258

Crisis averted
Posted on August 4, 2024 by David M Willis

258 thoughts on “Crisis averted”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    aww, a ship for my bday!

    Jacob x JoyceButAvailable

    1. JepMZ

      Happy birthday, ninja!

    2. Max

      Happy Happy, Joy Joy!

    3. Akane

      Joyce but straight or not bisexual!

      1. Nymph

        That’s such a weird and unnecessary specification!

        1. Amós Batista

          No, it’s not. Somebody, please, bring the strip with the reference.

          Anyway, happy birthday, Ana.

        2. Sirksome

          Here? I guess Lucy said it first. :

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-9-comic/04-vote-for-robin/proselytize/

        3. Hoboturtle

          Yup. Of the three Joyces we have Bisexual, not Bisexual and whatever Liz is.

        4. Amós Batista

          This. Thank you.

        5. Nymph

          Yeah, that reference didn’t change my opinion about the above comment, but thanks!

    4. Clif

      Not everyone gets the beginning of Sarah’s supervillain arc for their birthday.

      1. Adept

        Poor Sarah. There’s some karmic justice in how unpleasant she was towards Lucy out of petty dislike.

        1. Psychie

          Yeah, I don’t know, someone actively tries to be your friend, you invite them to your party, they watch you flounder at talking to the guy you obviously like, and then immediately show you up and steal his attention, that doesn’t sound like justice, karmic or otherwise, to me. Sarah is established as being grumpy and introverted, but I’m not sure I’ve seen her do or say anything that was especially bad toward anyone who didn’t clearly have it coming (and on the times where she’s dancing on the line, she’s been called out and apologized), she doesn’t deserve this kind of betrayal again, and this turn of events is seriously harming my opinion of Lucy, this is just not cool, not even remotely. Sarah’s distrust for people is frankly well earned and I am not happy about it seeming like it’s going to be reinforced right when she was in the process of making very significant progress in healing and growth.

        2. Adam Black

          Lucy’s a social climber. She wanted to conquer walkys friend group.

          She already shown to take Raidahs side against Sarah
          .
          To interfere in both of Billies relationships to play matchmaker to feel like she’s on top.

          When a person sees themselves as a nice good person in their self image, a person can overlook a lot of manipulation and who gets hurt because they supposedly meant well.

          Unfortunately she has a lot in common with Joyce and that will attract. Until he sees the superficiality and Raidah like qualities

    5. Kyrik Michalowski

      Happy birthday!

    6. NGPZ

      ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

      Happy birthday to you!

      The world is a zoo!

      We wish you a great party!

      And some sweet presents too!

    7. IntangibleMatter

      Happy Chronistic Day, Ana!

    8. Arioch

      Happy Birthday Ana!

    9. Sofia

      Jacob x JoyceMinusSomeStuff

  2. darkoneko

    yesssss

  3. TrueVCU

    Oh no, Sarah will realize how badly she fumbled the bag and STILL find a way to be pissed at Lucy

    1. Coatl

      And to think that Sarah was trying to empathize with Lucy more.

    2. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      Nah, I see herself being more bitter with herself about it. Begrudgingly make a push for them to go for it while self-deprecating being like ” I knew he’d go for someone more upbeat and cheery than me.”

      1. staszu13

        Oscar the Grouch is more upbeat and cheerful than Sarah

    3. Shakes

      Sarah’s about to reach a crossroads in her “being a better human” journey for sure.

    4. BarerMender

      Fumbled the bag? That’s a new one on me. Why a bag?

      1. Miri

        Am guessing here but…

        Because when you fumble a ball – well, it’s reasonably smooth, designed to rotate freely, has no correct orientation… People accept “yeah, that happens”. It can still be a bit embarrassing, but so long as it’s just occasional, you’ll probably live without any serious reputational impact.

        But a bag..? Thing has handles to hold. You fumble one of those and it isn’t because the handle has started to stretch and rip away from you, and people will look at you askance. Doing it just once could be enough to become “that person who can’t even carry a bag”… It carries way more shame.

        That, or a typo/autocorrect.

        1. Juanoku

          It’s also from the saying of “bagging the girl” in referring to getting the girl

        2. fridge_logic

          In most uses I’ve heard “the bag” refers to a bag of cash, or bag of other desirable thing. Bag is very much doing noun work and not verb work in this phrase though I can see where you are comming from.

        3. anonymsly

          Translate ‘the bag’ as ‘the grab’ or ‘the catch’ maybe. Two examples of nouned verbs that would be synonyms here. ‘Fumbled the catch’ = ‘Fumbled the bag’

        4. Hacksaw

          I like this definition better than the Gucci Mane one. It’s more universal, nothing against Gucci Mane.

      2. Tesset

        Fumble the bag comes from a lyric in the 2017 hip-hop song “I Get the Bag” by Gucci Mane, featuring Migos. To fumble the bag is to lose the money (the bag) you made or to make unwise investments with the money you already have, i.e. the bag. It’s also used for fumbling, or botching or bungling, something more generally.

      3. zee

        Bag = money. Like money bags. To fumble the bag means to fuck up severely, like block buster refusing to buy Netflix or something. Can be applied to any kind of fuck up, especially relationships.

        Eg. Man Danny seriously fumbled the bag with Ethan. There’s no coming back from that
        (I don’t care about your opinions on that situation, it’s just an example).

