180

Holding hands
Posted on April 13, 2023 by David M Willis
The Dumbing of Age Book 12 Kickstarter is live!  9 character magnets are unlocked so far, with more to come!  Who's that silhouetted person on the right?  Here's a hint: she steals femurs. And she's next, at $50k.

180 thoughts on “Holding hands”

  1. Doctor_Who

    Dorothy will always be her first.

    Well, Dorothy and Maytag.

    1. Rose by Any Other Name

      Anti-Joyce: “I say ‘technically’ because, while I don’t think of Dorothy romantically, she was making me cum at the time.”
      Joe: **does not compute**

      1. Rose by Any Other Name

        Anti-Joyce: “Ethan may have taken my ‘hand-holding’ virginity, but Dorothy took my vibration-based orgasm virginity.”
        Joe: **makes vague noises of uncertainty**

        1. Ryan

          I like both of these but I think Joe’s confusion is between new Joe wanting to enjoy holding hands and taking it slow vs old Joe thinking threesome.

      2. Needfuldoer

        You’d think Joe of all characters would understand that.

    2. Taffy

      Bernadette may have some objections.

    3. ValdVin

      “I’m the Maytag repairman. I’m here to fix your washer” has undoubtedly been the opener in some awful pr0n decades ago.

      (No, I’m not doing the research. That’s the kind of thing that’ll get me kicked off the library’s computers. Again.)

  2. RassilonTDavros

    Technically.

    Uh-huh.

    1. jeffepp

      And, Joe gets a clue about why Dottie has been acting so territorial.

    2. anon

      surprised she hasn’t brought up becky as well, even if it was just as kids , they must’ve held hands at some point outta just playing around or friendship/support/hugging too unless her parents were hyper conscious even then of her holding hands with someone outside hte family

      1. Dara

        exactly! EXACTLY! What about Becky?!

        1. Jamie

          Joyce didn’t reciprocate that one.

        2. Carl Muckenhoupt

          So Becky was holding hands with Joyce but Joyce wasn’t holding hands with Becky? How does that work?

        3. HueSatLight

          What Becky might think about that: https://www.dumbingofage.com/tool

        4. Needfuldoer

          She’s on the list of characters Joyce has woken up next to.

        5. thejeff

          So’s Walky.

      2. Psychie

        I don’t think that counts as romantically, the only reason Dorothy “technically” counts is because they held hands in the laundry room while using the machines to get off, since Joyce still conflates sex with romance to a degree she is counting that as romantic hand-holding, if only as a technicality. Becky may have had feelings for Joyce when they held hands, but as far as Joyce is concerned there was nothing romantic in the gesture, and as such doesn’t count for the purposes of this conversation.

      3. Mturtle7

        Joe was specifically talking about holding hands “romantically”, so when Joyce talks about holding hands, it’s natural to assume she means the same thing. As far as Joyce is concerned, she never held hands romantically with Becky, she only did it out of platonic love for a friend.

        DOROTHY, apparently, is NOT that. So, uh…

        1. Mturtle7

          Aaand I just noticed the @Psychie already made this point. Oh well.

  3. poofdepoof

    Joe is attentive hehe

  4. Schpoonman

    Joyce “Berenstein” Brown.

    1. Schpoonman

      I saw that first alt-text, you can’t hide from me.

      1. NGPZ

        Spoilers! ?

      2. cbwroses

        The Mandela alt-text.

        1. Schpoonman

          Heh.

    2. Amós Batista

      Berenstein? It’s from a cartoon, right?

      1. NGPZ

        Yeah, the Berenstein Bears, one of my favorite Canadian children’s cartoons, and also book series. ?

        1. Needfuldoer

          “Berenstain”.

        2. NGPZ

          XD

        3. Needfuldoer

          No, really! It’s “Berenstain”. Always has been. I don’t know why the Internet is always going on about it being spelled with an “e”.

        4. Schpoonman

          I recently saw (what I thought was) an official cover with “Berenstein” so that explains my confusion.

        5. NGPZ

          What was the original Alt-Text BTW?

