304

To Be Continued
Posted on September 1, 2016 by David M Willis
....tomorrow

304 thoughts on “To Be Continued”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    WHAT

    ok this is a cool bookend but WHAT

    (Dina, you don’t have to watch the whole time)

    1. Nono

      Well, the DeSanto rally kicks off at midnight, and we’ve hit that mark, presumably.

      1. Lucena

        I had forgotten about the 1chapter = 1 day stuff.

    2. Tabitha Desanto

      We see Ryan then this. Definitely a cliffhanger bookend.

      1. darkoneko

        There was an issue with the book getting wayy too long.

        1. JessWitt

          This chapter felt pretty endless. But with a cast this stacked, everyone gets their share of the spotlight.

    3. Wheelpath

      I actually really appreciate this. Perfect summary with few words. Just the right amount of cliff hang.
      Yes Dina does! Her hat needs the mask back

      1. Ana Chronistic

        thing is in book format, you’ll feel the end of the book coming and AAAAAAAGH

        (it won’t be like next page and book end, ’cause there’s usually a gallery as AAAAAAAGH buffer)

  2. Doctor_Who

    Poor Dina. Overflowing with interesting dinosaur facts, but no one to tell them to.

    1. TheAnonymousGuy

      Book 7, it can really only go up from here. lucky numbers and all.

    2. miados

      well it is about midnight. most people are likely studying or sleeping. she can wait and then tell them intersting information when they are conscious.

      1. Pat

        Sleeping? At midnight?

        1. Doctor_Who

          In college?!

          Sleeping is for 2 in the afternoon.

        2. Rusty

          Relevant?

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/nap/

  3. chris73

    Curse you Willis!

    1. miados

      what did he do to deserve being cursed?

      1. chris73

        He’s made me wait for the conclusion of Sal v Amber!

        1. miados

          I am confused. this is a very common thing to be done in shows, books, movies, etc. why is this specific instance worth a curse? is sal v amber/a girl something i don’t quite grasp in terms of something?

        2. Koms

          Mr. Willis is an excellent story teller and artist. That’s why.

        3. Disloyal Subject

          Well, for starters, “Damn you, Willis!” is kind of a thing around here.

        4. Emperor Norton II

          I have said before, Willis probably feeds on our feels and frustrations.

          He also secretly collects our tears to make a Something Positive cocktail with.

        5. Deanatay

          I’d heard he needs something salty to counter the bitter hate he feels for Jeph “Jerkface” Jacques. So, really it’s a Questionable Content cocktail.

        6. Betty Anne

          Which is actually kind of hilarious, as the reason I started reading DoA was because I kept seeing “Dave Willis is a buttface” or something along those lines in the sidebar on QC where comics are linked, [I just looked, it currently says “Dave Willis eats diapers” LOL] and (because I’m shit at social cues) my thought process went something like:

          “That’s weird, Jeph doesn’t seem like a mean-spirited dude, maybe he means that in jest.”

          “These are all comics he seems to like and support.”

          “I wonder if he put that because he and Dave Willis are friends and he likes the comic?”

          *Clicks*

          And I’ve been reading ever since. XD

        7. miados

          qa is how i found this webcomic. sometimes i still refer to the comic by the link title it is given

        8. Dana

          I found DoA through QC too. Jeph borrowed Joyce for a filler comic early in Becky’s time crashing at IU.

        9. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Its a butts disease support group thing. You wouldn’t understand.

        10. a snow ʍousɐ

          It’s because we love him that we can tell him how much we hate him.

        11. trlkly

          Yeah, it’s common. And it’s common for people jokingly say “curse you” or what have you for leaving a cliffhanger when they were really interested in seeing the resolution.

          It’s even worse if it’s a comic that actually has long breaks.

        12. hof1991

          It’s Amber vs. Amazi-Girl. Sal and Ryan are just interested bystanders.

        13. Lizard

          Oooohhh….

        14. Spencer

          Well you’re not exactly wrong.

  4. Nono

    End of Book 6: Girls in Bed

    1. Anorak

      slipshine between books? lol.

    2. AlexanderDuFlicky

      Not one of Duran Duran’s more popular songs.

  5. AnvilPro

    I hope we’re about to see the debut of Amazigirl’s sidekick

    1. Jay Eff

      Oh, you mean “Clever Girl?“

      1. shazz_smifff

        who me?

      2. foamy

        Being willing to tackle a big man with a gun when you’re a tiny lady like Dina is, I think, the physically bravest action anyone in this comic has taken. I would not be at all surprised to see her get involved in the pending Amazi-Girl mess.

        1. miados

          of basically say something like she is brave when there is a reason she sees no reason to risk herself for no real reason.

    2. Dex

      Spoiler: It’s Sal!

  6. lia47

    :’-)

  7. Some1

    So it looks like Ryan will be a major antagonist in book 7…please go back to Mary.

    1. Fart Captor

      He’ll definitely be in book 7, but it only really means that the arc was too long to fit neatly in the end of book 6. Building a rocket takes time, after all

  8. Stephen R. Bierce

    *plays the opening theme from Dangaio Act 3 on the hacked Muzak*
    I want action…I want action…I want action…I want action…

    1. Disloyal Subject

      Action! Give me action! a href=”http://youtu.be/p8auSfIFjP4″>Action, not words!

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Well… bollocks.
        Let’s try that again.

  9. Lan

    Dammit now Roundabout is in my head. Thanks Willis.

    1. Foxhack

      *guitar solo plays*

      *Frame freezes on Amazi-Girl slugging the rapist right in the bojangles*

    2. Doctor_Who

      Spent a minute trying to figure out how this related to the video game with the spinning limousine.

    3. Kaida

      What does Yes have to do with this? Im confused.

      1. Tarkara

        The Animr adaptation of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure popularised the use of Roundabout for cliffhangers when it would begin the song a few not or even longer into the final part of a scene to add tension to an impending cliffhanger before the credots rolled.
        In other words it is a meme.
        Yare yare daze.

        1. Tarkara

          Orz please forgive my typos, my phone does not like me.

        2. Kaida

          OOOOOO. Thats pretty cool. Ive heard of it but have never watched it. Thanks!

        3. Foxhack

          This video has the most used clip of the music in context. Spoiler alert.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3kdyR2deJM

        4. Jay Mitsuru

          It’s actually Every. Single. Episode. that uses that. The song is the actual end theme, and it’s like a 10 minute track, so you’ll think they changed it up a bit until you hear Roundabout by itself.

          I use Roundabout as my morning alarm, that way if I slip back into sleep and I wake up and don’t still hear it I know I better get my big but moving. it’s been 70-something weeks and it hasn’t failed me yet.

    4. Spencer

      If I had any photoshop skills I’d make the edit.

