176

Second semester freshman
Posted on October 24, 2020 by David M Willis

176 thoughts on “Second semester freshman”

  1. Injuryman

    … Okay but which Avengers does Joe ship, though?

    1. tim gueguen

      “I think the one that wears that thing, and that chick who wears that blue jumpsuit should hook up.”
      (Of course Joe knows exactly who is who, and how they differ from their comic book versions, but will never admit it.)

      1. woobie

        Joe ships himself with the lady Avengers.

        1. clif

          Surprise. He’s more of an X-persons fan.

      2. UnfrozenNeanderthal

        I feel called out here.

    2. clif

      Actually it’s academic. The Avengers all died during the time skip.

  2. Suet

    *shiiiips…. anyone with T’Challa?*

    1. Doctor_Who

      Well, maybe not Shuri, that’s not Amber’s kink.

    2. not someone else

      There really should be more T’Challa/Bucky(/Steve). Who knows what happened during all that downtime?

      1. Johan

        I like to think they’re no top or bottom but they all interchangeablly like to touch penis together.

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          What, like a tri-dock-en?

      2. Keith

        T’Chucky?

    3. a/snow/mous/e

      rip Chadwick Boseman

    4. BBCC

      Well, based on Amber’s habits (most popular slash ship for each) my guess is Tony Stark. Or if, she’s in a fucked up mood, Killmonger.

    5. JepMZ

      There was a famous shipping of T’Challa and his dead rival and gave them cat ears.

  3. Ana Chronistic

    Still Stucky, yes? Are we down with that?

    …which ones are still alive =|

    1. Doctor_Who

      Steve’s retired, so now Amber’s main pair are Ant-Man/Hulk.

      She sees a lot of smolder in that scene where Hulk shares his Taco Bell.

      1. Mobcat

        So wait, does that mean Amber’s the one who wrote the Stucky article on Wikipedia?

      2. Emily

        Come now, everyone knows the best ships are between the people who have never interacted on screen before

        1. UnfrozenNeanderthal

          No, everyone knows that if you’re shipping the film versions you’re doing it wrong.

        2. He Who Abides

          Not if you ship film version x comic version.

      3. Sirksome

        Antman/Hulk is wishful thinking at best. The real ships with meat on their bones are Tony and Bruce (who already have two kids together by the way) or Thor and Hulk whose relationship has been built up over 3 movies from their fight in Avengers 1 one to true bros in Thor 3!

        1. Adalisa

          Science Boyfriends forever.

        2. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

          Science Bros would be Antman and Spiderman and their mutual distaste would be Mr.Fantastic, that [scoville-diatribe].

        3. liliaeth

          nah, the real ships are Steve/Sam, and Tony/Rhodey

        4. emusam

          ^_^

    2. dazed and

      ah, of course

  4. dazed and

    STUCKYY

    1. Deanatay

      Stucky rules Stony drools

  5. Chris

    How about just doing one big ship of everyone who was on the helicarrier?

    1. Kernanator

      Can’t go wrong with the giant fuckpile.

    2. showler

      Maybe “helicarrier” can be the term for large scale group shipping?

    3. Jamie

      It is a ship that flies. Not sure you want your ship to go out like the Hindenberg rather than the Titanic, though.

  6. showler

    He’s married.

    1. Reltzik

      Pfft. Like that ever stopped shippers.

      1. Keulen

        Shippers don’t care about silly things like canon relationships.

  7. Bogeywoman

    Probably black widow and wasp and captain marvel and pepper Potts…. or his self insert based on iron man with all of the above….. OR black widow and wonder woman

    1. Zach

      You KNOW what wasps do to black widows.
      Who would ship that anthropomorphised?

  8. Stephen Bierce

    As somebody whose Avengers were the Sixties cartoon kind, and I got tired of that waiting for it to get better, I know I’m not in the target audience anymore.

    1. Stephen Bierce

      Really, two thirds of the ones you have now didn’t even EXIST when I was a kid. Though the world is definitely better that they came along.

