168

Propriety
Posted on September 27, 2018 by David M Willis

168 thoughts on “Propriety”

  1. Doctor_Who

    Lucy already knows Walky’s Hogwarts House, Midichlorian count, vampire clan, and which color Power Ranger he is.

    She’s even got a particularly ridiculous AU where he’s part of a government organization that fights aliens.

    1. Cattleprod

      He’s the generically beige ranger, right?

      1. Viktoria

        Red is leader, Blue is nerd, Black is cool, Pink is female, Yellow is skilled, Green is exceptional.
        So:
        Red is Dorothy
        Blue is Amber
        Black is Sal
        Pink is Joyce
        Yellow is Walky
        Green is Carla

        1. cbwroses

          Wouldn’t Walky be the nerd and Amber the skilled one? Admittedly, she’s nerdier AND better skilled then him, so it’s debatable.

        2. Jamie

          I don’t remember Yellow being particularly skilled…

        3. Regalli

          I mean a lot of the time in the seasons with two girl rangers Yellow would be the relative tomboy, but I don’t remember the seasons that had yellow dude Rangers? Then again I’m most familiar with MMPR and Dino Thunder (the latter having Yellow as the Sole Girl Slot,) so I’m not the best source.

        4. EnerPrime

          Off the top of my head: the Alien Rangers, Ninja Storm, Mystic Force and Ninja Steel all have dude Yellows. So they’re rare, but not unheard of.

        5. EnerPrime

          Viktoria’s comment is based entirely on the first season of Power Rangers. The only traits there that really remain consistent for all seasons is that Red is always the leader (even when they give lip service to another being the leader, Red will always stand in front and make the calls in the field) and Pink (if there is one) is always a girl.

    2. Ray

      But what’s his Cutie Mark…. a Butt Taco?

      1. The Gorram Batguy

        Yes.

  2. Nono

    Or, Walky’s other options to talk to are… Dorothy’s biggest fangirl, and… Mike.

    Yeah, Billie was the best of a bad bunch of options.

    1. cbwroses

      Could have talked to Joe. Joe can give bad dating advice just as well as Billie.

      1. tirachokko

        somehow i feel like joe may have said no – maybe it’s his recent new-not-ignored moral compass

        1. cbwroses

          Joe is against cheating.
          But two single and consenting adults? He probably wouldn’t have an issue with it.

        2. Diner Kinetic

          Joe is against *dating*. he’d be down for walky banging half the school because having sex to punch feelings is basically Joe’s modus operandi

      2. thejeff

        But Walky barely knows Joe. Why talk to him?

        Mike’s his roommate, but not his friend.

        1. cbwroses

          He and Joe talk to each other in class and hang out a little bit after class.
          He also knows that Joe knew Dorothy before college.
          And Joe has a lot of experience with women.
          He wouldn’t necessarily take his advice, but those are several decent reasons to talk to him. Joe is certainly friendlier to him than Mike is.

    2. Deathjavu

      Jason? Sal? Dorothy??

      Yeah, Walky’s emotional hangups haven’t really left him with a lot of options.

      1. thejeff

        Not really sure it’s his “emotional hangups”. I guess he hasn’t made a lot of close friends, but I’m not sure it’s emotional hangups that cause that.

  3. jeffepp

    The alt text speaks for us all.

    1. Deanatay

      Actually, Lucy speaks for me.

      1. Clif

        They are both doing a fine job.

  4. shadowcell

    Dumbing of Age Book 9: The Romantic Fantasy I’ve Written for These Strangers In My Head Has Already Taken Hold

    1. Solenoid

      holy crap, that really fits as a title. gonna have to be a good line to usurp that.

  5. AnvilPro

    This is why Walky is Billy’s emergency contact. This is a good friendship based on trust and telling each other what they want to hear

    1. Bagge

      And always being true to themselves (=an annoying smartass goofball and a prissy semi-bully, respectively)

  6. BBCC

    Lucy, please don’t make up other people’s lives, it’s kinda weird at best and kinda creepy at worst.

    That said, it is good to remind Billie that Walky is trying not to be a dick about this and trying not to hurt Dorothy’s feelings.

    And yeah, sorry Walky, Billie’s gonna tell you to go for it.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Lucy is the Hiyori Tamura of Forest Quad.

