207

Bright pink
Posted on June 23, 2025 by David M Willis

207 thoughts on “Bright pink”

  1. Claire

    You go girls!!! I’m nervous for them

  2. Pocky

    I wonder how much harder of a time Carla would have tellin them apart now.

    1. Savail

      Don’t be ridiculous; Joyce is the one with the jugs!

    2. Thag Simmons

      I think Carla is more attentive to people she thinks are queer, so now that she’s picked up on the subtext that is rapidly becoming text I think she might have dedicated some more mental space to remembering these two.

  3. katerly

    Oooooh they’ve been kettled

    1. not someone else

      Hahaeeheheohdear…

    2. AlexanderHammil

      fenced in, not kettled. kettling’s down with bodies, not barriers

      1. katerly

        I thought it was a universal term.
        The more you know

        1. Dara

          It can be both. They’ll bring fences with them sometimes, or have a fence area set up and use bodies for the rest.

    3. Jim Campbell

      Oh good. They can make a nice cup of tea. /s

  4. IntangibleMatter

    I, too, hope to continue feeling this exact portion alive, Joyce.

    Any more alive and I’d probably be insufferable.

  5. Rose by Any other Name

    Oh! The way they put their arms around eachother there at the end.
    My sapphic heart is aflutter!

    1. Amós Batista

      Didn’t figured out how they are holding hands when entering the camp.
      Are they walking all the way from campus like this?

      1. Nymph

        Yeah, they’re holding hands and walking to the protest, then they get there and put their arms around each other. What needs figuring out about that?

    2. Tan

      It somewhat mirrors the pose of the original line. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/subterfuge/

  6. Sisyphus

    Ominous fence closing

    1. Rose by Any other Name

      I didn’t even catch that until you mentioned it. Thanks. I think?

      1. Sisyphus

        It’ll be fine. I’m sure nothing will come of this powderkeg in a cage

        1. Sirksome

          This is clearly a very peaceful protest. Just young, passionate citizens and students camping out and exercising their rights. I’m sure the local authorities are ran by rational and experienced leadership that have well trained officers instructed to de-escalate and not resort to armed force at the slightest of provocation. Everything will be fine.

        2. Uly

          We’ve definitely learned better since Kent State.

        3. Steamweed

          Tony’s father seems to be a quite level-headed administrator who does not react inappropriately. However, various law enforcement groups may act on their own without going through him. (local, county, and state police groups)

        4. vulcanodon

          Or vigilantes. Some teenager from the next state over maybe.

    2. RassilonTDavros

      Oh shit, you’re right. Do they close automatically, or is it the wind or something? Or maybe it’s someone pushing a button from a distance, since there doesn’t seem to be anyone shutting them directly.

      1. Thag Simmons

        There’s the silhouette of a person closing the gate.

        1. Tan

          It looks to me less like someone closing a gate and more like someone putting up a fence, though I could be wrong

        2. Taffy

          A really shitty fence, at that. No supports on the corners, it’s just kinda stood there. Looks easy to knock over.

        3. Thag Simmons

          Yeah. I can’t defend missing the angle of the fence segment in the third panel, but it’s a little hard to tell what side of the fence those wheels are on.

      2. HueSatLight

        there’s a figure in panel 4 moving the fence. The red sign looks like it’s an ex post facto application of a county ordinance.

    3. Thag Simmons

      Hey uh, someone more familiar with the geography of the IU campus, is there normally a big fence in this park?

      1. Taffy

        Is there normally a big fence being haphazardly placed by a rando with a wagonload of fence segments? No, probably not.

        1. Thag Simmons

          Oh, that is a wagon. My first assumption was wheeled gate, which it clearly isn’t on second look.

        2. Taffy

          It might be a trailer attached to a small vehicle, too. Maybe a quad bike or buggy.

      2. HueSatLight

        There was for a while, following the anti-genocide protests. It was removed in December, after 136 days.

    4. Kyulen

      Hopefully there’s another way out of the area.

    5. Steamweed

      Soon as they show up, suddenly a chainlink fence?? :O

      1. Proxiehunter

        To the tune of “Suddenly Seymour” ♪ ♪Suddenly chain link is closing behind you♪ ♪

  7. mindbleach

    Again, hoping for a protest sign like ‘Can you imagine if our leader was the villain in every movie, at least shit’s not that bad.’

    Fiction should be aspirational.

