443

Used
Posted on February 16, 2015 by David M Willis

443 thoughts on “Used”

  1. TheTJ

    Ethan is good people.

    1. saltchocolate

      Ethan LOVE.

    2. airyu

      He really really is.

    3. TheTJ

      Hrm… such a nice sentiment is at odds with the Mike Gravatar.

      Uhm… Ethan’s mom was good people, for a nickel.

      (No that doesn’t work, Ethan’s mom is the worst)

      1. airyu

        Maybe she’d be better if someone gave her that nickel?
        This is really weird coming out of a Joyce gravatar

        1. Solenoid

          Give her a nickel and tell her to get fucked, maybe?

        2. TheTJ

          I’m pretty sure that was the original meaning behind the Nickel line in the first place.

          We’ve come full circle on this.

        3. Solenoid

          I really do enjoy it when we complete the circle.

        4. John

          You would, it how you earn your Nickels.

        5. MrPotamus

          Actually this would be full circle.

        6. Porthos9438

          Had Ethan’s Mom for a nickle once. Asked for change afterwards.

          (How’s that?)

        7. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          It doesn’t work in countries that don’t have nickels though…

          Does my face fit with callous commentry? 😛

          Also, before going to find Becky, I think Joyce needs a hug. Maybe not from Ethan right now, but definitely from somebody. :3

        8. Gigafreak

          One day she was just five cents short of being able to order mushrooms on her pizza and it made her super grumpy forever

        9. TheGrammarLegionary

          This thread is really weird now that all the Gravatars have changed.

      2. neeks

        Nah, just looks like you’re complaining about Ethan being good people.

        1. Formedras

          Kya!! Miki-chan profile pic! Sorry. This comment was just for that.

        2. Sailor_Arashi

          MIKIIIII!!!!

        3. Lord Nullset

          Sorry for being a noob, but from where does your avatar originate? I’m always looking for new manga to read, and it looks like my type.

        4. Coru

          Marmalade Boy. Adorable, but you’ve gotta be able to do some relationship trigonometry.

          I think love quadrangle is the simplest they go.

        5. neeks

          I honestly don’t even remember, it might have been marmalade boy…I made the avatar like fifteen years ago while binging on a shojo scanslation site whose name I don’t recall either.

        6. Sailor_Arashi

          Oh, it’s absolutely Marmalade Boy. I’ve got the manga sitting on a shelf directly above my head here.

    4. Gigafreak

      Just got dumped. Still going to support the one who just dumped you, and without stopping to shed a single tear in between. Ethan is taking it well!

      1. Solenoid

        Maybe it hasn’t sunk in. Maybe it has. Either way, he’s doing a good job of being there for Joyce.

        1. Gigafreak

          Maybe it’s a positive side effect of having no backbone. Maybe it’s because he wasn’t all that invested in the relationship anymore lately. Even if the reason is potentially bad, the result is good!

        2. Gigafreak

          Clarification: the reason can also be good or neutral. The result is still good no matter what the reason is, is what I meant.

        3. insomniac

          Maybe it’s because he knows damn well that it was a relationship built entirely on self-deception and was never going to be anything more.

        4. TheTJ

          Actually, the past few comics show him being fairly upset by this.

          That just makes it that much more impressive that he does what he does.

        5. neeks

          Ethan is still close friends with ALL his exgirlfriends!

        6. Annie

          I was wondering if maybe he just wasn’t sure how to be friends with a girl that’s not his girlfriend anymore, but this comic kinda blows that theory out of the water.

          His reaction these last few comics really surprised me, though. I didn’t think he was all that invested in his relationship with Joyce. But heaven knows I’ve had relationships that I knew weren’t going anywhere but I was still sad and upset when they ended.

        7. Rycan

          Last time, it was Amber who needed the break, not Ethan. He wanted his best friend back.

        8. Freemage

          Just remember, for Ethan, this relationship was really about having a route to ‘normalcy’. He wouldn’t be looked down on, he’d have a companion to be with, and oh, yes, his parents might stop ripping on him. So he had acclimatized to being in a relationship that had no sexual appeal, and pretty little romantic attraction, simply because it was convenient.

          So yes, he was upset–but not in the grieving way you get for a truly lost love. Instead, it’s more akin to discovering that no, you really aren’t cut out for your major and you’re going to have to toss aside the map of your life you’ve been making. Which, ironically, makes it easier for him to sympathize with Joyce, who really is going through much the same thing.

        9. That Damn Rat

          Or Maybe, he was never really in love with or attracted to her at all. No wait, that’s exactly what it was.

        10. Annie

          But how upset he looks in reaction to her in the first panel and in the last couple of comics makes it obvious he really cares about her. Plenty of people date without being in love and I know I’ve dated a couple guys I wasn’t attracted to.

        11. Rycan

          Correct on the latter part, definitely. But that doesn’t preclude the possibility of love developing in some form. But, as Joyce previously pointed out, Ethan most likely loves her as a friend or little sister.

        12. dreadedseamonster

          I feel like, being a gay man, he wasn’t really invested in the relationship in a romantic way anyway.

      2. Christopher B. Wright

        This is going to sound a lot more rude than I intend it to be, but getting dumped by your beard probably isn’t as traumatic as getting dumped by someone you were actually emotionally invested in.

        If anything, what she did cleared the way to them having an actual friendship, and Ethan is more than savvy enough to recognize that. I never got the feeling his thing with Joyce was an attempt to convince himself he was straight… it was more a “this allows me to put off having to deal with a number of things I really don’t want to deal with right now” thing. So on the one hand, he doesn’t have that buffer any more, but on the other hand, Joyce just genuinely treated him like a person right there.

        1. brionl

          Right, he’s going to be a real friend, not a make-believe boyfriend. Much better for both parties.

      3. Z

        That was the most crap-tastic dumping ever. Anyways, if they actually talk about it, Joyce will realize that Ethan’s desire to not be gay has NOTHING to do with religion (or, very little, or it’s complicated), and is his choice. I think they both, deep down, know this is a buffer relationship. Joyce may not have at first, but now it’s obvious. They’re both together because neither are ready for a “real” (sexual) relationship, so they can both be together and support each other until they are ready.

        Joyce is feeling guilty about a lot of things, mostly what Becky is going through and feeling like she’s doing the same to Ethan. the two situations aren’t comparable and, clearly, Joyce still needs this relationship- and so does Ethan.

    5. Pantheon the Mantheon

      Do… do you realize what you’ve done?…. You commented before Jen Aside…. Yer a wizard… a wizard who is Jen’s reincarnation

      1. Solenoid

        Jen Aside actually hasn’t commented yet. I suspect a power outage.

    6. Rosie

      He’s a mensch.

    7. desai

      Much like Murphy.

  2. Aubri

    Us too.

  3. TrueVCU

    Ethan gonna embrace who he is OVER HIS DEAD BODY

    1. Tayo

      shhhhh youll ruined the inevitable surprise

      1. Historyman68

        I love the combination of future and past tense. Expert internet comment skills!

        (Not sarcastic. I legit enjoyed that!)

    2. SUGauthor

      Actually I’m pretty sure it’ll be over Danny’s body.

      1. TrueVCU

        And Joe’s when he walks in, shocked but oddly curious…

        1. Solenoid

          But he walks out because he knows better than to ruin someone’s fun. He’ll come back a few hours later for high-fiving, though.

        2. Gigafreak

          He’ll be just a little hesitant to put the sock on the door this time though. JOURNALISM MAKES LIARS OF JOE’S SOCKS.

