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Devil’s Night
Posted on May 12, 2019 by David M Willis
Folks, I'm in Canada!  Come see me at TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival) in, you know, Toronto!  I'm at Table 248, Second Floor of the Toronto Reference Library.  I got books!  I got magnets!  I got prints!  I got the subways mapped out so I can visit that corner alley where Johnny Five was beaten half to death! my trip to canada funded in part by a grant from the greater columbus arts council

231 thoughts on “Devil’s Night”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    This is the BEST strip in the entire Willisverse, I will fight you on this

    1. Deathjavu

      Don’t jinx it, tomorrow’s strip could easily be the worst

      1. Emperor Norton II

        But then today’s strip will still remain the best and Ana will remain correct.

        (I mean, they’re obviously incorrect, because [my personal choice] is much, much better, but let them have their dream for now.)

      2. Pinkie

        Is anybody else getting today’s strip a couple minutes early?

      3. Joe

        SEE?? Now that’s exactly what happened!

      4. Jess

        You.

        <em<You knew.

    2. Cholma

      I’ve looked EVERYWHERE and I can’t find the +1, <3, or ^ upvote buttons! WTH?!

    3. Reltzik

      Challenge accepted.

      1. BarerMender

        The first frame of that strip is my favorite drawing in the whole series.

      2. Marsh Maryrose

        I don’t know why this never occurred to me the first time around, but: since IU-Bloomington is the home of the Kinsey Institute, it would be really easy for Becky to literally become a fucking scientist.

        1. John Smith

          Despite their reputation, many scientists do, in fact, fuck.

        2. Opus the Poet

          Yes, but how many are scientists of fucking?

        3. Marsh Maryrose

          From a story about mucus researchers comes one of their racier jokes: “Love may make the world go round, but mucus facilitates its horizontal translation.”

      3. Bagge

        I LOVE THAT STRIP!

    4. Schpoonman

      Mmm, nope, Hank telling Becky her mother would be proud. Or Dina’s and Becky’s first “real” kiss.

      1. Emperor Norton II

        What about Dina revealing her hair?

      2. BarerMender

        I like the one just after the first real kiss, when their lips part and they look into each other’s eyes. Dina, for the first time, looks like a woman, rather than a child.

    5. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      Aaaaaaaaaaaaand end of storyline. 😀

      …wait, what do you mean “No”? Dammit Willis! xD

      Also, can “Hallowe’en is the Devil’s Night!” be a contender for next DoA book title please? 🙂

    6. Catman

      Got to be honest, I’m irrationally fond of http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/amygrant/

      1. ShinyNeen

        Nothin’ irrational ’bout likin’ that one!

    7. Zababcd

      My favourite is this one.

    8. anone

      i thought you said ship & i was so thrilled & then i read the replies, oh well 🙁

    9. AlexanderHammil

      Would it then be helpful if I attempted ThE sMiLe?

      1. Roborat

        Dammit, I had just managed to erase all traces of that page from my memory, and you drag it all back up again.

  2. shadowcell

    OUR SHIELDS CAN’T WITHSTAND ADORABLENESS OF THAT MAGNITUDE

    1. Bagge

      Neither could Sarah’s shield in the long run.

  3. ValdVin

    Spotted in the wild: the elusive Sarah hug.

  4. Emperor Norton II

    Does anyone else hear Bagge squeeeeeeeeeeeee-ing?

    1. Reltzik

      No.

      …. is that the reason for my sudden deafness?

    2. Bagge

      ….EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…

      1. Catman

        Ah, there it is

  5. Nono

    Roz used burn.

    It’s… inversely effective?

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      Roz thinks she is a great flame but she is actually just a wet fart, a wet fart can’t cause burns.

    2. Catman

      Sarah has guts, Burns just makes her stronger.

      1. Mel

        You, you I like

  6. Screwball

    AAAHHHH!!! YOU CAN SEE HER SKELETON!!!! QUICK, GET HER TO A DOCTOR!!! Daniel the Human says it’s a costume!! What’s a costume and how do we fix it?

    1. Goshii

      Screwball, are you the same screwball I see over on Grrl Power too?

