211

Confusion
Posted on March 13, 2019 by David M Willis
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211 thoughts on “Confusion”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    destroyed in one word

  2. AnvilPro

    That’s a pretty sweet hat

    1. Doctor_Who

      Leslie got her house cheap because her neighborhood is a 90s sitcom; Becky’s wearing flannel and a sideways cap to fit in.

      It’s not a bad place to live, but she gets fed up with the theme songs sometimes, there’s that know-it-all neighbor who keeps talking to her over her fence, and all the kids are super sarcastic.

      She’ll still take it over her old home in an 80s sitcom. Every other damn neighbor had an alien or a robot they were keeping hidden.

      1. Bagge

        Becky would feel perfectly at home in a 90s sitcom

        1. ValdVin

          Even this 80s-90s style sitcom?

        2. ǝ snow ʍousɐ

          TOO MANY COOKS 2: Too Many Dykes

        3. plasticwrap

          I don’t think that’ll get past the censors.

        4. Bagge

          …that’s an alarming number of characters.

      2. Dana

        Leslie has no idea how lucky she is to have Wilson living between her and Urkle.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Stephan Urquelle was alright, but Wilson definitely wins the good neighbor tournament bracket.

      3. Cass

        Other people’s mind might go to Wilson, but if I were to have a ’90s fence-chatting sitcom neighbor my own preference would go to FEEEEENY, FUH-FUH-FUH-FEEEEENY!

    2. Keulen

      That whole outfit is pretty damn cool.

  3. Doctor_Who

    Becky will wait right here. Her eyes on the other hand are about to take off on their own for a bit.

    1. ValdVin

      They are just following that one wayward eyebrow. With the cool cap on it doesn’t know where it belongs.

      1. Durandal_1707

        I gotta say, that thing with Becky’s eyes doesn’t usually bother me that much when it’s just one of them, and the other one’s, y’know, actually on her face, but when it’s both of them… that just ain’t right.

        1. Needfuldoer

          They’re off to chase down her eyebrow.

        2. noiob

          The thing where eyes/ eyebrows are visible through hair used to bother me (esp in anime), until I learnt that hair usually isn’t an opaque mass and you can usually see facial features through it

    2. ESM

      She thought of Joyce in the shower and her eyebrows flew off her face in the same way your shoes fly off your feet when you get hit by a pie

      1. Pearl

        I’ve never had that happen to me. That sounds like a you problem.

      2. Amanda Kettell

        I think she’s checking for a dialogue box.

    3. StClair

      Starting to think she’s part flounder.

    4. foamy

      The eye being directly above the line for the ridge of the nose is like whoa

  4. Derek

    did Becky walk past Dina’s door to to Joyce’s? That’s definitely a self hurting move there

    1. poofdepoof

      I think Becky/Dina is legit the only thing I really ship right now, so panel four was a hefty one for me

      1. Doctor_Who

        Maybe Dina has a class.

        Or maybe she hibernates in the winter, it’s been a couple of months since we saw her. I’m picturing a big cozy pile of blankets with a little hat on top.

        1. Bagge

          Not unless there are solid evidence that at least some types of dinosaurs hibernated, she wouldn’t.

          No matter how adorable it would be.

        2. Koms

          Awww

      2. Alanari

        Dina is a rebound. She’s painfully aware of it. I do have hope that it works out nonetheless because both genuinely care about each other. But becky stillis hung up on Joyce. Unfortunately. It can mess up the whole thing.

    2. BBCC

      I wouldn’t read much into it. Becky probably just wants to see her friend. Although in the context of Becky having confusing relationships with other girls, yeah, it concerns me.

      1. Yumi

        There’s also how when Joyce isn’t available, she chooses waiting for Joyce over popping in to say hi to her girlfriend two doors down. I don’t think you constantly have to be with your SO, but again, in this context…

        1. Fart Captor

          Even if Dina is actually in her room, it’s possible Becky had something she wanted to talk to Joyce about, or that she already has plans with Dina for later, or has talked to Dina more recently, or any of dozens of perfectly mundane reasons

          You’re reading too much into something incredibly trivial

        2. Yumi

          I’m thinking about the comic and offering a suggestion for interpretation. That’s a lot of what the comment section is. And sometimes the small details are important, and sometimes they’re not, but you can think about them all the same.

        3. Fart Captor

          Yeah, and I’m sayin’ you’re wrong

        4. Carms

          chill out fart meister. Getting a little escalated, don’t have to be that person.

        5. Yumi

          In a needlessly confrontational way. I don’t take issue with you disagreeing, but I do find the way you’re going about it rude. Maybe that wasn’t your intention, but it is how I feel you come off.