  10. Foxhack

    WILLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!

    1. Falling Star

      Everyone’s exact feelings.

      1. miados

        i…… dont. i dont even understand why anyone would be like that about this.

  11. Lordmazapan

    Well thats anti-climatic.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Starting tomorrow; a week of strips where Walky eats McNuggets.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Walky eating McNuggets at 1AM honestly sounds like a riveting week.

        1. Doctor_Who

          Then you would have loved a webcomic based on my life in college.

          Other spellbinding chapters include “Are these socks clean enough to wear?”, “I can’t afford pizza, but I’m getting it anyway” and “Maybe I’ll get lucky and everyone else will bomb this quiz too.”

        2. Betty Anne

          Yep, that sounds like a good summary of college life. XD

        3. Deanatay

          *Walky’s mouth full*

          Fiffy Mu-nugguhs! FIFFY!!

          *stuffs a few more in*

  12. VizardJeffhog

    DAMN YOU, WILLIS!

  13. Heinousactszx

    Willis is the teasiest of teasers.

    1. inqntrol

      Yeah, I didn’t expect this cliffhanger.

      1. Deanatay

        What a tweest?

      2. Roborat

        Nobody expects a Willis cliffhanger! It’s main element is fear, fear and anticipation; two main elements, fear, anticipation, and brilliant storytelling! Er, among it’s elements are fear, anticipation, brilliant storytelling, and near fanatical devotion to the tears of his readers! Um, I’ll come in again…

        1. Willoughby Chase

          NOBODY EXPECTS THE WILLIS CLIFFHANGER!

  14. Peny

    I shouldn’t have gotten so excited to see Ryan’s ass get kicked…now I’m left with a feeling of emptiness for the rest of this night.

    1. Thursday Violist

      I’m pretty sure that’s the feeling you’re supposed to be feeling right now.

      1. miados

        so what you are saying is i am suppose to have feelings beyond i wonder where this story might go?

        1. Fart Captor

          Sal and Amber were in a very tense, potentially dangerous situation. Even without the potentially violent mob, most people are really anxious to see what happens next with them because their arc has been escalating in the background for almost the entire run of the comic.

          So in addition to anticipation, also some worry, a bit of excitement, and a thirst for would-be rapists to be brought to justice / thrown into the sun.

  15. Achallenger

    theres a few eels here

    1. a snow ʍousɐ

      Few eels? Ew, feels!

    2. Roborat

      Are they in your hovercraft?

      1. Orion Fury

        I was wondering the same thing.

  16. Fart Captor

    Oh you are just the worst

  17. Kris

    It’s a good thing this comic updates 7 days a week for eternity or I would be upset.

    1. JessWitt

      Ah-men.

    2. Dr. T

      Read Willis’s twitter feed. Methinks you are going to wait until Monday. If true, DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!!!

  18. Saki

    What a way to end a book. I feel bad for everyone who reads the comic through the books alone and will have to wait between this one and the next. D:
    So is Becky sleeping in Billie’s bed and Billie sleeping in Ruth’s bed? Did I get that right?

    1. Anorak

      you are correct.

    2. Nono

      The next Amazo Mystery: Five girls are found all murdered in their sleep, one night at a time. Except none of them were in their right beds at the time.

      Can Amazi-Girl solve the mystery before the killer strikes again each night?

      Night is approaching.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Who are the other two?

        I want Old Man Smithers in the pool.

        1. TheGrammarLegionary

          Joe is currently having a threesome.

        2. a snow ʍousɐ

          Danny is in Ethan’s bed. Ethan is in Dina’s bed.

        3. a snow ʍousɐ

          It doesn’t make sense, that’s why it’s a good mystery

        4. Falling Star

          Danny wants Ethan, and Ethan was trying to make sure Amber wasn’t going to hurt herself.
          Amber was the real killer.

  19. Showler

    Get some sleep. You’ve got work to do in the morning.

    1. SgtWadeyWilson

      So much work.

  20. darkoneko

    Taht’s super sweet, but … what is happening to Sal aaaaaa

  21. Cheshrin

    WILLIS YOU SON OF A DRUM.

    1. a snow ʍousɐ

      It almost rhymes!

  22. Just Here

    Yeah. Let’s make things better. Sarah said it best.

    1. Fart Captor

      Obviously, they’re going to build Joyce some kind of robot hand

      1. inqntrol

        Why not an entire robot body? She’ll become a superhero and can call herself Ironwoman. Though she may have some trouble with Marvel.

    2. Peny

      So why don’t we make things better by getting TWO updates tonight! What do you say, Willis? 😀

      You know, this is like a perfect time to advertise the Patreon.

      1. Needfuldoer

        <a href="http://www.itswalky.com/comic/is-it-all-right-if-i-talk-to-you/&quot;.Here's today's other Willis update!

  23. Butterscotch

    This is way too abrupt. It’s not good storytelling. Maybe if it happened before all the Amazigirl stuff. But this is like slamming on the brakes for no reason other than freak the passenger out.

    1. Fart Captor

      I dunno, it’s where I would have placed a cliffhanger if it were me.

      With so many plot threads going on they can’t all come to a rest at once.

      1. Butterscotch

        That would be the same as putting a cliffhanger here.
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/hostage-2/

        1. Fart Captor

          Not really?

          There was a clear breaking point between one conflict between Amber and Sal ending and a new one involving Ryan beginning.

    2. bryy

      Are you kidding? We resolved many plotlines and have a HUGE cliffhanger that is setting us down the path towards some emotional resolution.

      This is GREAT storytelling for the end of a chapter.

      1. pjeseb

        Not for the end of a book, though. Do the “everybody goes to sleep” strips mark the end of a chapter or the end of a book?

        (I guess I could dig out one of my Dumbing of Age books and answer my own question, but… have I mentioned how lazy I am?)

        1. thejeff

          Every chapter, because a chapter is a day.

          But every book ending is a chapter ending as well, so it’s also true of every book. And this chapter is the last chapter in book 6.

        2. thejeff

          Actually, I take that back. It’s been every book and most chapters.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Didn’t this part of the story get some late-breaking edits so the end-of-book-6 cliffhanger wouldn’t be “did Ruth kill herself”?

      1. David M Willis

        That’d be news to me!

        1. Emperor Norton II

          Pffft, what do you know?

        2. Needfuldoer

          Maybe the split between books 6 and 7 moved? I don’t remember, maybe it was in a tweet or alt-text months ago or I’m just going senile and imagining things.

        3. Orion Fury

          Perhaps complaints that Willis does that, when he actually doesn’t? I think I heard about him going back and changing dialog around the Carla/Mary storylines, to make Mary look worse, or be more supportive of Carla.

        4. David M Willis

          Look, I didn’t do that either.