      1. Screwball

        Daniel here. Yeah, Screwball tends to haunt a few webcomics. Using my Gravitar account, which he “borrowed”. I swear, he’s like a 12 year old boy who’s just discovered “boobies” are a thing. He likes to think he’s all that, but he’s harmless…

        At least until he breaks something which hurts me… ?

        1. Goshii

          Well Daniel the human, I’m glad that I have as good of taste in comics as Screwball 😀

  7. ninja_jesus

    One day, Sarah won’t have to hide the fact that she has interests, but it is not this day.

    1. timemonkey

      Until that day comes Joyce will continue to support her.

  8. Stephen Bierce

    She takes the peanuts off the outside of a Payday bar, then puts the candy corn kernels on it to rebuild the cob…

  9. Opus the Poet

    The best strip in DoA has not yet been drawn. Just wait until you see the strip for 2020/6/21!

    1. Doctor_Who

      Spoilers.

      1. Opus the Poet

        It’s not like I described it in intricate detail. I just used my “not dead yet” powers to sneak a peak at the transcript, which I’m also not going to mention any of because >spoilers<. But take my word for it, it's funny/sad and Joyce isn't in it.

    2. HMRC4EVR

      That’s my birthday.
      Now I’m terrified for the next year my birthday will be the most heartbreaking day in DoA history.

      1. Goshii

        Toe-dad and Mary having met in prison, get married. Then a meteor lands on the wedding, sending them off to another dimension (because death is too good for them)

        1. Freemage

          To really be best strip, that’d have to swap out Mary and put in Blaine.

        2. Goshii

          Swap out the Meteor for Blaine?

    3. Opus the Poet

      No pressure Willis. just giving you a target to shoot for…

      1. Reltzik

        So the target he should shoot for is peaking a bit over a year from now?

        1. Chris Phoenix

          Better than peaking yesterday, right?

    4. Needfuldoer

      April 2020 is nothing but Meredith making pot jokes.

      1. Opus the Poet

        And people tripping over pots of all descriptions (and pans) that are in the scene for no other reason except to trip over them. It’s like April Fools was an entire month.

    5. Roborat

      I don’t want to know what level of patreon is required to get that much of an advance page access.

  10. MatthewTheLucky

    I’m going to imagine Joyce is doing her best impression of Mary.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Not easy to imitate the choir of damned souls and buzzing of flies that accompanies Mary’s every word, but she’ll give it the old college try!

  11. FLUFFYWOLF

    “You’re like the mom I never had.”
    “But you have a mom.”
    “I know what I said.”

    1. No Name

      So, wait, which of them is saying which line?

      1. Lin

        Yes.

  12. Ashlynn

    this is so sweet and pure and good and im so sad that jocelyne didnt tell joyce T_T

    1. Mollyscribbles

      I know what you mean, but . . . I don’t think that’s a conversation to be had over the phone.

      1. Sam

        That depends on the individuals involved. If you want to maintain distance for emotional or physical safety then over the phone/through text can be the method you decide is most appropriate. Doing things in person is generally seen as the most personal, but it is also not the safest and doesn’t give you the ability to just instantly exit if things go badly in the same way that you can hang up a phone or end a text conversation.

        1. Mollyscribbles

          Point. Given everything that’s happened, everything she’s gone through, I can’t really see Jocelyne thinking Joyce would actually respond badly; need some time to process before accepting her sister, possibly, but that momentary flail as her brain performs another hard reset might be something she wishes to avoid.

        2. Mishyana

          Just speaking as a trans woman here, it is an incredibly difficult thing to tell someone regardless of distance or context. Hell, I had a hard time coming out to a group of people I only knew online. Especially in the context of Jocelyn coming out to Joyce… my dad’s side of the family, at least my aunt and to a lesser extent the others, was basically how Joyce was at the beginning of DoA turned up to 11.

          After I told them, they told me to not bother showing up for Christmas, and after my grandmother died, they didn’t tell me that she had died, when the funeral was, or where she was buried. And later intimated that it was partially the result of my coming out that had killed her.

