241

Adjoining
Posted on July 13, 2024 by David M Willis

241 thoughts on “Adjoining”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “How did I screw up? Let me count the ways.
    I screwed up to the depth and breadth and height
    My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
    For the ends of being and ideal grace.
    I screwed up to the level of every day’s
    Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
    I screwed up freely, as men strive for right.
    I screwed up purely, as they turn from praise.
    I screwed up with the passion put to use
    In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
    I screwed up with a screw I seemed to lose
    With my lost saints. I screwed up with the breath,
    Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if I choose,
    I shall but screw up better after death.”

    “yo what”

    1. marcus erronius

      Slow fucking clap.

    2. Dante

      Shakesperean. Effervescent. A standing ovation upon your house.

      1. JoeCovenant

        Browningesque….

        #Pedant

    3. Needfuldoer

      This deserves all the upvotes and likes.

      Pure gold.

    4. Mturtle7

      I had no idea Elizabeth Browning was such a DoA fan!

    5. Clif

      You really screwed up that poem.

      Well done!

  2. Sirksome

    He should say he respects her next. That will fix the awkwardness.

    1. Yumi

      He should bring up how Mike faked his death. It went so well before.

      1. Vanessa

        At least he isn’t telling dumb jokes to pretend the awkwardness doesn’t exist, he’s doing a Danny. Why not, the painfully earnest anti-cool actually seems to work for Danny.

        1. Jeremiah

          Quick someone find Walky a hat and ukelele.

        2. staszu13

          Alas poor Walky doesn’t know what to do when he isn’t beating Head Alien to death

    2. BarerMender

      Here’s what you should say, Walky: “Dorothy’s a hot fuck and she didn’t make me wait three dates before–”
      No, wait. Don’t say that. Lucy might have brass knucks somewhere on her.

      1. Reltzik

        Which might actually be cathartic for her, so go ahead and say it, Walky.

        1. BarerMender

          I’m sure working Walky over with brass knucks or a chair leg would be cathartic for Lucy, but it would be catheter for Walky. Along with an IV and a breathing tube.

        2. Nymph

          This is a very normal comment. It doesn’t come off weird at all. 100% not an absolutely wild thing to say.

        3. PedanticJerkass

          I mean, it follows the previous two comments and isn’t a total non sequitur, at least.

        4. Nymph

          Not even a little bit the issue I had with it.

      2. Arillius

        Walky explicitly wasn’t interested in sex with Lucy, if I remember correctly.

        1. PedanticJerkass

          There might have been a moment or two when he would have been down with it, if Lucy had decided to forego her “three dates first” rule in those moments.

        2. thejeff

          Or if they hadn’t got twisted up in the “he loves me” fiasco and let things develop.

    3. Dante

      Yeah! And of course he has to let her know, “it’s not you, it’s me”

      1. bemisawa

        “…And also Dorothy.”

  3. Esolo

    Oh jesus christ.

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      Naw. J-dawg is still feeling the last time he got nailed. For Lucy ’tis but a memory.

    2. foamy

      Plot twist: She’s talking about the booze

  4. Thag Simmons

    dammit walky

  5. Nono

    Will Walky be just awkdroable or just awkward? Find out tomorrow!

    1. Tofusmith

      It’s wild that at this point he seems to be replacing Danny AND Joe as DOA’s biggest fuckboy

      1. Jeremiah

        Someone has to be fill the niche.

        1. StClair

          “There must always be a Dumb King.”

      2. Techhead

        Danny was never a fuckboy. A doofus sometimes, but not a fuckboy

        1. Mturtle7

          …Agree to disagree. He was a LITTLE BIT of a fuckboy, mostly as a result of the confidence boost from dating Amazi-Girl.

  6. Jo_cubstar

    Oh walky, you idiot

  7. Wraithy2773

    …on one hand, I 100% agree that Walky is being a giant dumbass here, don’t start poking the bomb that hasn’t gone off yet…

    …but on the other…. I mean, yeah, at that age, I’d absolutely do that same fucking thing. Giant dumbass…

    1. Jeremiah

      It’s important to be self aware enough to acknowledge that we probably wouldn’t any better that these characters in these situations. Some of us (me) would probably do worse!

      1. Dante

        Oh, absolutely. I’m like 75% sure my 18-years-old!self would’ve fucked this up in impressive, previously unforeseen ways. We have the privilege of being the Greek Chorus here.

      2. brionl

        I would have been sitting in my room working on my Traveller campaign (LBB 4Evah!) and never even met any of them, so…

        1. thejeff

          I don’t know, this isn’t really out of line for my gaming groups in college.

  8. Vanessa

    I was afraid of the painful drama but this awkwardness is just funny. I love that Lucy is tired of it already.

    But Dorothy, just own it, you got the boy like a boss now don’t screw it ip again.

    1. Coatl

      On the one hand, Dorothy is allowing things to be cleared up, but yes, let’s hope that in the future she will stop imposing blame in that way.

      From Walky, yes…we know that the results are not what we expected, but on this occasion, it is fun.

      Yes, I know…. I know. Everyone fascinated by Lucy’s maturity, but in the first panel I notice a smile on her, could it be some kind of internal malice that says “so… you’re going to reconsider, uh”?

      1. Reaver

        Did you make sure to stretch before that HUGE reach???

        1. Coatl

          The drama in this comic is 24/7, so it’s not that crazy.

          But yes, I may have misinterpreted it.

      2. Mark

        I saw that first-panel expression and thought “depressed.”

    2. Akane

      They’re going to screw it up, I think. Maybe they’ll realize they’re better as friends. Or perhaps Walky will finally take charge of his life and dump Dorothy.