          My concern here was that the story was running too long to fit in Book 6, and so I found a place where I could cliffhanger the storyline and finish the rest in Book 7. My only angst over was whether to do this sort of thing for the first time.

          The “I alter Mary/Carla stuff to make one look better or worse” is the stuff of pro-Mary conspiracy theorists.

        5. Orion Fury

          Sorry, that’s what I was going for. Guess I didn’t explain myself correctly there. I wasn’t stating that you did, though I do at least try to do, sarcastically say that you do.

        6. miados

          wait we can have conspiracy theories about this comic? lets see i think….. um…..

          nope i got nothing.

        7. Thulcandran

          JASON AND DANNY ARE THE SAME PERSON

        8. Fart Captor

          The Brown’s family dog is actually housing a clone of Hitler’s brain in a canine body!

  24. Reltzik

    ….. okay. When I say this, it’s normally jokingly. But now… okay, I still don’t mean it literally, but at least this time there’s feeling behind it.

    DAMN! YOU! WILLIS!

    (Exclamation marks = feeling)

  25. LimeSheep

    i…. okay?

  26. Corlanthis

    Haven’t really had a solid DYW moment in a while. Feels good man.

  27. JessWitt

    A bit sudden, but a neat ending panel nonetheless.

  28. miados

    when what you thought you wanted. when what you thought should be is ruined instead of broken sometimes it can be good. it forces you to see what else you can make instead of only worrying about how what should have been made wasnt.

  29. Moblin Umbrella

    Willis you sly fucker

    OH GOD DOES THIS MEAN RYAN’S GOING TO BE MAJOR IN BOOK 7!?

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Major Ryan? Is he ROTC or something?

    2. Some1

      My fear of Ryan going after someone else made me go through in my head if there were any major female characters who don’t know who he is.

      Lets see here

      Dorothy: At Party

      Bille: At party

      Sarah: At party

      Becky: Told by Joyce

      Sal: Told by Joyce

      Amber: At Party

      Roz: At Party

      Dina: Roommate of Amber and girlfriend of Becky, she may not know but I would be very surprised.

      Ruth: I think Billie told her.

      I assume Sal’s friends have either been told, are our too street smart to worry about.

      So it looks like all of the major female leads know who he is and to avoid him. Surely there can be no fundamentalist female characters who aren’t street smart and haven’t been told who he is.

      wait a sec…

      Oh oh no.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Huh.

        1. poofdepoof

          Mary?

        2. Disloyal Subject

          Do you know anyone else who fits that profile?
          Though Mary might be too judgementally paranoidbto trust even an alleged preacher’s son.

        3. inqntrol

          Yeah, besides a villain knows when somebody else is a villain. It’s like a sixth sense for them.

        4. Willoughby Chase

          villdar? crimdar?

      2. Falling Star

        Roz didn’t get a description of Ryan because she never actually learned about the incident. I believe her words were something like:
        Roz: So you guys were at that party, right? It was totally awesome!
        Joyce and Dotty: [disbelieving faces]
        Roz: Okay, so there was some dumb fight. Someone’s always gotta start something.
        Joyce and Dotty:[disbelieving faces]

        1. pjeseb

          In the after the one you talk about her, Roz realized that Something Awful happened to Joyce, but nobody ever explained things fully as far as I know.

      3. Orion Fury

        On the plus side, Mary doesn’t like Robin, so she’s not ‘currently’ being stalked by him?

        1. Spencer

          Okay can we not theorize as to whether Mary is going to get assaulted by Ryan?

          Because this is some straight up creepy bullshit.

        2. Orion Fury

          Well he’s a villain that’s free, at least as of right now, so people are bound to wonder and be concerned. Even about Mary, ’cause no one deserves that.

  30. Thevoiceoftreason

    Oh carp, Amazigirl is on TV!

  31. Tom T.

    Comedy ensues when Sarah realizes that Joyce thinks they both just agreed to vote for Trump. 🙂

    1. Thursday Violist

      AT LEAST SHE MADE JOYCE SMILE, THOUGH!

      That would be pretty funny, though.

    2. miados

      i doubt their politicians and political cycles are the same as our world

  32. EvilMidnightLurker

    Tomorrow, we make things better. It will be…

    A Better Tomorrow.

    1. Deanatay

      Starting tomorrow – a drastic new upgrade in art style! SUPER-REALISM!! Willis goes all CGI-style!

      Most of the commenters leave in protest.

      …A BETTER TOMORROW!!

      1. Orion Fury

        Keep Moving Forward?

  33. Mr. Random

    Things can always be better, and things can always be worse.
    And sometimes trying can just make things worse, and sometimes trying is the most important thing.
    Think, and try. But never stop hoping you can make the world a better place.

  34. Her.

    love that becky has pictures of dina next to her while she sleeps

    1. Cerberus

      It’s a wall of things that make her happy.

      1. DinaWho

        It’s super cute to see the wall update with new good things that happen in her life. I love that little detail.

        1. Her.

          it is!

  35. Marvelman

    Oh, Come on!

  36. Julie

    Now we buckle up for six weeks of Joe and Roz talking about fast food before coming back to these plotlines?

    1. Cerberus

      Well, at least a week of Sal flashbacks because we all foolishly asked for that 3 months ago.

      1. thejeff

        As rough as the timing might be, I’m still excited by the week of Sal flashbacks.

      2. Fart Captor

        Due to my recently acquired appreciation for how awesome Marcie is, I’d say it was a good call

  37. Leorale

    Augh, no, why, I wanna see mentally ill superhero shenanigans, what is this nonsense.

  38. Thursday Violist

    Sarah I totes love you.
    You are the best.
    <3

  39. SpringSprangSprung

    We’re the Wreckers, and we’re here to make things better.

    1. Falling Star

      We’re gonna wreck it!!!

  40. Yakkorex

    The last few days have fully justified my love for Sarah.

  41. Ashley

    Damn it, I know this comic gives me feels and yet I keep coming back.

  42. Leorale

    Also I haven’t combed through the 795+ comments that undoubtedly speculate all the things AG might do next, I want her to switch from antagonizing Sal to chasing Ryan, and he runs, and then there’s a chase through the crowd, it’d be crazy.

    1. Disloyal Subject

      A lot of it consisted of debating how racist the mob assembling at AG’s back is.

      1. Cerberus

        Luckily you can measure racism by how much water it displaces… no, wait, that was volume.

        1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          There used to be an ISO standard racist used for calibration, but they died.

        2. ischemgeek

          … wouldn’t it be a NIST or NPL standard?

          */standardization nerd*

          (In meat space I am a volunteer for a couple of standardization orgs… because I am not JUST enough of a nerd to be into metrology, I am enough of a nerd to be into metrology standardization. We are the nerds that professional scientists call nerds.)