        3. Disloyal Subject

          Aand there’s my favorite comment this week

    3. The Gorram Batguy

      “Over his dead body”.
      I can see it now. A freak accident at the bio-lab results in a reverse-polarity clone of Ethan being produced. A heterosexual womanizer who treats people like dirt, and who hates Transformers. Let’s call him anti-Ethan. Ethan and anti-Ethan meet, and naturally they fight to the death. Victorious, Ethan stands over the corpse of his clone (which is genetically identical to him) and embraces the truths of his being which his doppelganger had brought into such sharp focus.
      The fight is so graphic and full of “tension” that is goes straight to slipshine.

      1. Usayasha

        Funny enough, Joe is a bit of an anti-Ethan. They’re both tall Jewish men with black hair and broad shoulders that like Transformers.

        But Ethan considers his nerdiness to be his identifying trait, cares about and talks with others about their problems, makes poor ethical decisions, and is a gay guy who can’t get a date.

        Meanwhile, Joe is embarrassed (last I recall) about liking Transformers, hates emotional hand-holding, has a good code of ethics that he stands by, and is a heterosexual guy who gets with all the wimens.

        They’re like opposite sides of the same coin. Ethan and Anti-Ethan. Joe and -Anti-Joe. If they fused together, they would makes the ultimate Nice Jewish Boy.
        …or an evil and emotionally stunted opposite.

        1. NotPiffany

          Joe’s Jewish?

        2. Kodra

          Yep. Joyce made a comment about being attracted to God’s chosen people after going on a date with Joe and then dating Ethan.

        3. No Name

          His last name is “Rosenthal”. That’s even more stereo-typically Jewish than “Siegal”

        4. Rycan

          Joe’s Transformers have only appeared in the Walkyverse, as far as I know. I don’t think he has them in this universe.

        5. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          They wouldn’t fuse. They would release massive amounts of radiation. Orgone radiation, to be exact (yay for obscure references to crackpots!).

  4. otusasio451

    Ethan…you’ve made the top 5 of my favorite characters list.

  5. Dusk Tornado

    Ethan is always so cool

    1. Doctor_Who

      He collects Transformers, of course he’s cool!

      1. Screwball

        Wait, People collect us? Do I have to watch out for trophy hunters? Is this some sort of big game hunting thing? Cause I’m not happy with it being a big game hunting thing. I don’t want my head on some plaque or anything like that. Starting to not like Ethan as much, bit worried about Humans, realizing I’m stuck on this planet…

        Wait, if collecting Transformers makes you cool, then maybe BEING a transformer makes me cool…

        1. No Name

          No, Screwball, humans don’t collect you. We collect little plastic models of people like you. I mean, there might be a few crazies who would put your head on a plaque given the chance, but they’d be prosecuted for murder. At least as long as long your human, friend, is able to make a case for your personhood.

          Also, yes, being a Transformer makes you cool.

        2. Screwball

          Little plastic models of people like me? *Calms down* phew, that’s a relief. Wait, models? Interesting…

          *Starts wandering net…*

  6. caramelundqueer

    Awww. He’s her friend and that’s just what she needs.

  7. Saine

    Aw.

  8. alicemacher

    And people were wondering whether Joyce and Ethan could stay friends.

    1. Bagge

      Yup! Way to show me wrong, Ethan. More power to you.

  9. AnvilPro

    So can we get a week of Joyce and Ethan awkwardly walking and making small talk?

    1. Scoops

      Joyce and Ethan Perform Awkward Small Talk

      1. Twilightomens

        Damn, I might actually need to get that Slipshine subscription D:

  10. Jupiterror

    the power of friendship prevails

    1. Solenoid

      May it remain so!

      1. Opus the Poet

        This say we all!

    2. Leishycat

      Friendship is magic. <3

      1. Cynthia

        I know you! You…. ohhhh.. now you’ve got it coming! >:O

  11. SUGauthor

    You rule Ethan.

  12. Romanticide

    Ryan is passing through!!!! kill him first!!!

    1. Gigafreak

      “They looked like MONSTERS to you?”

      1. Scott John Harrison

        I didn’t realise that all the extras were Ryan until this comic.

    2. Barf Ninjason

      Why does the Joyce not simply eat his heart?!?

      1. Tacos

        He probably doesn’t have one to begin with.

    3. ninja_jesus

      Don’t kill Ryan, he’s on a murder break!

  13. Solenoid

    At this point, I’m hoping the next time I see Ryan in this strip, it’s on the receiving end of Amazi-styled justice.

    1. Yotomoe

      Or at an open-casket funeral of some kind.

      1. Solenoid

        I would have gone with that, but it’s been done before. Unless that’s why you’re suggesting it, in which case, well played.

        1. Crazy Dina

          DAMN YOU SOLENOID! You made me remember Shortpacked! at a sad time. 🙁

      2. a4lbi

        Why not bo–

        Wait, better not finish that sentence.

        1. Solenoid

          -th.

          I’m not necessarily a good person at all times. Now I’m imagining Amazi-girl causing harm to the corpse. Yeah, a bit like beating a dead horse, except it’s a human body instead.

        2. Safgaftsa

          Allegedly.

        3. Solenoid

          Those who deny the humanity of those who commit horrendous actions deny their own capacity to do horrible things. Not being prepared to censor their darker impulses, such people are actually more likely to do ill.

          So yeah, human. Like the rest of us, and like all those who’ve done horrible things all through history.

        4. Crazy Dina

          No. Amazi-stool is allegedly a stool, and Screwball is allegedly a transformer. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that Ryan is a Bongo. (I mean the dear-like creature. The drums are too peaceful of a race to do something like that, even if we do hit them repeatedly.

        5. elielh

          No Ryan is a Dingo (likewise is Tom Wheeler).

        6. Rycan

          One day, a battered pair of bongo drums will rise up. The revolution will ignite.
          THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY

        7. Crazy Dina

          Maybe Ryan is Jeff the Diseased Lung in a Cowboy Hat, but in disguise as a human.

        8. Screwball

          Not I got the processor image of someone tearing off his “face” to reveal a horned antelope-like head, only for someone to jump on his back, sit on his shoulders & hit his head saying “What he is a bongo, right? Where’s the other drum?”

          And Elielh, Daniel says don’t insult Dingoes, he’s probably closer to a sewer rat…

        9. Crazy Dina

          Okay, you KNOW something is funny when you can keep a straight face through Last Week Tonight clips, yet can’t stifle a laugh at a COMMENT.

        10. Screwball

          Happy to help 😛

        11. Screwball

          a4lbi; Why not bo–

          Solenoid; -th.

          I’m not necessarily a good person at all times. Now I’m imagining Amazi-girl causing harm to the corpse. Yeah, a bit like beating a dead horse, except it’s a human body instead.
          .
          Or perhaps the REAL Ryan sees Joyce alone, tries to finish the job & Amazigirl puts the hurt on him so bad, the still healing ribs break again causing fatal damage. After much explaining no charges as it was defensive, they open the casket at the funeral to confirm once & for all he’s gone, Joyce begins recovering faster but Amazigirl potentially goes down hill…

          What? I gotta learn about you lot, so I poke the net a lot, find these kinda things…

      3. Carriethedragon

        Denied her chance to confront him, Joyce shows up to gain what little closure she can by telling off while he lies in the casket and talk shit about him to the other attendees. Becky tags along to flip off the corpse.

        1. Gigafreak

          “Later, asshole. I kissed your target.”

        2. Carriethedragon

          I have regrets about the grammar in this comment.

        3. Disloyal Subject

          That’s all I ask.

  14. Ter

    What is the point of having a favorite character poll if Meredith isn’t in the story yet? I ask you.

  15. Plasma Mongoose

    This is how The Living Dead started wasn’t it?

  16. Tayo

    Petition for the backstory on ryan’s scar

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      He got it when Joyce glassed him during THAT party.

    2. airyu

      It’s because Joyce glassed him after he attacked her

    3. Tom Speelman

      That was established in strip. It’s IN the storyline he appears in.