      1. Freemage

        For what reason, exactly?

        1. Akane

          Walky doesn’t want to be a distraction.

      2. Arillius

        They were never friends. Lucy explicitly ‘befriended’ him with the secret desire to date him.

    3. Alanari

      I’m wondering whether she’s about to go though a similar “giving up on life-orientating goals/rules doesn’t make consequences of choices go away” – thing as Joyce when she scewed up her maybe – relationship with Jacob. The thinking about mistakes sentence has the vibe for me.

      1. spriteless aunty

        I don’t know. Lucy seems less naive than Joyce used to be. Joyce thought of her rules as “Don’t do this because God doesn’t want you to and that makes it wrong,” while Lucy is more “God wants you to take care of each other here are some rules to help.” Does that make sense? I’m thinking of when Becky and Lucy were talking about reconverting Joyce, Lucy said something like “You’re everything she left the church FOR.” Lucy is aware there is life outside of church the normal, non-fundie, curchgoer amount.

  9. jpnr

    the orgy will fix this

    1. Dara

      they always do!

    2. Reltzik

      Will it, though?

      Look at it this way. Dorothy’s solution to (one of) her problems (hooking up Walky with Lucy), itself turned into a problem. That made the problem of Lucy being prejudiced against Lucy. Walky’s solution to that problem was a series of lifehacks, which created problems in the relationship and ultimately led to it breaking up. Meanwhile Walky being Lucy’s boyfriend meant he was sexually unavailable for Dorothy, which added to her stress factor, and that led to Joyce trying to solve that problem with dranks. This in turn led to….

      *gets lost flowcharting for about an hour*

      …. okay, here’s the summary:

      “Our solutions to problems keep causing more problems!” “That’s okay, we can fix that with more solutions.”

      1. jpnr

        believe in the orgy

    3. Lilith

      [me every time relationship drama happens in this comic] “A POLYCULE WOULD FIX THEM!!!!!!”

    4. Mturtle7

      “Gay sex will not fix this problem. In fact, it might actively make it worse. But we should make it happen anyway-“

  10. Alongcameaspider

    Lucy: “I need a stronger drink if he’s going to be like this”

    1. Alongcameaspider

      Also did the server clock finally get fixed? It seems the comics are going up earlier now

  11. butts

    oh god damn it walky now is not the time

    1. Jeremiah

      When has that ever stop him?

    2. Mark

      So when is the time?

      1. Jeremiah

        Literally any other time? Possibly one where there is actual privacy and also it hasn’t been just two days since they broke up?

        1. thejeff

          I don’t know. I think they kind of do need a talk, even if it’s brief. Within a couple of days isn’t a bad time to clear the air and figure out where they stand now – especially if they’re going to try to keep interacting with the same friend group. And she’s been avoiding any chance to actually talk, so a quiet corner of the party isn’t actually bad.

          Dorothy cutting in really didn’t help though. And I don’t know if that threw him off, but his choice of words was not exactly ideal.

  12. pope suburban

    I hope Lucy has had a moment of clarity here, where she realizes that while Walky is essentially a good guy, he’s also young and dumb and not ready for the kind of relationship she wants. She thought he was more of the commitment type and more sensitive than he generally is after the Dorothy breakup, the relationship was a shambles, and now he’s already back with Dorothy. He’s not a bad guy but it’s not a great look and it should knock him off that pedestal. And while I like independent Lucy and kind of want Jacob and Sarah to be a thing (I think they have a lot of growth they could do together), I would also be okay with Lucy giving things with Jacob a shot right now. She was very confident when she met him and I think that’s the energy she needs at this point.

    1. Vanessa

      True, it is helpful and healthy for Lucy to take Walky off that ridiculous pedestal. She’s too good for Walky too… or she should tell herself that anyway.

      1. Coatl

        It also wouldn’t be bad for Lucy herself to evaluate herself, I mean, she already took for granted a definitive and solid future with Walky and was overly confident that she would earn the approval of Linda and Charles.

        Although nothing more has been seen of her interaction with Jennifer, it is time for Lucy to also reconsider moving her from that absurd pedestal.

      2. Akane

        Dorothy’s too good for Walky.

    2. Coatl

      Well, as you mention, he’s not a bad guy and in fact he was showing small but significant progress.

      Simply here the words that Walky used were not correct, but I will not deny that that last panel did make me laugh.

      Now that you mention pedestals, it would also be interesting to see if Lucy has really changed her perspective of Jennifer.

      Yep, the triangle between Lucy, Sarah and Jacob is more interesting to watch.

      1. pope suburban

        I think she’s probably there with Jennifer, it just isn’t so obvious because her feelings aren’t as strong. She did get the rest of the dorm to give Jen a second chance after Jen admitted to drunk driving. Lucy has long known that Jennifer isn’t perfect, and I sense a little exasperation/familiarity with Jennifer’s worse habits from Lucy’s line about being experienced with alcohol. So yeah, I think she’s there with Jen, or near enough anyway.

        1. Dante

          Lucy, like Dorothy and Joyce actually, needs in her heart to feel like she’s doing good things. And getting the dorm to give Jennifer a second chance was one of them.

          As for being her roommate however, I do think the pedestal has either grown smaller or it’s really close to getting shattered. Because she’s seen how fallible a person Jennifer is, and also tbh, she’s been looking pretty frustrated lately with her reputation as the Cool Worldly Person Everyone Goes For Advice when she’s. Well. A mess.