      1. thejeff

        Now I’m trying to remember which movie Avengers weren’t around by the 60s. The movie versions of Captain Marvel and Ant-Man didn’t, though their earlier namesakes existed. The various Guardians characters didn’t. Falcon and Vision were late in the 60s. War Machine was later. Winter Soldier was still Bucky and still dead.
        I think all the other main characters were from the 60s, though some of the supporting cast are more recent.

    2. pdp15

      For me, the Avengers are John Steed and Mrs. Peel. Everybody shipped them.

      1. Geneseepaws

        Oh, yes PLEASE!! Ms. Rigg had just the right chemistry for that part, it’s a shame they didn’t make more seasons.

        1. Opus the Poet

          I think they kinda drove the whole mess over a cliff when they found Mr. Peel next-to-last show.

      2. Agemegos

        Oh yeah!

      3. Dara

        Clearly Stephen doesn’t know this song or would’ve hacked the music system or whatever to play it already.

        You’re welcome.

      4. Corneel

        That series was called “Chapeau melon et bottes de cuir” in French (“Bowler hat and leather boots”). Make of that what you want.

  9. Brumagem

    I don’t ship Hawkeye with nobody but that big fuckin cliff

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Come and get it all, at Boston Pizza.

  10. BBCC

    Look, she isn’t hard to make happy. She ships the biggest slash ship for each character, especially if the popular pairing includes Steve Rogers. Stucky, Stony, SuperBat, probably Stormpilot and Zukka these days. She is not difficult to please.

    1. NinjaMaid

      Stony is a little divisive post civil war especially among Team Iron Man, a lot of people got turned off the pairing

      1. BBCC

        All I know is Amber shipped ’em both last semester.

        1. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

          Last Semester was YEARS ago though and things change.

        2. Demoted Oblivious

          What? No. Last semester was just last year!

        3. clif

          Yeah. Some people have a really distorted time sense.

        4. Deanatay

          Please. Last semester is SO last week.

        5. clif

          At this point, technically last month.

          Specifically, so last September the 8th.

  11. ValdVin

    Sarah’s grimace in panel three is very on-brand.

    1. JessWitt

      It’d make a great avatar.

      1. ValdVin

        Don’t tempt me.

        Okay, tempt me.

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Is that some kind of Gandalf/Frodo ship?

    2. Keulen

      It’s a great reaction face, though I still think Joyce has had the best reaction faces so far.

  12. Mra

    As long as their gay it’s good

    1. Geneseepaws

      Would that be Hawkeye slash Radar? Or Hawkeye/Blake?

      1. Needfuldoer

        Burns/Latrine

  13. Badgermole

    Is he… talking about Penny? Does Joe have the self-awareness to realize how fucked up that was?

    1. lsdf

      Who was Penny again?

      1. Badgermole

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/02-threes-a-crowd/twelvethirty/

        1. lsdf

          Thanks.

    2. Sunny

      Now that you mention it I can absolutely see it.

  14. lsdf

    I mean not everyone has to like Hawkeye, but he is very cute with Coulson.

    1. UnfrozenNeanderthal

      I try not to judge.

    2. BBCC

      Do you mind if I ask the appeal of that ship? I’ve been in the fandom from day 1 and never understood it.

      1. lsdf

        I don’t mind you asking, but I don’t think I can quite explain.

        1. BBCC

          That’s fair. I have lots of ships where I can’t really explain why I like it, I just do.

  15. nobodybasically

    Is Hawkeye the worst because of the character or because of Jeremy Renner?

    1. Regalli

      I mean between Endgame’s… many choices with him, the MCU character’s not particularly compelling at the moment. And the comics version will almost certainly pivot back to ‘endearing loser’ soon enough, but it’s been a weird couple years and we haven’t reached the point where we can forget Civil War II ever happened yet. So there are reasons besides Jeremy Renner. (I don’t even remember the context of Jeremy Renner being noteworthy in shittiness, just that it was significant. The past is mired in fog, and far more distant than it should be.)

      1. He Who Abides

        I think part of it is that Hawkeye didn’t really exist in Avengers, maybe?

