[✓] Joyce dropped the “Mrs.” plan and is now going w/ “It’s complicated”
[✘] Jacob made a decide
[✓] Jaime had a laugh at the gooberhead adults
[✓] Jen AsideAna Chronistic used the more attractive [✓] vs. the compact crap emoji ☑
But the Mean Girls and the rival in Legally Blonde all chill out by the end of their respective movies. So will we get a Raidahmption?
DaveM
Given current pacing, I’d put the “end” of 4 years in college at sometime around 2080, so let’s go with a theoretical “yeah why not!” 🙂
Z
Regina George literally got hit by a bus and had a major spinal injury to cause her change of heart.
Vivian realized her boyfriend was a slimeball douchebag who had likely been lying about Elle and didn’t care about Vivian. (And whatever you feel about Jacob he’s nowhere near that low so raidah will need to date a slimeball)
So given the comic maybe but do you think she’ll want one?
He Who Abides
Regina also had a Wolverine-level healing factor, considering she was playing lacrosse the next year.
Makkabee
If she had a Wolverine-level healing factor she’d have been playing lacrosse that afternoon.
Bub.
Armok
So I’m going to go out on a limb here because I know I’m very likely in the minority, but I think Raidah gets a lot of flak she doesn’t necessarily deserve.
Speaking as someone who has done many illicit substances over the years and has since gotten mostly clean, I’ve always been pretty upset with the way Sarah got Dana sent home. And it’s not that I don’t understand where Sarah was coming from! If my grades were dropping and I was having trouble studying because of my roommate’s drug use, I would be pretty upset, given college is a lot of money. However, I know that roommates that don’t get along have the option to go to their RA or whoever and try to be placed somewhere else, and as far as I remember, Sarah didn’t go down that route. She basically stopped one step short of calling the cops on her roommate, and like I said, I understand where Sarah was coming from, but it seems a little harsh, and very harsh given the only drug we knew Dana was consuming for certain was weed. Now I know everyone has their own opinions on substances like weed and booze, and maybe one could argue that Sarah’s reaching out to Dana’s father helped Dana in the very long run, but I didn’t need a roommate to get me kicked out of college my freshman year, and after that happened it was much easier to just continue digging my own grave for years to come.
That being said, Raidah has definitely treated Sarah very poorly, but she was also one of the first to really give Sarah a chance. Of course, calling Sarah names and bullying her kind of cancels that out, but Sarah punched Raidah in the face. Raidah had every right to do the same to Sarah that Sarah did to Dana in that moment and call the police, because that kind of behavior is not acceptable, and she chose not to file any charges, so there’s another “kindness” for you. Raidah also has pretty much every right to be a little worried about Joyce (especially given what’s happening right now), even if one feels possessiveness is pretty scummy (which I do). You also have moments like Raidah keeping Char in check using derogatory language.
Like I said, I know I’m in the minority, and I also know Raidah is not without sin, but I think grouping Raidah in with the likes of Mary, or old Ruthless, or any other “antagonists” is kind of bullshit. And I know as a wacky tobacky smoker I’m definitely biased, and I can see a lot of my brother in Sarah, but damn, my brother never threw me under any buses like that despite being straight edge.
So I am hoping the two can find a way to bury the hatchet, and I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that Willis maybe lightens up on some of the drinkers/smokers (which I think he has started to do as the comic has grown).
Also pls no flame me 🙁
Zach
Dana was using a LOT of weed accompanied by heavy, guttural sobbing.
Sarah said she did it for Dana and she told dana’s Dad, not the school. Am I remembering wrong?
The silly, dangerous fetishization of weed did drew Dana super hard for no reason but that’s extra.
I can only speak from my own experience here, but
1. anxiety makes talking to someone like the RA about problems REALLY HARD, and it feels better to just handle things like this directly (they were supposed to be friends, where RA feels like “last resort” level to said person with anxiety)
2. there’s no way for a never-user to be able to gauge, “ok this level of use is fine and she’ll get past this hurdle just fine if I can tough it out”, and also no way to know “hey Dana Dad, I’m concerned about your daughter” equals “Dad pulls Daughter out of school” vs. “Dad gets Daughter some help but she’s back in school after some rehab”
3. having a toxic roommate situation is REALLY HARD when you can’t safely sleep elsewhere in a pinch (not without a bad back later), and switching can lead to other problems (devil you know vs. the one you don’t)
So some of it may indeed be misplaced anger, but this isn’t exactly a cast of well-adjusted individuals able to objectively read every situation correctly ? I mean, Sarah admitted she didn’t know how to handle things the best way, after all.