          Beyond that, and before my coming out, they could be and were a loving, ‘normal’ family. And while I am by no means saying Joyce is now (or even was) that bad at all, I can very much understand why Jocelyn is reluctant to tell *anyone*.

        3. Dragon_Nataku

          Well that is a giant load of bullshit and I wish that you’d never had to go through any of that. Also, I wanna boot that part of your family in the head.

          *hugs*

        4. Mishyana

          Thanks for that =)

        5. thejeff

          I suspect it’s safer over the phone, but more likely to turn out well in person. Which is best in any case depends on the assessment of the risk involved, both in terms of potential damage and chance of being accepted.

  13. tim gueguen

    In Canada Smarties(which are chocolate wrapped in a bright candy coating, not round fruit things like in the US) have off and on been advertised with the slogan “Do you eat the red ones last?” I’m sure Joyce would eat the red ones last.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      That’s M&Ms. M&Ms are what you’re describing.

      1. Sol Karas

        Except that they’re better than M&Ms because they’re not made with garbage chocolate 8V

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Everyone says American chocolate is bullshit, but nobody ever explains why. Like, is it too sweet, not sweet enough, weird texture, or what? As someone who’s never knowingly eaten foreign chocolate except for the occasional Japanese import, I have no frame of reference.

        2. Swissaboo

          It’s got wax in it

        3. Delicious Taffy

          Is that literal, or are you making a dig at the texture?

        4. Mel

          It’s a mixture of a dig at the texture, which is extremely waxy, and the fact that yes, some inexpensive chocolates are blended with waxes. Edible ones, but still.
          Source: I’m a pastry chef and make candies

        5. Vulcanodon

          Literal paraffin wax.

        6. ValdVin

          I take it you’ve had Palmer chocolate, then.

        7. Vulcanodon

          AND deceptive packaging!

        8. Agemegos

          American milk chocolate, in particular Hershey’s is too sweet and not chocolatey enough, and has a weird taint of butyric acid, like stale butter. I’m told that this is because Hersheys partially lipolyses the milk fats in their chocolate and that other US manufacturers add butyric acid to reproduce the taste of Hersheys. It’s what American consumers are used to, but it tastes odd to me.

        9. Delicious Taffy

          So, other places have it richer and less sweet? I think we have stuff like that, but it’s like $4 per bar, and they always put shit like jalapeño flakes and orange peel in it.

        10. Seregiel

          Most places chocolate is comparatively expensive to here too so if you’re eating it in bar form as a treat, you’re getting the good stuff.

        11. Rowen Morland

          Continental European chocolate tends to be milkier. British chocolate tends to have more sugar thrown in.YMMV on which ones you like and how you rate them.

          Personally I found a lot of American chocolates are fine as long as they are still on your tongue but then have a weird after taste. Though I do like Reeses buttercups.

        12. Jenny Islander

          I find that all of the European milk chocolate I’ve ever eaten tastes bland and hardly like chocolate at all. And the non-milk chocolate tends to be horribly sweet.

        13. woobie

          Because sour milk is used.

      2. Agemegos

        Only in America. Everywhere else that English is spoken little oblate spheroids of milk chocolate cased in brightly-coloured candy shells are Smarties, and have been since 1937.

        1. No Name

          Also, Smarties are bigger than M&Ms, and come in very distinctive tubes rather than bags. So distinctive, in fact, that British researchers use them in studying child psychology (Google “Smarties task” some time).

        2. Delicious Taffy

          That was an interesting read, at least. I’m not really sure I understand what “kids expect something based on their personal knowledge” has to do with autism, though.

        3. Kamino Neko

          They don’t come in tubes in Canada)…but still not in bags. Cardboard boxes that used to make really good musical instruments. (Now they’re sealed differently, so they don’t do the same buzz when you blow into them.)

      3. Lensipensi

        Noooo. Smarties are way more delicious than m&ms! Love Smarties, especially the little ones <3

        1. Catman

          I think the little ones are the standard in New Zealand, because No Name said they were bigger than M&Ms and it felt like I was in another universe

        2. Kamino Neko

          I don’t have any nearby to check, but I don’t think they’re actually bigger, just that the dimensions are different – Smarties have a larger diameter but they’re thinner. Smarties are disks, M&Ms are almost spherical. Comes out to similar volumes. (But Smarties have thinner shells.)

