221

Habitually
Posted on March 2, 2025 by David M Willis

221 thoughts on “Habitually”

  1. NGPZ

    Aaaaaaand there it is! XD

    (Munches popcorn)

    1. Mr D

      Drama, Drama, Drama!

      1. Mr D

        (Chanted in the intonation of cheering for an outcome)

        1. clif

          All is proceeding as Mike has forseen.

        2. Steamweed

          The Great Prophet Mike foresaw these events. He was martyred for our sakes.

          (and for our moms)

          ((and for nickels))

  2. Rabbit

    Oh boy. This plotline.

    1. AK

      Honestly if this had to get confronted this is as sane of a way as I could imagine it happening, so I’m just glad there’s not more secondhand cringe.

      1. Rabbit

        I may be biased cuz I’ve loved S.S JoJoyce since Willis’ early days but hurgle turgle.

        (I shipped Joyce/Joe more than Walky/Joyce, which is something)

        1. Sol

          I also really liked the Joe/Joyce dynamic in Its Walky! when they had their brief relationship thingy, though I knew it was doomed since I was coming in long after the comic finished.

        2. Sol

          The irony of my gravatar being Walky….

        3. AK

          I mean. I am nervous about this plotline because it offers to either validate or repudiate my queerplatonic reading of these characters and if romantic potentially mess with the Joyce/Dorothy friendship dynamic which I really like. But I would be shocked if it broke up Joe and Joyce in the process regardless of how it goes.

          That relationship is too stable of a situation with too much setup and too much still to be explored for me to feel like it’s at any risk. At most we may see polyamory (hybrid or romantic).

        4. System of Eleven

          Saaame! We don’t get nearly enough queerplatonic representation! Or polyamory representation, but personally I’m cheering for queerplatonic. I can easily see why both of them would struggle to recognize (or know about, especially in Jouce’s case) QP intimacy, and have the emotional roots of their behavior separate from the logical explanations that reinforce their hetero sexual/romantic orientations. “I’m not interested in having sex with Joyce, but she clearly struggling here, so I’m willing to hold her hand while she learns to masturbate, because I want her to feel safe.” “I don’t want to have sex with Dorothy, but I’m curious and scared of exploring sexuality, and I feel safe seeing a demonstration from her. (And Walky, but I’ve so completely removed him from my concept of sex and romance that I haven’t considered the implications of his participation in this demonstration. )”

      2. Yarrr

        Respect to Joe, he’s being direct but not mean.

  3. Rectilinear Propagation

    Whoopsie doodle!

  4. Thag Simmons

    Did you forget Dorothy?

    1. cbwroses

      Just didn’t think Joe would see it on Joyce’s phone.

      1. King_Salty

        I think it’s more likely that Joyce told him about it rather than showed it to him, but I suppose it’s also possible he saw it over her shoulder or it popped up on the screen while they were watching a movie or something.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Joe was holding the phone when the text came through, so he definitely had the means to intercept

        2. Man in a hat

          Went back to check, right after the resend of the pic, he’s holding a phone that’s buzzing. Totally missed it the first time

        3. Yumi

          And it’s quite possible that Joyce hasn’t actually seen it.

        4. Anna

          I actually presume Joyce hasn’t seen it. To add to the confusion, Joe hasn’t seen Joyce’s pic.

        5. Needfuldoer

          Joe knows Joyce was trying to send him photos, but he doesn’t know who received them.

          I forget if he was there when Joyce received the photo Jennifer took of herself with Dorothy’s phone, but he was holding Joyce’s phone when she received the elaborately staged one that Amber took.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/forgetyou/

        6. Yumi

          Joe was nearby when she got the pic of Jennifer, but they were definitely apart enough to not hear each other’s conversations. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/sitin/

          She could have mentioned it to him, but that wasn’t seen and fair to think it didn’t happen.

        7. Steamweed

          The phone buzzed, while he had it. Then we cut away to other people. Very likely he would have looked at the screen so he could tell Joyce who it was from. And, voila (flourish) and viola (instrument), he saw cleavage. 🙂

    2. anon

      maybe b/c joyce didn’t confront her about it she might assume she hadn’t seen it yet?

    3. Bogeywoman

      Oh, she remembers, I just don’t think it occurred to her that this was a likely interpretation

      1. Heavensrun

        I mean, I think it *occurred* to her that this was a likely interpretation, she just wasn’t expecting JOE to be the one interpreting.

  5. Sirksome

    Multiple titty pics technically. Jennifer is in there.

    1. Nurts2That

      Maybe that’s the excuse – she was asking for a comparison to a friend… You know, like-y-dooooo.

    2. anon

      i think she only clicked send on the one that failed rather than selecting multiple pics/manually choosing jen’s pic too

      1. Yumi

        Jennifer’s pic didn’t fail to send the first time, and we saw that Joyce received it.