        2. Coatl

          It sounds crazy, but in the likely case that Lucy’s family is influential, Raidah will not hesitate to put her in her network of influences and it is very possible that she will make Lucy’s ego grow and make Jennifer less.

        3. Dante

          … Fam, Lucy does not look like she comes from an influential family. At all. I’m not sure where are you getting this from.

        4. Coatl

          It’s just my idea, but it would be interesting to see that.

        5. eh, whatever

          If it’s just idle speculation, why do you call it “the likely case”?

        6. Regret

          Weirder things have happened, especially in fiction.

        7. zee

          Likely?

        8. DashWallkick

          Which is a sign of youth. Wanting to fix things makes things worse and it’s the one impulse you have when you’re young and the sting of shame haunts you. It takes time for you to grow to the point that you just kind of blindly accept and move on because life’s too short to obsess over the person you burned.

  13. Blibdoolpoolp

    As a certified dumbass in college who fumbled their way through two or three relationships at the time I’ve gotta say I can relate on a painful level with Walky here. Its not as smart of a move as you hope to back-pedal and try to retain a friendly relationship with an ex, though I think only one of mine handled it as gracefully as Lucy has been so far.

    1. Queen Anthai

      That’s gracefully?

      1. Jeremiah

        Yes? Extremely so even. I honestly think she earned being a bit more ungraceful.

      2. Dante

        – Elephant in the room was acknowledged
        – She stated what were her feelings (yes, they matter.)
        – She kept it brief
        – Didn’t lose control, didn’t namecall, didn’t make demands
        – And moved on with her night
        – (Without leaving a party she was invited to, and that she was excited to be included in.)

        I’m… Seriously I really really wanna know what else people expected Lucy to do because this is almost textbook therapy stuff.

        1. Adam Black

          I definitely think after Dumping walky on a sunday morning rather publicly and then avoiding him, yet aggressively inserting herself over and over where he will see her,
          Lucy should show up on a Tuesday night for an alcohol party, surrounded By walkys friend group where she will almost definitely see him. and it will be socially awkward. and when he tries to say one sentence that she is a good friend publicy tell him off.

          Textbook therapy stuff.

          and NONE of the things you described are permitted to Walky too.
          Hes not allowed to acknowledge the elephant, state his feelings.

        2. Jeremiah

          It is so nice that I stopped reading anything you say, especially about Lucy. It makes me fell better and nothing of worth is missed!

        3. Adam Black

          yes, so nice.

        4. zee

          Man I was so wrong about you getting more hinged about Lucy lmfao

        5. spriteless aunty

          Wha? She’s angry. He’s allowed to say things that make her angry. Being angry isn’t the same as shutting someone down. How could she even be the arbiter of what is and isn’t allowed? He’s an adult!

          It takes time and trust to tolerate anger in yourself and others, though. I understand if you had parents who were all about punishment for anger, then it’t tough. But Lucy is never Walky’s parent, is no longer his girlfriend, but is still his peer. If she makes him feel uncomfortable, then that’s not automatically something to blame her for.

          If Walky gets angry, and also refrains from hitting or name-calling, that is also OK.

        6. thejeff

          The only part I agree with from Adam’s post is that she really shouldn’t be there – or at least should have checked with Sarah (who invited her) whether Walky was going to be there or not and negotiate with him about it.
          It’s best to avoid hanging out in the same space until you’ve gotten some distance and/or negotiated a way to do so with awkward confrontations.
          She had good reason to expect him to be around that group. Walky had no reason to expect to walk in and find Lucy there. He couldn’t have avoided it. She could have.

          But I don’t think there’s any malice here. It’s her first breakup. Can’t expect her to know how to handle it well.

        7. Yumi

          She may have felt she could handle being around Walky. She did not know she was going to be around a now back together Walky and Dorothy.

        8. thejeff

          She may have. But she also didn’t know how’d he’d react and apparently put little thought into that.

          It’s just likely create an awkward situation all around. I’m not even saying “stay away” – just work things out so no one’s dealing with a surprise confrontation.

    2. Blibdoolpoolp

      I’d dare to say she has poise and grace of a gazelle. Booster was definitely right about her and Walky.

  14. Reaver

    Lucy’s reaction is priceless

  15. egon

    walky is not worth the heartache ?

  16. CitrineMonster

    girlfailure and boyfailure, my favorite pairing. i honestly love this era of lucy being an exasperated straightman to their nonsense.

    1. Dante

      Y’know, now that you say “straight…”

      If Dorothy and Walky just went ‘aw fuck it’ and included Lucy in their relationship, would that help fill the niche Joyce currently can’t?

      1. Regret

        That would be a terrible idea for several reasons. Lucy is part of a religion that demands monogamy and she has obviously internalized those rules quite deeply. They’re all emotional trainwrecks at the moment. Walky isn’t capable of the kind of honesty required to make a single partner work, let alone two. Dorothy isn’t attracted to Lucy, you can’t just replace Joyce like that for people like Dorothy.. Lucy isn’t attracted to Dorothy. Walky would be extremely weird about having two girlfriends.

  17. Vangeln

    Just get drunk already, Walky.

    1. Azhrei Vep

      From what I remember of his alcohol tolerance, being that close to alcohol that strong will get him there very shortly, just from inhaling the fumes.

  18. Jeremiah

    You had an out Walky. You were given tacit permission to avoid an awkward emotional interaction and you blew it!

    1. Mark

      Good on Walky for not running away this time. They really ought to talk it out.

      If it leads to a fight, well, the fight already started. Lucy landed one punch and then left the ring. Finish it, touch gloves and put it behind you.