      4. tim gueguen

        You can buy M&Ms in Canada. Been a long time since I’ve tried them. Interestingly there’s also a chain of frozen food shops called M&M Food Market, formerly M&M Meats, up here.

      5. Kinoko

        I’ve heard that M&Ms ripped off the type of Smarties Tim is describing. Mars tried them once and was like “that’s what I need to make!”

        Re; American chocolate: I’m an English immigrant to the San Francisco Bay Area. Ghirardelli (native to SF and a point of pride here) has absolutely amazing chocolate that is smooth, creamy, very chocolatey and not waxy at all. By global standards, Hershey is not considered to be very good, but Mars is liked well enough.

        1. Kamino Neko

          Not really ripped off, as I understand it. Mars saw soldiers eating Smarties, and, as I understand it, made a deal with Rowntree to make the same sort of candy in the US.

    2. Mollyscribbles

      Joyce would sort them carefully before eating and then consume them in reverse rainbow order so the red ones would be last.

    3. Airyu

      Does anyone else like the American Smarties? Anyone else a sugar fiend like myself?

      1. John Smith

        Sure, it’s just that they’re called Rockets.

      2. Kamino Neko

        I’ve never had American Smarties, but I like some of the similar candies – which type are they – the tangy-sweet solid ones that you can suck on or crunch, or the chalky-sweet ones that crumble to powder when you put a tooth to them?

  14. sdrainbow

    Wow, I thought candy corn couldn’t become less appetizing. I was wrong.

    1. ValdVin

      If I wanted to test people I’d make them have to go through a pile of candy corn to find their deity.

      1. Opus the Poet

        1. I love candy corn 2. My deity’s wife is credited with inventing candy corn along with other sweets so you know I love them anyways.

        (Stop, you can’t prove Aphrodite didn’t invent candy corn)

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Aphrodite invented the sexiest candy? Alright, it checks out.

        2. Terry

          Sooo… You worship the god of fire and forges? That’s an odd choice for today’s day and age. Nothing wrong with it, but he’s not one of the more major gods in the pantheon and his dominion isn’t hugely relevant to modern life. I’m curious about your connection to him.

        3. Jamie

          He built robots.

        4. Opus the Poet

          I build things from metal, he kinda chose me. And it’s more of a collaborative relationship, I consult through meditation to solve engineering problems on things I’m making. WWHD (What Would Hephaestus Do, and how would he do it?)

        5. Knayt

          Considering all the steel and aluminum in modern life, I’d argue that the relevance has only increased. That’s without getting into whether “forges” not only encompasses industrial furnaces for metal and also encompasses other furnaces, which then brings in steam power, which is still a huge deal.

        6. ValdVin

          I will gladly give you my candy corn for a suitable return of another treat. Now all I need to do is find the candy port on my laptop.

        7. Kamino Neko

          ‘(Stop, you can’t prove Aphrodite didn’t invent candy corn)’

          Sure I can…Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty…Candy Corn is diametrically opposed to everything she is.

      2. Keulen

        If eating candy corn is the only way to find my deity, I’ll stay an atheist. I can’t stand the taste of candy corn.

      3. Catman

        I mean… How bigs the pile?

    2. Freemage

      When I was a kid, I would bite candy corn to separate the colors, mostly for the challenge.

      As an adult, I’m in agreement with Lewis Black:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYjA2JHuMwQ

    3. Needfuldoer

      In my experience the delineations between colors are never perfectly flat, so just breaking the layers apart won’t leave you with pure samples. You’d have to use a knife to make cuts on both sides of the lines, but then you’re left with piles of little impure slices. What are you supposed to do with those, throw them away?

      (Yes, throw them away. Throw away the ‘pure’ parts too. Candy corn is terrible.)

    4. Airyu

      I don’t get why so many people hate on candy corn, it’s so good ;0;

  15. DailyBrad

    You know, I can’t imagine either one of them are too torn up to have Roz move along.

