261

Self-portraits
Posted on October 4, 2023 by David M Willis

261 thoughts on “Self-portraits”

  1. shrub

    Dun dun dunn!

    1. saltchocolate

      Hovertext clue: Joyce Lynn just needed more practice writing her name! ?

    2. Steamweed

      That’s exactly what Tunaro wrote!

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/writer/

  2. Dave Van Domelen

    Brother’s self-actualization art?

    1. TrueVCU

      *Sister’s

  3. AeromechanicalAce

    What a way to find out she’s had a sister all along…

    1. Doctor_Who

      Here’s hoping we get a nice JoyceFace reaction when the penny drops.

      1. Kazuma Taichi

        wait I thought Penny was dropped when the T.A. Department learned she was boning Joe

    2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      Maybe it’s her mom’s, and she just doesn’t realise that mom has the same first name as her…?

      1. Taffy

        What

      2. Aura

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/writer/

      3. eh, whatever

        Carol.

      4. Random832

        18 is a little old to not know your parents’ first names, even if it were true.

  4. Just an Armadillo

    Oh, well that’s one way to find out about your sister…

    1. AJ

      Or your daughter. Do we know for sure that Joycelyn is the one who put that stuff in there?

      1. Just an Armadillo

        I don’t believe for a moment Carol was perceptive enough to realize who actually made these drawings. She’s completely deluded.

        1. Kelibath

          Sure. but Joyce – at least – thinks Hank is the one who was storing things.

  5. Hmrc4evr

    Huh. I was wonder when this might come back up

  6. NGPZ

    Joycelyn… awe ?

  7. morhek

    Will this be how she finds out?

    1. True Survivor

      Yes but only about her secret Canadian half-siblings, not Joycelyn.

  8. Animedingo

    Nothing is true

    Everything is permitted

    1. Quirdry Tawks

      I think you might have that backwards…?

      Oh, that’s right; I’m in the US.

      1. Taffy

        No, thats how it goes.

        1. Kelibath

          They’re making a joke about the US brand of fasco-capitalism.

        2. Taffy

          Yes.

    2. Dday

      War is peace
      Freedom is slavery
      Ignorance is strength
      Black is white
      Up is down
      And short is long
      And everything you thought was just so important doesn’t matter

    3. Amós Batista

      Chaos magick?

  9. Lilith

    SHE’S BACK

    1. Kim

      The woman behind the mask!

  10. Thag Simmons

    oh, we’re doing this?

  11. Dunedon

    But how many years (our time) … before they realize what they’ve found.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Either this get dropped immediately and doesn’t get followed up on, or they do a bit of digging and things get dramatic fast

    2. Jamie

      Depends entirely on how obvious the art actually ends up being. Because Carol clearly didn’t figure it out.

      1. saltchocolate

        Carol wouldn’t.

      2. Kelibath

        Carol didn’t – but did Hank, I wonder?
        They’ve been stored for safe keeping and he must know they’re not Joyce’s. She mentions “dad” taking them down there. And he’d already been separated from one child by joining Carol in too fundamentalist/conservative approach.

        1. thejeff

          She only mentions “dad” in the context of the non-existent Canadian sister. Other than that theory, she’s got no reason to think it was Hank and not Carol.

        2. Kelibath

          That’s true, I suppose. I just figured it might be Hank because she didn’t think it unusual that the drawings would be boxed up and stored by him. And frankly he’s for sure the warmer parent of the two.

    3. Adept

      Everybody but I seem to know what the reference is. Help a nerd out?

      1. Kelibath

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/writer/

  12. DiDi

    Oh! This is the other sibling, right? The one who was estranged?

    1. Doctor_Who

      It’s Jocelyn.

      Joyce doesn’t know Jocelyn isn’t Joshua.

      1. AeromechanicalAce

        I think the only one in the cast who DOES know is Ethan.

        1. Zero

          That’s not true.
          Jocelyn also knows.

        2. Kelibath

          I might peg Hank as a potential third ‘at least suspects’ now.

        3. Fnord

          Hank doesn’t seem like the pegging kind.

        4. Taffy

          They never do.

    2. DailyBrad

      That’s Jordan, they’ve stumbled on Jocelyn’s stuff, it seems.

  13. Jacob Crawford

    Is this seriously how Joyce is going to find out? Or simply a breadcrumb that will lead to a later realization?

    1. Ty34er

      That is my thought as well

    2. DailyBrad

      I am inclined to say the breadcrumb, given we’ve had other opportunities for Joss to let Joyce know, and she seemed on the edge of telling Joyce but not doing it yet. This could be the catalyst that puts that into motion.

