this is funny but also with the blue added it has a bit of a strobe effect; you should probably tag that with some variation of #flashing or #cw flashing for photosensitive folks
She’s always been the sort who believes in the things that those she likes believe in and doesn’t believe in the things those who’ve hurt her believe. Religion was as much about closeness than anything else.
I feel like these flashbacks are an important look at who she was and why people might worry about her being with Joe. But she’s grown so much and he has too, with them both trying to be better versions of themselves. Making a big choice that’s about what she wants and likes rather than what others like based on how she sees them feels like her endgame here.
Also, that’s fairly hypocrite of you to act like the bible is so important when you were trying to make up something and “workshop it” about the bible a few seconds before.
But the Bible is the only thing that matters. Morality is a question of feeling a certain way about something and then going to the Bible to get support for why that feeling is correct. You can’t just leave out the Bible and act like your feelings alone are any indication of what is moral.
Haha, funny, that’s how the current Supreme Court makes decisions too. Decide the outcome they want then make up some shit about what the founders wanted. They don’t even have to find actual precedent or text in the constitution.
“Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell *bad*. Are you sure your circuits are registering correctly? Your ears are green. “
fridge_logic
What’s going on here?
eh, whatever
Didn’t Epimenides the Cretan say all Cretans are liars?
Mark
That’s what he claims.
jflb96
This. Statement. Is. FALSE!
don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it
Mark
It’s the old “overwhelm a computer with nonsense until it breaks” gag. This one is from Star Trek the original series. I think the episode is called “Mudd’s Women”. Norman (a robot) is the computer.
Scoutinthenight
“Mudd’s Women” introduced the character of Harry Mudd. This bit comes from “I, Mudd”, a later episode where he returns.
Mark
Thank you, that’s what I get for relying on memory instead of checking with The Oracle.
Mostly it’s just because she gets a lot of panel time, especially considering that she was barely around for the first half of the comic. If you look at the bottom chart, which is per-appearance rather than just the raw total, she’s way down in the also-rans, below Lucy, of all people.
Also, the poll at the side of the page, I know that there is basically a big tie of a bunch of the 1 percents, but Jennifer probably ought to be closer to Walky in ranking, given Joyce has canonically stared at her tits in wonderment.
Of course, the top 5 is probably as it ought to be, anyway, so it’s a moot point.
I voted Sal. I feel like Joyce would say/vote Joe out of loyalty, but the way she idolises/d Sal makes me think she’d secretly believe she was the hottest even if not specifically as attractive to her as others on the list. That said, I’ve just remembered how thirsty she was over Jacob and thinking I should have voted for him…
And that’s the thing about polls like this; you don’t know how other people read the questions. I nearly voted Dorothy, then thought “But the question isn’t ‘Who does Joyce think is hottest?’ it’s ‘Who’s hottest, answering as Joyce?’ And Joyce would say it’s Joe.” So that’s who I voted for.
Aura
That’s definitely another very valid interpretation!
HueSatLight
And it depends on her mood too. If she’s in a “oh no what if other people think I think my boyfriend is hot” mood, she would answer differently. Or if she were trying to cheer someone up who was feeling bad about themselves.
she’d secretly believe she was the hottest even if not specifically as attractive to her as others on the list
So what do “hot” and “attractive” mean?
Aura
Ok, so for me the difference here is not so much between “hot” and “attractive”, as it is between “hottest” and most “specifically attractive to her”. Both subjective, but the former is more about her opinion of that person’s hotness, while the latter’s more about how that person makes her feel, if that makes sense?
asmodai27
Exactly, I can quite often recognize how most people will think someone is hot while being indifferent myself.
Will Joyce answer “who is hottest?” with that person which everyone seems to agree is hottest (even though I couldn’t care less), or with the person she finds the hottest, but assumes nobody will ever agree with her ? Joyce seems to value “being correct”, or in such a case “being agreed with” more than “giving her opinion”, which means I expect Joyce will probably answer Sal (or Joe, indeed) if asked “who do you think is the hottest?”
If the question were phrased differently as in “who do you think Joyce finds the hottest?”, then my answer would probably be different.