    Does anyone in the cast actually like her? Not making a character judgment, just, I don’t know if she’s friends with anybody.

    1. timemonkey

      Her personality and behaviour tends to prevent anything more than shallow interactions.

    2. Kittie

      Based on the brief “Dorothy wants to be RA” arc Roz at least has superficial popularity. Dunno if she has any close friends, though.

    3. tim gueguen

      Sierra, maybe? She seems pretty friendly with most people.

    4. Sam

      She gets along on the surface with most people on the floor. But whether she has actual friends is questionable because she has been an ass about quite a few things.

      She’s one of those people who doesn’t understand the difference between starting a dialogue about an important topic and coming in like a drama wrecking ball where even people who feel the same way about that topic are like ‘yikes’.

  16. Kravis

    Now kiss.

  17. Jess

    Everyone always talks about Joyce’s 😀 face and I think that’s definitely merited, but I have to say I also really like her C: face here!

    1. Annika

      Same! It’s maybe the cutest she’s ever looked to me.

  18. Durandal_1707

    It’s a good thing Sarah finally decided to allow herself to enjoy Halloween, since the next one won’t come until 2038.

    1. thejeff

      Though to be fair, she’ll have a couple of years to enjoy this one.

  19. Skater Girl

    No, Joyce, Devil’s Night is the night before Halloween.

    1. DonDueed

      Halloweeneen?

  20. Romanticide

    I live for this moments.

  21. JediMB

    I love them both.

  22. ian livs

    They’re precious, omg

  23. Rotunda

    I’m enjoying Joyce’s new, smaller, low-intensity triangle mouth.

  24. Mollyscribbles

    I used to eat the foam on the Soda Licious root beers separately so I can’t really judge.

  25. brionl

    You don’t need a knife for candy corn. Just twist it and they pop apart on the color lines.

    1. Jess

      This information intimidates me.

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        What, you never tried this as a kid?

        The three layers are poured and formed one at a time. That’s right: candy corn is 3-D printed!

        I don’t think Joyce would know this, and even if she did, she might not find the twist method precise enough.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Candy corn material option on Hero Forge when?

        2. Catman

          Briefly thought you typed Hero Factory, and now I want Candy Corn Bionicles

        3. Delicious Taffy

          Lemme get that Mask of Not Commercialising Maori Culture, real quick.

        4. Catman

          Yikes, I’d never even heard of that happening.

    2. Vulcanodon

      The anisotropic property of candy corn varies by the cooling between layers before the next layer is put in. Less time, more layer integrity https://youtu.be/i6s8ELszNgM?t=46

      1. Jess

        Holy cow. The more you know!

  26. Lia47

    AWW

  27. abysswatcher1993

    I didn’t knew this would happen and I am happy I saw this happening.

  28. Schpoonman

    The last panel is the most heartwarming thing I’ve ever seen in this comic. I hope one day Sarah realizes that it’s okay that other people know your interests, because none of their opinions matter unless you let them, and learning to free yourself of that is one of the most liberating feelings in the world.

    Not disregarding ALL opinions, of course. I can ignore coworkers but still care what my grandmother thinks of me.

    And I don’t know what kind of hell-beast ads are infecting the website anymore. I’ve tried to submit this comment or close the ad so I COULD comment without hitting the ad fives times as of this writing.

    Beat it by zooming in super close on the X so I didn’t brush the ad. The comment box is below the ad, too, it’s just a window over it. This got longwinded, but this was some real shit.

    1. Schpoonman

      And Joyce, the real trick is to just not eat candy corn, because candy corn is terrible.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Yeah, commenting on a desktop or 7-inch tablet works fine, but the banner at the bottom is tricky to close on a phone. :\

    3. ShinyNeen

      At least Sarah has one person she’s increasingly comfortable being open around : )

      (Also yeah, throwing in my +1 that the ads are obnoxious right now)

  29. FortyTwo

    I hope the hover text isn’t autobiographical!

    1. chris2315

      Narrator: “It was.”

  30. Dana

    If finding Jesus involves eating candy corn, maybe I am up for it.