I get the impression Raidah is what you get when your checklist forgets to include little details like: compassionate, modest, sincere, tolerant, cheerful, loving, capable of laughing at herself.
That’s like forgetting “Don’t become skynet” in your self-evolving code.
Z
Raidah is what you get when you don’t sit down and be honest about the personality you’re most compatible with longterm. Plenty of people will be compatible with raidah. Jacob isn’t one.
Like how Mary found a compatible boyfriend its not because Mary is innately compatible with all boys she’s just brutally honest about what she wants.
Sadly for Jacob he fits the “people pleasing doormat” checklists so he’s going to attract the worst people for him…
Chris Phoenix
I tentatively disagree. Jacob is Harrison-pleasing, not people-pleasing in general. And, speaking from personal experience, it’s possible to leave something off your checklist because you assume everyone is that way.
Once I signed up for a dating site that asked dozens of questions about who I wanted to date. I answered them thoughtfully. A few months later I met someone who was 95% compatible with what I’d said.
…I forgot to specify “basically honest; not abusive.”
Good lord that sounds terrible! I don’t have any experience in the online dating scene to speak about it, I got lucky by at some point realising that my future husband was a mostly responsible person who also had an intellectual side… he won me over p much for this reason (panel 2): https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/02/06/we-are-only-trying-to-help
(posts this fully aware that said hubby complained nonstop last night about the “bullshit” play mechanic in Collection of Mana when he never once stocked up on healing potions or used a charge attack after the tutorial about it… no one said he was a good strategist)
(I mean, the joke is Sanskrit isn’t a spoken language)
Z
Yeah really important to add “not abusive” to it.
Frankly I think Jacob is also Raidah pleasing (which, as you know, is not inherently healthy) right now is being Joyce pleasing and has even been overly accommodating to both Ethan and Sarah.
Which points to a trend of people pleasing.
David
Well, “tolerant” is work in progress with Joyce. Considering her starting point, she is doing quite the job, but she has way to go still.
On the plus site, she is no dyed in the wool hypocrite. She is hardest on herself, and where she is privileged by not being in conflict with her upbringing, she is quick in letting compassion and sense overrule her preinstalled morals.
Okay, so Joyce has been relatively Amber-adjacent or “South of Amber” this whole time (Amber had a more valid reason for attaching herself to Danny, albeit still unnecessarily pressuring him into bad spots), but she just won back a pretty decent chunk of respect by at least recognizing how crummy it is to press someone into complimenting you under these circumstances.
I’m certain she’ll make them up again eventually, but yeah I was expecting this to be a trashfire and am still stunned by the unique and distinct ways Joyce chose to set this dumpster on fire.
Sort of.
I mean, it looks like he realizes he was using the wrong checklist to win his brother’s approval and he needs to follow a more complicated checklist that involves not being so obvious about following a checklist?
Much of his motivation for playing along with Joyce here is still because Harrison approves of her and is trashing his original plan, not because of his own decisions.
I don’t really find him all that confusing. He seems to be someone who has his life together and likes to be organized. He sees his brother struggling to imitate him and he’s sad, not because he doesn’t want Jacob to be like him, but because he wants Jacob to be his own person. He doesn’t want Jacob to live up to him, he wants him to forge his own path and find happiness on HIS OWN terms. I think he’d be ok if Jacob genuinely wanted the things he’s aspiring to, but he’s attentive enough to know that it’s not what Jacob really wants. He wants it because of hero-worship for his brother. And that’s not a good reason to want something.
I think he’s only confusing because we had preconceived notions about him.
Harrison has a specific personality type and the self awareness to know that Jacob is NOT the same person. He also knows Jacob really looks up to him and wants to follow in his footsteps, even if that may not be best for Jacob.
I assume Harrison is at least a few years out of college, late 20s if not 30s. That’s a stage where people have huge changes in perspective vs their college years, plus it means he’s gotten some big distance from his childhood and Jacob that allows reflection.
He’s seen people burn out of his career path or realize they only got on it to please their families. Depending on how long he’s been in the industry, its not unlikely he’s seen marriages fall apart when people realized they married for status not compatibility. So he’s seen enough to shake him out of the college age idealism and realize his path isn’t right for everyone. Plus he’s gotten married and had a baby, which will also change your perspective on things.
