I honestly think that that was her reaction once she’d thought about it a bit, and she actually has a point – the change of her rating to zero-minus DEobjectified her.
It’s be best kind of burn, cos she doesn’t mean it burnily, she just means it, but it throws into sharp relief the nature of the criteria all the OTHER girls, ALL the other girls, were judged on.
it is SO GOOD.
The fact that Joyce probably had no intention of dunking on Joe this hard just makes the backboard shattering all that more satisfying.
In other words, yes, that probably was Joyce’s legitimate reaction. The fact that it also intentionally or unintentionally doubles as a sick burn is just icing on the cake.
Tan
“The fact that it also intentionally or unintentionally doubles as a sick burn”
…But it doesn’t…???
Either I and several others don’t know what a burn is, or you and several others don’t, and at this point I’m honestly not sure which.
void
That specific use of the word “burn” is informal and has slightly differing meanings for different people. We just appear to have hit a particularly even split in what the word means to people so that it’s hard to call one or the other “proper”. Of course I could be wrong.
Stella
So…er, isn’t burn synonymous with “insult”? Or am I wrong?
Joyce’s comment insults, unintentionally, and only implicitly. The implicit insult is, “99% of the time you’re a shallow sexist.”
So, it’s a sick burn if Joe has been still in denial about this and came to realize this aspect of his own nature only now, due to Joyce’s implication. But if the subtext is lost on Joe, or if Joe was already being honest with himself about his own nature, then it’s not a very good burn.
wait zero minus means something? i just thought it was like the number i. something you use to make stuff that shouldnt work work. or at least when i was taught it in middle school my teacher never explained its purpose….. oh wait i mean high school good thing i noticed before i hit post.
Negative-zero isn’t part of normal arithmetic, but it can be a useful idea in some contexts. One of the most common uses is in computer floating point numbers, where it can be used to determine which “side” an operation approached zero from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signed_zero
HeySo
Following that, negative zero would intuitively apply to the ranking in the same manner as one would apply “A-/A+”; As such, a 0- would imply the very bottom-most ranking possible.
The thing is, being thought of as a godawful human being is still a step up from not being thought of as human at all. I believe that’s Joyce’s point here.
Oh I think Joyce realizes what it means, but she also realizes where that score is coming from, emotionally. Remember in the last interaction they had, she asked him “what was I before I hurt you?”
Anyone know how I can change that display pic? I don’t know why this pic is here and I don’t want it there, previous posts just showed a normal gravatar.
Try changing the capitalization in the ’email’ field. The Gravatar algorithm appears to be case sensitive.
thejeff
Normally that would work, but that looks like a user gravatar, not a random one. I’m not familiar with that, but I assume you’d have to go to the site and change it manually.
I don’t think it’s an attack. People don’t give Joyce enough credit… earnest and true people seek those qualities in others. Honesty and directness is a rarity in a world where all people have two faces, and to be treated as a person – even a disliked person – rather than a body, probably did make Joyce happy.
Error report sent.
“Dammit I didn’t mean to do that! And why has snark become a subroutine!! How was that possible with the current program?!? Wait. Why is my last back up date when I had R Rosenthal 2.5?!? I specifically upgraded to the J Rosenthal version 2.0! That’s it I’m calling tech support.”
30 minutes later…
“What do you mean you’re having maintenance issues with a planned update?!? Yes I have a secure internet connection and have tried turning my computer on and off again!! Wait no don’t put me on hold again!!!” *elevator music* Dammit all!!!!
Our skin doesn’t really differentiate between “too fricking cold” and “too fricking hot”, so putting something really cold on your skin will lead to the same “burned” skin reaction; though other reactions may happen underneath.
Preach! But let us put aside our differences and join hands in unity against the foul deceivers who believe it is ok to fill a maple bar with cursed cake frosting! Whatever your sweetened pastry preference know that we are brothers against this abomination!
Deanatay
My men and all their waffles are as one with yours! Let us vanquish this foul foe… TOGETHER!
Not sure if this has ever been brought up before, but I think it is truly impressive the depth of emotion and personality that Willis can convey with such subtle changes to the faces of drawn characters.
Just looking at Joe in this strip, you can tell more or less exactly what he’s thinking / feeling, without anything so blatant as a thought bubble.
Agreed, and without necessarily even the most detailed faces. I’d also add that the occasional ambiguity actually somehow helps to makes them feel more like real characters, as it leaves you wondering/guessing just what that expression means and using context to fill it in, much like how we relate to actual real people.
You know, I have a feeling that comment may have done just as much to make Joe stop and think as everything else that’s happened over the course of the day.