        6. a/snow/mous/e

          yeah one of those Mandela Effect illustrations lol

        7. a/snow/mous/e

          People assume it’s Berenstein rather than Berenstain because there’s a lot of names that end with -stein (also it’s not entirely clear in the theme song of the television adaptation, given the country accent), and then they misspell it on the internet and perpetuate the bad spelling. Mandela Effects are by and large self-fulfilling prophecies.

  5. Sirksome

    Dorothy has so many of Joyce’s first. She’s steal more virginities if we’re not careful.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Dorothy is like the Grinch but for virginities.

      (Plot coming soon to Amber’s AO3 account)

  6. cbwroses

    Yes, please explain to Joe in great detail your hand holding experience with Dorothy.

  7. NGPZ

    Oooo! Am I to take it that Joyce now has a concept of multiple virginities? 😀

    BIG if true.

    1. Jamie

      I have a hard time believing there hasn’t been an on-screen joke about taking different virginities in front of Joyce.

    2. anon

      A shame that Dina took Joe’s butt grabbing one (but not biting? 8D) tho i imagine depending on his previous partners i’m sure some ppl have grabbed his ass once before

      1. NGPZ

        Pretty sure it happened in the Malaya Slipshine ?

      2. justin8448

        But have those previous partners grabbed his butt *romantically*?!?

    3. Harmony

      And look at her pride in actually being the experienced one for a change (especially with Joe!)

      1. Harmony

        She may have just discovered one of the enjoyable benefits of being Atheist.

  8. Yotomoe

    I don’t think you can technically hold someone’s hand. You either held it or you didn’t.

    also what you did with Dorothy is somehow WAY gayer than your average handholding.

    1. jeffepp

      But not as gay as it should have been.

    2. anon

      i suppose it depends on whether you consider it an intimate thing versus just being offered it for support like when dorothy offered to hold her hand in the pharmacy

    3. Dana

      Honestly, I don’t see it as necessarily romantic. Not sure if that makes it “technically” handholding, handholding, or not handholding at all, so I’ll trust Joyce’s take. She was there, after all.

      1. anon

        @dana like if some ppl consider CPR ‘technically’ a kiss because the lips touched

    4. anon

      and as for joe idk if he ‘technically’ held hands with his partners, depending on the positions, feels like they’d need to just to get some support/grip if they’re not grabbing his shoulders instead

    5. Dday

      Better try it again, just to be safe

    6. TerribleTransit

      You can hold someone’s hand in a technically romantic way. Which does add to the mounting evidence that Joyce realizes her relationship dynamic with Dorothy is a little gay

  9. EpochFlame

    how lewd!

    1. PirateTawnee

      I think we’re ok, it’s just hand holding. As long as there’s no mention of headpats in future comics we’re probably safe.

  10. HueSatLight

    happy and/or worried for them

  11. Nono

    I don’t know exactly why but smug last two panels Joyce irritates me on some chronic level. I know Joe’s into it but it feels like it’s reinforcing for me ‘oh right, I could not be best friends with a Joyce in real life.’.

    1. Yotomoe

      Ah…I find it kinda attractive actually. Like annoying sure. But there’s a difference between flirt teasing and regular teasing.

    2. UrsulaDavina

      It’s a white void that stares back at you also I imagine teeth are hard to draw although I can draw for shit yet my job is to draw maps…

    3. anon

      well depending on the friendship i don’t think a joyce would flirt with you like this versus a potential partner

    4. Sporky

      It’s okay, she’s not real, you don’t have to hang out with her.

      I guarantee most people wouldn’t be able to stand actually interacting with their favorite characters

    5. Enkrod

      Honestly, I think she needs that smug teasung to recontextualize Joe for herself. Look at panel 3, there’s surprise, hopefulness, vulnerability, a little bit of shyness, she did not originally expect Joe to be vulnerable or inexperienced in anything related to sex or romance and now she’s finding out he’s really inexperienced when it comes to romance, a field she’s not very experienced, but heavily invested in. Her teasing him with that smug attitude is as much flirting as it is her brain building a new context around Joe where he is vulnerable and looking for how far that vulnerability rabbit hole goes.