He genuinely wants to support Jacob for who Jacob is, and doesn’t want Jacob to be one of the colleagues he’s seen go into law and marry the person they thought their parents approved of only to crash and burn. While being aware of the example he’s set and shadow he casts.
Yeah, it seems likely she’ll change at some point. I’d also put good odds on Walky changing to something else but don’t know what. (Deeeefinitely not premed, though. Fuck you, Linda.)
I’m not sure Sal is declared? Her cast page doesn’t list a major and if she mentioned one in strip once, I don’t remember it.
bon
tbh I really hope Joyce goes into science or maybe a different level of education. Her ideal future self had like 5 jobs, so maybe one of those.
Early in the comic Joyce was only majoring in elementary education until she found a suitable man to get her MRS degree. I suspect she’s no longer following that plan though.
Khyrin
It’d be funny if she somehow ended up with a degree in microbiology and was an expert in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA.
Jacob said Joyce was his girlfriend. That might change when he finds out the misunderstanding was Joyce’s fault… but I somehow doubt it, especially after Jacob’s reaction to Joyce in the previous strip.
These two both have a lot of growing up finding themselves to do. Maybe they can do it together.
(OK, growing up also. But I think finding themselves – learning who they really are – is actually more important here.)
He did seem really iffy on how he was feeling with Raidah all on his own before this started. Nothing says he has to have _feelings_ for Joyce, but… Maybe he’s realizing there could at least possibly be something good there. Big Brother Approval clearly pulls weight and Joyce scores high on the BBA Index at least.
Joyce’s mind: “I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY!!!!”
Jacob’s mind: “Wow, she is offering me an outing. Maybe we can survive this.”
Harrison: “I like that you choose a normal impulsive girl instead of someone like us.”
Jacob: “Dammit Harrison! You are making it hard to be honest with you!”
I don’t think that’s it. Joyce has obviously noticed that Jacob really wants his brother’s approval, and she just basically just dumped a confession of her love on him. Jacob is in a pretty tough spot. He may not even know how he feels about Joyce thinking that highly of him, Harrison would love to hear what those feelings are, so Jacob’s choices are to waffle about or lie or both or suddenly declare that Joyce is in fact NOT his girlfriend. And not one of those is a good option at this point, they just have different bad consequences. Joyce providing Jacob with an out like that is arguably more for Jacob’s sake than for her own. If they dropped the act now it would be over immediately for her, Jacob otoh would have to live with explaining what happened to his brother who he admires and wants to be like, his brother who he admires and wants to be like being disappointed with him.
Joyce may not be entirely unselfish here, but the person who benefits most is Jacob.
136 thoughts on “Checklist”
Ana Chronistic
[✓] Joyce dropped the “Mrs.” plan and is now going w/ “It’s complicated”
[✘] Jacob made a decide
[✓] Jaime had a laugh at the gooberhead adults
[✓]
Jen AsideAna Chronistic used the more attractive [✓] vs. the compact crap emoji ☑Ana Chronistic
[?] Raidah (and Sarah) walk in on this, Sarah has BEST BIRTHDAY EVAR
Doctor_Who
I like to think Sarah is already watching this unfold, popcorn in hand.
Clif
Don’t ask me. I’m still in awe of Ana’s checkfu.
Cryny
And you still posted this at 12:01. Time mage Ana confirmed.
I can’t even *see* the new comic until at least 12:03-12:05 usually. That’s normal, right?
Crotonhurst
Patreons see the comics a day early? I imagine Ana is well prepared (very checklist)
ValdVin
Raidah “checks off all the boxes” on a checklist Jacob was not very self-directed to assemble? Hmm.
Doctor_Who
Raidah is what happened when the checklist was hooked up to a computer and struck by lightning like in Weird Science.
abysswatcher1993
Radiah is what happens when you mix a Heather, a Mean Girl and the rival in Legally Blonde.
Deadjolras
But the Mean Girls and the rival in Legally Blonde all chill out by the end of their respective movies. So will we get a Raidahmption?
DaveM
Given current pacing, I’d put the “end” of 4 years in college at sometime around 2080, so let’s go with a theoretical “yeah why not!” 🙂
Z
Regina George literally got hit by a bus and had a major spinal injury to cause her change of heart.
Vivian realized her boyfriend was a slimeball douchebag who had likely been lying about Elle and didn’t care about Vivian. (And whatever you feel about Jacob he’s nowhere near that low so raidah will need to date a slimeball)
So given the comic maybe but do you think she’ll want one?
He Who Abides
Regina also had a Wolverine-level healing factor, considering she was playing lacrosse the next year.