      1. Bittersweet

        No! Not here! This is precisely the situation you should run away and not have the conversation here, a party where everyone is having a good time and predominantly drunk is the exact place to NOT have a difficult conversation omg.

        1. Mark

          OK, that’s a good point. I was not thinking about “here” but about “now” (as opposed to “later” which will turn into “never”).

  19. Shakes

    So, banging Walky again was a mistake? Or was it encouraging him to ask Lucy out?

    1. Jeremiah

      Yes.

      1. Mark

        Failure cascade.

    2. Akane

      Yes, and maybe. Dorothy’s made a lot of mistakes, and I foresee her continuing to make mistakes.

    3. Wraithy2773

      I’d say that Dorothy views doing both as the problem. That one moment she’s trying to get Walky set-up with someone more available and still good, the other she’s trying to keep Walky for herself.

      Me, I’m fine marking it down as “youthful inexperience and idiocy”, but Dorothy tends to hold herself to an unrealistically high standard.

  20. M!a

    NOT FUCKING NOW, WALKY

    1. Reltzik

      Obviously. They’re broken up, so this can’t count as the third date.

  21. Sirksome

    Dorothy and Walky gotta be the worst people to have slighted you. Nothing’s more annoying than someone hurting you and having them apologize for it and being all mopey about it. You were the jerk, please don’t come at me with how bad you feel about it.

    1. MisterJinKC

      So don’t apologize and show actual remorse?

      1. Sirksome

        Apologies aren’t always for the person that’s slighted. Sometimes it’s for the person who did the harm. That’s the case here. Walky and Dorothy just feel bad and want to still be liked by Lucy, Dorothy specifically was trying to seduce Walky. Her apology is pretty empty. She made a choice and just doesn’t like the feeling from the aftermath of that. Walky likely has more complex emotions since I think he still holds some emotions for Lucy, but that still feels hollow considering he moved on in two days.

        Also haphazardly trying to smooth things over immediately after being called out feels a little insincere. It hasn’t even been two minutes.

        1. Florence

          Yea, I’d say an apology in front of people reads as a performance

          If Walky wants to apologise he should do when it’s only him and Lucy, and where Lucy has the space to go in whatever direction she wishes in response

          Sure forgiveness is nice but also it’s okay not to forgive, and a true apology has space for that

        2. Mark

          I would agree, but I would also ask when you think such a moment is likely to occur, if ever.

      2. Bash

        Apologize only if there is actual remorse. Don’t just soothe your own guilt about it.

    2. Sirksome

      Upon rereading they’re not actually even apologizing here. They just feel bad and don’t want Lucy mad at them for their actions. Fair emotions but somehow likely more obnoxious to have to deal with.

  22. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    Dude just give it a rest, maybe you’ll have a better chance another day since you’re lucky enough she still staying.

  23. morhek

    “Walky, you can’t Friend Zone me after I Friend Zones YOU, that’s not how this WORKS.”

    1. Reltzik

      Of course not. That was a past tense. He RETROACTIVELY friend-zoned her, which means he friend-zoned her before she friend-zoned him.

      1. morhek

        “Technically I never un-Friend Zoned you-”

        “YES THAT IS WHY I BROKE UP WITH YOU.”

  24. IntangibleMatter

    Girl’s going through it, and I hope she gets to have some sort of a good time at this party.

    Probably not though

    1. Dante

      If someone drags her away from this, it’d be golden. Let her drink and play some of the board games she brought and stuff. Meet people away from the toxic Reed Hall hivemind.

      Also someone should put music on. IDK if it’s the LatAm in me but silent parties are weird.

      1. eh, whatever

        People talk at parties. Music makes that harder.

        It only makes getting drunk easier: if you can’t talk, you’re more likely to drink. That’s why there’s music in bars.

        1. Mark

          Wow, I remembered a party from half a lifetime ago, and now I understand why I was uncomfortable there. Thank you.

          I suspect that there are parties to talk and parties to move, and different people like different kinds of parties because they socialize differently. Being thoroughly a talker I can’t say for sure.

          I think quiet music could enhance a talkers’ party, though.

  25. Tenzhi

    Am I misremembering? Lucy is the one who broke it off, right? Makes her seem like TAH for being the one who ended it but then being indignant that the other party moved on. Dorothy definitely shouldn’t be beating herself up about it, but, then, it IS Dorothy.

    1. Uly

      She sorta soft broke up, and now she doesn’t want to chat with Walky. I think that’s fair.

      1. Tan

        “Fuck you, I deserve better” is a “soft” break up?

        1. TerribleTransit

          It’s not a hard breakup, so yes. Both of them were uncertain about it. Walky agonized for a while about being only probably broken up. Lucy just a few comics ago said she “basically ended it”, acknowledging that she did not expressly do so and in fact may not have fully recognized that’s what she did until that very moment. It’s definitely on the harder end of soft breakups but was nowhere near definitive.

    2. Alongcameaspider

      The sticking point is less that he moved on and more how fast he moved on (2 days in universe)

      Dorothy might also feel some guilt for trying to get Walky to cheat on Lucy but that should probably not be brought up while things are still relatively peaceful

      1. Sirksome

        I think it’s pretty clear what Dorothy’s intentions were anyway. Getting back together after Walky was just two days single is a very strong statement of desire.

      2. Sol

        People keep saying Dorothy was trying to get Walky to cheat. I really don’t think so. I think she wanted him to break up with Lucy and get back with her. That’s not cheating. Maybe not nice, but it’s not cheating.

    3. Coatl

      Yes, it was Lucy who ended that relationship,

      While many were happy with the way she handled this, I can’t help but suspect that deep down inside Lucy, she likes making Walky and Dorothy look bad.

