Party party party hard
Posted on August 6, 2024 by David M Willis
END OF BOOK 14

456 thoughts on “Party party party hard”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    SEXILED

    1. Ray

      YEAH

    2. anon

      lol even drunk surprised lucy would move that fast, esp since jacob also had an issue with being sexualized (not that he’s had that convo specifically with lucy yet)

      1. CrazyJ

        Lucy sure ditched the “we need three dates before sex” pretty quickly.

        1. Needfuldoer

          She had three dates.

          Not with the same partner, but three dates nonetheless.

        2. Michael Steamweed

          I didn’t read the fine print that stated those dates didn’t have to all be with the same person. I really should read the fine print more often.

        3. Taellosse

          No no – there IS no such fine print. This is what is known as a “loophole”. The rules clearly state that there should be no sex until after the 3rd date, but that is ALL they say, and Needfuldoer has cleverly deduced a clever workaround.

        4. Ana Chronistic

          they’re DANCING

          …the horizontal tango

      2. TerribleTransit

        I don’t think this is even drunk Lucy. She hasn’t had the drunk bubbles all night, she must have been nursing the one drink slowly enough to keep her head clear. This is sober, albeit party-high, Lucy. It’s definitely mildly surprising behavior on both their parts.

        1. Loki

          I think they “clicked” very well. It’s definitely a thing that happens.

      3. zee

        They’re both sober. I think she just loosened up sexual shame in this lil self confidence arc and Jake is just letting himself have fun for one night. Even if its physical she does seem to like him as more than a hunk of meat after all. Honestly she’s the first male attracted girl on screen to barely acknowledge how fine he is

        1. thejeff

          She didn’t explicitly say anything, but she just throw herself at him having only exchanged a few words with him, which people normally take as physical attraction, not a real romantic connection.

      4. elebenty

        I am sure there will be some …uh, tryer’s remorse, especially if he finds out he’s the sexy rebound.

    3. raultsi

      and how !!

  2. darkoneko

    Well well well…

    1. Needfuldoer

      How the turntables.

  3. Doctor_Who

    Jennifer’s expression is because she impressed that Lucy can Force Push.

    1. BorkBorkBork

      JUST like Kit Fisto.

      1. Tatterhood

        *applause*

  4. Yumi

    So who do you think is winning Catan?

    1. StClair

      No one wins Catan.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Only Klaus Teuber wins at Catan. The rest of us are but meeples on the board.

    2. shadowcell

      Lucy

      1. Davus

        that can’t be, but you’re probably joking

      2. darkoneko

        Hopefulyl she’ll remember to come pick back the board games tomorrow XD

        (and hopefully no one will have vomited on any of them)

      3. BadRoad

        the only winning move is not to play?

        1. elebenty

          Yeah, but it takes a lot longer for WOPR to run through all the simulations to get to that conclusion.

    3. Thag Simmons

      I suspect Asher, if only because he seemed less drunk than Dina and Becky.

    4. Octo

      100% Booster, purely through knowing how people work well enough to maximize trade negotiations

      1. Reltzik

        A: While Booster knows how people work, they’re not great at communicating with people amicably.

        B: Booster doesn’t seem to be playing, and I’d guess they prefer to watch.

        1. Michael Steamweed

          Methinks that applies to Booster in lots more than just boardgames.

        2. Adept

          This rings true Micheal

    5. Emperor Norton II

      Dina figired out the strategy statistically most likely to win in about three minutes after being taught the game.

      Bu since there are elements of both dice-roll randomness and people doing trades for seemingly weird reasons, she’s not guaranteed to win, though.

    6. Reltzik

      I’d guess Becky.

      1. Decidedly Orthogonal

        Per Norton’s analysis, Dina is throwing off the competitors by using her powers to help Becky rather than win herself?

        1. Amelie Wikström

          And that’s how we get the major conflict of book 15: Collusion!

    7. Bryy

      Ticket to Ride wins Catan.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Ticket to Ride is awesome.

        So is Trogdor the Board Game, and The Captain is Dead. (As long as you can find people to play with who ‘get’ the concept of a co-op board game, and can collaboratively think a couple steps ahead.)

    8. John Campbell

      Me.

      A while back, I was at my sister’s for the holidays, and we were playing Catan, and my niece came by, and, like only an eight-year-old girl can, rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know why you play that game! Uncle John always wins.”

    9. HoopsieDaisy

      100% Booster. Observation and analysis seem to be their top skills, even if it annoys a good portion of the audience. I find them a breath of fresh air.

    10. Mturtle7

      You might think it would be either Dina (most intellectual) or Booster (most insightful) but I’m actually betting on Becky. Partly because she has a good balance of intellect & insight, but also because Settlers of Catan seems like exactly the sort of inoffensive secular game her church/homeschooling group would love.

      1. Mturtle7

        Update: @tomorand has helpfully reminded me of this very old strip where Joyce refers to Settlers of Catan as “the secular version of Settlers of Canaan”. So, Becky is DEFINITELY experienced in this game (albeit under a different name), lending further credence to my theory.

  5. HueSatLight

    board game pieces (or whole board games) are going to be misplaced.

    1. Reltzik

      Yes.

      …. oh, you mean in this situation specifically.

    2. Michael Steamweed

      It is the Way.

  6. lightpunster

    Sarah deserves that and Lucy deserves that and Jennifer deserves that.

    1. Coatl

      Heh, such a peculiar chain

    2. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      I feel like we’re all not realizing how wild this is, so let me put it this way.

      Watch Lucy wake up the morning after punching her V card…and not remember Jacob’s name.

      1. Drakkin the Alien

        “There’s a stranger in my bed
        there’s a pounding in my head
        glitter all over the room
        pink flamingos in the pool
        i smell like a minibar…”

      2. Freemage

        I doubt she’s that drunk. But yeah, this is a pretty big pendulum swing for Lucy–going from an arbitrary 3-date rule to ‘second conversation we’ve ever had is good enough’. It’s highly likely she’s going to have some morning-after thoughts.

        1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

          Dude I circled back to see if she ever caught his name. It was once but even so that might not be enough to remember.

        2. Michael Steamweed

          I’d expect her to remember it. Jacob is impressive enough.

      3. Kyrros

        Nah, this has been telegraphed for awhile. Lucy and Jacob met and bonded over their mutual ‘Sarah challenge’. Honestly, if Lucy hadn’t already been ‘Cocky for Walky’, I imagine she’d have already shown more than a passing interest in him before this week. He’s always been on the periphery of that circle of folks; I think it was the freedom she gave herself from Walky that allowed her to finally actively notice him.

        * When first meeting Joyce, Joyce’s inner monologue broke through and warned her to stay away from Jacob.
        * When Jacob and Joyce ‘ended things’, Jacob said that whoever his next ‘person’ would be will pretty much check most of the ‘Joyce’ boxes without actually being Joyce.
        * Lucy is basically the ‘Forest’ version of Joyce (minus the Fundie-homeschooling)

        Quod Erat Demonstrandum

        1. Laura

          ‘Forest’ ? What’s that?

        2. Vegetalssfour

          I might be misremembering, but I think it’s the name of the dorm hall Lucy and Jennifer live in.

        3. dalniente

          I vaguely remember something about a Forest Quad, I think it’s the dorm where Lucy et al live

        4. Psychie

          Forest Quad is in fact a dorm on the IU campus, the back entrance to Forest is across Jones Ave from the front entrance of Read Hall (which is funny because Read doesn’t have a Jones Ave address, but rather an Eagleson (formerly Jordan) address).

        5. clif

          So Jordan used to have a street named after him.

        6. thejeff

          They changed it after what happened with him.

          And here we thought it was just a family affair.

        7. Psychie

          I still have no idea who Jordan is/was, I just heard the street was being renamed and when asked why all I anybody would tell me was that he was a racist or something. I’m *pretty* sure Jordan is a last name in this case, but I have no clue what the first name is/was, how long ago this person was around to inspire having a street named after him, or how whatever bad stuff that got the street renamed came to sufficient public attention as to have the street renamed. And of course google likely won’t help considering how common the name “Jordan” is.

        8. thejeff

          https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/monroe-county/bloomington/jordan-avenue-in-bloomington-being-renamed-eagleson-avenue

        9. Laura

          Ah. Thank you for the explanation!

        10. CianM1301

          Is that what Q.E.D. stands for? Huh, you learn something new every day.

        11. eh, whatever

          Yes; “which was to be shown”.

        12. thejeff

          It’s been foreshadowed, but none of that actually creates the relationship & commitment rather than casual sex that both of them claim to want.

          I’m not really surprised by Lucy, though I think she’s more likely to have regrets after the fact. She’s got enough recent trauma for a drastic change to make sense.

          Jacob is stranger, unless he really just isn’t good at sticking to his “not into casual sex” thing, which kind of fits.

    3. Tan

      Absolutely not, absolutely not, and well yes

      1. clif

        This would probably be funnier, or at least make more sense, if I could figure out what it’s a reply to.

        1. clif

          Got it. Reltzik below seems to be replying all the way up to Lightpunster, which probably means you are as well.

