She’s seen her mother kill herself, been nearly kidnapped with intent to be killed by her homicidal father TWICE…at this point taking the lord’s name in vain is next to not giving a crap at all in her book
I suspect Dina would be rationally open to experimenting with something poly if the idea was run by her and she thought it through logically, but would be feral-possessive otherwise.
yes this exactly. i do not want to see dina lose her girlfriend in this. however, we already have one polycule, and you know what’s better than one background polycule? ^_^
Seregiel
Dorothy said she was a 1 on the Kinsey Scale so probably no go…
Needfuldoer
If the two polycules bond, would that make polyester?
Deanatay
Only if they bond over someone named Esther…
Needfuldoer
Then after they all go out for sodas as a polycarbonate.
I’m pretty sure that Becky isn’t going to go from girlfriends with Dina to lovers with Dorothy. I mean, try to think clearly here: Becky is the one holding back on the “pre-marital hanky panky,” not Dina. And Dorothy appears to be one of the few straight members of this ensemble.
Different people react differently to stimulus. A number of people on here have commented about disliking the air puffs. I don’t think anyone’s being a whiny baby.
Normally, you’d close or shield your eyes on a windy day, or at least blink regularly.
Most operators of that machine seem to be waiting patiently for you to keep your eye open for what feels like a full minute before they hit the button.
In addition to everyone else’s points: on a windy day I have literal windshields in the form of glasses in front of my eyes. Not so much with the Puff Machine of Doom(TM). 😛
Also Dorothy is the one who is making Joyce do this.
clif
Dorothy is the one convincing Joyce to do this. She has no ability to make Joyce do anything. On the other hand, this is Dorothy managing Becky. Yet another example of the fact that manipulative and evil are two unrelated qualities.
Miri
This is getting Becky to see it’s in Joyce’s best interests, and that Becky plays a unique, valuable, appreciated role in Joyce’s life that Dorothy can’t (and wouldn’t try to) replace. I’m not sure if it’s so much manipulative as excellent (and empathetic) people management…
Schpoonman
If you view Dorothy as being so administrative or bureaucratic because she is trying to make her world neat and orderly for her own selfish pleasure, yes, you could paint her as manipulative.
If you weren’t trying to outgun Ayn Rand in cynicism, no. What I can’t parse is why people want Dorothy to be more heavily flawed like the other characters when she works best as a straight man to characters like Becky and Joyce.
Regalli
Personally, I always prefer a character who has an arc and eventually hits walls they can’t simply jump over, and Dorothy’s very much a main one. But it’s also a thing that Dorothy DOES have flaws that have only gotten minimal narrative attention so far, or haven’t quite been focused in on as flaws – the overstudying arc, for instance, makes it very clear that Dorothy DOESN’T have an appropriate work-relaxation balance, and that is a genuine issue that can cause lasting physical harm. Its resolution wasn’t really because Dorothy learned she had overextended and needed to rest more, but because she broke up with Walky and then finished her extra credit – narratively unsatisfying and kind of iffy if there’s no followup because it reads a bit ‘ambitious women can’t have relationships’, and I don’t think the Walky tutoring alone was what pushed her over the edge. (Dorothy herself acknowledges that she’d taken on more volunteer work than she could balance.) Now, I DON’T think that was the resolution of that character point, but you can kind of see where the issues are if ‘sure Dorothy pushes herself to the point where she neglects food and sleep and broke up with a boyfriend who provided a relaxation outlet, but she got into Yale so none of that’s REALLY a bad thing’ were actually the ultimate outcome there.
Similarly, we have seen Dorothy have a goalpost-moving issue in her relationship with Walky (‘it’s purely casual’/‘okay it’s a relationship but not, like, a serious one’/‘I love you’ and the pause-that-basically-wasn’t.) I don’t think that was manipulative, or intentional boundary-pushing on her part, but it was a genuine flaw with the relationship and Dorothy’s actions in it. Not an unforgiveable one, but a flaw nonetheless. (I’m willing to put the Danny breakup as ‘Dorothy was trying to let him down gently for months and he could not take the hint’ and a mutual failure, but that still should have been a much firmer breakup much sooner.)