    4. Riku

      That would be this guy (I don’t know how to link the words “this guy” to the url so if somebody can explain I’d be totes grateful)

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/smash/

      1. Gigafreak

        What you’re looking for are the “a href” html tags. Google should provide some helpful tutorials! I don’t know how to type the brackets in without the site parsing the html instead, so I can’t give a direct demonstration.

        1. Opus the Poet

          Use the &lt and &gt html to form the angle brackets instead of typing them out.

        2. Crazy Dina

          &lt; and &gt; – the semicolons are important. And if you need to type that out, & is &amp; .

        3. Gigafreak

          I am grateful for this and regret to inform you both that I will likely forget those keywords by the end of the week.

        4. Crazy Dina

          Bookmark this for now then: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_encodings_in_HTML#XML_character_references

          I’m sure there are better lists somewhere on the web, but I’m not going to come up with any until I stop calling them and-amp codes. (for &)

      2. No Name

        A demonstration:
        <a href=”link” title=”title text”>Click me!</a href>
        gives you
        Click me!

        There have been cases (including myself) where people have put what they want to click in the title attribute. DON’T DO THAT!

      3. Screwball

        (I don’t know how to link the words “this guy” to the url so if somebody can explain I’d be totes grateful).

        I tend to use This website for my links, including this 1 :P, and this site for the italics for when quoting & stuff. I just highlight what I want & drag it into the typing box. Simples *meercat squeak*

  17. TrueVCU

    So… who’s bleeding in the foreground in panel 3?

    1. Solenoid

      Another Mind!Ryan.

    2. dailybrad

      One of the Ryans Joyce sees.

    3. TrueVCU

      Wait the Ghost of Rapists Past is a thing?

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        So you think Joyce will meet the Ghost Rapists of the Present and Future?? YIKES!

        1. Gigafreak

          Ghost of Rapists Future?

          Is it necrophilia if it’s a ghost of someone who hasn’t actually died yet?

        2. Wizard

          So she can discover the True Meaning of Rape? Somehow I’m thinking not.

        3. Disloyal Subject

          This IS the internet, there are almost certainly stories about that somewhere.
          …there probably actually are. Excuse me, I need comfort food.

        4. Screwball

          Yeah, I’ve stumbled onto that kinda thing. In surprising locations too. Daniel the Human tells me it’s far from how I’m supposed to behave, so I stay away from it. There are indeed some…weird people out there…

        5. Crazy Dina

          … appropriate new gravitar. (Future readers, it’s shocked Joyce [think right after the “Hail Satan” event] saying “Braaaiiinss…”)

  18. Wonder Wig

    I wonder if people who try to use Ryan as a gravitar are instantly eradicated.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      I would hope Ryan will be removed from the random grav list.

      1. Rycan

        I think there are a limited number of random gravs. One each of Joyce, Joe, Jacob, Danny, Mike, Walky, Roz, Dina, Amber, Dorothy, Billie, Ruth, Sarah, and whoever else I’m forgetting.

        Fortunately, we are still allowed to used the name Ryan (or an altered version of it, in my case).

        1. Solenoid

          You forgot Jason, but he was the only one you forgot. That’s a fairly complete list.

        2. neeks

          Well, Jason is pretty forgettable.

        3. poofdepoof

          Thanks?

        4. Rycan

          Funny story – I nearly forgot Sarah.

        5. SDGlyph

          And Mary.

      2. No Name

        I’m pretty sure the random Gravs are (currently) taken from a big “candid class picture” residing on Willis’s tumblr. Ryan is not in that picture. (And neither is Amazi-Girl.)

        1. Gigafreak

          Nah, most of them are cropped from individual comics. Sometimes you can spot the source images while re-reading the archives.

        2. Gigafreak

          It occurs to me that I may possibly be mistaken and some specific people just have cropped individual comics for their own gravatars! Any that aren’t from comics are probably from the cast pages or from the “clothing model” illustrations that David Willis creates for his own reference and often posts to his tumblr, also used for the cast pages.

        3. Rycan

          Well, I cropped mine straight from a comic (hence why it has a transparent background). But I think it’s fair to say that if multiple people share the same Gravatar, then it’s one of the randomly assigned defaults.

        4. No Name

          Found it!
          Also, I lied. Amazi-Girl is in the picture, not Amber. Not sure where the Amber Grav comes from then.

        5. Gigafreak

          http://itswalky.tumblr.com/tagged/dumbing+of+age/
          Most of David Willis’ character/clothing model reference illustrations are under the Dumbing of Age tag on Tumblr, and the banners usually consist of said model illustrations spliced together into one image.

        6. No Name

          That explains it. Thank you Gigafreak.

        7. Screwball

          Me, I just have fun taking comics & turning faces into Avatars. I like how this 1 went together… 😛

    2. Tandel

      I’m not even sure you could modify it in a way that makes it acceptable. No quote that disparages him would be of significant magnitude to rob him of his dark and monstrous power.

      1. No Name

        Isn’t there a guy with a Jokerized Blaine? He’s still around. I think.

        1. Gigafreak

          His posts are well-written and insightful and so on, but I have difficulty bringing myself to actually read the things with that horrifying face staring back at me.

        2. StClair

          Same.

    3. Eric

      You take the random gravatar you get, and you don’t throw a fit.

      1. No Name

        But if you do decide to through a fit, may I point you to the “Get a Gravatar” button conveniently located next to the name field.

  19. kenny

    I forget, does Ethan know what happened? Did Joyce ever confide in him about that night?

    1. dailybrad

      I don’t know if he knows, but I think he can tell Joyce is shaken. Amber might have told him if he didn’t tell her, though, since Amber and Ethan do talk and she understood the reason for the arrangement.

      1. Gigafreak

        Amber only recently started talking to Ethan again, though. Probably not long enough to get to personal gossip like that.

        1. NotPiffany

          I’d be disappointed in Amber if she spread the story of another person’s near-rape (or actual rape) without their permission.

        2. Gigafreak

          Exactly. Ethan is trusted, and the information would be directly relevant to him as her boyfriend-until-today, but this really is the kind of thing that would warrant an “If you want to know about that, you should ask her yourself. …Says Amazi-Girl, not Amber. Amber doesn’t ‘know’ about it.”

    2. Solenoid

      It would help him understand exactly how she’d been using him, so Joyce ought to say something about it. He doesn’t know, though. Joyce never told him.

      1. dailybrad

        He knows as least part of what the deal was. She wanted a boyfriend, but she also didn’t want to give in to temptation, so she went with someone who wasn’t going to go all the way with her no matter what, anyhow.

    3. Gangler

      Somewhere else in the comments somebody speculated that spending time with Amber has left him sensitive to this sort of stuff.

      Could be that he’s just learned not to treat it as something silly or trivial when somebody doesn’t want to walk alone.

    4. Rycan

      I’m not sure if it’s been directly covered, but I think Joyce has asked Ethan to escort her. If so, an explanation may or may not have been given. I think Ethan knows when not to ask questions.

  20. Marc in MN

    Meanwhile, Dorothy and Walky are apparently still running in that direction.

    They would have made it sooner, but someone started playing “Chariots of Fire” out of their dorm room window and they were forced to run in slow-motion.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      That’s why you should never wear a Baywatch style red one-piece even under your clothes.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Joyce went in that direction let’s run after her( SLOWLY)

      2. NotFred

        Or six million dollar legs.

        1. Screwball

          From what I’ve seen, you need to put on a cheezy 80s cocky/power face for the 6 million Dollar Man run. And the sound effect helps too.

    2. Yotomoe

      They were running at full speed and Ruth saw them and said “No running in the dorm!” and their bodies refused to run any longer.