        3. Leorale

          Luckily, when professional scientists call you a nerd, they mean it with loving admiration. 🙂

  43. zombieundergrnd

    Let’s make things better ….

    … by having the crap best out of Sal and/or Amber.

    AND SOMEBODY DIES!!!!!

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Your definition of “better” involves killing everyone capable of fighting zombies, so that you can finally emerge from underground and eat people’s brains, isn’t it?

  44. Bagge

    Big sis
    Little sis

    Let’s make things better.

    And this day, the world changed. Because try as it might, it can not stop Joyce and Sarah combined.

  45. figureaddict

    You go Sarah!

  46. Agemegos

    Hospital beds suck.

    Amber should swap rooms with Billie so that Dina can sleep with Becky.

    1. TheGrammarLegionary

      So, you want Becky to take Amber’s bed, to move in with Dina. And you want Amber to take Billie’s bed, to move in with Sal…

      1. Leorale

        Hah, that would go poorly
        Or maybe Agemegos meant Amber would take Ruth’s single until Ruth gets released. She’s probably only there for 24-48hrs, though (bc she’s not immediately lethal as far as we know). Either way, I am not a big fan of leaving Amber or Ruth all alone in their own minds.

        If we’re really rearranging, here’s what the characters might like:

        Dina/Becky (except don’t move in with your one-week-old relationship)
        Ruth/Billie (except don’t move in with your sexy lesbian suicide pact)
        Sarah/Sal (Sarah likes being left alone, Sal likes leaving.)
        Carla keeps her single.
        Mary gets Ruth’s single (so nobody has to deal with her).
        Dorothy/Joyce (BFFs)
        Roz/Sierra (Sierra is okay with being sexiled, Roz is presumably okay with chill people who don’t wear shoes).
        Amber/Amazi-Girl/…Rachel? Who is left?

        1. Disloyal Subject

          Sal has expressed a desire to interact less with Sarah.

        2. DinaWho

          My guess for Ruth would be a 72 hour hold. What happens after that probably depends on how she’s doing, what if anything she’s told the people treating her about her home life, and how not-terrible the place she wound up is (in which case her insurance coverage becomes a factor). I’m not sure if the fact that the hospital is connected to her university directly might affect that (assuming that’s the IU hospital).

          Regarding your rearrangement, I think Amber would still wind up with Dina/Becky, given that all of the other people mentioned have their roommates already accounted for in the new setup, and Becky is a completely new addition. (My guess would be that Rachel’s roommate is either Agatha or Other Rachel, given that Grace and Mandy are rooming together.)

        3. Cheshrin

          If I remember correctly, there was a scene in a strip where Ruth said “Rachels, take out the trash!” (It was a strip in the area of her and Bille’s temporary you-taste-like-booze breakup, don’t remember which one exactly.) So that implies that Rachel and other Rachel are rooming together.

          Unless I’m completely misremembering. Always possible.

        4. DinaWho

          No, I remember it now. That would make sense.

          Who is Agatha rooming with, though? I can’t remember any other girls on the hall right now…

        5. Spencer

          Guns. Definitely Guns.

        6. John

          Yeah, Rachels are together. Mandy and Grace are together. There’s been no sign of Agatha’s roommate, except it’s definitely not Guns, whom Word of God states to be Not College Material. My money’s on Bloodrose, the never-clearly-seen fifth member of Daisy’s Squad 135.

  47. Bagge

    Becky…

    Alone at night, in the bed of a person she is afraid might not last the night, after the… fourth most stressful weekend of her life (and that says something of Becky’s life right there). The mask is gone.

    She is safe. She her her Joyce and her dinosaur chick and her future, she has a father she didn’t know she could ever have, she even has a cool “brother” she didn’t expect and she has her mother back. Hank gave her back her mother.

    This is not only worry, this is her just being overwhelmed with everything that happened. This is her just being completely drained, but still having so much to process.

    Sweet dreams, Becky. Dream of dinosaurs and Joyce smiles and your mother. Joyce and Dina and Billie and Walky will be there for you in the morning.

    1. Emperor Norton II

      …You like Becky, don’t you?

      Also, everything you just said. So spot on.

      1. Her.

        who doesnt?

      2. Bagge

        What tipped you off? 🙂

        1. Emperor Norton II

          The way you talked about everyone else instead. Classic diversion maneuver to nobody will suspect who you really like.

        2. Bagge

          My subtility will be my downfall!

    2. Falling Star

      And just like that, I don’t care about the cliffhanger anymore.
      Thank you.

      1. Bagge

        Thank YOU for sharing this quite Becky triumph with me. Sad as it is, the fact that she is here after this weekend, after last weekend, means that she won.

  48. Idontcarenomore

    Outstanding wrap-up. You get better every year.
    However, leaving us hanging with Ryan staring at A.G. and Sal, is either down right fiendish, or brilliant. Probably both.

  49. NinjaNick

    Let’s make it better one day at a time.

  50. Lipke

    -Finds comic
    -Binges comic, catching up in two or three days
    -Binge ends on super-tense moment
    -Next day’s update is a cliffhanger
    I just read this comic in TWO OR MAYBE THREE DAYS!
    THE EMOTIONAL WHIPLASH IS ALREADY KILLING ME AS IT IS!
    DAMN YOU WILLIS!

    1. Disloyal Subject

      Welcome to the club. And the comments.

    2. Saki

      The best part is you’re in for a few more days of agonizing over what happens next.
      The better best part is that it’ll be thanks to a Marcie & Sal flashback. :3

    3. Falling Star

      That’s how I felt four years ago when I started this comic.
      It’s just gotten better and worse.
      Prepare for a wild ride.

    4. Bagge

      Welcome onboard!

      Also, this was the best timing for archive-binging I’ve ever seen! Some poor saps ended up in the middle of the ToeDad ark back when that happened.

      1. Lipke

        I’m not sure I could have handled that. ;-;

    5. Roborat

      One of us! One of us!

  51. BenRG

    The cliffhangers and tantalising teasers would probably work better if this wasn’t a daily strip. 😉

    1. Needfuldoer

      I think we’re in for a few days of other scenes before we come back to Amazi-Girl v Sal on Monday.

  52. OnyxIdol

    Willis -_-

  53. Disloyal Subject

    Well okay then.

  54. Arianod

    Damn, a cliffhanger? Who’d have thought!

  55. acher4

    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

  56. Emperor Norton II

    Ruth.

    Ruth is what is actually the strongest image here.

    Because we have four other humans, each with their own complicated feelings and emotions. Surrounding (and this is not by accident) the woman that is currently still incapable of really feeling anything.