We’re also seeing some similar things this arc that Dorothy has some benevolent boundary-disrespecting in the name of Mom Friend. Which, yes, Joyce objectively needed an eye appointment and was absurdly childish in her fear of it, but was still a questionable call. (The fact that Dorothy brought the agoraphobia aspect up to Becky and not Joyce herself, for instance, feels a bit patronizing the more I think about it.) Again, not unforgiveable, and because it’s Joyce I do see where Dorothy would find it the best option, but still one of those things she does need to learn is over the line at some point. Fortunately, it’s college! I think her perceptiveness here also kind of illustrates why it weirded people out in the replacement RA storyline, as well – Dorothy picks up A LOT about people naturally, which is fine, but if she brings it up without interacting with them a lot or suggests a solution to their problem unsolicited, that feels less like ‘Dorothy’s a good friend’ and more invasive.
In short, Dorothy’s just as flawed as the rest of the main cast but less consistently acknowledged as flawed, and character development is interesting so some of us want said flaws addressed. (I also want Dorothy to eventually lose her temper over Becky as much for Becky’s development as Dorothy’s – eventually she’s got to realize the goofball ‘nemesis’ thing isn’t particularly funny to anyone but her, and can be genuinely harmful.)
crow
I mean, what little I’ve read of How to Win Friends and Influence People seemed to mainly rely on manipulating people in a nice way. And it seems like the kind of book Dorothy would read.
Eclipsa
Dorothy made the appointment without Joyce’s full consent and pretty much didn’t take no for an answer when Joyce hesitated.
I realize Dorothy’s heart is in the right place. She’s looking out for Joyce. But that doesn’t mean the way she went about it was okay.
you got the same interpretation that I got, she “got” Becky there even if Becky doesn’t want to admit it. it’s a compliment and shows how much Dorothy actually understands her
Let’s try this again.
I love that even Becky thinks Joyce is being a wimp here. Come on Joyce, you’re a big girl, you can handle a small puff of air into your eye.
Substitution, mass confusion,
Clouds inside your head
Involving all my energies,
Until you visited
With your eyes of porcelain and of blue,
They shock me into sense
You think you’re so illustrious,
You call yourself intense–The Cars
I laughed so hard at Becky’s final line. It’s one that would only be mildly funny without the connection to these characters that’s been built up, and that’s why I love this comic so much.
185 thoughts on “Burst”
Ana Chronistic
“JOYCE, I’M HERE FOR YA, YA ENORMOUS BABY”
Doctor_Who
“NOTHIN’ CAN BREAK THE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP, EVEN ONE OF US BEIN’ A TOTAL WUSS!”
Dean
“I’ll stand here and cluck like a chicken to support you!”
BBCC
XD Becky, you’ve known her all her life. I dunno what you expected.
BBCC
DAMMIT. Once again, Booster, I adore you, but you are not whom I seek.
Vangeln
I’m sure Booster had heard that before.
Chris
I see Becky has no problem with taking the Lord’s name in vain.
BBCC
May not count in their church. Lots only consider ‘goddammit’ to be such.
Johan
I always saw it as a asking God for strength or like Jesus Christ look at your ward or whatever.
Blindness
She’s seen her mother kill herself, been nearly kidnapped with intent to be killed by her homicidal father TWICE…at this point taking the lord’s name in vain is next to not giving a crap at all in her book
He Who Abides
Ross might’ve been a monster, but he never intended to kill Becky. Torture her into submission, yes, but that’s a whole other thing entirely.
Makkabee
But killing her WAS his Plan B.
In Ross’s twisted thinking:
Ideal Outcome: break her spirit and turn her into a submissive heterosexual cultist.
Acceptable fallback: Kill her before she can have sex so she still goes to heaven as kinda-sorta-technically-not-gay.
Worst Case Scenario: Becky escapes and enjoys a fulfilling, happy, same-sex relationship that dooms her soul to eternal torment.
BBCC
I mean, he was going to send her to a conversion therapy camp okay with taking a kidnapped adult. Those places tend to have a scary high death rate.
Daniel M Ball
Those places (and the mentality behind them) are just frikkin scary period.
Dara
goddammit panel 2
if this is enemies to lovers i’m gonna be so… pleased….
Yumi
They’re only half-enemies, so they could only progress to half-lovers.
James
Frenemies with benefits?
PB
I’m … surprisingly okay with that!
Krylani
I don’t think Dina would be.
Reltzik
I suspect Dina would be rationally open to experimenting with something poly if the idea was run by her and she thought it through logically, but would be feral-possessive otherwise.
Dara
yes this exactly. i do not want to see dina lose her girlfriend in this. however, we already have one polycule, and you know what’s better than one background polycule? ^_^
Seregiel
Dorothy said she was a 1 on the Kinsey Scale so probably no go…
Needfuldoer
If the two polycules bond, would that make polyester?
