231

Complex
Posted on February 26, 2024 by David M Willis

231 thoughts on “Complex”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “But Tristan isn’t HERE!”

  2. shadowcell

    Dumbing of Age Book 14: Dumbing of Age Gets Beckxiled

    1. Doctor_Who

      How many miles away do you think Dorothy ended up?

      Remember how in Shortpacked Carla/Ultra-Car used to strand people in the Amazon?

      Gingers just naturally have the ability to warp space. It’s why their hair looks like that, it’s the Doppler Effect due to them moving at superluminal speeds.

      1. Decidedly Orthogonal

        Oh how I wish this were true. Then I wouldn’t need to ride coach for 8 hours to care for my love tomorrow. Or any day.

        1. Soncnikralj

          That’s what Clark Kent said, too.

      2. Adam Black

        Nah. That would be Joyce , who can appear next to Dorothy.
        Or Dina who travels in Shadows like a Grayman. Quantum tunnels through doorways or spontaneous erupts when someone Dinosaurs wrong. It’s unfair that Becky is surrounded by travelers but can’t situationally teleport no matter how awful. I think it’s because she’s unwilling to disappear.

        Or maybe she’s too brash to violate the laws of physics. Something to pull off only when nobody is observing. Becky demads to be seen in her Lesbian Glory and the waveform says “HEY,Are you a cop. YOU gotta tell me if you are cop” and collapses .

        Dina slides right off peoples perception and skitters into a wormhole made of past thoughts of Dinosaurs and future ones. Maybe it’s rooted in Autism hyperinterests since Joyce can also tap into it and burrow through doorways.

        Carlas got skates and a rich car service. Why would she want to break the laws of physics when the physical status quo has given her so much wealth. Boosters sister tho? She’s so absent my minded she doesn’t notice walking through walls, buildings planets.

    2. uze

      Dumbing Of Age Book 14: Now Put Yer Face On The One Who’s Sexually Threatening (To You)

  3. BBCC

    I like that Walky can still make Dorothy laugh.

    1. Coatl

      There’s still something there, very good

  4. Animedingo

    I cant tell who is saying Ffft or who the sexually threatening person is supposed to be

    1. Thag Simmons

      Dorothy, Becky’s gone back to offpanel right in the final panel.

      1. clif

        You’re probably right, but I choose to read it as Becky is still, off to the left pushing Dorothy further away, and it’s Joe speaking on the right.

        1. Mr D

          The speaking pattern is wrong for it to be Joe. He doesn’t say “yer”

    2. Grimey

      Dorothy I think. Becky, Joe, and Joyce are all on the other side.

    3. Zero

      Dorothy and Joe, respectively.

      But I have no idea what Becky is trying to accomplish, nor what she’s pretending to be trying to accomplish. Though I have picked up that they are two different things.

      1. Schpoonman

        Becky still has deeply-buried lingering feelings for Joyce (they were there a long time and even though she’s been with Dina for years for us it’s been less than 6 months for them) and seeing her getting that intimate with Dorothy still makes her uncomfortable.

        They’ve kinda-sorta-not-really hashed it out, that being the underlying reason for Becky’s antagonism when she first became a regular on top of “Joyce is replacing me with someone else,” and once that was made the case to not be true on either end (at least explicitly in text, don’t fucking nitpick me), Dorothy and Becky mostly made their peace.

        To see Joyce and Dorothy right in front of her go “But are there feelings?????” is probably tripping that insecurity super hard. Becky is telling herself that Joyce isn’t into woman, her boyfriend is RIGHT THERE when the text was more specifically Joyce isn’t into Becky and has so far not pursued any women romantically, not the same way she’s pursued men.

        1. Shade

          I wanna say the second push was more because of Dotty and Walky having dated.

        2. Schpoonman

          Oh, definitely.

        3. Adam Black

          Cockblockin Walky? Or protecting him from Dorothy

    4. Cassie

      I think Dorothy is saying Fft (laughing at Beckxiled? Not entirely sure of that part) and I *think* the sexually threatening bit is Becky kinda calling Joyce out? Like she still thinks Joyce might be into girls? Because obviously it should be Joe (in that he’s a threat to her self-imposed sexual purity) based on Joyce’s sexuality as she’s described it, but then why bother shoving Dorothy so far over?

      I dunno I might be reading more into this than is there.

      1. Coatl

        We could easily say that it’s Becky being Becky, but it seems like something isn’t right.

      2. Needfuldoer

        I agree, I think it was Dorothy amused by Walky’s wordplay. That was a thing with them when they were together.

    5. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      “You’re losing air, sweetheart!”
      https://girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040503

    6. anon

      it makes me wonder how dina will react unless she wouldn’t care

      1. Charlie

        Do we know if Dina is aware of Becky being borderline in love with Joyce up until recently?

        1. Tanglaar

          yeah she learned about that fact pretty early on
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/floor-2/

        2. PedanticJerkass

          borderline

  5. Armadillo

    Way too much to unpack here, so I’m just gonna say Beckxiled is peak comedy and carry on with my evening.

    1. Mturtle7

      I admire your restraint, sir (gender neutral)! And yeah, Walky does really strike gold with his witticisms sometimes, huh.

  6. DarkoNeko

    this is fine.

  7. Pocky

    Becky returns, and she is perfect; as usual.

    1. Jeremiah

      Careful, like admitting to liking Carla that can you get you into some hot water around these parts./hj

      1. Taffy

        TIL that /hj doesn’t just mean “handjob”

        1. Nymph

          I’m still not clear on what it means up there.