      2. UniqueSnowflake2

        That’s *Academy* *Award* *nominee* Jeremy Renner.

      3. Arioch

        A lot of people get mad at Renner because he says a lot of sexist and misogynist shit when he isn’t paying attention to what comes out of his mouth. He may or may not mean it, but the point is that he says it. People really got their undies in a knot (deservedly) when he and Evans did an interview and implied that Black Widow was a slut. They both had to apologize afterward. Add to that the myriad stories about his private life (that frankly, none of us need to know about, especially when we can’t know the validity of the stories) and you get a lot of people who think he is a shit human being.

        1. BBCC

          There was also the time he was told about an anti-Romani slur and started saying it repeatedly. Mark Ruffalo did the same thing at the same time iirc.

      4. seikodelic

        He did a ton of cocaine and threatened the mother of his child with a gun.
        https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeremy-renners-ex-wife-claims-he-threatened-to-kill-her-put-gun-in-his-mouth

    2. Nono

      I don’t even know what Renner’s done, but Pratt’s running away with the poop award at the moment.

  16. DailyBrad

    Last panel punchline got me. Shipping wars are serious business.

    1. Chris

      Worst flame war I ever saw was over whether a particular character should be shipped with his own right hand… or his own left hand.

      1. He Who Abides

        Mine was on a Winx Club forum, where people were arguing about who Riven should be paired with based on which character would make him suffer the most. At some point it devolved into racist tirades and death threats between two posters that just would not chill the fuck out.

        1. BBCC

          Damn. Sounds like a fun time. TF gets that heated about Winx Clu – Oh who am I kidding, the fandom was always like that.

        2. He Who Abides

          Yep.

          Funny thing is, I used that thread to figure out if a ‘ship I was planning to use for a fanfiction would be a healthier one, and then I just sat back to watch the war.

        3. BBCC

          Well, now I’m just wondering what you were shipping. 😉

          Personally, I would think Sky or Brandon would piss him off the most. They were usually the ones he had the most problems with.

        4. He Who Abides

          I was pairing him off with Lucy, as part of an AU where Bloom, Stella, and Musa got into CloudTower instead of Alfea and ended up forming a group of witches with Lucy and Mirta (I’m still working on this one, and I actually plan on publishing it). I figured they’d be a non-tsundere-x-whatever-Musa-is version of the canonical dumpster fire he was a part of.

          If I wanted him to suffer, I’d pair canonRiven x canonIcy. He’d be her fucktoy, except for when she used him to piss off Darcy.

        5. BBCC

          I like him and Musa, but I think him and Lucy would be interesting. She has a real desire for approval and he’s not good at feelings so that’d be fascinating.

        6. He Who Abides

          You might be the first person I’ve met who still actually likes Musa x Riven. I didn’t mind them at first, but their constant fighting post-Nickelodeon takeover got old, fast. As for my fanfic pairing, it has more to do with wanting to write for him (he was one of the better boyfriends, IMO) than anything else.

        7. Needfuldoer

          Fandom is as fandom does.

      2. Regalli

        Was it at least that one manga (I think, maybe it was an anime exclusively) series where his hand got replaced by a classmate with a crush, who was now a tiny, sentient, permanent hand puppet?

      3. Demoted Oblivious

        Left handed Mike?

      4. davidbreslin101

        “Keep your drink just give me the money
        It’s just you and your non-dominant hand tonight”

  17. Regalli

    This alt text is Kate Bishop erasure and I will not stand for it. All hail the One True Hawkeye.

    HawkGUY, on the other hand? Yeah don’t ship him he’s the worst.

    1. BBCC

      IKR?

    2. Spencer

      I blame Matt Fraction.

      1. Regalli

        I blame the MCU, who turned him into Generic SHIELD Agent, But With Bow.

        Also, Civil War II, which was just a bad story for all involved.

  18. Sirksome

    I understand Joyce’s concern for Amber but also people shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around her either. This may sound a little cold but these are Amber’s issues to deal with and she’s the one lashing out. Joyce introduced a new person and Amber took it badly. Mike’s death is still raw for her but that ain’t on Joyce at all and I hate that she feels like she somehow fucked up! Total bullshit!