      I can’t believe I’m making Lucky Star references in 2018.

      1. Fire_daws

        Why am I seeing Walky as Konata and Billy as Kagami?

        …yes there is probably better matches but it’s early in the morning and my brain hasn’t fully woken up.

    2. Regalli

      Seriously Lucy, just… no. Nonononono. I know dumbass teens and all, but… nooooo.

      Please write your Young Justice fanfic instead.*

      * With the timescale, this Lucy is firmly Too Young for original Teen Titans cartoon but not quite young enough for Go! (And its emphasis on the Wacky means it probably doesn’t lend itself well to Deep Fangirl Emotions and fic. A moment’s sadness for the loss of a fellow baby Starfire fangirl. Though about three years should fix that.)

      1. BBCC

        Eh, she’s a nerd. Shot in the dark, she found it on youtube?

        1. Regalli

          I hope. But it does lose some of the same ‘baby’s first introduction to superhero media’ that Shortpacked Lucy had if she has to seek it out, which was part of why I found her relatable in the Starfire comic. (I was probably actually a touch younger than that universe’s Lucy, doing the math. So you know, Feeling-Old-Despite-Being-25. Damn you sliding timescales!)

        2. BBCC

          Well in that case, it’s not like the show didn’t ever rerun, right? Maybe she got her intro from those!

        3. Regalli

          Could have by that time. I think. The show was in reruns for a while but then CN started to think eight-hour Johnny Test marathons was The Way To Go. Maybe she was up late one night and stumbled on it by chance? Sure, new headcanon. She happened to see the Puppet King body swap episode in the random rerun dead zone and got hooked, it’s a great one for explaining Raven and Starfire anyway.

        4. Opus the Poet

          Only if her parents decided to spring for Boomerang. They ran it for a few years about a year after they started running the Power Puff Girls repeats.

      2. Emily

        There’s always the possibility that Willis didn’t consider a completely accurate to reality timescale for character’s nerd interests to be super important considering the timescale is already wonky.

        1. BBCC

          Let us have our in-universe fun. 😛

    3. CJ

      Getting told to go for it might be the only thing that makes him reconsider.

  7. motorfirebox

    *He* will come to *me*?

    1. shadowcell

      he has grown single. only together can we turn him to the revenge sex-ing side of the Force.

      1. JoeCovenant

        I have foreseen it…
        It is his Density…

        1. Shameless

          WISH I could upvote!!

  8. Kernanator

    This storyline has barely started and there are already some amazing lines.

  9. DailyBrad

    Billie, like she sometimes is, is right but not for the right reasons.

    Lucy is Joyce’s non-union equivalent, eh?

    1. Steve C

      Say what you will, I really like how she got right to the bottom line there.

  10. Speedball

    God, Lucy really is a black Joyce. Or vice-versa.

    1. Hoboturtle

      Joyce is the black Lucy?

  11. Bagge

    Joyce *crashes through door*: “No, don’t you see it, with Dorothy finally dumping him he has returned to his true love – BILLIE!

    Billie: What…

    Walky: Guys, I already HAVE a new girlfriend. You don’t have to make up ships.

    Lucy and Joyce: Hush you.

    1. ShinyNeen

      Joyce: Wait, Walky, you have a new girlfriend? Already?

  12. ShinyNeen

    Billie, spite is your thing, not Walky’s. Seriously, I’m always relieved that he still doesn’t seem to have any animosity towards Dorothy.

    Hopefully Walky only pays about the same amount of attention to Billie’s advice as he did yesterday.

    1. Clif

      Walku k new Dorothy was our of his league to start with.

      1. Clif

        Wow! Let’s try that again. Walky knew Dorothy was out of his league to begin with. So no reason to animose… :-/

        1. thejeff

          He may have thought so. Dorothy didn’t.
          I find this whole “out of his league” thing to be crap anyways.

        2. ShinyNeen

          Agreed! It’s pretty dang natural to compare ourselves to others. But it’s also a total trap and it does things like help destroy the self-confidence of poor young Walkys. : (

  13. Deadjolras

    How do I subscribe to Lucy’s fanfic? Is it up on AO3, fanfiction.net or Wattpad?