    1. Torgamous

      Yes, all the best protest signs are both incoherent and conciliatory.

  8. Nadamás

    For some reason panel 4 make me think of a point and click adventure game. That actually woild be pretty neat.

    1. TheFungus

      I was a bit hesitant to point it out at first for i would hope obvious reasons but it reminds me a bit of Disco Elysium. There’s been a shift from the familiar warmth of the college dorms to the sobering cold reality of the snow painted canvas of Dunn Meadow immediately took me back to Revachol. It’s taking me a lot not to snap into a long winded faux DE monologue that would probably be way lamer than cool.

      1. Nadamás

        Omg i love disco Elysium! Making a dumbing of age AU would be pretty cool.

        1. Proxiehunter

          Jennifer/Billy in the role of Harry Du Bois?

      2. Kyulen

        I love that game.

    2. NGPZ

      Examine Tent:

      This ain't no Yuru Camp we walkin' into.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Obvious exits are NORTH, SOUTH, and DENNIS.

        What wouldst thou deau?

    3. Needfuldoer

      > GET FLASK

      Ye can’t get ye flask!

  9. Lodum

    AH! THE FONT IS DIFFERENT!

    1. David M Willis

      It is not!

      1. Kevin K

        It’s the increased resolution. The font renders a bit differently.

        1. TheFungus

          oh SNAP WE’RE HD!!!

        2. Yumi

          DUN DUN DUNNNN (Meadow)

        3. Steamweed

          +1 point to you

        4. Lingo

          Time for a new font then!

        5. Lodum

          I thought that might be it!

    2. Amós Batista

      it’s the same hamburger, but crispier

    3. Lodum

      THE FONT IS UNDIFFERENT NOW

      1. Lodum

        The resolution is now the normal resomoultion, too.

  10. Sirksome

    They seem dangerous. Better call the marines to stop them.

    1. Taffy

      Probably gonna have to nuke the campus, just to be sure. It looks like someone’s got a drink kettle or something, over by that tent. It’s probably full of bombs and emails, better to just wipe it off the map.

  11. Amós Batista

    last panel resume my fears when I went to a protest first time

  12. Joe Moose

    Oh no, that sudden appearance of fencing is worrying.

  13. Jon

    So there wasn’t…like, a REAL reason to go contact Jocelyne, in person, immediately. Right?

    Sure her dad recognized her, but I feel like if Joyce & Dorothy weren’t prepared for this, it was a pretty reckless thing to do.

    Yeah yeah I know, not called smarting of age blah blah blah

    1. Thag Simmons

      It seemed like a thing Joss urgently needed to know, and I don’t think Joyce is fully cognizant of the danger. Dorothy probably is, but she’s also not the one leading here.

      1. Bash

        What was the thing she needed to know urgently? I’m not following.

        1. Taffy

          Her dad saw a photo of her.

    2. Llamo

      Protest op-sec says no phones to avoid tracking. Going in person was the only way to guarantee contact within the next few hours.

      1. Jon

        Yes I’m aware of that, but why? What purpose does it serve to tell Jocelyne her dad might’ve seen her on the news?

        I mean to tell her RIGHT NOW, as opposed to in five hours or whenever she meets up with them/checks her phone again.

        At the very least, it feels like it would be the last thing on her mind in the midst of a protest.

        1. Taffy

          It moves the plot along.

        2. Radiance

          Among other reasons: in case the dad in question responds by coming there in person. (Or if anyone else sees them. Were I in Jocelyne’s position, I’d be worried about some kiwifarms types crawling out of the woodwork. Possibly in some kind of laughable supervillain cosplay.)

        3. Astariel

          Why would he drive four hours to show up in person because he saw a photo of her at a protest? And what would happen if he did? She lives independently, so he can’t threaten to kick her out. She’s not dressed femme, so her being trans probably isn’t going to come up. I may be missing something, but it seems to me that Joyce panicked and isn’t thinking things through.

        4. Taffy

          I agree with the vibe that Joyce is overreacting out of panic. I sorta wonder if whatever commotion is coming wouldn’t be coming if she’d thought about it for a few more seconds before going in all guns blazin’.

        5. Proxiehunter

          How out of character for Joyce to panic and not think things through. And in the comic Smarting of Age too.

      2. NGPZ

        like I heard you could just put your phone in air-plane mode to made sure the tracking shit don’t happen, is this true? :0

        1. Nymph

          Some phones still have GPS running even in airplane mode, or are capable of storing location data for later retrieval, and I just generally don’t trust companies to be honest about what data they do and do not collect and/or pass on to the authorities.