        1. zee

          Y’all make me feel like I’m 12 again here sometimes jesus

    5. Hoboturtle

      Considering that Sarah was okay with Joyce hooking up with Jacob. I don’t think she’ll be that upset at Lucy.

      1. thejeff

        Entirely different situation. First of all, it was her little sister Joyce, but more importantly, she started that to keep Raidah from having him. It was only recently that she started to try for Jacob herself more seriously.

    6. Psychie

      Yeah, and this time it will be well-deserved. I am not looking forward to Sarah having her trust issues so thoroughly reinforced just as she was in the middle of finally making progress with growing past them, and my opinion of Lucy is plummeting with every strip showing these two hitting it off. She literally *just* watched Sarah very obviously struggle to form a meaningful connection with a guy she *very* obviously has a massive crush on due to her significant lack of practice, and after spending all this time trying to be friends with her and having that finally pay off by getting invited to this party where Sarah is *clearly* making an effort to improve her social skills and attitude, her response is to swoop in and effortlessly take the guy she just watched her “friend” struggle with? That is not cool, not even remotely. I am seriously diappointed with her.

  4. Doctor_Who

    Apparently breaking up with Walky gave Lucy enough XP to level up and her Charisma increased.

    1. TrueVCU

      Surviving an encounter with the Walkertons is worth A LOT of exp

      1. Tan

        Are you suggesting that Dorothy is grinding XP?

        1. Skulduggery

          She’s grinding something for sure.

        2. Skulduggery

          Wow, that one was randomly determined! The Gravatar generator is in on the joke!

    2. Switchchris

      She took the Skill Expert feat, got Proficiency in Insight and Expertise in Persuasion.

    3. Yumi

      And she knows when to call on the bard.

    4. Xronium

      the ‘rizz’ as the youth says

      1. Shadowsnail

        The rizz f’shizz as the dorky dads say.

        1. Gigafreak

          Comes from the word Charisma, doesn’t it? I do not know why “a charismatic person” is called a Rizzler when the next letter should be M.
          “Rizzler” makes me imagine Edward Nygma has a nephew or something who’s decided to be an off-brand copycat of his uncle. Maybe he can be one of Spoiler’s nemeses.

        2. Schpoonman

          Take one z out and it’s a solid surname for a sci-fi antagonist.

        3. Mark

          Or a knock-off Batman villain. Maybe Superman can take him to Bizarro World to fight The Rizzler.

        4. Taffy

          Replace the first Z with an N and it spells “Tron”.

      2. Needfuldoer

        I used to be with it, then they changed what “it” was!

    5. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      As expected when it started.

  5. darkoneko

    OH LOOOK there’s Sarah with a steel chair !

  6. Yumi

    The rest of them can place bets on Settles of Catan using the Monopoly money.

    1. Hazel

      Huh, that actually sounds pretty fun.

    2. Amelie Wikström

      A better use of the Monopoly board than playing Monopoly for sure. But yeah everyone probably don’t have to play the same game.

  7. Sirksome

    I don’t ship it but I guess I gotta respect it. Lucy is putting down game.

    1. ktbear

      I beg to differ, you dont HAVE to respect it.

      1. Jeremiah

        Jealous because you don’t have this level of rizz huh?

        1. Nymph

          Weird to go for a personal insult but okay.

        2. Jeremiah

          ?

    2. Leadsynth

      Joyce has never had this kind of game.

  8. NGPZ

    Is Lucy lookin to get her hands on a joystick or somethin?

    ’cause that’s a real PLAYER move she just pulled off XD

    *plays “Filthy Gorgeous” by Scissor Sisters on hacked muzak*

  9. True Survivor

    Poor Sarah, she pines for Jacob for months, invites him to the party, and even risks her scholarship just to feel able to finally make herself vulnerable and talk honestly to him. Then the second her back is turned, Lucy comes in and just swoops him up like a seagull with an momentarily unattended fry.

    1. Coatl

      Sarah leaves and it’s like Lucy anticipated it, I mean, she was sitting there very calm.

      1. Jeremiah

        That’s called waiting to talk to a person?

      2. Needfuldoer

        She knew she just had to wait.

    2. Sirksome

      I like Sarah and Jacob as a couple over Lucy and Jacob but I don’t think we need to feel too bad for Sarah here. She had like a six month head start before Lucy was even on Jacob’s radar that she fumbled hard. That fry wasn’t unattended. It fell out onto the boardwalk and has been there for days.

      1. Miri

        Also that fry is actually a human being with agency and a say in which gull eats him…

        1. Gigafreak

          I mean we can’t exactly say she swooped in to sweep him off his feet

          She’s tiny and he’s Big McLargeHuge, she’d have to be visibly way more muscular than this to make that work

        2. Miri

          I know have “Gobble gobble gobble” in my head to the tune of “grovel grovel grovel” from that Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat song…

    3. Comic.phile

      To be fair, Lucy does not know Sarah likes Jacob to my knowledge. She’s at a party with her recent ex and his new girlfriend, and she sees a hot single guy who is nice. They actually even pair well, they’re both Christian and have similar values. They both want to get to know someone on a deeper level and have a connection.

      A Sarah/Jacob relationship would be great for Sarah, but not so great for Jacob. A Lucy/Jacob relationship benefits them both. Plus… I really want Sarah to get over her Jacob fetish. She needs personal growth alone before she’s ready for a relationship.