          We can agree on the third.

      2. Delavan

        Thank You. Finally someone sane. Everyone rooting for Lucy and Jacob – like, sorry, I don’t care how well you click, this was an absolute dick move from both of them.

        I really hope we get a good Sarah arc that actually helps her recover from all her trust issues. Because this was the last thing she needed when she was finally making an effort.

        1. Insanenoodlyguy

          It’s really not though. Sarah has no claim on Jacob. She kinda put herself out there yes, but after how many complete failures where she often did what he specifically asked her not to do? Lucy was invited by Sarah sure, but when has Sarah even told her she likes Jacob? Seeing Sarah being non-social to him one time doesn’t mean shit, Sarah does that to tons of people.

          What was the actual dick move here?

      3. thejeff

        I’d say: “Absolutely not, absolutely and kinda”.

        Not really happy with impromptu sexiling under most any circumstances. With proper arrangement, it’s cool, especially if it’s not for the whole night.

        But that might just be scars from my first year in college when it happened pretty often.

    4. Reltzik

      …. okay, from a moral philosophy standpoint, what does it REALLY mean to say that a person DESERVES something, and what epistemic method lets us validate whether a person does or doesn’t?

      (Look, Willis hasn’t posted porn of Panel 5 yet, so until we can gaze upon it we might as well gaze upon our navels instead.)

      1. clif

        Interesting questions. In moral philosophy, deserving usually means earning or meriting a reward or penalty that is morally relevant. Kant and Leibniz might say that happiness, or its absence, is also a possible reward or penalty and that would seem to apply here. Epistemic justification (from episteme, the Greek word for knowledge if you were wondering) is the right standing of a person’s beliefs with respect to knowledge, such as whether those beliefs are true or not. It seems that Lucy’s beliefs on how to relate to Jacob were correct and Sarah’s were not. This seems to be empirically established. Now Jennifer’s case seems to be one of epistemic entitlement rather than epistemic justification.

        How is your navel doing today?

        1. clif

          Actually, the reference to epistemic entitlement may be too opaque. The point is that Jennifer knows (and subscribes too) *the rules* and is thereby entitled to be ejected from their room. Whether this is considered a reward or penalty is entirely up to Jennifer.

      2. Insanenoodlyguy

        Sarah deserves a proper chance to see that putting an opportunity off again and again can cause a loss of the chance.

        Lucy deserves a nice night of feeling desired after taking some nasty blows when others disappointed her.

        Honestly not sure Billy deserves to be kicked out of her room, unless she’s done the same to Lucy and this is simply being held to the same standard? Like it’s not a horrible thing happening to her, just not sure “deseved” is a good word for it.

    5. Psychie

      So Lucy made a significant effort to actively try to befriend Sarah, Sarah was finally trying to make headway on trusting people and opening up (Lucy and Jacob specifically), Sarah specifically invited Lucy to this party as a result of these things, Lucy watched Sarah very obviously have a massive crush on Jacob and fumbling to open up properly despite very clearly wanting to, and immediately swooped in to steal him.

      But yeah, Sarah totally deserves having all of her trust issues validated in a massive betrayal because she was *checks notes* a little mean to Lucy after Lucy was seen with the last person who betrayed her and is the cause of her trust issues. Yeah, totally makes sense. /s

      Sarah’s grumpy and introverted, but has very good reason to not trust people, and she’s recently been actively TRYING to heal and be better. I sincerely do not care how well Lucy and Jacob might work together, I sincerely do not care how much she might genuinely like him, I sincerely do not care how mean Sarah might have been (honestly, not that mean, IMO), nobody deserves to have somebody spend all that time pretending to be their friend just to betray them the second they let their guard down. That’s just sickeningly uncool.

      I’m gonna be honest, I’m often confused when I see someone hate on characters here because usually, while often unjustified, their behaviors are at least understandable given their established character and their histories, but I have lost all respect for Lucy and she will not be getting it back. This is just wildly not cool, at this point she is an actively bad person.

      1. Sentient Sandvich

        I’m so glad someone agrees! Lucy and Jacob would work well together but that doesn’t mean they SHOULD be together.
        We have never seen Sarah open herself up like this before and if she can work through it ,we could see someone even better for Jacob.
        And like you said, she was grouchy to Lucy but she was up to a point where she even apologized to her.
        *cough cough* http://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-14/04-for-me-it-was-tuesday/halfright/

        1. GreyICE

          Why would Sarah be good for Jacob? They seem like clashing personalities. I think their relationship would be an absolute disaster

      2. aelfwine

        Utterly hilarious claim that Lucy owes Sarah anything. Sarah didn’t even know Lucy’s phone number because she had her listed in her contacts under an insult. Somehow Lucy ought caee about Sarah having “dibs”?

        Sarah lost her chance with Jacob because she’s been incapable of dealing with people in a non-assholish way.

        1. Daibhid C

          I can’t speak for Psychie, but I don’t think Lucy “owes” Sarah anything, and I’m not seeing where they claimed otherwise. I just think it’s a crappy thing to do. Frankly, the transactional nature of friendship implied by “owing” disturbs me.

          Not as much as “this character has built walls to protect herself from social situations and now has trouble getting past them, therefore they deserve to suffer”, though.

        2. Orson Smelles

          Yeah, I agree with Daibhid that it’s not any special obligation to Sarah: to be consciously aware that *any* person has an acute emotional vulnerability in a specific situation, then immediately do something that you know or are negligent in not knowing will massively pressure that vulnerability is a cruel act.

          For me, the perpetrator of a cruel act is virtually always morally untrustworthy, regardless of the victim. (Also more prosaically untrustworthy: you can’t know you won’t eventually be fair game too.) Like, if you went and did this same thing to Marjorie Taylor Greene I would probably laugh at her misfortune because she’s terrible, but not approve of you for being its agent: it’s a bad person doing a bad thing to a much worse person.

        3. Psychie

          As others have said, it’s not about owing, it’s about the betrayal. She spent all that time actively trying to befriend Sarah, she *knows* about Sarah’s history with backstabbers, Sarah finally is starting to open up (in no small part due to Lucy’s efforts), and she as soon as Sarah is lowering her guard and allowing herself to be vulnerable, she stabs her in the back. That is an absolutely disgusting way to treat anybody, no matter what they may have done, and literally all Sarah has done is be a bit grouchy and say some uncomfortable truths after she was provoked.

          As for the name in the phone thing, so what? Sarah clearly doesn’t do much socializing via phone, and clearly has WAY more phone numbers than she ever expects to need. When she gets a phone number, she has no idea who she’s actually going to want to interact with, especially when the default assumption is that she won’t. Is her way of dealing with that good? No, not in the slightest, but using an unflattering filing system for all of the phone numbers she expects to never need for all the people she doesn’t expect to want to interact with in her private phone that nobody else should be looking at is entirely her prerogative and in now way causes her to “deserve” this kind of horrendous treatment.

          False friends are literally the worst kind of people, I will happily take tyrants or serial killers over betrayers any day of the week. Even genocidal maniacs are preferable in my opinion. This is not an acceptable way to treat anybody. Full stop.

        4. Insanenoodlyguy

          At what point did Sarah ever say to Lucy “hey please don’t go for this guy” or anything else that would make Lucy believe that Sarah would even be hurt by this?

        5. Orson Smelles

          If one *only* does or refrains from doing things in social situations that are explicitly requested, there is a great probability that some people experience them as a terrible friend. That’s not necessarily fair when people have different levels of innate ability and practice at assessing the unspoken dynamics involved, but it’s true and virtually inescapable unless you create an intentional community of people who work hard at only holding each other to explicit expectations. I might even enjoy living there, but I certainly don’t now, so it wouldn’t behoove me to act surprised that someone is hurt when I cross the kind of unspoken but easily-inferred boundary that the vast majority of people have about *something.*

          I might be able to argue that I shouldn’t be considered responsible for it, but claiming that I had genuinely never even thought of it sounds either (a) like a self-serving lie to avoid reflecting on my behavior or to “teach them a lesson about communication”, or (b) like I think so little about others’ internal experiences that I don’t model them when I choose my behavior. Neither of those is a look I really want on me, and I have a choice, so I choose to play the guessing game and hurt fewer people. Seems worth.

        6. Insanenoodlyguy

          Except the boundry isn’t easily inferred.

          Lucy hit on some guy she saw Sarah talking to, one time ever before this. Tonight she saw them chat a little more. Now she’s chatting with him. Now she’s liking him. Now she’s sexing him.

          Divorce yourself from your reader knowledge. At what point would she be given the impression Sarah is pining for Jacob?

      3. Allen Alberti

        YES all of this. honestly, I hope that Jacob and Lucy have such a good time that they catch a bus to Vegas and elope and are written out of the comic completely after this. I already didn’t like Lucy and now I don’t like Jacob either.

        1. Ragnarok101

          Agreed. I was ambivalent to her plot arc and general demeanor, but much like Booster she kinda just sucked all the oxygen out of the room for way too long.

        2. Insanenoodlyguy

          How dare Jacob get laid with the girl who’s immediately forthright with him instead of waiting for the girl who can’t hold a conversation with him?