    The woman without feelings give me the strongest feels.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      For whatever it’s worth, I feel for Ruth.  The one person who seemed to have everything under control (even if it was on her own terms), but now here she is, alone in the hospital.  No family, no friends, no nuthin’.

      Been there, done that.  And it sucks.

      1. Emperor Norton II

        “Seemed” is definitely the word here. She never really had it, she just managed to seem to have it. She probably fooled even herself at times into thinking she had it, if only for short periods of time.

        Also, big internet hugs (or whatever you wish as an acceptable form of a stranger offering empathy). It must suck really hard indeed.

  57. pjeseb

    Gah! No! Willis, how could you? HOW COULD YOU?

    On a more serious note… Why doesn’t Becky just share a bed with Dina, now that they’re going steady (apparently)? I can’t believe I didn’t think of that till now.

    1. Reltzik

      A) Because neither of them are comfortable moving the relationship forward that quickly. Becky isn’t fully over Joyce yet and Dina realizes it.

      B) Because Dina rooms with Amber and Amber is, in one form or another, very much a stickler for the rules.

      C) Because Becky is sick of living off of other peoples’ charity and super-duper doesn’t want to live off her girlfriend’s.

      D) Because Dina is unaware of social conventions like live-in significant-others.

    2. Emperor Norton II

      No. Just in general, I think it’s a bad idea to shack up together too soon if it can be avoided. And while there are of course individual variations, I’d say one week is most likely to be too soon.

      Plus, moving together is something that should come from simply wanting to be together; to be “forced” to stay together because of outside circumstances is really something best avoided.

      And that is just my base feeling for any couple. Then there is the fact that this is Dina. Dina is super-new into this whole territory, and Becky knows that. And because Becky is super-respectful of her new girlfriend’s limitations vis-a-vis social interactions, she would not even suggest such a thing. (Good for Becky!)

      In a situation like this, Dina needs her own space more than ever, until being around Becky is not only thrilling, not only wonderful, but also something that makes Dina truly comfortable and safe. Which she will feel, as long as Becky continues the path of being super-respectful of Dina’s boundaries. It will happen when it feels natural that it should happen.

      1. thejeff

        It’s easy to forget that Becky’s also super-new into this whole territory too. Despite being the super-lesbian she has no real experience either and she was raised fundamentalist so jumping straight into sex is still a big leap, much less actually moving in.

        OTOH, if they did, that would definitely cause Joyce to make the face, so it’s possible. 🙂

        1. Fart Captor

          She’s also still very Christian, and probably isn’t big on sex outside of marriage any more than Joyce

        2. Emperor Norton II

          I’m not so sure that they would not actually just sleep together for a while… But still a bad idea.

        3. pjeseb

          I meant “share a bed” literally, as in the way Becky was with Joyce. I doubt very much that they will make the jump to sex anytime soon.

          But, yeah, the others made some really good points.

        4. Emperor Norton II

          Let’s be honest, when the time finally -is- right, those two will be so super-adorkable living together that the whole world will simultaneously go”D’AAAAAAAAAW!” at a frequency that happens to be the exact frequency that will melt down all the servers on the planet.

          Yes, Dina and Becky will destroy the internet. And we will not care, because after they’ve reached peak adorkableness, nothing else on the internet will be worth checking anyway.

          So can’t blame a person for thinking (and maybe secretly wishing) for that day to come soon. 😉

  58. Reltzik

    ….. I can’t help but feel that the resolution of this chapter left unresolved at least one sal-ient detail.

    1. Emperor Norton II

      I am ber-y certain I know what you’re talking about here. Isn’t that amazing?

  59. Keulan

    Damn you Willis, with your cliffhangers!

  60. PDV

    This chapter was precisely a year and a day long

  61. Nenja

    Williiiis! Why did we jump over here from Sal and Amazi-girl NOW!?

    … I really hope we go back there tomorrow.

    1. David M Willis

      i’ll think about it

      1. Reltzik

        By which you mean, you’ll ponder the events you have scripted, drawn, arranged, and queued into the system months ago with positively sadistic glee.

      2. Fart Captor

        …cue a solid week of strips about Jason and Penny grading math assignments

        1. Deanatay

          OOOH!!! *grabs popcorn*

        2. chris73

          Grading math assignments sounds like a euphemism, a super sexy euphemism

        3. Orion Fury

          Well they’re British, right? Well, at least one of them is. Who know’s what kind of slang they use.

  62. Emperor Norton II

    By the way, do you know what Joyce is thinking in that last panel? Do you?

    I know what she is thinking. And I’ll tell you what she is thinking

    She is thinking:

    “SCHWING!”

    1. Willoughby Chase

      Schwing-a-ling-a-ding-dong!

  63. Willoughby Chase

    I’m comforted that Ruth is safe … in a bad place internally but a place where she can receive care.

    I’m interested in what “let’s make things better” pans out as. At a guess it wont be anything like Joyce and Sarah envisage:)

    Meanwhile, back at the rally …

    1. Willoughby Chase

      Although with the shit shenanigans in my country, the Donald, and yesterday’s racist lynch mob I’ve now got “Tomorrow belongs to me” running through my head.

      I dreamt last night my house was burnt down and I was sifting through the ashes and wreckage.

    2. Batman

      if anything, its just the title to the next chapter

      1. Willoughby Chase

        But it’s an optimistic title, one to savour before Willis does his trademark “Damn You Willis” move, beloved of all DOA fans.

  64. Alan

    ♫Oh, I have to admit it’s getting better, it’s getting better all the time (it can’t get much worse)…♫

    1. Willoughby Chase

      When you’re chewing on life’s gristle/Don’t grumble, give a whistle!

  65. nerothewriter

    And I had just caught up yesterday. After another day of waiting I find this… (Squints) thing causing the vast majority of the audience to wonder. Leaving them to wallow in minor torment as to what may come tomorrow. I like it.

    1. Falling Star

      You’re just as sadistic as Willis.

      1. nerothewriter

        Well that’s good. Because I try to be 🙂 It’s the only way to get an audience to keep coming back. It’s as if they like the torture.

  66. Spencer

    Spoilers for tomorrow’s strip:

    Dina and Becky are out trying to find a job. Dina cheerfully notes how much happier she is now that she’s addressed her relationship fears with Becky, who recognized that, while technically true, it had nothing to do with how she felt about Dina.

    Amber and Sal drag Ryan to the police and see him arrested. Amber realizes that her hatred of Sal has driven her to dangerous lengths and they both come clean about their shared past. She then goes and reconciles with Danny and also reveals that she’d be totally down with a poly setup that involves Ethan.

    Ruth is responding incredibly well to treatment and will be released in a few days. Her job will be waiting for her. Billie realizes that she is also in need of help. Ruth’s grandfather then suddenly has a heart attack, leaving his massive inheritance behind for Ruth and Howard.