      And with Dorothy, I know it’s asking too much, but now that you’re rewriting your life, stop imposing blame on yourself like that.

      1. Coatl

        ***And with Dorothy, I know it’s asking too much, but now that she’s rewriting her life, she needs to stop blaming herself like that.

      2. Jeremiah

        I also can’t help but suspect that dogs are secretly running the world governments. You know, since we are just making stuff up now.

        1. Coatl

          It’s impossible not to think that way, that slight smile from Lucy in the first panel sets it off.

        2. Jeremiah

          I think that calling that a smile, of any kind, is a very generous stretch. And literally what other expression in this and the last panel with Lucy make you think she is enjoying any of this?

        3. Yumi

          It’s actually quite possible to have an entirely different impression of that smile.

        4. Dante

          The barely there, tired-looking upturn of her lips in panel 1… As a hint of smug victory? O_O

        5. Coatl

          It looks like a smile, but it’s okay, I may have been wrong.

      3. Akane

        Is Dorothy rewriting her life?

        1. Coatl

          Her entire life was based on a systematic way free of errors and she thought that being president was the key to all that, in addition to the fact that she imposed the idea that she is the only one who should do it.

          But after everything that has happened, she has reconsidered all that, she wants to help, but it is necessary to change the perspective of it all.

    4. Bash

      I think its important to remember WHY Lucy broke it off, which was her one-sided feelings for Walky. Even though Walky didn’t intentionally do anything wrong, he put her in a situation where a breakup was in many ways the healthiest option.

      If you were friends with Lucy, and you saw her obsessing over some guy who seemed lukewarm about her, what advice would you give her?

    5. Regret

      Indignant? I would say hurt and expressing it honestly.

      1. Mark

        Thank you: much clearer than what I decided not to say.

      2. Mark

        I Lucy is also unhappy with herself.

    6. zee

      She’s not indignant, just hurt at how fast it was. She’s allowed.

  26. Zamperla

    i think it helps to view this whole section as not a question of Who in This Conflict Is The Bad Guy. Many conflicts do not actually have a The Bad Guy. These are both two doofuses who cannot yet rent a car legally who had a breakup that probably felt, mutually, like stepping off two steps instead of one and rolling an ankle.

    But also: whoof, Walky, honey, no.

    1. Da Boy

      Pretty much it’s just a bunch of college students fumbling the ball of life

    2. Nymph

      Exactly. Three people got hurt (to varying degrees and for varying reasons) and are honestly cranking through it without explosions pretty well so far.

  27. Bittersweet

    Okay now I feel like Lucy has enough whatever to tell them off properly and still be within good social graces of my socially stunted anxiety lol. Walky and Dorothy need to stop and just go omg.

    1. Coatl

      I love Dorothy, but her habit of imposing blame on herself is not healthy at all, she already managed to get a weight off her shoulders, now she has to put a stop to this too.

  28. JA

    Dammit Walky…

  29. pyrock_mania

    First off, let me concur with what’s already been said: that Walky and Dorothy are handling this about as well as two anxiety-ridden college freshmen can be expected to (poorly).

    That said, I feel like Lucy’s passive-aggressive “two days” comment earlier seems a lot shittier when she also gets mad when they try to eat some crow and clear the air after she just shot a laser pointer at the elephant in the room. If you wanted a party where you don’t have to talk about this, I really feel like you shouldn’t have poked that bear. She doesn’t have to be the better person, but that does kind of require you cede some of your moral high-ground.

    Once again, they’re all three handling this terribly and good on the rest of the party for having fun and not getting sucked into this. Yet.

    1. Reaver

      What about that was passive aggressive? She was HURT and expressed it, there was nothing passive aggressive about it.

      1. Taffy

        Expressing pain is a form of violence.

        1. Regret

          Wait, what? So when someone is crying and it makes me uncomfortable, it would be morally permissible to defend myself using my fists? That is not a morality I can get behind.

        2. eh, whatever

          Sarcasm. Taffy is always sarcastic.

        3. zee

          I’m surprised this one managed to go over anyone’s head…

        4. Taffy

          No, you don’t need to get behind them. That’s rude as hell, when courtesy dictates you come at them from the front. There may be no rules in a fight, but if you hit somebody from behind, it stops being a fight and starts being attempted murder. Like yes, they’re being violent and you have the right to self defense, but there are limits to what’s acceptable. That’s why I hate this website sometimes, y’all extrapolate the wildest and most intense shit from really reasonable comments.

          /S

        5. Nymph

          Taffy: *makes literally any comment at all*

          Comments: OH SO I CAN MURDER SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE I DON’T LIKE THE WAY THEY BREATHE?? WOW SHITTY TAKE, YOU’RE A BAD PERSON.

          It’s so fucking weird.

        6. Taffy

          Sometimes it’s empowering to be autistic and have other people not recognise when I’m joking. Other times it’s upsetting to know a person could be stupid enough to think I’d actually turn a Power Rangers toy into a functional firearm and shoot up an anime convention dressed as the Red Ranger. Then again, I saw a video of some idiot start twerking on an electrical structure (idk the term for it, the zappy jungle gym thing with the pylons) and get reduced to her base elements by the shock, so it’s not surprising.

      2. pyrock_mania

        the whole “I’m not mad, but I am going to lecture you to make it clear I am actaully mad” is textbook passive-aggressive. She literally says “I’m not mad. I can’t be. I basically ended it.” Maybe I’m just too used to spotting it IRL that I’m being overly sensitive to it, but man that whole bit sounded like fighting words.