        2. Steamweed

          GPT-based tracking does still happen in airplane mode. It doesn’t transmit out at that time, but the data remains on the phone. When next the phone is connection-enabled, any on-phone apps that share location data (metadata, etc) will immediately begin transmitting that data. If the phone is seized, law enforcement, et al, can find the location tracking data on it.

        3. NGPZ

          like, strictly speaking, whether or not you have your phone on you, whatever they want to know they have other ways of knowing. while it’s important to care about privacy in general, it’s also important to be realistic

          also I’m just gonna say it because it seems it really needs to be said —

          the idea the governments are all-seeing, all-knowing, etc, is Nazi propaganda

        4. Taffy

          I’m a little curious, since it’s being discussed. If my location data is there, don’t the pigs have to suspect me of being there in the first place for that to matter? And then we need to consider how many people walk past a protest while it’s happening. They probably have their phones, meaning they would flag as being there, too. Is 7-11 Andy getting arrested because he walked by on his way to get a slushy? Don’t they have to actually get the data from your phone first? I assume there’s not just a pig sitting at a magic computer that hoovers up all the GPS data of every phone near a target location and automatically generated arrest warrants.

        5. bhtooefr

          There are actually devices called Stingrays that have existed for over 20 years, that capture the identifying details of every phone in an area. Then, whichever three letter agency who wants to do it can just ask the cell carriers who an IMEI belongs to.

          And, with triangulation, they don’t need the GPS data, they just need three cell sites and the relative signal strengths.

        6. thejeff

          Sure, they can. But are they just going out and rounding up everyone who was near a protest?

        7. Taffy

          That’s pretty scary, tbh. I wonder how often it actually gets used, compared to how many protests occur.

        8. thejeff

          Don’t those two statements contradict?
          “the idea the governments are all-seeing, all-knowing, etc, is Nazi propaganda”
          and
          “whatever they want to know they have other ways of knowing”

        9. NGPZ

          it’s exactly my point that it’s easy to think that in an atmosphere of paranoia that the Oppressor seeks to instill

          in times like this, it is important to know that most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given to it by ordinary people

          By any means, they seek to instill fear and depend on citizens to give into it, into the will to Obey In Advance, because that’s literally doing over half the work for them

        10. vulcanodon

          FWIW I have done experiments simply wrapping a phone in aluminum foil and trying to call it. The foil effectively blocks incoming signals. and I presume, outgoing.

          Of course, shut the phone off or it will exhaust the battery trying to connect.

      3. Proxiehunter

        Meanwhile there are protests out there asking you to RSVP.

  14. EtchJetty

    The resolution bump!!!! Incredible!!!!!!

    1. Taffy

      Good eye. 1000×333 yesterday, 4800×1600 today.

    2. Nadamás

      Your mom is a resolution bump

      1. Steamweed

        No, you were the resolution bump inside your Mom.
        (for a few months, anyway)

  15. Rosalyn

    Sure hope Sal didn’t leave her phone in a jacket pocket!

    1. Steamweed

      “Sally Walkerton, we have evidence you were at the unauthorized and illegal protest.”

      1. Cybersnark

        “Ah mean, that sounds like me. . .”

  16. Bryy

    The art and storytelling in this strip is flat out fucking incredible.

  17. Schol-R-LEA;2

    Toxic Yuri Status: RAINBOW QUARTZ

    1. AGV/Ruby

      “What can I do for you? What can I do that no one else can do”?

  18. Owlmirror

    Wait.

    Is that dark jacket the same one that has RUTTEN in large letters on the sleeve?

    Hm, looking at the stitching pattern, I suspect not:
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/hey/

  19. Taffy

    Yeesh. They’re not gonna die, and the structures of power aren’t gonna be threatened by them telling Jocelyne that Hank saw a photo of her.

    1. Nadamás

      It is a protest in the united states, the possibility of fatalities is never zero.

      1. Taffy

        That’s irrelevant. These two aren’t gonna die.

        1. Nadamás

          Yeah we know that, the characters don’t know that though.

        2. Taffy

          Oh, well.