      1. Kelibath

        I agree. I see Joyce asking Jocelyn(n?) about potential other family…

  14. Joe Moose

    Oh wow, really now

  15. Animedingo

    Oh Joycelynn, it’s the trans sister from ages ago

    1. Taffy

      Dumbing of Ages ago

  16. Tom

    ???

  17. Cattleprod

    I’m finally signing up for Patreon so I can vote for a secret Canadian family bonus strip.

    1. Thag Simmons

      Which parents in this comic travel enough that they might have one? Are any of the dads airline pilots?

      1. thejeff

        Jennifer’s probably the likeliest. Her dad’s always away on business.

        Blaine already had a secret family, but not in Canada. Going by SP! background he could have had more, but he doesn’t seem to be as prolific here.

        Ruth of course is the secret Canadian family.

        1. Proxiehunter

          Let’s hope she’s not Jennifer’s secret Canadian family.

  18. Jamie

    Oh, wow. I didn’t expect this direction. I am excite.

    1. Angel

      well, Joycelyn has been wanting to talk to her for a bit so this would be an opportunity since she seemed to be ignoring her texts

  19. Kyrik Michalowski

    Finding a different name on stuff you know is yours, is certainly concerning. However I doubt it is anything as sinister as a replacement Joyce/clone Joyce.

    Not like that could ever happen… right?

    1. Erica

      It’s Jocelyn

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        I figured. I was making a joke about the weird stuff that happens to these characters in other universes. I don’t know for certain if there was ever a Joyce doppelganger, but I hope there was.

        1. Aoinfinity

          Oh, there definitely was.

        2. Ed Callahan

          Head Alein inadvertently produced an Anti-Joyce. Joyce and anti-Joyce did not get along.

        3. Ed Callahan

          Alien. Sorry.

        4. HueSatLight

          She’s been invoked. https://www.dumbingofage.com/hussification/

  20. Nono

    Missed opportunity to have Dorothy’s or Becky’s middle name be Barbara.

    (Well we know Dorothy’s is Margot, so there’s still chance for Becky.)

  21. Kyrik Michalowski

    Also Willis, is there some optimal way of viewing this site? Trying to leave a two sentence comment takes 5 minutes because of all the stuttering and loading of the page.

    1. eh, whatever

      Adblock, with “acceptable ads” switched off.

      To help Willis out financially, there’s Patreon.

    2. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

      I haven’t had major issues, but I think viewing on PC can be a bit smoother than on mobile.

  22. Alongcameaspider

    Why Canadian specifically?

    Anyway looking forward to Joyce realizing she’s had a sister this whole time

    1. True Survivor

      Her dad is very nice and very pale, so maybe its less he’s an American who has a secret Canadian family and more he’s a has an undercover Canadian and Joyce is the secret daughter.

    2. Dark_T_Zeratul

      Joyce: “So what you’re telling me is… I have a sister? Sqeeeeeeeeeeee!”

      1. Kelibath

        I’m holding out hope for that response either way.

        That being said, Joyce is still unpacking stuff, and I’m not sure she actually realises she knows trans people other than Booster conciously yet.

        1. RassilonTDavros

          I think she knows about Malaya, as well, but doesn’t really grasp either their or Booster’s identities fully yet. I doubt Joyce knows about Carla, although I have a hunch that Becky might.

        2. thejeff

          Yeah there was a comment early in the second semester introductions about “you’re also like booster?”

    3. Angel

      lol well even if her dad did have an affair i’d think most ppl wouldn’t name their secret kids with such a similar name, tho you do see reddit stories of “my partner wants to name our kid after their first ex/love” and such

      1. Daibhid C

        Now I’m reminded of when Pete Tyler tried to explain to Jackie that Rose was the future version of baby Rose, and got as far as “She’s my daughter” before Jackie shrieked “How many have you got? Are they all named Rose?!”

        1. RassilonTDavros

          Yeah. I think there was also a similar gag with the two Trunks (Trunkses?) in Dragonball but I kinda blotted most of the Goku Black arc out of my head after the ending of it just… shit all over the most hard-earned happy ending of any character in the entire series. Agh. AGGGGH.

        2. Taffy

          I fucking love Jackie Tyler.

        3. RassilonTDavros

          Honestly, she’s the single best character of Davies’ run until Donna shows up.

      2. Yumi

        “Don’t want to get my daughters’ names mixed up and accidentally reveal anything…ah, I know!”

      3. GLaDOS

        There’s a sitcom (‘The Other One’) with the backstory that the father was leading a double life and had given both his daughters, one by each partner, the same name. The author said it happened quite often in real life, with the fathers reasoning that it cut down on the chances of them giving the game away.