    1. ShinyNeen

      Okay, same question but for DoA fanfic in general.

  14. Mada

    I like to think at some point we’re going to find out Lucy and Amber are fanfic writing buddies.

    1. Regalli

      Possible, but we have no real indication of fandom overlap yet. (Safe bet there’s some, since MCU is pretty mainstream, but which ones do we know Amber actually writes for and not just reads?)

      (Also now I want to know Lucy’s thoughts on the current JKR Drama with Fantastic Beasts.)

    2. thejeff

      I might be wrong but I expect Amber’s fanfiction to be a bit more explicit and less romantic than Lucy’s style.

  15. Derek

    Wow, Lucy truly is the alternate version of Joyce

    1. Roger Sterling

      Lucy is Joyce except instead of Christ it’s the same 4 fandoms and their fanfiction pages.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Lucy is Echo Joyce, completely similar but absolutely the opposite because she would never entertain the idea of Dorothy and Walky hooking back up permanently.

        1. Hoboturtle

          She is the Daisy to Joyces Peach, the Lucina to her Marth, the Ritcher to her Simon.

  16. Darkoneko

    It’s like sitting on a bed with an imaginative angel on one side and an alcoholic demon on the other.

    1. lightsabermario

      I think I’ve seen that porn.

  17. Badgermole

    Does – does Walky know about Dorothy, Amber, Not Ryan, and the Incident With The Knife? Intriguing pause there in the first panel, David.

    1. BBCC

      He knows. Amber introduced herself as the girl who saved his girlfriend’s life.

      1. thejeff

        He’s probably also thinking of Dorothy’s ties to Amazi-Girl.

  18. cbwroses

    I swear, the art was always good to me, but there are so many panels and facial expressions this past month that I just love!
    That Billie side eye and smile (I want to call it a dirtbag smile, but I know there’s got to be a better name for it that I’m just blanking on).

    1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      I was just looking through the comments to see if anyone else commented on that smile. Good that I wasn’t the only one who was like “this needs to be spoken about”.
      Although personally, I call that an “Ooooh yeaaah!” smile. Preferably paired with dual finger guns.

      1. cbwroses

        Come now. You know Billie thinks finger guns are for nerds.

        And yeah, that smile is something else. I think the name would differ depending on the situation, and since she’s basically saying he came to her because she’s going to tell him the “bad” thing to do, dirtbag was the best i could think of.
        Unless the right word to cover those types of situations comes along. Rakish smile? Roguish smile? Hmm…

    2. CJ

      I’d call that smile mischievous and self-satisfied.

      1. Emily

        Also known as smug which is like Billie’s default setting.

    3. Geneseepaws

      Ooow-ooow that smile,
      Don’t-cha smile that smile,
      Ooow-ooow that smile,
      That smile of plots is on you.

  19. Roger Sterling

    Lucy strikes me as that one who could witness an actual murder and not be able to stop herself comparing it to when Snape killed Dumbledore.

    They had to explain the holocaust to her in terms of Voldemort, instead of the other way around.

    She thinks hogwarts houses are archetypes. Her dream is to get married at a Leakycon. She’s a tax bracket away from spending her life working at a Hot Topic. By choice. If she had it her way, she’d run one.

    Seemingly possessing the depth of damp tissue paper.

    1. Roger Sterling

      *what she immediately thinks of when someone mentions literary archetypes.

  20. bejouled

    They’re both wrong, because Walky is going to end up with Joyce.

    HE HAS TO END UP WITH JOYCE.

    1. tirachokko

      JOYCEXJOE FOREVER AND YOU CAN’T CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE
      (LET ME HAVE ONE TIMELINE WHERE THEY GET TOGETHER, OKAY)

  21. Arianod

    Lucy confirmed for shipper trash.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Wouldn’t that be ‘garbage shipper’?

      Does that mean Lucy is Waste Management?

      1. Arianod

        Not sure if she’s managing very well right now.

  22. Ridtom

    So has it been decided that Dorothy dumped Walky? I thought it was a mutual dumping?

    1. Dana

      I doubt Billie recognizes the concept of mutual dumping. Doubly so with Walky involved.