      1. Enkrod

        I forgot to say: Which is helping with a subconsciously perceived knowledge-power-dynamic, something she’s been working on evening out and working through recognizing that Joe has indeed nothing over her in this regard. Her smugness is an expression of recognising they are on the same level and letting him know that, because it’s something he also worties about.

    6. Moonie

      Well it sort of hearkens back to her “my beliefs are righter than yours” days doesn’t it

      To be fair, she’s come a long way

  12. DailyBrad

    Joyce is so goddamn adorable, and I love her teasing Joe. Luckily, Joe loves it, too.

    1. Schpoonman

      Her holding Joe’s hand with both of hers in the last panel. She’s just so excited to finally be getting real feelings from him.

  13. Yotomoe

    I’m just saying, If Joyce is going around holding so many hands, I hope she’s being safe. Make sure you wear a glove.

    1. Leorale

      Just remember the safer-handholding slogan: “No glove, no love.”

      1. NGPZ

        ? Got a laugh outta me.

      2. StClair

        but what if I’m allergic to latex?

        1. NGPZ

          there are Nitrile-Vinyl gloves too ?

        2. Taffy

          Use wool or polyester.

        3. cbwroses

          Or go old school and wear lambskin gloves.
          Or maybe kid gloves.

        4. HueSatLight

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/no-2/

      3. insertname

        What about those fingerless gloves (do people still wear those)

    2. cbwroses

      And always pis–…I guess that doesn’t go with the joke.
      Always clip your nails after.
      (You stumbled, but you’d didn’t fall. Good job, me.)

      1. Yotomoe

        You should also clip your nails before, depending on what the handholding is gonna lead to.

        1. Taffy

          If your date conspicuously keeps two of their nails extra short, you know where they want that handholding to go.

        2. Needfuldoer

          What if they’re all extra short because they bite them down to nothing?

        3. Taffy

          Then you know they’re nervous, possibly just insecure enough to try really hard but not enough that trying really hard a few times won’t help them gain some confidence.

        4. Needfuldoer

          I’m in this comment and I don’t like it.

    3. Axel

      oven mitts, or is that only for second base?

      1. Axel

        *first and a half

  14. Caro

    that’s the biggest joyce smile EVER!

  15. TrueVCU

    Don’t push too hard Joe if Joyce has to process queerness she’s going to suffer complete epistemological collapse

  16. Suet

    Can’t hold hands forever, yanno, yer both righties.

    Technicality doesn’t apply to handholding. You did, you SO did– WHAT IS THAT JOYCE GRIN IN PANEL 5, IT’S ATROCIOUS

    1. Yotomoe

      I mean, Joe’s right hand is free. It’s joyce who’s all left. But they’ve made a connection so now they’re effectively just one really wide person.

    2. HueSatLight

      Joe is supposed to be left handed. https://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/75156716134/curious-is-sal-left-handed-are-there-any-other

      1. HueSatLight

        They should keep holding each other’s dominant hand though, for ever.

    3. Rotunda

      Joe, Sal, Dorothy, and Ruth are left-handed. See https://walkypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Joseph_Rosenthal

  17. cbwroses

    “Atheist Joyce, you have technically held hands (and masturbated) with Dorothy; the best kind of hand holding (and masturbating) with Dorothy.”

    1. GholaHalleck

      Joyce *is* the only sexual partner (that we are aware of) that Dotty hasn’t disappointed yet.

      1. Mturtle7

        OH MY GOD

  18. RacingTurtle

    Sandbox Danny and Joe definitely held hands at least once. Besties eternal

    1. schmess

      Besties eternal :’)) riding a dragon

  19. UrsulaDavina

    I initially read hand virginity and I am like that means something different. I have realized my mistake

  20. raker

    Technically Dorothy. The Best Kind of Dorothy.

    1. cbwroses

      But is Technically Dorothy as good as Suddenly Seymour?

      1. Taffy

        Most things are better than Suddenly Seymour.