    4. Segnosaur

      Re: why pick Canada

      Isn’t it a sort of trope? Like “secret Canadian girlfriend”? A secret Canadian family would fit in with that

      They probably pick Canada because it is close enough to the US that it would be plausible to visit, and there are cultural similarities (such as the use of English), but it is far enough away and foreign enough that you wouldn’t expect to visit too often.

      1. Daibhid C

        I thought the point of the “Girlfriend in Canada” trope wasn’t that she was kept secret, but that the person who had one was very public about her exitence, but also probably lying about said existence.

        The reason why it’s Canada is pretty much what you said, though. Here in the UK, I believe the equivalent is France, even thought they don’t have the cultural similarities. If the speaker is a teenager, it traditionally comes with the explanation “we met on a school trip”.

    5. Sombrero

      It’s a reference to an old It’s Walky! storyline where Joyce went to Canada and got gender-swapped.

      1. Roborat

        Or a Breakfast Club joke.

  23. System of Eleven

    I am both excited and petrified. Joyce is getting better about accepting things she doesn’t understand, but I’m not sure she’d be able to keep the secret once she knows it. And if anybody in their home town find out (let alone their walking incubator) I’m not sure Jocelynn would be physically safe from another rendition of “fix my family by force”…

    1. Angel

      well i don’t imagine she’d actively seek out/initiate a convo with her mom but she might be willing to tell her dad

      tho i’d imagine jocylene would maybe be like “don’t tell anyone else . cept becky” maybe or so (well her being a lesbian doesn’t necessarily mean she’d understand it as much but maybe slightly better than joyce

      be cool if they could intereact with carla too)

    2. TerribleTransit

      I’m not really concerned about her outing Jocelyne once she finds out so much as in the process. If Joyce talks to her dad (or much worse, her mom, however unlikely that is) about the pictures before talking to Jocelyne, there’s a chance they figure it out without an intentional coming out moment.

  24. newlland(Henryvolt)

    I applaud Joyce for such vivid yet specific imagination.

    Anyway, just a shitpost today on reddit: https://reddit.com/r/dumbingofage/s/OnWeMgzWo9

  25. True Survivor

    Did we know Joyce’s middle name before this?

    1. John Campbell

      I thought I did. But it used to be “Nicole”.

      1. Sombrero

        I was certain that at some point in the first parents’ visit Carol spelled Joyce’s full name as “Joyce Nicole Brown”, but maybe someone implanted that false memory in my brain.

        1. TerribleTransit

          That was in the Walkyverse comics, iirc.

        2. Kelibath

          Maybe Joyce’s middle names should be the official canon universe descriptors.

        3. TerribleTransit

          Hannahverse has a nice ring to it. Not sold on Nicoleverse though.

    2. HueSatLight

      It’s come up, but I don’t remember when.

      1. HueSatLight

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/sexpartspills/ (don’t need memory when there’s a wiki)

        1. John Campbell

          Apparently I commented on the change back then, too, but had still forgotten about it.

        2. True Survivor

          Thanks

  26. Plaaaaaa

    The Anti-Joyce!

  27. Taigan

    That’s eventually going to be a fun conversation for the sisters to have.

    1. Angel

      well at least it’ll be more pleasant with current joyce than comic #1 joyce lol

  28. DailyBrad

    I absolutely adore them sitting together this way, love when Joyce gets to be tiny with Joe looming over her.

    1. Thomas

      Three, two, one seconds before she realizes why Joe keeps inching away. There’s a nice, warm spot & it’s directly behind her cute butt.

    2. Steelbright

      Yeah i have to agree–utterly cute, very functional for joint sorting, and also could potentially lead to plenty of awkwardly suppressed horniness

    3. Nono

      smol/toll!

  29. crys

    “if you don’t want them, I’ll keep them” <3

    1. Schpoonman

      And she’s snuggled up in his lap. The Joss “sighting” is of course what everyone’s talking about but I just love JoJo so much.

    2. Angel

      that is sweet, plus it is pretty rare for you to get a piece of your partners childhood stuff unless you also are childhood friends before then or depending on what they keep lol

    3. findus

      Came here to say this!
      It’s nice to see how comfortable they are with eachother :3

  30. nobodybasically

    Wonder how Jocelyn will react when Joyce finally confronts her about being Canadian this whole time.

  31. BBCC

    Awww!

    And oooh, confirmation DOA Joyce has a new middle name from Walkyverse Joyce! Neat!

  32. Angel

    well thats one way to find out you have a trans sibling

    1. Rikunda

      I don’t think Joyce is able to make that connection. Canadian family is more real than her favorite brother is actually her favorite sister.