      4. Insanenoodlyguy

        Did she though? She saw Sarah treating Jacob very similarly to how she treats Lucy. And most of the rest of her friends. At what point has Sarah actually said to Lucy so much as a “I like this guy please don’t move on him till I shoot my shot at least.” We know Sarah likes Jacob that way and can see that expressed in the scene outside becausee of that. . Why would Lucy?

    6. Needfuldoer

      But does Jacob deserve that? He detests being held up as a sex object.

      1. morleuca

        Clearly he doesnt

        1. morleuca

          The sex object thing, not the deserve thing

      2. lightpunster

        I think Sarah is the one who holds him up as a sex object. He and Lucy have very similar personalities. He clearly respects her ability to make peace and let loose, so it makes sense he would be attracted to her. Sarah “I want to lick your abs and get you drunk so you will talk to me” is actually majorly creepy and would not be tolerated if a man did it to a woman.

        1. thejeff

          To an extent, though he first brought it up in response to a comment by Roz, I believe. It’s something he’s had problems with all along.

          Having a girl he’s barely met throw herself at him at a party without any real chance to even talk, strongly suggests she’s largely motivated by him being physically attractive rather than anything deeper.

          And he knows Sarah far better than he knows Lucy. Enough better to understand there’s something beneath the lust that it’s even harder for her to express.

        2. Insanenoodlyguy

          So? Hes into it. We even know thanks to the effects willow draw that he’s sober and so alcohol has nothing to do with it. He has an attraction he’s acting on. It’s an exception to his usual way of doing things? Irrelevant. Yeah he’s had interest in Sarah and she’s finally showing some hints of a layer. But that doesn’t obligate him to keep at it. She didn’t avail herself of several opportunities to be real with him and now he’s met somebody else.

          The only person who’s remotely wronged in this situation, and I emphasize remotely, is Joyce. Lucy did say she’d stay away from this Jacob fellow. I wouldn’t call it a binding oath, but Joyce actually has a reason to say “what the heck Lucy!”

    7. PedanticJerkass

      Definite no the second one, at the very least. Iffy on the first one as well, but probably also a no, considering it led directly to the second one. I’ll give you the third one, though.

  7. NGPZ


    Life is drama hurricane
    Cluster fuck-blur!
    Enbies, gays and grey ace,
    Hot and bothered!

    Info-dumpin dino history!
    Cream pie delivery!!!

    FUCK Tales! WOO-HOO!
    Every day they’re out there making Love Tales! WOO-HOO!
    Tales of whoopeedoo
    Love and hate-FUCK tales!

    Tingly feelings inside you!
    With your partner right behind you!
    What to do, just grab on to some…`

    FUCK Tales! Woo-hoo!
    they’re dumb and always makin’
    Love Tales! Woo-hoo!
    Tales of whoopeedoo
    Love and hate-FUCK tales! Woo-oo!

    It’s furry tails and dino tails, and
    FUCK Tales! Woo-hoo!

    1. Taffy

      Airing every Saturday morning on Disney Channel.
      *Hilary Duff draws the Mickey Mouse icon with a glow stick*

      1. Needfuldoer

        Four notes that sent Defunctland into a feature-length rabbit hole.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_rjBWmc1iQ

    2. Bryy

      Wow.

  8. elfroyalty

    what a fun end for the storyline. get it lucy!!! be safe you crazy kids!!!

  9. Thag Simmons

    We are getting so close to “the One Where Jocelyne Returns”

    1. Alongcameaspider

      Honestly looking at the titles for the next 3 chapters I suspect the next book is largely going to be about how Joyce’s family reacts to all the changes Joyce is going through

      Which means I suspect we may be getting answers regarding Jordan soon

      But also I am unreasonably excited for Jocelyne’s imminent return

      1. Effie

        Unreasonably? Disagree! We are all excited to see more Jocelyne, and that is entirely reasonable. Jocelyne is one of the most interesting characters with very little screen time so far.

      2. Bryy

        So sometime next year, then.

      3. Needfuldoer

        Yes… ha ha… YES!

        1. eh, whatever

          ha ha ha, you sicko.

      4. HueSatLight

        Plus we’re nearing the end of January, when John is supposedly leaving for India again with his totally real wife.

  10. Corronchilejano

    Joe looks happy and relieved

    1. Segnosaur

      I am kind of relieved too.

      I like the Joe/Joyce pairing and I was worried that they might bring in a “Joyce wants (drunken) sex, Joe wants to hold off, the 2 of them fight over it” plot.

      1. StClair

        Same. But it looks like it all worked out (for them).

  11. Cattleprod

    I love that Asher’s into the board game.

    1. drs

      Ethan is taking an interest in it too. Nerd-Ethan fighting Emo-Ethan for control of the body.

    2. Jamie

      Do people seriously play board games like that? One knee up?

      1. Reltzik

        They might if there’s limited floor space being occupied by the game AND 13 people in a dorm designed for 2.

      2. Tan

        As a bisexual, Asher is entitled to sitting weird.

      3. Needfuldoer

        That’s how you shoot a game of back-alley craps, and old habits die hard.

      4. brumagem

        I do find that no matter how you position yourself at a board game you will soon need to rearrange to avoid numb limbs and/or unconsciousness

  12. Bittersweet

    It hasn’t been three dates Lucy!!!!

    1. Thag Simmons

      She’s been on three dates, which is close enough.

      1. Vanessa

        She’s a lot more likable when she isn’t following a checklist she doesn’t even believe in.

        Now, is Jacob going to respect himself in the morning?

        1. Reltzik

          If she has post-drunken regrets, probably. Otherwise… I’d guess not? This doesn’t feel like the start of a romantic relationship, rather than a one-night stand, and I think that’s what Jacob’s looking for.

        2. Freemage

          I agree that he and Lucy are looking for the same thing. What I’m baffled by is the notion that they are also aware of this fact. They’ve had two conversations–one of which was about ten minutes long, at most, and was mostly about Sarah, and the second of which took place in an overcrowded dorm room with a sing-along going on. There is no way they actually know each other as well as either of them would say they need to, to take this step. As a story beat, it feels kinda haphazard and unearned.

          That said, hope they’re happy.

        3. thejeff

          As a story beat it feels haphazard, if the intent is Jacob & Lucy live happily ever after.
          If it’s more that Lucy went too fast on the rebound and Jacob is more easily seduceable than he likes, I think it works. We’ll see how they react in the morning.

        4. julie

          theyve had two conversations *that we know about*
          remember, willis had carla and charlie start dating “off-screen” and theres clearly a mutual vibe between jacob and lucy (not even just physically, their conversation feels comfortable). its quite possible theyve run into eachother before (maybe even at church) and we just havent seen it
          like yeah it might be *sudden* for the two of them, but its not necessarily “out of the blue”

        5. KM

          I doubt it’s Church, Jacob’s Episcopalian while Lucy seems to be mainline protestant of indeterminate denomination seeing as she accompanied Becky et al

        6. thejeff

          The conversation they had yesterday (Their yesterday, not ours) was very clearly their first, unless they were faking it to fool the audience.
          They start off introducing themselves and Lucy says “Nice meeting you” as she leaves.

        7. Kelibath

          I’m not sure he should respect himself now – he knows that she’s been drinking and he hasn’t. She’s held herself together very well but that’s a sign to me that alcohol is having some effect since it’s shutting the anxiety off. There isn’t even the excuse of “we both drank the punch”. This was a sober decision for him, and so was kissing her in front of Sarah as her invitees… it could have been handled better than that.

        8. thejeff

          Unlike the real world, there are clear signs of drunkenness in the comic and Lucy doesn’t show them. There’s no reason to think Lucy’s being affected by alcohol here.

    2. Dday

      They’re just going to stay up all night comparing their favorite bible verses.

    3. Mark

      Rational thought is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Now updating Rational Thought [TM] with Cloudstrike “One Cup of Booze” sensor update.

        Now experiencing system error. Commencing Booze Screen of Death.

  13. RassilonTDavros

    Oh. Well now.

    That went a little quicker than I was expecting!

    1. clif

      Yes.

      1. Bryy

        Two days.

  14. JD

    asher playing board games with becky and dina is so cute.

  15. Yumi

    The hover text is a reference to the song that they had been singing, just fyi.

    1. Vanessa

      ??? What, weird.

      1. Yumi

        I don’t think that’s weird? To be fair, in the song it’s the opposite– “This was the very first page / Not where the story line ends.”

  16. Jo_cubstar

    Can someone explain what is happening to Jennifer in the last panel? I don’t get it

    1. Yumi

      Jennifer and Lucy share a room. Jennifer is being sexiled, as Lucy brought Jacob back.

      1. Jo_cubstar

        Thank you. I didn’t realize that the third panel was them walking back to her room. I totally thought it was them dancing at the party lol ? oops

        1. Jamie

          I thought the third panel was them dancing, at first.

        2. Freemage

          Same, then I realized it didn’t have the music notes, suggesting a different locale where the Uke of Harmony couldn’t be heard.

        3. Leadsynth

          Same. Maybe they danced all the way back to Lucy’s room?