  31. Catman

    That’s adorable. Keep being adorable.

  32. brumagem

    JSYK: still getting those real annoying ads on desktop chrome https://imgur.com/a/rOE9uMY

    (in trying to post this the bottom banner ad OVERLAPS WITH THE POST COMMENT BUTTON AND NOW I’M LOOKING AT CALIFORNIA PRODUCE DETOX DIETS)

    1. Lingo

      Me too. Die Leslie Knope, die.

      1. brumagem

        You shut your seditious mouth, Leslie Knope is a TREASURE

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Same here, but on mobile. It’s got that blue AdChoices triangle icon in the corner, if that helps. It’s pretty fucking obnoxious, because there’s a big transparent section extending over the actual ad, so I wind up opening it when my thumb is nowhere near the text or picture.

      1. Regalli

        Yep. Mine wants me to visit California.

    3. Deadjolras

      I’ve been getting the same thing the entire week. I haven’t even checked what the site looks like on my phone.

    4. MatsuoTanuki

      Oh thank goodness its not just me. Small mercy for little X buttons…

    5. BBCC

      You have to report it to hive works. Sometimes it takes a couple of days but they’re generally good about getting rid of aggressive ads like that.

  33. Delicious Taffy

    I fucking love candy corn. The IGA near me sells a few ounces of it for a buck, and I nab a bag at least once a month. I’ve tried the more expensive stuff, but there’s basically no tangible difference aside from how sweet it gets. Gimme that cheap, waxy bullshit, right into my veins.

  34. PB

    Awwwwww!!!

  35. Lokitsu

    Joyce is the best friend ever!

  36. Bagge

    I love the fourth panel, with a happily smiling Joyce and her name in a big star over her head.

    LIL SIS IS THE BEST!!!!!

    1. Bagge

      In fact, if I have one gripe with this strip, it is that in the last panel the camera isn’t shifted juuuuuust a little so you see the full writing of the door above them.

      “Joyce & Sarah”, and the adorable, adorable hug.

  37. PSadlon

    Clever Girl

  38. TlalocW

    Well, if we had to find him by eating the candy corn, I think even the most devout Christian would give up after a few mouthfuls of that crap. Maybe buried under Peanut Butter Cups. 🙂

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Bury me a Messiah and call me the thirteenth apostle, cuz it’s Candy Corn O’Clock PM, CST.

  39. Bagge

    Panel 2: I love Joyce being melodramatic.

    I mean, she is always melodramatic, but I love her dialing it up on purpose.

    1. Shane Wegner

      I like that she’s self aware enough now to parody and satirize herself. That dream really opened up some doors in her unconscious!

  40. MatsuoTanuki

    Reverse psychology at its finest. 😀

  41. BenRG

    I strongly suspect that Sarah hasn’t said those words for a very long time, so it’s ‘mission accomplished’ for Joyce!

    FWIW, I do think that this also reminds us of the intrinsic danger of just seeing what you want to see as assuming everything you experience simply validates your prejudices. Roz expected it, saw something like it and thus does not question, no matter how good or bad an actress Joyce can be!

    1. Bagge

      ESPECIALLY since Roz rooms with Mary, who no doubt says equally ridiculous shit in earnest at least once a week, and who Roz provokes exactly the way Sarah pretends to be doing here.

      I wouldn’t be surprises if Roz has a pumpkin themed sex toy on display at this point.

      Roz seems nothing notable in Joyce’s and Sarah’s pretend interaction because that’s part of her daily life.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        What could you do with a pumpkin shape? Beads, or something? Maybe like, one of those whisk things?

        1. Bagge

          I am 100% convinced that the creativity of people who design sex toy is up to the challenge.

        2. Kamino Neko

          Well, the obvious choice is to make the base the pumpkin, and the stem is the functional bit.

          OTOH, toys with bulbous functional ends are not uncommon.

          (A quick google doesn’t show anyone being nearly so creative – just a pumpkin shape to hold the vibe on a vibrating cock ring, a pumpkin ball gag, a few sex toys with pumpkins molded into the bass, but without having the functional part actually continue that…)

  42. Bagge

    Sarah’s and Joyce’s hugs are sure getting better
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/alternative/

    1. Bagge

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/fault-2/

  43. Falcon

    I would not do this for Sarah. I would not lie to enable her to feel good within own insecurities.