        1. Yumi

          See, I see it as: She’s hurt. She feels she’s not allowed to be hurt because she was the one who ended things, but she ended things because she was hurt, and she continues to be. She wants to be a Reasonable Person who has the Right Emotions, but she’s 18 and just got out of her first relationship and has no idea what those are.

        2. pyrock_mania

          For sure she’s handling this as well as a college freshman can be expected to, I just keep reading that previous strip and it still doesn’t come off as “expressing that she’s hurt” and more “shaming them for not realizing they hurt her” (or straight up shaming them, the text bears both out and only really differs with how much benefit of the doubt you’re giving her words).

          But if we take it as her expressing that she’s hurt (and not trying to use her hurt as a weapon to hurt them back), her snapping now when they both start trying to address that hurt (though poorly) seems to run counter to that view.

          Then again, she could just be exasperated at how TERRIBLE Walky started off. At least Dorothy started off with appeasement.

        3. Yumi

          I think she was trying to make it like a statement that she was hurt. She was trying to act like it was Fine, but emotions are messy and they came out anyway. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you want the people you’re upset with to come try to talk to you about it during the middle of a party. (Also, note that in the previous strip, Dorothy is the one who brought things up as a conversation in the room. I might feel differently if Lucy had started with what she said unprompted, but she didn’t.)

        4. Yumi

          I DON’T think she was trying to make it like a statement. Love leaving out key words in a comment.

        5. Adam Black

          HOW did walky start off Terrible?
          he said hello.

          Then Dorothy interupted. shamed herself for existing, and made everything super awakward.

        6. thejeff

          Yeah, I’m going to say that of everyone in this particular strip, Dorothy is most out of line. Maybe it’s a bad idea for Walky to try to talk to Lucy, especially if he doesn’t have anything but awkward platitudes to say, but if he’s going to try, there’s no room for Dorothy to insert herself in that.

        7. zee

          Well you’re reading it wrong. In any case the hurt party doesn’t have to accept or even listen to your apology. Especially in this case it can feel like, especially to the hurt party, they’re just doing this to make themselves feel better. I’m not saying that’s the case, but it can come off that way

      3. Adam Black

        The passive aggressive part was, it was lucy saying it.

      4. Bittersweet

        I still maintain that expressing it mostly unprompted and vocalizing it out loud in that moment was mostly inappropriate. Like, if someone did that irl, you’d know they were a drama bomb and to avoid all three people in the interaction.

        I am also a socially stunted person from Texas. You don’t express hurt in front of an ex here, and you certainly don’t air it in public here. It comes off as trying to start an altercation because it’s so contrary to standard social response (which is to either party it up and show your ex that you don’t care or for one of you to leave.)

        Dorothy and Walky continually trying to interact with her is when the amount of social inappropriateness has shifted enough that directly telling them off is warranted even by these standards. Because they’re already committing the faux pas of being here together at the party Lucy is helping organize and not leaving after learning that fact, this clumsy way of trying to address it is another social misstep.

        Basically, socializing where I come from is an extra layer of hell.

    2. pyrock_mania

      I just realized after reading my own thoughts on this: this seems like she’s trying to act like Raidah here. The whole “browbeat someone who didn’t really do anything wrong and then ‘graciously’ allow them to exist in a space you don’t control” really smacks of that “mean girls” flavor of bs.

      1. Coatl

        She shares a bedroom with Jennifer, so that doesn’t sound so crazy.

        1. Bryy

          I mean, Lucy 1000% idolizes Raidah, but that was the Before Lucy.

      2. Adam Black

        …YEAH.

        This is nothing new. LUcy is both a social climber and a control freak. Sarah claimed they would never see her again, and she went out if her way to show up in walkys circle post dumping.

        “browbeat someone who didn’t really do anything wrong and then ‘graciously’ allow them to exist in a space you don’t control” ” is what she did with Jennifer. over and over again.

        This strategy of social dominance by being aggressively nice failed hard with Walkys mom. It also made her fail with Jennifer because she needed to beat Jennifer with linda in order to not feel inferior.

        1. Dante

          Amazing. Every word you just said was wrong. Starting with… Sarah invited Lucy. She deliberately used her phone to locate Lucy, tell her there was a party, and ask her to come.

          The rest doesn’t merit further comment. Media literacy truly is dead.

        2. Jeremiah

          It’s why I just flat out ignore everything this person says, but specifically everything they say about Lucy. It’s like they live in a alternative dimension.

        3. Azhrei Vep

          Sarah in fact went to a silly level of trouble trying to get Lucy involved before being convinced to use a more reasonable method. She really worked at getting Lucy involved.

        4. Adam Black

          Media Literacy isnt just one chapter.
          If what I said was wrong, why did Sarah just admit and apologize for it?

          Describing Sarahs Motivations In no ways effects Lucy motivations . They are separate people.

          Sarah Invited Lucy.( this time) But Lucy has been very critical of Sarah ( not without cause) . Lucy doesnt even seem to like Sarah, and said as much before.

          So what is Lucys motivation?

        5. Bittersweet

          Lucy 2000% has shown behavior indicative of wanting to steal Walky’s friends post-breakup, mostly to spite Sarah, but in this specific instance I don’t think that’s why she’s here. She came with board games because she was asked, and part of her image to maintain is that she’s always willing to help (she also might just like it, I’d show up to my worst enemy’s house with party supplies if they needed them and asked. Helping people feels nice.)

          I think tonight though she does legit just want to get trashed and not think about Walky, play board games and unwind. Her making the comment about being hurt was a little cringy (for me), but I think if she were going the friend-stealing route with it she could’ve been more explicit and gone on for longer. I think she really was just hurt and trying to shame Walky directly and not caring about the setting, not incite the crowd to shame them too.