        2. Nathan

          urban dictionary says “/hj” is a tone indicator that means “half joking”

        3. Nymph

          Ahhh tyty

        4. tunasammich

          What does it mean? I’m at a loss

      2. Pocky

        I’m not afraid to be correct. 😛

        1. Sajuuk-Khar

          You’re right and you should say it.

  8. Yotomoe

    Jealousy thy name is Becky.

    Message #latest-comic

  9. Dara

    Wow. Becky. You’ve been good for a while, no need to wreck it now. Back off!

    1. Thag Simmons

      Becky’s been good for a while, and indeed continues to be good.

      1. Jeremiah

        She is funny and that make her better that all of us.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Characters are allowed to be mean so long as they’re funny mean

    2. shrub

      Yeah she was going good

      The main issue I have with her jealousy issues is she has Dina but is still hung up on Joyce

      Dina deserves better than that

      1. Dara

        Hard agree. I’m hoping we finally get back aground to that commentary about Dina knowing she’s Becky’s rebound.

      2. Nicoleandmaggie

        We’re not allowed to have nice things.

    3. Yotomoe

      I refuse to believe that Becky’s been good for any length of time. My favorite thing about her recently is that she hasn’t appeared much.

      1. shrub

        Yeah I know its a played as a joke but being shoved like that is generally going to get met with, at the very least, a shove back

        1. Taffy

          There you go again, demanding the characters out guns in each other’s mouths over any and all physical contact.

        2. Taffy

          Fuck, a typo. The bit is RUINED ?

        3. shrub

          Nah its ok, have another go. I’m curious 🙂

        4. Dara

          I think “out” was supposed to be “put.”

          I, too, would react very badly to being physically shoved out of a group of supposed friends. Really would.

        5. milu

          Well, if I was Juliet I would’ve told Romeo to go fuck himself then started a riot grrrl band with Rosaline.

        6. Mark

          I’ve actually seen that usage: “she outs with a gun and plugs him.” As in: takes it out of wherever it was concealed. Dunno where that’s from.

          I think that’s not what you meant but I got the picture anyway.

        7. Blume

          To be fair, being shoved is a less than pleasant form of physical contact. I would be frustrated and/or hurt at the very least.

        8. Thag Simmons

          i like it when the cartoon has physical comedy

        9. Sajuuk-Khar

          You’re a monster and you belong in jail, just like Becky

        10. Nymph

          Same. DOA is often slapstick comedy and that requires physical interactions.

    4. Hoboturtle

      I overall like Becky with one notable exception: I’m still not over the fact that her helping Robin had no consequences, but I also feel like that’s a “me” problem.

      1. Mark

        Really? Becky overturned a hateful political campaign and was rewarded, and gained a friend as well. Consequences.

        Robin’s still a flake, but at least she’s no longer a malevolent flake.

        1. Hoboturtle

          I felt like Robin deserves the credit overturned the election. I feel like the result said more favorable things about Robin then it did Becky.

          Becky didn’t really do anything to change Robin’s mind nor was she even trying to.

      2. thejeff

        That doesn’t bother me because I still see her as actually sabotaging Robin, which was only undone by a massive sympathy boost from the kidnapping.

        No way I believe a Republican candidate in Indiana is going to win by supporting LGBTQ rights and even vaguely left economics.

        1. Hoboturtle

          Did she sabotage Robin?

          She was specifically told by Robin that the thing she was doing was the only thing that pollers were looking favorably on and she just kept doing those things.

          I feel like she was actively helping Robin’s campaign and just telling herself that it doesn’t matter because Robon won’t win either way without actively doing anything that would harm Robin’s chances.

          All while both Roz and Dorothy, two girls with normally opposing opinions were telling her why it was a bad idea.

        2. thejeff

          Sure, but that’s Robin. She was definitely getting Twitter likes for it.

          She started out trying to sabotage Robin. Roz’s plan to sabotage Robin was to out her queer. If there’s supposed to be a valid path to victory based on a combination of people who’ll vote for anyone with an “R” after their name and LGBTQ supporting leftists, that’s more of a suspension of disbelief than any of the superhero stuff for me.

    5. Adam Black

      Can’t believe you missed the perfect opportunity to coin “Beckoff”

  10. Jeremiah

    I just love Dorothy completely empty expression during all this. She is giving ZERO shits right now.

    1. Coatl

      They share bedrooms, so it’s just a casual day for Dorohty.

    2. PedanticJerkass

      Dorothy is used to Becky treating her like an enemy. Not that she believe Becky actually thinks of her as a literal enemy, but she’s used to Becky’s attempt at a “feud.” Aside from her snicker at Walky’s joke, it remains to be seen how she’ll react to Becky’s usual BS in her current mindest, though.

  11. Sirksome

    Joe has stubble though. That makes his face scratchy.

    1. cbwroses

      Joyce likes it though. She squeezed the stubble out the other day when he shaved.

  12. Cholma

    Is anyone else seeing flickering ads? Like, as if there was a lightning storm and you catch the flash out of the corner of your eye? At first, I thought it was just the horror ad I saw last week, but as I sit here watching, all the ads are doing it, including the DoA sidebar ad. It’s… it’s kind of annoying.

    1. Woop de doop

      I did not see flickering ads, but I did get video ads last week. Awful, so awful.