        1. Sirksome

          Clearly Jennifer is into Joyce.

        2. Rolf of Many Doors

          Clearly Jennifer is Amazigirl

        3. Decidedly Orthogonal

          That would explain why Ms Billingsworth can’t figure it out. She’d still be wrong anyways, but at least she’d have an excuse of being ill, instead of just willfully ignorant.

  6. peng

    man u know i forget they were originally danny friends not joyce friends

    1. Thag Simmons

      Hilarious that Joyce is super close with both Danny’s ex and Danny’s BFF and yet she still doesn’t even remember his name

      1. Dana

        It’s because Joyce not giving a shit about Danny in this universe tickles Willis’ funnybone.

        1. Thag Simmons

          It’s funny even without the meta gag of how she was originally written

      2. Steamweed

        Walky’s gonna have to earn himself some Joyce-neuron-circuits. Can’t just expect to get some simply because of some alternate universe Walky-and-Joyce goings-on.

  7. jpnr

    roundabout way of saying “threesome?”

    1. Thag Simmons

      They would be the worst polycule, Joe and Dotty might actually kill each other in that scenario

      1. Nono

        Which would be worse: Joe/Joyce/Dorothy, or Joe/Joyce/Sarah?

    2. anon

      https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/going-out-with-a-bang-end-of-vol-8

      I imagine something like this at first lol buuuut i guess there wasn’t any sexual tension with her and joe the same way there was with sonya/yuki

      1. MisterJinKC

        Not sure what I expected, but the Sharpshooter was definitely a surprise.

      2. Steamweed

        Yuki had far more violent energy than Dorothy. Hell, only the current Amazi-Girl and Dina could match Yuki, I think.

      3. Rectilinear Propagation

        I went back to the beginning for context and now I’m on page 157 and I’m holding you personally responsible.

    3. Heavensrun

      Joe is definitely aware that Dorothy isn’t interested in him, and probably isn’t really interested in her either at this point.

      1. jpnr

        Joe will show interest in any cute woman his girlfriend desires.

        He is open to making such sacrifices.

        1. Taffy

          He’s such a noble soul for that. Braver than da troops.

  8. John

    Joe is about to give Dorothy notes on how to take a proper tiddy pic

  9. Jacob Crawford

    Do you think she’s more upset that she was caught sending the pic, or that this means Joe saw it?

    1. Samniel

      I think she’s upset that her “moment of weakness” had consequences and witnesses, kind of reminding her that whenever she does something “wrong” it will always harm her, somehow.

      1. clif

        She knew it was a bad idea both before and after she sent it, but she sent it anyway.

        Go Dorothy!

    2. Heavensrun

      I suspect it’s mostly that she’s been lying to herself that her FUNNY JOKE is perfectly innocent, and she’s been steeling herself to play off said FUNNY JOKE as a FUNNY JOKE when Joyce brings it up, y’know unless Joyce seems kinda into it, and it had never occurred to her that someone other than Joyce would confront her about it, and she is woefully unprepared.

      1. Rectilinear Propagation

        Yeah, all of this.

  10. Jo_cubstar

    It’s a fair question, considering she sent a pic to his monogamous gf

    1. Dara

      Monogamous as far as we’ve seen so far.

      1. AGV/Ruby

        Never say never

        1. Steamweed

          I hereby smash a champagne bottle on the ship, and send it forth into the waters. (which is superfluous, since that ship’s been floatin’ for years now) 🙂

        2. better time

          Say that to an Ace and you will always get an earful

    2. anon

      depends on if she interprets it as him snooping through joyce’s phone or joyce seeing it and telling joe but i imagine if joyce seen it she would’ve also replied as well

    3. Sirksome

      To be fair to Dorothy the context of the pic was meant as response to Joyce sending her a tit pic first. So we can’t really play the “monogamous gf” card here. Dorothy is in the same spot as Joyce in this.

      1. thejeff

        Sort of. Joyce’s was an accident. Dorothy replying without knowing that gives her more intention than Joyce had.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          Yeah, but Joyce did it twice. So obviously Dorothy had to send two pictures back… For karmic balance, or something.

  11. darkoneko

    Freckles.

    1. jeffepp

      “Do they go all the way down?”

      1. Ghostforge

        If they do, she’s secretly a Trill

        1. Reltzik

          Or a redhead.

        2. Reltzik

          Or both.

        3. Steamweed

          Whaddya mean, ‘both’? I thought all redheads were already Trills?

          Or is it Goa’ulds? I always mix those up.