          What is your takeaway from the second half of the comic strip?

        6. FacelessDeviant

          Becky obviously knows that Dina isn’t available just now. Probably from texting her.

          I’m on the same spectrum as Dina, but not so much as her, and if she’s anything like me, she probably hates spontaneous visits.

          Of course, that is what I’d think about a real world scenario. This is a comic and this seems like an opening for drama.

          (Also please be cool to eachother, we’d like to keep the comment section)

        7. Yumi

          Exactly, it’s a comic. There are many other possible reasons for Becky’s actions here, and in the real world I’d probably assume them more likely, but in the comic I’m more trying to interpret the artist’s choices, and I think the last half of the comic is trying to say a lot more than “so this happened.”

          I think if Becky had been shown on her phone earlier in the strip, that might better support the idea that she had texted Dina. As for hating the spontaneous visits, that’s also fair, but she could text Dina to see if she wants to chat, or just text her to kill time, but she doesn’t. Again, in the real world, that’d probably elicit a different response from me than in a comic where we’re deliberately shown Becky walking past Dina’s door.

        8. begbert2

          Perhaps she figured that it didn’t matter where she went first because where there’s any door, there Dina is.

        9. BBCC

          It very well could be relevant to Becky thinking about her confusing relationship with girls. Willis probably didn’t throw it in for no reason. That doesn’t mean she still wants Joyce or doesn’t care about Dina, just that she had those feelings and is confused about them now.

        10. Fart Captor

          @Yumi:
          I honestly didn’t mean that to sound confrontational. I was trying to express that I AGREED with you that there’s nothing wrong with picking apart tiny details and trying to interpret them

          I merely disagreed with said interpretation

          Becky’s feelings about Joyce may still be complicated, but I don’t think she’s likely to neglect or ignore Dina as a result

        11. Yumi

          You can see why it wouldn’t come off like you agreed on that point when your initial comment stated, “You’re reading too much into something incredibly trivial,” right?

        12. dethtolldotmid

          Reading too much into stuff not supported by the text is kind of how things are done around here.

        13. Gwen

          Except that there are clues in the comic that something like what Alanari suggested is going on. Of all the spots in the hallway Willis could have drawn to show Becky heading to Joyce’s room, he chose to depict Dina’s door, with an easily-identifiable dinosaur poster, and show how Becky goes right past without even looking. Given that drawing a blank hallway is way easier, for the artist, that would be a lot of effort to invest in something completely meaningless.

        14. dethtolldotmid

          I’m just being snarky about the Rachel thing, pay no heed. 😉

      2. Zaxares

        It could be interpreted both ways. In real life, just because you feel like hanging out with one of your oldest best friends instead of your girlfriend doesn’t mean that there’s “OMG RELATIONSHIP ISSUES!!!”. Within the confines of a comicverse though, the fact that Becky walked past Dina’s door to look for Joyce AND she had the whole “do I have the Confused text bubble above my head?” quip suggests that Becky still has feelings for Joyce and it’s an unresolved issue for this chapter that will need to be addressed between the two of them at some point.

  5. Adrianna

    When I opened this up, Ana Chronistic’s comment hadn’t loaded yet. I think that’s a first?

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      It happens, occasionally. Doctor_Who, I think, has the best frist-post rate of anyone who is not Ana Chronistic, though I haven’t done the data scraping. But due to asynchronous transmission protocols, the actual first post isn’t always the first post you see.

  6. Regalli

    Oh hey Becky learned about Pokemon too! Cool.

    (Also, Becky needs hugs but what else is new.)

    1. Doctor_Who

      Dina had to explain evolution to her somehow, and that seemed an easy way to start.

      Big mistake, Becky’s been thrown out of three pet stores for asking if they sell thunder stones.

      1. Mr. Bulmbin

        I didn’t think her the type for Jolteon, or Raichu.

        If anything, I’d think she’d be after a Fire Stone.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Most or all of the fossil Pokémon are part Rock-type, so a Fire Stone wouldn’t do her much good.

    2. Undrave

      Not that well… the ‘It Hurt Itself’ dialogue would be UNDER, not ABOVE her head.

  7. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Janet Jackson’s “Let’s Wait A While” on the hacked Muzak*

  8. DailyBrad

    That Becky recognizes Leslie’s iffy calls is already a good sign for her. Still, outside looking in is easier than making the right calls yourself.

  9. Bathymetheus

    Is Willis actually comparing the extinction of the dinosaurs to the holocaust, or is that a real poster that exists?