Mturtle7
It sounds like you could benefit from the “sexual vs. romantic vs. aesthetic” trinity model of attraction! That is to say, your version of “hot” sounds like what I’d call “aesthetic attraction” – desire to look at someone and appreciate their appearance – while your version of “attractive” sounds like what I’d call “a mix of romantic and sexual attraction” – desire to do romantic and/or sexual things with someone.
I dunno, as they were getting together, Joyce was definitely getting pretty vivid in how much she wanted Joe, like wanting to bite his ass. I don’t think she ever quite got like that over Sal, or maybe Jacob either.
I think Joyce would answer Sal for “hottest, girl category”, even though I ship her more with Dorothy.
(I don’t know how I’d rate Dorothy’s in-universe attractiveness, though. I feel like her fashion style is so Prematurely Grandma that she’s probably a little dumpy IRL. On the other hand Walky would have us believe she’s very pretty, and I don’t think we are supposed to disbelieve him or think that’s just Because He Likes Her So Much; he was pretty clearly immediately stunned speechless by how pretty she is, and her liking his favorite cartoon was more of a “sealed the deal” thing than the spark that set him off.)
I think Dorothy is probably considered quite attractive, just nerdy, but given how Amber is considered very attractive in-universe, too, a lot of people are into that.
Like Dorothy isn’t a head-turner on Sal’s level, maybe, sure, but she’s well above average if I had to guess.
Li
I’m sure you’re right.
Also to be clear I also think Joyce would consider Sal the “safest” answer. No one who’s not just like a terrible person would question her choice if she picked Sal for Hottest Girl; she’d still get some teasing, probably, but not as much and not the same kind of teasing that “Dorothy” would.)
(Aside, I’m wondering how much time has passed between the two flashbacks. They look quite a bit older in this one, probably not too far off from when the strip started?)
i don’t think tristan’s paretns would’ve been strict enough to forbid it, esp since they just said ‘hangingo ut’ versus her catching them having sex, much less french kissing lol (if anything didn’t ppl keep calling tristan jewish too? guess they didn’t send him to to temple instead of joyce’s group unless somehow there was some kinda church that accepted other ‘variations’)
207 thoughts on “Tara”
Ana Chronistic
welp, new frame
butts
oh it’s like her eyes are deflating, weird
Moon
this is funny but also with the blue added it has a bit of a strobe effect; you should probably tag that with some variation of #flashing or #cw flashing for photosensitive folks
also cool art ?
True Survivor
The flashing hurts my eyes, yet the hilarity and clear care of its crafting is a balm upon the soul.
Blibdoolpoolp
Well it had to start somewhere.
Blibdoolpoolp
Seriously though, I do love how well this flashback establishes old Joyce’s worldview and how a few syllables can shake her to the core.
Bryy
Given where Joyce is at the beginning of the strip, I’m guessing that we’re going to go somewhere else with this.
Furie
She’s always been the sort who believes in the things that those she likes believe in and doesn’t believe in the things those who’ve hurt her believe. Religion was as much about closeness than anything else.
I feel like these flashbacks are an important look at who she was and why people might worry about her being with Joe. But she’s grown so much and he has too, with them both trying to be better versions of themselves. Making a big choice that’s about what she wants and likes rather than what others like based on how she sees them feels like her endgame here.
AniDanny
I suspect the actual origin was the day Joyce was born and the doctor said “okay, you’re going to have to breathe for yourself now!”
Felian
That, or when she discovered that her birth was an indicator that her parents had actually had sex.
NGPZ
*plays “Charlie’s Inferno” by That Handsome Devil on hacked muzak*
Amós Batista
I jumped here fast, thought this was something about Hazbin Hotel. But the song is awesome.
DarkoNeko
OH SHIT
DarkoNeko
Also, that’s fairly hypocrite of you to act like the bible is so important when you were trying to make up something and “workshop it” about the bible a few seconds before.
Devin
Yes, and very much in line with how she was taught.
Amelie Wikström
But the Bible is the only thing that matters. Morality is a question of feeling a certain way about something and then going to the Bible to get support for why that feeling is correct. You can’t just leave out the Bible and act like your feelings alone are any indication of what is moral.