        4. Rolf of Many Doors

          If they do, Dumbing of Age exists in the Star Trek universe
          If they don’t, Dumbing of Age exists in the Star Gate universe

      2. Sarah Lea

        r/UnexpectedStartrek

  12. peng

    “WELL SHE STARTED IT TALK TO HER”

  13. jeffepp

    “She did it first!”

  14. DailyBrad

    She was not prepared for this to be earnest, and with a basis.

  15. elfroyalty

    dots you can stop digging that grave now you are well over 6 feet deep

    1. Reltzik

      This is Dorothy. Her instinct is to overachieve with her every undertaking.

      1. Gigafreak

        Straight through the planet’s core and all the way to the opposite end. Turn that grave into an escape tunnel.

        1. Reltzik

          I suppose that volcanoes can count as escape tunnels from lava’s perspective.

      2. Steamweed

        Time to investigate the Hollow Earth hypothesis!

      3. Casi

        Bravo for that pun Reltzik, bravo

  16. Schpoonman

    “Exaggerated faces don’t make good punchlines.”

    Panel 6 disagrees.

  17. IntangibleMatter

    I was wondering when this plot point would come back up.

  18. Sirksome

    Dorothy just needed a second opinion on whether she had breast cancer. She wanted to know if her bra was properly fitted. It was just really hot in that room when she was taking her new social media profile pic. Other plausible, totally normal, not gay reasons. It was just a prank bro.

    1. John Campbell

      I initially read that as “properly filled”. Which I suspect is more accurate.

    2. RassilonTDavros

      She got the results of the test back.

    3. Axel

      I’ve heard of a quick diagnostic! If your hand is bigger than your face…

  19. Shakes

    Never in the medium of storytelling has the word “tiddy” had such gravitas.

    1. yak

      in everyday usage, however, ‘tiddy’ is generally considered a very serious word.

  20. Coatl

    Yes, straight to the point.

    Dorothy, what would you say about that?

  21. Dawn

    I love how there’s a lesbian flag in the background.

    1. peng

      oh my god lmao

    2. JessWitt

      Oh right, Becky’s her roommate.

    3. SvenTS

      Becky says ‘Be’ (imperative)

  22. Suet

    since the steep decline of the Joyce Face, I want the rise of the Dorothy Face now

    you’re unbelievable… OHHHHH

    I’m still waiting for the denials

  23. Grimey

    It’s probably good this comes from Joe who once teased Dorothy about this—full circle (even if it happens to be his girlfriend…but then again her best friend).

  24. Sirksome

    Maybe it’s just because Joe was the one asking but I feel like Dorothy was way too defensive here. Like damn girl.

    1. Dana

      Yeah, Joe being the one to ask renders the defensiveness impossible to parse.

    2. anon

      well it’s not the first time ppl have implied dorothy might be into joyce but i can’t imagine dorothy thinking it’s in good faith from anyone cept maybe like Dina being the one asking

  25. Tawnee

    Does Joyce know Joe has seen the tiddy pic? I feel like Dorothy may confront Joyce about this, and not knowing who knows what and how could have lots of fun ways (storywise) to backfire.

    1. Thag Simmons

      I suspect we’ll find out next strip. I’m leaning no, for the record, I feel like we’d have seen a freakout if Joyce saw it

      1. Heavensrun

        I dunno, I kinda suspect Joyce’s reaction would have been momentary confusion followed by a shrug and moving on without comment.

        1. Steamweed

          Possibly she has seen the boob pix of both Jennifer and Dorothy. Must be a gal pal thing.

        2. thejeff

          We know she saw Jennifer’s and wondered why Dorothy sent it.

          Of course, neither Joyce nor Joe realize Joyce sent Dorothy pictures first.

      2. Rolf of Many Doors

        No, next strip Willis will smash-cut to something completely unrelated and not at all dramatic because he’s an insufferable tease.

    2. CianM1301

      I’m fairly certain Joe was there when the tiddy pic came in on Joyce’s phone.

      1. Heavensrun

        He was explicitly holding the phone.

        1. Gigafreak

          And it was established in the same day that Joyce is inconsistent at reading her messages, so it really is possible that she didn’t see it.

    3. Chubseus

      I suspect that even if Joe told Joyce there’s a tiddy pic on her phone, she would just assume it was Jennifer and never look at it, much like how she never checks her messages and just assumed Jocelyne was visiting to discuss the divorce. I mean, Joyce never even noticed her own lewd pics sitting just above the one picture of Jennifer she looked at.

    4. Straximus

      Given that Joyce is established as being bad at reading text messages, and that she missed the notification for the tiddy pic, I very much doubt Joyce is even aware of it.