    1. purblebirb

      I thought Never Forget was a 9/11 thing

      1. Bathymetheus

        You must be young.

        (not a criticism, just an observation).

        1. BBCC

          Huh. I’m only 22 and my mind went to Holocaust. Lest we forget brings the Holocaust to mind too.

        2. dethtolldotmid

          “Lest we forget” definitely calls up the Holocaust for me, but “Never Forget” has been indelibly turned into the 9/11 catchphrase. ALWAYS REMEMBER, NEVER FORGET, noun verb 9/11, terror, terror, terror, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, weapons programs, september 11th, september 11th

        3. BBCC

          Maybe it’s because I’m not American?

        4. Lin

          I think that’s likely. As a 38 year old American, I definitely associate it with September 11th.

        5. BBCC

          Yeah, my Canadian ass hears ‘Never forget’ in a serious voice and thinks of the Holocaust not 9/11.

        6. dethtolldotmid

          Very likely.

      2. Yumi

        That’s my first association of it too. (One time my friend actually did forget, and I was like, “Helen. 9/11. Never forget. That’s its thing.”)

      3. Agemegos

        I thought it was the Alamo.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          No, you remember that one. Totally different.

        2. Agemegos

          Ah!

          Whereas we “Never forget class struggle”, right?

    2. Yumi

      …oh, that’s uncomfortable… But “Never forget” is used for a lot of things– granted, a lot of tragedies, but it’s become a bit of a meme from that. Not my favorite flavor of meme, but I’d guess that’s where it’s drawing from.

      1. Erik

        And for Dina, the extinction of the dinosaurs is probably the biggest tragedy she can imagine, so it’s totally on brand.

      2. Clif

        I too prefer memes that are funny, but there are things that it’s important we not forget least we make the same mistakes again.

        1. Yumi

          I think you vastly misunderstand what I was saying. When I say that “Never forget” has become a meme, I mean that people use it in a humorous way as memes are often used, like in the poster that’s being discussed. I’m not thrilled with those types of memes because they take something that’s used for a serious, tragic situation and turn it into a joke.

          I can understand the humor in it, and even sometimes might find it funny myself, but it’s not my preference.

    3. Rowan

      I thought that was “never again”?

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        That is also used by many tragedies though that is one that I associate with the Holocaust more than “never forget.” Though both phrases are equally applicable.

    4. Kyrik Michalowski

      “Never forget” is used for lots of tragedies, also variations of that poster actually exist. So Willis has nothing to do with creating it.

      1. BBCC

        ‘Never forgive never forget’ is used for lots of injustices too, albeit often in a more tongue and cheek manner.

        1. Abel Undercity

          Unshelved used to sell a t-shirt that had “NEVER FORGET” set above a card catalog drawer.

        2. Marsh Maryrose

          Stlll does. I wear mine proudly.

    5. not someone else

      Plot twist: it says Never Forgive.

      Dina is secretly a Mokele annnnd no one thinks this joke is funny

    6. showler

      Not only does the poster exist, it’s been copied by lots of other people to sell similar posters.

    7. N8

      Not sure if this is the reference but its awwwful similar so I’ll venture a guess –

      The “never forget” with a cartoon dino image was a popular street art that eventually was co opted (stolen) by internet jerks to make money off and the artist stopped doing it but it was a really sweet and beloved image before

  10. Yumi

    Last panel eyes kinda freak me out.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Glad it wasn’t just me.

    2. Keulen

      She’s watching as her eyebrow escapes.

  11. Yotomoe

    Quick stop them. Her eyes are trying to escape!!!

  12. Nono

    Were Joyce and Becky even allowed access to Pokemon? Seems like the kind of thing religiously devout parents wouldn’t let them access.

    1. Bagge

      Toedad knew enough of pokemen to mistake the triceratop(TM) for one. It’s likely that Becky managed to sneak a few peaks.

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/pokeman/

    2. Jaxx Sentinel

      Girlfriend had a mix of this: her mom loved it because of her obsession with animals (like…to a hoarding level..) and her dad hated it because he believed pikachu was the devil.

      I can kind of see Joyce being allowed only to be able to watch it while her mom is not around though

      1. MatthewTheLucky

        That’s preposterous!

        Giratina is Satan.

    3. BBCC

      Nope! Ross prayed for the souls of people who liked Pokemon. Plus it keeps mentioning evolution so y’know. Satanic.

      1. Dragonfire

        A lot of fundamentalists back in the day were also really uptight about Psychic- and Ghost-types. Kadabra, in particular, got the stinkeye. “Occult symbols”, or something, from what I remember a friend telling me; she wasn’t allowed to even look sideways at a Pokémon when her parents were watching.