    2. Mr D

      adblock

      1. Taffy

        Not a universal fix, unfortunately. I use it on every device I’ve got and the dirty scumfuckers can still manage to get through every couple of days. The only thing that’d get them back to manageable levels would probably be massive legal pressure on corporations, and since most people have given up caring about their privacy (yes, ads are often an invasion of that) and have completely lost the will to live correctly, that’s unlikely to happen in any broad way.

      2. Cholma

        I primarily use AdNauseum, but I have adblockers turned off on this site and other comics I read. Ads here usually aren’t annoying: no popups or autoplay sound. Those I *really* hate. But Willis and other comic artists deserve the ad revenue, so I allow them. Other sites like YT or random news sites? eff them.

        1. NGPZ

          Try Ublock Origin? It works perfect when I use it in Chrome.

          Albeit I realize I also use a VPN, hmmmm

  13. Jo_cubstar

    Oh Becky, you do realize she *does* like women, right?

    1. sakamism

      Even Joyce doesn’t realize that

      Though I’m just realizing that Becky will probably take it like a slap to the face in the event that Joyce discovers her bisexuality through Dorothy, given the whole unrequited love thing

      1. Coatl

        The drama continue.

      2. bwooom

        By the time Joyce realizes, I think enough time will have passed for Becky to find humor in it rather than getting too upset. Hopefully.

        1. Coatl

          Able for her to hide her anger in the most subtle way with her characteristic humor.

        2. StClair

          so subtle, much wacky

        3. Bash

          Yes, this strip bodes extremely well for her handling it in a proportional and measured way.

    2. Jamie

      That’s the problem, lol.

    3. Mturtle7

      Don’t be ridiculous, Joyce is OBVIOUSLY straight as a ruler! Though, if she WASN’T, that sure would be emotionally devastating for Becky, huh?

      All that turmoil she went through after getting rejected by Joyce…the drama, the humiliation, the explosion of negative emotions that she had to immediately repress in order to convince her best friend that she was totally fine and not mad at her at all…it sure would suck, wouldn’t it if all that turned out to be something avoidable after all, rather than inevitably arising from Joyce & Becky’s respective orientations! And man, could you imagine how Becky would feel, if Joyce not only turned out to be into girls after all, but SPECIFICALLY into the girl who ALREADY stole Becky’s exclusive status as Joyce’s BFF? The same girl Becky has only half-jokingly designated as her “nemesis”? Gosh! A bombshell that big might even threaten Becky’s carefully-constructed facade of being a freewheeling, “totes ok”, happy lesbian all the time!

      It sure is a good thing Becky doesn’t have to consciously worry about such a thing, or even acknowledge the possibility that it might happen. As things are, she can just keep being her same ol’ wacky self, which coincidentally happens to include doing things like physically pushing Dotty away from Joyce, and telling Joyce to start mackin’ on her boyfriend as much as possible. So wacky!

      1. Adam Black

        I feel compelled contradict everything here, because you didn’t use an irony tag.

        I see what you did there. It’s too late…the damage is done.

        Karma police, arrest this ma ?…

      2. Blume

        Do straight people feel that way when they’re rejected o.o?

    4. smolgrlboi

      oh shit which comic did Joyce admit to being bi? what did I miss?

      1. Adam Black

        I think… It’s this one. Right here. Flat out admitting it, without realizing the implications.
        Becky hears the Gaydar going off. Louder than ever before.

        You want to come out of this Closet? rip off the door into my arms.

    5. Allen Alberti

      I don’t think Joyce likes “Women”, i think Joyce likes “A Woman”…

      1. Adam Black

        And it’s mutual. And Dorothy is struggling with it. She’s also facing what looks like Autistic burnout.

  14. Amós Batista

    Wait a sec, Becky: Joyce and Dorothy still counting like gays

  15. Schpoonman

    There’s a Dark Knight Rises “death by Beckxile” joke here but I’m tilting mad hard from match-up RPS in Armored Core and I can’t think of it.

    Also there’s something here with “ckx” in a row which is the first three letters of “xkcd” backwards but that’s probably nothing.

    Wait, one more thing: Becky as the host of a reality TV show, and whenever someone gets kicked out they get a “You have been Beckxiled.”

    1. Adam Black

      CKX
      See Gay Sex without the D

  16. Mr. Random

    Becky’s eventually gonna have to deal with the crush she still has on Joyce.

    1. Doopyboop

      I honestly don’t think she has a crush on Joyce anymore, especially since Becky has shown nothing but support for Joe and Joyce. If there were any lingering feelings, I think the arc with Dina and Becky exploring sexual attraction and then having sex would definitely squash it, I’m sure Becky’s feelings are 100% for Dina now.

      However, I think she does have complicated feelings (that aren’t a crush) regarding Joyce since Joyce is her best friend, her childhood crush, and her closet key. It’s likely that her feelings for Joyce helped her realize she wasn’t straight. There is definitely some jealousy here, that doesn’t necessarily need to mean she still has a crush on Joyce. She’s always picked up on there being SOMETHING between Dorothy and Joyce, and the idea that Joyce wouldn’t be with her but could be with Dorothy is likely threatening. Joe’s not threatening to her, because he’s a guy. Joyce being with Joe just means she’s “straight” and Becky never had a chance. Joyce and Dorothy having chemistry like this could mean “Joyce is bi, she just didn’t like you” which we saw in the arc with Dina is something Becky is very insecure about. That’s just the thoughts of a biromantic ace person though, if I’m wrong I’m wrong.

      1. Coatl

        If I have constantly seen something in this comic, it is that you should expect the unexpected, so we just have to wait.