  26. DJTsurugi

    shout it louder so the people in back can hear it Joe!

    listen, I’m not saying Dorothy has to be bi, I’m not saying she has to be into Joyce, I’m not going to say if this ship doesn’t happen I’m going to be mad.

    what I am saying, is that if the ship does happen, I will be happy. ~<3

    1. anon

      even if it doesn’t happen here, willis makes multi universe series so there probably is one storyline outthere where it happens 8D:

  27. bwooom

    SHE’S DODGING THE QUESTION!

  28. Reltzik

    Dorothy never made a move on Joyce, but she did bust a move.

    1. Rocketboy1313

      That is pretty good. Thumbs up.

    2. Rolf of Many Doors

      No, but she did move a bust (hers) (into her DMs)

  29. Taffy

    Nice try deflecting with new information the reader wouldn’t know about because it’s never come up in the comic, Dorothy.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Come up at least once, and I didn’t exactly do an exhaustive reread to check that it didn’t come up more

      1. Bogeywoman

        I also found two examples where he suggests she have lesbians with Sierra and Roz (separately- but I’m sure he’d’ve suggested a threesome if he thought of it)

      2. Taffy

        I was referring specifically to the “habitually since blah blah blah” part. Sure, he’s made the joke a couple of times, but the idea that it goes back beyond what we’re shown in the comic is new information. It could be inferred, but she’s never said it on-panel before and nobody else has said “Hey Petah, rememba da time you called Dorothy a lesbian for several years?”

  30. Crytter

    That is one of the best “Oh, Crap” faces I have seen in awhile.

  31. Zamperla

    Honestly I appreciate him going ‘yeah i was a teenager. Honest Genuine Question Here.’

    Which. Boy isn’t it a question!

  32. Scolopendra

    God I love the reminders of the Dan Gang’s past together. Always so much left unsaid

  33. Corey C.

    Does Joe know about Dorothy and Joyce’s laundry adventure? Pretty sure that was the point when I went “Hmmmm” about Dotty’s sexuality. The boob pic wasn’t that much of a smoking gun that Dotty’s into Joyce as the laundry room incident is.

    1. Hoboturtle

      Ya, Joyce briefly freaked out when she explain it to Joe abd Joe reminded Jouce they weren’t even dating yet so it’s cool.

  34. BorkBorkBork

    I know it’s weird to say that I’m proud of someone for acting like a decent human being, but once again, I’m proud of Joe.

    He has every right to speak to Dorothy about it. Hell, if someone like Walky was sending her dick pics, he’d likely be chasing him down. But he’s speaking to her, concerned. She’s being nothing but hostile to him – which, while understandable given their history – is not deserved here, and yet he does not take the bait.

    We don’t even know yet how he feels about it. Is he feeling threatened? Confused? Curious? Suspicious that she’s trying to sabotage either her friendship, or her friend’s relationship, or her own relationship? Or just suspicious that she’s maybe getting day drunk? Don’t know.

    But what I do see is concern for Dorothy herself, that is greater than any concern for himself and his relationship.

    And I might be wrong here (and I often am) but despite how he came across this… I think it’s *good* that he spoke to Dorothy first, rather than ignoring it, or leaving it for Joyce to see, or pointing it out to her. Because he’s seeing this through the lens of “you haven’t been doing fine in a while” and recognizes that this simple act could drastically change everything. That if she truly is into Joyce, her actions could have drastic consequences and could drive away her entire support structure – her boyfriend, her roommate, her best friend – and if she doesn’t think that she does (I know, I know, hypothetically), then she might really need counseling to help her get things sorted out. Or need a push to talk to Joyce and put it in context, before it just drops in her lap.

    1. Zamperla

      Reminds me of him talking to Danny about like. Hey is this an Actual Conversation we should be having, if you like dudes. He does care about this stuff. About these people.

    2. Mark

      He could also be concerned that the putative object of her desire having dived headfirst into an amorous relationship with (in Dorothy’s eyes) the worst person in the world, instead of her, is the cause (or a cause) of her not-so-fineness.

    3. Rolf of Many Doors

      To be honest, that’s not “acting like a decent human being”, it’s “going above and beyond to not react like a normal human being would”. For most of human history, when anyone would try to interfere in a monogamous relationship on one of that relationship’s members, it’s basic human instinct to react outraged at the offender, and in fact, it’s been both morally and often legally justified to do so, and still is in a lot of countries. It’s only very recently, and only in the Western world, that that sort of thing’s changed – and even then only in regards to legality – so by Human standards, Joe’s reaction to this is closer to bordering on saintly

      1. Nerrin

        I think it helps (“helps”) that Joe actually has a lot of history as the Bad Guy in such situations, but he’s not without self-awareness. He’s in fact very self-aware of why he acted that way so often and for so long. So when he did get confronted with the harms he did and that others not-unlike him were doing, he may have (over?)corrected into a place where he doesn’t feel like he’s allowed to get jealous.