        1. BBCC

          Ha! I remember that. Didn’t they also raise a fuss about gym badges, calling them ‘protective talismans’ or some shit like that?

        2. Koms

          Wow… they find a way to hate the most innocuous of things. Ine would think their time and energy would be better utilized elsewhere.

        3. MatthewTheLucky

          In fairness, the Badges are required to control traded Mon, and used to give mystical stat boosts.

        4. BBCC

          Yeah, but the pokemon aren’t gonna like eat you if you don’t have one.

        5. Clif

          Do you speak from experience? 😉

    4. lilyliv --> ian livs

      Her dad thought it was evil but was at least aware of it. It seems to be a mixed bag when it comes to conservative, religious parents. Both my parents and my spouse’s parents were totally fine with Pokemon, but a lot of people at my spouse’s church growing up were really negative toward it (and Harry Potter, and probably lots of other stuff). The only thing negative my parents ever said about it was “not to confuse fiction with reality because evolution isn’t real,” lol

      1. Felian

        Yes, Harry Potter was also a popular thing to hate in my childhood church. I didn’t even hear about Harry Potter really until i found a printed article at my parents’ desk that explained how evil witchcraft was and how we should condemn Harry Potter.
        The question is: how do you know so much about the series if it’s so evil that you shouldn’t go near it? Why are you even wasting your time on it instead of doing all the good deeds or whatever it is you could do instead as a good christian?
        Pokémon would probably have been forbidden too, but i never found it as a kid. I wasn’t very rebellious unfortunately.
        Or maybe i was?
        As a teen, i ordered and read a book about an orphan boy who lives with his abusive until he gets visited by a scary looking stranger who tells him he’s actually a wizard. He hasn’t had much training but ends up beating the bad guy with badass magic anyway.
        This book didn’t get taken away by my parents, because it wasn’t popular enough to be known by people who write in-depth condemning reviews.
        (it’s Bran Hambric – The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation, and is actually pretty different from Harry Potter in many ways, despite my description, and i recommend it)

  13. Miguel

    She walk by Dina’s room without a Hello?

    https://youtu.be/rwoCKSnYSgQ?t=30

    1. alice

      OMG (uh maybe warn for loud next time though?!?!)
      also though um, i would hope that even at 18 or 19 or however old they are most people would hopefully know that a healthy relationships involves having friends who you spend time with who aren’t your partner(s)

    2. 0kami

      Aaaaand there go my eardrums.

  14. Reltzik

    It’s okay, Becky. That’s a life goal for everyone. You just have to take it in steps.

    Step 1: Avoid irony.

  15. Bagge

    In the sh-shower?
    Without a h-hat?

    1. fire_daws

      :sigh: Calm down she has got a hat on, even if it’s a towel wrapped around her face.

      1. Bagge

        Well played

  16. butts

    becky, where are your eyes

    they’re

    they’re not on your face

  17. Chronos

    What? What’s not up there? The alt text is confusing me.

    1. Bagge

      An ironic dialog box, as she muses in panel 2

      1. alice

        jeez, how do i never get these simple things. thank you.

      2. Chronos

        …oh! I get it now!

        Thanks!

  18. kitty

    a gamer girl… and she has feet

    1. Yumi

      Hey, um. You want to tell me that this isn’t said with the intent I feel like it is?
      Or not. I mean. Whatever.

      1. Jaime

        I hate feets. (This is not a random comment – I have a deep vein thrombosis that means the circulation in my legs and feets is very bad. At any given time, my feets are swollen and COVERED in purple veins.)

        I am also grossed out by other people’s feets and don’t like looking at them or having them near me.

        The only exception is my niece’s feets. I fell in LOVE with her baby feets when she was a newborn. I still play with her “baby feets” even though she is almost 5. I have joked that she will be 30 years old and I will still love her “baby feets,” which I am sure will embarrass her very much.

        And NO, I have no idea why I love my niece’s feets and hate everyone else’s feets, including my own.

        1. Jaime

          PS: My long-time partner says “feets” instead of “feet” and I have picked up on that.

      2. not someone else

        Oh god, is this another meme that’s secretly Nazi or something?

        1. Jaime

          I googled “gamer girl feet” and…um…you probably don’t want to do that. There is a Facebook page dedicated to “rating” the feets of “gamer girls.” Predictably, reddit also has a bunch of posts on this, including pictures of seemingly-female feets on console controllers. The comments are *exactly* as polite and not-obscene as you would expect on reddit. /sarcasm

          I didn’t come across any Hitler connexion, but I stopped looking very quickly. I am close to sure that it’s probably out there somewhere…. *shudder*

        2. kitty

          oh gross. i did not know any of that. i should research where memes originate from before posting in a comments section that you cant delete your comments from huh

        3. Jaime

          No worries on my end – I have VASTLY underestimated rule 34 more than once.