      1. Solenoid

        Except Ruth’s currently in bed and asleep. Me, I think they’re busy fighting their way through the Ryans. Boy, there sure are a lot of them.

        1. Marc in MN

          Is it like that Agent Smith battle in Matrix Reloaded?

        2. Solenoid

          I’d like to imagine so.

        3. Screwball

          *Plays Burly Brawl theme from Matrix as I imagine Walky going all Matrix Neo on the mind!Ryans, Dorothy taking on the mind!Ryans Trinity’s style…*

          *People running like crazy to get away from the crazy couple beating up random people…*

        4. Marc in MN

          And some mind!Ryan goes skidding across the ground, then says, “More……”

        5. Andrusi

          I picture them jumping on various Ryans’ heads over and over.

          By this point they’re getting extra lives every time.

        6. Rycan

          Then Walky walks straight into a Ryan, and falls off the planet. Annoying when that happens.

        7. Gigafreak

          Accompanied by a comical “oops!” musical sting, no doubt.
          Better hope he reached a save checkpoint recently!

      2. cesium133

        It’s hard for them to run without femurs.

    3. Bagge

      Or they stopped ten meters away, realized a breakup was going on and has since then ackwardly pretended not to listen.

      1. Screwball

        Possibly, but that’s not as much fun for us… 😛

  21. chris73

    You’re a good guy Ethan

  22. Weebles

    The sad part is, my real name is Ryan so every time he shows up it feels personal. 🙁

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      I feel the same way about that bloody Disney parrot.

      1. caesaria82

        ….. Iago?

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Yup, le sigh…

        2. Totz the Plaid

          Better not watch Othello, then…

        3. caesaria82

          Awww, I think that’s pretty cool. It’s a Shakespearean name. I always wanted one of those. Cordelia or Portia or Viola or something lol. But tbh Iago is badass. I’d embrace it 😀

        4. neeks

          These days if you’re named Cordelia, people would assume it’s for the Buffy/Angel character…even if you were born before btvs came out. (Not speaking from experience, though.)

        5. caesaria82

          I’d embrace that too, I loved her, hah.

        6. Usayasha

          I’m in a similar boat, but my name is Cullen so people think I have something to do with Twilight.

          Which is a tragic thing to be associated with, but oh well. Still a better love story than 50 Shades of Gray.

        7. No Name

          Well, 50 Shades is a Twilight fanfic. What do you expect?

        8. neeks

          I told my mom that 50sog was a twilight fanfic, and then I had to explain to her what “twilight” and “fanfiction” was.

        9. Emma

          Well, at least you’ll have a slew of Dragon Age fans somewhere in the world!

        10. That Damn Rat

          Well, yes it is a Shakespearean name, but it is also the name of one of the biggest douches in Shakespeare’s works.

        11. caesaria82

          True, he’s despicable. But he’s a great antagonist character, clevery written and an archetype now for many modern villains. Plus come on, the name is cool as hell 😉

        12. Marie

          He’s my favourite villain, I think (and Emilia’s my favourite Shakespeare character), but I can see why the Aladdin one would be annoying.

        13. anonymsly

          Also one of Shakespeare’s only ‘successful’ villains. Nearly everyone he wanted dead dies after suffering horribly for a while, and he survives it all.

      2. Lawzlo

        There’s a Disney parrot named Plasma Mongoose? That’s a Hell of a weird coincidence.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          heh! 😛

      3. Historyman68

        Despite exclusively being a villain name in fiction, Iago’s a pretty dope name.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Iago is the Spanish form of James.

        2. NotFred

          Actually it is the spanish form of the greek “Iacobus”. “James” comes from it as well, but they have independent etymological lines.

          As far as I know “Iago” is barely used outside Galicia (spanish community), world wide the most common versions could be “Diego” and “Santiago”.

        3. Random832

          Doesn’t “Santiago” just mean “Saint Iago”?

        4. No Name

          Which is why it’s more popular than “Iago”, no doubt.

        5. NotFred

          Exactly, from the apostle Iacobus (actually Ya’akov, in english James son of Zebedee) named in ancient spanish “Sant Iago”. “Diego” (and the least known “Tiago”) comes in turn from it.

          Them all are versions of “Iago”.

    2. dailybrad

      #NotAllRyans

    3. Rycan

      I just tell myself not to make it personal. Other people share names with villains, after all. There’s everyone named Blaine or Ross who reads this comic, for instance. And there’s probably somebody who was named Head Alien by hippie parents.

      1. neeks

        Ross? Did you mean Roz and get autocorrected or am I forgetting a doa character people Ross’s (rosses?) regret being associated with?

        1. Rycan

          Becky’s father. Never actually named in DoA, but Willis made it clear that he is Ross.

        2. neeks

          Ah, that’d be why I had no idea who that is. I haven’t been on tumblr or anything in a while, so this site is where I get all my info on the comic.

      2. Usayasha

        And there’s all the poor Marys out there, too.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Mary and it’s many variations being one of the most popular female names since Biblical times.

        2. Andrusi

          And then there are the Rachels, who are just kind of confused.

      3. No Name

        Also, the Naomis, what with her being Ethan’s mom. And what’s Mrs. Walkerton’s first name again? I’m sure there all angry too.

        1. Rycan

          Linda. She had some… surprises in It’s Walky! (and I will say no more)

        2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          The fact that she was batshit crazy was kind of obvious from the beginning, though.

  23. Yotomoe

    If you love something set it free. If it comes back, then its yours.
    (Just like me!)

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      Where you been? On one of your long ass spiritual journeys again?

      1. Yotomoe

        If I’m honest I was very hesitant to comment here for a while. I kinda upset some people. Most people told me to just stop commenting here, but I love you guys too much.

        1. Riku

          What’s the context there? You’re one of the cooler ones I’ve noticed

        2. Yotomoe

          I’m being vague cuz I don’t really wanna talk about it. Also one of the cooler whats?

        3. Solenoid

          Eh. I’d read the comment thread you’re specifically not talking about, and it had seemed like a big misunderstanding to me.

        4. Rycan

          A big, ugly misunderstanding.

        5. Yotomoe

          Well I am Big and Ugly!

        6. Riku

          One of the cooler commenters on Willis’s comics. I’m sleepy so my words are coming out stupid, sorry.

        7. newllend(henryvolt)

          Let’s not, certain things on the internet are better left buried.

          And I think he ment one of the Cooler commenters who comer here regularly( apparently newllends not a fan favorite)

        8. Gigafreak

          Well, I used to be an honest-to-goodness troll on Keenspot years ago, so you can hopefully feel better in comparison

        9. Rycan

          You weren’t the only one who stepped on toes in that thread, believe me. I certainly share some blame. Best to learn and move on.

        10. Rycan

          And I want to preemptively state that I don’t think a discussion of who’s to blame for what will help here. Just wanted to point out that Yotomoe wasn’t alone.

    2. Steven

      Unless it comes back with like twenty armed friends.

      1. Yotomoe

        But twenty armed friends give GREAT hugs!
        (It’s a play on words, you see.)

        1. Kyrros

          I see what you did there <_<

        2. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          Being crushed to death by friends is not fun. And how the heck would they balance? They’d probably die from various related issues before they were more than a year old.
          …
          I am a horrible, horrible person.

        3. Rycan

          Perhaps they’re anthropods. Granted they’d have difficulty giving hugs to humans, but living with twenty limbs would be easy.

        4. Screwball

          I can see someone like that basically using the arms to walk, a mass of well coordinated limbs flailing around as they propel themselves at surprising speeds… 😛

        5. Rheinman137

          I saw mommy kissing Yog Sothoth…

        6. Tenn

          Oh, what a laugh it would have been
          If Shub-Niggurath had seen
          Mommy kissing Yog-Sothoth last night!