        He may also just genuinely be more comfortable with the idea of open or poly relationships even if he’s willing to commit to monogamy as well. Address this now to help head off issues later, because he’s seen miscommunication blow up relationships in this friend group.

  35. AGV/Ruby

    You see, Joe is both the best and the worst person to have this conversation with Dorothy.

  36. Rabisch

    Dorothy is so busted! Let’s see if she’ll denied everything or explain all giving the responsibility to Amber. Then Joe will ask his sister what really happened.

  37. CianM1301

    “W-well, she started it!”

  38. Amelie Wikström

    I can see where Dot’s coming from. It’s written in every line of hers in this strip, actually. I admire Joe not reacting with frustration and defensiveness when it would be justified to go “I’m not that guy anymore!” Staying laser focused on the point, which is that his old second hand friend seems to be in pain. She can update her reference files on him later.

    1. Rolf of Many Doors

      Bill Burr had a bit about that when he was talking about arguing between men and women – his advice on the matter was much the same as what you pointed out; stay laser-focused on the point, and if you’re right, it doesn’t matter what the other person says, when you make the point just take a knee and wait out the clock so you don’t do a technical foul and say something stupid to give them the moral high ground

  39. Kenny Williams

    God I love Joe’s development. Everyone keeps expecting him to just be a joke then shows that he’s grown a lot in this last year. “I was 15, I thought I was funny. Now I’m serious, and I have every reason to be.”

    1. Mark

      It’s called Dumbing of Age but most of the characters are slowly un-dumbing as we watch. Nice!

      1. Steamweed

        Maturation? In MY webcomics??

        *grumps

    2. thejeff

      Undercut a bit by him still making jokes about her being a lesbian last semester.

  40. Doopyboop

    It’s interesting, I think this is the first we’ve heard of this part of their backstory together. Which, hey, I feel for Dorothy here. I too have often been given the “oh, are you a lesbian or something?” spiel when rejecting men, which is the quickest way for me to cease all communications with such a man. I gotta give credit to Dorothy for deigning to interact with Joe while dating Danny and now that he’s with Joyce. However, he’s also absolutely in the right to question if Dorothy’s into his girlfriend. Especially since I don’t think he has ill intents, he seems to just wanna be honest about their situation.

    1. Doopyboop

      Also, similar to Dorothy, I have indeed gone on to be ‘not straight’ but that also doesn’t make it okay that rejecting men gets the ‘oh you’re a lesbian’ response, especially because I’m not a lesbian. Sorry shitty fellas, I am indeed attracted to men sometimes, you’re still just not my type.

      1. Charlotte

        Same.

        It’s trying, and I get Dorothy’s reaction to this line of questioning with that history. Whether she is actually straight is neither here nor there for that particular interaction.

        The picture otoh… Well, that’ll be funny. 😀

      2. Mark

        Indeed, hearing about a guy doing the “oh you’re a lesbian” response leaves me wanting to ask, “dude, did you have your entire humility surgically removed or something?”

    2. anonymsly

      The thing is, Dorothy seems to me to be clearly responding with untoward anger – Joe STARTED this conversation by actively clarifying that he’s actively trying not to be a dick, and all body language facial expression (as well as, one assumes, tone of voice) has further contributed to, ‘serious and earnest’ with ZERO hint of ‘joking around’.

      Dorothy is doing the politicians thing of outsized righteous ire to distract from a topic that has been running around in her head for days and terrifying her, specifically because she believes Joe can have no valid reason to be asking and therefore she can get out of saying any of it out loud.

      Joe’s not being pushed into her subject change or distracted by her performance, and he does have a solid reason, so Dorothy enters full ‘ohshit what do’.

      Let’s see if, tomorrow, she doubles down on distraction by pivoting to ‘how dare you accuse Joyce of cheating! And with ME who you know to be straight! God, I knew you were the worst, I knew you’d hurt Joyce!’ or if the pile is too big and she breaks down with something like ‘I don’t know! I think yes, maybe, sometimes, but also no? Or yes?’ Which could lead to her and Joe having their first Real Conversation.

      1. Doopyboop

        Honestly, the fact that Joe responds in a way that confirms what Dorothy said used to happen between them, tells me that yes it may be an extreme reaction of anger, but that it isn’t a smokescreen or a performance. I think she did sincerely find it annoying and frustrating that he’d call her a lesbian. She didn’t know he knew about the tiddy pic and while Joyce and Dorothy are close friends, Dorothy certainly hasn’t outwardly considered if she’s attracted to Joyce, so this isn’t a case of ‘trying to hide the truth’, it’s an assumption on her part based on old interactions with Joe.

