Joe has wanted to corrupt Joyce the entire run of the comic, but has had some serious introspection after his father got together with Stacy and seems to be stuck between “I want to be better for Joyce” and “Joyce is better too and doesn’t deserve a shallow playboy like me”
I think in Joe’s mind, since he genuinely cares about Joyce, he feels like his sexual desire towards her is a bad thing.
For as sex-positive as he seems, I think he still views his own sexual desires in as a negative thing.
Wereg
He got kinda whiplashed after getting flak for his list, which made him kind of reexamine his outlook on a lot of things sexual. That and hard realising that hook ups aren’t what he really wants nowadays. IMO he’s probably gonna develop some wild trauma about both objectifying others and being hardcore objectified in turn.
That’s just what I remember though, and I could be wrong.
Daniel M Ball
could also be he’s just growing up, and growing out of ‘hook ups’ toward wanting something a bit more substantial and real. ISTR my interest in that stuff died right about age 22, when I realized I wanted more than I could get with my hand and some porn from someone else.
didn’t do me much good in the long term, but just because you WERE a horndog while the hormones were dominant, doesn’t mean you won’t mature out of it to at least SOME extent.
The way I see it, Joe doesn’t want to be Joyce’s first port of call to learn about how sex works. He doesn’t want to for what her what Liz wanted him to be; an experience to get used to things whereupon she moves onto someone else.
Liz realized she didn’t want her first time to be with a guy she didn’t know and that it should be with someone she loves (this part is sensible), and then got fueled by her upbringing into thinking she would have ruined herself forever if she slept with him. The parallel there, I think, is that Joe wants to be that guy Joyce loves, and then she’d feel comfortable having sex with him. As it is now, even if Joyce suddenly wanted to have sex with Joe, Joe would think of it as ending the same way it did with Liz (which is debatable, as Joyce does know and trust Joe, just maybe not well enough for that yet), and more importantly, if it worked out then Joyce wouldn’t need him for anything anymore; she banged the indomitable sex monster, had her first time, and now she can go find her real boyfriend.
There was a time where I was confused any time someone would reference sex with the girl being under the guy, because I just was struggling to figure out the mechanics of it, like wouldn’t her legs get in the way? Like if she’s crouching and I’m behind her that would work, and if I’m lying down and she straddles me that would work, but how am I supposed to insert tab A into slot B if *I’m* on top. Then I found porn, and now I just think that missionary seems like a lot more work than it’s worth, like I have to do *all* the work? Sounds exhausting, really, especially if she isn’t on a convenient ledge so I have to do push ups to make it work. I hate push ups. I just wanna be ridden, some day.
tbh up until this exact moment I thought “missionary” in the context of missionary sex just meant like “on a mission”. like the easiest position so you are on a mission to fuck and be done with it
20 degrees is a good temperature. It’s cold enough that it feels cold but not completely bitter and frigid, and it’s still warm enough to snow. It might be my favorite December temperature. I’m fine with waiting until January for single digits and below-zero.
It’s a smidge on the cold side IMO, but it’s certainly entirely reasonable.
Uly
Thirty is hot
Twenty is nice
Ten is cold
Zero is ice.
(That’s ~86, 68, 50, 32. Double it, take away 1/10, add 32. If you start with a whole number you end with a whole number, otherwise you imply a degree of precision that you don’t actually have.)
Plain Marie
Alternatively:
0 is freezy but
10 is not
20 is breezy and
30 is hot
Oh yeah. When you get down to single digits or below zero, it just doesn’t snow. That’s the sort of bitter cold that I like in January. Where you step outside with gloves and hat and coat on and the air bites at your face a bit and it takes a couple minutes after coming back into the warmth for the chill to fully leave you.
The topic of the strip is that eventually, someone’s gonna bang Joyce, so it might as well be Joe.