    Perhaps that is a failing. But I am simultaneously glad Sarah is happy and certain she has no reason not to own the reason why.

    1. Fart Captor

      Enabling people to feel good within their insecurities is a good thing. Especially when it’s part of a long term effort to help them shed those insecurities like here.

      Insecurities are also exactly the reason she has to not “own the reason why” here. The mind is not a rational thing

      1. Ryan

        You know, I was initially kind of disappointed that this strip had nothing to do with the previous one, but then I realized that it’s showing Joyce’s willingness to lie in order to help/protect someone, which has a *lot* of relevance to the previous strip.

        1. Bagge

          The plot of last strip: “Big Sis is pondering if she dares to trust Joyce.”
          The plot of this strip: “Big Sis is rewarded for trusting Joyce.”

          Different Big Sisses, different stakes, same Joyce 🙂

  44. Pidgey

    Ok this is the cutest comic so far

  45. Arianod

    It’s really weird, this human emotion you call friendship.

  46. Shane Wegner

    We have a word for people who drop judgey comments about others not being interesting: Boorish. Then again, college freshman.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      “Begone” is another good B-word for people who behave this way. Not everything exists for your personal entertainment, Roz.

      1. Reltzik

        “Bongo” is also a b-word.

        1. Catman

          So is ballerina!

        2. Daibhid C

          Bunk beds!

          Where we come from, this is small talk.

        3. Catman

          That’s to b words! Describing one thing!
          Outstanding move!

          Baked Bread?

        4. Catman

          Yikes, *two

  47. Kelli217

    It’s a really big point of self-awareness and growth for Joyce that she understands exactly how to replicate her fundamentalist knee-jerk reactions and pat phrases.

    1. BenRG

      Or, more specifically, how to parody them in a way that someone who doesn’t know the difference is fooled.

  48. NinjaNick

    How lovely.

  49. Bicycle Bill

    Just a comment … not on the comic, Willis, but on the site.  The ads are getting more and more annoying and aggressive.  Now when I first open the site I’m getting popup videos that open up and cover almost half the screen and have no way to minimize or delete them.

    1. BenRG

      the one that’s really annoying me is the screen footer ad that always appears with the blue text boxes. On the PC, it’s okay but on my tablet it covers half the screen when I’m typing comments and makes this really, really difficult because the ‘close’ control is right on the extreme right edge of the screen and is sometimes off the screen entirely!

    2. Reltzik

      Oy, yeah. At least they go away after… however long, depending on the ad. Fifteen seconds… half a minute… a full minute… eventually they’ll have ad video running 5 minutes and no way to close it.

      I mean, I don’t object to ads, but I do object to ads that get in the way of content.

      (…. well, I don’t object to them save insofar as I object to the present overly-capitalistic system in general.)

    3. CJ

      If you are using Safari on an iOS device, install Firefox clear and activate using its content-blocker for Safari. I still get ads, but not those obnoxious ones.

  50. Abbefaria

    And they say Sarah’s heart grew three sizes that day…

    1. Delicious Taffy

      [funny medical condition comment]

      1. Agemegos

        Dilated cardiomyopathy?

  51. Piotr W

    That was great :)))

  52. EvilMidnightLurker

    On the alt text: I did that, but just by biting.

    I never had Joyce’s phobia, but I did like taking sandwiches apart and eating them layer by layer.

  53. Makkabee

    I love Sarah’s John Entwistle costume.

  54. caesaria82

    OMG this is so cute. Sisters <3

    1. ǝ snow ʍousɐ

      Joyce is like the sister Sarah never had. And Jocelyne is the sister Joyce never knew she had. And also Becky is the sister informally adopted into the family of the Joyce she always had a crush on. Basically, Joyce has a lot of sisters.