          Wait, how did we get here?

    3. Screwball

      If you love something set it free. If it comes back, then its yours.
      (Just like me!)      .
      If it doesn’t, hunt it down & kill it?

      Seen that version around… 😛

  24. timemonkey

    I wonder if maybe Amber gave Ethan a heads up on what happened to Joyce. She both knows and has realised how badly affected Joyce is by the event.

    Also, Willis you could just replace all the Ryans with bongos.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      What’s is with all the bongo references?

      1. Gigafreak

        Ryan always dreamed of going on stage and reciting poetry between beats of his hand drums

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          He did? I don’t recall that at all.

        2. Gigafreak

          I’m being a smartass. The word that rhymes with “witch” has been auto-filtered to the hand drum because entirely too many people decided “calling Roz by this gender-charged epithet” was a good idea.

        3. WaytoomanyUIDs

          An argument can be made that “bongo” can and has been used as a racially charged epithet.

        4. Gigafreak

          http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bongos
          I don’t see any race-related definition in there. Care to go add it in?

        5. David M Willis

          they didn’t say it was a GOOD argument

        6. Crazy Dina

          Okay, I maaaaaaaaaaaaaay want to see that. And have that end badly. (Maybe Ultra Car throwing a pie in his face, saying “Hey Bongo! Here’s a message from another universe! and doing her classic middle middle finger flippoff?)

      2. caesaria82

        In the comments to the strip where Roz calls out Joyce so many people were calling her a ‘female dog’ that Willis replaced that word with bongo. And the world became a better place.

        1. timemonkey

          Or at least a funnier place.

        2. caesaria82

          A funnier place is always a better place.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          So if you say bongo, it replaces it with bongo?

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          Well I’ll be an SOB.

        5. Gigafreak

          SOB? Sounds of Bongos?

          So you are the embodiment of Rumba

        6. NotPiffany

          Or beat poetry. *snaps fingers*

        7. Gigafreak

          No, no, if you type bongo, it replaces it with bongo!

        8. Rycan

          Also retroactive, across all DoA threads.

          Of course, we’re already starting to see people circumventing the filter.

    2. Crazy Dina

      ON IT!

    3. Crazy Dina

      http://crazyhead42.tumblr.com/post/111153313840/as-requested-all-of-ryan-are-bongos-i-3 ^.^

      1. Opus the Poet

        Except those are congas. These are bongos. http://www.stevesgifts.com/images/XM/Bongo/Bongo_Light_BOG0708-NT.jpg

        1. Crazy Dina

          How can you tell?

      2. Rycan

        To be fair, I would be pretty freaked out too by everyone around me turning into giant bongo drums

      3. Tandel

        Here’s your internet, good sir.

    4. Gangler

      I don’t think Amber would’ve shared information like that without Joyce’s consent.

    5. Rycan

      I for one prefer to not be addressed by the name ‘Bongo’.

      1. Rycan

        All Ethan needs is a bat.

        1. Rycan

          This random self-reply brought to you by our obtuse commenting system.

        2. Gigafreak

          Ethan needs a bat, and Ethan (as a gay man) needs a man, and Ethan (as a toy collector) needs a Batman.

  25. Foxhack

    Yes, this is what I wanted to see.

    Ethan being a friend to her.

  26. zmm

    Good on ya buddy.
    also I forgot that guy had a scar.

    I’m waiting for her to see him..and go Dark Joyce on his shitty ass. Then Ethan or Dorothy to pull her off and send her off with Sara (always her at the end and never during) and then someone beating the crap out of the guy

    1. Carriethedragon

      It’s the wound from where she smashed him in the face with a glass.

    2. No Name

      If I remember correctly, Sarah was the “during” in the Ryan incident.

      1. Screwball

        Yep. How does it go, “Hey batta battahey batta hey batta batta sw-ing batta…

        I think I like her style…

  27. newllend(henryvolt)

    To be fair you used each other.

    1. airyu

      But Joyce doesn’t know that.

      1. dailybrad

        She does, she knew Ethan wanted an out from being “the gay guy”. Which is narcissistic of him, given he wouldn’t exactly be the only one, but given his background with his parents, it makes sense.

        1. That Damn Rat

          Given that he said exactly that to her when they started dating, yes. She knew.

        2. Rycan

          Not when they started – it was after Amber confronted him.

        3. Bagge

          That’s the crucial distinction to me. Joyce was not given the choice to enter the relationship as Ethan’s beard. She was given the choice to continue the scam that was already going on (and she was clearly bothered by it when she discussed it with Sarah afterwards).

          The both got something they wanted out of it, and this was about as good as it could possibly end, but it has been damaging for both of them.

  28. mogoskier

    Does Ethan know what happened with Ryan or is he just really good at reading signals.

    1. dailybrad

      We’re not sure, though there’s a chance he might, since Amber knows and Amber also knows Joyce is afraid of being around men she doesn’t know without people with her.

    2. Bagge

      Joyce is not THAT hard to read, and he has been her security blanket for a while now. She’s also in the middle of the worst panic attack we have seen since the ding-dong incident (and this one is longer).

      1. Tandel

        It’s about twice as long as the Ding-dong.

        About 50% more girth, too.

        1. Gigafreak

          Though this one is about the cessation of a figurative dick move rather than the perpetration of somewhat literal dick moves

    3. anonymsly

      Ethan is Amber’s best friend, and as we saw from Amber’s flashback, Ethan was an ‘expert’ in Amber’s mumbling, how to get her talking more calmly – in essence, he got very very good at helping a best friend who could be scared and anxious at the drop of a hat. (For good reason, given her home life.)

      I have no problem believing that Ethan noticed Joyce’s anxiety about men she doesn’t know. He definitely said something like ‘My girlfriend doesn’t need me to walk her to class today’ to Danny, showing that he knows his company is a need from Joyce, not a want.

      1. Freemage

        Oooh.. bravo. I had missed the significance of that (the ‘doesn’t need me’ bit), even on rereads.

  29. Varius

    Ethan is awesome. A true friend and a stand-up guy.

    (See what I did there?)

    1. airyu

      …the Jason gravatar is ridiculously fitting for you…

      1. Varius

        How so?

    2. chris73

      Hes made some questionable choices in men but, that aside, hes being a good friend and a better person here

    3. Gigafreak

      I think that joke only works in the other universe

      1. neeks

        It only works as a joke BECAUSE of the other universe.

        1. Gigafreak

          He doesn’t do stand-up in this one though

  30. ChocolateRat

    Aww. I’ll really like these two together as friends.

  31. airyu

    What is Ethan looking at on the last panel?

    1. TheTJ

      DESTINY!

    2. Yotomoe

      He’s ascended boyfriend status and has reached the level of guardian angel. From his perspective there’s a bright light shining on him.

      1. Lord Geovanni

        smells like friend zone to me

        1. Yotomoe

          Friend Zone Act 1.

        2. Gigafreak

          Eggman’s machine at the end self-destructs without the player’s intervention because the Friend Zone mentality is self-defeating like that

        3. neeks

          No, Joyce is the one who got friend-zoned in this context, but that was kind of their shared goal, so idk if the usual context for the term works here.

        4. Rycan

          He’s gay – and has always been uncomfortable with Joyce’s subtle advances. If he succeeds in staying friends, I think he’ll view this as an improvement (except when he next has to talk to his parents).

    3. newllend(henryvolt)

      Ethan: You see this Joyce ? For everything the light touches is my Kingdom, and one day it will be yours.

      1. Lord Geovanni

        wait! ethan is gonna die soon?

        1. Gigafreak

          The villain in this story DOES bear a facial scar…

        2. zach

          But he isn’t a fabulous, brilliant queen.

      2. Rycan

        Ethan would be stealing Galasso’s thunder, and that is ill-advised.