      1. anonymsly

        Sarah really needs that growth. She wants to be a lawyer, but she can’t be assed to develop any actual soft/social skills. Does she know what being an attorney frequently entails? (It’s social skills.)

        1. Jeremiah

          Not really as far as I know? Being a lawyer isn’t really how they picture it in movies and shows, for once they don’t usually go to trial, but settle it before hand. And nobody says Sarah will even be that kind of lawyer, she could be kind that settle stuff with contracts and all that, that just requires legal knowledge.

        2. anonymsly

          Sarah, as far as we know, wants to be a lawyer because it’s a job that makes a lot of money. Lawyers that make a lot of money are litigators of some flavor or another. (Given Sarah’s willingness to commit assault at the drop of a hat, she doesn’t have any particular respect for the law in itself, or at least not enough to avoid breaking it.

          Lawyers, same as every other professional adult, have to get along with their coworkers, other lawyers, occasionally court officials, irrespective of whether they personally like them. Litigators, where a lot of legal money is, also need to be persuasive to strangers. Sarah can’t even manage to be civil to people she loves, much less strangers or people she dislikes.

          It is a skill. One she actually needs to put some time and effort into.

    4. Bash

      I recognize that everyone struggles with different things, so I don’t want to say “well its her own fault for being so closed-off and emotionally unavailable.” But she’s had a lot of chances and if she can’t seal the deal maybe it’s just not going to happen.

    5. Taffy

      Why are you taking it as the literal unfiltered truth that Sarah’s scholarship is actually at risk?

  10. shrub

    Pretty slick moves Lucy and good to seevJacob hitting it off with someone who can appreciate his decentness

    (You had more than enough chances Sarah)

  11. Yumi

    I’m very curious what Joyce’s reaction to Lucy and Jacob getting closer would be– I don’t think she should have a SAY in it or anything, I just wonder how she would react based on having liked Jacob herself and having wanted Jacob and Sarah together and being very loyal to Sarah and also now being in her own relationship…

    1. Coatl

      It’s Joyce, so anything can happen.

      1. Yumi

        It’s the mystery that makes it intriguing.

      2. Bash

        That should be the tagline for this entire comic.

    2. anon

      maybe joyce will drunkenly tell her and then they both hatch a scheme to play cupid lol

  12. Hazel

    YES LUCY! Harness your strength! Grow from your failure! Become who you were truly meant to be!

  13. Jo_cubstar

    I don’t like this ship, tbh. Lucy seems too naive for Jacob… But maybe this is growth? I dunno

    1. JA

      Oh no, she knows exactly what she’s doing.

      1. Clif

        I tend to agree.

    2. june gloom

      I think we’ve seen repeatedly at this point that Lucy is nothing but naive.

      1. june gloom

        Fuck I fucked that up. That didn’t happen, you didn’t see me fuck that up. I meant to say “nowhere near naive.”

        1. Miri

          I think she’s a virgin..? And at some point the fact that she’s incredibly thirsty and inexperienced and doesn’t know how to differentiate lust, attraction and love will be an issue..?

          But I can see those things not initially being apparent to Jacob, and him assuming, if he finds out that she’s a virgin, that means she’s happy to wait…

    3. VicMortimer

      Naive? You’ve got to be kidding. She’s manipulative.

      She’s been taking lessons from Raidah. She’s got the “happy” front, but she’s incredibly problematic. For Jacob it will end badly.

    4. Mturtle7

      I mean, if anything, I think Jacob is too naive for Lucy at this point.

  14. Dafydd

    ♪Getting to know you
    Getting to know all about you…♫

  15. Kyrik Michalowski

    I’m still hoping Jacob and Sarah ending up together, but this does match up with Jacob saying his next girlfriend would probably be similar to Joyce.

    So I’m taking bets now! Lucy or Sarah x Jacob; lock your choice in within 24 hours.

    1. shrub

      Sarah and Jacob make no sense in that they have very different personality types

      1. Sirksome

        This can be said about most if not all the couples. Becky/Dina, Joyce/Joe, Danny/Sal, Walky/Dorothy. They all have very different personalities but like each other regardless. It’s not about being your partner’s match it’s about enjoying them as the person they are.

        1. Mark

          A satisfying relationship needs differences. The question is whether a particular couple find their differences exciting or exhausting.

      2. Nymph

        This is why I lean toward that ship, tbh. It’s a more interesting narrative choice.

        1. Jeremiah

          I don’t really see that? I honestly find it more interesting that after her relationship with Walky failed, Lucy developed more confidence and self respect and hit it off with someone pretty compatible with her. And it has the added benefit of making Sarah reckon with growing emotionally without having Jacob as a possible reward, which she might or might not accept. Overall this is a pretty good development.

        2. Jeremiah

          I realized just after leaving the comment that I don’t actually know which ship you are saying you are leaning on. My bad.

        3. Sirksome

          You could say this about Lucy too. Admittedly I am on Sarah x Jacob team, but wouldn’t be more interesting if Lucy developed confidence and self respect without Jacob being the reward for that emotional growth?

          Or maybe we shouldn’t be seeing Jacob as a reward at all because he’s a dude with his own agency that just so happens to have two women potentially after his affections and whoever he ends up with even if it neither of them it will likely cause drama or emotional conflict because that’s how humans work.

          We just came off seeing Walky navigate poorly through similar circumstances and that arguably still has fallout yet to be seen but probably not.