        1. cbwroses

          Most things?
          That doesn’t seem right.
          Suddenly Seymour does so much.

          With him, things that were bad become ok.
          You don’t need no makeup or have to pretend (unless you like makeup and have your moments when roleplaying is your desire).
          He doesn’t give orders or condescend (or at least not after you use the safe word).

          When Seymour suddenly appears standing beside you, you kinda want the feeling to last ‘til forever, as the bad times feel clean washed away.
          Yeah, it’s strange and frightening to have a short man in glasses suddenly standing beside you, so much so that you don’t want to admit that his mere presence somehow purified you (Seymour = paladin confirmed).

          But Seymour shows you that you can learn how to be more of that girl that’s inside you (and I assume more of that boy and non-binary person as well, as applicable).
          And, most importantly, Suddenly Seymour repeatedly provides you with sweet, Sweet, SWeet, SWEet, SWEEt, SWEET understanding, as both your friend and your man.

          How can most things be better than that?

        2. Taffy

          Well, when ya put it that way, I guess it’s pretty alright.

        3. Needfuldoer

          What about Delightfully Devilish Seymour?

      2. a/snow/mous/e

        Technically Dorothy
        Is standing beside you.
        Don’t need penetration,
        So just hold her hand…

        Technically Dorothy
        Moves something inside you:
        Sweet menstruation,
        Dorothy’s your friend.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          Tell me this feeling
          Lasts for forever
          Tell me below us
          This washer’s okay

          Please understand that
          The lid needs a wiping…
          Go fetch me a Kleenex,
          And Clorox to spray!

    2. Dday

      We kept it GRAY

  21. Grimey

    Joyce is his—could be his first official girlfriend. They could be each other’s official…Yes. I’m in.

    1. Rowan

      I’m so fucking excited about this!! Been waiting for years ? It’s a beautiful convergence of character development arcs.

  22. Reed

    Handholding is a complicated affair Joe. Sometimes you’re not sure if you’ve done it right.

  23. Tan

    Lotta the comment section not seeing the qualifier: ROMANTICALLY

  24. BBCC

    Hand holding??? Lewd.

  25. Joe Moose

    Quick! Someone draw Joyce doing the Noblewoman’s Laugh pose!

    (Now…draw her as Esmeraude from Sailor Moon R….)

  26. Alongcameaspider

    Dorothy was worried about Joe taking advantage of Joyce’s innocence but really it was the other way around as Joyce pushes him into the lewdness act of them all

    Hand holding

    1. GholaHalleck

      She learned it from Dotty! Dotty caused her own prophecy to come true!

  27. thakoru

    Dumbing of Age Book 13: I’m Taking Your Hand-Holding Virginity!

    1. Clif

      DOA 13: And Technically Dorothy

  28. Steelbright

    GAH, this dynamic just keeps getting better. Srsly though, there are many people I’d sleep with but not hold hands with, holding hands is a big deal

  29. Blume

    I love this comic so much. Thank you.

  30. Carms

    amazing spectacular i love this. This is such a good thingy. power dynamically. like, fersher the current trajectory is sexytimes, yea- whether or not we get Willis’d before it actually happens. And that’s got this great big power imbalance around it cos Joe is SOOO much more experienced and comfortable and I think he’ll be fine at it and has been, but this is Joyce she’s not just a regular ingenue she’s still got purity deprogramming to do.
    So the flippydippy of like, ‘you have a great deal of experience etc in what will likely be an important domain of this relationship, but SO TOO DO I! I have had Genuine Interpersonal Relationships! I can do Emotional Vulnerability!

    Anyway excellent

  31. Qube

    joyce is descending further and further into Goblin Mode

    1. Bajj

      Upvote

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      I love her goblin mode so much

      1. pope suburban

        Seriously, it brings me joy. I can relate to it, having been an anxiety-riddled ball of depression for a long time, then having made a friend (not unlike Joe, incidentally, oOoOoO spooky) who helped me climb out of that pit. Getting to a point where you’re comfortable ribbing someone, where you’re not worried that you’ll get in trouble or that you’re not actually on good enough terms with them to do it or you’re not cool enough to tease anyone or a zillion other things, is great. You can’t do it without at least a little self-confidence, which Joe seems to reliably bring out in Joyce (others can, but Joe seems to be the most consistent). It’s fun and it can be a great way to express your feelings without having a Big Weighty Emotional Summit about them. Goblin Joyce 4eva.