        3. Purple Floof

          No no, you have a point even there; we haven’t had any information about the protests being at all violent iirc – if I’m wrong, please send me the relevant strips – so it wouldn’t make sense that they’d be worried about any kind of danger going into this area. Like, with all the info we have on this, it seems about as dangerous as going into one of those Occupy Wallstreet protest areas where they had tents and stuff set up in open areas for their protest – unless this is more of a CHAZ/CHOP/whatever kind of protest, I don’t see how they’d think of this as a “entering the belly of the beast” kind of situation.

        4. Taffy

          I’m gonna chalk it up to their emotions being heightened from all the horny energy they just had interrupted.

        5. Thag Simmons

          Protestors usually aren’t the ones who initiate violence.

        6. Bobby

          yall realize that peaceful protests get escalated by police all the time in the states, right? If you believe otherwise, that’s the propaganda you’re believing. Police infiltrate protests then throw rocks and incite stuff to violence ALL. THE. TIME. They have every right to be worried, with the state of things right now

        7. Taffy

          Yeah yeah, real life protest = dangerous, for fuck’s sake. Everyone fucking knows that. It doesn’t have to paint my expectation of Joyce and Dorothy’s well-being while they’re at this one, and it’s really goddamn condescending for so many comments to basically be repetitions of “Um, actually, real protests are dangerous actually” as if anyone not in a frothing panic is just uninformed.

        8. Nadamás

          The protestors being violent isn’t the dnager here.

        9. Thag Simmons

          Would this scene be improved if both characters were aware of and confident in their plot armour to keep them safe from harm?

        10. Taffy

          Let’s not bother with bad-faith questions like this.

        11. Thag Simmons

          It’s just a rhetorical question

        12. Zero

          It’s what you said, so if it’s bad faith…

        13. Taffy

          It’s not what I said, actually, if you read the words that are there without inventing new ones.

        14. esolo

          The reason you (and I) can be *so* certain that Joyce and Dorothy are going to be just fine is at least in part due to their plot armor. If these were two random real people at a random real protest, the chances are *good* that they would also be fine, but given the very real and non-negligible chances of violence erupting even at protests that begin peacefully, I don’t think you’d be able to have the same degree of certainty you seem to be showing here.

        15. Taffy

          But they’re not real people at a real protest, so that doesn’t need to be a factor in my assessment of the comic.

    2. Leorale

      Yeah, they’re mainly gonna be threatening to students of Bulmerian descent at the school. The power structures are doing fine either way.

      1. Taffy

        I don’t see how Bulmerian students are threatened by them, either. They’re here to deliver a message that probably could’ve waited, not to actively participate in the protest.

    3. Tesset

      I mean, Willis would have to be a much worse writer than he is to hit the “protests are dangerous” reminder half a dozen times and then not fire checkov’s gun, especially in a story that has hit these kinds of stakes before. Like, readers are nervous because the narrative has built the tension up, both with in-story reminders and by connection to events happening irl that inspired this storyline.

      No one died in To Those Who’d Ground Me, but it was hardly without consequence, right? Both for the characters and their arcs, and for the broader plot. Would you *prefer* the story go with “Joyce and Dorothy get pushed over, and that’s all that happens”? Maybe that’s more realistic, but would it be narratively satisfying to you? Or do you want to see things escalate and become tense and exciting and action-filled, in concert to the stakes being built?

      1. Taffy

        I reject your short-sighted dichotomy. What I’d personally like to see most is Joyce and Dorothy sticking around the protest after they deliver their piddly coulda-waited message to Jocelyne, realizing nobody’s around to hold them accountable or probably even recognize them, and start making out behind a tent. With this comic, I don’t often care about exciting violent action like fight scenes or kidnappings or cops existing, so dangling that in front of me like a carrot won’t get a response you probably like. I wanna see these dipshit queers do messy things with their friends, and if they get tear gassed it’s none of my business.

        1. Tesset

          You’re so right bestie, I can’t believe I’ve let my yuri senses be clouded by the promise of violent action. More makeouts, Willis!

        2. Taffy

          Like, we’ve already had two violent and perilous season finales, so do we really need a third? The “Rule” of Threes is old hat. When’s the last time you saw a Big Dramatic Arc that had a little bit of danger and way more ill-advised makeouts than usual? Physical harm is an easy way to raise the stakes, but it can’t be the only way or it gets repetitive. Until and unless Joyce and Dorothy lock lips, I’m not convinced anything is at stake.

        3. Nymph

          We should all be thankful to Taffy today for reminding us where our narrative priorities lie.