        4. Jeremiah

          I wasn’t saying Jacob IS a reward, sorry if that it came out like that. I was saying that Sarah started to want to be more vulnerable at least in part because that seem like the way to actually have Jacob, that she might view dating him as a reward for it even if unconsciously. Lucy developed confidence came completely independent of him, and she is using it to pursue something she might not done before and he seem receptive to it so far, they seem to have chemistry.

        5. Nymph

          Oh, sorry. I was just answering the question above, not requesting a debate about my feelings on a subjective topic. I think Sarah x Jacob is the more interesting narrative choice. You’re welcome to think otherwise, have a good one.

        6. Jeremiah

          I wasn’t trying to debate? Just sharing what I thought like you were.

        7. Nymph

          ?

    2. Sirksome

      I feel like Lucy is only similar to Joyce at face value. They are completely different and I think this party has highlighted that.

    3. Nono

      I’m going for the wild option of Booster x Amber, somehow.

    4. RassilonTDavros

      I’m still going with my dark horse Jocelyne prediction, if only because taking the similar-to-Joyce thing way too literally amuses me to no end.

      But strictly between Lucy and Sarah, I think Lucy is way more likely, at least in the short term. Sarah might have romantic feelings buried deep down below the surface-level sexual feelings, but unless/until she’s willing to admit it I can’t see Jacob choosing to enter a relationship with her.

      1. Miri

        That would be fantastic… And she thinks Joyce is being unaccepting when she freaks and it’s because Jacob has never told her they had an almost-thing and Joyce explains there was a BABY and she panicked but also yeah, she liked Jacob and screwed things up, but she’s happy for them… And also OMG she has a sister?! She always wanted one of those…

    5. Amós Batista

      As I said before, sadly Willis put Sarah and Lucy in a collision route. I was rooting for both.

    6. VicMortimer

      Lucy and Jacob would be the most problematic, this is Willis, so that’s what’s going to happen.

      Lucy isn’t like Joyce at all. She’s manipulative and scheming, she’s a control freak in relationships, she’s exactly what Jacob does not need.

  16. Mano308gts

    Sadly, the kids are still saying ‘Rizz’.

    And skibbidy toilet, on skibbidy, Ohio Rizzler, Brain Rot, etc. it’s honestly vomi-inducing, but maybe I am just turning crotchety.

    1. Mano308gts

      *vomit-inducing. Friggin’ typo. XD

    2. Yumi

      I’m fine with most of it, but I had to keep telling students that they needed to stop saying “gyat” because I was somehow the only adult in the building who knew what it meant, and I didn’t want to keep having to explain it. (Also, like, not super appropriate for elementary school students with how it’d generally be used.)

      1. Blume

        It’s AAVE. It just means something like “God damn!”, it’s an exclamation, It’s used like “Gyat damn!” (I’ve neverrr had to type that out before). I grew up around it, I’m black. Idk why it’s used for a different word now but here we areee. Gonna admit that I don’t know everything, just know what I grew up around

        1. Yumi

          Yeah, if that’s how it was being used, it’d be different. But that’s not how it’s often coming up now.

        2. NGPZ

          As the alt-text points out, it may not even be “in” 7 months from now, that just how it be, eventually it all becomes flippity floppity floo XD

        3. Nicoleandmaggie

          I assumed he wrote the alt-text 7 months ago and was bragging about his cache?

        4. Yumi

          Honestly, my issue is just that kids need to be talking about others’ butts less in school.

        5. NGPZ

          I see.

          I was lookin at it from the angle of how black english gets appropriated, and subsequently just evolves and we just start using new words XD

    3. Nymph

      The number of people put off by slang and language evolving really never ceases to amaze me.

      1. Madock345

        It’s such a well documented cycle at this point, I don’t understand the lack of self-awareness lol

      2. Caninse

        I wouldn’t call something like Skibidi Toilet slang or language evolving. Slang normally implies that it is replacing another, pre-established word (such as rizz and charisma, gyatt and god damn, or brain rot and low-value content). Skibidi toilet is a meme, and the only part of language evolving that’s come from it is it’s a noun now, which is a pretty bottom-of-the-barrel evolution since it’s not even a meme that can be used in a conversation. If someone were to try to use it, it would be the equivalent of randomly saying “Slenderman” or “Herobrine” in a conversation. It doesn’t work and leaves people wondering if you’ve ever talked to someone since that’s not normal for anyone — even the weirdest people — to do.

        1. Nymph

          Oh, I disagree.

        2. eh, whatever

          a pretty bottom-of-the-barrel evolution

          Evolution does not mean “progress”.

          Evolution means descent with heritable modification.

        3. Uly

          Slang normally implies that it is replacing another, pre-established word

          I don’t know who told you that, but they were wrong.

      3. Mark

        It’s unpleasant to the people who are being othered by its use.

        1. Taffy

          Nobody is being othered by kids using their slang.

        2. Nymph

          lmao

      4. Yumi

        There does seem to be an odd thing where kids are using slang in an aggressively higher concentration, but it might just be that I’ve more recently been with younger kids than I’m used to. Either way, it’ll mellow out and language will keep on evolving.

    4. easrng

      can’t we be skibidiiiiiiiiii ?
      let us be skibidiiiii ?