Amelie Wikström
“This is what Joyce Browns actually believe”
Vanessa
Haha, funny, that’s how the current Supreme Court makes decisions too. Decide the outcome they want then make up some shit about what the founders wanted. They don’t even have to find actual precedent or text in the constitution.
Pylgrim
“Righteousness” is when you feel right.
Mturtle7
The Bible is the ultimate source of all morality, so if you know something is right, it MUST be in the bible. That’s logic, that is!
thejeff
No need to check. It must be there because it’s right.
Icalasari
NEW FREAKOUT FACE!
anon
Joyce disapproves -100 lol
shellshockbp
[Joyce hated this.]
[Joyce is no longer following you.]
[Joyce is now an enemy.]
jonathan young
next move is a band of Joyce Centurions pursuing you across the Mojave Wasteland
DiDi
And… now we know why Tristan did not work out.
Aside from Joyce pretending she felt nothing, I mean.
Ray Radlein
NORMAN COORDINATE
StClair
I am not programmed to respond in that area.
Cholma
“Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell *bad*. Are you sure your circuits are registering correctly? Your ears are green. “
fridge_logic
What’s going on here?
eh, whatever
Didn’t Epimenides the Cretan say all Cretans are liars?
Mark
That’s what he claims.
jflb96
This. Statement. Is. FALSE!
don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it
Mark
It’s the old “overwhelm a computer with nonsense until it breaks” gag. This one is from Star Trek the original series. I think the episode is called “Mudd’s Women”. Norman (a robot) is the computer.
Scoutinthenight
“Mudd’s Women” introduced the character of Harry Mudd. This bit comes from “I, Mudd”, a later episode where he returns.
Mark
Thank you, that’s what I get for relying on memory instead of checking with The Oracle.
Sirksome
Damn, Tristan! I’d like you if I hadn’t already decided to irrationally hate you instead. I’m breaking even on it.
Doctor_Who
As we go further back in Joyce’s history, I hope we’ll see many more events in her life that caused her to make a hilarious face.
Cattleprod
Going back to newborn Joyce seeing light for the first time.
John Campbell
Tara, this is Joyce, who cares what’s in the Bible.
Cattleprod
I’m not sure what I expected when I clicked on your name, but it wasn’t that.
BarerMender
Thanks for compiling the F-bomb report. I don’t know why I care about that, but I do.
Schpoonman
If you were going to tell me Becky would be in the top 10 I’d have been surprised.
John Campbell
Mostly it’s just because she gets a lot of panel time, especially considering that she was barely around for the first half of the comic. If you look at the bottom chart, which is per-appearance rather than just the raw total, she’s way down in the also-rans, below Lucy, of all people.
DailyBrad
Quite the development.
Also, the poll at the side of the page, I know that there is basically a big tie of a bunch of the 1 percents, but Jennifer probably ought to be closer to Walky in ranking, given Joyce has canonically stared at her tits in wonderment.
Of course, the top 5 is probably as it ought to be, anyway, so it’s a moot point.
Viktoria
The top 4 dominating so much makes everything else basically irrelevant. 15-30 votes out of 1200 is essentially polling error.
Huh, just realized, there’s no Conquest on the list. How do we think Joyce rates her looks?
drs
Joyce refuses to look directly at Conquest.
(I’m making that up.)
Aura
I voted Sal. I feel like Joyce would say/vote Joe out of loyalty, but the way she idolises/d Sal makes me think she’d secretly believe she was the hottest even if not specifically as attractive to her as others on the list. That said, I’ve just remembered how thirsty she was over Jacob and thinking I should have voted for him…
Daibhid C
And that’s the thing about polls like this; you don’t know how other people read the questions. I nearly voted Dorothy, then thought “But the question isn’t ‘Who does Joyce think is hottest?’ it’s ‘Who’s hottest, answering as Joyce?’ And Joyce would say it’s Joe.” So that’s who I voted for.
Aura
That’s definitely another very valid interpretation!
HueSatLight
And it depends on her mood too. If she’s in a “oh no what if other people think I think my boyfriend is hot” mood, she would answer differently. Or if she were trying to cheer someone up who was feeling bad about themselves.
eh, whatever
So what do “hot” and “attractive” mean?