        4. Michael Steamweed

          I thought it was both dancing and going to her dorm room.

    2. Vukodlak

      Her roommate Lucy is throwing her out.

      1. Archieve

        Que Jennifer having an existianal crisis because she’s the Alpha bongo roommate! having hookups is her thing!

    3. StClair

      Read the very first comment.

    4. Nick Piers

      Lucy yeeted her out to have sexy times with Jacob.

    5. Comic.phile

      She’s been sexiled from her room by Lucy and Jacob

    6. Taffy

      She’s miraculously learned how to fly using only the clap of her asscheeks, and she’s off on a wombobulous adventure. Lucy is waving her off and wishing her good luck.

      1. Emperor Norton II

        This is the correct answer. Ten Imperial Internet Points are awarded to you, Taffy.

        And minus ten points to the rest of you with your wrong answers.

        1. clif

          Aw, man!

    7. Jamie

      Since you’ve gotten a serious answer,

      My first thought was that she’d tried to enter the party and was forcibly ejected. Had to re-read to realize.

    8. Reltzik

      Lucy’s getting laid tonight and Jennifer isn’t. Such a severe reversal of the natural order has caused reality to warp. Gravity has ceased functioning properly, resulting in Jennifer’s surprise levitation. It’s been going on for a few hours by the time we see Panel 5. She’s got a full bladder and is seriously doubting whether she’ll drift close enough to a handhold or other purchase, as a prerequisite to being able to maneuver herself into a bathroom, before she can’t hold it any more, and has just now thought to question how she’ll even use a toilet in zero gravity even if she can get to one.

      Ignore the open door and the glimpse of Lucy and Jacob through it. That happened several hours ago. We’re only seeing it from Jennifer’s perspective, for the unnatural event’s afterimage has been permanently burned into her retinas.

    9. Needfuldoer

      Yeet the roomie.

  17. darkoneko

    Looks like Booster consolidated a queer corner after all

    1. Michael Steamweed

      “Huh!”, they said very loudly.

  18. HueSatLight

    great shadow-work in the last panel.

  19. Taffy

    Yesss

    Fuck his brains out

    Yesssss

    1. Nono

      I thought being smart was part of his attractive quality?

      1. Taffy

        Nobody’s smart after Round 3.

        1. Reltzik

          They might smart after round 3.

      2. Vanessa

        Lucy does not care a bit about that lol

    2. Reltzik

      It’s only brains if you subscribe to Galen’s model of the 4 humors. Otherwise, they’ll be fucking out a different substance entirely.

      1. morleuca

        The fuck. Did not need a ganlen’s visual this early in the morning. Well played

  20. Ragnarok101

    Alright. Well, hopefully this is the last we’ll see of Lucy. I did not like her inclusion in this story to begin with. I like her even less now, even if I think someone was going to need to stop Sarah’s antics.

    1. Akane

      Lucy is a main character. She’s staying.

      1. morleuca

        So was Mike

        1. VicMortimer

          Excellent point. Hope Willis picked out a good way to kill her off.

          He won’t, of course. Mike was a good character, a lot of fun to have in the strip. Lucy is annoying, so we’re likely stuck with her.

        2. Insanenoodlyguy

          Mike is problematic as hell, so much so Willis realized he couldn’t exist in this comparatively un-flanderized universe without being changed past the point of being Mike.

          Lucy is honestly pretty fun and I’d invite her to a party over Sarah any day.

        3. Jodka

          *Was, no he wasn’t, Lucy sucks.

        4. Insanenoodlyguy

          That’s true. Mike is dead. For the best really.

          Lucy probably did suck. She said she was down for her neck to get sore. Get some Lucy. Good job.

      2. Jodka

        Bummer

    2. Taffy

      I hope you get the opposite of what you want.

      1. Jodka

        I also hope you get the opposite of what you want.

    3. Emperor Norton II

      Good news is, thos the last we’ll see of Lucy in this story!

      Since, you know, this story just ended.

    4. Bryy

      ….. curious as to why you think this particular comic is the last we’ll ever see of a character.

      1. Ragnarok101

        Didn’t say think. Said hopefully, because I didn’t care for her.

  21. Nono

    There’s going to be some very angry/sad usage of Other Jacob later isn’t there.

    Also it might no longer be called Other Jacob.

    1. Taffy

      She’s gonna rename it Original Jacob.

      1. AGV/Ruby

        My One True Jacob

        1. Taffy

          Jacob-616

  22. Coatl

    Sal and Danny having a good time.

    Amber almost collapses.

    The rest is more casual.

    Joe taking care of Joyce.

    And Lucy wastes no time.

    Lucy: DON’T DISTURB JENNIFER, GET OUT!!!

  23. ghastlyGrenadine

    So is this a game of Catan between *just* Becky and Asher? Asking the important questions here

    1. crys

      if I squint I can see blue, orange and red roads on the board

      1. Segnosaur

        You can also see 3 sets of cards near the board, suggesting 3 if them are playing.

    2. drs

      I assumed Dina was playing too, though the angles are suboptimal.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        It’s a good assumption; most neurodiverse types enjoy boardgames, and Dina strikes me as being able to pick up the rules pretty quickly.

  24. StClair

    Joe continues to be a Good Boyfriend.

  25. Switchchris

    wait… wasn’t Jacob a “Wait till Marriage” kinda guy? I might be misremembering.

    1. Taffy

      Oh, there are so many ways to do things without calling them sex. So many loopholes (don’t link the damn song, smartasses), so many workarounds to keep it from technically being premarital sex. I’m sure these two can find a way for both of them to be satisfied without any guilt.

      1. BorkBorkBork

        Guilt be damned, it’s just plain smart. Especially for guys. It’s beyond dumb for any dude to have sex with someone they aren’t OK with potentially sending 20% of their income to for the next eighteen years. Your last moment of choice is the moment before you stick your dick in crazy.

        1. Taffy

          Oh, hush. ?

        2. jflb96

          Oh, wah wah, I didn’t use a condom and now I have to deal with the consequences of my actions rather than pawning them all off on a woman

        3. thejeff

          Also, you probably won’t actually have to deal with the consequences. It’s still pretty easy to pawn them off on the woman.

          (Plus, people who talk like that very often oppose abortion, which would be odd if their stated motives were actually their motives.)

        4. Jodka

          …Yes, that’s why he’s saying it’s smart to use a condom.

        5. jflb96

          Look at how he’s talking, though

        6. Michael Steamweed

          Works both ways. Both about-to-be-partners gotta be responsible and considerate about things. Baby-makin’, diseases, hurt feelin’s, all that’s at-risk. … But then again, I believe most of us are descended from recent sexy times that weren’t responsible at all.

        7. HueSatLight

          More like Robert BorkBorkBork.

        8. Insanenoodlyguy

          You do know condoms and other contraceptives are a thing right?

      2. Ben

        Lucy said this to Walky in as many words, but he fobbed her off. Far as we know she isn’t on birth control and Jacob doesn’t seem the type to carry condoms. Neither has had much to drink so this is heading for a “close, but no cigar” outcome

    2. Vanessa

      That might have been some performative posturing and checkboxing he did with Raidah, like Lucy and her three dates with Walky. These two hopefully won’t be as hypocritical about their sex as Mary and whatshisname.

      1. Taffy

        It’s not sex if you tape a dildo sideways to the dong. Then you’re just receiving the blessing of the Lord. Over and over and over.

        1. Segnosaur

          You have thought far too much about that.

        2. Taffy

          I only thought about it for exactly the amount of time it took to type my comment, but you’re still right.

        3. clif

          Mm.

      2. HueSatLight

        They threw Jennifer out of the room, who’s going to jump up and down on the bed while they soak?

        1. Taffy

          Kyle

        2. BorkBorkBork

          While contemplating this, a quiet voice comes from underneath Jennifer’s bed.

          “It is I, the great Faz, here in your hour of need.”

        3. Laura

          Literally chortled out loud. Thank you!

    3. thejeff

      It’s a common opinion in the comments, but there’s no support for it. He is (or was?) a “wants a serious relationship, not just casual sex” kinda guy, but that’s not the same thing.

    4. Segnosaur

      I don’t think jacob is a “wait until marriage” guy. (There was a strip where he wanted to makeout with today but she rebuffed him).

      He does seem to want to take sex seriously though (and didn’t like the idea of being treated as a “sex object”). Hooking up with Lucy does seem to contradict that to a point. (Maybe he feels he knows Lucy enough to give the sex a stamp of approval? Or maybe his earlier interactions with Joyce last term have changed how he views things)

      1. Freemage

        Joyce having altered his view is more likely than him “knowing Lucy” well enough to take her on a date, let alone give her a sex approval stamp. No moral judgement here, but character/story judgement seems way out of whack.

      2. Mark

        There’s still time for one (or both) of them to think, “oh, I want this, but is it a good idea at this time?”

    5. BBCC

      No, but he said he wanted a relationship and not just one night stands.

