119

Indecisiveness
Posted on January 3, 2022 by David M Willis

119 thoughts on “Indecisiveness”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    look at what comes from drink indecision and late-stage Mikeosis

    1. Doctor_Who

      Mikeosis? Isn’t that when a cell divides and then fucks your mom?

      1. Drew

        Omg

      2. june gloom

        This was actually even funnier than the strip today, and the strip was pretty amazing.

      3. Clif

        I like this regeneration.

      4. Felix

        nice?

      5. Fnord

        Yes, and it’s catalyzed by nickel.

      6. Lys

        It two-teams your mum, by itselves.

  2. RassilonTDavros

    …so is this restricted to “worst brother of Amber specifically” or “worst brother of anyone”?

    1. Dana

      Yes.

    2. Dark_T_Zeratul

      Realistically, I think Faz actually beats Joe in both categories.

      1. RassilonTDavros

        But in the latter category, either one of them pales in comparison to Jonathan Brown.

      2. Carla's #2 Fan

        I hadn’t really thought about the fact that Joe is now kind of Faz’s brother too. 😮

        1. Yumi

          Well…not really? Amber’s relation to Faz is through her dad, while her relation Joe is through her mom… idk, I guess it depends on the person, but if, say, my half-sister’s mom had another kid or step-kid unrelated to my dad, I wouldn’t consider that person my sibling of any kind.

        2. Thag Simmons

          Well, they’ve all displayed a common tendency of creepy objectifying behavior to varying degrees.

    3. Francoinblanco

      He is Brother so he is the worst no matter what he does

      1. Needfuldoer

        Am Brother, can confirm.

  3. The Wellerman

    ?

    That coping mechanism…

    That feeling of walking on eggshells…

    That posture…

    This resonates so well with me.

    Feels creepy, but so assuring, cuddly even, seeing this reflected so well in Amber.

    1. The Wellerman

      Willis, you’ve had these same anxieties and thought patterns too, haven’t you?

    2. The Wellerman

      ? Oh!

      I didn’t mean to call anyone out, and I’m SO SORRY if I caused anyone here any stress! ?

      1. Amós Batista

        Don’t worry. Have you a hug.

  4. Thag Simmons

    Kinda curious how this is going to go. Still not sure what Liz’s deal is at this point.

    1. Huehuetotl

      The plan to eliminate awkwardness is about to go swimmingly.

      1. Thag Simmons

        “Excuse me, Vinegar? I have this baking soda I need you to take a look at”

  5. Suet

    I smell a bad case of Dé-Joe Vu.

    At this point, I’d just nab a Mello Yello.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Nothing “Mello” about Amber right now.

      Maybe a Jolt would suit her.

    2. powerpowerpow

      I don’t know why but your comment made me wonder “Hmm… What do the DoA cast smell like?” and now I can’t stop thinking about this, please make it stop

      1. milu

        We know Robin smells like skittles.

      2. Arawn

        Sal smells like awesome with a whiff of leather jacket and cigarettes.

  6. Schpoonman

    Oh, Joe, no.

    1. Clif

      Come on. The train wrecks in slow motion are exactly why we keep coming back, day after day.

    2. Needfuldoer

      He doesn’t know it’s Liz yet.

      YET. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

  7. Yumi

    Feel like this store is bigger than I was picturing. But is it big enough to hold all the coming drama?

    1. Thag Simmons

      It doesn’t have to be that big, the shelving blocks your vision and it’s not like Liz is tall. Probably about average for a convenience store.

      1. Yumi

        So not big enough for what’s coming?

        1. Clif

          Not nearly.

  8. Cattleprod

    “She’s not the abyss.” I’m glad to see that Joe is rejecting Dave Sim’s ideology.

    1. Ray Radlein

      It’s the sort of thing one should a void

      1. Clif

        Nothing is a voidible.

        1. milu

          That is true in a vacuum.

          In reality some things might have been avoided, like, say, the assassination of Chasm Soleimani.

        2. milu

          sorry that was a pit too dark for this sort of holesome thread. It was that or admitting that i’d come up empty.

  9. Bunny

    And off goes Joe, to stare into the Abyss.

    1. Clif

      Latest science on black holes reported in the Annals of Physics indicates that 3 minutes and 47 seconds is the amount of time you can stare into the abyss before the abyss stares into you.

      1. NickG

        In a paper submitted by Yuna Williams.

        1. Axel_Grease

          Nice crossover.

  10. Agemegos

    Defuse.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Diffuse would probably also be metaphorically acceptable but it is considerably more uncommon and more of a stretch.

      1. Reltzik

        Also, things that need defused but don’t get defused have a tendency to get extremely diffused.

        1. Thag Simmons

          I prefer using “Dispersed” as my euphemism for that, but “Diffused” does work.

