337

Clean
Posted on April 28, 2025 by David M Willis

337 thoughts on “Clean”

  1. NGPZ

    *plays “Filthy/Gorgeous by Scissor Sisters on hacked muzak*

    1. Risky

      That was definitely what was playing in my head.

      1. Risky

        And it’s probably on the playlist? We are mere moments away from Dottie queueing up the sex music while Joyce slips into something more comfortable / appropriate for sexytimes. This has already transcended into “start of an xnxx lesbian porn” territory.

    2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      Dumbing of Age 15: CLEAN! But prepared to get filthy…!

      1. Azrael

        Fucking A.

  2. Animedingo

    Jugs must be doing this on purpose

    1. Thag Simmons

      I don’t think I’m expecting that, but it actually wouldn’t surprise me if she was either

    2. Tan

      Telling Dorothy to get in her bed while she puts on the sexy clothes Dorothy picked out for her to wear?

      No, this is too laser-targetted to be on purpose.

    3. Steamweed

      This is British comedy levels of not-on-purpose with massive look-back-in-embarrassment later.

      1. Furie

        Barbara Windsor popping out of Sarah’s bunk in 5… 4… 3…

        1. Steamweed

          That’d be one massive surprise, considering she’s been gone these past 5 years. :O

    4. anonymsly

      She’s not. She has never even once displayed sexual attraction to Dorothy, has a history of not knowing when people are taking what she’s saying in the entendre direction, and her own entendres are general super obvious. She has no idea why ‘turn on my laptop, it’s in my bed’ might be a weird thing to say, particularly when the target is her best friend who has a boyfriend she claims to love who has put together a YouTube playlist. ‘Oh cool,go ahead and start it, my laptop’s on the bed’ is a NORMAL RESPONSE.

      Also, how would Joyce know that Dorothy is going through stuff (Dorothy has said nothing) and follow up, why would she choose to torture Dorothy about it? That sort of cruelty is super out of character for Joyce.

      1. Heavensrun

        I would agree that she likely isn’t doing this on purpose, but it’s not like Joyce has NEVER expressed interest in Dotty sexually.

        (cough)

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/hymnals/

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/regrettably/

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/newerbetter/

        Like that is clearly Joyce talking herself into keeping Dorothy’s sexy selfie that she immediately wanted to see as soon as she learned such a thing existed. There is no heterosexual explanation for that.

        1. MadScientist520

          There was also the strip when everybody was returning for 2nd semester that Joyce was vibrating with quiet excitement from seeing Dorothy again. Dorothy daid something like “yes you can hug me Joyce”

          Always personally read that as Joyce having more than friendship feelings mixed in there but not quite realizing it.

        2. MadScientist520

          Found it: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/01-this-bright-millennium/rootin-2/

        3. Finep

          With Becky being all “please move out before you both realize you have feelings for each other, while both single”.

        4. Tan

          Allow me to also add the final panel of https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-14/04-for-me-it-was-tuesday/iloveyous/

        5. DePesciMode

          Also don’t forget the dreams:
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/01-everybodys-looking-for-nothing/weirdest-2/

      2. Adept

        I must admit I don’t get the laptop reference.

        Are laptops related to hanky-panky somehow?

        1. MadScientist520

          I believe it’s the location of the laptop that Dotty currently is having issue with

        2. Chris

          Turn on my lap top. Can either be the physical act, turn in on, push the power button, etc, or the sexual reference of “turn her on, turn him on, get them excited.” Doesn’t really work with an inanimate object, but the reference could be made.

          The fact that the laptop is in the bed just make it more so.

          Also, replace laptop with vibrator, or B.O.B. “Turn it on, it’s in my bed, and get ready for sexy-times.

          That is how I understand it anyway.

        3. Mr D

          That’s enough of a reach you could take Pedro Pascal’s gig as Mr Fantastic

      3. PedanticJerkass

        Joyce doesn’t have to be sexually attracted to Dorothy to tease Dorothy about Dorothy’s sexual attraction to her.

      4. Felian

        Also, i don’t think Joyce *understands* having romantic feelings for a woman. She’ll chalk everything (possibly including cuddling almost naked) up to *normal heterosexual friendship* because she’s been told so long that homosexuality is wrong, so clearly *whatever she does can’t be gay*.
        Plus, her best friend hasn’t exactly been n heterolemodel either. Who even knows what’s normal between two girls/women, if all you’ve ever had was a lesbian best friend and now a totally-not-not-a-zero best friend…..

        1. animedingo

          Didnt she accidentally write her two comic characters, that are stand ins for her and dorothy to be really really gay?

        2. Felian

          But didn’t she frame that as *they are really good friends*?

    5. Anon

      i mean even if she was teasing dorothy it’d be kinda weird to potentially ‘risk’ anything happen if she’s planning to hook up with joe soon lol

    6. DJTsurugi

      the slow relentless torture of Dorothy ~<3

  3. Liara

    Damn Panel 2 Joyce

    1. Cholma

      YES!

    2. ABunchOTrees

      She’s beginning to have fun! >:D

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXNLdw9CUgE

    3. Opus the Poet

      +1!

      1. Needfuldoer

        Yeah, panel 1 Joyce is great too.

    4. Steamweed

      Her antici…….pation is building!

    5. Steamweed

      I love panel 1 for its sake, and panel 2 for its sake also. I want both!

  4. AbacusWizard

    So clean even her speech bubble sparkles!

    1. Doctor_Who

      She forgot to remove it before she showered.

      Now her language is clean again. It’ll take her another decade of strips before she relearns how to say “Fuck”.

  5. Dante

    AW COME ON, Joyce this is fucking mean slkgdjsldkg

    The triangle smile. It blinds. Starting to Actually For Realsies Doubt the teasing ain’t on purpose

    1. anonymsly

      Joyce has consistently through this comic displayed when she’s horny/attracted – we saw it with Ethan, we saw the same with Jacob, and again with Joe. We have never even ONCE seen it with Dorothy.

      Therefore, the odds are that Joyce (who has stated twice her lack of attraction to women via Becky specifically and a comment elsewhere along the lines of ‘sure, if I don’t ever have to deal with anything below the neck’) is not sexually attracted to Dorothy.

      1. Folus

        It’s not the attraction, it’s the teasing.

        From an “innocent” point of view, her words and actions can be interpreted as entirely innocuous. She’s completely preoccupied with preparing for Joe.

        But, taken cumulatively, she’s actively flirtatiously teasing Dorothy. Attraction isn’t part of the equation. She’s just being borderline overly suggestive.

        Or maybe it’s all just nervous humor to keep her distracted.

        1. 3oranges

          She’s being overly suggestive because she’s thinking about Joe and what they’re going to do. I think Dorothy is just unfortunate collateral damage.

        2. anonymsly

          And Dorothy has made very sure that Joyce is totally unaware of her discomfort, to boot. If Dorothy had a spine and either peaced out or explained herself, we’d be seeing Joyce mind herself for Dorothy’s comfort.

          Lots of assuming that crushes MUST BE RECIPROCATED whenever they exist around here.

        3. Taffy

          Isn’t attraction part of the equation, though? If Dorothy wasn’t into Joyce, would this discussion even be had in the comments? Being audibly horny (the way Joyce is) doesn’t seem like it’s inherently flirtatious toward whoever hears it (in this case Dorothy), because the signal isn’t necessarily For Them™, if that makes sense.

        4. anonymsly

          This! Joyce is feeling her excitement over Joe, she’s not flirting with Dorothy. Dorothy’s crush is neither Joyce’s fault nor problem.

        5. Taffy

          And if it’s blurring a line, That’s Just Joyce™. She kinda does it all the time without noticing, and all her friends know she doesn’t mean anything by it.

        6. thejeff

          It’s not her fault, but they’re friends, so it’s kind of her problem.

          If it’s upsetting her friend or making her avoid her company, just saying “It’s not her fault” isn’t an answer.

      2. Regret

        It is possible to be in love without sexual attraction, while still having sexual interactions as one of the ways you express your love.

      3. Dante

        Maybe this is the writer in me but people can have fun with shipping without it being canon.

