along for now, maybe reveal it to her later on when it will have more of an effect because she feels like she knows him so well. That may even create stronger feelings from her towards Ethan than just an aesthetic crush would, since as she got to know him he obviously wouldn’t just be interested in “hankey panky.”
Well no. I don’t think it’s gonna happen in this interaction either. However, this is an introduction. They can only talk for so long without the topic coming up. Might not be today, might not be tomorrow, but midterms will not come and go without Joyce learning this. Though, with eight months happening in real life for every three days of comic time, I have to imagine it’ll be sooner than that. Maybe in a couple weeks comic time?
Truth be told, I think it would have more effect if they had an established relationship beforehand anyway. Learning that an acquaintance of the man you just met yesterday is a homosexual doesn’t mean anything more than that there are homosexuals present on campus. A revelation with a bit more oomph would probably be more enjoyable for all involved.
Nothing to stop it from happening now, it just probably won’t. Still, it’s gonna happen eventually. It can’t not happen.
There is a BUTTON.
That holds.
The door open.
What is it about grandiose gesticulations that so enraptures us beyond the undeniable fact that the door was NOT DESIGNED to be Superman’d in place?
Pet peeve.
a) Holding the actual door is not difficult, as they have sensors to not close if there’s an obstruction
b) The gesture is the same as holding a door open someone, and has more panache then pressing a button
c) On 75% of the elevators that I have been in that I have attempted to use the button to hold the door.. the button doesn’t work, at least one it was obviously only a decorative button cap.
I just now noticed, but somehow, Mike’s facial expression in the last panel makes it almost look like he’s grinning. In Mike-face-expressions, I mean. He looks less hostile than usual.
I am also incredibly disappointed that his collar isn’t popped.
I have little patience for people like Mike. I’d almost rather deal with a naive Christian like Joyce, even though she can be a bit on the annoying side. At least her heart is in the right place. People like Mike aren’t worth knowing.
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And now Joyce is about to make friends with a gay man. I’m very curious as to what her reaction will be.
If it’s like mine was, I’d see it as she would be a little squirmish, a little of a buh guh guh, and then one of VERY deep thought.
My first interaction with anyone who was gay was in high school when my best friend sent me a love letter. I was shocked and sat around in a locked bathroom (where no one would bother me) for at least an hour thinking about it and working through how I felt, whether I could return her feelings, and how to respond. Even as someone who never had any issue with homosexuality, it was a disorienting experience.
That’s just the first interaction you had with someone who you knew to be gay. I can promise you, you’ve interacted with gay people before her. 🙂
I agree, as I’ve been through that, too, though not until college. But I’m not sure how Joyce would react. She’s not being approached by somebody off her own gender that’s interested in HER. She’s just being exposed to a homosexual in general. The reaction might be different.
I have to say though, even when you KNOW you’re straight, it’s never as easy to reject that person as you think it would be, especially if they’re already a friend that you care about.
That’s not interacting with the person, that’s interacting with their being gay. There’s a difference. Being sensitive to people’s differences is bunk, it’s easier to just not give a damn.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Well, actually, the exact words to go through my mind were “Uh-oh”
LOL…
Mine was like: “Oh… boy…”
But I too am curious how this is going to work… meanwhile, I shall laugh more at Mike.
I detect Hiccups incoming.
Come oooooooon brain shattering! Give us the brain shattering!
Why the hell am I always Ethan? I thought it was random.
It’s not random. A highly sophisticated algorithm examines the content and context of your message, uses your IP to track your browsing history, compares your probable personality traits to those possessed by the characters…and then assigns you the same avatar it picked randomly the first time you posted.
Changing every time a new random avatar is added into the index. Then everyone changes in a big game of musical avatars.
Also, I believe it tracks by e-mail, not by IP.
That’s odd. For a while there it was changing my avatar every time I posted.
Their answers sound right to me. I’m just glad my avatar is a girl.
I got Mike.
Ironic, I guess, as that is my father’s name. But still.
Next time I post, I use my gravatar.
Hiccups in 3…2…1…
Gah! you beat me to it, Frogboy!
I can’t really think of a more accurate way to describe Mike’s personal relationships.