Makkabee
If she had a Wolverine-level healing factor she’d have been playing lacrosse that afternoon.
Bub.
Armok
So I’m going to go out on a limb here because I know I’m very likely in the minority, but I think Raidah gets a lot of flak she doesn’t necessarily deserve.
Speaking as someone who has done many illicit substances over the years and has since gotten mostly clean, I’ve always been pretty upset with the way Sarah got Dana sent home. And it’s not that I don’t understand where Sarah was coming from! If my grades were dropping and I was having trouble studying because of my roommate’s drug use, I would be pretty upset, given college is a lot of money. However, I know that roommates that don’t get along have the option to go to their RA or whoever and try to be placed somewhere else, and as far as I remember, Sarah didn’t go down that route. She basically stopped one step short of calling the cops on her roommate, and like I said, I understand where Sarah was coming from, but it seems a little harsh, and very harsh given the only drug we knew Dana was consuming for certain was weed. Now I know everyone has their own opinions on substances like weed and booze, and maybe one could argue that Sarah’s reaching out to Dana’s father helped Dana in the very long run, but I didn’t need a roommate to get me kicked out of college my freshman year, and after that happened it was much easier to just continue digging my own grave for years to come.
That being said, Raidah has definitely treated Sarah very poorly, but she was also one of the first to really give Sarah a chance. Of course, calling Sarah names and bullying her kind of cancels that out, but Sarah punched Raidah in the face. Raidah had every right to do the same to Sarah that Sarah did to Dana in that moment and call the police, because that kind of behavior is not acceptable, and she chose not to file any charges, so there’s another “kindness” for you. Raidah also has pretty much every right to be a little worried about Joyce (especially given what’s happening right now), even if one feels possessiveness is pretty scummy (which I do). You also have moments like Raidah keeping Char in check using derogatory language.
Like I said, I know I’m in the minority, and I also know Raidah is not without sin, but I think grouping Raidah in with the likes of Mary, or old Ruthless, or any other “antagonists” is kind of bullshit. And I know as a wacky tobacky smoker I’m definitely biased, and I can see a lot of my brother in Sarah, but damn, my brother never threw me under any buses like that despite being straight edge.
So I am hoping the two can find a way to bury the hatchet, and I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that Willis maybe lightens up on some of the drinkers/smokers (which I think he has started to do as the comic has grown).
Also pls no flame me 🙁
Zach
Dana was using a LOT of weed accompanied by heavy, guttural sobbing.
Sarah said she did it for Dana and she told dana’s Dad, not the school. Am I remembering wrong?
The silly, dangerous fetishization of weed did drew Dana super hard for no reason but that’s extra.
Ana Chronistic
I can only speak from my own experience here, but
1. anxiety makes talking to someone like the RA about problems REALLY HARD, and it feels better to just handle things like this directly (they were supposed to be friends, where RA feels like “last resort” level to said person with anxiety)
2. there’s no way for a never-user to be able to gauge, “ok this level of use is fine and she’ll get past this hurdle just fine if I can tough it out”, and also no way to know “hey Dana Dad, I’m concerned about your daughter” equals “Dad pulls Daughter out of school” vs. “Dad gets Daughter some help but she’s back in school after some rehab”
3. having a toxic roommate situation is REALLY HARD when you can’t safely sleep elsewhere in a pinch (not without a bad back later), and switching can lead to other problems (devil you know vs. the one you don’t)
So some of it may indeed be misplaced anger, but this isn’t exactly a cast of well-adjusted individuals able to objectively read every situation correctly ? I mean, Sarah admitted she didn’t know how to handle things the best way, after all.
Chaucer59
I get the impression Raidah is what you get when your checklist forgets to include little details like: compassionate, modest, sincere, tolerant, cheerful, loving, capable of laughing at herself.
Lokitsu
^ This. So much this.
Bagge
That’s like forgetting “Don’t become skynet” in your self-evolving code.
Z
Raidah is what you get when you don’t sit down and be honest about the personality you’re most compatible with longterm. Plenty of people will be compatible with raidah. Jacob isn’t one.
Like how Mary found a compatible boyfriend its not because Mary is innately compatible with all boys she’s just brutally honest about what she wants.
Sadly for Jacob he fits the “people pleasing doormat” checklists so he’s going to attract the worst people for him…
Chris Phoenix
I tentatively disagree. Jacob is Harrison-pleasing, not people-pleasing in general. And, speaking from personal experience, it’s possible to leave something off your checklist because you assume everyone is that way.