      3. Gamaran Sepudomyn

        I read “Kingdom” as “Klingon”. Am I the only one?

  32. caesaria82

    You’re a good egg, Ethan.

  33. The Thing

    Joyce is being a bit hard on herself. They used each other – Ethan used Joyce as his beard and Joyce used Ethan to try and prove homosexuality could be cured.

    1. dailybrad

      There’s more to it than that, but it was a mutually poor decision, their relationship. Luckily, a friendship seems to have formed.

      1. Freemage

        Yup. Like a beautiful and fragrant rose, rising from the fetid, rotting manure.

    2. Ranthog

      Well keep in mind, she can use the “correcting” Ethan to justify within her beliefs hanging out with him. Outside of pretending to be his girlfriend I don’t remember any strips where Joyce actively tries to cure homosexuality.

      More so I think that Joyce was using Ethan to feel safe, secure, and loved. She used him to have what she wanted: a boyfriend who she didn’t have to worry about doing anything to her, and who would keep her from doing anything too sinful. (After all she’s also as scared of herself as much as she is of others.)

      1. Rycan

        She pressured him to suppress his homosexual urges. She only did it lightly, but it was a push in the wrong direction for his psychological health. I think that is what Joyce is deeply regretting.

        1. Ranthog

          Joyce should feel guilty about it because the means to her ends were wrong. The motives though are important consideration, and it paints Joyce unfairly if converting Ethan to heterosexuality to be her main and only goal. (Especially considering the fact that she didn’t date him initially because he was gay.)

          Their relationship was always a coping mechanism for both Joyce and Ethan. Both of them have things that they want to hide from and things they’re afraid of. The fact that both of them wanted it is important. It isn’t something that in the long run would have been healthy for either of them.

      2. fogel

        Joyce also quite liked hugs in which she could press against Ethans chest….

        1. The Thing

          I think we’d all like that.

          I mean, everyone except me would like that.

          Because I don’t in any way fantasize about being held close to Ethan’s broad, warm chest and smelling his cologne and…

          I’ll be in my bunk.

    3. Rycan

      If you wrong someone, and they wrong you, those two wrongs do not cancel each other out. You should still own up to what you’ve done.

      1. Gigafreak

        Your selection of gravatar certainly seems appropriate for that argument.

  34. Idon'tcarenomore

    Always has been more or less there for her, when they weren’t trying to pass as a couple. I’m guessing he’s taking it well because they aren’t in love and he does care about her.
    He may be a jerk sometimes, but looks like here he knows that she is trying to do right for the both of him.
    The flood of tears may possiblely let him know how hard it was for her, maybe :).

    I don’t blame Mr. W. never caring if draws Ryan ever again…for many reasons.

    Wonder if he is really out there tonight?

    1. Rycan

      I think Ethan loves Joyce, just like he loves Amber – there’s just no lust for either.

      And if Ryan is out there, then he’s going to regret it.

  35. Lord Geovanni

    you cant weasle your way out of this Willis you have to explain whats up with him its burning me

    1. Gigafreak

      Click Ryan’s name and see his first appearances then

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      This would be a good Ryan comic to start off with.

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/mark/

      1. neeks

        Geovanni might have meant “what is Ryan up to currently?”

        Actually, has anyone even nominated him for a monthly patreon bonus strip? Or have I just earned willis’s ire by asking/suggesting it? I get the feeling that if the subscribers did vote for a Ryan strip, it would be like the time we voted for Becky…right before her next in comic appearance. Although I guess he could just draw more of Joyce hallucinating, but the dramatic effect is a bit lessened now that we already know about it.

    3. Lord Geovanni

      i actually meant less who the character was and more why he’s walking around in duplicate and triplicate in the same pannel. i did forget him though though there was some v for vendetta thing going on

      1. Lord Geovanni

        Oh! Joyce’s imagination i would never have known that if i didnt read the comments or seen some hazyness in the back ground

        1. Rycan

          When she first ran outside alone, she saw normal strangers walking about. Next panel, they were all transformed into Ryans, but still going about their day. Today is just a continuation of that.

  36. Kenjia

    Ethan understands what shitheads some people can be. He witnessed Amber’s father growing up. Would not be surprised if he suspects something happened to Joyce based on how shaken she is.
    Also, he is a really good friend. Ethan and Joyce were pretty much friends with hand holding and cuddling benefits… and despite how misguided Joyce may appear in her delivery of her break up with him, it’s clear he respects her more for honoring his identity (and apologizing for trying to help him repress it)

    1. Bagge

      Yup, this goes really well. It looks like Ethan is relieved to end the charade. I’m glad he still supports Joyce.

  37. newllend(henryvolt)

    Maybe now they can both have real relationships and people who loves them for who they are so they can help them grow as people.

  38. Chengrel

    Good, the cut left a scar. But how is he in two places at once in the third panel? Or am I looking at it wrong?

    1. Totz the Plaid

      You’re seeing what Joyce is hallucinating.

      1. Gigafreak

        And has been hallucinating ever since she stepped outdoors without safety in numbers.

      2. Haven

        I’m assuming she’s not literally hallucinating (because hallucinations do not work that way), but rather that this is visual shorthand for her seeing everyone as potentially doing what he did.

        1. Rycan

          That’s my assumption – you can illustrate a hallucination, but it’s much harder to illustrate a perception.

    2. Steven

      Joyce is just imagining that every person she sees is Ryan, his look is based off the last time she saw him.

      Go back and read the last three comic’s.

      1. Chengrel

        Wow, I did not notice that.

    3. quix

      You are reading it too literally. For the last couple strips, the idea is that Joyce is seeing Ryan everywhere.

  39. JessWitt

    Meeting Becky should hopefully be beneficial for Ethan in his closeted stage.

    But what about Joyce though? Who to solicit help from?

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      If anyone can pull Ethan out of the closet so she can blow it up, it’s Becky. ^_^

      1. Totz the Plaid

        …and Joyce has developed a pretty solid friend group to help her. Dorothy, Becky, Ethan, Sarah, even Walky.

    2. Rycan

      A professional – what she’s needed all along. Roz, despite having been the most abrasive to Joyce, is the only one who’s encouraged her to seek out what she really needs. Unfortunately, people tend not to listen to advice from those who berate them.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        That’s pretty much a universal trait.

  40. Saki

    Aww, Ethan’s the best! ><

  41. Plasma Mongoose

    Just to let anyone interested OmegaDez’s wencomic has reached its 100th comic.

    http://frivolesque.com/archives/comic/100-return

    1. Gigafreak

      >Wencomic

      Please tell me it’s not related to Faz’s penis

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Not according to this chart at least. 😛

    2. OmegaDez

      Wow, that’s some random advertisement. XD

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Being predictably random is what I do best. ^_^

        1. OmegaDez

          Doesn’t that count as spam though?
          I wouldn’t want Willis to be upset.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          It might border on spam but since Willis has proven to be willing to support smaller webcomics in the past, I’m sure he will allow it as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.

    3. NotFred

      And it is the first strip where the url do not match the title. Pearl 😛

      1. OmegaDez

        I KNOW, RIGHT?
        I totally forgot to change the URL. And it’s too late now.

  42. Totz the Plaid

    I hope Blaine and Ryan die in a car crash by hitting each other head-on.

    1. neeks

      For some reason I immediately thought of the “slampora” from homestuck but that’s an unlikely scenario for these guys to ever be in.

  43. Jay

    Except for Ryan, this is exactly what I wanted.

  44. S'toon

    Joyce always travels with someone outside. She sees Ethan for who he is, instead of the phantom Ryan she’s afraid of because she sees Ethan as safe. Maybe that’s why she said he’s perfect when he outed himself to her, because she’s conflicted. She wanted a hubby, but is now afraid of men and all THAT stuff.