    2. Amós Batista

      Suddenly, I remembered Sarah’s speech about Dinah being just a rebound to Becky. Reading the strip today, it not sound anymore like Sarah being grump. But sounds now like a real threat

      1. Hoboturtle

        Honestly it not like that isn’t true. Dina was just the first girl that Becky met who was open to a relationship with another girl while Dina kissed Becky as a middle finger to everyone who was treating her as a kid despite being the same age as her.

        Though I don’t really like the idea of a perfect relationship and they seem happy with eachother, noble intentions or not.

        Then again any disruption could be used for plot and that might be interesting to read.

      2. Beans

        ah shit i accidentally reported your comment trying to click on the link 🙁 mea culpa

        1. Taffy

          Murderer

    3. Adam Black

      Nah. Becky gonna have to deal with Joyce and Dorothy mutual attraction. And she doesn’t always come first.

      And so is Dorothy.

  17. Dante

    Becky knows

    She might’ve been irrationally jealous before, she might’ve been wayyy too rude to Dorothy because of said jealousy, and yet. And yet!! This strip just made me audibly, IRL-y go “OH SNAP”.

    She has not the context but the vibes are sounding her Queerdar Sirens.

    1. Coatl

      The only thing we can think of is that Becky hides that possible anger with a lot of her peculiar humor, but sooner or later that explodes and the chaos begins again.

    2. Dara

      Oh yeah, she knows.

      And she’s being kinda horrible about it.

      1. Sajuuk-Khar

        please explain this

        1. Adam Black

          Joyce just admitted she and Dorothy have a physical and sexual attraction. And flaunting it, unashamed

          She confirmed what Becky always hoped, and then feared. She tried to get Joyce to come out of the closet.
          Unlike Dina who’s gray ace, Joyce is just sexually repressed. And Becky knows it. Becky is partially right. Joyce can’t unrepress without facing fears of attraction to men. Her fear of being sinful. Women are her safe space. So safe she doesn’t even see any sin or even how gay it is.
          Or maybe it’s nothing. And Joyce is missing the story that Dorothy does have deeper feelings for her.

          Becky is literally separating Dorothy from a hug she needs because Becky is jealous.

    3. Hoboturtle

      Becky HAS known. It was basically the entire reason she started the one sided rivalry with Dorothy.

  18. sdrainbow

    God, I have no idea how I feel about this.

    On the one hand, I dislike the Becky/Dorothy faux rivalry

    On the other, Becky is so clearly kneejerking out of jealousy that I can’t be mad about it

  19. Coatl

    The Beckxiled has begun, they must stop Bekcy before she gets out of control

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      “The Beckxilation has begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote.”

  20. M!a

    I think just about EVERYONE saw this scene coming.

    1. clif

      No.

      Maybe everyone should have, but no.

  21. Cattleprod

    Now I really hope when it shifts over to another scene with different characters, Dorothy gets pushed into frame.

  22. AK

    Wow, all the people talking about Becky having Feelings about Joyce doing queer looking things with Dotty yesterday were right on the money.

    I kinda wonder how Becky would feel about Dorothy and Joyce entering a queerplatonic relationship explicitly. I mean probably bad, but like. I wonder what the shape of that would be. It’s not the kind of relationship Becky wanted with Joyce, but given the Way Culture Is about that stuff I’m not sure she’d be able to meaningfully distinguish the difference? Like people in my life (my husband excepted) pretty constantly perceived my QPPs and I as romantically involved and in denial about it right up until my mid-20s. Which sucked ass and was completely impossible to explain effectively to people who had no framework for what we were doing. I recall a friend who had a crush on my QPP feeling very jealous and being miffed when my response to them was “oh, I see how you would perceive this as a threat but you should ask him out if you’re interested” instead of like. Backing off or acknowledging any actual rivalry. Because we were not dating but that was not how it felt to other folks. And I could see Becky feeling really bummed and hurt in a similar direction, especially since there’s no way on the planet Joyce would have the language to explain or acknowledge that kind of relationship in useful ways.

    Joe might also have feelings about it.

    1. ian livs

      Honestly, I would love to see QPR rep! It’s so, so underrepresented.

      lol, half my friends are still confused about the exact nature of my and my ex- romantic partner’s relationship (we were basically QPPs in high school/half of college without knowing a word for it, dated/married for a while because we both were confused about the nature of our feelings, turns out she’s an aro lesbian and I’m a mostly gay guy, and now we love each other kinda like siblings… but explaining all that to people tends to get some weird looks)

      1. Needfuldoer

        You explained everything they need to know in one sentence fragment: “we love each other”.

    2. StClair

      queer platonic (and just plain platonic, but intimate) relationships are not sufficiently entertaining for the audience, and thus are not allowed.

      1. Nymph

        As a member of the audience, I disagree strongly. Most fiction still revolves around the viewpoint of a person very different than myself, though, so it makes sense you’d think there wasn’t an audience for that kind of story.

        There super is though.

      2. Mturtle7

        I mean, I think this rather demonstrably isn’t true, based on the sheer number of movies and TV shows which specifically revolve around two people in a really intense, platonic, peer-to-peer, relationship (‘buddy cop’ adventures, ‘odd couple’ roommate sitcoms, etc.). But a lot of people have been trained to THINK that it’s true, the same way they get trained to think, say, that comics are a really limited medium, or that only girls play with dolls. No self-respecting producer would fund a movie about a QPR, but movies about close platonic relationships are actually fine, as long as the movie never actually admits that’s what it’s about, and includes a footnote reminding everybody that romantic relationships are definitely still the only way to live a meaningful life.