      1. thejeff

        Wouldn’t be the first time someone who wanted something more serious got tempted and moved too fast.
        Question is whether he immediately and openly regrets it or whether he tries to stick with his relationship stance and turn it into one. Which might even work.
        I think it both fits with Jacob’s flirty nature and echoes SP! Jacob’s sex addiction problems.

    6. APW

      I had him pegged as a “meaningful relationship”kind of guy at the very least (big part of his appeal, both to me and to Old Joyce). This is disappointing.

    7. anon

      well, he didn’t wanna be seen as a ‘sexual conquest’ tho maybe he felt more relaxed at the party as opposed to how roz probably would’ve propositioned him

      tho i’d be more worried about ‘protection’ assuming lucy isn’t on the pill (then again in their dorms jennifer prolly has extra condoms lying around lol)

  26. HMRC4EVR

    So…is Lucy a virgin?

    Or about to not be one?

    1. Taffy

      Virginity is a worthless social construct, but as far as we know she’s never done a big fat fuck on somebody.

      1. Proxiehunter

        Never been slammed down big time as the bulb rose.

    2. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      The latter, definitely the latter.

    3. Reltzik

      Both, I think.

    4. anon

      considering she had a similar upbringing to joyce (but not as ‘culty’?) and wanted 3 dates with walky before doing anything, i imagine maybe so, or a bit of experienced but not all the way, tho as far as we know walky was her first ‘real boyfriend’ and i don’t think she would’ve drunkenly hooked up with someone at a party like she’s seemingly doing now

  27. Dave Van Domelen

    She’s going for distance
    She’s going for speed

    1. Laura

      She is touring the facility
      And picking up slack.

    2. Schpoonman

      She is distinctly not alone in her time of need, though.

  28. xeno

    wait hold the phone…. ok I get Lucy going 0-100% cause being drunk and spiteful sure and not 100% in her right mind. But thats a really back look for Jacob…. he even said 100% thats sprite in his cup and hes just ok with being fully within his mind to go have sex with a drunk chick he just say is fresh out a break up that he essentially met one time and shook hands? thats kinda fuck up……

    1. xeno

      bad look* I cant spell

      1. Vanessa

        Good point. She doesn’t seem obviously inebriated though, and he doesn’t know how bizarrely out of character this is for her.

    2. Taffy

      Look at her head. Do you see the boozles? I don’t see any.

      1. thejeff

        Would be so convenient if boozles existed in real life. “Don’t hit on her, she’s got the boozles.”
        “Oops, got the boozles already, better slow down.”

        1. Michael Steamweed

          Also: “This person is hitting on me, but they’ve got the boozles.”

        2. thejeff

          That too.

          “Hand over your keys, you’ve got boozles”

        3. Michael Steamweed

          Oh yeah definitely. Would make bartenders’ jobs easier for sure.

    3. Mark

      Hey, Lucy might have left some of her board games behind, and they’re going to her room to play ’em. You don’t know.

      1. Michael Steamweed

        Two players only. No kibitzing allowed. That’s why they had to eject Bil, er, Jennifer. Regretful, but necessary.

  29. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    Holy mother of christ…are your sure those two aren’t drunk because that’s lightning fast!

    1. Segnosaur

      Not sure how tipsy Lucy is (since you don’t see the “bubbles” over her hea) but the earlier strips slugfest she had at least some alcohol.

      1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

        I just can’t tell if they’re tipsy or not.

        1. Segnosaur

          Well we know Jacob is completely sober since he said earlier that he was just drinking sprite.

        2. Newlland(Henryvolt)

          ….Didn’t Joyce use most of the Sprite to water down the hard liquor and then just left some of the cups sitting out?

        3. thejeff

          Sprite was being added to cups as the liquor was poured, though the implied Sprite to Whiskey ratio suggests they’d run out of Sprite long before booze.

        4. Michael Steamweed

          I think yes. A single 2-liter bottle of Sprite would be empty before that huge “churchbell” bottle o’ booze.

  30. Alongcameaspider

    So I guess Lucy’s got over her “3 dates before sex” thing

    1. HueSatLight

      It wasn’t ever something real.
      They were joking. Walky was avoiding sex, and avoiding telling her he was and why. That’s all she had to go on, so she imagined the whole “We said the third date” thing out of a joke. She was down to fuck. Even in the first one, she was probably dtf but didn’t want to be too forward.

      1. eh, whatever

        …oh. You’re right.

    2. Agemegos

      She’s been on three dates.

  31. Emperor Norton II

    You know, if there is one thing that I am happy about, it is Joe’s growth. He understood the assignment tonight: Be the responsible, sober boyfriend as Joyce is still hitting those highs of breaking free of the chains of her upbringing. And he is clearly realising that having an emotional relationship isn’t so bad. Just look at him being so happily content with Joyce in his lap like that.

    Just wait until he discovers how much better sex gets when you truly care for someone too.

    1. Taffy

      Although I can offer only the one point of reference, sex with someone you love is indeed groovy as hell.

    2. Nick Piers

      The funny thing is, when it comes to the sex, I could see Joe letting Joyce take the lead. He’s experienced, sure, but having an emotional connection with your partner is an whole new ballgame for him. And Joyce, for as inexperienced as she is, clearly knows what she wants, as evidenced by the topless cuddling not too long ago. She was confident enough to just take off her bra like it’s no big deal. Which, for Joyce, IS kind of a big deal that she’s that comfortable to do.

      And I could see Joe just…accepting whatever she wants to do, within reason and comfortability of both of them.

      1. Taffy

        My boy’s gonna wake up with an imported Japanese Jalapeño up his butt.

        1. Emperor Norton II

          And that is how Joyce upgraded Joe from a Four to a Ten.

        2. Laura

          Owwwwwwwwwww!

        3. NGPZ

          Yatsufusa chili peppers from Japan (not quite Jalapeño) are literally over 10x spicier than Jalapeño peppers

  32. Lingo

    I like to imagine Lucy walked backwards like that — all the way down the stairs, out the dorm, across the street, into her dorm, up the stairs, and into her room — the whole way holding Jacob’s hands and leading him like a child, or maybe hypnotized prey.

    1. Drakkin the Alien

      …just like a Disney’s princess dancing and singing across a palace!!

      1. Freemage

        Or maybe Kaa from the Jungle Book….

  33. Cassie

    Will the feelings of surprise and hurt that Sarah likely has cause her to

    1. realize that she’s wrong to avoid socializing and that if she wants to be loved she will have to make herself vulnerable to others

    or

    2. Decide to be even less social because she has now been hurt by 2 separate friend groups and clearly the only way to prevent that is never have friends and never be vulnerable

    1. Wraithy2773

      The latter, at least to start with.

    2. Taffy

      3. Locate a semi truck and beat the fuck out of it with a bat until it surrenders and agrees to isekai her, after which she becomes a badass warrior queen with a harem of caring hunks who can level mountains at her whim.

      1. Wraithy2773

        Mike was bad enough, but not Truck-kun!

      2. John Campbell

        … I have a new headcanon for Walkyverse Ruth.

        1. Freemage

          … and Dumbingverse Mike.

        2. John Campbell

          Sadly, Truck-kun didn’t get Mike.

      3. Laura

        That one!

    3. Drake

      I mean, almost certainly 2. It’s what pretty much any human being would do, really.

      It would take some kind of robot and/or saint to get fucked over twice after making a big effort, by two completely separate groups so you can’t even rationalize it as just being *those guys*, and just go “well, [POPULAR KNOWLEDGE] says this doesn’t happen normally, so I should give it another try, I bet third time’s the charm!”

    4. HueSatLight

      Sometimes a person’s interest can just turn off suddenly, in a situation like this. It probably won’t, unless “strange mix of drifting, hollowness, and liberation” would make an good comic strip arc.
      Not everyone experiences getting over someone the same, and a person can experience it different ways. It’s not that some people are more/less mature or feeling/unfeeling, it’s just brains are strange.

      1. Cassie

        In the last few minutes before the new comic is up, I just want to say that it’s not about Sarah being more or less mature with either option. It’s that for some reason, a lot of commenters seem to think she’ll take option 1, when her history shows that the last time something similar happened she took option 2.

        The difference this time is she has better friends who may force her to switch to option 1, but that remains to be seen.

  34. Giblets

    Asher looks so invested

    1. Laura

      Soon he’ll be divested.
      And de-vested.
      And de-sweatered.
      And de-pantsed…

    2. justin8448

      Asher is very wholesome. Except when he’s not.

      1. Laura

        Wholesome, handsome, and toothsome!

  35. Ty34er

    Okay, so officially she has only met Jacob once, so really this is only their second “date” so CLEARLY they aren’t going to have sex.

    …also trying to figure out if there is going to be more Slipshine pin-ups or patreon pinups of these two now.

    1. Taffy

      A date is a state of mind
      Found only in the rivers of destiny

    2. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      Meeting for the first time and having a conversation that probably lasted less the 5 minutes doesn’t count as a date.

      And I wouldn’t call this a date either unless she showed up with him, he spent half the night talking to Sarah.