Joe, however, doesn’t want to pounce on the opportunity of being Joyce’s first foray with sex things, doesn’t want it to think of being with Joyce in a way where sleeping with her is just some Thing that’s going to happen and won’t matter to either of them the way sex never mattered to him until recently, and he doesn’t only want to matter to her as an ex-Christian weirdo innocent’s looking stupidly to him for her first freshman year brush with sin.
Amber’s mother married Joe’s dad. So Amber and Joe are working their way into their new sibling relationship. Which may include some shared insights, straight talk, fights and competition, annoyances, and digs at each other. At least that’s how I read it.
Yeah, I don’t really enjoy her lately. I feel like I’m expected to like her, or see this as her giving Joe his “just desserts”, but she’s just sort of mocking his deepest insecurities. At least with Dina it was an accident.
I more meant when Joe tried to hint he was looking for emotional support and Dina basically said, “neat” because she didn’t realize until later what he really meant. Totally accidental!
The horny thing was a little uncomfortable for some reason–I think because it just felt distressingly blunt and maybe a little sexual harassmenty–but I sort of brushed it off because it’s so obviously being played up as a bit.
Reminds me of when I used to take apart and experiment with bug zappers as a kid, except with less reproductive organs involved ?
begbert2
I read this as you saying that Dina’s ‘experimenting’ would involve less reproductive organs than your experiments with bug zappers did, which is a terrifying and painful-sounding notion.
I’m not sure more caffeine than a college dorm can provide is a safe amount of caffeine to consume. That’s like wanting more alcohol than you can get at a frat party.
Ontario weather sucks. I should be losing myself in a bigass hoodie starting with November until February, but hell if that’s happened in, like, a decade.
143 thoughts on “Distressingly”
Ana Chronistic
can’t wait to do this at MAGFest
carrying a coat is a pain in the ass
Decidedly Orthogonal
Missionary? Or were you not referring to the al-text?
The Wellerman
Wait, I’m confused. Did Joe WANT to “corrupt” Joyce?
Kyrik Michalowski
As I recall, Joe made a comment on how was going to “break Joyce in” and has yet to admit what Joyce’s number before he made it 0.
Kyrik Michalowski
Take mine as paraphrasing since I don’t remember the actual quote.
Thag Simmons
he outright said to Danny it was a 4 that could be ‘upgraded’ to a ten.
Needfuldoer
Yup. Thankfully, he’s grown up a lot since then.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/corrupt/
Adam Black
Minus 0
AntJ
Joe has wanted to corrupt Joyce the entire run of the comic, but has had some serious introspection after his father got together with Stacy and seems to be stuck between “I want to be better for Joyce” and “Joyce is better too and doesn’t deserve a shallow playboy like me”
Techhead
I think part of him still wants to, and a louder part of him wishes he didn’t want it.
Daniel M Ball
That sounds about right to me.
Fay
I think in Joe’s mind, since he genuinely cares about Joyce, he feels like his sexual desire towards her is a bad thing.
For as sex-positive as he seems, I think he still views his own sexual desires in as a negative thing.
Wereg
He got kinda whiplashed after getting flak for his list, which made him kind of reexamine his outlook on a lot of things sexual. That and hard realising that hook ups aren’t what he really wants nowadays. IMO he’s probably gonna develop some wild trauma about both objectifying others and being hardcore objectified in turn.
That’s just what I remember though, and I could be wrong.
Daniel M Ball
could also be he’s just growing up, and growing out of ‘hook ups’ toward wanting something a bit more substantial and real. ISTR my interest in that stuff died right about age 22, when I realized I wanted more than I could get with my hand and some porn from someone else.
didn’t do me much good in the long term, but just because you WERE a horndog while the hormones were dominant, doesn’t mean you won’t mature out of it to at least SOME extent.
Spencer
The way I see it, Joe doesn’t want to be Joyce’s first port of call to learn about how sex works. He doesn’t want to for what her what Liz wanted him to be; an experience to get used to things whereupon she moves onto someone else.