    3. Li

      I mean it depends on the type of QPR? My understanding is that aro folks use that word for people they have a commitment involving sex but no romantic feelings with. Like friends with benefits but, you know, less trivializing and dismissive of the importance there.

      If that was the kind of QPR you had with the person your friend had a crush on — well, not everyone’s poly, some people are not gonna want that kind of relationship. But rather than you backing off, in that situation, I’d say the friend needed to get over their crush, because monogamous people dating poly people is… mmmm, challenging. It’s a pretty big incompatibility imho, even if the mono person works hard not to practice toxic monogamy and the poly person works hard to communicate extra clearly.

    4. Taffy

      I’ve done a little bit of reading about this queerplatonic thing, but I’m still not sure I understand the fine details. Too much lingo gets thrown around for it to really sink in.

      1. thejeff

        Kind of agree, though I’ve done less reading.
        I thought I had at least a bit of an idea, but it seems to be extended to any close same sex/gender friendship, which seems a bit much to me.

        1. Li

          https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queerplatonic_relationship

          Not always between two people of the same gender. Never just a close friendship.

    5. Allen Alberti

      I learned something new today (I think)?

      is a queerplatonic relationship different in some way than a platonic relationship between two same-gendered/straight people? not trying to be a jerk, i have just never heard this term before seeing it in this comment!

      1. AK

        Queerplatonic covers a lot of things, largely because it gets used to cover a vast array of non-romantic relationships that aren’t easily placed into either normative romantic relationship or normative platonic friendship spaces. In my experience it is largely about priority. We have an expectation in our culture that romantic relationships will receive a kind of priority that normal friendships don’t. Queer platonic relationships for me have varied in terms of whether they involve sex or not and have varied in terms of the gender of my partner, but the through line has been that they are intense non-romantic relationships that receive the same level of priority and consideration that society usually reserves for romantic relationships. Mine in particular have also been very very cuddly, and whether sex was on the table or not they’ve involved making time to spend evenings and cosleep with my partners, since that’s a kind of intimacy that’s important to me in that kind of relationship.

        1. AK

          For reasons I don’t understand I have a different gravatar on my phone

        2. Allen Alberti

          Thank you! I am not sure that it helped me understand it but thank you anyway! I think I am mostly stuck on why choosing to include the term platonic when it seems queerplatonic is anything but platonic?

          Like, I am straight and have had friends with benefits and cuddle-buddies and even one-night stands with friends and I would not call any of those things platonic. to me platonic is just that, no romantic or sexual feelings or activities in any way…

          it’s tough being in your 50s and maintaining an open mind sometimes, I dread the age when I become completely non-neuroplastic and can’t form new connections 🙁

        3. AK

          Yeah that makes sense. I think platonic gets used as an opposite to romantic mostly cuz there’s not really a better word? Frankly queerplatonic is still a messier clunkier word than I would like.

          But also there’s the question of what those activities mean in that context? Snuggling can have nothing to do with sex or romance, or it can have everything to do with either or both. Like my first QPP I was very deeply emotionally intimate with and very snuggly with and we planned our lives around each other and spent all our time together, but there was never anything in the direction of romantic or sexual anything. The meaning of all that touch and stuff is deeper friendship, there’s no attraction of any kind there. My current QPP and I do have sex, but it’s not like a my friend is hot and I want to fuck type thing (I’m going to be honest I actually have no idea under what circumstances people normally have friends with benefits arrangements). The meaning of sex is deep friendship feelings. The sex would be uninteresting without the deep friendship feelings, and romance would be a fundamentally incorrect mode for that relationship to be in.

          Hopefully that makes more explanatory sense??? I’m not sure if it does. I’m trying but I think this is one of those places where the available language is not specific enough for me to know for sure that I have actually been comprehensible, let alone addressed the thing you were actually having trouble with. :/

    6. Adam Black

      I think if Dorothy makes out with Joyce, something unmistakable will spark in Joyce

      That didn’t when Becky kissed her

  23. Marvelman

    Oh, for goodness sake! How long is it going to take Becky to get over Joyce?

    1. Schpoonman

      Been less than six months in-universe since she came out.

    2. anon

      considering how she’s in a relationship i’d hope she’s just being playful/joking

      1. Sajuuk-Khar

        It’s absolutely a joke, if this was genuine possessive jealousy she wouldn’t want her girl to get all up on the boy she’s horny for any more than the girl she is maybe horny for but doesn’t know is having big stupid breakdowns

        1. Loki

          Well, I mean, for some people, “you are not into me because you are not into my gender” is less hurtful to know than “you are into my gender, but you are not into me specifically”

        2. Allen Alberti

          I don’t think it is a joke. Becky would be devastated to learn that Joyce is into a woman who isn’t Becky. As long as she thinks Joyce is straight, Becky can tell herself “It’s not me she doesn’t love, it’s all women!”

    3. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Four lifetimes.

    4. Yotomoe

      Probably when she passes away. Or maybe longer depending on if there’s an afterlife.

      1. Mark

        Yes. Desire can be “got over”; love cannot.

  24. Taffy

    This is funny and not worth a formal trial.

    1. anon

      lol quick icon change nice haha

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      the evidence before the Court is incontrovertible
      There’s no need for the jury to retire
      In all our years of Judging we have never seen before
      A Becky so deserving the full penalty of law

  25. HueSatLight

    I’m not entirely sold on it Becky being jealous. It’s possible she’s all-in on Joyce and Joe, and is policing Joyce’s behavior a bit. On one hand, that’s not really her job, if what Joyce is doing is making Joe (or Dorothy) uncomfortable, they can say something about it. On the other hand, maybe he can’t exactly, and Becky can read the room and has the leeway.