Once I signed up for a dating site that asked dozens of questions about who I wanted to date. I answered them thoughtfully. A few months later I met someone who was 95% compatible with what I’d said.
…I forgot to specify “basically honest; not abusive.”
…It was some of the worst months of my life.
Ana Chronistic
Good lord that sounds terrible! I don’t have any experience in the online dating scene to speak about it, I got lucky by at some point realising that my future husband was a mostly responsible person who also had an intellectual side… he won me over p much for this reason (panel 2): https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/02/06/we-are-only-trying-to-help
(posts this fully aware that said hubby complained nonstop last night about the “bullshit” play mechanic in Collection of Mana when he never once stocked up on healing potions or used a charge attack after the tutorial about it… no one said he was a good strategist)
Roborat
But, was he complaining in Sanscrit?
Ana Chronistic
(I mean, the joke is Sanskrit isn’t a spoken language)
Z
Yeah really important to add “not abusive” to it.
Frankly I think Jacob is also Raidah pleasing (which, as you know, is not inherently healthy) right now is being Joyce pleasing and has even been overly accommodating to both Ethan and Sarah.
Which points to a trend of people pleasing.
David
Well, “tolerant” is work in progress with Joyce. Considering her starting point, she is doing quite the job, but she has way to go still.
On the plus site, she is no dyed in the wool hypocrite. She is hardest on herself, and where she is privileged by not being in conflict with her upbringing, she is quick in letting compassion and sense overrule her preinstalled morals.
GoblinScribe
Okay, so Joyce has been relatively Amber-adjacent or “South of Amber” this whole time (Amber had a more valid reason for attaching herself to Danny, albeit still unnecessarily pressuring him into bad spots), but she just won back a pretty decent chunk of respect by at least recognizing how crummy it is to press someone into complimenting you under these circumstances.
thejeff
OTOH Amber was actually kind of dating Danny at the time, even if he didn’t realize it, not trying to break up a couple.
Spocky McSpockface
> South of Amber
Mon-Fri 11AM on NBC
Screwball
Checklist; no checklists….
Wait….Bugger…
Wizard
Checklist-22?
Br44n5m
I fear he may reject solely because she’s gained approval
Stephen Bierce
They’re only checks I’ve left unsigned
From the Banks of Chaos in my mind…
BBCC
Joyce, you’ve earned one google noodle star for not making Jacob follow that up.
You’ve lost like 50 in this little escapade, so you REALLY NEEDED the good noodle star. 😛
Regalli
I’m certain she’ll make them up again eventually, but yeah I was expecting this to be a trashfire and am still stunned by the unique and distinct ways Joyce chose to set this dumpster on fire.
BBCC
Oh, she absolutely will. But for now –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGQx37dwnhM
^ This has been me this entire plot line of her and Jacob. 😛
Regalli
It is deserved.
BBCC
I mean, she has a whole truck’s worth left to burn through before she’s anywhere near Bad Egg, but yeah. XD
Doctor_Who
Pretty sure I saw some actual Joyce Faces in that clip.
Jamie
It is always possible to roast marshmellows over a trashfire.
Roborat
Just make sure you don’t eat the marshmellow afterwards, I can’t imagine the carcinogens and nasty chemicals resulting from that combustion process.
Needfuldoer
Just so long as the good noodle stars only have butter on them. Maybe a meatball or two on top, that could possibly be survivable.
BBCC
Good noodle stars are star shaped stickers. XD
SuperZero
But what about google noodles?
Bathymetheus
This is turning into a growth opportunity for Jacob.
If nothing else comes from it, that alone is good.
thejeff
Sort of.
I mean, it looks like he realizes he was using the wrong checklist to win his brother’s approval and he needs to follow a more complicated checklist that involves not being so obvious about following a checklist?
Much of his motivation for playing along with Joyce here is still because Harrison approves of her and is trashing his original plan, not because of his own decisions.
Kyrik Michalowski
Harrison confuses me but he also seems like a decent family member so I am compelled to like him.
Terry
I don’t really find him all that confusing. He seems to be someone who has his life together and likes to be organized. He sees his brother struggling to imitate him and he’s sad, not because he doesn’t want Jacob to be like him, but because he wants Jacob to be his own person. He doesn’t want Jacob to live up to him, he wants him to forge his own path and find happiness on HIS OWN terms. I think he’d be ok if Jacob genuinely wanted the things he’s aspiring to, but he’s attentive enough to know that it’s not what Jacob really wants. He wants it because of hero-worship for his brother. And that’s not a good reason to want something.