Deanatay
Only if they bond over someone named Esther…
Needfuldoer
Then after they all go out for sodas as a polycarbonate.
Dara
I like it.
FacelessDeviant
Half-lovers half-enemies?
Is that like, two people with crappy personal chemistry that are making out?
Despite Rage
Every relationship ever?
Blindness
it’s one-sided, Dorothy doesn’t see her as an enemy so it’s more like apathetic to understanding the needs of the moment.
Needfuldoer
It’s an unrequited rivalry.
Oberon
I’m pretty sure that Becky isn’t going to go from girlfriends with Dina to lovers with Dorothy. I mean, try to think clearly here: Becky is the one holding back on the “pre-marital hanky panky,” not Dina. And Dorothy appears to be one of the few straight members of this ensemble.
Dara
I don’t actually think so either but I’m still amused by the idea. xD
Keulen
Only Becky seems to think they’re enemies. Dorothy definitely doesn’t see Becky as her enemy. And I’m hoping Becky stops thinking that soon.
Needfuldoer
Girlfreinemies.
Octopus Ink
To be fair, ANYTHING going into/onto the eyeball, EVEN AIR, is at least mildly unpleasant.
Blindness
…you have had worse from the wind blowing on a breezy day. It’s more about being a whiny baby than about any pain or discomfort.
Yumi
Different people react differently to stimulus. A number of people on here have commented about disliking the air puffs. I don’t think anyone’s being a whiny baby.
Jamie
Normally, you’d close or shield your eyes on a windy day, or at least blink regularly.
Most operators of that machine seem to be waiting patiently for you to keep your eye open for what feels like a full minute before they hit the button.
Eclipsa
It’s not just that it’s air. It’s sudden and you know it’s coming, and the anticipation gets you. And it’s a pretty strong puff.
temperaryobsessor
The puff itself is mildly uncomfortable but the instinct is when anything touches your eyes to blink and your not allowed to blink.
Aletheia
In addition to everyone else’s points: on a windy day I have literal windshields in the form of glasses in front of my eyes. Not so much with the Puff Machine of Doom(TM). 😛
Katherine
I sure haven’t, the glasses prevent my eyes being blown on.
Needfuldoer
It’s the anticipation while sticking your head in a medical contraption in a dark room that make it 10x worse than it actually is.
Jhon
Becky is not impressed by the nightmare machine.
HeinousActsZX
I’m waiting on the part lens comparison machine thing. Always the most fun part of your glasses exam.
crow
Dorothy just doesn’t want to get up
Blindness
nah, she understands that Becky needs to do that for her own sake…plus it gets rid of Becky for a minute or two
Eclipsa
Also Dorothy is the one who is making Joyce do this.
clif
Dorothy is the one convincing Joyce to do this. She has no ability to make Joyce do anything. On the other hand, this is Dorothy managing Becky. Yet another example of the fact that manipulative and evil are two unrelated qualities.
Miri
This is getting Becky to see it’s in Joyce’s best interests, and that Becky plays a unique, valuable, appreciated role in Joyce’s life that Dorothy can’t (and wouldn’t try to) replace. I’m not sure if it’s so much manipulative as excellent (and empathetic) people management…
Schpoonman
If you view Dorothy as being so administrative or bureaucratic because she is trying to make her world neat and orderly for her own selfish pleasure, yes, you could paint her as manipulative.
If you weren’t trying to outgun Ayn Rand in cynicism, no. What I can’t parse is why people want Dorothy to be more heavily flawed like the other characters when she works best as a straight man to characters like Becky and Joyce.
Regalli
Personally, I always prefer a character who has an arc and eventually hits walls they can’t simply jump over, and Dorothy’s very much a main one. But it’s also a thing that Dorothy DOES have flaws that have only gotten minimal narrative attention so far, or haven’t quite been focused in on as flaws – the overstudying arc, for instance, makes it very clear that Dorothy DOESN’T have an appropriate work-relaxation balance, and that is a genuine issue that can cause lasting physical harm. Its resolution wasn’t really because Dorothy learned she had overextended and needed to rest more, but because she broke up with Walky and then finished her extra credit – narratively unsatisfying and kind of iffy if there’s no followup because it reads a bit ‘ambitious women can’t have relationships’, and I don’t think the Walky tutoring alone was what pushed her over the edge. (Dorothy herself acknowledges that she’d taken on more volunteer work than she could balance.) Now, I DON’T think that was the resolution of that character point, but you can kind of see where the issues are if ‘sure Dorothy pushes herself to the point where she neglects food and sleep and broke up with a boyfriend who provided a relaxation outlet, but she got into Yale so none of that’s REALLY a bad thing’ were actually the ultimate outcome there.