Easy targets?
that has to be it
your mom was an easy target…for mikes penis…for a nickel
So so true.
I wonder if meeting a homosexual will cause an even more intense fit of hiccups? perhaps a burping fit?
Faint?
I think she’ll just wait until she’s in her room, have a panic attack, and maybe call Becky.
Explosive gas?
i’d let him stand next to me, unless he tries to get me to carry his stuff. that’s what walky is for
I have a feeling that Joyce is going to be barking up the wrong tree very soon.
Oh my god i hadn’t even thought about that, but that is hilarious, i hope she starts diggin’ on ethan big time.
Joyce: “He’s such a polite boy. I bet HE’S Christian.”
And IIRC, she won’t even be right on that count.
You do.
I’ve had a sudden terrible flashback to a rather Joyce-like girl I used to know who was convinced the openly gay guy she had a crush on ‘just hadn’t met the right girl yet’.
I love it when people say stupid stuff like that. It’s particularly funny, because I heard a girl say that about a gay guy once, while the guy was making out with his boyfriend four feet away. 😛
What would be even more insane is if Ethan turned straight for Joyce… Mind exploded.
Well, if I recall, Shortpacked! Ethan came out as gay after having previously had straight experiences (and presumably had self-assumptions of straighthood that he’d never really challenged before).
DoA Ethan having confirmed his ‘out’ status already but having a ‘straight’ dalliance afterward would be…kinda opposite, actually.
How about Sal? She’s basically Batman after all!
No, Sal just likes to climb through windows. Amber, Ethan’s BEST FRIEND is Batman, and they apparently already tried that.
Oh My God! That would be the craziest thing if the Amazigirl all started from some comment Ethan made about Batman at some point, and things just got out of hand.
Amber: So, what’s your type?
Ethan: I like a strong woman. Capable, assertive. A woman of danger and secrets. Like Batman. Yes, Batman is my ideal woman.
Amber: *Grim look of determination*
Only after prom would it occur to Amber how odd it was that it didn’t occur to Ethan that Batgirl would work just fine for the point he was making.
Amber: Hmm. I suppose there were signs weren’t there?
That… actually would be a pretty cool story. There ain’t just sheep and goats after all. And watching Amber trying to deal with Ethan being “too gay” for a relationship with her but “straight enough” for a relationship with some other girl… ooh, juicy.
Of course when I imagine the kind of deep, personal connection with someone that might lead Ethan away from the high end of the Kinsey scale, I’m not sure I’d imagine Joyce.
Mike has people he’s willing to stand next to, and moms.
Joyce and Ethan. Interacting.
My head, it is asploded.
I actually hope this goes well. After the initial shock I mean. Ethan has already had enough awkward in his day as it is. Then again, since he’s hanging around Mike of his own volition I suppose you could consider it self-inflicted.
Crush on Ethan, Crush on Ethan, Crush on Ethan!
It’ll be the most brilliant thing ever! (Other then Mike and Ethan being a canon couple in DA too.)
This would somehow be more likely to work than her having a crush on Mike.
…Joyce converts Ethan? Ethan remains horribly conflicted because he can’t believe he “stopped being gay,” when in reality he was just closer to the center of the Kinsey scale than he realized, and thus has not changed at all? The comic becomes a highly-complex discussion over the many different shades of sexual orientation, blurring the line between straight and gay, and thus creating a deeper social commentary?
…Or Joyce gets shock-hiccups, and Mike bangs her mom for a nickel.
You know, I wonder. Joyce is having all these shocks to her value system, and we know she grew up homeschooled (which means presumably her parents’ beliefs are on a similar plane), so I wonder…if/when Joyce gets a boyfriend, will her mom be jonesin’ hard for premarital-hanky-panky-spawned grandchildren in this universe, too?
Probably not right off the bat. Keep in mind that at the time Joyce reasonably deep into her twenties and had taken every opportunity to show her parents she was likely incapable of having a lasting functional relationship with a man. Times were desperate and Mother Joyce needed the babies to come from somewhere.
If her religion is anything like what I was raised in, about the only thing more sinful than premarital hanky panky is not procreating at all. Babies must be had. There comes a point where no one cares what the story is behind it, they just want you to spawn a new generation of christians, no questions asked.