        There’s canon ships, there’s “not canon but the author is winking at you” ships, there’s “def not the intent but supported by meaningful analysis”, and “no intent, not supported by anything, but it works”, and even “these two haven’t even interacted lmaooo but it’s fun to think about.”

        A good chunk of the Literary Analysis field (as in, Academia) depends not on facts engraved on stone but on finding a thesis with enough meat you can defend it, even.

        Also nobody’s saying platonic friendships don’t exist. Hell, you can even be attracted to your friends and NOT fuck them, too — Keeping things platonic out of a choice. But yeah, specifically 100% platonic “no attraction from either party” friendships abound both in fiction and in real life.

        I’m writing this long-ass comment to explain myself even though I shouldn’t because a light-hearted “tee-hee there’s subtext here!” shouldn’t be causing anyone such distress. And I’m trying really hard to not hear “queer shipping is killing platonic friendship in stories!!” in this sort of spiral you’re going. People’s opinions of what’s fun in a work of fiction don’t necessarily reflect what they think of IRL relationships, after all.

        1. thejeff

          I think the objection here though is more to claiming Joyce is being mean and teasing Dorothy on purpose.

          Willis definitely is teasing us, but I don’t the authorial intent is that Joyce is doing it purposefully

        2. Dante

          Well, Joyce being mean would be super OOC, right?

          She’s been a little bit petty on some really specific occasions like when the Raidah and Jacob thing was happening, and has mildly teased Dorothy before like when she took her drinking, but I thought the “for realsies” was tongue-in-cheek enough. Like when one says “heckie.”

      4. PedanticJerkass

        Joyce doesn’t have to be sexually attracted to Dorothy to tease Dorothy about Dorothy’s sexual attraction to her.

      5. Finep

        I found the “if I didn’t have to deal with any parts below the neck” part.

    2. Laura

      Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going on. Clues so far:
      * Joyce and Becky discussed how Joyce’s idea of a platonic female friendship, growing up, involved lots of cuddling, handholding, sleepovers, etc.
      * Dorothy and Joyce have twice pretended to be married.
      * Joyce invented a whole comic strip world that Daisy described as “queerbaiting” in the obvious repressed desire between the Joyce stand-in and the Dorothy stand-in.
      * Joyce has expressed massive pedestal-putting for Dorothy, with words to the effect of “I treasure standing here breathing the same air as you”, or something like that.
      * Dorothy took Joyce to get her first birth control prescription.
      * Dorothy showed Joyce (by example) how to masturbate, picked out erotic fiction for Joyce to read while doing so, held her hand while she did it, and even cleaned up afterward.
      * When drinking together, dressed up as “hot chicks”, Joyce told Dorothy that Joyce would like to watch Dorothy have sex.
      * The next time they drank together, they loudly proclaimed their intention to have “double dates!” followed by “and then, whatever…”
      * Dorothy sent Joyce two hot boob picks, one of herself and one of Jennifer. Joyce, while puzzled, mused, “Well, it’s actually not all that weird. We have the same parts, after all.” Or words to that effect.
      * Billifer (whose opinion on social etiquette Joyce trusts implicitly, after Billifer explicitly told Joyce to see Billifer as a role model, and to ask Billifer for any advice on normal social interactions) has told Joyce that “platonic best friends” are allowed to make out and “bang, like, once.”
      *Earlier, Billifer had also told Joyce, “Everyone tries it, eventually. We get curious,” or words to that effect, when discussing same-sex intimate experimentation.
      * Dorothy was giving Joyce those repressed-longing sideways glances, sitting next to her in class
      * Dorothy made Joyce a playlist of songs, explaining that this was an “extremely normal, heterosexual” thing to do, or words to that effect.

      …Joyce may really be under the impression that mutual sexual exploration is just something that best friends /do/ together, to support each other and build each other up. She may understand that she’s being silly and flirtatious, and completely trust that even if Dorothy reciprocates with genuine desire, that it will still all be “innocent” playfulness, because they are “just friends”.

      I mean, I understand that I’m describing the plot of many a trashy novel, here, but I’m just saying, Joyce’s definition of “innocent” play may go a lot further than contemporary heteronorms might dictate…

      (Hur, hur… “dick tate”…)

      1. Vanessa Pinter

        Great points. I think Joyce is so straight-brainwashed (and raised in such a purity culture) that she doesn’t even have the tiniest clue of the effect she’s having on Dorothy. The same as she didn’t have the tiniest clue about Becky being gay her whole life. I think she understands about Becky being gay… as just a a characteristic of Becky’s, and hasn’t generalized the possibility of attraction and romance between women in general. Joyce is not a mean person and she wouldn’t tease Dorothy on purpose.

        1. HueSatLight

          Yes. If she knew how Dorothy felt, she would not want to <a href="https://www.dumbingofage.com/screening-2/"hurt her.

        2. HueSatLight

          Noooo, I boffed the link. https://www.dumbingofage.com/screening-2/

      2. HueSatLight

        I mostly agree with your conclusion, but there’s a few of those points I didn’t read the same way.

        I don’t think Joyce trusts Jennifer implicitly when it comes to social etiquette. Jennifer insists she’s straight, and I don’t think Joyce believes her. I read that strip as Willis ending the strip on a joke, with an implication that Joyce doesn’t argue with Jennifer about it.

        I read “Joyce has to have Dorothy take her to get the pill.” as an extension of their dynamic from Fall semester. Joyce wants to spend time with Dorothy, but Dorothy has bad study habits (in the opposite way as typical) and the only way to get her to spend time is to play up being helpless without her. Joyce was nervous about going to the pharmacy, but I think she would have got there on her own before she needed to.

        For laundry, there’s three details I’d add, two of which support your hypothesis. First, she asked Dorothy to leave before she came. That might be where her definition of “innocent” or whatever ends. Second and third are how she describes laundry to Joe and to Sarah. For Joe, it gets lost in Joe assuring her masturbating isn’t cheating, but she shows she thinks doing it with Dorothy is crosses a line more than doing it alone.
        How she describes it to Sarah is pretty much a summary of your reading, with Sarah being the voice of contemporary heteronorms.

  6. Sirksome

    Man, how is Joyce somehow not escalating this on purpose?

    1. Taffy

      I know, right? Dorothy’s super cute right now.

    2. anonymsly

      How is ‘oh cool, start it, laptop’s on the bed’ not a normal thing to say to your friend who often hangs out in your room?

      1. TerribleTransit

        It’s a pretty normal thing to say. It is NOT normal to say that after having invited that friend into your room for sex-related activities, getting naked, and announcing you’re ready to get filthy. Context makes all the difference.

        1. thejeff

          But so does the context of both of them knowing she’s planning to finally fuck her boyfriend tonight.

    3. Thing2

      Because it is funny/awkward and Willis is amusing us? Joyce is Willis’ creation. Within the requirement that a character needs to be believable for readers to go on reading, why would Willis not have made Joyce escalate this so innocently, and waste the entertainment value of a misunderstanding?

  7. Jo_cubstar

    DOA book15: prepared to get filthy

    1. Steamweed

      Really should be “Clean! But prepared to get filthy!”

      1. Rose by Any other Name

        Given the alt text, yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
        “Clean!” in huge letters with “but prepared to get filthy!” in smaller text.

        1. MacareuxMoine

          seconded

  8. Polar

    Joyce, get dressed, THEN you can lay next to Dorothy in bed.

    1. Steamweed

      Where are her clothes? Did she walk _to_ the shower in her towel? And back again also? I don’t see her carrying her clothes. :O

      1. nothri

        Yeah, that IS weird. Especially since she normally likes to have some protection from grossness in the communal showers.

        1. Yumi

          She was wearing clothes when she left the room. Where are they now? Was her mind going, “I’m getting ready for sex, and sex happens NAKED.” Or maybe there was a whole event off screen where a bear came into the dorm and stole her clothes. This did not distract her from upcoming sexytimes.

        2. Mr. 2

          Probably the same drunk bear that mauled Jennifer (who was also drunk).

        3. HueSatLight

          It’s not Dorothy wearing Joyce’s clothes. It’s the bear! Probably opening a pizzeria.

        4. Taffy

          Who would go to a bear-adjacent pizzeria? ?