    Walky decides to be honest about the things bothering him with Dorothy and she starts tutoring him in math. He also implores his parents to be more attentive to Sal.

    It turns out that, while Malaya is not into girls, she is into Marcie. They bang like rabbits for the following week.

    1. CJ

      So the next strip will be a 20pager?

    2. thejeff

      Also revealed: Spencer is in denial 🙂

    3. Willoughby Chase

      And they all lived happily ever after!!

    4. Lipke

      And then Joyce wakes up from the dream, and we all collectively scream DAAAAMN YOOOOOU WILLIIIIIIIIS!

      1. Orion Fury

        That sounds about right.

  67. HeySo

    Someone explain the benefit of having a TV behind the clinic bed? 😛

    1. CJ

      I think it’s a window.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      It could be a monitor screen for all the hookups for BP, pulse, heart monitor, O2 level in the bloodstream, and who knows what-all else.

      Or it might be a piece of one-way glass, so Ruth can be observed and monitored as part of a suicide watch.

  68. Black Bumblebee

    End of book 6? Darn it… now I gotta wait a whole year to find out what happens next…

    …oh… wait a moment…

  69. BenRG

    This might be me but I can’t help but wonder if Dina is worried about Amber being absent from the room so late.

    Meanwhile, Amazi-Girl, Sal and Marcie are fighting their way through a riot in the lecture hall, Amazi-Girl only slightly inconvenienced by an unconscious Ryan slung over her shoulders.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Good point, and nice catch.  I was wondering what Dina was staring at so intently, and it could very easily be something like that.

  70. altalemur

    just gotta say…. aaaaaaaaaawwwwww Becky has a picture of Dina on her wall.

  71. John Madden

    DUN DUN DUN

  72. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    End of Book 6, sudden cutaway from AG and Sal? Oh, that’s a Damn You Willis moment if there ever was one. It’s almost like he expects us to have patience and shit.

    I’m not gonna bother with the panel by panel, because what I like most and what strikes me the hardest is the thread carried through, and that thread is optimism.

    Yeah, I know, I see Billie in absolute misery staring at a Ruth that isn’t there and the others not in great circumstances, but let me explain. Everyone’s not in the best of spots, yes.

    Joyce is holding the hand that has represented her rapid accumulation of traumas to have PTSD triggers about whether it be being sexually assaulted (yeah, nothing “completed”, but she was still roofied and he still was actively dragging her into the bathroom to assault her when she was rescued), threatened with a gun by Toedad, or condescending to and threatened by her family and church.

    Becky’s mask is shattered and she is locked awake, staring into space, remembering her mom and blaming herself for her mom’s suicide, assuming she didn’t do enough to save her and fearing she’s doing the same with Billie.

    Dina is staring at Amber’s bunk, absent an Amber, full of concern, and probably a fair amount of internal unease, wondering if she made the right decision to chase off Amber’s friends and support network to give her the space she requested, especially as her other alter seems to be spending all night out of the room once again:
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/shielding/

    Billie, staring at a shadow of her girlfriend, finally not hiding the depression that she’s been papering over with NRE, yet convinced that getting help is the same thing as being a failure and grappling with her suicidal ideation but maybe, just maybe, not actually getting so drunk she’s numbed to it all this evening.

    And Ruth, in a darkened room like last night. Staring at a wall unable to feel… but now, safe in a hospital room, under observation, getting the treatment she needs, having professionals involved instead of just a well-meaning gf and a trans girl on skates who doesn’t know what the fuck she’s doing in matters like this and a propensity for putting her foot in her mouth.

    It’s all a portent moment for these characters. Not pleasant, none are really in “good” places, but the optimism for me is in that last line. “Let’s make things better”, said as a promise and that smile on Joyce’s face.

    And it’s one of the more joyous moments in the comic for me, one of the more hopeful ones, because that’s what optimism looks like for me. Like, yeah, it’s easy to be happy and hopeful for the future when everything is going right and everyone is in a good space, but it’s much harder when everything’s intense and feels like it’s going all wrong and the future seems like a distant hazy dream that you can’t even deal with until you sort out your present.

    But getting out of that, carving out what is yours, carving out a stable and happy life where you can imagine a future again? It requires that kind of hope Sarah offers. Yeah, things suck now, but that doesn’t have to be always. And maybe, bit by bit, you can construct a world and a life that doesn’t suck.

    And that optimism is reflected in all their situations. Joyce is traumatized, but she’s recognizing the toxicity of some of her home environment, has the full support of her sister and her dad, and is constructing a genuine home at college. Sarah still carries the scars of Dana, but is trying again, letting herself connect, but this time not in a self-destructive way, but a constructive one instead, maybe one that can be sustainable and tie into what she wants to accomplish with the law degree she is fighting so hard to get.

    Becky’s mask is shattered, but she has the beginnings of a family. She has Jocelyne and Hank, telling her they have her back, she has some of her IDs and some money to kickstart her life, and hopefully she also has hints that it’s okay to drop her mask, that her loved ones won’t abandon her if she’s a debbie downer and upset.

    Dina’s worried about Amber/AG, but that’s good and we saw in yesterday’s comic that AG has turned a major corner and is hopefully getting off the bad road she set herself temporarily down.

    Ruth and Billie seem distraught, but they are now getting actual professional care. Ruth is through her blackmail nightmare and her boss isn’t even fully wanting to fire her, just see her get better. She’s got allies that will throw gfs at her literally to keep her alive. And both will be seeing an actual psychologist so that their relationship, if it continues, can be free from that co-dependent edge of trying to use each other as therapists holding each other back from the edge. Billie might not fully appreciate that yet, but this is going to be more helpful for both of them in the long-run than simply trying to hold onto a status quo that was becoming considerably less quo the more Mary meddled into it.

    Everyone is turning a corner and that corner is a little bit brighter, a little less dingy. And they’re all knocked around and limping, but that real optimism is the strength to keep on going on, getting out of that bad place, finding a stability you can recover in, finding a “better”.

    And that smile is the key. Joyce sees that road now, it’s bumpy and rocky and has some scary climbs. But she sees hope that things being awful isn’t going to be a permanent state. And that fills her with strength and makes the traumas sting a little less.

    And that’s the optimism I can feel. That I can believe in. That can change things for the better or at least get you there. Not the blinders to the pain, but the acceptance that the pain doesn’t have to consume you.

    1. Fart Captor

      That is just beautifully poetic.

      I don’t think I would have noticed how Ruth actually looks distraught now. She’s actually expressing things with her face again! I feels so strange that seeing her frown would make me hopeful for her

    2. Andy

      One other thing: Even across panels, Becky and Dina, and Billie and Ruth, are each portrayed as facing their partner. Dina and Billie directly face their partner’s panel, Ruth and Becky are turned away a bit, but obliquely they’re face toward their partner’s panel.