Regardless, the basic point I’m making is that Joyce Prime had given her mother a lot more reason to worry about grandchildren than this one has right now, and had aged far deeper into the worry zone as well. Not married by twenty “Give her time. Let her enjoy her youth and smell the roses” is what people will say. Not married by thirty and you’re a lost cause. Joyce wasn’t a lost cause yet, but she was way past “Let her take her time and smell the roses”, and reputedly crazy in such a way that she drove all men away. Different situation entirely.
Finally Ethan interacts with somebody who isn’t Mike or Amber! I was beginning to think he was a figment of Amber’s imagination, and that Mike was just going along with the charade to further mind-screw her.
Man, that would be one epic mind-screw. But Mike would definitely go along with a screw of any kind (for a nickel).
Hmmm… nope, I just can’t see Ethan being played by Brad Pitt.
I’m still not convinced Mike and Ethan aren’t bangin’.
Panel 2: Mike is pissed ’cause he was hoping for an elevator makeout.
Panel 4: He’s subtley warning Ethan about the crazy religious girl.
Panel 4: He’s warning Ethan away from Joyce cuz he has the hots for her. I mean. She JOINED in on the Joe-face punching.
intriguing theory >:)
If Mike wanted to make out with Ethan, he wouldn’t give a damn that Joyce was there. Hell, he wouldn’t even allow Ethan a say in the matter.
in fact, he might actually be more inclined to make out with ethan given the horrible panic attack it would give joyce
True. Damn.
I can see it now–
Ethan: It all started one day when I needed help to get over a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles addiction…
http://www.shortpacked.com/2006/comic/book-3-is-totally-gay/02-wikimania/rape/
Ethan: Now, I love the Ninja Turtles more than ever!!!
Would TMNT be too old for a now 18 year old Ethan?
The original cartoon, yeah. There’s plenty of stuff afterwards, though.
Now watch as we see Joyce go into a seizure for finding out that Ethan’s gay… Her day is just full of surprises.
By the end of the week she’s going to be in catatonic shock. Will she eventually figure out that every person she meets is going to have SOMETHING about them that conflicts with the way she was brought up?
Standing on peoples sides is why I bought an “I’m with stupid T-Shirt”.
Random people will walk up to you to take pictures, and ask you to stand next to thier friends.
They are SO gonna bang.
…Also, Ethan and Joyce talking feels SO WEIRD.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen when Joyce finds out Ethan is gay, but it’s definitely going to be hilarious.
I feel a little bad for Joyce, though. Girl is totally out of her element and probably feeling some culture shock. Though that may be a side effect of my Perverse Sexual Lust. (Which would probably frighten her more)
Joyce: “Hi, Ethan!”
Ethan: “Hi, Joyce!”
Mike: “Ethan is gay.” *kisses Mike*
And that’s how Joyce became a mass-murderer.
Also, the Mike who is talking is Walkyverse!Mike, who pops his head through a portal from his reality.
Do we really want both Mikes sharing the same reality?
Yes.
Dumbing of Age would be reduced to a smoking crater!
…Your mom’s smoking crater.
Both Mikes would totally share your mom.
For 2 nickels.
Why is it always moms? Eventually it’s going to get too predictable even for Mike.
So he’ll do your dad for a nickel.
He already does your dad. He’s just not proud of it.
Alternately,
He already does your dad…
for free.
But would the Mike’s collaborate? Maybe they’d try to destroy each other/merge into one super Mike.
Don’t be ridiculous, she OBVIOUSLY just when emo.
I now want to see Emo!Joyce…
This has the possibility to be so completely hilarious!
Tho doing the same gag 2 weeks in a row is kinda lame. But I’m sure Willis will have something pleasant for us.
There are so many different ways it could possibly be hilarious, too. I regret that only one of them can unfold.
Okay, while everyone is completely entitled to their opinions, it seems a good number of people are determined that Joyce is going to have a bad reaction to Ethan’s sexuality. While this could happen, why does no one seem to think that maybe it won’t go badly? Heck, Joyce handled the Atheist thing quite well, with the only major problem being she accidentally gave herself hiccups.