    1. Rycan

      There was (and still is) also her strong desire to avoid the temptation of pre-marital hanky panky.

      1. S'toon

        Which is what I meant by THAT stuff.

  45. Wendy

    AAHHHH I REALLY HOPE THEY STAY FRIENDS…..poor babies. T_T

  46. Arianod

    Gee. Looks like you do need him after all. :c

  47. Bearpelt

    Ethan’s a good guy.

    When I was being stalked at my first college and Seth Myers had tried to touch me in dance class, there was only one person in the class I was friends with. There was a ton of drama around our friendship circle at the time, which I remember clearly, and even when the others would rip into him when he wasn’t there, I always had the attitude of, “Fuck you guys, he’s the only one who will walk me to and from class every week where I was sexually assaulted by a student I have to see in class every week. Whatever you think, he’s the only one who did that for me.”

  48. Nothri

    How is it that I come away from these events feeling like they both did exactly the right thing? How is that possible when those decisions seem to fit on opposite ends of the outcome spectrum??

  49. Chris

    Canon be damned, that’s Tomax and Xamot runnin’ around campus.

  50. Justin

    Well, you have to draw him once more to show him getting every bone in his body obliterated, but after that~

  51. Kris

    Turns out it was officially dress as a random fucktard day at IU.

    1. neeks

      Or Ryan’s face is the model used for Anonymous’s new mask.

      I originally said “Ryan’s face is the new mask” but that could be taken more literally than I’m comfortable with.

  52. Cheryl

    I just had the scariest thought. But i dont wanna say just in case David has a plan. But omg I swear I will shit kittens if it happens.

    1. neeks

      “Joyce sees Ryan in every person she sees, but they’re not all literally Ryan…except for the one who is, who happens to be wearing the exact outfit from the night of the party while wandering around campus”? Fwiw, Willis has the comic drawn months in advance, so it’s not like you could jinx it by speculating. Well, unless that particular scenario wouldn’t have been addressed in the storyline of the next few months.

      But I don’t know…she’ll have to confront this problem eventually anyway.

      1. ArkArks

        Yeah, because in this comic everyone just does that. They confront their porblems and then live a happy life…

        I don’t think it is going to happen any time soon. So much can still be shown about how bad things can get.

        1. neeks

          I feel like “So much can still be shown about how bad things can get” should be the tagline for this comic.

  53. Haintsu

    Is it just me or does Ethan look sorta kawaii in the last panel?

    1. jadedcynic

      Only in the LAST panel? Where’ve you been for the past few YEARS?!? 😉

  54. That Damn Rat

    Well, Willis you can get out of drawing him in the future, all it requires is the judicious application of a truck.

    1. Mr. Morningstar

      and or a train and maybe a t-rex thrown in for good measure

  55. JD

    Ethan steps UP. Respect.

  56. halcyon1234

    Maybe you can draw Ryan just one more time.

    As a corpse.

  57. CarlaGriffin

    I am so on board with this friendship!

  58. NinjaZaku

    Ethan never ceases to amaze.

    1. Gigafreak

      His best friend Amber never ceases to Amazi

  59. Orangey

    This is just so good of Ethan, as i dont think he even knows about the whole Ryan thing. He’s never questioned the need to walk with Joyce from classes even though he most likely has to go out of his way, and here he knows somethings up and still supports her anyway even though theyre not together.

    I just love these two a lot. I hope they stay really good buddies cause I like seeing them together. (just not romantically. as obviously joyce and becky are girlfs4eva )

  60. Orangey

    also to whoever said that Joyce was gonna break up with Ethan real quick and then be like BYE GOING TO SEE BECKY NOW LATERS, this was a pretty close!

  61. Rycan

    Only way this could be better would be if Ethan had a baseball bat.

  62. Darth Cariss

    Willis, I’ve been reading your comics for way too long to believe you’ll never draw Ryan again.

  63. Ben

    YES! Ethan, thank you for being awesome, and taking the high road (someone was bound to eventually in this comic full of dunderheads).

  64. Liz

    Please draw Ryan one more time. His death scene, please. That would be lovely.

    Also, wow. Good job, Ethan. Good job. Now all we need are Dorothy and Walky, and the Joyce Squad will outnumber the fake Ryans.

    1. Al Schroeder

      His death scene at the hands of Amazi-Girl, please. (Or, running from an enraged Amazi-Girl right into the path of an oncoming bus filled with protestors against date rape and slut-shaming, through no fault of Amazi-Girl–AG has enough to cope with.)

      1. jadedcynic

        I’d settle for seeing his face appear on a newspaper or tv screen accompanying the story about how a rapist was arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and is currently serving a LOOOONG prison sentence.

        Given the pace of the comic and the pace of the justice system, even if the first happened the same night of The Party, it’d still be somewhere in the 2020’s where the comic for the above would air…but at least it would be somewhere in the 22nd century before Ryan got out. 🙂

      2. Smiling Cat

        Yeah, no, let’s not saddle good people with guilt for the death of another human being. Even one such as Ryan.

        Bar of soap, shower. Maybe lightning strike. Let God sort it out.

        1. Huttj

          My vote’s for a R.K. Milholland guest strip, featuring ceiling gators.

          http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02132009.shtml

  65. Emperor Kiva

    Well at least Ethan’s still nice enough to help Joyce out.

  66. Saru

    No Joyce! LSD is bad!

  67. TheLurkerAbove

    I don’t know about you all, but I thought this is a pretty awesome strip that shows the good in both characters.

  68. Lordess of Madness

    What’s with the dude with the cut? Has Amazigirl been at it again?

    1. NotaGravatar

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/thessalonians/

      Leading to…

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/smash/

    2. NotPiffany

      That’s Ryan (or more properly Joyce’s seeing Ryan in every strange male around her). Ryan’s the asshat who tried to rape Joyce. He drugged Joyce, but she smashed the glass into his face, giving him that cut, before he could force her into the bathroom. Then Sarah beat him with her bat. He escaped while Amazi-Girl unwittingly provided a distraction. He’s been at large ever since.

      1. jadedcynic

        …and because of that experience with a seemingly nice man, Joyce has been paralyzed with fear when confronted with male strangers – the ‘every extra is Ryan’ is a rather poignant illustration of that – and she’s been leaning on Ethan for support and safety.

        Oh, and just a quick tangent – my avatar needs to apologize to your avatar. 😉

  69. heavvymetalqueen

    these last few strips have been a pretty heavy emotional punch. I feel bad for the people calling out Ethan for “using Joyce too” and stuff. They helped each other. They still are. I’m happy to see that.

    Ethan is such a good guy. He deserves a good boyfriend to love him very very much.

  70. Corlanthis

    This strip needs a like button. THIS STRIP NEEDS A LIKE BUTTON!!!!!

  71. Kaunisenkeli

    He doesn’t have to be your boyfriend to be there to support you, Joyce. Here’s hoping they remain friends.

  72. Bagge

    Look a that, not only Joyce is doing the right thing today. Good on you Ethan.

  73. DuckDuckMoose

    And then, just like that, Ethan became the coolest guy in the world. Anti-damn you, Willis. Or… contra-damn you? “Bless you” is a little too painfully earnest for me, especially with this avatar I was dealt.

    (Also, hey, DW, feel free never to draw Ryan again. I don’t even need to know how many of his ribs Sarah broke. He’s just not worth it.)

    1. NotPiffany

      Something just occurred to me. It’s possible that the real Ryan isn’t even on campus anymore (assuming he was actually a student at IU in the first place). He got a glass smashed in his face, was beaten with a bat, and then an angry young woman stomped on him. He may have needed medical attention after all of that.