  32. Amós Batista

    So, second base must be tangling hands. What’s the next?

    1. NGPZ

      According to my knowledge on earthlings, it’s either going out to coffee or a kiss on the cheek?

    2. Dr. Sharks

      First base: lab partners
      Second base: holding hands
      Third base: fucking
      Fourth base: share french fries

  33. Hazel

    Would be cool if Joe gently nudged Joyce into coming out as bi. Just like, a nudge.

    1. TulipKitten

      “Some say they can still hear Becky’s screams of frustrated anguish…”

      1. Plonker

        Just because she’s bi doesn’t mean she has to be bi for Becky, tho?

    2. anon

      she could be demi. or some variation?

  34. Tan

    Vote now.

    https://i.imgur.com/uwsqMKk.png

    1. NGPZ

      The Empress of Evolution will always get my vote.

      Dina x Becky!!! ?

    2. thejeff

      I’m not sure it gets my vote for best pairing, but that Sal/Danny image is the best.

  35. Sajuuk-Khar

    *looks at the final panel, begins banging on clipboard* TEETH, TEETH, TEETH, TEETH, TEETH

  36. Joyfulldreams

    Joyce….a secret top, this whole time????

    I’ve been blessed.

  37. foducool

    damn, Joyce, handholding is so freaking lewd XD

    1. Throwatron

      hand-holding is extremely powerful, actually

    2. Keulen

      I’ve heard hand-holding leads to becoming pregananant. Very lewd indeed.

  38. nothri

    Come on you two. Wear gloves at least. Be responsible and use some protection.

  39. Acher4

    Seeing Joyce with a big grin is almost therapeutic.
    I don’t think we have seen her like this for some time now.

  40. BOOSTER SHOT

    JOYCE IS THE VOID THROUGH WHICH ALL THINGS MUST FLOW

  41. AbacusWizard

    Scientists estimate that if current trends continue then by the end of next week the entire strip will consist of one giant triangle grin.
    https://imgur.com/a/Pkfrz3Q

    1. TulipKitten

      Honestly, for a split second there, I thought I was looking at Jocelyne.

      1. AbacusWizard

        The same thought crossed my mind while I was trimming the images as well. With the hairdo out of view, the resemblance is striking.

  42. Allison Branford

    Yay! I love this! It especially great to see Joyce smile and enjoy life after all the shit she went through.

  43. Jason

    So this is actually the first time (afawk) that Joyce has held hands in a remotely romantic setting with someone capable of actual romantic or sexual reciprocation? She’s held hands with a gay male, a straight female, and very likely also been the unreciprocating half of holding hands with a lesbian who was into her.

    I don’t know how much her prior experience really counts, when it’s with those specific individuals, but I AM loving her confidence and flirtatious banter.

    1. TerribleTransit

      Sexually straight or no, the argument that the relationship between Joyce and Dorothy is at least a little bit romantic is pretty compelling. At minimum, Joyce is clearly considering it as such right now.

  44. Jason

    Also, wait, how much does Joyce actually know about aftercare? Is that a joke that’s going to land?

  45. nightshade

    neither one knows girls hold hands as friends or used to anyways ?

    1. Daibhid C

      I’m pretty sure Joyce has held hands in a friendly way (on her part) with Becky before. Dorothy was the only time she held hands with a girl in (kind of) a Romantic Context (again, on her part).

      (The romantic context was that “if the pharmacist thinks we’re a lesbian couple, she’ll realise I don’t need birth control medication for birth control, and therefore it doesn’t make me a slut”. I’m not entirely sure I’d count that, personally, but evidently she does.)

      1. Daibhid C

        Oh my god I forgot about the laundry room.