      1. easrng

        /srs tho let people enjoy things

    5. Taffy

      “Sadly, people are saying different things than they said when I was a kid. I can still say the things I said with the other people who said them when I said them, but these new people saying their new things still feels like a robbery of some sort.They’re taking something away from me by doing something I didn’t do, and it’s worth my time to let myself be upset at them for it.”

      That’s what this kind of complaint sounds like.

      1. Jeremiah

        Everything must involve me! If I don’t understand it that means it’s bad and stupid and everyone should stop doing it!

      2. Needfuldoer

        “I used to be ‘with it’, then they changed what ‘it’ was! Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’, and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me! It’ll happen to you!”

        1. Jeremiah

          Honestly it is as easy as just letting young do their own thing. You don’t have to get it or be into it but you also don’t have be an asshole about it.

    6. Needfuldoer

      Millennials and older Gen Z-ers aren’t in charge of “cool” slang anymore. Now we have the power to instantly make it un-cool, like our Boomer parents before us.

      [Plops cooked ramen on head]

      A very on-fleek skibidi to you too, fellow youths!

      1. Clif

        https://www.tiktok.com/@elle.cordova/video/7388700458304425246

    7. Yeet

      yeah, you are getting crotchety
      ngl being mad at kids for being cringe in a different way than we were is high tier crotchety old person stuff

  17. Greg

    Wildly at the exact same time I pulled up this comic I am also listening to the latest episode of MBMBAM and they’re discussing a WikiHow article about “rizz” so anyway yeah I guess rizz is still in use

    1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      I hate that word, out of all the slang that’s come and gone over the years I don’t get it.

      It’s not clever and it’s gross because it reminds me of the word jizz.

      1. Wereg

        It’s just a shortening of “Charisma”. Makes a lot of sense to me.

        1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

          I would have not have gotten that from spelling alone and saying it out loud makes me think 2 or 3 other things before that.

          But I guess I’m just reaching my “old man” days.

        2. Taffy

          You have the power to fight that useless instinct. Being old doesn’t necessitate being lame.

        3. Newlland(Henryvolt)

          Yeah but trying to force myself to be hip and cool would myself feel even more old.

        4. Taffy

          Force the weakness out of your soul.

        5. Bruno

          Now that I know that it just sounds like something Schmidt Newgirl would say.

      2. Uly

        It’s not clever and it’s gross because it reminds me of the word jizz.

        Try to encourage yourself to have the word remind you of the word “fizzy” instead.

        And as stated, it’s the stressed syllable in the word chaRISma. It’s not uncommon for shortenings to come from the stressed syllable in a word or name – that’s why so many nicknames for Elizabeth start either from the primary stressed syllable (Lizzy, Lisa, Libby) or from the secondary stressed syllable (Beth, Betty, Bessie).

  18. JA

    Sarah/Lucy rumble incoming?

  19. Matty

    Here I am rooting for Lucy all to a sudden

  20. Dday

    Yeah, well ok sure you’re objectively better at human interaction than Sarah, but have you *seen* those arms?

  21. Coatl

    Sarah……you shouldn’t have left there.

    and Joyce has always supported Sarah x Jacob to be a reality and the moment she sees what is happening… oh dear

  22. Aslan

    I love this little bit of low-stakes drama you’ve provided us, Willis. Keep it coming

  23. Blume

    They’re pretty cute together ngl. Sarah did have her chances, personally- I don’t think she’s ready for romance, but it’d be up to her. I just think she could stand to work on her ability to have friends first… She had to be pigeon-holded into having an ounce of vulnerability and honesty, and outright lusted for Jacob which made him feel uncomfortable until he gained some kind of understanding of her. That was her being vulnerable in anyway, to be fair???

    I dunno. I don’t mind either way, but I think Lucy and Jacob deserve some stability right now. It’s only been a few days and Lucy isn’t the most stable person herself, but Jacob DOES actually have great communication skills so maybe it’ll cancel it out LMAO.

    1. Blume

      Typos… Typing on my phone has been difficult lately but: *in a way.

      Anywho, just hoping this doesn’t set Sarah back, I really want her to develop and open up to both herself and others.

    2. Holly

      Yeah. I feel bad for Sarah, but she’s Not There yet.

      My main issue with the Jacob/Lucy dynamic is not Sarah though – it’s Raidah, who Lucy seemed to like. How is Raidah going to take this development, will she like it because it upsets Sarah and wierdly respect Lucy – or is she going to point out that for all people seem to idealise Jacob, he might have a Type weakness, and that might be people like Raidah.

      1. thejeff

        Lucy bringing her new boyfriend to lunch with her and her roommate’s social circle and the chaos that ensues would make all this worth it.

  24. HueSatLight

    Jacob’s a good guy, but he’s not a good romantic match for Sarah. I hope Sarah finds someone she’s comfortable around that she can smooch and also be snarky with.

    1. Coatl

      That gravatar looks good

    2. Nymph

      I thought this said “Jacob finds a good guy” because I skimmed it too fast and now that’s what I would like for him, tbh.