    2. Regalli

      The break was kind of mutual, and Walky definitely thought she was Too Good For Him, but having the awkward conversation was primarily Dorothy’s move, and she was the one who brought up their rules changing and how that wasn’t fair to Walky – he was more focused on Dragging Her Down. (Caps all around for sarcasm.)

      That, and most of the people who say he was dumped rather than broken up have some sort of bias here – Billie doesn’t really get amicable breakups, Becky dislikes Dorothy, and Sal thought the break was basically a lie to soften things, to name the ones I remember offhand.

  23. cbwroses

    Billie: Walky don’t INSULT me. I KNOW you. I’ve known you MOST OF MY LIFE. I can READ YOUR FACE. And your face is saying “I WANT A PIECE OF THAT THICC DOROTHY ASS.”

  24. cbwroses

    Jokes aside, what this strip boils down to is even though they’ve never had a conversation like this before, Billie is acknowledging that they know each other so well that he came to her because he knew she’d give him the answer he wanted to hear.
    It’s really one of the biggest testaments of their friendship that she’s given, especially considering how often she’s tried to deny their relationship.

    1. CJ

      That.
      And she took him into her room where Lucy at least can see them talking (and listens, as we now know), which runs counter to her intention of not allowing anyone to think she is friends with Walky (because he doesn’t fit into her cheerleader winner golden girl persona she lives at Forrest quad).

      1. Norah

        She thinks Lucy is such a big nerd that she doesn’t care what she thinks. IF her roommate was anyone else from Forest Quad, she would’ve asked Walky to go somewhere else.

      2. Deanatay

        I think it’s more like ‘roommates are acceptable losses’.

        In fact, I think Willis has made that reference before…. *archive dive*

      3. thejeff

        But it’s something of a balance, because “matchmaker and source of romantic wisdom” does fit her persona. And she’s even generous enough to bestow it on nerds like Walky.

  25. Passchendaele

    lucy is me, confirmed

    (also this is a good time to mention I’m going to be hearing adam savage speak tomorrow, eeeeeee!)

    1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      Billie is me confirmed?
      I mean, apart from the alcoholism. … as far as you know.

      1. Passchendaele

        lol I still have some stupidly romantic mindsets, I’ll probably become a billie in a couple years

  26. mrj

    It’s like the angel/devil at both shoulders, except both of them are promoting unhealthy views of relationships.

    1. thejeff

      Isn’t that actually usually the way the angel/devil thing works? Even if the writer thinks the angel is right.

  27. Rabid Rabbit

    So, the way to tell if the IU fanfic about real people is written by Amber or by Lucy is whether it’s smutty or romantic, right?

    1. thejeff

      Yeah. Amber’s are probably more like to be m/m, too.

  28. Josh Spicer

    Okay, Lucy…

    Lucy’s goin places.

  29. brasca1

    I’m going to guess that Lucy’s fanfics are G-rated while Amber’s were purged from fanfiction.net.

    1. tirachokko

      lol you say this like the literal worst fanfiction ever doesn’t exist, along with the other guro smut I’ve found and studied out of misguided curiosity that “surely it couldn’t be what it looked like”

  30. newllend(henryvolt)

    Ain’t it just like a shipper to romanticize about one person she knows nothing about and another she hasn’t even seen or met yet.

    1. Regalli

      Hey, some of us shippers leave it to fictional scenarios. Ship responsibly, friends.

      (Then again, I rarely ship without some fairly significant text backing it up, so I am probably a weirdo in that regard.)

  31. newllend(henryvolt)

    By the way Billie why you got to make it sound like he just made a deal with the Devil?

  32. Cass

    Lucy, Faz also maps out his ideas of folks relationship dynamics based on listening in on their conversations.

    You don’t want to share a hobby with Faz.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Nah, Faz concerns himself with creating a chart of his popularity with the ladies over time. As you can see, it needs a log scale to be accurately depicted on a page.

    2. thejeff

      Meh, basic social primate survival skill.

      Faz just does it creepily.

  33. Keulen

    So Lucy is as quick to write fanfics as Amber, though I’m guessing Lucy’s fanfics are much less fucked-up.