          😉

        4. neeks

          At this point in our society I’d recommend EXTREME CAVEAT EMPTOR on any memes that come from the gamer community and/or Reddit.

        5. vlademir1

          I’d say that is a general to do on any internet memes dating back to at a minimum 2012, and really at least 2006.

        6. Delicious Taffy

          I haven’t caught up on secret Nazi memes since, like, 2016. Any newer ones I should know about?

        7. MatthewTheLucky

          An obsession with lactose tolerance.

  19. Rabid Rabbit

    That is… a very strange posture in panel 4. Is she suddenly mimicking a dinosaur because she’s going past that door? Or is she crouching down and trying to hide because she’s off to see Joyce and not Dina? Or what?

    Also, her hair has clearly grown sentient, and is trying to devour her head.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      I suspect it is a sudden slouch(?) of guilt because she is going to see Joyce and not Dina. Not because she is trying to mimic a dinosaur.

    2. Yumi

      Maybe she’s hoping that if Dina is around, emphasizing her posterior will attract Dina to come find her. If Dina herself is predisposed to a large posterior.

  20. Bon

    Everyone talking about her not saying hi to dina. I think this is less of an ‘oh no!’ and more of a ‘this is a comic and i dont want to take two strips showing them just saying hi then following becky to joyce’s room’

    She wants to talk to her best friend. She’s allowed to do that. She can say hi to Dina after their big talk for comfort time.

    1. Kyrik Michalowski

      It isn’t that, it’s the extra panel of her looking guilty as she walks past Dina’s room. Do I think she needs to feel guilty? No. Joyce is her best friend and she is going to talk to her. But she does seem to be feeling guilty which says something at least about Becky worrying too much maybe.

      1. alice

        unless she’s feeling guilty because her feelings for joyce are making it harder for her to see hanging out with her best friend as as normal a thing as it actually is

    2. Bagge

      Personally I think she still has that whole time-share thing going on between Joyce and Dina. Breakfast with Joyce, class with Dina, bug Sarah with Joyce, evening cuddles with Dina.

      It is adorable.

    3. geno

      I think it’s more because of her reaction to hearing Joyce is in the showers. Shippers are ready to hit the panic button after the last arc. Which frankly I don’t feel like Becky ever really dealt with her feelings for Joyce, so I assumed this day would come.

    4. Lingo

      Why did he show us Dina’s door if not to point out she walked right past it? He could’ve, you know, left out that panel. In light of panel 2, I think the authorial intent is pretty straightforward.

      1. hof1991

        None of this is not meaningful. DYW doesn’t have time to draw incidental panels. Incidental backgrounds but not panels, which are like paragraphs. Showing her walking past Dina’s door (when she also walked past a lot of other doors) is done purposefully. Chekhov’s door.

        1. Lingo

          Thank you, you said it better than I could.

        2. Clif

          Sometimes a cigar is just a nucular grenade.

  21. tim gueguen

    Becky should Galasso about housing. He might offer to let her rent the restaurant janitor’s closet for 200 bucks a month.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      I never buy so much as a dollar-menu hamburger from my places of work. Paying rent at one is unfathomable. Why would you give your paycheck back to them?

  22. BBCC

    oh thank god, I’m hoping Becky being around instead of Rachel and Ruth will give us all a little breather.

    And oh Becky. Nobody is safe from irony. Sorry honey. 😛

    1. BBCC

      Becky, if you find a cheap place to rent, take Marcie with you. That poor girl’s rent is waaaaaaayyyyy too damn high if she has a dozen roommates and still needs to work like a dog at frequent double shifts and is looking for multiple jobs.

      1. Skater Girl

        She had a major medical emergency with no insurance. My guess is she’s still paying on that or at least helping her parents do so.

        1. Yumi

          That’s a good theory that makes her living situation make more sense. It also adds a layer to her anger about that fight costing her the security job.

        2. BBCC

          She very well might be and given this is the US, I would not be shocked, but the thing that keeps coming up for her is rent, so I’m saying if it’s really that damn high after 12 roommates and double shifts and all that, it’s way too high and if there’s a cheaper place, that would be infinitely preferable.

          This is the US so that ‘if’ is a big deal. Canada’s housing cost problem is even worse.