    3. Drakkin the Alien

      it’s like 5 minutes after midnight, so it is technically two separate days and totally different dates!!… 😉

    4. Freemage

      Oh, she ditched that rule as soon as Walky came in with Dorothy. Hence her comment about getting a neck-ache at some point tonight. This is far more of a breach of personal standards for Jacob than it is for Lucy, frankly.

    5. Laura

      Maybe things have changed, but I’ve certainly gone to bed with lots of folks without doing “the deed”. Heck, I’v

      1. Laura

        …OK, posted too soon. Best not to end that sentence, anyway. All I’m saying is that going back to one’s room and booting the annoying roommate doesn’t NECESSARILY mean sex. Could just be time for some cuddles and talking.

    6. anon

      depending on how much the alcohol has an effect on her they could just make out and then just end up talking/snugglign without going too far or so lol , tho i guess kicking jen means that she intended it to be a bit more. thoi wonder if it’ll lead to jen peeking in on their party

  36. cbwroses

    While I do hope they both enjoy the sex (that is the ideal situation, after all), I do hope to see some introspection from both of them considering this is not in character for either one.
    They don’t have to be dumb or overly dramatic about it, but they shouldn’t be blasé about it either.
    And that morning walk to math class is probably going to be awkward.

  37. Sirksome

    I should remember to check back on this strip in 7 months. See how we were all feeling about this.

    1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      Yeah I know right, people yesterday were cracking jokes saying, “I’m sure there won’t be any real consequences for this,” But seriously now I can’t wait to see the pay off for how fast this escalated and how both Jacob and Lucy kind of breached some of their own personal codes.

      1. Jeremiah

        I mean Lucy “personal” code was bullshit steeming from some kind of idea of purity tat she is completely in her right to discard. And Jacob “code” is just that he likes a committed relationship not just a one night stand but have nothing against having sex in general so we have to see how this developed.

        1. thejeff

          Even if she’s in her right to discard it, that doesn’t mean it’s easily discarded or that she won’t have doubts or regrets after the fact. Like, Liz was completely within her rights to have sex with Joe, but her bullshit purity code still messed her up.

          Same honestly with Jacob, given his “I don’t want to be just a sex object” thing.

    2. Michael Steamweed

      Seven months from now? The in-story day should be over by then; it oughta be tomorrow. Could even be the next week!

      1. Sirksome

        7 months from now is where Willis is currently at with the buffer. They’re creating that story right now. It will be interesting to see where everyone is by then and if this moment actually had a big impact. Will Sarah have moved on? Will Jacob and Lucy be pre-engaged or will this night end up a fling? In the moment reactions can be big to events that in the grand scheme had little consequence.

  38. JessWitt

    Sock’s on the other doorknob, eh Jennifer?

  39. Wereg

    On one hand, I’m happy for Lucy.

    On the other, I feel like Jacob’s whole deal with “being seen as a sex object” has kinda been forgotten about, what with Sarah’s behaviour towards him and this. It’s not a huge deal, but that bit really resonated with me and I’m sad that it hasn’t really come up in a while.

    1. Taffy

      Don’t worry, he can do both.

      1. Wereg

        Yeah, it’ll probably come up later. I’m just personally saddened at it not playing a part in recent interactions.

    2. Otl1973

      Forgotten about by Willis?

      1. thejeff

        Doubt it.
        That someone has a code doesn’t mean they always live up to it.

  40. thakoru

    Okay, but that Catan board actually makes no sense. Orange appears to have 4 disconnected roads, which shouldn’t be possible. Unless they’re playing some weird expansion I’ve never played.

    1. thakoru

      P.S. Does anyone else still have one of the older versions of Catan, from back when it was still called Settlers of Catan and Knights were called Soldiers and you had to place out the ocean tiles individually?

      1. John Campbell

        Our version is “Settlers of Catan”, but the Knights are called Knights, and there weren’t any ocean tiles; those came with Seafarers. (I had to actually check what the Knight cards were called; we hardly ever use them, because we usually play with Cities & Knights.)

    2. John Campbell

      They’re drunk and the girl who brought the game left. Who knows what the hell rules they’re playing by.

  41. DiDi

    I was confused for a moment until I remembered that Lucy and Jennifer are roommates. (Thanks comments for that reminder)

    So… that’s really happening. Jacob didn’t seem like the kind of guy who did casual so I’ll be curious how this plays out. I do ultimately ship them though. If a relationship comes out of this, I’d be very happy.

  42. Angel

    Really not a fan of Lucy going from “I have to wait an appropriate amount of time before I do anything sexual with my dedicated partner” immediately to “I’m gonna drink a bunch of hooch at a party and then bring somebody I previously met for two minutes back to my room for sex fun because I’m annoyed with my ex because I like his vibes” here. Like sure, have as much safe and consensual sex you want with whoever you want but it just rubs me the wrong way how tonally different she is here.

    1. Segnosaur

      The 2:of them have met before the party. (There was a strip post-walky breakup) Where Lucy was going to lunch. Jacob offered to go with her (suggesting some familiarity at that point)

      1. thejeff

        They introduce themselves in that scene and Lucy ends it with “nice to have met you”, which doesn’t suggest familiarity.

    2. Jeremiah

      She discarded that mindset because it was bullshit and getting in the way of her being happy. It’s called character development.

    3. RocketRelm

      She’s already had her three dates, and now she gets to have sex guilt free. The fact that the sex is with a different person than she started out dating is secondary, long as she’s through the three dates she’s needed to get through.

  43. IntangibleMatter

    Okay I understand what’s happening in this image but all I can see in the last panel is Jennifer mid-BLJ.

    1. Taffy

      Booty Lift Jet

  44. John Campbell

    I think we may have a new character-tag record. It’s more than the 15 on the floor-meeting strip I found the other day, at least.

  45. Segnosaur

    Here is a question to ponder…. How many of their group knew the rules of settlers of Catan before hand
    .
    Pretty safe bet Becky did (since Joyce knows it and she is into board games in general

    Dina probably doesn’t since she didn’t socialize much before Becky (unless she learned in the past few months off-strip).

    I wouldn’t expect Asher to know the rules since I assume his friends were more likely to rob a gaming store than buy a game and play it.

    1. OBBWG

      Asher may well know how to play. Back in the late ’70’s I learned the major drug dealers in Chicago refused to distribute any drugs on Wednesday nights so they could all play Dungeons & Dragons. (Don’t ask how I learned this.) It is not too much of a stretch to believe Asher is into Catan.

  46. Marvelman

    I’m concerned for Jacob and Lucy. I have a feeling Jacob will take this night much more seriously than she will.

    1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      Which would be surprising because again this would be her first time…you know what I want them to go for it, I want them go all night long because the chaos that will follow will be so, so, sweet.

      1. Marvelman

        What I meant was… Jacob will probably want a serious relationship with Lucy, but Lucy may not be ready for that.

        1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

          Can I have some of that too? The turned tables will be magnificent in that scenario will be significant.

        2. Jamie

          It’s a distinct possibility, yeah.

        3. thejeff

          Or will Jacob think he should want a serious relationship, in order to pretend he’s sticking to his own rules, but not actually wind up being interested in the long run?

          No idea how this is going to play out, but I think it’s a lot more interesting and in character if it turn out to have been a good idea that both of them are fully happy with.

  47. egon

    buncha sluts

    1. Taffy

      Right? I’m here for it.

    2. Laura

      Fuck yeah! ;-D

  48. Sirksome

    Lucy has never been what she presents herself as. Tonight on my Ted Talk I will….

  49. SvenTS

    On top of all accomplishments Lucy managed to get them to play Catan *even* after she left.

    Truly a party savant.

  50. BBCC

    Turns out she would be sexiled at 2 AM!

  51. HueSatLight

    sixteen (16) tags. new record?

    1. Reltzik

      I think so. We were talking about it a few days ago and the largest count anyone was able to dredge up was 15.

      1. John Campbell

        I didn’t do a comprehensive search or anything to find that one. I just did a combined tag search on a couple of groups of three characters who don’t share screen time much, and that was one of the ones that came up.

        1. HueSatLight

          Floor meeting group shots are good.
          Godless (two large groups meeting), When I Leave (threefor strip, lots of scenes), and Transformative (conclusion of Books 1-10) all have a lot, but not more than this. None of the other scenes I could remember had as many as the floor meetings.

      2. Yumi

        Yeah, I think this sets the new record, though there could be some we’re missing. Going with 16 character tags as the leader for now.

  52. Francoinblanco

    my first thought when I saw lucyxjacob today is the seed (hehe) of Pregnancy Scare arc.
    First time, alcohol, Catholic, the script writes itself

    1. Sirksome

      What?! I didn’t even think of this possibility. There’s no way right? Like I at least trust them to be safe even if this is fast paced. That would be so crazy. There’s no way.

    2. Agemegos

      Is Lucy Catholic?

      1. Andrews

        Does Robin shit in the woods?

      2. BBCC

        I don’t believe so. She attends the same church as Joyce and Becky, who aren’t Catholic. And while religion doesn’t necessarily transfer between universes, she was born again in the Walkyverse. So I’d assume some sort of Protestant, and probably an Evangelical. Additionally, when Willis was listing Catholic characters, he only mentioned the Desantoses, Marcie and Amber (and most of Dorothy’s family).