        Also, this IS Joe. He may have improved a lot, but if this was the Joe of last semester I could see him spin this as an offer of a threesome, which Dorothy might also be anticipating since she still thinks Joe hasn’t changed. “Are you into Joyce? Cause, hey, I’d like a threesome with you guys…”

        1. thejeff

          Yeah, we’ve known for a long time she’s had issues with Joe. Now we get just a little glimpse at what they were, beyond the obvious abstract walking red flag nature of old Joe.

    3. HueSatLight

      I think there’s a couple of roots in her change in attitude towards Joe this semester. First, she’s into Joyce and possessive/envious and detests Joe as a rival. I think she hasn’t processed it yet. She’s aware, academically, that her sexuality might be fluid, but that’s different than grokking it. Second, she might have rethought how tolerant she’d been of Joe’s shitty behavior in high school. She has a desire to be liked by everyone, so I can see her not being confrontational about it, to Joe or to Danny enabling him. I’m kind of neutral on if she deserves credit for that, but I can see her regretting it.
      If both of these are true, then the first could be a catalyst for the second.

      1. Doopyboop

        Maybe less ‘credit’ and more ‘she’s a bigger person than me’ because I would tear Joe’s neck with my teeth after continued lesbian jokes rather than interact with him in a friendly way, boyfriend’s best friend or no. Though like you said, that might also be why she’s more defensive with Joe now, because she squashed her feelings about him and realized ‘huh, you know, I actually wasn’t okay with that’.

        1. Yumi

          I wonder if Dorothy had an internal struggle with how to react then– like she was bothered by it, but I could also see her reasoning that there’s nothing wrong with being gay, so acting like it’s an insult would be homophobic. This ignores both the intent and impact of how Joe was using it; I can just see it being difficult for her because I’ve also struggled with “would this be homophobic of me” thoughts that I later realized were ridiculous.

          (In my case, I was being harassed by these two boys in middle school, and I learned one of them was gay and then was like, “Is it homophobic of me not to like him?” The answer was no, the things they said were fucked up.)

      2. thejeff

        I don’t think she has to be possessive/envious or think of Joe as a rival for her attitude towards him to change this semester. Her attitude has never been positive, but it’s mostly been just avoid and let live. This semester, he’s focused his attention on Joyce, who she’s definitely protective of, whether or not she’s into her. That just wasn’t the case with anyone she knew of Joe going after last semester. Sarah was the most obvious example, but never showed any signs of falling for it, so there was no need to react. Roz? She’s not being fooled by Joe.

        On top of that, she’s come to accept Joe and Joyce, which isn’t really a good argument for her mostly being motivated by either rivalry or rethinking her past tolerance.

  41. Aquila

    Something just went “clunk” inside Dorothy’s brain.

    1. Steamweed

      *BSOD exception encountered
      *Please reboot system

  42. Arianod

    “That was… I had reasons”.

    1. Steamweed

      “Of course you did; you always have reasons.”
      “Thank you.”
      “Was the reason that you’re into Joyce?”

      1. Rolf of Many Doors

        *face from the last panel of today’s strip again*

  43. Da Boy

    “The consequences of my actions came to call me out”

    1. Mark

      [SFX: chickens alighting]

  44. Charles Phipps

    Joe: Dorothy? Dorothy? Bueller?

    Dorothy: *AOL login noises*

  45. Amós Batista

    ok, the theory of Joe has dated Dorothy was debunked today.
    Anyway, now I understand Dorothy’s hate, that was a low blow from Joe.

    1. Dana W

      She sent Joyce a “titty” shot, at this point it was a reasonable assumption.

      1. Jeremiah

        Pretty sure they were referring to the constant lesbian comments when they were on high school

        1. Amós Batista

          ??

  46. Axel

    I called it

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/howyoudoing/#comment-1858161

  47. BBCC

    He has a point, Dorothy.

  48. Dana W

    This is what we call a paradigm shifting without a clutch! Hear the gears grind!

    1. Mark

      I must remember that expression.

    2. Steamweed

      *insert Peter Griffin “grinds my gears” gif

  49. Juanoku

    WAIT IT’S FINALLY GETTING CALLED OUT
    NO JOKES NO BULLSHIT IT’S FINALLY GETTING FOCUSED

  50. AnonGrouch

    I do wonder how much Joe’s past terrible bullying of Dorothy subconsciously affected Dorothy’s ability to comfortably explore the question ‘am I into girls?’ I also wonder how much ‘being presidential’ affected it. I still think it’s perfectly reasonable to think Dorothy is straight and so is Joyce buuuuuuuut out of all of the cast to not ask that type of question to themselves, Dorothy always seems like the type that would have asked but hasn’t really.