        5. HueSatLight

          Hank

        6. thejeff

          She wasn’t going to put the old dirty clothes back on her newly clean body and Dorothy was still picking out new clothes for her.

        7. Yumi

          That’s not the question– she left wearing clothes, but not the clothes she had been wearing that day; clothes she put on for walking to the shower. Where are they now? Not “why is she not wearing them,” but where are they as she doesn’t seem to have them with her.

        8. Steamweed

          She mighta been so sex-distracted that she left her clothes in the shower stall? OR…possibly there’s a set of lockers or a clothes rack where you can leave your clothes? Dunno.

        9. Yumi

          I feel like we’ve gotten to the most likely explanation with the bear thing.

  9. Taffy

    Dear Lord, lead me not into temptation, for I can see the neon sign with the naked lady’s silhouette on it, thanks.

    1. Opus the Poet

      +1!?YEAH!

    2. Steamweed

      The lord leads me not into temptation. But the lady most definitely does! 🙂

  10. DailyBrad

    Heh, cute.

    I do notice the lip bite in the last panel….

  11. VolticEXE

    I’m feeling the crash & burn coming any second.

  12. Shakes

    Dorothy can totally get up on that bed one handed and blind.

    1. Taffy

      I believe in her.

    2. nothri

      Given how her day is going so far, I’m putting my bet on ‘tries to climb up, fails, bangs head on floor, convinces still naked Joyce mouth to mouth is needed”.

  13. Amós Batista

    She’s so hot right now: Only using a towel and plastic bottles on feet.

  14. Giguioto

    Anti-Joyce returns

  15. darkoneko

    ..;Joyce what the f*ck

    1. Steamweed

      Anticipating the fuck is what’s led to this (clean) mess.

  16. Nono

    Huh, and here I thought Joyce would be the kind of person to get dressed before even exiting her shower stall.

    1. Francoinblanco

      Towel walk? Joyce really feel frisky

    2. HueSatLight

      she’s come a long way.

      1. Jeff K!

        She’s planning to come a lot longer!

    3. DailyBrad

      Normally, she has been, but she’s cut down on her modesty quite a bit. First, Walky inspiring her to walk back to her dorm in her undies, having to be kept from walking back from the laundromat in her panties when Dorothy taught her how to get off, then being in just a big t-shirt and underwear to go back to her dorm with Joe. She still would probably not want to get seen by, say, Walky like that, but she otherwise isn’t too concerned nowadays.

  17. Yumi

    Question (like, actually curious about people’s experiences: is walking back from a communal shower in just a towel common in your experience? I never would have done it, but I might not have paid attention to if other people around me did or not.

    1. Erica

      Yes

    2. Risky

      Yes. I didn’t live on campus but when I was in the dorm for social calls there were toweled people in shower shoes in the hallway pretty often.)

    3. Mr. Random

      Yep.
      It’s a part of dorm life. I DID dress up once in the shower itself. But it felt… narrow, wet, uncomfortable, and easier to just walk back to my own room.

      1. Yumi

        The more I think about it, the more I remember it as not a part of dorm life where I lived– but I only lived in one dorm during the time I lived on campus, and it was one of the smaller ones. Most people tended to have a robe or t-shirt they’d throw on with their towel if they were going back to their room to get dressed.

      2. Taffy

        Was the shower still running while you got dressed up in there? Because that’s what I’m picturing and it’s a really funny mental image.

        1. Needfuldoer

          There’s soap and running water, so why not do your laundry at the same time? Multitasking!

    4. Steamweed

      Back in the day, in my friend’s U. Houston coed dorm, the women would often towel-walk. A male visitor approaching might cause some women to shout down the hall, “Visitors!” But not always. So, yeah, sometimes there was some sweet and spicy seen-ery.

    5. Freemage

      Okay, so this is very long ago, but I do recall it happening–however, our dorms had strict rules on when members of the opposite sex could be present, so most towel-walks were before 10 AM or after midnight.

    6. Dara

      Absolutely.

      As occasionally was not bothering with the towel.

      1. Taffy

        Based

    7. Thing2

      Yes

  18. Scolopendra

    died 2001 born… 2010…? welcome back Anti-Joyce

  19. Risky

    The lip bite per chapter quotient is maintaining Twilight levels.

  20. Erica

    I wonder if this night is actually going to end in her having sex with Joe. All this build up, but Joe is super anxious about having sex, wants romance, and they haven’t actually talked about it.

    1. Taffy

      The night is young. The conversation can occur once the characters are actually together, there’s always time for romance, and there’s always time for a first time.

      1. thejeff

        It certainly can, but there is an unresolved tension here that Joyce is unaware of/ignoring.
        She’s been so focused on the idea of being ready for sex herself and just assuming that Joe will be down for whatever she’s ready for because he’s obviously into her and he’s Joe. She’s not expecting any conversation about it. We’ll see what happens. I’m not entirely convinced this will go as smoothly as many here think.

    2. Sirksome

      I think it will happen. If not tonight then very soon. Joyce is ready and the sexual tension has been building. Something’s gonna give eventually. They’re already at topless naps and handjobs. I believe in them.

      1. Laura

        I’m of the opinion that topless naps and hand jobs *are* sex, but that’s just me…
        …I’m also of the opinion that mutual washing-machine riding is *also* sex, but, you know, there’s lots of different ways to sex, alone or together.
        I understand Joyce’s desire to “just get it over with, once and for all”, in her perception.

        But really, there are lots of “first times”. There’s always something new to discover about bodies and the chemicals inside those bodies and how the combinations all work together.

        1. Taffy

          I can see the argument for the handjobs, but a topless nap? Could you elaborate on that one, a little bit? That just seems like normal skin contact, to me. Intimate, sure, but calling it a category of sex is a new one.

        2. Li

          Oh, that’s fair. I missed that one.

          I think I’d agree that it was over a certain line, if we were talking about Earth 3, where Joyce and Dorothy were dating and monogamous and exclusive prior to Joyce for some reason taking that nap with Joe, but I definitely don’t think it counts as “sex”. Intimate and sexual, given the givens, but not sex.

        3. Sirksome

          I feel like the definition of sex is different for different people. Maybe there’s a hard line at penetration that leads to procreation as the literal definition but some view any or many of the wide variety of intimate acts one can participate in as sex. Are handjobs sex or is that just skinship? Do you have to orgasm because you can orgasm from reading. Do you have to enter a person’s body in some fashion or touch a private area? What if you’re a doctor? Ect.

        4. Taffy

          That doctor bit is interesting. If you consider a certain routine medical thing to be sex, but your doctor doesn’t, should you keep it to yourself?

        5. Laura

          Yeah. It’s like those scenes in the movie “Beavis and Butthead Do America,” where Beavis keeps asking, “Wait, did I just score?” After a flight attendant helps him put on his seat belt, after an ATF agent frisks him and subjects him to a cavity search, etc.

          There are definitely certain medical and security procedures that could easily be confused for sexual contact…

        6. Laura

          But, I mean, hopefully the doctor, or TSA agent, or whoever, is just doing their job and doesn’t want to cause any confusion. I mean, hopefully. One would hope.

        7. Opus the Poet

          Joyce took her bra off and was just wearing panties and grabbed Joe’s hand to place it under the covers (and assumedly over her bare breast).

        8. Taffy

          That’s not the question.

        9. Laura

          I guess I’m just coming at it from the perspective of, any intimate contact, even just hot telephone conversation from a distance, can be a sexual act, which, to me, is all part of the sexual continuum. Anything intended to effect arousal, especially if it has the desired effect. I’m in love with someone who has disabling spine injuries, and we take our “sex” where we can find it!

          (Hur, hur, “coming at it”…)

        10. Taffy

          Thanks for the answer! Your standards make perfect sense, given the information you’ve provided.

        11. Li

          Is it weird if I say I think that’s sweet? And a very good way of looking at things. ?

        12. Laura

          Aww, not weird at all! Thanks for saying so, Li!

          …It’s nice to be able to talk about these things in a straightforward way. Helps me figure it out in my own mind, too, you know? Helps me to recontextualize a bunch.

          I been going through some heavy headspace s*** recently, so it’s nice to focus on sexytimes and sexy contact as something *nice* that people actually do, /for/ and /with/ each other, when they /want/ to, rather than worrying about power dynamics all the time, you know? Like, not every interaction is sexual, but it /is/ OK when some interactions are, especially when intentional or desired or mutual.