    3. MK15

      Yeah, I feel bad for Sarah that Jacob seems to be the only one she’s expressed interest in for forever, but she needs a relationship that’s not so forced. Jake’s nice so he’s giving them a shot to get to know each other as people, but the relationship potential just isn’t looking good…

    4. HueSatLight

      Sarah, getting frustrated at the party, Lucy hitting it off with Jacob, so many people, the ukulele Taylor Swift, sneaks out and gets a moderate amount of distance. Ending up sulking in the common room of Beck. Still tipsy, she’s audibly grumbling about Lucy and Walky and Jacob and Taylor Swift. Also in the common room is Arnold, who makes a smart-ass observation about Walky, who’s been kind of a jackass to him the whole time they’ve known each other. Sarah snort laughs and they start chatting, talking shit, but avoiding getting vicious because it’s relaxing to blow off steam but not to get enraged. Enough time has passed that Sarah’s sobered up, the muffled sounds of music are gone, and a couple of the party-goers from Beck have walked past. Because of classes the next day, Sarah excuses herself. “Hey, I’ll see you around,” Arnold says. “Ya– see you,” Sarah smiles.

  25. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    *Sigh* Better luck next time Sarah.

  26. DailyBrad

    I am still rooting for Sarah, but I can’t deny that Lucy’s got some moves. Plus I mean, Jacob WAS into her in Shortpacked, so I guess there is precedence, too.

  27. Vangeln

    New queen of the drunks.

    1. Taffy

      Well, I didn’t vote for her.

      1. Jeremiah

        Yeah, that is kind of the point of a monarchy unfortunately.

        1. Mark

          The point of heritability of monarchy, or heritability of authority in general. The first of a dynasty is sometimes created by acclamation or election.

          BTW thanks for reminding me of L. Sprague de Camp’s The Reluctant King. I should read that again.

        2. Yumi

          More importantly, it’s a solid Monty Python reference to pull out at times.

      2. Nymph

        Dinosaur women lying about in dorm rooms distributing booze is no basis for a system of government.

  28. CrazyJ

    There are definitely dances that can done with more than two people

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrTDHg8qg_U

  29. Acebender

    Ruh roh, Sarah! Snooze, you lose, I guess?

    1. anon

      i wouldn’t be surprised if it’s like “i need a break, sarah why don’t you dance together with jacob” idk if we’ve seen sarah dance but i’m sure she’d rather drunkenly dance than talk more lol

  30. Gojira007

    oh wow I wanna feel happy for Lucy, she got a REAL Raw Deal with her last relationship, but honestly I just feel really profoundly sad for Sarah? Like, I do at least want to TRY and balance that with the reminder that Jacob is in fact an autonomous human being who gets to make his own choices in this stuff, but also, you can FEEL how hard Sarah had to push herself to get this shot, and it’s looking more and more like she’s going to miss it completely, and for once it’s not really her fault. It’s not ANYBODY’S fault, really, which is what we in the biz like to call Good Storytelling.

    1. Blume

      Yep, feeling more than one thing rn ? if this ship DOES become canon, I hope it’s after Jacob talks with Sarah. He doesn’t need her permission, but she does need to let down or else this is gonna hurt extra bad. Sarah really did work hard in the end, I don’t want this potential relations not existing to send her backwards (Again. I feel like after the time skip she became even more closed off.)

    2. Icalasari

      Honestly, I think this is for the best. Sarah needs to love herself first, and boooy shevdoes not right now

    3. Insanenoodlyguy

      No it’s absolutely her fault. Because her shot? She could have taken it for months. Months. He even encouraged her, was clearly receptive. If this opportunity is well and truly passed, and I sincerely hope it is, this is entirely on Sarah.

  31. Nono

    Lucy when Walky walks in: it’s only been two days 🙁

    Lucy when Jacob is in sight: Walky who?

    1. Coatl

      Only Lucy has that speed to surpass someone.

    2. Mturtle7

      I mean, I could easily believe her flirting so hard with Jacob here is specifically a reaction TO Walky coming in with Dorothy. Which doesn’t bode too well for a future LucyxJacob relationship…

    3. anon

      i think at this point she’s allowed to be a little hypocritical/they’re prolly not going to get back together, but i mean a dance isn’t the same thing as hooking up with your ex lol

  32. pickonecard

    I would feel more sorry for Sarah if she hadn’t been as unlikable as possible during all of this

  33. TGS

    I was/am rooting for Sarah and Jacob, but mostly because I want Sarah to get what she wants. The problem is, she doesn’t really know what she wants. I believe she has too much to work on internally before she is ready to share herself with someone. Seeing Lucy swoop in is gonna sting like hell but if Sarah learns from it, it will be worth it.

    1. StClair

      This right here. Thank you for saying it.

    2. Mark

      Hm, I think Sarah does know what she wants, and the problem is she wants two things with equal intensity: Jacob, and to be safely alone in her Fortress of Solitude.

      [cue Simon and Garfunkel: “I am a Rock”]

    3. thejeff

      While I mostly get what you mean, it comes off weird in this context, since what Sarah needs to work on is sharing herself with somebody – being open and vulnerable with someone she cares about. You can’t really do that internally, you need to actually go open up to someone.

  34. Armadillo

    Sorry Sarah, you tried your best, but your best really just highlighted how extremely not ready for relationships you are right now.

  35. BBCC

    Good thing I am a card carrying resident of multi shipper hell.

    1. Clif

      You fiend!

      Wait? Monoshipping is a thing?

  36. AGV/Ruby

    Oh boy

  37. Icalasari

    Aww, those two have good chemistry

  38. Hazel

    I like this side of Lucy.

    As for Sarah… I keep wondering who might be around that she could date casually, that wouldn’t send her into a spiral like Jacob. There *are* other boys in this school.