      2. Agemegos

        Diffusing this would be spreading it around evenly over the whole place. Which is what he is going to do, not what he is setting out to do.

        1. Thag Simmons

          In some instances that’s a viable method of neutralizing a toxic substance. Like I said, it’s more of a stretch but you can make it work.

    2. StClair

      Thank you.

    3. The Wellerman

      Another spelling error on a Joe strip.

      I also noticed a shading error on a Joe strip.

      Coincidence?

      1. Sprite less Auntie

        Joe is secretly also a mind ghost. Eventually we will find out the entire strip is in Amber’s head. Or Willis’s head.

  11. Sporky

    Isn’t it “defuse”?

    Anyway, this is not going to go as well for Joe as he’s expecting LOL

  12. Yotomoe

    The first time Joe’s ever Joe’d a girl for the greater good.

    1. Yotomoe

      Fun Fact I actually hadn’t read yesterday’s strip so I didn’t know the girl in question was Liz but y’know what. I stand by my post.

  13. Dara

    Nah, she’s not the abyss. Abyss and I are best buds, looks nothing like her.

  14. newlland(Henryvolt)

    Hey if anything Amber should be thanking the guy for confronting Liz for the second time that day and putting himself in another awkward situation just so she doesn’t haft to.

    1. Thag Simmons

      He doesn’t seem to know it’s Liz yet.

      1. Daibhid C

        And Amber literally has no idea who Liz is or any drama she may have had with Joe.

    2. crow

      Nobody has to, lol. She’s not mad, they can just wait for her to buy her drink and leave.

  15. BBCC

    Ahhhh, memories are fun, eh, Amber?

  16. Rani

    She’s going to fucking run off, isn’t she.

  17. Ivy

    Joe really took off running with this brother role, didn’t he? He’s just very intent on brothering, it’s very cute.

    1. Carms

      He just KNOWS he’s got buckets of siblings out there, this is the first one he’s actually gotten to interact with. He’s gotta be able to Be There for all the kids his dad left hanging

      1. Regalli

        Eh, I suspect Richard is an ass, but in addition to not being an abusive shitstain he is genuinely less of a philandering creep than SP!Blaine, who canonically fathered a LOT more kids in SP than we found out about and had several de-kidded in DoA (Rose and Zaph are the two we know of, and Faz was originally not Amber’s half-sibling until Willis forgot he’d said that and honestly, making him at least seriously think Blaine is his bio-dad as well has made for better stories.) In light of that, I tend to believe Richard screws around, but he screws around while ensuring birth control is involved because he WOULD feel responsible if he found out about a pregnancy and strikes me as the type to look up his exes when he’s sad and alone after an inevitable breakup. … I basically think Richard is start-of-series Joe, in short. Respects a very explicit no but not implied ones, really objectifying but without the guilt now-Joe has, and yeah, practices safe sex.

        (For reference, a sequence where SP!Robin talks about her father’s cheating and then considers him in relation to Blaine. I think Richard’s the same. https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/adus )

    2. Heather

      It really is. Honestly wonder how Dan would consider this side of Joe if he got to witness it more.

    3. Spencer

      This is how dudes act when they get to sidestep toxic masculinity for like five seconds.

      Like, imagine if we could just do that all the time and there wasn’t some societal expectation of it being a failure.

  18. whatevsman

    Man, I kinda forgot Joe was here.

  19. Bicycle Bill

    That’s STEP-brother, Amber.

  20. AGV

    “What could possibly go wrong?” – Joe

  21. Bruceski

    So would this be a repeat-cute?

    1. Thag Simmons

      Solid pun

  22. Bagge

    I’m so glad Joe will sort this out and not add to the drama.

    1. DarkoNeko

      HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA it’s her of all people, tho

  23. Carms

    So Liz takes him hostage like, emotionally?
    And then Amber TOTALLY destroys Liz’s whole schtick by channelling Mike and Liz gets deported to a TExan finishing school or conversion camp or something

  24. Amós Batista

    Is the same convenience store that happened the Sal’s robbery Incident, right?

    1. Clif

      No.

      1. Clif

        oddly enough, the state has more than one convenience store.

        1. adam Black

          that is something i would type

    2. Bicycle Bill

      Probably not.  I’m assuming this one is in Bloomington, and while we never were told for certain, I believe the holdup took place in or near Sal’s hometown of Evansville and Amber, Ethan, and Blaine were just passing through while on a field trip.

      1. Regalli

        I’m pretty sure neither Amber nor Joe have cars on-campus, which limits this one to Bloomington or maybe within regular bussing distance (since the establishing shot also saw them reaching there on foot). And yeah, the implication with Sal’s holdup was ‘pretty close to Evansville,’ with Amber and Ethan explicitly stopping for a break on a long field trip return drive.