        3. Yumi

          When does mention of her rent come up? It’s in conversation or being mentioned by Sal, right? I could see it being easier for Marcie to bring up the cost of rent than the hospital bills from that incident.

          And yeah, could be a factor of both. Hospital bills would be easier to manage without high rent and vice versa.

        4. BBCC

          I could believe it being both tbh, though rent might be more urgent because she (and her roommates) could end up on the street if that’s not paid.

    2. geno

      I want as much Rachel as possible honestly. She seems to be a character development lighting rod. As of yet I don’t think she’s been a direct cause, but it just happens like all around her or just after she leaves. I have been looking for her like the snail in Adventure Time lately.

      1. BBCC

        I want to know more about her and I can get liking the story and character development she kicks off! But I can’t handle another day of comment drama. 😛 I’m hoping any disagreements about this strip will remain polite and low stakes.

        1. Yumi

          You comment that “Nobody is safe from irony” and then you go and say that? You’re really double-dog-daring the fates today, aren’t you?

        2. BBCC

          Let me add a few more. I feel daring today. 😛

          What could possibly go wrong?

          What’s the worst thing that could happen?

          It can’t possibly get worse!

        3. Inahc

          Everyone likes Becky, right? 😉

        4. Clif

          Where is this evil laughter coming from?

  23. chris73

    I like the introspective Becky a lot more than the loud, abrasive, unlikable and obnoxious persona she usually portrays so hopefully we see more of it

    That said I’ve always felt that as good as Becky and Dina are together if Joyce said to Becky something like “Becky I want you to go down on me” (yes I’m aware that’s not very sexy) then Becky would drop Dina in the blink of an eye

    It’s something she’ll hopefully grow out of, maybe

    1. sunflowerofice

      Yeah I think the thinker becky gives us more of who she is than loud becky. Of course loud can be part of who someone is that’s usually not their core in my experience, but for all i know tomorrow ill meet someone who loud is their core.

      1. Dana

        I think part of why loud Becky exists is so Becky doesn’t have to share her core experience with people who want to hurt her.

    2. geno

      Very much disagree that Becky is unlikable. I like plenty of people who are loud. She never dealt with her feelings. She jumped in the nearest escape pod away from those dangerous feelings. It’s pretty common because feelings are scary, but you don’t get mature relationships by running away from them.

      1. chris73

        Her jealousy towards Dorothy, her habit of giving nicknames (a personal bug bear of mine), her habit of opening her mouth before engaging the brain (calling the Brown siblings Aryans), inserting herself where shes not needed (“firing” Ethan) are reasons why shes, at times, quite insufferable and unlikable

        But I can see why other people like the loud her, I just prefer the quieter, thinking Becky

        1. timemonkey

          Yeah, she’s been better lately but loud Becky has crossed a lot of lines that make her hard to like.

    3. MatsuoTanuki

      Okay, your comment just awakened a slightly petty side of me that is hoping Becky would be that emotionally shallow to think with her *whistles and gestures between legs* and mess up her relationship with Dina. Dorothy dumped Walky after deciding what her priorities are, Danny has distanced himself from Amber after she stabbed the hell out of Gashface, and Ruth has rightfully put a block between her and Billie until such a time the latter sorts out her shit. If the others aren’t allowed to be relationships, NOBODY IS!

      But the better parts of me know Becky has suffered enough without having to lose the one of the few good things that are in her life, so I will keep that petty line of thought down and away.

      1. not someone else

        Yeah… no matter how overwhelming I would find Becky IRL, especially if I were still her age, Dina deserves a happy relationship, as do the lesbians and similar folls among the readership who are so happy to have relatively healthy girlkissing portrayed. And Becky is just a kid with some annoying habits and normal character flaws, too, at the end of the day.

        Let the hets be messy, Becky/Dina can grow and communicate and be genuinely good for each other.

        1. MatsuoTanuki

          Hear hear.

  24. Catman

    Maybe I’m over analyzing but the Dino poster seems skewed in 3d,implying the door is open, which means Becky probably either visited Dina and we just skipped past it so that we got the whole irony thing, or she checked and Dina wasn’t there.

  25. Adam Black

    Pokemon?

    I was certain this was some Christian Fundamentalist trope

  26. MatsuoTanuki

    Oh crap, she’s glitching! D:

  27. JessWitt

    Not even a knock or a glance at Dina’s door? Is Becky still holding a torch for Joyce?

    1. Madock345

      yes

      1. MatsuoTanuki

        Per my reply to chris73”s comment above, I am torn between wanting Becky processing whatever feelings she still has for Joyce healthily before letting them go, or hoping that letting those unrequited feelings fester and drive a wedge between her and Dina that ruins everything. Basically:

        Shipper Shoulder Devil: Everyone else’s relationships are in the toilet right now, why should she be happy?