        6. thejeff

          I don’t think she so much wants to steal the friends – in the sense of not wanting Walky to have them too, as that she just doesn’t want to lose the friend group she was starting to be a part of.

        7. Nymph

          Lucy’s motivation is to go to a party? Around people she likes? People she has come to consider friends?

          Yikes.

        8. Jeremiah

          I find it very funny that this honestly pretty average teenage girl with some confidence issues, slightly naive outlook, but overall friendly attitude, manages to melt some commenters brains so completely. It’s like they are playing 4d chess when she isn’t even on the board.

        9. thejeff

          From my point of view, the motivations are fine. The not thinking through the consequences of Walky probably showing up is where the problem came in.

        10. Taffy

          I’m guessing she probably expected him to show up. She hasn’t acted surprised by that part, at least. What seems to have thrown her off was him being wrist-deep in Dorothy when he arrived.

        11. thejeff

          Probably not.
          But honestly, expecting Walky to be there almost makes it worse. Now it does look more like a power play of some kind. She’ll be ready for it and he’ll be caught off guard.

        12. Mark

          You left off the “/s”.

      3. zee

        She’s not. Like, at all.

    3. Bash

      I think its less that they are Talking About It and more about Walky handling it badly. In this moment she does not want to be reminded that he saw her primarily as a friend. If he had said (truthfully) “I really did care about you and I feel bad that I hurt you,” I think it would go a lot better.

      1. Mark

        +1

  30. Dante

    I can only think that on that first panel, Lucy looked like she was attempting to be chill and, if not friendly, at least amiably. Walky had only approached her slowly and said “hi”.

    Aaaaaaaand then Dorothy’s anxiety and guilt muddled everything, and Walky went “you were” in yet another fumble… Annd like come on guys couldn’t you leave this girl alone.

    The offering, alright, it was a decent thing to do but going all about “MY GUILT MY FAULT I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON” is so… Bad for everyone involved. I’m so sad for Dorothy too, mind you, she’s been having a very prolonged nervous breakdown. When I say that was the opposite of helpful, it includes her.

    1. Coatl

      Poor Dorothy took off a heavy burden and now wants to impose guilt this way. As always, there is a long way to go for her, I just hope she is truly happy.

      1. Akane

        Dorothy hasn’t gotten over her lack of a purpose, and I don’t think she’s found real happiness yet.

        1. Coatl

          Dorothy (like the rest of the characters) will continue to have setbacks, mistakes, she will have doubts and fears, but what will she learn from all that,… of course she will.

    2. Nymph

      “The offering, alright, it was a decent thing to do but going all about “MY GUILT MY FAULT I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON””

      Good thing that isn’t even slightly what she said? She offered to leave, then explained why she wasn’t staying to talk. It was slightly dramatic phrasing, sure, but Dorothy is allowed to feel a little dramatic right now.

  31. Taffy

    Hang on, let him cook.

    Also Lucy needs to watch her mouth.

    1. Dante

      How dare she take the Lord’s name in vain

      1. Yumi

        It’s actually that Jesus Christ just walked into the room, and she was stating his name upon seeing him.

        1. Dante

          And on her life, he’ll hear her complaints

        2. Mark

          “Bidden or unbidden, God will be nigh.”

      2. morleuca

        That would be claiming she knew God’s mind and intentions and wants.

    2. Mark

      Seconded.

  32. Bryy

    oh mother of fuck, dorothy.

    but also
    Lucy with the fuckin’ JAB. holy shit that was so good.

  33. BohNo

    Maybe LUCY should’ve gotten the double drink…

  34. Kenny Williams

    And that was the straw ladys and gentleman!

    1. Bash

      Shadow Lucy here we come.

      1. Da Boy

        “I am the Shadow. The True Self.”

  35. Icalasari

    Walky. Do. Not. Poke. The. Lucy.

  36. staszu13

    “I’ll be over here, thinking about my mistakes”.
    Most Dorothy line ever and title of Book 14

  37. Odditude

    Honestly, I have started to respect and like Lucy

    1. Jeremiah

      Welcome to the club! It’s nice to finally have some new members. Your commemorative “Lucy is good, actually” T-shirt will arrive, someday probably.

    2. Bittersweet

      This Lucy is 10,000x better to read than Lucy was with Walky and before Walky. If she can tell him off next panel without trying to get pity for her six month imaginary relationship and just focus on his missteps for the two weeks they actually dated, I’ll finally be fully chill with her lol

    3. zee

      You’re welcome to join the appreciation thread

    4. Blume

      Joooinnn ussss…

  38. DaveM

    Am I the only one to imagine that Lucy’s saying “Hello Walky” in a manner akin to Jerry Seinfeld saying “Hello Newman”?

    1. Proto

      Well I wasn’t before, but now I am definitely reading her that way and it definitely works

  39. darkoneko

    hahahahahahahahahahahaha

  40. Amós Batista

    Walky, you already defused the fucking bomb. Stop kicking it.

    1. RocketRelm

      I don’t know if he did. It really did seem like she was working up the courage to say or do something. Really him trying to apologize is at most setting her off one minute sooner.

      1. Da Boy

        Rather than defuse he steered clear of it… and now he turned around and is going to ram it.

  41. Michael Steamweed

    Not at all awkward around here. Not one bit. Nope.

  42. thumb

    That last sip contained just enough fuel to get her kicking off. (Walky just provided the flame).