        Jacob is Episcopal.

        1. Francoinblanco

          Oh right Jacob is Episcopal. The mass was so similar that I mixed up

        2. HueSatLight

          And neither of them are drunk. And US Catholics use birth control at approximately the same rate as everyone else.

  53. DailyBrad

    On one hand, I am sort of puzzled at Jacob going for this because well, he hasn’t been shown to be down for casual sex stuff at all prior, but, he DID say that he was revising his list after the Joyce stuff, and I mean, Lucy is enough like Joyce in some respects that Joyce herself thought Lucy was mimicking her as a joke on meeting.

    So, I mean… good for Lucy, even if this feels like a bad idea.

    1. HueSatLight

      sometimes people get caught up in passion / horniness without planning to.

      1. clif

        This.

    2. bubba0077

      This was my thought too. Though just because Lucy kicked out Jennifer, probably *thinking* she is going to get some, doesn’t mean she will.

      1. Adept

        With the pacing of this comic, I’d be rather surprised if this wasn’t a classic university hookup.

    3. Aslan

      Perhaps he views this as more (potentially) substantial than casual sex with someone who has no intention to pursue anything beyond that.

      1. Big Z

        I’m not sure which way this is going to go, but my prediction is that Lucy is not going to enjoy how this ends up going sooner rather than later.

  54. Nevermaker

    Ha, bet it’s rare for Jennifer to be on that side of that interaction.

  55. ADLegend21

    yeah Lucy is so out of the friend group. It’ll be 2049 before we see Sarah say a non-threatening word to her. Which means it’ll be sophmore year for them.

  56. Risky

    I missed Jacob’s legs in the last panel the first few times. I still think there’s a percentage chance it’s more a makeout exile than a sexile, but anything is possible.

    I didn’t have Amber giving Walky head on my bingo card but she did say she wanted a couple for funtimes that had a higher percentage of wang, and supposedly he has a high percentage with its own name and a slogan.

    1. Laura

      Hmm? A slogan?

  57. Yumi

    Getting to “know” Jacob, indeed.

    1. Laura

      Ah yes.

      “So how do you two know each other?”

      “Biblically.”

      1. NGPZ

        She really wants to climb Jacob’s Ladder :p

        1. Mark

          🙂

  58. AbacusWizard

    Looks like “a sock” is going to be involved after all. On the doorknob.

  59. Synnerman

    Oh Sarah. Now you know: to get laid, you need to use your words, properly.

    Still, I hurt for her, but now she knows how she sabotages herself for sure and she will change or not.

    1. anon

      i’m not sure if jacob would’ve reacted well if sarah was to be like “i wanna hook up” (even if she was capable of a more serious relationship afterwards), since he was sarcastically being like “can’t imagine what that’s like” when they were exercising in the gym room together

      though we don’t know if that’d be good for both of them in the long run as opposed to sarah having another ‘serious’ relationship first where she can grow and change before moving on to give things a shot with jacob

  60. Bash

    Wow, I was totally wrong. I thought it was just a kiss.

    1. Taffy

      How did it end up like this?

      1. clif

        Magical hormones

        1. Freezer

          And booze.

        2. thejeff

          Jacob wasn’t drinking and Lucy shows no sign of boozles, suggesting she’s at least, much less affected than most of the rest of the party.

          This isn’t the booze.

      2. HueSatLight

        And Sarah was just coming out of her cage

  61. Acher4

    The 14th book is closing so beautiful!
    A good Tuesday!
    <3

  62. Ben

    So. Sarah has it spelled out – don’t make a fool of yourself in front of someone you fancy.

    1. anon

      i wonder how much they’d really get along with each other as a copule personality wise, not that jacob has a bad personality/not too clashing with sarah’s but she was initially attracted to his looks so idk if she’d still want to if he was ‘average’ looking but with the same personality

      maybe they would end up being good friends if sarah was able to talk to him about her problems versus just romantic/sexual attraction

  63. Agemegos

    Well, I guess it is her third date.

  64. Cholma

    Sal enjoying herself and actually smiling? Jennifer getting Force Pushed outta her room? HELL YES.

    Wait. What do you mean, “this is the end of the chapter”?!
    “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” [/Vader]

  65. Davus

    Joyce must have been precient:
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/02-but-the-sun-still-shines/guys-2/

    1. HueSatLight

      She got 3 out of 5 right.

    2. George

      Romance detective! Lesbian, or otherwise.

  66. Jeremiah

    Nice!

  67. Adept

    Is that Lucy’s brown arm shoving Billie out of the shared room?

    1. Da Boy

      The pants and shoes on the bed match Jacob’s so I’d say it is.

  68. Da Boy

    Kind of expected that hand at the end to be tagged as Raidah XD

  69. Freezer

    In Vino Ardvarkus. ($1 to Joe Bob Briggs)

  70. Martin Smith

    Nothing to cement that moral high ground like some rank hypocrisy, Lucy.

    1. Sharaku

      Screw the moral high ground. Girl knows what she wants and ain’t messing around.

      She isn’t tied to Walky. He’s clearly moved on. She’s free to do who she wants.

      1. Sharaku

        (a smiling Sarah shouldn’t be my gravatar after making such a comment…)

    2. Aslan

      Stay mad

    3. zee

      Oh fuck off there was no “mOrAl HiGhGrOuNd” she was just hurt. And now she’s over it. And getting under a much hotter guy who is much more into her.

      (And will be more “into” her in a minute, heyoooo)

  71. DashWallkick

    This might seem hypocritical of Lucy, but keep in mind — she doesn’t have sex until *after* the third date. She went out with Walky three times, and now she can have sex with Jacob.

    It checks out to me!

  72. Amós Batista

    Get out, Jennifer! The time of bullies, of pretentious people is over. Now, it’s time of nerds, the weirdos, to be on top, to get everything they want.

  73. tbf

    I don’t know why you all think Lucy is drunk. She’s been sipping a single whiskey, neat, and has a distinct lack of drunk bubbles over her head.

    1. tbf

      …and I’ve misread the top comment chain.

      I miss being able to stay up until 1 and engage with the comments.

  74. Florence

    Fun storyline but surprised how non dramatic it got

    I suppose they all needed a storyline that ended less dramatically

    I will have to wait for the DRAMA! ????

    1. Jeremiah

      I found it funny. How everyone were agonizing about how badly it was gonna end for Joyce and Joe and they just ended up being cute.

    2. NGPZ

      The drama here may be akin to a delayed onset chemical reaction.

      After all, there’s always The Hangover 😛

  75. thumb

    holy shit, Lucy!

    1. Zaxares

      She certainly moved fast tonight. O.o Also, I can’t figure out what (if anything) Amber is doing in Panel 2. Is she nudging Dorothy and Joyce out of the room (and if so, for what?)

      1. Zaxares

        Oop, Dorothy and Walky, I mean.

      2. Mark

        Fighting unconsciousness or nausea.

      3. Adept

        Amber is feeling low, lonely, nostalgic or all of the above plus others, and is leaning her head against Walky. Possibly pushing against him like a cat.

  76. Freezer

    Something occurred to me: Is this the first in-panel “sexile” that didn’t have a corresponding Slipshine?

    1. staszu13

      I’m sure old Willis is working on the Slipshine as we write

    2. NGPZ

      Tales of SIN-terest: The Hungover Games

      XD

  77. DashWallkick

    I just noticed Ethan weirdly interested in Catan. Maybe he’s finally getting shaken out of his nihilism!

  78. Nicoleandmaggie

    It was a choice to go to Lucy’s room when they know Jacob’s is empty and could have given Ethan a heads up. At first I was like oh that’s for Willis’s convenience to show what’s happening. But then I was like what if it’s not— Lucy is devious.

    1. staszu13

      Hmm. I may have to withdraw that new favorite character thing

      1. Jeremiah

        Honestly Jennifer hasn’t exactly been very nice to her (or most people for that matter) so I think she earned herself a little sexile. (Also remembering that specific time she couldn’t had sex because she refused to leave. Fair is fair.)

        1. Amelie Wikström

          Maybe she just feels more comfortable in her own room. Unless it’s Jacob’s first time too and he equally deserves to be comfortable? Doubt it. But in that case, it still wouldn’t be very gentlemanly. . .

        2. HueSatLight

          She’s feeling confident and in control, and it makes her feel sexy. Jacob seems to be attracted to bold women who take control. I think he’s into being led. It’s why him and Sarah were never going to work. Sarah has moments of that, like assaulting Ryan with a bat, consequences be damned. Even calling Dana’s dad, when all her other friends were “let’s do nothing and see what happens.” But in banal everyday situations, that’s not Sarah. It is Lucy, though. Even when it’s not working out. Organizing floor movie nights. Party saver. Even though she was too nervous to ask Walky out, her experience with Walky has made her as confident as she is now. She’s in control, her room. Whether they’re just making out or fucking or whatever, they’re where they both want to be.