    1. Regalli

      Honestly guro disturbs me less than RPF in the grand scheme of things. May not enjoy it personally, but at least the gore people tend to be upfront about how this is fiction and they don’t want to eviscerate people. The real person shippers actually believe those two One Direction guys are together but the homophobic record company Denies Their Love and forced one into a sham marriage and the child resulting from it is a child actor (or series thereof?) Or that Canadian Olympic medalist ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are not just secretly married, but also have a secret baby.

      It’s, um. It’s a thing, that’s for sure.

      1. CJ

        RPF?
        (“Tend to be upfront about they don’t want to eviscarate people” wouldn’t be enough for me. Too many crazy things have happened.)

        1. King Daniel

          RPF = Real Person ‘Fic, I’m guessing.

        2. CJ

          Ah, thanks.

        3. Regalli

          Yep, that it is.

      2. thejeff

        But guro RPF is right out.

    2. CJ

      All of you seem to know more about fanfic than I do. Is there some nice Ran/Masumi stuff out there? Ran deserves a partner who’s not afraid of her strength.

      1. Regalli

        Archive of Our Own says it exists, but a lot of it seems to have them as a secondary pairing and I can’t vouch for quality. So yes, to some degree. (You name it, there’s probably SOMETHING out there, but f/f tends to get less content because Fandom Shit.)

        1. CJ

          Thanks. One I found is really all of them plotting to get Shinichi and Kaito Kid together, another is a nice falling in love story from Ran’s POV.
          Incredible amounts of shinichi/kid stuff.
          Maybe I should get my mental fanfic on paper and contribute to even the odds.

  34. Jay

    I REALLY hate lucy. she’s the kinda of super annoying person that makes me want to die. I don’t understand every bongoing at billie for being a bongo

  35. Classic Appa

    I think Lucy’s making fun of us….

  36. Felgraf

    LUCY SHIPPING NONFICTIONAL PEOPLE IS NOT GOOD.
    (Which from your perspective Walky and Dorothy are)
    do not do this thing.

  37. BenRG

    Darn! Lucy really is alt-Joyce, isn’t she? Right down to the moon-eyed shipping!

  38. Tacos

    I know people were comparing Joyce and Lucy but damn that comment really does sound like something Joyce would say.

  39. Chris Phoenix

    Billie. Head cheerleader. Problem solver.
    …. psychoanalyst???
    Be careful, Willis, we’re going to have to start calling it Smartening of Age!

    1. Bagge

      AAAAAALPHA BOOOOONGO!!!

      1. Bagge

        Of all Billie panels, panel 3 in this comic might be the alpha bongoiest panel of them all.

    2. BenRG

      I think it is more likely that Willis lampshading that Billie is his version of Lucy from Peanuts!

  40. JessWitt

    Darn Billie, that’s a good point. Of all the dormies he knew on IU, Walky chose to knock on Billie’s door.

    I hope for Dorothy’s sake she takes this news well or her burnout is gonna escalate quickly.

    1. BenRG

      Here’s the thing, though: Billie isn’t just a ‘dormie’, she’s practically a surrogate sister and one who, in her high school days, made a big thing of how socially aware and prominent she was in their peer community. Naturally, Walky would see her as the ‘go to’ woman for social conundrums.

      1. JessWitt

        True that. I forget about their sibling-type relationship.

  41. Graham

    Is this really a thing in America? I know it’s a thing in romantic comedies and teen dramas, but does anyone actually live by this stuff?

    ‘Cos over here, if she dumps him, and they’ve only been dating for, what, six weeks or something, no one is going to care if he sleeps with someone else. It wasn’t a serious relationship, it wasn’t his decision to end it. What he does is entirely his own business.

    Now, Amber worrying that she’s “rebound girl” would be a thing. Dorothy being an idiot would be a thing. (“He has a new girl? Maybe I shouldn’t have dumped him after all…”) But Walky is pretty much guilt free.

    I just don’t get this storyline.

    1. CJ

      Did you get the one about Joyce flirting with Jacob?
      (Stuff like that was pretty normal behavior when I was in my teens and didn’t get commented on that much).

    2. Sam

      It is generally just accepted (to my knowledge as someone in the UK) if you have an amicable break up and are still friends, you don’t jump into another relationship immediately. And while it didn’t start as serious and wasn’t intended to be so, the lines on that arguably blurred over time.