StClair
Well said.
Z
I think he’s only confusing because we had preconceived notions about him.
Harrison has a specific personality type and the self awareness to know that Jacob is NOT the same person. He also knows Jacob really looks up to him and wants to follow in his footsteps, even if that may not be best for Jacob.
I assume Harrison is at least a few years out of college, late 20s if not 30s. That’s a stage where people have huge changes in perspective vs their college years, plus it means he’s gotten some big distance from his childhood and Jacob that allows reflection.
He’s seen people burn out of his career path or realize they only got on it to please their families. Depending on how long he’s been in the industry, its not unlikely he’s seen marriages fall apart when people realized they married for status not compatibility. So he’s seen enough to shake him out of the college age idealism and realize his path isn’t right for everyone. Plus he’s gotten married and had a baby, which will also change your perspective on things.
He genuinely wants to support Jacob for who Jacob is, and doesn’t want Jacob to be one of the colleagues he’s seen go into law and marry the person they thought their parents approved of only to crash and burn. While being aware of the example he’s set and shadow he casts.
Regalli
Joyce’s major makes me think – is anyone in the cast formally undeclared? Last I checked you can still enter as a freshman without declaring a major.
King Daniel
When she started at least, Joyce was majoring in Education as I recall.
Dana
Elementary Education.
Regalli
Yeah, it seems likely she’ll change at some point. I’d also put good odds on Walky changing to something else but don’t know what. (Deeeefinitely not premed, though. Fuck you, Linda.)
I’m not sure Sal is declared? Her cast page doesn’t list a major and if she mentioned one in strip once, I don’t remember it.
bon
tbh I really hope Joyce goes into science or maybe a different level of education. Her ideal future self had like 5 jobs, so maybe one of those.
I just want joyce to be happy. ; w ;
Keulen
Early in the comic Joyce was only majoring in elementary education until she found a suitable man to get her MRS degree. I suspect she’s no longer following that plan though.
Khyrin
It’d be funny if she somehow ended up with a degree in microbiology and was an expert in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA.
BBCC
Sal, Ethan, and Joe.
Regalli
Thought Sal might be! Wasn’t sure about Ethan and Joe but makes sense. Thanks!
BBCC
No problem!
Eve
Isn’t Ethan undeclared but considering switching to journalism?
BBCC
English, yeah, when he was talking to Joss.
Dana
Somehow I think this little gambit of Joyce’s is going to end with Jacob single.
Chris Phoenix
Jacob said Joyce was his girlfriend. That might change when he finds out the misunderstanding was Joyce’s fault… but I somehow doubt it, especially after Jacob’s reaction to Joyce in the previous strip.
These two both have a lot of
growing upfinding themselves to do. Maybe they can do it together.(OK, growing up also. But I think finding themselves – learning who they really are – is actually more important here.)
Shane Wegner
He did seem really iffy on how he was feeling with Raidah all on his own before this started. Nothing says he has to have _feelings_ for Joyce, but… Maybe he’s realizing there could at least possibly be something good there. Big Brother Approval clearly pulls weight and Joyce scores high on the BBA Index at least.
abysswatcher1993
Joyce’s mind: “I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY I AM SORRY!!!!”
Jacob’s mind: “Wow, she is offering me an outing. Maybe we can survive this.”
Harrison: “I like that you choose a normal impulsive girl instead of someone like us.”
Jacob: “Dammit Harrison! You are making it hard to be honest with you!”
abysswatcher1993
Jacob’s mind*
erinacea
Interesting. I read Joyce’s response as “I know you don’t feel the same way, but please don’t ruin this.”
Sunny
I don’t think that’s it. Joyce has obviously noticed that Jacob really wants his brother’s approval, and she just basically just dumped a confession of her love on him. Jacob is in a pretty tough spot. He may not even know how he feels about Joyce thinking that highly of him, Harrison would love to hear what those feelings are, so Jacob’s choices are to waffle about or lie or both or suddenly declare that Joyce is in fact NOT his girlfriend. And not one of those is a good option at this point, they just have different bad consequences. Joyce providing Jacob with an out like that is arguably more for Jacob’s sake than for her own. If they dropped the act now it would be over immediately for her, Jacob otoh would have to live with explaining what happened to his brother who he admires and wants to be like, his brother who he admires and wants to be like being disappointed with him.
Joyce may not be entirely unselfish here, but the person who benefits most is Jacob.
Bicycle Bill