        3. zee

          It’s a bigger room and he’s a big big boy. And as a big big boy he might not be comfortable rocking his loft bed too much

      2. zee

        Really? Maybe wanting ro rub it into her mean roommates face a little? After definitely being sexiled herself multiple times? That’s all it takes?

    2. Taffy

      How is it devious to use her own bedroom?

      1. Jeremiah

        Didn’t you saw that entire panel of her laughing maniacally as she dragged poor Jacob to her lair of evil? What a lack of reading comprehension.

        1. Taffy

          I think I did see it, but I think I just didn’t want to accept the truth.

    3. Pseudowolf

      It could be also be that Lucy’s room is closer and/or she is more comfortable there.

      1. John Campbell

        It’s not. Lucy lives in a different dorm. Jacob’s room is just the other end of the hall.

        1. zee

          The forest quad rooms are canonically bigger

        2. John Campbell

          To be clear, I just meant that Lucy’s room is definitely not closer. It’s entirely likely that she feels more comfortable in her room than going to Jacob’s. Also perhaps worth noting that while we know that Jacob’s roommate is at the party, Lucy may well not. She barely knows Jacob (but she’s about to know him barely), and she’s never even met Ethan before tonight. Jacob didn’t introduce him as his roommate, so Lucy may not know.

    4. John Campbell

      Counterpoint: Jennifer getting yeeted out of her room is funnier.

  79. Katie

    Wood for sheep for the win

  80. Disastroid

    I guess Jennifer has nothing better to do now than go ruin the party.

    1. staszu13

      Oh oh just what I was thinking. Jen was apparently content to stay in and I assume study, then she gets sexiled. She figures, ok let’s see what’s going on at Dina’s. She sees Asher with Ethan and …

    2. PedanticJerkass

      Or she could just go back in and creepily loom over them.

  81. Aslan

    I love this arc for Lucy. Live your life, girl.

  82. Michael Steamweed

    Oh gods, it’s worse than I thought! Those five have a Catan orgy! That party is too out of control!

  83. Luna

    Hmmm. I think I will simply take panel two as further fuel for my Dorothy/Walky/Amber OT3 agenda.

    1. John Campbell

      Joe/Joyce/Dorothy/Walky/Amber.

  84. DorJoJo

    This is like all my favorite ships in one strip

  85. Sibre

    “Good riddance! Now Lucy is the popular one!” – Lucy

  86. kater

    Good for Lucy and Jacob!

    1. PedanticJerkass

      Well, at least Jacob seems to be willingly into it, since he doesn’t have “I was drunk” as an excuse.

  87. Stephen Nedland

    Lucy got rid of the, “three dates, before we smash” rule, and good for her.

    1. Jeremiah

      We respect some character development.

  88. Rabisch

    It seems that Jacob and Lucy were struck by love at first sight, good for them. How satisfying to see Jennifer fly out of the room looking like she doesn’t understand what’s happening. The party seems to have been a success, everyone is having fun and Sarah doesn’t seem to be as devastated as I feared.

  89. JepMZ

    Is cucked a banned word here? I feel like this is the only time I get to use this word and is used correctly.

    Sarah got cucked!

    1. Taffy

      But Sarah and Jacob aren’t a Thing™, so how can he be unfaithful?

    2. Jeremiah

      Well you fell wrong I’m afraid that is not the correct use of that word.

    3. PedanticJerkass

      If it isn’t, it should be, just based on the fact that it’s a stupid, overused, nigh-meaningless-at-this-point word (that you are, in fact, not using correctly).

      1. thejeff

        Also with heavily racist overtones, given how the right uses it. Or have they moved on to something else? I know I saw it more a few years ago.

        1. zee

          Ehhhh, I mean the actual fetish porn itself tends to engage in a lot of gross ass race play and there will be asshole men who use it to refer to not getting what they want from women in their lives. But the fetish itself doesn’t require it. And I don’t think the right has used it en mass in a while, unless you’re going specifically into great replacement bs.

          The most famous cuck in the world right now is sneako the half back half philipino “alpha male” pedo Nazi so do what you will with that.

        2. thejeff

          The fetish doesn’t require it, but “cuck” as a short form of cuckold came into the mainstream from the alt-right (a bit longer ago than I was thinking actually) and they definitely intended the racist overtones.

          Nothing wrong with the fetish itself, if that’s what you’re into, but the slang use of it outside the fetish itself comes out of ugly places. Maybe it’s sanitized itself more than I thought.

      2. zee

        Counter point- it’s a very funny word. ESPECIALLY when you use it incorrectly. I personally like to use it the same way as nerfed or when a character is getting really screwed over by the story. In which case, yeah Sarah’s getting mega cucked by Willis here lmfao

  90. PedanticJerkass

    So, not only is Lucy apparently immediately jumping into bed with Jacob, but Jacob is also just going right along with it and allowing it to happen?

    Okay. Sure. Whatever.

    1. Blibdoolpoolp

      I have this feeling in my gut that despite tossing Jennifer out of the room the two of them aren’t actually going to go all the way.

      1. thejeff

        It’s possible, but unless we quickly follow up with it, it’s the base assumption now.

        It’s still seems kind of out of character for both of them, even if they don’t actually fuck, which I suspect means there will be regrets or at least misgivings tomorrow (Their tomorrow, not ours.)

  91. C.T. Phipps

    Jennifer doesn’t have any desire for letting other people have sex but her and is a terrible friend.

    So Lucy learns to assert herself.

  92. zee

    YEAH LUCY GET IT GIRL

    1. Schpoonman

      :clap: CLIMB :clap: THAT :clap: TREE :clap:

  93. Axel

    re: the poll, I think Jacob/Lucy might be the better ship, but I really don’t like it going from Jacob actively flirting with Sarah, to talking to Lucy about both of them trying to be friends with Sarah, to kissing and heading for Lucy’s room.

    I don’t care if they hook up the first time they hang out, I don’t think Lucy will be traumatized or even all that bothered by this in the morning [I also don’t think she’s drunk, see lack of bubbles- if she was drunk that would change things], I just don’t like that it went from ‘we’re both trying to be close to Sarah,’ to ‘nah let’s fuck off together.’

    1. Insanenoodlyguy

      Why should two people trying to be friends with somebody worry about that person when they sex? Jacob’s under no obligation and Lucy arguably doesn’t even know Sarah like likes him.

      1. Axel

        no one’s under any obligation to be with anyone, but it feels odd for Jacob to be making a point of flirting with Sarah for the last several strips they’ve been in together, to abandoning that and hooking up with Lucy, especially considering that Sarah verbalized that she was freaked out about her scholarship (rather than just walking off or ditching the party). it doesn’t make sense to me that he’d be (seemingly) making an effort to flirt with Sarah, then kiss Lucy in front of her.

        you’re right that Lucy might not know

        1. Axel

          I reworded this, sorry about the repetition.

  94. Axel

    Despite my complaints about the situation, I do think Lucy’s confidence in flirting/getting with Jacob/kicking Billy out is very nice to see, and that her decision to do this makes sense with how the day has gone.

    1. NGPZ

      I think she’s “Jennifer” now?

      1. Axel

        you’re right, I was reading old strips (around the first dorm party) and forgot

  95. dalniente

    I’m seeing a lot of folks in here going off about how horrible Lucy is for stealing Jacob out from under Sarah, and mentioning how Lucy knows Sarah has an “obvious crush,” but…I don’t remember where she would have definitely realized that. As I recall, she’s met Jacob once, during which time Sarah was snappish and awkward, which…is how Sarah usually is.

    I dunno. Lucy is very socially aware, so maybe she does know, but from where I’m sitting, it could still go either way really easily. (Plus it seems kinda out of character for Lucy to do this if she does know Sarah’s feelings, so my sense is either we don’t have all the information yet, or Lucy doesn’t.)

    Interested to see how this shakes out!

  96. Kazuma Taichi

    heh, Asher would be one of the four to end up playing Catan
    that strangely feels so in-character

  97. tomorand

    c’mon, Willis! a prime time to reuse the settlers of catan tag!

    1. tomorand

      last used only, uh, thirteen years ago

  98. Zamperla

    And once again I simply say: (extremely east coast accent) good f’ her.

  99. Untes

    Lucy: I should get to know people before sexing them.
    Jacob: Oh, Sarah, you just want to sex, no good for me.
    Lucy: Let’s just meet and sex.
    Jacob: Sounds good.

    They’re perfect for each other.
    (note: they’re being hypocritical, and that’s fine because that’s how drama and stories work.)

    1. Yumi

      It’s also just how people work. Their ideas of who they are and what they want change.

    2. Insanenoodlyguy

      Hypocrite is strong. Hypocrite is when they put these values on others and judge them for not meeting those standards while failing to meet them.

      They both expressed a personal preference that works for them and then changed their minds, simple as.

  100. HueSatLight

    Sarah’s so selfless for offering Lucy Jacob, she’s making amends by putting other people first.

  101. Ben

    Sal seems to be on a roll with Danny

  102. NGPZ

    Over 420 comments again!!!!

    On a frickin role with these!!! ^^

    *plays “Horse Steppin'” by Sun Araw on hacked muzak*

  103. ProjectXa3

    GET IT GIRL

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