    1. Doopyboop

      As I said above, I did share Dorothy’s experience with this (with the first instance being in middle school and including the guy in question going “Are you a lesbian? That’s gross”) and I’ll admit it did take me a while to come around to realizing I was attracted to women. I was a freshman in college when I dated my first (at the time) girlfriend and it was still a rough road to nail down what exactly my orientation was but after that point I was more willing and open to admitting that I did indeed find women attractive.

    2. Amós Batista

      The more we know…

    3. Amós Batista

      Also, being called gay, only because you weren’t interested in someone, when you’re a teenager…

    4. thejeff

      I don’t know. Dorothy seems like the type who would have analyzed it and would have figured it out if she was. It might well be that she’s into Joyce, but not girls in general – some level of demi when it comes to girls. That’s the kind of thing that could lead her to consider it and come to the conclusion that she wasn’t.

  51. Kyulen

    No no, he’s got a point.

  52. thumb

    Appreciate Joe’s willingness to stand his ground on this question. He’s very conscious of where the shaky ground is and he knows he’s not standing on that.

    1. Yeet

      yeah.
      he could probably stand to apologise for the stuff from his earlier years while he’s here though

      1. thumb

        He has. Repeatedly. And worked to be better as well. Here too.

        1. thejeff

          He’s never actually talked to Dorothy about it. Even here he doesn’t apologize, just passes it off as “fifteen”.
          Hasn’t talked to her about why he’s trying to change or even why he acted like that in the first place. He doesn’t have to, of course, but then she doesn’t have to accept him at face value either.

        2. Binky

          I think he’s more responding to her dismissal of the question there.
          He’s pointing out that asking sincerely isn’t the same thing as being a fifteen year old who thinks lesbians are funny. Hell he hangs around a lesbian couple that are best friends with his partner, if there’s a single thing he doesn’t need to defend it’s that.

        3. Yumi

          I don’t know that he necessarily thought lesbians were funny… he thought it was funny to call her a lesbian. And it was pretty shitty behavior, and hanging out with a lesbian couple his girlfriend is friends with does, like… nothing for that.

          I do agree that here he’s more responding to her pushing off the question and trying to refocus on the topic at hand. He could, if they manage to have a conversation, also apologize for how he treated her in the past.

        4. anonymsly

          I DEMAND that you apologize for stupid shit you did as a teenager, personally and with groveling, before we can have a conversation about the specific topic under discussion.

          It would be one thing if Joe was being ‘LOL lesbian’ now, it’s a completely different thing to scream in his face right now about shit that happened four years ago. Dorothy is opting for the latter specifically because she’d rather make the conversation about Joe being a piece of shit four years ago instead of Dorothy’s secting from yesterday.

        5. anonymsly

          Sexting, not setting. And to note: Dorothy sexted Joe’s girlfriend. I’m not sure why everyone thinks that’s an okay thing for Dorothy to have done instead of a shitty thing.

          I expect it has to do with the general commentariat actively rooting for Joyce/Dorothy to cheat on Joe?

        6. Yumi

          Some seriously bad takes here. He harassed her about the topic of her sexual orientation for years, starting when they were in high school, and we saw it continue in college too. So, closer to four months ago than four years. (He was probably more blatant/crude with it when he was younger, so that might be the behavior he first thinks of.) And he hasn’t apologized to her about it.

          She didn’t know the conversation was about her sexting because until this strip, she didn’t realize he had seen it. So, yeah, I do get how she’d have a negative reaction to someone who used to harass her coming to her room and bringing up a topic related to what he used to harass her about.

          I don’t think most people in the comments thought it was a *good* thing for Dorothy to do, but a lot found it an entertaining move and anticipated the drama from it. But I also don’t think it’s majorly shitty, more messy.

        7. thejeff

          “As a teenager”? Like they’re not still teens. This isn’t ancient history – nor was it a one time thing 4 years ago. He says he found it funny when he was 15, but she says habitually since the first day she didn’t show interest.

          And no, I don’t think Dorothy sexting Joyce is okay, though it’s mitigated a bit by Joyce (accidentally) doing it first, but both characters in an interaction can have flaws.
          Joe’s got a shitty past and it’s reasonable for Dorothy to be suspicious when he brings up her being into women again out of the blue. Dorothy shouldn’t be sexting Joyce and it’s reasonable for Joe to be focusing on that, rather than his past behavior.

        8. Mark

          Did Dorothy get a doughnut?

      2. Rolf of Many Doors

        He literally had an apology booth set up
        With cookies

        1. Yumi

          It was donuts, and it was explicitly about a different issue than what Dorothy’s mad about here. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/04-the-do-list/beefed/

        2. Rolf of Many Doors

          Point on the cookies/donuts thing, but the booth was still about “stuff from his earlier years”, albeit much more recent

        3. Yumi

          Okay. I think what Yeet meant by “stuff from his earlier years” is the stuff being discussed in this current strip, ie his past treatment of Dorothy, which wasn’t covered by the donut booth.