      Somehow I doubt this is intentional, given the almost nonexistent attention to detail in the rest of DoA. 😛

      1. Fart Captor

        Oh my god Becky and Dina would even be looking into each other’s eyes if they were in the same room!

        1. Andy

          And Billie is echoing her pose of holding Ruth before Chloe came in. Ruth isn’t echoing her same pose, though, so I’m less certain of this than I am of the Becky/Dina echo.

        2. Fart Captor

          No, you’re spot on. Ruth was basically dead weight when that happened, at her absolute lowest. NOT echoing that pose further suggests that (for the moment, at least) she’s no longer in that mental state, and makes it so much more hopeful

        3. Willoughby Chase

          Change is a foot like a gentle autumn breeze across the stalks of corn.

        4. Cerberus

          Oh, wow! Nice spot Andy!

          And you’re totally right, it’s strongly echoing the characters. Even distanced, they’re somewhat seeing each other, if not in reality, certainly in echo or in spirit.

        5. Andy

          The things I spot while I’m “working” (waiting for a script to finish searching data for bad entries.)

        6. ety

          My code’s compiling, I swear…

        7. thejeff

          Compiling

      2. Willoughby Chase

        Nice spot.

    3. Orion Fury

      Is there a better kind of ally? I’m hard pressed to come up with one.

    4. ischemgeek

      This is the kind of thing that I really wish there was more of in those suicide prevention stuff/mental health support stuff/anti-bullying stuff, etc.

      “Yes, everything genuinely is awful and your problems are real and valid. The problems will not last forever, and we will help you make things better.” is a message I can get behind.

      “It gets better” on the other hand, was one that I felt at the time was just so much bullshit. People who’d never experienced what I was going through trying to act like they got it and convince me to keep trucking without any indication that they understood they were asking me to keep braving hell.

      This kind of optimisim is the kind that someone who’s been through hell emotionally and has genuine empathy can encourage. It’s a quietly defiant kind of optimism: You can’t crush my hope, I won’t let you.

      I like that – it appeals to the part of me that remembers what it’s like to be powered by spite and stubbornness. And I think, “Let’s make it better” is a message 15YO me would not have thought was just some phony trying to pat their own ego without doing anything real. It’s a message that actually has a chance of being able to reach the kids like 15YO me, who are in a place so dark that even if “It gets better” is a true message (and being real, it probably is), they can’t believe it, because they’re in a Ruth or Billie spot, where it seems like everything has been awful forever and nothing has or will ever change or improve. “It gets better” suggest passivity, it suggests you should just shut up and absorb abuse until one day *poof* a magic wand is waved and everything is magically all better and you get to live happily ever after.

      “Let’s make it better” suggests action. The status quo is unnacceptable. It’s hurting you and others. Let’s fix it. It’s something that’s empowering – you have the ability to help make things better for yourself.

      … All I’ve gotta say is: Willis gets optimism in the face of general horribleness. I’d get behind one of those outreach messages of “Let’s make it better.”

      I like it a hell of a lot more than “It gets better.” Cuuuuz yeah. Unpopular opinion, but I really fucking hated that campaign when it was a thing. Shades of being told in essence to just shut up and put up with bullying and abuse as my lot in life in high school because “it gets better in college” and that’s supposed to negate the fact that life for me was really awful now. Screw that noise.

      1. Emperor Norton II

        I’ll be honest, I never considered this viewpoint with regards to that campaign. I will have to think long and hard about it now.

        Would you also say that “let’s make it better” allows for a certain amount of motivation through spite? As in, “Yeah, I’ll make it better even though there are lots of arseholes in the world that would rather I didn’t.”

        1. ischemgeek

          It does, and that’s part of why I like it so much.

          Cuz, for me, spite saved my life. Spite was the primary driving factor for why I didn’t die by suicide in my teenage years: I didn’t want to give my bullies the satisfaction of successfully bullying me to suicide (which is what they were trying to do – they’d told me as much in so many words).

          Spite gets a bad rap. It’s not a popular emotion, because people tend to only notice it when it’s used badly. But, used well, spite can be a force for good, IMO. Spite gave me the will to keep going when I was in Ruth’s place.

          I really hope we’ll eventually get over this “Let’s demonize certain emotions” thing because to me what emotion you’re feeling isn’t important, it’s what you do with your emotions that’s important. I can be the most rage-filled person in the world, and that doesn’t make me an abusive asshat unless I use that rage as an excuse to abuse people. If I instead use it to power activism for equal rights or something like that, I’m a good person.

          But we seem to have this idea that the darker emotions are something to be locked away in a dark cupboard where nobody will ever see or hear from them… Like for me, feel them, acknowledge them, use them to fuel you as needed, and don’t be controlled by them, and it’s good.

        2. Emperor Norton II

          You just summarized exactly everything I feel about spite. I could go on and on about how crappily “positive” emotions can be used, but we both know that too already.

          *Internet ‘I hope this will piss off some ass-holes’ high-five*

      2. Fart Captor

        I agree completely.

        I had to deal with a lot of persistent bullying in school while growing up, and now that you mention it, “it gets better” really doesn’t feel like much of an improvement over “ignore them until they give up”, which the only advice I ever got. And as about half of that bullying consisted of other kids trying to beat me up, provoke me into a fight, or trying to get other kids they liked to bully to fight me, “ignoring them” is shitty advice. Especially for how it completely dismisses how THEY were the problem, not me.

        I got through that mostly by adopting attitude that the world that was trying to bring me down could go fuck itself; I was going to be happy anyway purely out of spite (this may relate to why I like Carla so much). A single teacher just acknowledging that I shouldn’t have to put up with it would have been huge.

        1. ischemgeek

          It gets better is a variation on ignore them until they give up, not an improvement, IMO.

    5. Bagge

      Yes.

      Yes, yes, all the yes.

      This is pure hope and optimism. This is when Joyce WINS. Ryan with his assult, ToeDad with his gun, home with their homophobia, even Sarah with her pesimism, they all tried to take something from Joyce. But she fougth them and she WON.

      No one took away her Becky.

      No one took away her morals.

      No one took away her optimism.

      Even Sarah, the one who Joyce respects and love the most and therefor was the largest threat, cahnged herself rather than changing Joyce.

      Things are not getting inevitably worst.

      Things are getting better.

      Because Sarah and Joyce will make them better.

      The last panel is the complete opposite. That is the FIRST panel of the rest of Joyce’s life. A life that she makes better.