        Shipper Shoulder Angel: Oh I dunno, how about the fact this relationship is the ONE freaking good thing Becky has in her life right now?

    2. Eve

      Yeeeeep. At least Dina knows this? She and Sarah talked about it so it’s not something that will catch Dina by surprise

      1. joyfulldreams

        My hope is that Dina is basically the exact person who wouldn’t immediately jump to jealousy and make assumptions when Becky’s lingering feelings for Joyce start to become a more prominent issue. I think she’s far more likely to just want to lay everything out on the table, to talk about it, so she can know where they both stand with each other before jumping to any conclusions. Dina seems to me like she wouldn’t tolerate the confusing heartbreak-y feelings of confusion that many other people might sink into in such a situation.

        So. However things end up going, there’s a good chance Dina and Becky will be fine at the end, or that at least if they do split it will be the result of healthy communication and be a moment of growth for the both of them where they are still very close friends afterwards.

        I hope.

        1. BBCC

          If she’s anything like Walkyverse Dina, she’s absolutely the jealous type.

  28. Miri

    Is it just me thinking that she was so busy thinking about relationships in the abstract she temporarily forgot about Dina and auto-Joyced because subconsciously that’s still where her mind goes when she hears long-term crush?

    1. not someone else

      Nope. First crushes can be hard to forget under normal circumstances…

  29. Eve

    I’m surprised she was allowed to play pokemon, wouldn’t it support evolution? (or at least use the word, almost always wrong but sometimes it would mention a type of pokemon had changed over generations)

  30. Confus-a-tron

    … I’m just gonna wait here with the “SHE HURT HERSELF IN HER CONFUSION” sign for when Becky finds out that Joyce offered to hug a naked Ruth (albeit with a towel to protect her from the upstairs parts.)

  31. abysswatcher1993

    Becky isn’t wrong. Leslie was attracted to a woman that was in a political party that is against LGBT rights, and she abandoned her date to secretly be with the one she felt more attracted to and didn’t have the courage to be honest about it. Sometimes the people we look up to can show how flawed they are when we spend a lot of time close to them.

  32. Bobcat

    Ok, if I didn’t look at the alt text I wouldn’t have understood Becky’s expression in the last panel. I’m getting old.

  33. Agemegos

    I cannot understand what is happening in this strip. What is Becky doing as she passes Dina’s door? In what way does she think she hurt herself in er confusion? Is she ditching Dina to wait around for Joyce?

    1. BenRG

      As sad as it is for Dina, she hasn’t got commitment from Becky, not yet. Right now, there is a part of her that still belongs to Joyce and hopes that her fantasy of them falling into each other’s arms comes true.

      1. Agemegos

        What is Becky doing directly outside Dina’s door? It doesn’t look like failing to notice it. It doesn’t look like just walking past.

        1. BenRG

          To me, it looks like she’s in a rush to get to Joyce’s room.

  34. BenRG

    Naughty Becky! No fantasising about Joyce in the shower!

    No, Becky hasn’t stopped crushing on Joyce and I’m not sure if that’s likely any time soon. The obvious point here is that Becky as been ruminating on just how bad Leslie’s relationship decisions have been, yet here we are showing her still pining after Joyce and setting herself up for heartbreak of one kind or another!

  35. Torra

    I think panel 3-5 are very telling of who Becky prefers between Dina and Joyce. It’s kid of expected on my end, Becky got with Dina literally right after she was rejected by Joyce, it’s not surprising those feelings haven’t gone away. Though I think Becky is really trying to ignore this and be best girlfs with Dina, but an automatic visit to Joyce and ignoring Dina’s room completely says a lot

    1. BenRG

      What worries me about this is that Dina clearly adores Becky and I occasionally wonder if it’s a bit one-sided. Dina isn’t my favourite character and I think she gets a bit too much leeway sometimes. However, she doesn’t deserve to have the first girl she let inside her heart drop her like she’s nothing if Joyce gives Becky even a hint of being romantically interested in her.

      1. thejeff

        Yeah, there’s definitely still part of the old feeling there, but we’ve seen plenty to indicate Becky’s serious about Dina. That her old crush is also her best childhood friend complicates things, but I don’t think it’s a threat.

      2. timemonkey

        Dina has he advantage of coming to the relationship a blank slate, no prior relationships or romantic feelings for anyone. Becky on the other hand has been nursing a secret crush for years that she’s only just been able to put into words and actually start dealing with. While her attraction and interest in Dina is genuine those other feelings are going to last a while, even if she knows they’re pointless.