I’m not asking people to assume Joyce will react well. I’m just saying consider both sides of the coin.
The timing of the comic is kind of setting up a nice big “Joyce is a homophobe” whammy, which would provide:
A: Excellent commentary on a certain segment of our population
B: Hilarious humor as Joyce loses her mind again
There’s not like a 50/50 here. We’ve been given every set up to think that she is going to have an over the top reaction, which is not the same as a bad one (though there are some people in that camp). If she is indifferent to it, it’ll have a hell of a comedic twist.
True, she COULD say
“Cool, I like men, too! By the way, watch out for that Joe guy.”
Lol. Best reaction.
lol. “We, like, have so much in common!”
Actually, do they? Joyce doesn’t like men, she likes marriage.
Actually, I suspect Joyce is starting to feel out of her depth here. Ethan being gay might just crack her brain.
Well, the big reason for this is how Joyce has behaved so far. She’s in awe of the fact she has a black roommate, even though for most people different races aren’t such a huge deal. She’s been claiming that any other faith different from her own is wrong, and that the other person should be converted. She BEAT UP a man because he doesn’t share her opinions about sex, and thinks her behavior is justified. She freaked out at discovering that Atheists do in fact exist.
Considering her conservative she’s been behaving, and how many religious organizations (not all mind you) generally view being gay as a sin, and if her own church taught that (and Joyce right now would NEVER oppose anything she was taught in church), its understandable that most of us assume the worse case scenario.
Not to mention, we want to see if Joyce’s head will finally explode by this.
If Joyce hadn’t behaved as bad as she has been to everything else, I’d think a lot more of us would expect a less wacky reaction.
Leslie doesn’t bother her, why should Ethan?
I don’t think Leslie’s sexual orientation has been brought up yet.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/02-uphill-from-here/why/
This is all we got. It’s not much to go on, as she’s not really talking about herself, and she clearly speaks in jest. Not only that, but Joyce’s reaction could be interpreted multiple ways.
Stil, there it is. That’s Joyce’s experience with homosexuality thus far.
I guess Joe also mentioned lesbian porn in her presence once. Joyce didn’t react on screen. decide for yourself if that counts or means anything.
Hmm, this comic makes me wonder what classes Ethan takes. Hopefully he doesn’t end up working in retail.
It’d be pretty hilarious if Joyce went “You’re gay? Huh… Well, at least tell me you’re CHRISTIAN?” Important things first, right? 😉
I’m betting she’ll start poking Ethan is a stick going “You don’t LOOK like an demon with corrosive acid in your veins…”
I’ve been waiting for these two characters to meet for weeks. I think they will be great friends once Joyce gets over the whole gay thing.
So far she’s met a black, a rebel, a jewish boy (who also wants pre-marital hanky panky and got some from Roz), Mike, an atheist and now a gay guy! Probably a lesbian too, what with Leslie being her teacher.
So what else is needed here? Hmm… some non-anglo-saxon foreigner? A muslim? Someone who is WORSE than she is, a sort of dark mirror?! An abortion specialist? The Space Pope?
I vote that The Abortion Specialist and The Space Pope become Amazi-girl villains.
I think the Space Pope would not take kindly to be portrayed as a villain.
And The Abortion Specialist is obviously a Bible Belt villain.
but she could team up with the abortion specialist in a cross-dimensional battle against shortpacked! galasso to foil his attempt to cease control over sp! amber’s second born.
Faz!
Ah! Didn’t even think of that one!
Thanks for that, Now I cannot get the Faz/Joyce pairing out of my head.
: D Ethan and Mike cancel each other out!
…Mike seems bitter about Amber liking Ethan because he likes Amber?
Actually, I half suspect Ethan and Mike might be a couple in this continuity. At the very least, Mike tolerates Ethan. If Mike was bitter towards Ethan for any reason, Ethan would be clutching his balls in agony by now.
s: or covering his faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace (darn it!)
How can you tell he difference from bitter Mike and normal Mike…?
The intensity of the frown and the number of references to your mother.
I always felt the intensity of the frown and references to your mother meant he was enjoying himself, not feeling bitter. Otherwise, he’s just bored.