Aura
Ok, so for me the difference here is not so much between “hot” and “attractive”, as it is between “hottest” and most “specifically attractive to her”. Both subjective, but the former is more about her opinion of that person’s hotness, while the latter’s more about how that person makes her feel, if that makes sense?
asmodai27
Exactly, I can quite often recognize how most people will think someone is hot while being indifferent myself.
Will Joyce answer “who is hottest?” with that person which everyone seems to agree is hottest (even though I couldn’t care less), or with the person she finds the hottest, but assumes nobody will ever agree with her ? Joyce seems to value “being correct”, or in such a case “being agreed with” more than “giving her opinion”, which means I expect Joyce will probably answer Sal (or Joe, indeed) if asked “who do you think is the hottest?”
If the question were phrased differently as in “who do you think Joyce finds the hottest?”, then my answer would probably be different.
Mturtle7
It sounds like you could benefit from the “sexual vs. romantic vs. aesthetic” trinity model of attraction! That is to say, your version of “hot” sounds like what I’d call “aesthetic attraction” – desire to look at someone and appreciate their appearance – while your version of “attractive” sounds like what I’d call “a mix of romantic and sexual attraction” – desire to do romantic and/or sexual things with someone.
DailyBrad
I dunno, as they were getting together, Joyce was definitely getting pretty vivid in how much she wanted Joe, like wanting to bite his ass. I don’t think she ever quite got like that over Sal, or maybe Jacob either.
BarerMender
I answered Ethan, but I see now I should have chosen Dorothy.
Amós Batista
I confess I’ve voted for Dorothy TWICE. (I have cellphone and notebook).
But it’s hard to win a himbo like Joe. haha
Li
I think Joyce would answer Sal for “hottest, girl category”, even though I ship her more with Dorothy.
(I don’t know how I’d rate Dorothy’s in-universe attractiveness, though. I feel like her fashion style is so Prematurely Grandma that she’s probably a little dumpy IRL. On the other hand Walky would have us believe she’s very pretty, and I don’t think we are supposed to disbelieve him or think that’s just Because He Likes Her So Much; he was pretty clearly immediately stunned speechless by how pretty she is, and her liking his favorite cartoon was more of a “sealed the deal” thing than the spark that set him off.)
DailyBrad
I think Dorothy is probably considered quite attractive, just nerdy, but given how Amber is considered very attractive in-universe, too, a lot of people are into that.
Like Dorothy isn’t a head-turner on Sal’s level, maybe, sure, but she’s well above average if I had to guess.
Li
I’m sure you’re right.
Also to be clear I also think Joyce would consider Sal the “safest” answer. No one who’s not just like a terrible person would question her choice if she picked Sal for Hottest Girl; she’d still get some teasing, probably, but not as much and not the same kind of teasing that “Dorothy” would.)
Jo_cubstar
Oh damn, guess I like Tristan
RassilonTDavros
…oh. Oh wow.
Yeah, I bet Joyce is feeling a lot of regret over this conversation in the present day. I wonder if this was the very first seed of doubt?
Aura
Wow, I remember the last Joyce flashback as clearly as if it was just the other week…
Aura
(Aside, I’m wondering how much time has passed between the two flashbacks. They look quite a bit older in this one, probably not too far off from when the strip started?)
tim gueguen
So, did Joyce rat him out, leading to a stint in some reeducation camp for insufficiently Christian behavior?
Jeremiah
I think you severally overestimating the seriousness of these flashback.
anon
i don’t think tristan’s paretns would’ve been strict enough to forbid it, esp since they just said ‘hangingo ut’ versus her catching them having sex, much less french kissing lol (if anything didn’t ppl keep calling tristan jewish too? guess they didn’t send him to to temple instead of joyce’s group unless somehow there was some kinda church that accepted other ‘variations’)
BBCC
No, people just assumed his ancestors were Jewish because he was Polish. He was in Joyce’s youth group.
HueSatLight
Tristan is not Jewish. He has a Polish last name.
Mr D phone posting