      1. Angel

        well maybe her friends will walk her through it, or even ethan telling her tho it’s not his place but i imagine he’d be too distracted with his own issues, or just saying like “oh you should give them a call” or so.

        1. Bash

          I don’t know how this will go, but I know Ethan is absolutely not in the right headspace to be dealing with this.

        2. Angel

          at this point iwouldn’t be surprised if he remembered

          or he might casually go like “hey joyce, hope your sister is doing well too” but i imagine they wouldn’t bump into each other

        3. Derek

          how would her friends know? if someone showed me a child’s drawing signed with what seems to be a misspelled version of my friend’s name; my first thought is NOT “ah, clearly my friend has a trans sibling”. In fact I don’t think anyone thinks that

        4. Angel

          i imagine that wouldn’t be at the forefront of most friends mind but i assume some ppl might pick up on something if they were in the background while joyce and jocelyne are having a call but i imagine it’s something jocelyne would probably want to talk about in person

  33. carms

    Oh noooo don’t chuck Jocelyn’s stuff! Some of her earliest truths!

  34. Aura

    ?

  35. foducool

    lmao she got adopted
    “my whole life is a lie ONCE AGAIN” story arc starts XD

  36. Suet

    I wonder if Jocelyn’s art was just mixed in with Joyce’s, or if it had a separate box and Carol just took ’em too.

    From Joshua to Joyce Lynn, then from Joyce Hannah to…?

    1. Thomas

      If that other bin also includes stuff signed Joshua, the cat will be out of the bag/closet soon enough. As it stands, the glasses are the obvious clue that should lead Joyce to the right person.

  37. Taffy

    Great, another webcomic that’s suddenly moving to Canada for no reason. ?

    1. Amós Batista

      Let’s create a reverse one comic: Canadians young that came to Louisiana to follow their dreams.

  38. HueSatLight

    I would swear there’s a flashback strip of when Carol was pregnant with Joyce and Jocelyne is suggesting “Jocelyne” as a name. patreon bonus strips seem to have gotten worse for searching though.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      It is indeed a Patreon strip. September 2015, I think, if my notes are right.

      1. HueSatLight

        yes, that’s it.
        https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-strip-2015-3448121
        ow my heart

        1. Amós Batista

          Jesus Christ, Joyce’s dad is Mike!?

    2. Aura

      Ahhhh my heart was already hurting for Jocelyne and now I know about this! ?

  39. shrub

    Hell of a way to find out Joyce’s middle name is Hannah

    1. Risky

      Jesus Hoshiana Carol Brown, or Joyce Hannah Brown for pill bottles.

  40. RassilonTDavros

    It feels like we’re inching closer and closer to Jocelyne’s return, and I can’t wait for Joyce to learn the truth.

    Hoping Carol never finds out, though— shit would almost certainly get really ugly. Not sure on Hank.

    1. Dana

      I’ll be mortified for her when she first finds out, freaks out, and says tonedeaf stuff. She’ll quickly come around when it sinks in that she has the sister she always wanted.

      1. TulipKitten

        I mean, Jocelyne has known Joyce for years and knows she’s tonedeaf. Joyce probably would be the most likely family member to even make an effort.

        I mean, when you’re a trans person in the Bible belt (or Indiana) on top of being part of a lower to middle class conservative Christian family, you generally expect breadcrumbs of acceptance, if any at all. I have a feeling if Jocelyne were to meet Carla in-universe, the both of them would not get along at first since their perspectives are so wildly different.

        Joyce probably couldn’t fuck up in a way that would actually hurt Jocelyne.

        1. Mturtle7

          The only thing I can say for certain about a Jocelyn/Joyce confrontation is that it will be simultaneously more and less awkward than Jocelyne ever could have expected.

          Also, definitely agree with you about Carla and Jocelyne.
          Carla: “Be out and proud! Shove your difference in their faces! Don’t let any of those losers tell you what you can or can’t be!”
          Jocelyne: “If I do that, I will literally get murdered.”
          Carla: “…Oh, right, that’s still a thing for poor people, huh.”
          Jocelyne: “…Yes. Yes it is.”
          Carla: “That sucks, bud.”
          Jocelyne: “…I’m going to go talk to someone else now.”

        2. RassilonTDavros

          I have been dying for those two specifically to meet since my first binge… nearly three years ago? My perception of time is thoroughly fucked.

      2. thejeff

        If Joyce finds out in a safe situation with Jocelyne, it’ll be all awkward tonedeaf and painful.

        If it’s in front of Carol, it’ll be all righteous fury from the first word. Joyce will fight anyone for her sister.