I think that with burns it depends on the type of burn, this is a very good burn but its not done maliciously and its given Joe something to think about and because its from Joyce specifically it means Joe listens to it more than if it was from Rachel or someone
Oh, definitely not discounting the growth that had already occurred, maybe I should have phrased that differently. I think that this did help him to get his head around things a bit better and drive the point home about what exactly was wrong about his whole rating system thing, whereas up until now I’m still not really quite sure that he understood that properly.
224 thoughts on “Thoughtful”
Ana Chronistic
“did I just get a sick burn”
“Depends, do you want ice for it?”
Deathjavu
A burn like that just doesn’t hurt as bad coming from a known asshole like Mike
foamy
Joyce is ON FIRE here.
butts
well actually
JOE is on fire here
because of Joyce’s sick burn
begbert2
Serious question – what burn?
I honestly think that that was her reaction once she’d thought about it a bit, and she actually has a point – the change of her rating to zero-minus DEobjectified her.
Carms
It’s be best kind of burn, cos she doesn’t mean it burnily, she just means it, but it throws into sharp relief the nature of the criteria all the OTHER girls, ALL the other girls, were judged on.
it is SO GOOD.
Deathjavu
The fact that Joyce probably had no intention of dunking on Joe this hard just makes the backboard shattering all that more satisfying.
In other words, yes, that probably was Joyce’s legitimate reaction. The fact that it also intentionally or unintentionally doubles as a sick burn is just icing on the cake.
Tan
“The fact that it also intentionally or unintentionally doubles as a sick burn”
…But it doesn’t…???
Either I and several others don’t know what a burn is, or you and several others don’t, and at this point I’m honestly not sure which.
void
That specific use of the word “burn” is informal and has slightly differing meanings for different people. We just appear to have hit a particularly even split in what the word means to people so that it’s hard to call one or the other “proper”. Of course I could be wrong.
Stella
So…er, isn’t burn synonymous with “insult”? Or am I wrong?
Joyce’s comment insults, unintentionally, and only implicitly. The implicit insult is, “99% of the time you’re a shallow sexist.”
So, it’s a sick burn if Joe has been still in denial about this and came to realize this aspect of his own nature only now, due to Joyce’s implication. But if the subtext is lost on Joe, or if Joe was already being honest with himself about his own nature, then it’s not a very good burn.
AnvilPro
Lol, I can’t tell if Joe feels bad for what he did or he’s just wondering if Joyce realizes what ranking her a Zero-Minus as a person means.
miados
wait zero minus means something? i just thought it was like the number i. something you use to make stuff that shouldnt work work. or at least when i was taught it in middle school my teacher never explained its purpose….. oh wait i mean high school good thing i noticed before i hit post.
onetwoduck
No mate i is root of negative 1. Complex numbers are extremely important in the world around us.
Aninhumer
Negative-zero isn’t part of normal arithmetic, but it can be a useful idea in some contexts. One of the most common uses is in computer floating point numbers, where it can be used to determine which “side” an operation approached zero from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signed_zero
HeySo
Following that, negative zero would intuitively apply to the ranking in the same manner as one would apply “A-/A+”; As such, a 0- would imply the very bottom-most ranking possible.
SUGauthor
I thought it was more of a subtle realization face, since he clearly never thought of that until just now.
Stu
And/or questioning what that means for his own feelings toward her.
Cyrus
The thing is, being thought of as a godawful human being is still a step up from not being thought of as human at all. I believe that’s Joyce’s point here.
Li
Yep. Joyce’s ranking was mean but not dehumanizing and that makes it better than anyone else’s ranking.
ditrysia
Oh I think Joyce realizes what it means, but she also realizes where that score is coming from, emotionally. Remember in the last interaction they had, she asked him “what was I before I hurt you?”
She’s naive in a lot of things, but not this.
ditrysia
Anyone know how I can change that display pic? I don’t know why this pic is here and I don’t want it there, previous posts just showed a normal gravatar.
zoelogical
gotta go to the gravatar website i think
Needfuldoer
Try changing the capitalization in the ’email’ field. The Gravatar algorithm appears to be case sensitive.
thejeff
Normally that would work, but that looks like a user gravatar, not a random one. I’m not familiar with that, but I assume you’d have to go to the site and change it manually.
ditrysia
Test
fogel
Congrats!
ditrysia
Used a different email and it worked. Yay!
Pat
Zero minus as a person, but relating to how much he wants to sleep with her. In that context, I think she’s fine with a “No.”
Also it’s about how she treated him. She was in the wrong there, and she’s aware of that.
SomeDumbGuy
I don’t think it’s an attack. People don’t give Joyce enough credit… earnest and true people seek those qualities in others. Honesty and directness is a rarity in a world where all people have two faces, and to be treated as a person – even a disliked person – rather than a body, probably did make Joyce happy.