  20. Kyulen

    I hope they’re all right at this event, though the fence behind put up behind them worries me. And my knowledge of how campus protesters were treated by the authorities last year around the time these strips were written has me worried too.

    1. Taffy

      Worst I anticipate is one of them getting knocked over by someone who’s running past them, maybe a scare from some commotion.

      1. Kyulen

        Lots of colleges and universities called the cops to arrest student protesters last year, and cops don’t exactly have the best record with how they treat protesters. Especially when they’re people protesting against evil things that the US government is doing, like aiding a genocide.

        1. Kyulen

          Also while the protesters might not get violent, the counter-protesters might.

        2. Taffy

          Yes, I’m aware. I just don’t see Joyce and Dorothy getting more than a little bumped around during a scuffle.

        3. Nadamás

          Why?

        4. Taffy

          How often do these two actually come to any major harm? Somebody always intervenes before it gets too severe. Hell, the longest-lasting physical damage Joyce has taken was basically self-inflicted, when she punched Becky’s dad hard enough to put her hand in a brace for a little while. It would be silly of me to expect these two are gonna get genuinely hurt, after reading this comic so many times and seeing them always come out basically fine.

      2. Thag Simmons

        Eh, I’d be surprised if either sustained more than superficial injury, but if one or both of them ended up getting arrested I wouldn’t be surprised.

        We’re coming up on the point in the first “season” where Becky got kidnapped, I expect things at this protest to escalate beyond the norm for this comic.

        1. Taffy

          And while they’re in the overnight cell with about 200 other people, they both notice the other is lookin’ pretty fine behind bars, and since there’s not much else to do in a jail cell, they start making out. I like this idea you had that’s yours.

        2. Thag Simmons

          I wouldn’t be surprised.

        3. thejeff

          An arrest is definitely possible, especially since they arrived at a critical moment, judging by the fences going up. Getting a bit roughed up in the process is also possible. Tear gas. Serious injury or death is very unlikely – even without plot armor. That isn’t to excuse any violence from cops (or the policy to clear the encampment), but the danger is routinely exaggerated – partly just because violence is the only part that makes the news.

    2. thejeff

      It’s possible the fence is being put up to trap all the protesters for arrest, but it’s more likely they want to control access – keep new protesters from arriving or people from wandering in and out. Let anyone who wants to leave and then arrest those who stay.

    3. Erik

      Dumbing of Age: a story ripped from last year’s headlines!
      …and unfortunately this year’s and quite possibly next year’s as well. Unless things get even worse between now and then, which seems likely…

  21. darkoneko

    it’s pretty terrifying that “don’t bring a phone with you to not be trackable” is something that must be done in the US for peaceful protests.

    1. Taffy

      Cops here are chickenshit cowards who only care about who they’re gonna murder next, and if we see one we have to assume it’s no exception. I can see the wisdom of not letting them track you in a contentious crowd, even if I personally wouldn’t follow the advice.

    2. Nadamás

      Even the most peaceful demonstration can be condemned as a riot if someone in charge yell it loud enough.

    3. Kevin K

      I’m still shocked that so many people agree to carry a tracker on their person at all times. But clearly I’m not in the majority.

  22. Ray Radlein

    Jocelyne stepped away for a bathroom break so she’s not here and then the riot police start their riot and Joyce winds up getting arrested

  23. Dante

    My heart started racing. I’m devouring this strip pixel by pixel. The angles! The colors! Joyce’s eyes being the most saturated thing! God, they were walking in hand in hand, and a fence closed right after they came in for reasons unknown.

    The subversion of the title (and the “it was bound to happen eventually”, of sapphic risky decisions) is the cherry on top of a _really_ delicious sundae.

    1. Taffy

      Reasons unknown, but highly guessable, given the environment. I’m willing to bet the fence is there to keep the protesters caged in and agitate them so they’re more likely to act up, like in real life.

      NO PR(oresting?)
      BY CI(ty?)
      COUN(cil?)
      ORD(inance?)

      1. Dante

        … Yeah, ok, they’re guessable alright. Thank you! :33

        I meant it more like, we don’t know how it’s gonna develop (including when shit’s gonna hit the fan.) I’m seated, though ^^ It’s gonna be a tricky storyline to navigate, what with the Very Real Life parallels (that keep and keep going, gdi) — but I wholly trust Willis as a storyteller.