          Sorry, off-topic tangent…

        13. Li

          ❤️ I’m glad you’re feeling that way, though. ?

        14. Aura

          This is a great explanation 🙂 This is also pretty much how I think of sex but better articulated. I understand it’s pretty normal in queer circles to have a more expansive idea of what constitutes sex, because we don’t (often can’t) really follow the heteronormative script, and my wife and I are outside the norm in some ways even for a gay couple.

          We absolutely would have considered the washing machine incident Joyce and Dorothy shared to be a form of (very lesbian) sex, but probably not topless cuddles, which I guess following on from your comment is to do with our intentions with them being a bit different to yours?

          Thanks for sharing those details btw, it was really cool to learn that something I’d never even thought of could be sex in a different relationship dynamic and like, broaden my ideas of the diversity of relationships further 🙂

        15. Laura

          Thanks, Aura. That’s nice to hear.

          Yes, it is a lot about intention.

          And it IS good, at the same time, though, for me to be reminded that not ALL intimate contact is a form of sex!
          x-D ?
          Feels a lot safer to know that not everybody is just going around seeing each other up ALL the time! ??

          Feels a little more secure and self-contained, understanding that! *Facepalm* *SMDH*…

        16. Laura

          *sexing each other up.

          Autocorrect is a prude!

        17. Li

          I agree with you.

          I also feel like Joyce’s specific lexicon (“I am unhanky-pankyed (and still a virgin)”) is totally understandable.

          It’s actually interesting to me that this isn’t bothering me even a little bit, despite the fact that the type of sex Joyce wants is so unappealing to me that I’d be forever a virgin by her definition heh.

    3. Needfuldoer

      They’ll end up naked in bed, but Joe’s unexpected hesitation kills the mood. Joyce gets a little less upset with him after he explains why.

    4. V98

      You know what? I think that’s seriously what’s about to happen. Sex with Joe isn’t gonna happen, or if it does, it won’t go well.

      Joe has really been struggling with feelings of being a bad person, ESPECIALLY since the thing with Liz (“I almost ruined myself forever”, yeesh!!!) so I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to just have a normal non-sexy date.

      Joyce’s reaction to that could be complicated. She obviously still would like Joe, I don’t think they’d break up, but with the amount of expectation going on here, I think she could get a little upset if Joe doesn’t want to sleep with her tonight! She might think that it’s because of something embarrassing or unsexy she did during the date and that Joe just doesn’t want to tell her what it really is… This could drive a wedge between them.

      Now – and this is just idle himejoshi theorizing – she’d probably be feeling sexually frustrated after Joe left. And who would she go to first for comfort? Her best friend Dorothy. Who Joyce has just been informed that she can make out with and bang, like, once.

      It’d be a perfect storm, but…

      Dorothy might just face temptation irresistable.

      1. Yumi

        I hope she and Joe have sex and it’s nice and they have a good time.
        And then afterward, Joyce says something like, “Is it normal that I thought about Dorothy during that?”

        (Well, only kinda– I’d enjoy that for the sake of Drama and Entertainment, but I really would like them to have a nice first time together, and that would really undercut it– at least for a bit as they worked through Joyce saying that.)(And I prefer Joe x Joyce to Dorothy x Joyce, but I love mess.)(Also, if it ends up going “Joyce has two hands,” I am also onboard with that.)

        1. Taffy

          To keep it low drama but high entertainment, there’s also a chance Joe could respond “Damn it, why does every woman I sleep with ask that exact question, verbatim?”

  21. AGV/Ruby

    And Joyce comes in with the steel chair!

    1. Taffy

      That’s a shower caddy. ?

      1. Risky

        It can be both. Or a fire extinguisher, those go hard.

      2. Steamweed

        Could still be steel tho.

        1. morleuca

          As long as it’s unforgiving

    2. Steamweed

      Can’t tell if that belongs more in Something*Positive or Ménage-a-3…

  22. HueSatLight

    blue and pink argyle made the final four.

  23. darkoneko

    Also, how well do you see without your prescription glasses these days, Joyce ?

    1. Nadamás

      The glasses are for things like reading a far away chalkboards. She is fine.

  24. Taffy

    I love how casually sexy Joyce is here. She’s not doing anything out of the ordinary, but there’s a specific type of confidence about her that gives her this sort of air. It’s all very nebulous, but it’s loud as hell. I guarantee all the wlw folks in the hall noticed her walking past them. Sierra, Mandy, and Grace definitely saw her and became the guy from the Distracted Boyfriend meme (and then immediately the girlfriend).

    1. Tawnee

      I’m suddenly torn between not wanting anything bad or dramatic in Sierra, Mandy and Grace’s lives, but also being aware that something bad or dramatic in Sierra, Mandy and Grace’s lives (especially involving Joyce) might get them some more webcomic time.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Yes, more panel 1 confident Joyce please.

    3. Steamweed

      Reading this before eyeglasses and coffee, and I saw “[…] became the GAY from the Distracted Boyfriend meme (and then immediately the girlfriend).”

      Was gonna comment “Aren’t they already?” Then got the eyeglasses and coffee.

      But, yeah, I can see Joyce leaving ripples in her wake as she walks down the hallway, wearing just one damp towel and one very bright smile.

    4. Astariel

      Joyce has absolutely never been sexier than in the first two panels here.

  25. Li

    ….. :|a

    There’s nothing waiting on her laptop, right?

    I mean. I guess only tomorrow will tell……….

    Amazing art as usual, Willis! And good girl, Dorothy, Don’t Look.

    1. Taffy

      Dorothy opens gets to the laptop and it’s just Meatspin.

      1. Li

        fff

        (Also, for those wondering: I was being careful to replicate my Patreon-comment-mindset while I had access, but yesterday my sub expired, so I genuinely have no idea what’s coming (heheh) tomorrow.)

        1. Taffy

          I know what happens tomorrow, but I’m more likely to accuse Faz of eating a woodland creature than spoil the plot.

        2. Steamweed

          Dammit why are telling people about that?! Great, you just ruined the sublime artistry of the surprise cutaway that Willis has been working hard toward.

        3. Taffy

          He bites a deer in half.

        4. Li

          Jaws more powerful than a T. rex.

        5. Steamweed

          (*rage flips table) SPOILERS!!

          (they disrupt airflow over a moving to reduce lift and increase downforce, enhancing stability and grip, especially at higher speeds)

        6. Li

          Oh yeah.

          But I mean, I am not currently PRETENDING to wonder if there’s a surprise for Dorothy on the laptop while knowing the answer.

        7. NGPZ

          where’d that little bugger go, anyway?

        8. Taffy

          British Columbia, last I recall. Fantastic woods out that way, little to no pollution.

  26. IntangibleMatter

    Waiting for the reveal that Dorothy is in hell and this is an elaborate torture method

    1. Steamweed

      On one hand, Joyce isn’t cruel or imperceptible. On the second hand, she can be a tease. On the gripping hand, she might be so distracted by imminent-Joe-sex that she’s totes clueless about her effect on Dotty.

      1. anonymsly

        Why wouldn’t she be clueless? She has very little ability to read people/situations, and Dorothy has spent months hiding from herself and is also now specifically hiding from Joyce?

        Why does everyone seem to think Joyce is suddenly psychic and also an asshole interested in torturing Dorothy?

        1. Steamweed

          Yeah, I’m mostly inclined to see her as being clueless.

        2. Taffy

          “Everyone” is a bit of an exaggeration. “Maybe five people, tops” is a lot closer to the truth, and those people are very silly to think that.

        3. Li

          Why do you feel the need to jump on anyone harmlessly going “hmmmmm what’s going on here? :3” with hostility and weird accusations?

        4. Taffy

          Tbh I’m not super sure there’s hostility present. Seems like consternation or a rhyming emotion

        5. Li

          Maybe. At this point I think everyone who’s so much as glanced at the comment section knows full well that Anonymsly’s position on this is “Joyce is 50000% straight and anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool”, to put it mildly.

          It’s not really a discussion starter. And I feel like I’ve seen it kill a lot of threads where people were previously responding happily.