  55. Catman

    This is super cute… But we didn’t see how the conversation with Jocelyn ended. On top of that, we just smash cut from Joyce saying “I want to be someone people can trust” to her actively lying to people. Granted, she’s lying to help a friend, but at the end of the day, she is still lying.

    1. David M Willis

      so you’re saying Jocelyne should tell Joyce about her and then Joyce should immediately tell her parents. Because, you know, keeping it a secret from them is lying to help somebody, but it’s still lying.

      1. Catman

        Oh no! God no!

        I just thought it was a funny coincidence, cut from TRUST! to THING THAT CAUSES PEOPLE NOT TO TRUST YOU!

        Obviously in this case she is strengthening her relationship with Sarah, which will lead to Sarah trusting her more, and the lie she is telling is so utterly harmless that it’s completely overshadowed by the good she’s doing.

        The Jocelyn thing was another thought. Because of the way you didn’t show the conversation ending theres a million different ways it could have ended. My favorite for comedy is just Jocelyn saying “Well bye!” and hanging up immediately, and for more feels Jocelyn telling Joyce she’s a good person and saying they’ll talk later.

        1. David M Willis

          Ahh, I see! I thought we were jumping up Joyce’s ass for telling a lie, but I misread. I’m just firmly in the “sometimes lies are great” camp, as apparently noted.

        2. Catman

          Yeah, sorry. It was 1 AM and I didn’t format my comment well.

  56. David Doty

    I think you all miss the point of candy corn. It’s not to eat something that tates good. It’s to mindlessly go through the motions of something you once did as a kid even though it doesn’t really create any strong nostalgia response.

    Also, + to all the people who eat it by biting off one color row at a time.

  57. motorfirebox

    “How can we find Christ if we bury him under piles of candy corns” is, I predict, the best line I’ll read all week.

  58. Geneseepaws

    While that costume has no ulnas, more importantly,
    It has no femurs!

    1. Catman

      Has anyone seen Ruth lately?

      1. Eldritch Gentleman

        I’ve seen her being chased out of a costume store while carrying an armful of femurs cut out from outfits and taken from skeletons.

  59. ShinyNeen

    Reading the comments, I’m increasingly certain that I should never eat candy corn again, so as not to spoil my childhood nostalgia for the stuff >.>

    1. ziggy78eog

      Eat what you like; everyone else can fuck off.

      1. Woomy

        I think they’re worried their adult tastebuds won’t like the candy as much, regardless of what anyone else thinks

        1. ShinyNeen

          Yeah, that’s correct. But hey, ziggy, thanks all the same for the encouragement!

  60. Jhon

    And a thumbs-up for Mary’s depiction of anime Joyce.

  61. ziggy78eog

    Candy Corn, the Devil’s confection.

  62. Jay

    Awwwww

  63. goggleman64

    Ahahahahaha, Malaya got replaced with a floor map in the TCAF ad.

  64. Kinoko

    Joyce and Sarah’s friendship is so pure, and those last two panels are making my hearts explode! <3
    Also, all this discussion of Halloween? Is making me impatient for Halloween. IN FUCKING MAY. HOW DARE.

    1. Kinoko

      *heart. I am not, in fact, a Time Lord.

      1. Holly

        If you were, you’d be able to skip to any Halloween of your choice.

  65. Dierna

    Well now I want Candy Corn… good thing it’s now basically available year round due to all the varients…(the Easter one is rather colourful)….

  66. Pigeon

    THIS WARMED MY HEART.

    Actually, the fact that Sarah had such difficulty with something that, from an outsider perspective, seems totally trivial hit me hard. I, also a Sarah, have done practically the same thing plenty of times. Joyce respecting that means way more to me than it has any right to.

  67. TheFlamingonator

    Devils night sounds… Naughty and intriguing and I want IN

    1. Kamino Neko

      Devil’s Night is actually a thing. It’s not actually a fun thing unless you’re an asshole, though.

  68. BBCC

    Awwwww, Sarah! <3

    And yeah, Joyce, you're adorable. Roz, nobody needs to tell you stuff they don't want to.

  69. showler

    Did Roz just interrupt the conversation with Jocelyne? Damn you Rozills!

  70. Dutch

    Aww, bless you, Willis

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