      2. Bicycle Bill

        I’ve pinned down this particular convenience store as the Village Pantry at the corner of S. Jordan and 3rd Street, about a block west of Galasso’s/Mama Bear’s.

    3. Thag Simmons

      Nope, we have establishing shots of both ([1] [2]) and they clearly don’t match.

      1. Thag Simmons

        [2]

  25. Daibhid C

    It’s true, Liz isn’t the Abbess! In fact, having become an atheist, she’s unlikely to achieve any ecclesiastical rank.

    1. Rainhat

      So, she’s nun of the above.

      1. milu

        Sure, but Amber does not novice.

  26. Juanoku

    The ultimate power move

  27. Heather

    This is kind of adorable despite my concern for both Amber and Liz and their well being.

    1. Arawn

      TBH, I’m more concerned about Joe in the next comic.

  28. Sombrero

    Joyce: I need some special drinks for my little dinner party. Let’s see if I can find them in a convenience store…

    1. Spencer

      Becky: I think I’ve been real mean to Joyce, even if I don’t know how to handle talking about this atheism thing. I gotta start making up for that, so I’ll just grab her favourite pop at the convenience store.

      1. Sombrero

        Danny: I feel a strange urge to go looking for brand new ukulele strings to the convenience store.

        1. Heather

          Sal: That sounds dumb but whatever I’ll join ya.

          Ethan: Because of my raging depression I only go out in the cover of darkness to gain what little sustenance I get from convenience store snacks as my singular daily meal.

        2. Spencer

          The cashier: I have to stop psyching myself out. What’s the worst that could happen on my first day at a new place?

        3. thejeff

          Also the cashier: This is a much better area. Won’t be as bad as that attempted hold up 5 years back.

  29. Rabisch

    Awwwww. The first time she call him “The worst brother” and he reply with a sharp “Yes”… this is so moving♡ !!! I just hope their parents don’t break up just to make them stay legally step siblings forever. This strip is so sweet and fun!

  30. J. Gawain

    Yesterday I posited that Liz would go to Sarah in a meltdown. It appears Joe is going to see (and if she is really worried, comfort) her first. Still doesn’t entirely disprove my theory, but it at least throws a nail in the coffin.

  31. Needfuldoer

    This is going to go well…

    [Michael Jackson eating popcorn dot gif, but at double speed]

  32. C.T. Phipps

    Joe is a poor Ethan because he actually tries to help.

    1. Spencer

      why does this sound like a Jaden Smith tweet in my head

  33. Stevonnie

    Is Amber stuttering, or is “just just” accidental?

  34. Keulen

    I swear every time DoA makes me think about the issues I have with social interaction, Amber manages to have even worse issues with it than me.

    1. Keulen

      Maybe I’ve just gotten used to my interactions with most people being super awkward so I don’t end up overthinking them as much as Amber is in this strip.

      1. The Wellerman

        What about the anxiety? For me, in spite of doing “less” or “no” overthinking, the anxiety is still there. Maybe the relative frequency of the thinking becomes so high that I don’t notice, like a dog-whistle kind of deal? I dunno.

        1. The Wellerman

          On second thought, it’s more like a hose you repress as long as you need to when you need it only to completely overwhelm you with anxiety-obsession radiation if you’re not careful.

          What’s it like for you?

        2. The Wellerman

          To specify, the hose thing for now does the best to describe what it’s like for me.

          And once again I feel awkward as fuck ?

  35. Vinter Nacht

    Not gonna lie, groovin’ on the abstractish art-style going on in those coolers. Was just kind of admiring the detailed lack of detail involved. Nicely done.

    1. not someone else

      It’s always great seeing the little improvements in a comics artist’s style given everything has to be on-model and non-experimental and (for daily newspaper strip formats) not take six hours per when at all possible.

  36. raultsi

    why is Liz still in town? Is she bailing on Ball?

    1. thejeff

      It’s still the weekend, but something does seem to be up with her.

      Wonder when she’ll see her sister again.

  37. DarkoNeko

    What I like about this page is that despite their parents basically getting together some months ago, she’s already fully thinking of him as a brother ?

    1. Axel_Grease

      I think they’re both only children (apart from Faz) so they’ve really leaned into the step-siblings dynamic.

    2. Tan

      I think it helps that prior to their parents together they knew each other well enough to not be ‘total stranger thrust into my life’ but also not well enough to be ‘an established relationship dynamic resistant to change’

    3. Rikunda

      I think over the break of months the parents got married.

  38. Ragingagnostic

    Did Joe just make a Nietzschean reference? Good for him!

    1. Taellosse

      I know right? Look who’s been paying attention in Philosophy 101!

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