          I don’t see the point in continuing to say it, either, since we aren’t the people who need convincing of Joyce’s unerring heterosexuality. Willis is either going there or they’re not, nothing fans in the comments think or feel is gonna change their plans, and 99% of commenters aren’t gonna have their minds changed, either. Can’t logic people out of a ship, none of us logicked ourselves into them.

        6. Li

          My two cents: most if not all of the people who have said some variation of “oh come on, now you’re just being mean to Dorothy” aren’t seriously accusing Joyce of being mean. If we could hear their tone, it would be playful.

          I’ll admit that if I felt differently, I wouldn’t be so aggrieved with Anonymsly’s reply spree, because I’d at least agree that of course Joyce isn’t being mean on purpose.

          But I don’t, and 95% of their comments have included a very loud, aggressive refrain of “Joyce isn’t into Dorothy, stop thinking that!”, so it really seems like that’s more of their focus than anyone thinking Joyce is being mean, lol.

          And that’s actively rude to Willis, who obviously wants people to be wondering if Joyce is into Dorothy.

          Like…… stop telling people not to engage with the question the author obviously wants them to ask, and definitely stop scaring people away from this comment section for asking it.

        7. anonymsly

          Whatever, man. I am stressed by the constant refrain of ‘of COURSE Joyce is into Dorothy, they’ll fuck any minute now’ when… there’s no indication that it’s going to happen. And it’s endlessly stressful to be seemingly the only one who thinks friendships can exist without sex being involved.

          But sure, I’ll go. I don’t mind.

        8. Li

          You should very seriously take a break if this comment section is stressing you out for any reason.

          That second part (you being the only one who thinks platonic friendships exist) isn’t true, and I suspect you know it isn’t true. It is, however, true that for every platonic friendship in any media, there will be at least one person who ships it. That’s just kind of the nature of shipping, and best to make peace with, especially if you’re any kind of artist yourself.

        9. Heavensrun

          Of course friendships can exist without sex being involved. At present Joyce and Jennifer have zero sexual chemistry and Joyce is most likely still her best friend. Joyce also has no sexual interest in Becky, who she views as a sister.

          There is, however, a lot of romantic subtext between Joyce and Dorothy. Walky’s jokes about it don’t come from *nowhere.*

        10. Nymph

          “when… there’s no indication that it’s going to happen.”

          To you. There’s no indication ~to you~ that it’s going to happen.

          This is media, other people are going to read different things into it and get different things out of it. Other people, with other life experiences that mirror what’s happening on screen, are going to see what they expect to see.

          You can think it’s stupid and wrong, that’s fine, I disagree a bunch with people’s interpretations here in the comments especially when they veer toward the overdramatic “everyone is a monstrous bully doing things intentionally” side. You can even try to convince people otherwise by stating your opinions, everyone does!

          But throwing tantrums and blaming other people’s opinions for your stress? Nah. You’re an adult (presumably) so it’s on you to remove yourself from situations that upset you or learn to healthily deal with them.

      2. Tawnee

        (sidebar : I *love* seeing other people being aware of/using “gripping hand” to describe a third option)

        1. Steamweed

          I try to use the “gripping hand” whenever it’s sensible. 🙂

          Same with “grok” but I loathe that the term’s recently been corporate-co-opted by the muskollini.

      3. Hof1991

        Extra points for referencing the gripping hand.

    2. Acher4

      This is The Bad Place.

  27. Steamweed

    I neeeed a full face Joyce of panel 2. For reasons.

  28. SunflowerBanjo

    Little detail, but I really like the laptop screen being hidden until the last panel. Really good reveal.

  29. mindbleach

    In this roooom, we can’t touch the floor.

    1. Qube

      deftones?

  30. Qube

    one of two possibilities: Joyce either has no idea what Dorothy’s drama is currently and is just saying a bunch of suggestive shit accidentally, or she has cottoned on to exactly what Dorothy’s drama is currently, and is saying a bunch of suggestive shit on purpose.

    can’t decide which is crueler

    1. Taffy

      Deliberate cruelty seems crueler than accidental.

    2. anonymsly

      The former for sure. In fact, everything she’s saying is NOEMAL STUFF.it only looks cruel because Dorothy is still in the goddamn room instead of saying ‘nope, sorry, gotta go’.

      The only person torturing Dorothy is frigging DOROTHY. Joyce is not being an asshole here, period.

    3. Queezle

      Deliberately seems wildly out of character for Joyce to me. Not only would she be pretty cruel to Dotty, she would be borderline cheating on Joe.

    4. Doopyboop

      Part of the joke with Joyce has always been her accidentally saying hilariously suggestive things so I think this is just a continuation of that. Notable examples include:

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/02-choosing-my-religion/holes-2/

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/03-joementum/touched/

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/funnystory/

      just off the top of my head

    5. HueSatLight

      I don’t understand “accidental cruelty”. If there’s no malicious intention, if there’s no knowing indifference, if Joyce is just ignorant of Dorothy’s feelings, then Joyce can’t be cruel in that situation.

      1. HueSatLight

        Unless you’re talking about the suffering Willis is inflicting upon their characters.

        1. Yumi

          I think one can be cruel accidentally, but here I’d think it’d be more “cruelty” on the part of Willis/the universe (from Dorothy’s perspective).

        2. Qube

          this right here. I’m not saying Joyce herself is being cruel, or at least I’m not blaming her for it

          more like, the circumstances. or Willis

  31. Opus the Poet

    I have the NSFW Patreon, Willis has been practicing for this with lots of nude and topless Joyce pictures. Many, many topless Joyce pictures. Not that I’m complaining…

    1. Steamweed

      I’m complaining. There aren’t more. That’s my complaint.

  32. Suet

    Playlist? ?
    Clean
    Filthy
    (un)Dressed

    Surely Dorothy knows how to scoot towards the laptop

    I wonder what’s in the playlist, there are so many ways this could go

    1. Looney

      whoops, thought this was gonna be white town’s “undressed”.
      i’m really hoping to see dorothy realize that she subconsciously made a playlist of songs about her pining away for joyce. i have done that more than once with my crushes/partners. it’s awesome.

      1. Looney

        actually after having listened to this song again i now demand everyone listen to it. excepting the one lyric implying that dorothy has had many one night stands, i think it really fits what’s happening in this scene.

        “for an hour, maybe two, let’s pretend i’m the man for you”

      2. Yumi

        Ngl, I kind of love how Dorothy’s anguish is about to be backed by a soundtrack that she made herself. Which will probably be very on the nose in someway.

  33. Derek

    remember when Joyce put on seven layers to go to the showers because she was shy?

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/02-uphill-from-here/shower/

    1. Taffy

      I’m sure there’s a metaphor about personal change (“growth” feels too linear for me lately) in there somewhere, maybe a smile or an idiom, one of those fancy words for “differently told version of the story”, idfk it’s a quarter past midnight here.

      1. Nymph

        Something something coccoon.

      2. HueSatLight

        Rasho[wer]mon

        1. Taffy

          That’s my favorite NSFW Digimon.

    2. Steamweed

      Pepperidge Farms remembers!

  34. Anon

    i mean even in an all girls dorm i’d think she’d still wanna put on a temp t shirt evne if she ends up changing it again versus walking in a towel

  35. anonymsly

    God, it’s really getting to the point where I need to stop reading comments or just stop reading the strip anytime Joyce and Dorothy are present. The sheer volume of ‘omg fuck now forever forever you must fuck and be married there is no such thing as friendship it’s always about sex sex sex’ is really wearing. Every. Single. Time.

    People just aren’t allowed to have intimate friendships without sex being a necessary inclusion, I guess.

    1. Li

      Look. I’m genuinely sorry this is stressing you out.

      But again with the hypersexualization of Dorothy’s feelings for Joyce. The only one who’s screaming about how they’re gonna fuck now on this entire page is you.

    2. Laura

      I’m really sorry to hear that the comments are hurting you. It is OK to take a break from looking at the comments for a while, if that would make you feel better. I hope that we are all coming at this from a place of appreciation for the art and for the community, and everyone has boundaries as to what disturbs them too much to engage with.

      If you do take a break for now, I hope taking a break helps you feel better.