    I know a lot of people were reading Joe’s face in yesterday’s last panel as horny, but he wasn’t blushing, so I’m reading it as uncomfortable or confused-ish.

    1. Coatl

      It is possible that Becky hides what she really feels with her humor, but it seems that now she will be in charge of ensuring that the current situation between her friends does not break down, even Dorothy notices this and realizes that she must also stop.

      1. clif

        what?

        Not disagreeing, I don’t understand what you said. I couldn’t understand what Becky was specifically meant to be in charge of, even before not being able to guess whether the last ‘she’ referred to Becky of Dorothy and what stopping consisted of,

        1. Coatl

          I mean that now Becky wants to ensure that there is no kind of love triangles or squares in her group, and possibly Dorothy will realize this and see herself reflected and with this she will stop for a moment in her way of taking care of Joyce.

        2. Nymph

          It’s not really up to Becky how other people’s romantic relationships play out, but I can definitely see how she’d think that was her job.

          Hopefully Dorothy realizes nothing of the kind and is allowed to be friends with Joyce in the way both Dorothy and Joyce enjoy.

    2. Schpoonman

      Joe did get a direct and unsubtle earful from Dorothy about how he needed to stay away from Joyce, including directly if implicitly calling him a predator when she called Joyce prey.

      That she went into Joyce’s room uninvited to say “Time for you to masturbate because you’re not responsible enough to manage yourself,” later that day is pretty wild in that context. Joe doesn’t have that information, but he does know that Dorothy is extremely protective of Joyce, and given the mixed signals Joyce’s regular behavior* sends, I think seeing the two of them get close like that and talking about romance and sexuality will make him uncomfortable.

      *: I was raised in a conservative part of a conservative country, so I’m not always great about picking up non-straight signals in media. That being said, with both Joyce and Becky acknowledging where Joyce’s touchiness might come from (https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/cuddlin/), on top of Joyce’s complete lack of formal pursuit of any women for a romantic relationship, I’ve never seen her as in the closet in any way. While I was looking for the above link I caught another one of Mike asking if Joyce would be into Sal, and Joyce noted that Sal’s everything “below the neck” as a stumbling point. She could be into more masculine women, but until the character herself starts acting more specifically that way I think she’s heterosexual woman with some very biromantic tendencies in her friendships.

      1. milu

        Joe does know about laundry with Dorothy

        1. Schpoonman

          He does not know the context of Dorothy trying to meddle with a consenting relationship between two adults.

      2. HueSatLight

        Cuddlin is a load bearing strip, w/r/t the ambiguity of Joyce’s behavior. I tend to think there’s a [mostly] hetero reading for most of the possibly-bi situations, because of it. Like this scene, there’s a “cuddlin” reading.

        1. Schpoonman

          I mostly agree, but there’s enough awkward details (which characters know that Joyce masturbates now? Who knows that she’s done so with Dorothy present? Does anyone besides Joyce and Dorothy know it was originally an attempt to keep Joyce and Joe apart?) that I get why Joe and Becky are feeling uncomfortable.

        2. thejeff

          I’m not even sure Joyce knows it was an attempt to keep them apart. I mean, Dorothy might have said as much, but I’m not sure Joyce registered it.

    3. Bash

      To me the telling line is “Sexually threatening… to you”. Meaning Becky is sexually threatened by Dorothy. If Joyce is with a guy, then Becky can’t have Joyce because she is straight and nothing can be done about it. If Joyce is with Dorothy…

      1. Schpoonman

        I thought she meant Dina, whom Becky finds incredibly sexually threatening/attractive.

      2. Aslan

        I’m inclined to agree. This comic especially makes Becky’s possessiveness/jealousy feel far more explicitly about her romantic feelings for Joyce. Maybe I’m just waiting in vain for the other shoe to drop on Dina saying she knows she’s probably a rebound, even after years.

      3. HueSatLight

        Meaning Joe is not sexually “threatening”/attractive to Becky.

    4. Amelie Wikström

      One fault Becky has that’s explicit in the text (as opposed to the comments section having bad faith takes on everything she does) is being manipulative. Squishing Joyce and Joe together has only good outcomes for her: If they get married (or at least get so far as to establish Joyce is straight) then it will help her get past Joyce, and if Joe’s well honed manly seduction techniques fail to move Joyce then maybe the girl next door is back on the menu. Of course it’s still helping Joyce figure her own stuff out, which is a great alibi.

      Oh no, maybe she’s turning into a really good manipulator. Though it might be harder to explain why she’s so eager to get Joyce and Dorothy to stop being intimate since that’s just to minimize her own competition. . .

    5. HueSatLight

      There’s a chance some of this is part of her keeping an eye on Dorothy, both as a friend and and Ruth’s request. She’s astute enough to recognize Dorothy’s crush on Joyce, and Dorothy still wanting to be with Walky. Dorothy’s spiraling and lonely, and maybe Becky thinks keeping her away from making a rash decision is her responsibility. Dorothy’s personal anti-cupid until she’s in a better headspace.

      I came up with this idea while trying to find an excuse to say “Beckxistential crisis.”

      1. HueSatLight

        Becky doesn’t know Walky and Lucy are broken up, so anti-cupiding Walky and Dorothy would not be just for Dorothy’s benefit.