      1. No Name

        There’s no “may” about it. If he didn’t go to hospital, he’s probably dead of a punctured lung or internal bleeding and lying in a morgue somewhere as a John Doe.

        1. DuckDuckMoose

          Personally, I really hope we never find out anything more about the real guy, because only Joyce’s mind-Ryans are important to the story at this point. For what it’s worth, though, I think he made it to a hospital, told some wild story about getting jumped by a gang of bodybuilders on PCP, and crawled back home to his pastor dad. Unless he’s a deeply irrational type of predator, he won’t be seen anywhere near campus again, not when there are a dozen or more witnesses who could ID him.

        2. Bagge

          I really hope you are right for exact that same reason – Ryan’s part of the story is over. What’s important now is how Joyce handle the trauma and how she deals with the knowledge that seemingly normal – even good – men might assault her. That story arc will end with her defeating mind Ryan. If the REAL Ryan shows up and get the crap kicked out of him it will only serve as a metaphor for her defeat of mind-Ryan (and a pretty bad one at that – I mean, it’s not like Amber’s problems disappeared once she kicked the shit out of Blaine).

          In fact, I think mind Ryan as it is described here (every man on campus is Ryan) is a perfect visual aid for Joyce trauma (and the concept Shrodinger’s Rapist), and I think his eventual defeat will be perfectly demonstrated by the men turning normal again.

          That said, I can’t help but think that it would be an awesome act of storytelling to have Joyce live through day after day with random mind-Ryans in the background – more or fewer depending on how secure she feels at the moment- and at some point when all of us have grown complacent one of them will turn out to be real. OOOOOOH SHIIIIIIT.

  74. Jimmy

    If you’ve heard multiple crash sounds over the past few days, that’s just been the sound of my heart breaking after reading DoA lately. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it’s amazing how fictional characters can instill so much emotion.

  75. ShazamWow!

    Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful, healthy friendship. Joyce and Ethan could be much better for each other outside of a faked romance.

    1. RandomRedMage

      yes.

  76. Sam

    D’awwww

  77. brumagem

    I’m crying. I’m crying. I don’t know why this scene feels so powerful AND I WANT TO SIT HERE AND CRY FOREVER.

    1. No Name

      There, there, Sal, it’s alright. Just let it all out.

  78. lensipensi

    I really like this strip!

  79. anonymsly

    Ethan Siegal, you are a good, good person. Someone you care about has just rejected you; however little you really wanted the role she rejected, and however good for you it will be in the long run, it’s gotta sting now. But she’s still scared and anxious, so you step up to help her do what she needs to do just like you’ve always done, even though you know nothing about why exactly she’s scared.

    Kindness in the fake-people population of the media I consume always gets me.

    1. Bagge

      Hear, hear!

    2. Bill

      And with this one act, this one touch of Joyce’s shoulder, these four words, Ethan has become a mensch.

  80. Camille

    THE GUY WITH THE SCAR. THAT’S THE RAPIST GUY. THE RAPIST GUY JOYCE HIT AT THAT PARTY. OMG IT’S HIM.

    Alright carry on.

  81. Dani Kelley

    This makes me so happy.

    My freshman year of college, I was assaulted in one of my classes. The dean of students assured me that my attacker would be suspended. He never was. The following semester, I had to see him 3-4x a week. Everyone I’d told about the attack had told me it was my fault or it wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t have anyone to help me or even just…be with me when I’d have to walk past him after classes. It was so traumatizing and isolating and awful.

    Ethan is just…such a wonderful person. I’m so glad he’s there for Joyce, even after such an emotional conversation.

    1. The Thing

      Have you sought therapy?

      1. Dani Kelley

        No. Largely because lack of insurance combined with extreme anxiety surrounding therapists. I was forced to go to Christian counselors in my teens, and while I’m glad my parents saw the value in therapy, the experiences were pretty awful.

  82. Spencer

    This is going to well. Toedad’s already at the school, isn’t he?

  83. Jeremy

    Now that she faced facts their friendship can continue honestly

  84. Bilal Kalyal

    Oh poor Ethan, this all must be so damn confusing for him that he can’t help but just lend a hand.

  85. Tsuki

    Of all the craziness, does anyone have a feeling that Becky’s “dad” has already found her and forcibly try to take her back?

  86. Bob

    Decency. It isn’t just for non-Christians anymore. 🙂

  87. Jason

    Does Ethan even know who Becky is??

    1. No Name

      No, but Joyce literally (literally literally) just said “I need to find Becky.” If Ethan’s smart enough to realize that Joyce still needs to “use” him, he’s smart enough to pick up on that.

      1. Bagge

        Also, both Dorothy and Walky knew who Becky was before she finally showed up. It’s pretty likely that Joyce told Ethan about her best friend at some point.

        Of course, he doesn’t know anything about recent events, but he has enough context to figure out the general shape of things (“best friends in trouble, possible related to gay related freakout”)

        1. Gigafreak

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/06-strange-beerfellows/hands/
          Joyce has spoken to Becky in Ethan’s presence once before, though there is no guarantee that Becky’s name was spoken aloud in that conversation, nor that Ethan considered it noteworthy enough to remember. Ethan’s probably just reacting to Joyce’s “I need to find Becky” in today’s first panel.

  88. Joya

    Is it bad that I hissed at the screen the minute I saw Ryan?

    1. Johnny Z

      Well he did yell pretty meanly.

  89. lightsabermario

    Next comic is literally nothing but Ryans. Every cast member of Dumbing of Age with Ryan’s face, surrounding Joyce. You will be assimilated, Joyce. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

  90. Kraken

    The way Willis is depicting Joyce’s PTSD is incredibly effective and disturbing. It’s a really awe inspiring use of art to convey a feeling that words would have trouble capturing. This strip is even more effective than the last one, with the foreground Ryans flanking a much smaller Joyce.

    That said, I never want to see it again. I hope someone convinces Joyce to see a therapist so she can work her way through ths.

  91. Tenn

    The Ryan entering from the right in panel 2 is fricking scary. A dead, empty stare and some slight sadness — and we don’t see the wound, but we know it’s there, on the other cheek, waiting, gaping, bleeding…

    1. DarkoNeko

      It’s clearly a zombie attack.

  92. segnosaur

    Didn’t see anyone mention it so far… but this comic did address one other issue…

    Remember in the previous comic (after Joyce pulled a “Harry and the Hendersons” and told Ethan to go) that Ethan had a strange look on his face that people thought might be anger. Fortunately in this comic that doesn’t seem to be the case.

  93. DarkoNeko

    …He knoooows.

  94. ilvos01

    WHAT COLOR IS JOYCE’S HAIR

    1. David M Willis

      #C2AE96

      1. Crazy Dina

        Huh. A fairly washed-out orange. http://www.hexcolortool.com/C2AE96#eab16c

      2. ilvos01

        What is that? Wheat? Flaccid blonde?

  95. completeinsanity

    I would be happy if you drew Ryan one more time, to see him in custody

  96. Space Penis

    The two guys in the second and third panel are the same guy. I sense shenanigans are afoot.

  97. Evie

    This is why Ethan is and will always be my favourite. No questions asked. Friend needs him. Immediately calm and able to be there for her even though he’s got his own stuff to deal with. (Though it’s been a fault of his to put his own problems aside for someone else, so I hope he can work through this okay later.)

  98. Plume

    wait hold on… was scarface there who just walked by that guy from the party???

    1. Plume

      *on a reread* Oooooooooohhhh I see what you did there now. Can’t believe I missed it the first time.

  99. MutantSentry

    In reference to the alt text… I’d be happy if that truck from the other universe would get Ryan in this one…

  100. MortartarSaws

    Let’s be honest, you won’t really be happy until you draw Ryan getting his comeuppance, preferably via another bat-beating and an excruciatingly public arrest.

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