    3. Thing2

      Yeah nah. I think a lot of people just want to ship this. Even those that do, may not think it likely. The people who just see this as a ‘funny awkward’ are probably not bothering to comment. Unless perhaps to say:
      Willis, this is a masterpiece of the bumbling awkwardness of love/sex/friendship/youth/misunderstanding.

    4. Dante

      So, I gave a long reply further up but hadn’t seen this.

      It’s concerning you’re feeling so affected by this. I don’t think anyone actually thinks “people just aren’t allowed to have intimate friendships without sex” — Neither about fiction, nor Real Life. If that’s the hurtful path your brain is taking you to, then I’m legit sorry to hear you’re in pain — And getting a break is a good idea.

    5. Kyulen

      I took from the comments for a while myself, because I got tired of the arguments that kept breaking out with almost every new strip.

      1. Kyulen

        *Took a break

        How did I forget those words

    6. Wilde

      You and I don’t agree about anything re: Dorothy, but I’m going to say here, I empathize with your position and encourage you to take that break from the comments (at least on strips focused on these two) and come back when you feel calmer, or when the plot line at that you’re feeling emotionally invested in has resolved. I’ve had to do so before when I felt unusually emotionally heated about some discussion here, and tend to myself with kindness.

      Don’t worry, Willis isn’t going to leave this huge question mark open forever. We’ll get our answers for these two.

    7. Nymph

      “People just aren’t allowed to have intimate friendships without sex being a necessary inclusion, I guess.”

      No one, anywhere in the comments, has said this. People disagreeing with your read on something isn’t a comment about what’s “allowed” or what isn’t. Until you’re mature enough to get that, definitely consider leaving the comments section, yeah.

      1. Nadamás

        Fellglad I am not the only that just, not fell any sympathy towards them. They are mad and “in pain” because of a problem they made up, it’s their own fault. I want off the comments not because I care about them but because I don’t wanna keep seeing them.

        1. Taffy

          I mean, the same standard applies to everyone here. If we don’t want to read or engage with someone’s comments, we can all easily make a note of their name and icon and just simply scroll past when we see them, maybe after a quick skim for keywords that get on our nerves. Saying we wish someone would fuck off forever (doesn’t matter if that’s your verbatim text or not) isn’t illegal or anything, but it’s for sure silly and probably futile. All we’re doing at that point is being needlessly hostile. Like, we don’t have to like everyone and be liked by everyone (and trying to is a good way to become exhausted), but we also don’t have any responsibility or authority to dictate who should or shouldn’t speak. If a post is genuinely upsetting to you, mock or scold the text of the message, hit the “Report comment” button, and move on with your life.

          Just remember, you’re not getting paid to police the behavior of strangers you’ll never meet, and nobody likes a volunteer cop.

        2. Nadamás

          I don’t care, I am petty, and I don’t like them so I be Happy if they are gone.

        3. Taffy

          That’s not just petty, it’s completely childish. It doesn’t matter if you like them or not, get the fuck over yourself. I think anonymsly’s original complaint is misplaced and based in a flawed understanding of other comments, but I’m not pathetic enough to demand they be removed from my sight. You are not the center of the universe, child.

        4. Nadamás

          Your opinion of me is also something I don’t care about. Think I am childish or pathetic if you wish it makes no difference to me.

        5. Taffy

          I’ve been on this site long enough to see people like you come and go a dozen times or more. Some loudmouth who shows up, tells everyone else to leave, pisses everyone off, gets mad, and informs us all how awful we apparently are before storming off, never to be seen again.

        6. Nadamás

          ?

        7. Taffy

          ?

        8. PedanticJerkass

          Nor are you, so quit acting like it. Nobody has crowned you high lord poohbah of the Dumbing of Age comments section, and I’m getting sick of you acting like that, too.

        9. Taffy

          Neither of us knows what you’re talking about, stranger.

        10. Nymph

          Your name is literally PedanticJerkass and you’re upset about this of all things? That’s peak comedy.

        11. Yumi

          …Okay, well, I do want anonymsly to take care of themself, but I also want their homophobic re-imaginings of people’s comments to stop, so I get you.

    8. Taffy

      But nobody’s saying that.

      1. Taffy

        Like, I’m not even gonna join in the “You should leave” chorus, because it feels kinda silence-y. I just don’t think you’re interpreting what people say I’m the way they mean it. Personally, I’ve never noticed a comment saying anything as intense as what you put in quotes, but I’m occasionally wrong so maybe it’s happened. What I’m seeing is a lot of sexually charged comments on a very sexually charged scene in this comic. Wanting it to get physical is wishful thinking, sure, but that’s no sort of pressure on any real person, and I don’t think it necessarily reflects anyone’s standards regarding real relationships. People just want the cartoons to fuck, and that’s about as deep as it really goes.

        1. Nymph

          I mean, if the cartoons fucked it might go deeper.

          Too soon?

        2. Taffy

          Way too soon, yeah. I know people who died at that shit.

        3. Nymph

          My bad, I always forget about the victims of Fuck-o-rama 2024.5

        4. Yumi

          They fucked around and found out. ? RIP

        5. Taffy

          This made me think of a scenario in which a person is at an orgy and loses track of the exit, but they keep getting increasingly tempting offers they simply can’t refuse (because the offer is so appealing), so they have to fuck their way through a gauntlet of accidental guardians of the way out.

        6. Steamweed

          True story: a Houston gay bar named Mary’s is notorious for being along those lines. Their own unofficial motto is, “You can’t make it to the bar and back out front without someone getting you off.”

    9. Sirksome

      I think maybe your understanding of the relationship and the comments reaction to it is a bit reductive. Yes, intimate, friendships do exist and Joyce and Dorothy do share that. But I at least do think friendships can be romantic in nature without needing to escalate or consummate. Joyce doesn’t to be straight or even aware of her attraction to Dorothy for those emotions to exist in their friendship in moments like these and we should be allowed to enjoy that. It’s not an insult or affront to their platonic friendship to notice the romantic or sexual undertones and teases.

      1. BorkBorkBork

        I might be alone in this, but I kind of feel like what Dorothy has for Joyce right now is pretty dang innocent. I don’t feel like she’s struggling to not make a move on Joyce, as much as she’s struggling to not let her feelings be so blatantly obvious and to try to preserve their friendship as it is.

        It kind of reminds me of when I was in middle school, and was just suddenly noticing girls for the first time, and had a bit of a crush on one of my friends. That wasn’t a “Well are we going to fuck???” moment with my friend. It was INSTEAD just hella awkward as I tried to have a normal life and normal conversations with my friend while trying desperately to not lead on to the fact that I was feeling different, and not even knowing what to do with those feelings.

        Granted, we were never in a position where we were alone in their room together, and she in nothing but a towel, with her telling me to get up on the bed. So while there definitely are sitcom-style shennanigans afoot here, I doubt anything’s going to escalate any time soon.

        1. Yumi

          Yeah, I kind of feel that too– also hate when people liking a ship or speculating about it is just reduced to the characters fucking. Like, that may be part of it for some or all of it for others, but a lot is also other aspects, romantic or sexual-but-not-fucking.
          Here, I think it’s a little different than when I was having my queer awakening (and was like, oh, my crush is in a bikini at the beach, huh, yeah, the sky’s really nice today, very blue, I’m going to take off my glasses and go in the ocean now) in that Dorothy is sexually active and so that might make her feel differently about the role that sex would play IF they both had these feelings and considered progressing on them…

          But I don’t think she’s thinking about how she’d like to pounce on Joyce or whatever– I think she’s thinking that if she sees Joyce fully naked, she might explode.

        2. BorkBorkBork

          One thing that this is cementing for me.

          If this is how Joyce just acts when she’s feeling comfortable with her lady friends, well, no wonder Becky was so sure that Joyce was secretly in love with her, and that all the stuff about guys was just a front, and that kissing her was going to break all that tension and let them start a new relationship.

        3. Leon

          Nah, this seems to be strictly a Dorothy thing and a more recent development, which is why it’s interesting. The only similar situation I can recall where she was going to be in state of undress around Becky and Sarah, the two closest friends she has besides Dorothy, she made them turn around so she could take off her pants (dumbingofage.com/jammies-2/). She was comfortable with both of them (Joyce was recently confessed to by Becky and had no issue of comfortability because of it), but was still uncomfortable even being seen depantising.