Liz realized she didn’t want her first time to be with a guy she didn’t know and that it should be with someone she loves (this part is sensible), and then got fueled by her upbringing into thinking she would have ruined herself forever if she slept with him. The parallel there, I think, is that Joe wants to be that guy Joyce loves, and then she’d feel comfortable having sex with him. As it is now, even if Joyce suddenly wanted to have sex with Joe, Joe would think of it as ending the same way it did with Liz (which is debatable, as Joyce does know and trust Joe, just maybe not well enough for that yet), and more importantly, if it worked out then Joyce wouldn’t need him for anything anymore; she banged the indomitable sex monster, had her first time, and now she can go find her real boyfriend.
Doctor_Who
Re: Alt-text
Joyce, in her current state of mind, would probably want to call it something else.
Also, she’s probably unaware other positions exist.
RassilonTDavros
“Bulmeria position.”
John Campbell
That’s where you just imagine that you’re having missionary sex?
Doctor_Who
Tummy wands are involved.
Psychie
There was a time where I was confused any time someone would reference sex with the girl being under the guy, because I just was struggling to figure out the mechanics of it, like wouldn’t her legs get in the way? Like if she’s crouching and I’m behind her that would work, and if I’m lying down and she straddles me that would work, but how am I supposed to insert tab A into slot B if *I’m* on top. Then I found porn, and now I just think that missionary seems like a lot more work than it’s worth, like I have to do *all* the work? Sounds exhausting, really, especially if she isn’t on a convenient ledge so I have to do push ups to make it work. I hate push ups. I just wanna be ridden, some day.
angie
tbh up until this exact moment I thought “missionary” in the context of missionary sex just meant like “on a mission”. like the easiest position so you are on a mission to fuck and be done with it
Andy
20 degrees is a good temperature. It’s cold enough that it feels cold but not completely bitter and frigid, and it’s still warm enough to snow. It might be my favorite December temperature. I’m fine with waiting until January for single digits and below-zero.
Kyrik Michalowski
It’s been so warm down here that I am still using my window a/c.
Tan
Just to check, you realize they’re talking about Fahrenheit, yes?
Meagan
They must. 20 degrees Fahrenheit is not snow weather.
Meagan
D’oh! I meant 20 celsius is not snow weather.
Opus the Poet
As I recall it 20°C is a warm room temperature.
foamy
It’s a smidge on the cold side IMO, but it’s certainly entirely reasonable.
Uly
Thirty is hot
Twenty is nice
Ten is cold
Zero is ice.
(That’s ~86, 68, 50, 32. Double it, take away 1/10, add 32. If you start with a whole number you end with a whole number, otherwise you imply a degree of precision that you don’t actually have.)
Plain Marie
Alternatively:
0 is freezy but
10 is not
20 is breezy and
30 is hot
zee
What no 20°C is freezing. 27 is cool and pleasant
KiaStirling
As someone who has never experienced weather sub 25F… it gets too cold to snow??? I’m horrified.
Andy
Oh yeah. When you get down to single digits or below zero, it just doesn’t snow. That’s the sort of bitter cold that I like in January. Where you step outside with gloves and hat and coat on and the air bites at your face a bit and it takes a couple minutes after coming back into the warmth for the chill to fully leave you.
Kyrik Michalowski
Will someone clue me in as to what Amber means in panel 4?
Is she just repeating it back to him?
Pickonecard
I think she means “but that’s how you *are* thinking about it, you just don’t want to think about it that way”
Steamweed
That’s how I interpreted it, too.
Needfuldoer
Same.
Note the subtle emphasis on “want”.
bret
I read it as her saying he doesn’t want to feel that way, but it’s how he really feels deep down
bootshivers
It’s not how he WANTS to think about it, but it’s implied it’s how he DOES think of it.
misanthropope
no, i think she’s pointing how off-brand it is for joe to talk like that.
Spencer
The topic of the strip is that eventually, someone’s gonna bang Joyce, so it might as well be Joe.