  36. JoeCovenant

    Today’s strip is a wee bit confusing.
    Today’s comments make it even more so!! 🙂

    BUT – The Dino poster does exist…

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinosaur-Poster-Never-Forget-61cm/dp/B008B0ZZOM

    1. BenRG

      Becky is talking about Pokémon, Joe.

      In the Pokémon games, when in the battle mode, the game will display dialogue boxes over the graphics summarising the effect of moves used. One ‘status’ continuing affect is ‘Confusion’, which causes the foe monster to thrash about and hurt itself when trying to attack. When that happens, the message “It hurt itself in its confusion” appears.

      I think that what panel 6 is saying is that Becky’s wish in panel 2 is not coming true. Her feelings for Joyce are still so strong that she’s still hurting herself by pining for her best friend’s romantic attention. She’s mentally seeing the attack result message above her head in her mind’s eye.

      1. thejeff

        But the alt-text says it’s not there. You could read this as she’s expecting the confusion message, but not actually finding it.

        1. hof1991

          It’s not there because she doesn’t live in a Pokemon game, not because it isn’t true.

        2. BenRG

          Thank you.

        3. Robert

          Also, she walked right by Dina’s room. If her emotions weren’t conflicted in the first place, that would have been her first stop.

      2. JoeCovenant

        🙂 I don’t live under a rock, Ben… i know what Pokemon is. 🙂

        I just feel a LOT of the strip is being left open to interpretation.
        Like – Why should we immediately think she should go and see Dina? They are not joined at the hip, and she’s known Joyce for FAR longer.

        Luckily, the number of different interpretations let’s me know it’s not just me! 🙂

        Meh… just one of *those* strips I suppose… but they only come around every now and again…

  37. DarkoNeko

    So Sarah counts as “female relationships” now 😀

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      I think it was more about Becky getting naughty thoughts upon hearing “Joyce” and “Shower” in the same sentence.

  38. Ainara

    All I want is for Dina not to get her heart broken :'(

  39. ShinyNeen

    Geez, there’s a lot potentially going on in this one. I’m just going to focus on how much I enjoy that Becky both acknowledges Leslie’s faults and idolizes her anyway. It’s very sweet and level-headed of her : )

  40. C.T Phipps

    Becky should get a bunch of ruinous student loans and then hope Ronnie forgives them when he returns from the dead.

    1. BenRG

      “‘Loan guarantor’? Okay, it’s surname ‘Scamme’, forename ‘Ivy’, middle initial ‘A’.”

  41. WikiDreamer

    *tries SO hard not to speculate what it means that Becky walked straight past Dina’s in order to get to Joyce only to wait for her to get out of the shower*

    …wait, didn’t Becky memorize Dina’s schedule by now to know when she can find her?

  42. Oz

    becky please cut those bangs, you look ool af but you’re gonna get eyestrain.

    … omg I’ve just became my parents haven’t I

    1. BenRG

      We all become our parents eventually. It’s just a matter of when and how.

  43. TomHCinMI

    In the 6th panel you messed up her left eye; it’s out of place. —— Still better than I could ever do!

    1. Yumi

      I’m pretty sure that’s on purpose. She’s looking up and it’s presented in a purposely exaggerated manner.

  44. Cmd1095

    The box might not be up there, but there’s a large empty space where it COULD be.

  45. ziggy78eog

    Why wait, go on, and join her. As long as you act like you belong there, no one will question you. Go on, sexy time awaits.

  46. Shane Wegner

    No worries. Literally, she just requested to initiate physical contact with Ruth in the shower. Nothing to have a nosebleed over.

  47. BenRG

    Here’s the concern: Joyce is going through a sufficient crisis of her own that she has the potential to do something stupid. The problem is that Becky is likely to let her do something stupid with her and neither of them are going to think of consequences until after the fact.

    1. ziggy78eog

      This is college; the potential of doing something stupid will always be quite high.

  48. Kilgaen

    The comic strip equivalent of the Kuleshov Effect, whatever that’s called.

  49. Roborat

    It looks like she is walking like a dinosaur as she passes Dina’s door.

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom…
      Boom boom acka-lacka boom boom…

  50. Kaz

    Someone get the net, her eyebrow is escaping.

  51. Bagge

    I love Becky’s outfit. Very stylish.

  52. Elsendor

    this is such a look tho

  53. stoodmuffin

    DON’T TAKE PHOTOS OF ME WITHOUT MY CONSENT, oh. Nope. It’s Becky. Might as well be, though

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