  43. Adam Black

    warm take: I think Lucy is angry at Walky for something more subtle than other people are claiming.

    I think Lucy sees right through what walky is saying. He is actually doing the same thing that Dorothy is doing , or so Lucy perceives. I dont think she wants to forgive him right now or do any emotional labor, but his phrasing is ( like dorothys ) is forcing her to.

    I DONT THINK Lucy publicly wants to be be a BongoBanger.
    Yes Lucy craves approval and yeah Lucy wants to the seen as the better person ( at all times) .. So cornering her like this is infuriating, I think she trying to be “nice” .

    By saying this Walky is saying their friendship seems to be over, and is going to eugilize it.

    I dont think Lucy wants to do that, and this is sort of like getting dumped back.

    >Worse, this put the Onus on Lucy to Give her approval to soothe Dorothy and now Walky. ( or look Bad) . <

    I think Lucy just doesnt want to do the emotional labor of soothing walky and telling him she still is his friend, while hes accidenally) rubbing her face in him moving on quickly.

    its exhausting when people guilt trip themselves or martyr themselves as an emotional manipulation tactic to get your approval and agreeement.

    Maybe Walky mispoke, using the past tense. But Now it puts the onus on Lucy between choosing her self esteeem, or her self image.

    the self esteem is new and fragile. The self image ( becoming more popular and in social control by being publicly nice and managing others feelings ) is probably one she should abandon.

    I think she could have handled him being lowkey and chill and without needing his feelings rescued or putting her in the position of being the 'the bad guy' and needing her to say they are still friends.

    (I think Her Best Move in this is to Kiss walky hard. It would be a power move, unexpected. Nobody could blame her. Dorothy and walky would leave without lucy having to say so and making her feel like shes throwing them out. )

    1. Bittersweet

      If Lucy did this, the comments would never emotionally recover and I would do a backflip in my house from cheering. I hated them together, but that’s such a boss way to handle it that it would get my full, unadulterated approval.

    2. Yumi

      I don’t disagree, though I think that’s basically what a lot of other people are taking and it’s a room temperature take. I would like a power move from Lucy in that I think it could be funny and I love an uncomfortable situation in this comic, but I don’t think assaulting Walky like that would be the way to go.

    3. zee

      Does it hurt your neck snapping between being completely reasonable and utterly insane about a single character so frequently? Because it hurts mine, i think I’m gonna have to sue you for whiplash

    4. Nymph

      “I think Her Best Move in this is to Kiss walky hard. It would be a power move, unexpected. Nobody could blame her.”

      Yeah. She should kiss someone who doesn’t want to be kissed by her. Someone who is actively in a relationship with another person. That’s not fucked up at all. ?

  44. Pocky

    Dina and Becky in the background being relationship goals, while Walky and his love life are being lessons in what not to do lol

    1. Akane

      Relationship goals for Joyce and Dorothy, perhaps?

  45. Matrix

    LET HIM HAVE IT

  46. DailyBrad

    You can be *too* accommodating. Seems like Lucy is content to try to move on, herself. Don’t gotta make it weird.

  47. Adept

    I’m guessing Lucy is one of those Christians for whom ”Jesus!” is a more offensive swear than ”fuck!”. If I’m right she’s swearing a blue streak here.

  48. Mr. Random

    You can’t make a big speech and expect people not to react!

  49. zee

    Lmao appreciation thread you know what it is.
    I love her so much lmao. She’s girlbossing. She’s slayqueening. And she’s doing it in the name of Allah. She’s so congo bc I can’t say the real thing here, im living for it.

  50. Yeet

    walkyyyyyy be quiettttttt
    idiot
    you could’ve said sorry and just left her alone

    1. Nymph

      Could have, but he had other things to say. I supported Lucy saying her piece and I support Walky saying his. She’s not the only one with hurt feelings, and it would be nice to have Walky actually talk about his own feelings too.

  51. poyo

    GET HIS ASS !!!! TEAR INTO HIM LUCY !!!!!! THIS IS WHAT UNDERAGE DRINKING IS FOOOOR !!!!!

  52. Nymph

    This is a story and it’s narratively better if characters occasionally say their tricky feelings out loud for the benefit of the audience. Otherwise there are situations where we’d just be staring at their blank and unmoving face while they processed internally. It’s something that just has to be done in media like this.

    Similarly, this is a comic and you can expect that some of the things in it are done for comedic effect. Exaggerated, spoken aloud, phrased in a particular way – because it’s meant to be a gag.

    It’d be really cool if people stopped holding this comic strip up against their real lives and trying to draw parallels.

    1. Taffy

      I can get behind a little bit of relatability in fiction, it’s nice on occasion to be able to say “Oh hey, I recognise this from real life.” But sometimes this shit gets taken so personally that we apparently have to be extra delicate with people who are having mental fucking breakdowns over it and taking that out on everyone else. That’s when it’s time to log off and play some Bloodborne, maybe go to a local hobby store and touch some nice fabric in a quiet setting you don’t have to clean up afterward.

  53. LIGHTWEIGHT BAYBEE

    lucy is valid but like DAMN y’all went on 1 or maybe 2 non spite fueled dates it ain’t that srs

  54. Jammy

    These are two of the worst characters at saying what they really want. I’m not really mad at Walky for trying to be a civil adult, but it’s a freshman boozer, so he’s probably missed the mark culturally.
    It feels so weird to think that ignoring the other person and the problem is the right move, but I guess communication depends on audience.
    After all, it’s been 2 days.

  55. Felian

    … time and place and context, Walky.
    Now is definitely the wrong time to tell Lucy she’s a good friend.

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