    6. HueSatLight

      Hi, it’s me from a day in the future. Becky’s face in today’s strip (the next one) in panel 4. I’m now sold on jealousy being a significant part of it.

  26. Lightweight Baybee

    I forgot dotty is becky’s rival this was a good reminder

    1. Coatl

      I don’t know, it seemed that this “rivalry” was a kind of game between the two, because despite that they already interacted a little better, but with what we are seeing, maybe now a real rivalry will emerge

      1. Jeremiah

        No, no you are right about that, their “rivalry” is almost completely performative from Becky and they both know it at this point.

        1. Lightweight Baybee

          even performative it’s been a hot minute so i forgor

      2. StClair

        Yeah, I don’t think it was. I think Dorothy managed to defuse it (for a while) by not conforming to Becky’s script, and they reached a sort of accommodation, but now Joyce is (without being fully aware) forcing the issue again.

    2. Bash

      They’re rivals for Joyce’s attention, at least from Becky’s perspective.

    3. DashWallkick

      Becky kind of forced that into their dynamic and Dorothy kills her with kindness.

      Today might not be the best day for that though!

  27. Betsumei

    This Becky is gonna have to remember to work Beckxiled into conversation sometime. although personally I’d probably choose to spell it Bexiled as a matter of preference

    1. TrueVCU

      Jennifer: I will NOT be Bexiled

  28. Dday

    Drew this in response to yesterday’s strip. Hugging with clothes on is pretty much sfw, right? https://i.imgur.com/DwEBTKF.png
    Huh, guess I didn’t anticipate Becky managing to retain as much composure as she did.

    1. Schpoonman

      I’m a big believer in little details helping sell the big ones, and Joyce’s leg going around and then between Dotty’s is just excellent.

      1. Dday

        and then behind again hehe she’s tricky with them uggs

    2. Amós Batista

      Loved it, loved it!

    3. milu

      AHAHAHAHAHA
      That’s incredible

      Dina like “not sure whats going on here, but i don’t think it concerns me.”

    4. Mturtle7

      Oh my Lord, that’s amazing. Well done, DDay!

    5. Dday

      Thanks peeps 😉

  29. ian livs

    I predict that “sexually threatening” line is definitely not going to be a critical hit on the Joe in question, nope, not at all

    1. Schpoonman

      Aw, jeez, Becky.

  30. Icalasari

    Dorothy’s face says she’s hitting her limit with Becky’s shenanigans

  31. Sajuuk-Khar

    Everyone getting stupid mad at Becky when all she’s doing is insisting on proper scientific protocols, jeez

    You can’t prove a hypothesis by sticking to control techniques 😛

    1. Jeremiah

      Not really, that look like a perfect face of indifference and apathy. She is not giving a damn about anything that is happening.

      1. Jeremiah

        Fuck I meant to reply to the comment above this one, sorry about that.

        1. Sajuuk-Khar

          It’s cool, I think you’re right, that face is the same face she had when Joyce was merging them into one faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace

    2. Da Boy

      It’s not very scientific of her to stay within arm’s reach of Dotty though XD

  32. RassilonTDavros

    Haven’t really read the comments yet but Becky did A Slightly Mean Thing so this should be interesting.

    1. Jeremiah

      People are being pretty civil so far. We can improve after all!

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      We’re in the second half of a Law and Order episode where the prosecution is still trying to argue for immediate death penalty, we haven’t gotten into the episode’s big twist yet

    3. Thomas

      Nobody suggested voting for Beckxit …yet.

  33. Charlie

    This strip is making me wonder if the flashbacks are gonna end up being Becky’s flashback of when she realised she liked Joyce.

  34. DashWallkick

    Becky this might not be the best time to push her buttons.

    Also I can’t tell if Becky is deliberately keeping Dorothy away from Walky for horny reasons or if she’s just being Becky about it.

  35. BarerMender

    No decent human being would say it, but it would funny if Joyce did say it: “Well, jeez, Becky, Dorothy did teach me to masturbate.” If it would be funny, that is, to see Becky running away weeping.

  36. Bash

    The other day somebody commented that it would be cruel to Becky (in a narrative sense) if Joyce got together with Dorothy, and yeah, I really see it here.

  37. Suet

    “[…] it’s been nothing but sex talk and judgements since!”

    Laughing at Walky’s wordplay? She’s not studying enough!

    1. Li

      I definitely think it’s less laughing at something Walky said and more laughing specifically at a bad pun about poop. This laugh is fine, heh.

  38. Acher4

    And the heterokaryon is stopped in its tracks from forming, by Becky’s mitosis. 😛

  39. Needfuldoer

    Six feet minimum! Jeez it was only four years ago, we should still remember this stuff.

    1. Da Boy

      We want to forget

    2. HueSatLight

      non-canonically timescaled back to their childhood. http://www.dorktower.com/2023/09/13/
      They probably also had federal endemic policy, like better air filters and surge monitoring, since then.

      1. thejeff

        “childhood” is reasonably 14, which is currently what she would have been in 2020.

        1. HueSatLight

          read the linked strip, don’t litigate my word choice, idgaf

        2. Taffy

          It’s a very short sentence, too. “You mean, that pandemic from years ago when I was a kid?”

        3. thejeff

          “Years ago when I was a kid” isn’t really out of place for an 18 year old talking about when they were 14. Which is what I said and meant.

        4. HueSatLight

          good thing you were here to make sure we all knew that 14 years old is part of childhood, in reference to a strip that made a joke combining the weirdness of its own sliding timescale, and the apparent absence of covid. That context that 14 years old is part of childhood was very important.