    1. GholaHalleck

      It’s been a few years since we’ve seen Beef. He’d be a good fit, AND he has ties to the Dean, so Sara could be pulled back into Radiah Plans.

      1. GholaHalleck

        Not beef, the other one. Names escape me. the blonde guy, big Leonardo energy.

        1. JD

          Tony?

        2. Clif

          Walky’s half brother by osmosis?

        3. GholaHalleck

          HIM thank you!

    2. Mark

      Thing is: Sarah apparently isn’t looking for “a boy”; she needs for someone specific to be so delicious that it overcomes her powerful fear of being hurt.

  39. misanthropope

    so, sarah completely disappears from the strip for a couple months, reappearing without comment in a toronto maple leafs jersey.

    1. Clif

      Sarah completely disappears from the strip for a couple of years and then reappears without comment or explanation engaged to Mike.

  40. DashWallkick

    I know that Lucy was wronged pretty bad by Walky but…didn’t she *just* chew Dorothy out for “all you needed was two days”?

    1. Bash

      She might be acting differently right now if Walky wasn’t here with someone else. What’s good for the goose and all that.

      1. DashWallkick

        True! I guess if you’ve been wronged and they feel shitty and everyone knows how you stand, it’d be hard to try to level anger your way. Everyone knows you’re the wronged party, so, what’s at risk exactly?

    2. Wereg

      I got the impression that she was miffed at her feelings being given much less consideration than Dorothy’s were, especially so since Walky being that considerate was a big part of what made her attracted to him.

      Lucy has not been given that degree of consideration, she probably feels that she has no obligation or expectation to wait before moving on. Seeing Dorothy and Walky back together probably does a lot for Lucy moving on anyways.

    3. anonymsly

      I don’t think she chewed Dorothy out for that. She mentioned it, mostly to say it out loud and also to shame Walky a bit.

  41. SvenTS

    I wouldn’t mourn for Sarah yet. Rebounds aren’t often known to be long lasting (even if I do think Lucy and Jacob make a decent match if made under other circumstances)

    1. Bash

      Is every relationship that happens after being rejected necessarily a rebound? To me a rebound is a certain type of relationship, where you take whatever affection is available to make yourself feel better. It seems like this interaction could go either way.

    2. anonymsly

      Is Jacob rebounding? I had no idea that he and Sarah were ever in a relationship! I had no idea they ever went on a single date, even!

      1. anonymsly

        Oh, wait, you meant Lucy. Hmm. Considering that Jacob is a way better match for her than Walky, which Joyce correctly called long ago, I don’t find the prospect of her as a rebounder particularly concerning. (Especially since her ex has, moderately unintentionally, now rubbed her face in the fact that she, Lucy, was always the rebound and he needed virtually no time to get over her when his own ex came calling.)

    3. anon

      becky and dinah is technically a ‘rebound’ (well not that joyce was together with her but i guess it still counts when you get rejected and find someone new), but i guess it depends on where to go. tho lucy is able to talk through about her emotions with ppl so i can imagine even if it doesn’t work in the long run they might make for good friends/exes

  42. Taigan

    Lucy is about to make a mortal enemy of either Sarah or Joyce.

    1. Reltzik

      … wait. Why is this an either/or thing?

      1. Clif

        Joyce’s attention is otherwise occupied.

  43. Reltzik

    Absolutely nothing can possibly go wrong with this development, and I unreservedly endorse it.

  44. BarerMender

    I suppose it’s long forgotten that Joyce warned Lucy away from Jacob and Lucy promised to stay away from whoever that was.

    1. Holly

      To be fair, as much as I feel bad for Sarah and dislike Lucy’s move here personally – Sarah has a lot of work to do on herself and noone else can boss other people around about who they choose to develop relationships with.

      Joyce can say what she likes (with the purest intentions), but she doesn’t have the right to dictate or try to control others’ feelings towards one another.

  45. PedanticJerkass

    *sigh*

  46. Acher4

    I’m sad for Sarah…

    but I am quite happy for these two.

  47. Sajuuk-Khar

    Lucy grabbing the dodgeball of prophecy and doing a goddamn Harlem Globetrotters alley oop routine with it

  48. Belegcam

    Okay, now Lucy’s actions are truly beyond the pale.

    …You go to the trouble of bringing Catan to a party, and you don’t bring the 5-6 player expansion? What are we even doing here? And don’t say “Oh, they can play in teams,” teams are pointless in Catan!

    (In all seriousness, while I love boardgames, bringing eurogames to a boozy party is probably not going to produce the desired level of fun, unless everyone there is already a gamer, and quite possibly not even then. Activities requiring focus + substances that degrade focus = no bueno.)

    1. Taffy

      Speak for yourself, I kick major ass at every game when I’m drunk or stone. It shuts up the voices and I become the ultimate strategist.

      1. HueSatLight

        that’s not the right level of intensity for apples to apples

        1. Clif

          Apples to apples is a Eurogame?

  49. Zamperla

    Literally good for her.

  50. Taffy

    Lucy should just start swiping boyfriends left and right. She sees someone try to lay the groundwork for smooching, watch her swooce right in and get the smooch first. I want her to be a boyfriend-stealing hussy, and I’m not even playing around anymore.

    1. Schpoonman

      Lucy as a harem protagonist? Fuck yes.

    2. Insanenoodlyguy

      The night ends with a Joe/Jacob/Lucy threeway. Jason knocks on the door, asking what’s going on here, and gets pulled inside and shown.