          Regarding the whole chain of comments here, though, it’s hard to understand anonymsly’s specific reaction since Joyce’s possible implicit or unconscious attraction to Dorothy has been in the text (not potential subtext) of the story for almost two years now. Pay off to years of build up will have people acting a little silly but it’s easy to just ignore.

        4. BorkBorkBork

          Take this from someone who, unfortunately, knows: if you’ve spent that period of time exposed to those hints either ignoring them, denying them, or assuming they’re just jokes (because American cartoons are FULL of jokes where punchline is that someone is just a little gay) or fanservice to a thirsty audience, then when they become a full-blown plot development, they’re going to seem like they’re coming out of left field.

    10. Nadamás

      Yes please stop commenting, you are very granting and weird.

    11. BorkBorkBork

      I’m not going to say “Yeah, get outta here until you start thinking like us,” but your comments don’t seem to be accurately representing the storyline at hand.

      Joyce and Dorothy have had a close, intimate, platonic relationship. That is absolutely “allowed.” They became friends, and became close, without any romantic tension. And there’s other very close relationships that aren’t sexual here. Sal and Marcie, for example, or Joyce and Becky. Joyce and Sarah, too, though they have “big sister / little sister” vibes. Ethan and Amber are *right now* not doing so great, but for most of their lives they’ve been inseparable.

      The current storyline is what happens when one of them suddenly realizes that their feelings have developed beyond platonic. This isn’t the comment section goading them into it or begging Willis for it (the dude has a year’s buffer; I doubt anyone’s influencing anything), this is just exploring a very real scenario that can happen in real life, whether the friends are the same gender or not. It’s a valid, interesting plotline, even if you don’t ship these guys.

      If you’re annoyed because of shippers, and that some people are jumping straight to a relationship? I gotta tell you, shippers gonna ship, there’s no stopping them. But this isn’t happening because Dorothy and Joyce aren’t “allowed” a platonic relationship, it’s happening because that’s the direction the storyline is going in.

      If something *did* happen between Joyce and Dorothy, and if you don’t think you’d be OK with it, then you need to either readjust your thinking, or readjust your reading.

      1. Taffy

        Sal and Marcie, you say? Thanks for reminding me of “You were my first Malaya”, a strip which recontextualized Sal and Marcie’s friendship by revealing Marcie had (has?) romantic feelings for Sal without ever telling her until college. Possibly an example of how things between Joyce and Dorothy could go if Dorothy (after processing it herself, I hope) doesn’t fill Joyce in. Becky confessed her attraction pretty much right away once she’d worked through it separately, and after like five seconds of shock, Joyce immediately started dismantling her entire worldview to keep Becky in her life. Very contrasting examples.

        1. BorkBorkBork

          Holy crap. I *completely* forgot about that storyline. Woah.

          … ya know, this isn’t helping my argument of “Dude, there’s plenty of close, intimate relationships in DoA that aren’t fueled by person wanting to jump the other,” especially as Amber clearly had feelings for Ethan, too, even through the beginning of Freshman year.

          … Do we have any close friendships here that AREN’T either sibling-esque, or unrequited love?

        2. Doopyboop

          Dina and Sarah, Joe and Danny (depending on if you consider their friendship to be ‘like brothers’, I just figure it’s a friendship)…huh. I think that might honestly be it as far as main characters go.

        3. Call Me Deacon Blues

          Danny and Joe, maybe? Unless you count them as siblings-esque. I don’t see the reason to rule out siblings-esque relationships myself though.

        4. Yumi

          Yeah, I’m not onboard with ruling out sibling-esque relationships because “you’re like my brother/sister” is often said specifically to denote closeness. Ruling out literal siblings for purposes of this conversation, sure. Joyce and Sarah should count. Also, Amber and Dina, which hasn’t come up in the convo yet.

        5. Yumi

          What I would like more of, here and in media in general, are more close intimate, platonic friendships between people of different genders. Joe+Dina friendship needs to blossom, please.

        6. thejeff

          I’d rule out Walky/Jennifer as too siblingesque – they’re not really friends, but they are that close.

          Danny and Joe are more like long time friends. Not so much in common anymore, but they have the deep history.

    12. Bryy

      I have an idea.

      Stop reading the comments.

      I’m dead fucking serious. It seems to cause you an incredible, unhealthy amount of IRL stress.

      You also are misreading simple shipping shitposts as real life wants.

      It is literally just a comic. Nothing about it is real. None of us can actually hurt you.

      1. Taffy

        Jesus Christ, it’s not this serious

    13. PedanticJerkass

      Okay.

    14. TerribleTransit

      My two cents is that you seem to be taking things too much as black and white — you act like either someone thinks the whole interaction is completely innocent or they’re on team OH THEY FUCKIN. There’s a *huge* amount of nuance in between.

      Personally I think Joyce is acting this way on purpose, but I don’t think it’s a prelude to her trying to have sex with Dorothy. I’m not sure exactly what her endgame is. Maybe she just saw Dorothy’s provocative texts and has decided to respond in kind. Maybe she’s clued into Dorothy’s feelings and is trying to needle her into confessing. Maybe she just took Jennifer’s claim that kissing and/or sleeping with best friends is allowed and is planning on doing that, but platonically. I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.

  36. dorjojoe

    joyce brown professional accidental tease

    1. Nymph

      The reverse side of her lesbian-love sleuth business card!

      1. Steamweed

        If Jamie (GwS) and Joyce ever teamed up their romance-detective/love-sleuth/wing-girl superpowerz, they’d be a force of nature. (oh yeah i definitely want to see that crossover)

  37. Acher4

    Panel 1 is an amazing Pinup… :O

    CLEAN!!!

    1. Steamweed

      OH yeah. I want a poster. 🙂

  38. Saucistophe

    This simply cannot end well. This will be like tears in the rain in 15 minutes.

  39. Tessea

    I can’t believe Joyce walked through the hallway in a towel! maybe she’s just so hyped she didn’t notice and the realization/freakout is coming soon.

  40. Antsan

    “You know my laptop password.”, is the most intimate line in this page.

    1. Laura

      +100!

    2. Big Z

      I was just thinking about how differently that hits than it would have when I was in college — most of my friends had a login on my PC for the first year or two, because only about 10-15% of us HAD a PC in our room and who wants to make their friends schlep to the computer lap?

  41. Juanoku

    Am i the only one that thinks that this’ll end in disaster

    1. Li

      You’re definitely not the only one.

      But I don’t think even like, one-quarter of the people who are shipping it right now think Dorothy’s about to blow up Joe/Joyce, if that’s what you mean.

      1. Florence

        Yea, there’s many kinds ways for something to blow up

    2. Heavensrun

      This will ABSOLUTELY end in disaster. It’s just a matter of what kind.

    3. Jeff K!

      I’m on team “Joyce has mostly thought this through and messaged Joe about her idea to make a move during class.”

      But the big fallout I see are the people who Joyce might not have thought about: Walky, who is currently Dorothy’s boyfriend, and Becky, who is still dealing with unrequited love for Joyce by telling herself that it’s only because Joyce is straight.

  42. goggleman64

    God I love these scenes between Dorothy and Joyce; you’ve built such a good farce.

  43. GUIGUI

    *mouse-over text*
    That would make for a shorter title than usual.

    I love Joyce in the first panel.

  44. Rabisch

    Poor tormented Dorothy. Joyce looks so beautiful and happy, Dorothy looks like she’s about to explode. Love the way she’s forcing herself to not look at Joyce. But all her effort will be vain. Look at her, Dorothy!

  45. Adept

    Just good clean fun.

  46. Kyulen

    Joyce has definitely changed a lot since the first time we saw her go to the showers. I like the change. But I think Dorothy’s gonna have to tell Joyce how she feels pretty soon.

    1. Taffy

      It’s probably gonna come up at some point, yeah.

  47. Cloud

    I can’t tell if Joyce is intentionally teasing dorothy or unintentionally. But it’s hilarious either way.