    1. Regalli

      Joyce really has no modes between ‘no boundaries whatsoever’ and ‘anxiety,’ so it makes sense to me that she does. Still doesn’t mean it’s her fault though, I agree. Amber needs so much more support than she’s received, and I hate that she was starting to make progress before this happened. These kids deserve so much better.

      So y’know. Time for the scheduled shouts of DAMN YOU, WILLIS!, so as to sustain their capricious god. We cannot stop their path. We can only curse it, and hope he chooses to hear.

      1. He Who Abides

        Amber does need support, but they also have a habit of using other people as dumping grounds/punching bags when they really should get some help instead.

        1. Regalli

          Agreed. It is definitely not on Joyce, or anyone else until AmbG are willing to start trying again. But I sure do wish the therapists on campus were even remotely qualified to help, and it sure does sound like they are not.

          Actually, no, as ever my big wish is that fucking Blaine hadn’t managed to convince everyone involved that seld-defense classes were the solution to Amber’s trauma, 100%, no other steps that could make it harder for him to abuse her necessary. May you rot in hell with your Walkyverse counterpart, Blaine.

        2. Regalli

          Because seriously, that they push everyone who could actually relate out of hand is a hugeass problem, but even if they tried those problems are way out of everyone else’s pay grade. Competent! Compassionate! Plural-inclusive! Support!

      2. Geneseepaws

        The gods always .hear., my question is DYW hears our calls, but will He harken to us?

  19. Kyrik Michalowski

    I’m glad the alt-text said it so I don’t have to. Everytime I remember Hawkeye I remember the comic where Spidey had to pretend that Hawk didn’t miss his shot so his ego and self worth wouldn’t be crushed.

    If I had a link to that comic I would post it, unfortunately I don’t.

    1. thejeff

      Every character who’s been around for decades has had some crappy writing tearing them down for the sake of making another character look good.

  20. Mordecai

    I can’t wait for Joe’s character development to finally start again. It was a great reveal that he’s using this uber-sexual persona to avoid being vulnerable, but I feel like we never get any looks behind the curtaim or hints/allusions to that when he does appear.

    1. Nono

      Well he doesn’t really have anyone to be vulnerable around with really. He’s kind of keeping a safe distance from Joyce, interactions with Danny are sparse and mostly keeping to ‘safe’ subjects, and we haven’t seen Jacob in a while. And it’s not like he’s going to open up to Sarah, who treats him with cold indifference, or Becky, where it’s basically the equivalent of pitting two betta fish advertising their sexualities against each other.

      1. Sunny

        That last last comparison made me giggle.
        A lot.

  21. StClair

    Speaking of supers, those are some very Wonderella expressions on Sarah.

    1. Regalli

      Her growing disdain fills me with glee.

    2. davidbreslin101

      Thank you for reminding me that Wonderella is a thing!

  22. nothri

    Frankly I think Captain America and Wonderwoman would be perfect for each other.

  23. abysswatcher1993

    I don’t ship in the Avengers fandom. Everyone ships gay ships just because of fujoshis and not because of actual romantic tension. Also, romance in the marvel comics and the MCU seems futile.

    1)Tony has too many problems. Enough to make Pepper reconsider her life choices.
    2)Marvel writers keep killing Peter’s girlfriends, or erasing his marriages, or MAKING GWEN STACY FUCK THE GREEN GOBLIN!!!!
    3)THE SUMMERS FAMILY TREE!!!!
    4)The incest in Ultimate Avengers!
    5)What happened to Wanda and Vision!
    6)Deadpool’s love life.
    7)Couple in the MCU are as volatile as easily reactive chemicals.

    1. BBCC

      Not what fujoshi means but whatever.

      Since when do folks need canon romantic tension to be shipped? I’ve shipped on less interaction than some of the popular but rarely interacting MCU ships.

      1. Nono

        They’re basically women who are really into the idea of gay ships. The stereotype seems to be that they’re particularly into shipping the prettyboys with each other, too (so I guess in MCU terms, the Caps and Buckys and Tonys).