  24. Matrix

    Do we have a volume title? I think we have a volume title

  25. Boh No

    The advice being said here is good just y’know, if anyone’s in the US right now…

    Heck, this is probably more of a nod to the Gaza college encampments and it was good advice THEN, too…

    Things have been bad and just continue to shit, huh?

    1. Taffy

      Things have been bad for quite a while, yes. Honestly, I don’t think it’s ever stopped getting worse since at least 9/11, and probably before that. People like to pretend 2016 was some sort of anomaly that marked the start of the Current Shit, but it was consistently horrid for a long time beforehand.

      1. Steamweed

        Even since the Kent State murders in 1970.

        1. Proxiehunter

          I was going to say Nixon getting off with nothing more than a resignation but then I checked the dates and you make a good point.

  26. BorkBorkBork

    I just want to point out the fact that Joyce has, at this point, been drugged and nearly raped, smashed the girl’s face open with glass, rode with Sal to rescue her best friend from being kidnapped by an armed gunman, was kidnapped, hogtied in a basement, where it was apparent that endgame was their death, was the one chosen by her group of abductees as the one most rage-filled and therefore the most dangerous, then got kidnapped again and helped toss a kid to be caught in midair by a motorcycle.

    But no, they’re going to a peaceful protest on campus and THIS is what is truly terrifying.

    I’m not sure if they’re so PTSD’d that something which is truly mildly subversive is in actuality akin to walking in a warzone, or if in this universe, college protests are extremely unusual and often put down with lethal force and extreme prejudice.

    Its admittedly been a while since I was in college, but there’d be protests half the weekend about one thing or another.

    1. Thag Simmons

      I would encourage you to look into the way anti-police/anti-war/anti-genocide protests in the States have been responded to by police in recent years in the universe we live in.

      1. BorkBorkBork

        I’m not denying at all that there’s a small percentage of peaceful protests that do result in a some level of police retaliation and arrests, or of violence in general.

        What I stand by – and I 100% do – is that it is safer to enter a peaceful demonstration, with a buddy, long enough to find your sister, deliver a message, and leave – something that should take ten to fifteen minutes tops – than for two short underage college girls to go alone to a bar, get smashed drunk, and stagger through the streets of their town completely inebriated until they get back on campus. And they willingly chose to do the former without much thought to the consequences.

        1. Yumi

          I’m not sure about the timeline depending on the size and vibe of the protest, but I do agree with your overall idea. What’s interesting is that they’ve been conditioned to think of the protest option as scary and the bar option as normal– which I think is the case for a lot of people their age. Many people do things that can be very scary or risky all the time, but they don’t think of them that way because the things are “normal.”

          Both things they should be able to do without real danger, but unfortunately it’s a risk to some degree in each.

          From an outside perspective, it makes sense to think that the chances of them encountering danger during this task are low, even if they don’t feel that way. Then you take another step in perspective to consider that this is a comic and we expect some sort of even to happen, and I can see where readers might be worried about something happening to them.

        2. thejeff

          They’re obviously arriving at a dramatic moment, considering the fence being put up, but yeah, there’s definitely conditioning to think of protesting as scary (and we see it not just with them, but with a lot of commenters).

        3. Charles Phipps

          I think everything I would say is the summary that one of the Palestinian protestors only just now got released and the President still wants him in jail.

        4. thejeff

          Yeah, and that’s absolutely indefensible, but it’s still one out of how many?

          That’s not the common experience. Not the usual outcome of going to a protest.

        5. Yumi

          The level of danger also varies by protest and the likelihood of something happening while there also varies with how long someone is there. Like, definitely getting some clues that Dorothy and Joyce just have the worst timing, but presumably there have been plenty of other fifteen minute windows where they would have been fine.

        6. thejeff

          It definitely does. Most protest rally kind of things are almost completely safe – like the No Kings last weekend. Encampments like this are higher risk, since they’re likely eventually going to be cleared out. Even then, there’s usually the opportunity to leave before the cops decide to go in with force.

          If you’re going to night protests where there’s already been violence on previous days? Be ready for street fighting.

        7. HueSatLight

          They’re being fenced in.

    2. Taffy

      For real, though. If someone tries to genuinely hurt Joyce or Dorothy, Joyce is just gonna go all Kaio-ken on their ass and probably Amazi-Girl will show up to punch several identical white guys. It’ll be a fun fight scene, but I’ll change my name to Punished Taffy for a month if Joyce or Dorothy gets any injury more severe than a mild black eye.