Oh gawd.
Willis.
Don’t make me hate Joyce.
I’m actually hoping to see Joyce give the Biblical beatdown to some overly doctrinaire bigot. The ol’ “You’re not even hating the sin but loving the sinner, you’re just loving to hate” line.
The most resounding example of that I’ve witnessed in real life was the blind guy who told schooled a street preacher asking him about the wages of sin visited upon him: “Are you insane? Read John 9. No verse — it’s the whole chapter.” Note: Link goes to a King James Version of that particular chapter.
Lol. “No verse. Read the whole chapter”. Love that. Wish more people would cite entire stories with all the context in place when they wish to extol the virtues of the good book. Doing it right. That’s what you’re doing.
Honestly, that would be a pretty cool moment that would really help Joyce to shine in a better light and help to separate her from some of the negative associations of her practices. I’d love to see it.
I can see that happening, but I suspect it would have to come at the end of an arc where she learns that it’s possible for Christians to be truly cruel and hateful. As she is now, she probably assumes that all Christians are automatically good and loving people, and that everything the outside world considers “intolerance” is actually misinterpreted zeal for saving sinners. She’d be making excuses for said overly doctrinaire bigot until they went truly over the top, at which point she’d probably go Old Testament on his ass. Forget locusts and frogs, we’re skipping straight to fire from the sky.
Jews and atheists and gays, oh my!
Don’t forget Mike;)
Mike is the “Oh my!”
Why include Mike? He seems to be the only person that Joyce doesn’t have some sort of moral or religious issue with. He’s the only one she hasn’t offended or who thinks she’s crazy. In fact, I’d say he actually likes her because she lets him beat up her dates.
You can’t ever not include Mike. He doesn’t take kindly to it.
Mike clearly worships Khorne, the chaos god of violence and bloodshed.
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!
oops, sorry ^_^;;;
if i recall correcly, Ethan is both gay AND jewish! My gawd… what a double threat. Come on Joyce, which do you have to change first?
Joyce: why the Judaism, of course. Christians can’t be gay so converting him is two birds with one stone.
Wow, this has the potential to be awesome. If the atheist gave her hiccups, finding out he’s gay could give her a collapsed lung.
Or a stroke.
I wonder what kind of freak out Joyce will have when she learn’s Ethan’s gay. She has already had enough as it is.
Considering Joyce’s less than appropriate responses to Judaism, atheism, the normal mating behavior for a 18 year old boy… I wonder if meeting her first homosexual might finally push her completely over the edge.
Band camp. Arguably she may be more prepared for Ethan than anything else yet.
Which is why I think she should crush on him for a while first before The Big Reveal – more shocking that way! (I can’t see that happening though – it’s not really a secret.)
Joyce got freaked out by the concept of sex and someone not believing in god. If she can’t handle people having different beliefs from her, I’m pretty sure same gender couples which are pretty far from her Christian norms, are WAAAAAAAAY outside her comfort zone.
While less than ideal, her reactions to those things weren’t *that* bad.
And Ethan’s not her first homosexual. She’s encountered Leslie, listened attentively to her first class after learning she was a lesbian, returned to her second class without mentioning it again, and was even pleasantly discussing the course material with a classmate as she left.
I checked the archives and nowhere does Leslie come out to her class. She does end her opening lecture with the joke “We’re all lesbians here”
If I’m wrong I apologize in advance. Saves time during the busy holiday season.
Mike should be happy to see Joyce; because of her, he got to punch someone in the face…many times!
Its Mike. He’s never happy. Only less violent.
You forget that Mike is a happy drunk.
Definitely eager to see if that’s consistent in this universe.
Hasn’t been proven here. And that doesn’t really count since that’s not a natural happy, but rather a medicated one. 😛
I’m pretty sure he could have done that without her, too.
She actually had nothing to do with it. Mike was running around interrupting dates with furious punching sessions and was only confused by Joyce’s unusual reaction to his intrusion and subsequent acts of violence. Spent the night puzzling over the strange creature and its’ unusual ways. When she joined him in the beatdown, he knew he had found love.
Now if only he could find love’s mother and a nickel he could call this a solid evening.