  51. Schpoonman

    I love Lucy and she deserves a better boyfriend than Walky could be for her.

    Climb him like a treeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

  52. Zaxares

    On the one hand, GO LUCY! On the other hand, poor Sarah. 🙁

    1. Taffy

      Sarah’s not even at this party, anyway.

  53. Jeremiah

    Honestly Lucy deserves a good time at a party and a chance with a nice and hot guy.

    1. Blibdoolpoolp

      Here here.

  54. Plaaaaaa

    This relationship is Cartman approved

  55. Mark

    I envy Jacob’s ability to remember names….

  56. Chubseus

    I don’t think Sarah’s out of the race just yet. Lucy wants that 3rd date sex, and Jacob, at least in the past, was more interested in romance and commitment than sex. I think Jacob is going to feel conflicted about it all.

    1. thejeff

      I don’t think there’s any conflict there. It might turn out that Lucy loses interest after getting laid, but there’s little reason to think so. Jacob’s only said he wasn’t interested in casual sex (in response to Roz flirting with him), not that he’s not interested at all.
      So they have a committed relationship and sex and they’re both happy.

    2. Reltzik

      Yeah, Lucy wants the third-date (second-and-a-half-date?) sex, but she wants the romance too. Seems like a good match to me.

  57. Vinter Nacht

    … I don’t like Lucy at all. She feels like an oily snake, is dedicated to being center stage, and immediately seems to want anything someone else wants for no other reason than that they want it.

  58. Pseudowolf

    I’ve seen people going “oh no” or getting mad at Lucy here, but why?
    No, really, why?
    She helped to defuse a situation that could have wrecked the whole party. This isn’t her bossing people around, it’s her heading off a very loud, very party-killing argument.
    And, oh no, she’s talking to Jacob! Why shouldn’t she? He’s a cute, single guy and he’s returning her interest. If Sarah can’t get over her hangups, then this is what happens. It’s ridiculous to act like Jacob is supposed to act like Sarah’s got exclusive rights to talk to him (which she can’t even do) and that anyone else who does is some sort of snake.

    1. thejeff

      If she’s actually aware of Sarah’s interest, I think it’s a little uncool to both claim she wants to be Sarah’s friend and immediately hit on the dude Sarah likes. Nothing to do with how Jacob’s supposed to act, or even really a moral issue, but they’re definitely contradictory goals.

      1. Ldot

        That’s my perspective as well — it’s not inherently wrong, but if you’re trying to be someone’s friend (and not, say, just a friendly acquaintance) it’s sort of expected that you’ll keep their feelings in mind.

  59. cmd1095

    I feel bad for Sarah as a fellow socially awkward disaster, but no shame on Lucy shooting her shot with a cute single guy who seems to be reciprocating.

    And no the two days thing doesn’t apply. Walky literally already broke that barrier, Lucy is under no obligation to take longer to move on than the boy literally in the same room with her alongside his new girl.

    So yeah this situation sucks for Sarah, a character we are attached too, but strictly speaking Lucy is not doing anything wrong here. Hell it’s up in the air if she even knows Sarah wants Jacob. I think Joyce mentioned keeping her and Jacob apart once but she didn’t know who Jacob was.

  60. Amelie Wikström

    Radical idea: Maybe Lucy dating Jacob is perfect for Sarah cause it’ll let her and Jacob be friends without any pressure to reconcile the very different things they want out of a romantic relationship.

  61. Amós Batista

    The day when all your efforts to be more social, more understood of the room mood, all of this. Stars is aligned, moon is full and shit. And you, finally, is the winner of the day.

    Proud of Lucy. Go get everthing’s yours!

  62. Hof1991

    Joyce is very happy right now so Sarah must be unhappy to the same degree.

    1. Formerly Glenn

      I feel like stuff for Joyce is going to come crashing down soon, at least regarding her relationship with Joe, so maybe things are looking up for Sarah after all!

  63. Nedlum

    On one hand, all love to Lucy, and if she’s going for Jacob, more power to her.

    On the other hand: Lucy is at heart a romantic, someone who wants people to get together almost as much as Amber does, and if she were to make Sarah jealous in order to force her to make a more decisive move, it wouldn’t be the first time

  64. Stephen Nedland

    The only dancing I want to see those two is the horizo, nope, nope, going to keep the SFW, for once.

    1. Taffy

      ntal tango

    2. Schpoonman

      Coward!

    3. Amós Batista

      No no no, the date-counter just returned to zero. Sorry, Lucy, 3 dates again.

  65. anon

    here for the ship (tho be hilarious if it ended up in a polycule/lucy helping with sarah’s emotional issues and they end up having like a three way lol)

    1. Newlland(Henryvolt)

      There’s always a possibility of a 3 way happening with someone in this cast of characters. I just don’t know who it’s going to be.

  66. Rabisch

    This is so sweet! So extremely sweet than I’m afraid next strip will be about Sarah taking the baseball bat watching Lucy full of hate.

  67. jmsr7

    YAY for a correct Settlers of Catan reference! I always hate it when you get a reference to a niche subject (like boardgames) in popular media, but they get it wrong. Willis got it right here, so ty for that!

  68. superglucose

    I love it. Lucy and Jacob is A+.

  69. Amós Batista

    I refuse to answer this poll. Tots unfair.

  70. AbacusWizard

    Oh dang, she is *good* at this.

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