    3. Bobby

      this is a peaceful protest in the states. things are crazy here and have been for a long time

    4. Kyulen

      Police in the US often don’t treat protesters very well, especially when those protesters are protesting against genocide, war, or previous bad actions of the police.

      1. Nadamás

        Or current bad actions by the police.

      2. thejeff

        This is all true, but at the same time, the danger is often wildly overstated. The vast majority of protesters walk away completely unharmed. Shit does happen. The police do get violent and there’s no excuse for that, but still overwhelmingly it’s still safe to protest. The media focuses on the violence of course, so that sets the impression.
        Go protest. You’re not actually taking your life in your hands.

      3. BorkBorkBork

        I would like to point out that I, personally, am a person within the United States who has been a part of more than one protest, and yet somehow I am both alive, without an arrest record, and in possession of most of my teeth.

        For everyone saying, “OK, but you’re CLEARLY not familiar with how protests go in Amurica, they have guns and evil police,” congrats, you’re engaging in stereotype.

        1. Nadamás

          Yeah because nothing bad having happen to you personally is representative of everyone’s experience ⬆️

        2. Taffy

          It’s not their fault you’re too stupid to understand the difference between a recounted personal experience and a sweeping statement of all humans.

        3. Nadamás

          You are fucking exhausting today.

        4. Taffy

          You don’t have any room to complain about me.

        5. thejeff

          Protests can go bad. No one’s denying that. Police violence does happen. Protestor violence happens too, though more rarely. People get arrested unjustly. These things happen. They shouldn’t. It’s indefensible.

          But it’s also not the common experience. Vast majority of protestors don’t go through any of that.

          Why are we so dedicated to pushing the idea that protesting is incredibly dangerous? Who does that serve?

        6. Nadamás

          Nobody had that said anything about protesting been “Incredibly dangerous” here just the regular amount of dangerous you seem to agree to.

        7. Freemage

          I think thejeff is pointing to the strip at this point. Narratives about the dangers of protesting, particularly those centered on main characters, create the impression that such dangers are ‘typical’ of protests in general. This, in turn, creates reluctance to actually engage in protests, thereby diminishing their effectiveness.

        8. Taffy

          Yeah, I don’t really get the scaremongering. Even simple statements like “I don’t think they’re in much danger” is just being invariably met with “But real protests can be dangerous”, like that’s supposed to fix our flawed naivete and make us scared for Joyce and Dorothy.

        9. BorkBorkBork

          I’m arguing that it’s unreasonable to, when showing up to a protest for a planned fifteen minute jaunt, be loudly terrified that you might be killed, because the chances of that happening are incredibly miniscule.

          25 people were killed in the US in 2020 while protesting. There were over 10,600 protests across the US that year. Statistics show that over 95% were completely peaceful, and that there was no property damage or physical injury, either on police or protestor side, for 98% of them.

          Protest sizes ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand, so let’s be generous here and say that there was, on average, 300 attendees for each protest. That would mean that your chance of being killed attending a protest in 2020 would be 1 in 127,200.

          In comparison, statistics by the National Safety Council also show that your chance of being in a car accident is roughly 1 in 366 for every 1,000 miles you drive. If you crunch the numbers – and I did – that means that if you drove five miles to get to the protest, you were in more danger driving to the protest than participating in it.

          But no, I’m the one using anecdotes to try to push a narrative, rather than demonstrate that Joyce and Dorothy are perhaps being a tad melodramatic when they exclaim loudly that they sure hope they’ll keep being alive.

        10. Taffy

          I’m inclined to take the word of someone who’s actually been at a protest and didn’t die, over the incessant pants-wetting of people who are too afraid to even consider the odds of returning alive might be higher than 0%.

        11. Nadamás

          And you know what that is not an stereotype that is an accurate statement about america. It got a massive gun and police violence problem, it’s not up for debate.

        12. BorkBorkBork

          I think you don’t know what the word ‘stereotype’ means.

          As you stand here making a loud, unshakable statement about a different group of people, which you have gathered from a lot of what has been said about those people, and refuse to listen to reasoned arguments that claim that yes, while SOME are like this, you cannot assume that ALL are like this, or even MOST are like this. You instead say, no, I am not debating or discussing this, those people have a massive problem, it is exactly what I say it is.

    5. Daibhid C

      Okay, and did all of them involve people coming from outside the school, like Joss has, news coverage, which is how Hank knows about this, and someone cordoning off the area, like we’re seeing in this strip? Or does that suggest something bigger and potentially more likely to involve polive violence than protests that happen “half the weekend about one thing or another”?