        1. Sam

          Some go too far into just being fetishistic though which is why some people use it very negatively or have very negative opinions on it, especially if irl they have been harassed by people trying to do so to them.

    2. Zee

      I just ship cap and bucky cuz it makes sense. I mean, who els would understand them and their issued but each other

      1. thejeff

        It’s too gross for me, since my mental image of Steve and Bucky is still of Bucky as his kid sidekick from flashbacks to the WWII comics. I know the movie versions are different and there’s an adult Bucky around now in the comics, but that’s still my reference.

  24. JR

    Aw, I can’t even ship Hawkeye and his ex-wife Mockingbird and her boyfling Lance all at the same time, like in Volume 2 of Mockingbird? Gosh darn it I wish that series hadn’t been cancelled. It was smart, funny as hell, sex-positive…a real treat. And it passed the Bechdel test, obviously.

    Seriously, DOA fans should know about Mockingbird, she rules (in her own series, anyway).

    1. BBCC

      In my actual life I like Clintasha and Clint with Bobbi. And OT3 yes.

      Look, I like to multiship.

    2. Spencer

      Too bad the writer of Mockingbird turned out to be a terf.

      1. JR

        I hadn’t heard about that, Spencer, so I went and Googled it. Having done so, I’m uncomfortable buying in on that interpretation. Anyone reading this is free to make their own assessment; for me, I take Cain at her word when she says “You don’t have to have a uterus to be a woman. Anyone who thinks that hasn’t been paying attention” and “If you are trans and feel excluded by MAN-EATERS, that’s on me. Not you. You are glorious. And brave. And, gah. Thank you. I am listening. I am trying.”

  25. Agemegos

    Surely Joe isn’t trolling Sarah!

    1. clif

      Eh, it’s been a semester. He’s reestablishing his brand.

  26. thumb

    I don’t think I knew anybody specifically like that at university, but my god we were exactly that young and stupid. Sarah is making the right face. That’s the same face I make when I think back on all the crap that came out of my mouth back then.

  27. Bagge

    What fictional people would fuck seems like something Joe and amber could bond around.

    He was really upset that time in gender studies about miss piggie dating someone without a dick

    1. drs

      Was he?

      1. Bagge

        Sure was

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/03-the-first-step-towards-recovery/themuppets/

        1. ValdVin

          I’m impressed that somewhere before college Joe picked up enough about amphibian reproduction to know this.

    2. Zaxares

      What makes him think Miss Piggy has female parts? She’s a muppet! They ALL have mega holes down there. ;P

      1. davidbreslin101

        …dear god, my brain has just reclassified the entire Muppets Show as “fisting videos”.

        1. Sunny

          And the threads: Bondage

        2. Needfuldoer

          Some of the characters need you to get all up in there before they really come alive.

        3. He Who Abides

          Really? You had to ruin it for the rest of the class?

      2. Demoted Oblivious

        That is some wicked shocking imagery, I gotta hand it to you.

  28. Disastroid

    Can’t wait for the eventual cold open for a new chapter when Sarah wakes up with Joe.

    1. Sunny

      And Joyce is all “YOU SLEPT WITH MY BIG SIS?!”

      1. clif

        Go back and look at Sarah’s interactions with Jacob and what she is actually looking for in a guy.

        1. Sunny

          Well, she’s not looking for someone who waits until marriage. The way Jacob does. She does seem to have a preference for tall and muscled, the way Jacob is (and Joe as well). She may be looking for a person of color, though I’d say that’s a tertiary concern at most given how she reacted to Joyce when she was worried it might be racist to try and pair up Sarah and Jacob.
          As best I can tell Sarah is looking for “Tall, strong, and handsome, DTF but not too easy”.

  29. GUIGUI

    I ship Hawkeye with his wife.

    1. clif

      It takes all kinds.

      Still, I have to wonder if you grasp the essence of the joy of shipping.

      1. GUIGUI

        Of course I do. The lead male protagonist interact with what appear to be the lead female protagonist and that means they must end up together. EVERYTHING ELSE IS WRONG!