Wow… Joyce just became friends with gay jewish guy. don’t see THIS going anywhere right folks?
Seems like a dead end plot point if you ask me. You need conflict to tell a story. None of that to be found here.
I’m betting that Joyce will give Ethan the hiccups by saying that Transformers are just for kids or something like that.
Ooo… new idea. What if Joyce doesn’t know what gay even is? I mean, what if she’s so sheltered, she never learned about Homosexuals, gay marriage and all that stuff.
Instead, she assumes gay just means “happy”, which results in “Oh you’re gay? So am I! I try and be gay all the time!”
I don’t see why people are expecting her to freak out about Ethan being gay. Heck, she only really freaked out about Dorothy because she’s atheist, which makes sense because it’s harder to believe that someone doesn’t believe in anything as opposed to them believing in something else.
I actually expect more of a “You just haven’t found the right girl.” and her meddling in his life than anything else.
Showing Joyce as open-minded, understanding, or really anything but a terrifying bigot would be kind of missing the point of the comic.
I didn’t say open minded or understanding. I expect her to be pretty close minded and confused and downright nosy. She reacted pretty well to someone of a different religion with just the intention to change him. There should be no more difference here.
People assume so easily that Ethan’s sexuality is likely to just casually come up in a conversation with someone he’s just met. I can see the reasoning, with Joyce being there and all… But he doesn’t seem the type to just bring it up randomly.
I’d sooner expect the two to just get along for now, maybe reveal it to her later on when it will have more of an effect because she feels like she knows him so well. That may even create stronger feelings from her towards Ethan than just an aesthetic crush would, since as she got to know him he obviously wouldn’t just be interested in “hankey panky.”
Well no. I don’t think it’s gonna happen in this interaction either. However, this is an introduction. They can only talk for so long without the topic coming up. Might not be today, might not be tomorrow, but midterms will not come and go without Joyce learning this. Though, with eight months happening in real life for every three days of comic time, I have to imagine it’ll be sooner than that. Maybe in a couple weeks comic time?
Truth be told, I think it would have more effect if they had an established relationship beforehand anyway. Learning that an acquaintance of the man you just met yesterday is a homosexual doesn’t mean anything more than that there are homosexuals present on campus. A revelation with a bit more oomph would probably be more enjoyable for all involved.
Nothing to stop it from happening now, it just probably won’t. Still, it’s gonna happen eventually. It can’t not happen.
There is a BUTTON.
That holds.
The door open.
What is it about grandiose gesticulations that so enraptures us beyond the undeniable fact that the door was NOT DESIGNED to be Superman’d in place?
Pet peeve.
a) Holding the actual door is not difficult, as they have sensors to not close if there’s an obstruction
b) The gesture is the same as holding a door open someone, and has more panache then pressing a button
c) On 75% of the elevators that I have been in that I have attempted to use the button to hold the door.. the button doesn’t work, at least one it was obviously only a decorative button cap.
Still remember the time a buddy informed me he was gay.
He was drunk, mumbled a lot, and then said “Oh hey, dude, I’m gay!”
Next day, he asked if he did anything dumb. “You told me you were gay.” His response? “Eh, could be worse. It’s true, by the way.”
My response was to just toss him the second controller, and play some more soul caliber. Guy plays a MEAN sophitia.
Will this be the first time in either universe where Joyce and Ethan have met?
Or people whose lives are more fun to make LIVING HELL/SUPER AWKWARD.
She may have an aneurysm over this one.
I just now noticed, but somehow, Mike’s facial expression in the last panel makes it almost look like he’s grinning. In Mike-face-expressions, I mean. He looks less hostile than usual.
I am also incredibly disappointed that his collar isn’t popped.
I’m surprised Joyce’s hand didn’t burst onf ire
I have little patience for people like Mike. I’d almost rather deal with a naive Christian like Joyce, even though she can be a bit on the annoying side. At least her heart is in the right place. People like Mike aren’t worth knowing.
Wait is that Mike with his haircut… front ?
I swear we’re only see it with the hair going to one side or another… constantly. It was starting to drive me crazy.
Try reading this comic in high contrast mode…