      2. thejeff

        I was thinking of that scene too, but as far as I can tell they didn’t hold hands there.
        It has to be the laundry room. Which might or might not have been romantic, but it was sexual.

    2. TerribleTransit

      They know but it doesn’t count. They’ve both held hands before, but for purposes of this discussion they’re excluding both platonic and purely sexual hand holding

      1. thejeff

        Not sure they’re discounting purely sexual handholding, even if Joe says “romantic”.

        1. a/snow/mous/e

          petition to rename the “romance novel” genre to “sexual thriller”

  46. Dot

    Not beating the sapphic allegations

  47. DarkoNeko

    And technically Dorothy

  48. George the Archon

    “And technically Dorothy”
    Yeeeah. Maybe don’t tell Joe about that one just yet?

  49. ValdVin

    Surprised Joe didn’t even think of anyone as a girlfriend at the start of his interactions, a number of years ago.

    1. DailyBrad

      I would be surprised he didn’t date in, say, highschool, but it kind of checks out, particularly depending on when his parents got divorced and he ended up really jaded about such things.

  50. Erik

    Panel 3, in which we learn that Joyce is bimanual.

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      Is that like ambidexterity?

  51. Plaaaa

    Joe needs some Dorothy?

  52. goggleman64

    I like that in each panel Joyce’s pure-white smile gets larger, until it starts to look like a hole has been cut out of the comic ?

  53. Chaucer59

    Based on that final panel, I’d say Joyce is definitely well-equipped to handle Joe.

  54. vulcanodon

    But that’s not as gay as it sounds …

  55. Owlmirror

    Am I truly the only old here who remembers . . .
    PURITY.TXT ??? !!

    Have you ever done any of the following:
     1. kissed a friend or stranger on their hands or their head/neck region
      as a friendly gesture?
     2. held hands with someone?

    (Actually, the first search hit was on the Rice Purity test, which has
    “Held hands romantically?”
    as the very first question (and the 4th question is
    “Danced without leaving room for Jesus?”
    ), but the first one is the one I actually remember. Maybe the MIT first version originally plagiarized Rice’s list?

    1. Owlmirror

      Also:
      https://skin-horse.com/comic/to-future/

      (and the next few strips, for more purity-related hilarity)
      (Tip, the character wearing the dress, is a cismale transvestite, and is (mostly) heterosexual . . . and very very very experienced with varying sexual activities)

    2. Dot

      Misread that as the RACE purity test, which. I assume would have some very different questions.

    3. thejeff

      Haven’t thought of that in more than a decade.

    4. anon

      lol wonder how they feel about french ppl that kiss on the cheek as a greeting lol

    5. Felian

      what the frick, leaving room for Jesus? oh no.

  56. Dot

    Pretty funny that Joyce is the one with more experience with genuine romantic affection

  57. keet

    omg is it gonna be an exploration of non-sexual intimacies for them both cuz eye am here for it!!

  58. Kazuma Taichi

    see this timeline is totes worth it just for smug Joyce

  59. keithcurtis

    I’m glad there isn’t an additional panel. If you follow the progression of the size of her smile, another panel would def. hit the uncanny valley.

  60. shoopdawhoop

    So much lewd hand-holding, what is this, 9 Chickweed Lane?

  61. Kaz

    Yes Joyce, please tell of the time you “technically” held hands with Dorathy 🙂

  62. Reincarnivorous

    Under her blouse, Joyce is wearing an “Ask me about my somehow platonic yet still sexual hand-holding experience” T-shirt.

  63. Doug D

    This is so sweet that my teeth hurt.

  64. Felian

    it’s kinda cute and relieving that Joyce feels confident, and not gets caught in “oh shit he’s way more experienced than me in EVERYTHING“….

  65. Hinoron

    Joe: “Oh come on now! How intimate was holding hands with Dorothy that you’re counting her?”
    Joyce: (extremely tiny voice) “Definitely intimate, particularly if you consider what my other hand was doing at the time…”
    Joe: “Uh… you’ll have to speak up a bit.”
    Joyce: “NEVER!!!”

Leave a Reply to anon Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.