  73. JohnnyO

    End of book 6? What happened at the DeSanto rally? Did Amazi-Girl chase down Asshole McScarface? Did Robin and Leslie and meet and have sloppy make-outs? Damn you Willis I want answers.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      The DeSanto rally starts at midnight.  That’s the next day (and the next book).

    2. Orion Fury

      The clock struck 12?

  74. Falling Star

    Wait…WHAT?!! That’s it?!! What happened?!!

  75. Kernanator

    What. What. WHAT.

    DAAAAMMMNNN YOUUUUUUU WIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIISSSSSS!!

  76. Dara

    “Let’s make things better.”

    Wow, okay, I’ve been planning a single drop – I’m a musician – today at midnight for a couple of months now. (Here y’go!) And thematically we’ve got some shit in common here, and I just had a burlesque artist I know talk about her new piece, and and and.

    A lot of people seem to be wanting to hit the same note at the same time here.

    1. ety

      I’d buy it, but paypal doesn’t want me to.

      1. Dara

        Wow, thanks! And fffffft Paypal.

  77. Batman

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tdu4uKSZ3M

    I’ll be the roundabout
    The words will make you out ‘n’ out
    I spend the day your way
    Call it morning driving through the sound and
    In and out the valley

    The music dance and sing
    They make the children really ring
    I spend the day your way
    Call it morning driving through the sound and
    In and out the valley…

    1. Batman

      also DAMN YOU WILLIS

    2. Spencer

      My grav feels so appropriate now.

  78. trlkly

    Sorry that this has nothing to do with this comic, but I was checking out some older comics, and it re-contextualized something that happened recently.

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-2/01-pajama-jeans/friends/

    Billie didn’t stuff Walky into lockers. Her cheerleader friends did, and she just let them.

    1. Bagge

      I think Billie might have taken an active role into it as well.

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

      1. trlkly

        That’s the comic I was re-interpreting. It makes things make a lot more sense to me that Billie never personally did it. She just went along with the others.

  79. Batman

    Ya know what this comic needs, more transformers…
    Ya know, just to break up all the depressing shit every once in a while

    1. Orion Fury

      Well let’s see, there’s some in Amber’s room…

      No, wait, Ethan has some, I think. He’s not, too depressing, I think?

  80. Bicycle Bill

    When Joyce said “… let’s make things better” in panel two, I took that at first as her asking God for some divine intervention.  Remember, not every prayer needs to start out with something like “Oh Lord, thou art great and mighty, just and righteous, but yet gracious and benevolent.  I beseech thee, please hark to and heed this petition from thy humble and unworthy servant…”  And the following panels shows some of the things that need to be “made better”.

    Then Sarah answers from the upper bunk.  Well, there’s THAT moment shot to hell.

    1. Andy

      And then Joyce smiles. In a way, Sarah can be seen as an answer to Joyce’s prayers, just as she was when Ryan attacked her. Sarah’s got Joyce’s back.

    2. Fart Captor

      I’m an atheist, so I might not understand such things, but I don’t see how Sarah ruins either the moment, or that interpretation of panel 2. If friends who love and support you aren’t a blessing, what is?

    3. Saki

      Completely unimportant sidenote: Sarah’s not in an “upper” bunk, they both have individual bunk beds next to each other where the bottom has a desk instead of a desk (dos “bunk bed” apply at this point? is there a specific name for beds like this?). :3

      1. David M Willis

        “Loft bed.”

        1. Saki

          Thank you! :3

    4. Willoughby Chase

      Is it a prayer? I don’t think so.

      Joyce’s reaction is full of quiet optimism, the sort that doesn’t come with a moment “shot to hell.”

      1. Andy

        It’s Joyce. God and spirituality permeates and pervades her life. Every little thing is a blessing from God. God’s everywhere. Even if it’s not a formal prayer, I can see it as one.

      2. Fart Captor

        I think Bill is right about that, and I really like that interpretation.

        That it goes from being a question to a statement when Joyce repeats it the second time makes it feel like she found at least one of the answers she needed. I really like resolve that her smile implies with that in mind.

        1. thejeff

          But Joyce doesn’t repeat it. Sarah answers her.

          And I don’t think it’s a prayer. She’s repeating and questioning what Sarah said before the Hug. I think she’s partly asking if Sarah really meant it and partly if it’s really possible. Sarah’s response reaffirms her determination. And I agree about the resolve in that smile.

        2. Fart Captor

          It may not be a prayer per se, but it seems likely she was at least thinking about god as she says it, even if she’s not really directing the question to Him.

          Considering how much has happened to her recently, I’d be surprised if she weren’t trying to figure out how all this fits into His plan for her, or what what meaning or purpose she is supposed to take from it, or simply why it happened.

          And I think Joyce might be coming to see that these things have shown her what the actual evils are that God would want her to fight. Not atheists or gays as she was raised to believe, but kind of hate that tried to teach her that, and which caused people to do the horrible things she’s endured. That she’s been shown some terrible things about the world which need to be made better, and that she has the strength to survive them, and perhaps even enough to do more than that.

          But I don’t know if any of that is especially plausible. I just really like how she’s somehow held onto her fail through this, as well as the idea that she still believes that the loving god she believes in would want her to take all the bad things that have happened as use them fuel to do something good.

          And I think/hope she’s realized by now that its okay to accept some of the credit herself for being a total badass.

    5. Orion Fury

      I agree with Andy. While it could have been a prayer to her God, to my knowledge he does work through others, so Sarah answering would then be an answer to her prayer. And who wouldn’t want backup from Sarah anyways? Got height and reach advantage, and she’s got a mean swing.

    6. trlkly

      Based on where she was looking, I think she was praying. And Sarah agreed with her prayer, even if she wasn’t praying. Maybe she even thought she was talking to her.

      And Joyce could have been talking to Sarah, while still praying, too. (And, no, that doesn’t means she thinks Sarah is God now.)

      1. merbrat

        Lying on her back, naturally looking at the ceiling… putting the question out there. Sarah is in the room and can hear her, so she answers. It is just confirming the statement from a few comics ago. (love the small, hopeful smile)

  81. Bizzarro

    In the words of monty python…

    “Get on with it!”

    “Yes, get on with it!”

    *everyone* “GET ON WITH IT!”

  82. George Wiman

    It’s a prayer, spoken in one direction and answered from another. It brought tears to my eyes.

    So much wrong in this world. So much broken, and full of pain. And we can make it better. If we try. I don’t believe in god but I do believe in this.

  83. Tenchan

    Time to play our ending theme.

  84. ithehellamhenry

    In addition to your regularly-scheduled cliffhanger, have some feels!

  85. Ellen Lloyd

    This page – this moment in the story line – it feels like the turning point. Gearing up for the rush of many things happening, where the story will pivot and from this point forwards progress will be everywhere (beset by difficulties of course).

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