      1. Daibhid C

        *police violence, not polive.

      2. Freemage

        So, I just did a little digging, and looked up what was happening with protests at UIB specifically during the time these strips would’ve been written. A pro-protest site I found did not talk about actual serious injuries or deaths; it did, however, talk about temporary arrests (charges were ultimately not filed, due to the prosecutors’ concerns that the arrests themselves were unconstitutional) and the University coming up with very targeted policies about ‘temporary structures’ meant to disperse the protestors, and about students being charged with violations of UIB policy–which could lead to suspension from campus.

        Interestingly, the non-lethal consequences I mention above are actually, by virtue of being non-lethal, absolutely something that could happen to one or both of the girls, with long-lasting ramifications (especially for Dotty–an arrest for being a protestor would absolutely be the final nail in the coffin to her political ambitions).

  27. Kiashi

    theyre HOLDING HANDSSSSSS

    do u think they held hands the whole walk over, i think they did, oh they’re so girlfriends <3

    1. Taffy

      They definitely did. I wonder how long they managed to separate their hands while they were getting dressed. I imagine seconds at most, just long enough to slip a sleeve past.

    2. Thing2

      Maybe they don’t want to get separated at a protest. Boring answer.

      1. Nymph

        Super boring, since they’re holding hands well before they actually enter the protest crowd.

  28. Suet

    guess this won’t,at worst, serve as a humanizing anecdote

    borrowed the hat, nice

  29. Thing2

    Innumerous? That’s a new one on me. Must be another linguistic difference I was not aware of, not having met it before!

    1. Daibhid C

      There are a lot of differences between various English dialects, yes. Some might say an uncountable number of them.

  30. EtchJetty

    aw the resolution got reverted. here i was thinking that it was uploaded in hd specifically so we could see dotty and joyce holding hands LOL

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Wayback Machine gotcha back.

  31. Acher4

    This feels like a finale of a sort is coming.

    1. Nymph

      I’m not sure what you mean?

      1. Deanatay

        Well, they’re calling back the punchline, for one.

  32. Thing2

    Protesters could jump in the waterway if kettled?

  33. ValdVin

    i wonder when this was put onto the buffer, and also in the real world if IU’s given in to one of the Elise Stefaniks of the GOP.

  34. Charles Phipps

    The argument about not having your phone and disguising your identity is good to avoid the police arresting you or harrassing you. Other people think that you actually have to be willing to be arrested to make the protests work. Sadly, very few people want to be a martyr nor should anyone have to be.

    1. thejeff

      Being arrested is a valid protest tactic, but it’s far from the only or most effective one.

    2. Huttj

      I generally support people who choose themselves to be in danger in order to make their voices heard.

      Those who demand others put themselves in danger for the same purpose, generally get the side-eye from me.

  35. Andy

    It’s not like we have evidence that the local police are corrupt and tied to the mob. Willing to kill to protect themselves from discovery. They wouldn’t hurt someone in a public place like a park or a hospital. And get totally away with it.

  36. Zamperla

    Honestly I’m really proud of both of them. Something like this would have been too politically dangerous for Dorothy, once. And unthinkable for Joyce, once.

  37. Steamweed

    BE QUEER; DO PROTESTS.

  38. George the Archon

    A callback!

    We do love a callback.

  39. beth

    Oh my Cheese I love the callback!

  40. Reltzik

    Well, silver lining, Mary’s now in a cage too.

    …. I mean, she has to be, right? It’s not like the power structures at hand would treat the protest and counter-protest with anything other than total, even-handed equality, right? Right?

  41. Laura

    Just wanted to check in, in case anyone is having a hard time today.

    Remember that peer support is always available.

    For example

    https://translifeline.org/

    877-565-8860

  42. BorkBorkBork

    “I feel naked without my phone.”

    “Me, too.”

    …

    …

    *handholding intensifies*

  43. Pharmadan

    That “portion alive” bit would make a great title for the next book.

    Especially if it includes some Mike flashback or other bonus material

  44. Charles Phipps

    So what are the odds that Jocelyn gets dumped into a van by the police and triggers Dorothy?

  45. David

    Be gay, do crime that topple oppressive power structures

  46. BYM!

    Is it gay to do callbacks with your best friend

    1. Freemage

      Only if you do them right.

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