        5. HueSatLight

          14 years old can even maybe be before a person was born, important context

  40. Alaric

    Bexit.

  41. Cmasta1992

    Becky rocketing up the character power rankings

  42. Da Boy

    That’s not very lesbian of you, Becky! Shouldn’t you support their love?

  43. UrsulaDavina

    On a note about Joyce possibky being bisexual or hetroflexiable and possibly having autism, I happen to be of that inclination and notcing Joyce is more affectionate with Dorothy and women in general kind of reminds me of me. you see find I’m more comfortable with expressing affection with folks of the same sex then of the opposite sex despite being attracted to both.

    It might not even have to do with sexuality it may be just a quirk. For Joyce she hasn’t had the best interactions with men and her fundamentalist upbringing probably factors in.
    so far so her willingness to be far more affectionate with Dorothy and also Sarah (if Sarah would let her] is probably a result of those factors.

    1. UrsulaDavina

      A quirk for me not for Joyce.

  44. ValdVin

    “Leave room for Jesus. And while we’re at it, all the Apostles.”

  45. Vulcanodon

    Joyce has a history of putting up with other people pushing her this way and that for a while, and then not putting up with it

  46. FlamestAndLight

    Ah yes Joyce (and Dorothy) definitely have no threat of any sexual anything going on between them. Please ignore all handholding during masturbation

  47. Sajuuk-Khar

    I genuinely have trouble grasping how Becky is behaving badly here unless it’s a.) based on a ban on any characters touching one another uninvited, all minor physical contact not explicitly requested is worthy of the full power of criminal law OR b.) Joyce is already in a lesbian sexual relationship with Dorothy and does not know it—her closeted bisexuality and any attraction to Dorothy she might have contractually obligates her somehow

    Like, she’s teasing Joyce in a very sibling-like, sisterly manner, about her (obvious) sexual attraction to Joe, with a very light spice of Dorothy rivalry that’s no more serious or “horrible” than light snark, it’s the funny mirror opposite of Joyce rubbing her face all up on Dotty’s like a cat. Dorothy is even the same level of nonplussed by it.

    The only way this comes off as some sort of horrible interference is if one assumes that Joyce is going to drop everything and get with Dorothy the minute she figures out she’s bisexual, which…is really weird??? Like…y’all do know you can be bi, you can figure out you have an attraction to a friend, and still…not sleep with them or romance them, especially if you’re already in a relationship?? and are generally monogamous or realize the person has a jealousy complex that makes poly impossible?

    (It doesn’t help that I’m already getting a “but she OWES ME” vibe from Dorothy in some respects, although lol which came first, the bad audience vibe or the character’s?)

    1. Anon A Mouse

      I don’t think Becky is being particularly malicious towards anyone’s relationship. I just don’t like how much of a bongo she is to Dorothy in specific. The comedic novelty of it has long since worn off.

    2. Taffy

      I get that some people don’t like being touched, but there’s no reason we need to extend that expectation to others, and it can be off-putting to see backlash when a character so much as puts a hand on another character’s shoulder.

      1. Li

        But Taffy if I can’t project all of my own hyper specific preferences onto Willis’s characters, how am I supposed to believe they’re real people???

        1. Taffy

          In that case, I need these little freaks to randomly dance and sing more. I love to shimmy at my food while it cooks, and I’ll just sing whatever nonsense comes to mind as a substitute for social interaction, so it’s really fucking unrealistic and provides ludonarrative dissonance when none of the characters do it. Also they shouldn’t make eye contact for more than a couple seconds, they need to signal one another before talking (in case the other character is doing too many things to register them immediately), and it’s problematic that none of them seem to ever have a Let’s Play, video essay, or music playlist going while they’re going about their day. Where’s the spontaneous gibberish Discord messages to their friends? No memes, even? Are these fuckers even alive?

    3. thejeff

      I think it’s basically exaggerated slapstick and don’t have any problems with it, but that second panel could be read as going well beyond minor physical contact, given how far Becky’s reaching off panel and how far Dorothy’s leg is kicking up.
      But she’s calmly standing there accepting it in the next panel, so it’s obviously no big deal.

  48. George the Archon

    So it’s Becky’s turn to be Shortpacked-Robin today?

  49. Yeet

    easy to forget becky missed joyce’s little gay panic phase
    she’s gonna be here whenever the big one happens though

  50. poyo

    MAN as much as i love the idea of Dorothy and Joyce, i can only IMAGINE what that would do to Becky.

    Not that anyone is OBLIGATED to be with someone just because they have feelings for them. it would still suck tho lol

    1. Bryy

      I’m more worried her and Dina.

  51. Rabisch

    Maybe it’s just my impression. But Dorothy seems to looks at Becky with the annoyed look of someone who has been interrupted while doing something she was enjoying very much.

  52. Jahu

    Don’t understand its relevance to the scene, but pleased to see Dorothy understands what the superior Final Fantasy is.

  53. Maddie B

    Took me all day to realize that the “to you” at the end is supposed to be an indicator that Becky considers Dorothy to be sexually threatening.

    1. Bryy

      Yeah, *now* I know where this storyline is going.

  54. Taffy

    Dorothy is gonna cheat on Dina with Joyce.

    1. TheKelliestKelly

      HAhahaha, I love your gravatar

  55. TheKelliestKelly

    Ooh, this reminds me of when Becky was flirting with Walky during her reintroduction. That was a trip

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