      3. Yak

        Yeah but I don’t think it makes much sense to do that *before* getting Dorothy to answer the question. Otherwise she probably never would

        1. thejeff

          “Yeah, that was shitty and I’m sorry I did it. I’m trying to be better, but I’ve still got a lot to unpack.
          But right now, I’m asking because you texted Joyce a tiddy pic last night.”

  53. Chasey

    “She started it!”

  54. Wendy

    Dorothy is blue-screening. Zamn.

  55. Charles Phipps

    Joe: I have hurt you Dorothy…and I wish to keep hurting you.

    Dorothy: JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEE!

    1. anonymsly

      Textually not what’s happening here or in the previous strip.

      Not sure why everyone seems to think Joe is the devil for asking ‘hey, why are you sexting my girlfriend, are you into her? I’m genuinely asking.’

      1. thejeff

        He’s not the devil, but he is casually dismissing years of harassing her about being a lesbian because she wasn’t into him as “it was funny when I was 15”. He’s got a reasonable question to ask, but he approached it in a way that seemed more like his old bullshit and she responded in kind.

        Now that he’s actually brought up the sexting, they’ll likely focus on that and on her, but it would be good to see him address their shared history a bit more at some point.

        1. Charles Phipps

          Like Raidah, this is an armor piercing response that shattered Dorothy’s armor and justifications.

          Joe is not coming at her in a way she can dismiss and it has broken her again.

        2. thejeff

          That’s true. Or at least, it’s a reality that she’s going to have to address.

          But at the same time, it doesn’t actually do anything to deal with their shared history. They still should talk about that at some point.

  56. wakeangel2001

    remember everyone, the B is right there next to the L and the G (also the T, which isn’t directly relevant here but a lot of people are trying to get rid of that one too and I’m not contributing to that)

    1. Charles Phipps

      But Jennifer says it only exists in porn!

    2. anonymsly

      My personal argument was that while the activity was sexual, there was zero attraction involved. And attraction is required for L, G, or B.

      Take me: I have dated men and women prior to realizing Not My Jam. I was not sexually attracted to ANY of them, even though I engaged in limited sexual activity. That doesn’t make me bi, because attraction was never present. I am ace.

      1. anonymsly

        …Dina is a coincidence. I miss being Jason.

      2. anonymsly

        Aaand this was meant as a response to Roe. I’m going to stop trying now, lol.

    3. thejeff

      I mean yes, but in this context, in the past he said she was lesbian because she wasn’t into him. Bi wouldn’t make sense in that attempt at a joke.

      Now he doesn’t bring up either lesbian or bi, but asks directly if she’s into Joyce.

  57. Roe

    LOLing at some people in this comment section being the same people that were arguing that Dorothy and Joyce masturbating together was not sexual lmaoooooo

    1. Jeremiah

      Nobody did that.

  58. Mr.Morningstar

    ….I mean he’s got you there.

  59. HueSatLight

    what’s the whiteboard say?

  60. Da Boy

    When you think about it, it’s such an ironic situation. Joe the guy who used to be an immoral horndog is now confronting a righteous miss By-The-Book about hitting on his girlfriend. What a fun moral role-reversal.

  61. Chrissy

    Anyone know how to contact David Willis? I am getting ads for Trump crypto on this page and I have a feeling that’s not his preference. I have a screenshot but idk where to send it.

    1. Peter Huppertz

      Try Bluesky

  62. Jdorr

    Oof, yeah, that’s going to be hard to explain

  63. Looney

    Once many moons ago I read a comment saying the shading in their eyes look like tiny arms flexing, and I cannot unsee it.

    1. Jeremiah

      Oh my god they really do.

  64. Big Steve

    Wow. Joe has grown.
    No, not that way.
    No, not THAT way either! Geeze!

  65. Deanatay

    “That was just a Best Friend thing! Ironically and NOT IN A GAY WAY AT ALL sending each other titty pics, like Best Friends do often!”

    “… I must not be Danny’s Best Friend, then…”

  66. Alex Boston

    Man time passes slowly in this comic. That pic was last night in comic? How long ago was it in our world?

    1. JA

      By my reckoning based on how the world’s going, about 17 years ago.

    2. macaroon trilogy

      the whole picture thing started in November (so Joyce sending one accidentally to Dorothy, Amber helping her take the return pic & Dorothys first try of sending it) but she only actually sent it for real in late January. Semi-recent! All things considered this is going pretty quick. JA is also right though, it’s been a realllll long few months irl

  67. Suet

    panel 5 = mfw today’s the 5,000th comic

    1. Suet

      panel 6*

      f—

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