Joe, however, doesn’t want to pounce on the opportunity of being Joyce’s first foray with sex things, doesn’t want it to think of being with Joyce in a way where sleeping with her is just some Thing that’s going to happen and won’t matter to either of them the way sex never mattered to him until recently, and he doesn’t only want to matter to her as an ex-Christian weirdo innocent’s looking stupidly to him for her first freshman year brush with sin.
My dude is deadass in love, y’all.
BBCC
The best siblings, I don’t know what you mean.
Plain Marie
Amber’s mother married Joe’s dad. So Amber and Joe are working their way into their new sibling relationship. Which may include some shared insights, straight talk, fights and competition, annoyances, and digs at each other. At least that’s how I read it.
DailyBrad
I feel like Amber’s always had some bluntness, but it does really seem like she’s taking on Mike aspects.
Adam Black
She sounds like Joe, actually from the first day
Imogen
Yeah, I don’t really enjoy her lately. I feel like I’m expected to like her, or see this as her giving Joe his “just desserts”, but she’s just sort of mocking his deepest insecurities. At least with Dina it was an accident.
The Wellerman
Wait, how exactly did Dina do that?
Thag Simmons
I think they’re talking about this?
Imogen
I more meant when Joe tried to hint he was looking for emotional support and Dina basically said, “neat” because she didn’t realize until later what he really meant. Totally accidental!
The horny thing was a little uncomfortable for some reason–I think because it just felt distressingly blunt and maybe a little sexual harassmenty–but I sort of brushed it off because it’s so obviously being played up as a bit.
Steamweed
Dina is a very good scientist.
The Wellerman
Reminds me of when I used to take apart and experiment with bug zappers as a kid, except with less reproductive organs involved ?
begbert2
I read this as you saying that Dina’s ‘experimenting’ would involve less reproductive organs than your experiments with bug zappers did, which is a terrifying and painful-sounding notion.
Clif
Accidently.
Stephen Bierce
*plays Axelle Red’s “Mon Cafe” on the PA speakers*
Laura
I love the way Joe’s eyes water when he is looking distressed.
Proxiehunter
I’m not sure more caffeine than a college dorm can provide is a safe amount of caffeine to consume. That’s like wanting more alcohol than you can get at a frat party.
The Wellerman
You know what I wonder?
How much caffeine do the characters in this strip ACTUALLY use?
Like, did Joyce and Becky ever drink coffee, or was that also prohibited by their fundie cult?
Jeff K!
They’re Fundamentalists, not LDS. Coffee and black tea are explicitly an LDS (Mormon) no-no.
Audkitten
Joe and Amber brother-sister time. I like it a lot!
RassilonTDavros
Be sure to check the other site for tonight’s update!
Signed, Mike Warner
Barf Ninjason
Amber! Write some fanfiction…friendfiction?…in which Dorothy spanks Joyce for being too vanilla! And also an obnoxious New Atheist
Michael L
Writing slash fiction about your real life friends is pretty…not great. Definitely do not share it with them!
darkgloomie
that ship has kinda sailed already with Amber.
All we can hope for is that WLW is not one of her kinks.
Dina's Smile
It’s nice how Joe is going with her.
TrueVCU
And thus Amber’s world tour of detonating all of her relationships continues
chuckroast
Amber, please.
Bluewind
Other people: Damn the cold!
Me and my space heater of a body: FINALLY! IT’S COLD ENOUGH THAT I CAN WEAR ALL THE SNUGGLY THINGS!!!!
Steamweed
Me: FINALLY. I can wear the long sleeve shirts again!
Bluewind
Yes! Like… I want sweater paws too! They are so nice. Just a big soft oversized top with sleeves past my hands. I want to LIVE in them O_O
Also? In my opinion, the best clothing merch is almost always cold weather.
Spencer
ikr
Ontario weather sucks. I should be losing myself in a bigass hoodie starting with November until February, but hell if that’s happened in, like, a decade.
zee
I hate you people and your “seasons”
I’m sweating at 8 am over here (╥﹏╥)
DarkoNeko