        1. lsdf

          I have never heard such heresy in my life!

  30. DarkoNeko

    I don’t think I could point the name of most avengers

    1. emusam

      I don’t think most Avengers fans can. The list on the comics wiki takes up more than one screen.

      1. clif

        I think you are either underestimating the fans or are interpreting the term too loosely.

        1. thejeff

          Maybe. There are a lot of them though and it’s been over a 60 year history. There are a lot of pretty obscure characters who were Avengers for about 5 minutes.

        2. clif

          Are we including the Dark Avengers, Reserve Avengers, Secret Avengers, New Avengers, West Coast Avengers and the like? I mean, the ones after the 70’s don’t really count. 😀

        3. Daibhid C

          John Steed, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, um … Tara … King? And Purdey and Gambit. Oh, and the surgeon guy from before Mrs Peel that no-one cares about.

        4. Daibhid C

          Seriously, I think I could name everyone who apears in Kurt Busiek’s “Look, it’s literally all the Avengers” storyline from ’98. Eventually. After that it gets a bit trickier.

        5. thejeff

          Ah, but could you name all of the names they used in Morgan Le Fay’s alternate reality in that storyline?

      2. JaneDoe

        I mean, I couldn’t list them all off the top of my head. If you showed me a drawing of all of them together though? I bet I could name at least 70-80% of them. More if we only count the ones who were on the team for more than a single storyline 😉

  31. Lone Duck

    … Sigh. I’ve been giving Joe too much credit for personal growth. Having said that, there’s an unkept messiness to him. Doesn’t seem like the way to be recognized as a probable adult.

    1. Sunny

      I don’t know… it looks more like a kept messiness to me.

  32. Spencer

    Hawkeye for 40+ years was a swashbuckling carnie who lived larger than anyone around him (quite literally that one time he became Giant Man because his bow broke and he was too broke to get a new one) and wore Wolverine’s hat over a decade before Wolverine showed up.

    Now he’s just A Guy, but for some reason this stuck.

  33. Peter

    Sarah’s face in that third panel.

    1. Daibhid C

      “I interacted with Joe and I knew that was going to be a mistake before I did it, but I regret it even more than I expected.”

  34. ValdVin

    Okay, it’s already a well-known fact that I’ve never seen Jurassic Park.

    Looks like now I gotta learn something about Avengers.

  35. Needfuldoer

    Hawkeye is the best!

    Hawkeye x Houlihan 4 lyfe (as long as she’s post-Donald, like around season 8 or 9)

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Wait… the 4077th?

      1. Needfuldoer

        Best care anywhere!

    2. He Who Abides

      Houlihan x Winchester, I will die on this hill.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Him?! Dr. Bocce-ball head?

  36. Rabisch

    I totally agree with Sarah. But Joe genuinely care about Amber.

  37. goggleman64

    Did not see this coming, but I’m starting to like this Joe ~ his unbridled enthusiasm reminds of the sex-ed ghost from the comic “Boo! – It’s Sex!”

    Probably not being nearly as safe as he should be, though :T

  38. Jhon

    Last panel Joe — is miming Amber’s desire to punch somebody?

  39. Ziggy78eog

    And Joe wonders why Becky has to continuously remind that she is not interested in him. I look forward to the story arc, where Joe gets woke towards his predatory attitude, with women.

  40. ElderlyMarxist

    i worry for you, joe

    (tbh people are saying he’s predatory but this looks more like he’s being preyed on)

    1. ElderlyMarxist

      what an avatar to have for this comment

    2. Sam

      It can be both. Some of Joe’s actions come across as predatory e.g. the list he had, but his desire to be seen as ‘probably a real adult by now’, yeah that is what some preyed upon people think and how they get manipulated. He seems to actively be looking to be preyed on though to feel like he is perceived as a ‘real adult’.

  41. Hilzabub

    I just want to say how much I love how Sarah is being drawn this semester.

    1. Siggy

      I came here to say just that!

  42. Mr. Random

    Also he already has a wife.

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