Madock345
Oh shit
Burns all around
BBCC
That burn though.
miados
great way to think of it joyce. even though what he did wasn’t even close to good maybe what he just heard shows him something he can think about.
Shiro
Joe last panel: processing…processing………bluescreen
miados
and so soon after that massive ddos.
onetwoduck
That’s.. not what that is.
Doctor_Who
Abort, retry, fail?
inqntrol
Joe.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.
Rukduk
Would you like to send an error report?
SomeUnregPunk
Nah, we’ll just revert back to last backup. Joe.exe rarely accepts change.
Rukduk
Error report sent.
“Dammit I didn’t mean to do that! And why has snark become a subroutine!! How was that possible with the current program?!? Wait. Why is my last back up date when I had R Rosenthal 2.5?!? I specifically upgraded to the J Rosenthal version 2.0! That’s it I’m calling tech support.”
30 minutes later…
“What do you mean you’re having maintenance issues with a planned update?!? Yes I have a secure internet connection and have tried turning my computer on and off again!! Wait no don’t put me on hold again!!!” *elevator music* Dammit all!!!!
svata
Ah, shit, someone ran the HCF command.
AngelVS20
Daaaaaaamn
Darkoneko
That is one way to put it.
Mr. Random
Damn, That’s cold AND she made a decent point on how she’s important to him.
Bagge
Quite impressively cold, given what a sic burn it was.
Emperor Norton II
Our skin doesn’t really differentiate between “too fricking cold” and “too fricking hot”, so putting something really cold on your skin will lead to the same “burned” skin reaction; though other reactions may happen underneath.
Mandy
“You know what, I changed my mind. I’d rather get yelled at about a donut.”
miados
Come on how can you think that the jelly donut is the best when an apple fritter is obviously superior!
Mydnyt
Preach! But let us put aside our differences and join hands in unity against the foul deceivers who believe it is ok to fill a maple bar with cursed cake frosting! Whatever your sweetened pastry preference know that we are brothers against this abomination!
Deanatay
My men and all their waffles are as one with yours! Let us vanquish this foul foe… TOGETHER!
WikiDreamer
Whoo! Get it Joyce. You enjoy every last crumb of that plain Jane donut.
DailyBrad
It’s bitter medicine, but she’s being honest in her appraisal. He needs that right now if he’s going to learn going forward.
Kraazivaan
Not sure if this has ever been brought up before, but I think it is truly impressive the depth of emotion and personality that Willis can convey with such subtle changes to the faces of drawn characters.
Just looking at Joe in this strip, you can tell more or less exactly what he’s thinking / feeling, without anything so blatant as a thought bubble.
Sev
Agreed, and without necessarily even the most detailed faces. I’d also add that the occasional ambiguity actually somehow helps to makes them feel more like real characters, as it leaves you wondering/guessing just what that expression means and using context to fill it in, much like how we relate to actual real people.
Miguel
Love-Hate At it’s best
Puckish Rogue
I know Joyce isn’t trying to flirt with Joe here but damn if she isn’t inadvertently doing a really good job
Clif
Joyce knows exactly what she is doing.
Deanatay
Yup. It’s clumsy, but intended.
Ryek Hvek
Not to worry, Joe, Danny has a tune for that.
Doctor_Who
“♩♪♫ I fell into a burning ring of fire! ♫♪♩”
pjeseb
“And I’m all alone, and the fire grows.
I’m all alone, and the fire grows.”
Ryek Hvek
with sprinkles
Marsh Maryrose
“Oh, light the sky and hold on tight
The world is burning down”
Benjamin Geiger
Dammit, now that song is stuck in my head, and I haven’t heard it in years.
Sev
You know, I have a feeling that comment may have done just as much to make Joe stop and think as everything else that’s happened over the course of the day.
Puckish Rogue
I think that with burns it depends on the type of burn, this is a very good burn but its not done maliciously and its given Joe something to think about and because its from Joyce specifically it means Joe listens to it more than if it was from Rachel or someone
Khyrin
A controlled burn, to remove deadwood that is blocking the Road to a Better Joe, so to speak.
Deanatay
This is like an Icy-Hot burn – it’s medicinal.
Wraithy2773
Nah, he was already at stop-and-think mode. The self-loathing in refusing Joyce’s thanks for being thoughtful is a clear sign in that.
Sev
Oh, definitely not discounting the growth that had already occurred, maybe I should have phrased that differently. I think that this did help him to get his head around things a bit better and drive the point home about what exactly was wrong about his whole rating system thing, whereas up until now I’m still not really quite sure that he understood that properly.