      And Walky is 100% guilty of using Amber as a way to skirt around having to exist in and confront his actual pain. Even if his feelings are genuine, Amber is a person, not a coping mechanism and he could set himself up for a hell of a hard time with life if this becomes a pattern.

    3. Regalli

      Generally the timeframe (we’re only on Day Two post-breakup) will raise a few eyebrows, since Dorothy and Walky had exchanged ‘I love you’s. Eight weeks may not be long for a relationship in the grand scheme of things, but it being Walky’s first serious relationship and the fact that they did spend A LOT of time together and clearly had Emotions factor into things. Add in the amicable breakup where Emotions were clearly still happening and yeah, him moving on this fast is a Thing.

      (To put it another way: the last time Sal saw Walky before Garbage Roof was earlier that day, and he was really hurting and miserable from it. When she saw him kissing someone else that night then yeah, it seemed fast and she’s not sure his emotions are resolved because twelve hours is a quick turnaround from misery to make outs.)

    4. Deanatay

      Graham, I don’t think people are thinking that Walky’s done anything wrong, exactly, but that what he’s doing isn’t psychologically healthy.

      It’s the kind of criticism you can only give if you have intimate knowledge of a person’s life. Which, as comic voyeurs, we do.

      1. sirconanad

        “Comic Voyeur” should be the Anonymous of webcomic comment sections.

  42. Ainara

    A few weeks ago, I found out that one of my friends was trying to “get” me and a friend of hers “together”. I barely knew the guy (we basically had an “amicable acquaintances” relationship, as is the case with most “friend’s friends”) and she knew he liked me but I definitely did not see him that way. It’s the first time it’d happened to me, so I don’t know if trying to “set people up” when you don’t even know if both people like each other is a normal friend thing to do, but I was pretty creeped out to find out those were her intentions. I guess I’m bringing this up because Lucy playing matchmaker reminded me of it.

    Wow, I “sure” used a “lot” of quotation “marks”

    1. BenRG

      I don’t think that Lucy is playing ‘matchmaker’. She’s actively writing mental romantic fan-fiction about two people about which she knows nothing. That’s… disturbing. It is disturbing every time I see it on the internet and I can see why Fanfiction.NET deleted its archive of stories about real-life celebrities because there is something disturbing about the who concept!

      1. Emily

        I mean composing it in your own head for your own entertainment seems largely harmless whereas posting it online where its subjects could actually see it is pretty creepy.

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          One of them is in the room.

    2. CJ

      I can see how you feel it was somehow creepy to be set up with a guy without your knowledge. Sounds a bit like they were more friends with him than with you?

      I’m friends with a couple and one of them sometimes tries to “help me find a partner”. The most obvious case was that she invited a women I’d never seen before to the going dancing part of her birthday (but not to dinner before) so I would have a dance partner.
      If she had found someone I really liked I would probably have found it nice of her. As the women seemed to expect something to click and some of my inner nooooo sensors were going off, it was a strange event.
      So yes, some people do things like that. I don’t think it’s like what Lucy does here, though. More like the idea “hey, I think this could work out, let’s create an opportunity”. Still, if the opportunity doesn’t feel good, you tend to wish they didn’t bother with creating it.

      1. Ainara

        That’s the weirdest part, she was NOT more friends with him than with me. She knew him because he’s her boyfriend’s friend, I’ve known her and been hanging out with her since we were /three/ years old. You’d think she’d know I’m a very private person, and that’s the kind of thing I would hate. Maybe realizing that I’m not into him is too much to ask since everyone gives off different signals, but at least I wish she’d had the common sense to ASK ME first :I

        But whatever, it’s water under the bridge now. He’s tried making a move a couple of times, I’ve turned him down, things are fine. I’m not going to ruin my friendship over her over something like this; maybe it’s just that it is the kind of thing she would appreciate/find romantic, and I just don’t. Even if it were a guy/girl I liked, I’d still feel kind of weird about my friends doing that without my knowledge, y’know? Maybe I’m just weird

        Oh no, I agree with you and BenRG that that isn’t exactly what Lucy is doing here. It’s just that it /reminded/ me of that.