Similarly, we have seen Dorothy have a goalpost-moving issue in her relationship with Walky (‘it’s purely casual’/‘okay it’s a relationship but not, like, a serious one’/‘I love you’ and the pause-that-basically-wasn’t.) I don’t think that was manipulative, or intentional boundary-pushing on her part, but it was a genuine flaw with the relationship and Dorothy’s actions in it. Not an unforgiveable one, but a flaw nonetheless. (I’m willing to put the Danny breakup as ‘Dorothy was trying to let him down gently for months and he could not take the hint’ and a mutual failure, but that still should have been a much firmer breakup much sooner.)
We’re also seeing some similar things this arc that Dorothy has some benevolent boundary-disrespecting in the name of Mom Friend. Which, yes, Joyce objectively needed an eye appointment and was absurdly childish in her fear of it, but was still a questionable call. (The fact that Dorothy brought the agoraphobia aspect up to Becky and not Joyce herself, for instance, feels a bit patronizing the more I think about it.) Again, not unforgiveable, and because it’s Joyce I do see where Dorothy would find it the best option, but still one of those things she does need to learn is over the line at some point. Fortunately, it’s college! I think her perceptiveness here also kind of illustrates why it weirded people out in the replacement RA storyline, as well – Dorothy picks up A LOT about people naturally, which is fine, but if she brings it up without interacting with them a lot or suggests a solution to their problem unsolicited, that feels less like ‘Dorothy’s a good friend’ and more invasive.
In short, Dorothy’s just as flawed as the rest of the main cast but less consistently acknowledged as flawed, and character development is interesting so some of us want said flaws addressed. (I also want Dorothy to eventually lose her temper over Becky as much for Becky’s development as Dorothy’s – eventually she’s got to realize the goofball ‘nemesis’ thing isn’t particularly funny to anyone but her, and can be genuinely harmful.)
crow
I mean, what little I’ve read of How to Win Friends and Influence People seemed to mainly rely on manipulating people in a nice way. And it seems like the kind of book Dorothy would read.
Eclipsa
Dorothy made the appointment without Joyce’s full consent and pretty much didn’t take no for an answer when Joyce hesitated.
I realize Dorothy’s heart is in the right place. She’s looking out for Joyce. But that doesn’t mean the way she went about it was okay.
cartoogle
I like how (my interp) Becky got a little wet googly-eyed when Dotty said “nope, this is your wheelhouse, go get ‘er.”
Blindness
you got the same interpretation that I got, she “got” Becky there even if Becky doesn’t want to admit it. it’s a compliment and shows how much Dorothy actually understands her
Jhon
Teamwork! There is no ‘eye’ in ‘team’.
Kyrik Michalowski
Why are my comments being eaten and not posted?
Kyrik Michalowski
Let’s try this again.
I love that even Becky thinks Joyce is being a wimp here. Come on Joyce, you’re a big girl, you can handle a small puff of air into your eye.
Kyrik Michalowski
Oh now it posts, I see how it is. Fucking computers
King Daniel
Well I mean, if that’s what you’re into…
Reltzik
That’s what the Internet’s for. (Source: Avenue Q.)
ktbear
Huh, an unexpected reference I actually got.
Chris Phoenix
I’m really tempted to link to the QC where Sven and May get together.
…Giving in to temptation. May be NSFW depending on your W.
Stephen Bierce
Substitution, mass confusion,
Clouds inside your head
Involving all my energies,
Until you visited
With your eyes of porcelain and of blue,
They shock me into sense
You think you’re so illustrious,
You call yourself intense–The Cars
plasticwrap
Cute.
PB
That was … actually a genuinely sweet moment between Dorothy and Becky. This is a good late holiday present.
Illjwamh
I laughed so hard at Becky’s final line. It’s one that would only be mildly funny without the connection to these characters that’s been built up, and that’s why I love this comic so much.
cmasta1992
Y’know what I’m going to take today’s Becky-Dorothy interaction as win and not worry about the reset button in two days.
Jordan
You think it’ll take that long? I’m not as hopeful, sadly.
tim gueguen
I suddenly wonder if Joyce hasn’t been avoiding other checkups.
Jane