  48. Amós Batista

    Off: lately, I’m listening more music on YouTube than properly song apps, like Spotify

  49. Hoboturtle

    Joyce is unbelievably hot right now.

  50. Woop de doop

    Facilitating sexytimes to this degree for someone you have a crush on, or even for anyone, is certainly asking for a lot. This is weirding me out. Dorothy, get your boundaries straight! I don’t care if you’re not straight but your boundaries gotta be straight!!

    1. Nymph

      I mean, she’s known about her feelings for like an hour. She can take some time to figure herself and her boundaries out after a huge paradigm shift.

      Also, Dorothy has always kind of sucked at drawing boundaries when it comes to helping people (Joyce in particular). I don’t expect her to suddenly get good at it now.

      1. AnonGrouch

        This all of this ^

  51. AnonGrouch

    JOYCE!

  52. AnonGrouch

    Ever hetero your way into saying the gayest cornball line possible for the moment while walking into the room with your besti with nothing but a towel on? No? Me either but, only for a lack of being straight.

  53. Wilde

    Now seems like a good time for throwing this comic/Tumblr post on the woodpile again:

    https://www.tumblr.com/megacarapa/778083145938567168?source=share

    1. Steamweed

      Joyce, you can _totally_ trust Jennifer to know what’s she’s talking about. Absolutely. Positively. Nothing bad can come of that truly-excellent advice.

  54. Rowan

    There are many many friendships in this comic that have no element of sex to them. Joyce and Sarah. Dina and everyone who isn’t becky. Joe and Danny. If you want to make a thorough list you could be here for ages.

    Dorothy literally taught Joyce how to masturbate. Even if they don’t have sex, their friendship canonically involves sex

  55. Morhek

    Dotty, I know you’re peeking because you didn’t take the glasses off. I know that trick.

  56. Big Z

    It certainly seems to ME, from the facial expressions, that Dorothy has tipped over into some kind of state where Joyce’s vocal hanky-pankticipation excitement has tipped over fully into “really annoying”.

    1. Taffy

      Yeah, at the very least it’s wearing on her. If not annoyance, maybe a “why am I still here right now, I was not ready for this yet” kinda meme

  57. Nullset

    Okay, I now think Dorothy is going to try to kiss her on impulse.

  58. Chokfi

    I really want this storyline to end in a poly place rather than angst

    1. Taffy

      Someone’s gonna say it eventually, so I’ll do the cool version.

      Joyce Brown has two hands. ?

      1. Steamweed

        Joyce (*using both hands) (*triangle smiling): …
        Joe (aside to Dorothy): You find this weird?
        Dorothy: Y-yeah.
        Joe: You want her to stop?
        Dorothy: No.
        Joe: Me neither.

  59. V98

    Panel 3.

    Was… Was Dorothy just holding on to Joyce’s bra while waiting so she could hand it to her as soon as she walked in?

    I wonder if she sniffed it.

    1. Astariel

      No, those were the sweatervests she picked out. You can see her holding them in panel 1.

      1. V98

        She had those too yeah, but I’d recognize that beige shoulder strap and tri-hook band design anywhere. That’s a bra right there!

      2. Yumi

        Panel 3, though, you can see the bra that Joyce was wearing earlier (or a similar one) as well. Possibly had it gathered with the sweater vests as something Joyce would need to get ready.

    2. Taffy

      Ah yes, the fresh scent of probably the same detergent Dorothy uses because it’s what the college has available within convenient walking distance, likely blending into the background of the smellosphere and thus essentially smelling like nothing, all over Joyce’s bra.

      1. V98

        Hey, that thing has spent at LEAST the better part of a day wrapped around Joyce’s boobs and underarms. Pit sweat + boob sweat = natural scent. Not just detergent!

        1. Taffy

          Why would she be handing Joyce dirty laundry while talking about an outfit change?

        2. V98

          I sure as hell don’t wash my bra every day lol

        3. Taffy

          Yeah, I’m not really interested in entertaining your masturbation fantasies, so we’re done here.

        4. V98

          Wow! You read my public comment, start debating my comment’s premise, and then accuse me of like… fetish mining you or something for engaging in the conversation that you started?? That’s very rude.

          Please don’t interact with my comments again if you’re going to be like this!

        5. PedanticJerkass

          They’re always like this.

        6. Taffy

          To correct a small misunderstanding about this, the fantasy part only started with the lack of washing. It began to seem like you were trying to come up with any way for Joyce’s bra to smell used, which made me think you probably have some kind of tit-sweat fetish (sweatish, even). You just came off as being very horny about it, that’s all. If I’m wrong, that’s fine, but whatever “like this” is, I’m probably not being it.

        7. Nadamás

          That was information that nobody needed to know.

        8. Yumi

          In support of it being a new bra, Joyce left wearing clothes and was not shown removing her bra prior to leaving, which would have fit in with the “Dorothy is having a real TIME of things” theme we’ve got going, and so might have been shown if it had happened. There was also no bra visible in the room when Joyce left. And they had been talking about Joyce going to shower because she realized she smelled a little, so a fresh bra would line up with addressing that.

          On the other hand, this bra does look similar to the previous one, and yeah, who washes bras every day– so if you’re going to switch midday, I might think you’d at least be going for a different style. But this could just be the type of bra Joyce has.

          All that said, the initial comment about sniffing it was kinda. uh.

        9. Taffy

          I hadn’t even noticed she left fully clothed. That does leave a really funny image of the old bra teleporting to Dorothy in the middle of Joyce’s shower, though. I’d probably hand it back to her too, if that happened.

  60. Astariel

    Poor Dorothy, trying desperately to hold herself together while sexy towel-clad Joyce tells her to get in her bed.

    1. BorkBorkBork

      I mean, she’s just about to go up there and play Joyce her mix tape, which (according to every John Hughes movie I’ve seen) pretty much means she’s going to get the girl.

  61. EtchJetty

    the AJ smirk is back again. this can only end in chaos. 😀

  62. DallyDaydream

    Simple and clean is the way that you’re making me feeeeeel toniiiiiiight~

    …actually maybe not simple.

    1. Taffy

      It’s hard to let it go

  63. peat_moss

    Willis are you trying to kill me personally

    1. Yumi

      This entire comic has been one elaborate plot

  64. thumb

    Damn, this is going to be DoA’s filthiest volume, huh.
    I like that Dotty’s tasted from the fruit of knowledge and become cognizant of sin. Now she’s aware of Joyce’s nakedness.
    Don’t know if an intentional connection, it’s a common enough reaction. But it is funny.

    1. BorkBorkBork

      That analogy only works if Joe’s the snake.

      … OK, yeah, I see where you’re going there.

      DOA Book 15: CLEAN! But prepared to get filthy.

  65. PedanticJerkass

    Man, I’ll be glad when Joyce and Joe and/or Dorothy finally end up fucking, or not fucking, as the case may be, so that we can move on from this storyline.

    1. Leon

      As far as I know, the very next chapter that starts next week is going to be way more eventful than what’s happening now in regards to this storyline. Bucket up lol.

      1. Taffy

        I like the phrase “bucket up”. It brings to mind large buckets of popcorn being filled and grabbed in a classic lock-and-load montage.

        1. Steamweed

          That’s a _fascinating_ gravatar there. Dotty with…is that a 1920s flapper hat? Or ’30s?

        2. Taffy

          It’s a default Blue Mage cap from Final Fantasy 14, so I guess that makes it a 2019.

        3. Steamweed

          Ah, cool. TIL.

  66. Andy4Hire

    Because you have the sort of personal background you have, Mr. Willis, I couldn’t help hearing “CLEAN!” to the tune of the Petra song by that name.

    1. David M Willis

      I remember Petra, but honest-to-god, even after digging up the song on YouTube, I don’t remember this particular song. Petra itself is a blast from the past, though.

      1. Andy4Hire

        I hear you. I remember the song because it was on their Petra Means Rock compilation, which spent a lot of time in my cassette player back in the day. But their catalog is big enough that even if you listened to them a lot, it’d be easy to miss any given track.

  67. yak

    hmmm

    u know, I didn’t really get the thirst everyone has for Joyce until panel 1 of this comic.

    1. Taffy

      She’s a drink for sure.

  68. BBCC

    Poor Dorothy. XD Godspeed.

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