        1. CJ

          If you’ve been friends for ages it seems strange she didn’t ask you.
          You are not weird for not buying into the rom-com idea (maybe she watched something with that sort of shakespearan plot just before his interest came up?). And it wouldn’t be you ruining the friendship anyway. Asking a friend to not do what feels weird for you is totally a thing friends do.
          Best of luck with finding someone or staying single, whichever it is you want and need.

        2. Ainara

          Hey thanks, same to you 🙂

  43. stoodmuffin

    Even Lucy’s light hearted iteration has more stink to it then you think, cause it means Amber would be a rebound. FOR DORTHY.

    But I think Billie has a point. Just, she thinks she has MORE of one then she actually does. He came to her because, well, she’s right. Other folks would tell him to wait. Which might be a pretty smart Idea. But I DON’T think that instantly translates into no connection to Amber, and she’s some revenge plot. Device.

    Walky isn’t a knight in shining armor, or perfect, but that doesn’t mean he’s as spite filled as Billie is.

    I feel, Billie, that if we REALLY want to be real here… your relationship started to get better when the spite was toned DOWN. So, stop this highschool gossip game and worry about your OWN relationship

  44. Zaxares

    Ahh… Now I understand why Walky told Billie about this. He’s looking for validation that it’s OK to pursue this relationship with Amber.

  45. JBento

    Bad Lucy! Bad!

  46. BenRG

    Actually, I’m starting to think that Lucy ever meeting Joyce may be a bad idea. As much as they are two very similar young women who I imagine might end up pretty good friends, I also think that there is a significant risk that they’d enable each other to some pretty extreme levels when it comes to trying to make their ‘OTPs’ happen.

    1. Bagge

      Sure… but could they really be worse than Joyce&Becky?

      I still maintain the possibility – and the hilarity of – them rubbing each other the wrong way.

      “Does she EVER stop smiling?”
      “She’s just so… intense, you know.”

      Cue Billie and Sarah giving each other a long, suffering look.

      1. Vulcanodon

        Now I’m wondering what terrible things may have happened to Lucy, that he hides behind her cheerful demeanor.

  47. Emily

    It’s the two sides of the terrible romantic advice coin.

    1. Clif

      #ExactlyWhatYouSaidButWithSarcasm

  48. Jabberwocky

    You know, Lucy and Walky would make a cute couple

    I mean, wouldn’t last since he and Joyce are destined to be together, but it’d still be cute

    1. Bagge

      Joyce & Walky: GROSS

      1. Clif

        Yeah, Joyce and Walky would just be wrong.

  49. Kaidah

    Anyone else think Billie looks weird without her glasses?

  50. Crumplepunch

    This comic needs at least 80% more Lucy.

  51. Luna

    I really like Walky’s face in the fourth panel. Nothing says ‘I may be making a mistake’ than Billy’s total approval and he knows it.

  52. abysswatcher1993

    Lucy, don’t! You shouldn’t ship people in real life, and less if they have already broke up. We the readers can because we are aware Walky and the rest of the characters are fictional, but shipping people in your own reality is wrong.

  53. Sir_Naff

    Read the alt-text and was like, “huh, nobody says ‘I reject your reality and substitute it for my own’ anymore. I wonder what happened?” And then I remembered that 2016 happened. Fuck.

    1. Emily

      Yeah, it kinda stopped being funny when the state started doing it. Or continued doing it but way more blatantly and incompetently.

      1. thejeff

        said that guys like me were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore.” He continued “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

  54. Heavensrun

    Imagine Lucy’s reaction if she were to find out Walky is dating a superhero.

  55. Roborat

    I need some help here. What is going on with Billie’s eyes in the third panel. Are those tears? Tears of Joy? Pride?

    1. BenRG

      No, that’s her irises peeking out from under coyly-lowered eyelids in Willis’s particular art style.

  56. Jago

    It’s Joyce 2.

    1. BBCC

      Nope, Joyce is white Lucy. So says Malaya.

  57. Clif

    Lucy is my new favorite.

  58. Bonnabella

    Lucy is REALLY rubbing me the wrong way in this strip. Like really hard. It’s like when joyce is overly nosy but 10x worse for some reason. It makes me really uncomfortable.

    1. cbwroses

      Probably because she’s nosy AND she’s stranger?

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