    2. Thomas

      Hank practically adopted Becky & pays for her college education. That should be an indication of how open-minded he might be. Also, he’s willing to let himself be influenced by Joyce, who will choose the right path.

      1. Nedlum

        Hank may have practically adopted Becky, but her education is being paid for by a combination of her parent’s estate and a poli-sci scholarship that Robin helped her get.

  41. Thomas

    The real question is if that drawing is actually signed Joyce Lynn or if they’re just misreading it.

    The next question is if a) Jocelyn kept her drawings in Joyce’s bin to hide them, b) Carol stumbled upon them & put them in Joyce’s bin out of ignorance or c) Carol is *very* passive-aggressively trying to tell Joyce something about her sister. I wouldn’t put it past her, but let’s limit Carol’s involvement in this storyline, shall we?

    1. Schpoonman

      I don’t think Carol is that smart or subtle.

    2. Angel

      feels like her mom would’ve been more direct about it like, “i don’t want you turning out like your brother”

    3. TulipKitten

      I mean, Carol said something about “the transgenders” in the storyline, so it might be.

    4. DumbingOfAlice

      If carol *was* aware of Jocelyne’s identity, she wouldn’t’ve described herself as the-family’s-favourite-precisely-because-they-know-the-least-about-me as seen in the 11th October 2013 strip

      1. DumbingOfAlice

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/heated/

      2. Thomas

        You assume nothing happened in the meantime? It’s been a few months.

    5. Bogeywoman

      It seems very realistic that Joss found her name while hiding her art by signing it with Joyce’s name plus Lynne. My name came about similarly (I kept a book to keep track/study people and used anagrams of names to maintain secrecy). My now name was part of my own anagram name.

      1. thejeff

        There’s a patreon strip with a very young Jocelyne saying she liked “Josswin” as a name for a girl. “Not fo’ my sista.”
        But they went with Joyce instead.

        The naming went the other way around.

    6. Amós Batista

      C) Do you remember when Carol pointed transexual people may influenced Joyce to criticize her church? So…

      1. Thomas

        That’s just Carol being generally nasty and also probably aware of Carla’s presence on campus. And *even* Carol is informed enough to speak of “transgenders” nowadays.

  42. HueSatLight

    Is it taboo to talk about preview art from tumblr? just remembered a flashback character model for Joyce relatively recently.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Is DoA finally getting its ’80s-style “all the main characters are de-aged to elementary school for some reason” spin-off? I hope we got Tom Ruegger on board!

  43. Alex Boston

    This is extra surreal for me as a Canadian.

  44. Dday

    Man, if we didn’t know about Jocelyne and have that deflating punchline this scene would be soooo chilling. Picture, if you will, finding children’s art you don’t remember drawing that looks like you and is signed by a similar but slightly different name, except somehow it already has your glasses that you just started wearing recently as an adult.

    1. Taffy

      Joyce has always worn glasses. Always.

      1. Laura

        Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

        1. NGPZ

          And it is here through which Joycelyn goes through a Memory Hole.

        2. Username Taken

          There is no war in Ba Sing Se.

    2. HueSatLight

      Other explanations:
      C) family is on the run under fake identities, and Joyce was too young to understand/remember fully, just that they changed churches a lot when she was little.
      D) Joyce Lynn died before she was born and they never told her about her.
      E) Someone is a slider.

  45. Amelie Wikström

    But how would a whole, very heavy (it’s full of paper) storage bin end up in the wrong family’s basement “by mistake”? That’s the part that makes Joyce’s explanation unlikely, you see.

    1. Thomas

      Easy, it’s full of drawings that Canadian Joyce sent to her absent American daddy, who kept them in the same type of bin as every other child’s drawings. I think John mostly drew large cars of the type televangelists drive.

      1. Amelie Wikström

        I’m not trying to poke holes here, but if you’re two-timing a pair of families I don’t think you give one the address to the other, or really give them any way to get in touch with you when you’re away from them. . .

        1. Thomas

          Okay, but what if Hank spent time away on business trips to Canada and returned with Canadian Joyce’s drawings? He’d have to keep ’em somewhere, preferably in a place where they’d go unnoticed. Which is in a storage bin like every other drawing! Genius, I’d say.

        2. Amelie Wikström

          It’s not “impossible” he’d take those home to family A instead of leaving them with B, hiding them or destroying them, I suppose.

  46. Bash

    It’s finally happening!

  47. AlexaSpuds

    An arc a decade in the making has finally arrived!
    Man I’ve been waiting for this ever since I started reading in like 2017, I’m excited.

    1. Mturtle7

      Don’t get your hopes up too much there, buddy…it’s entirely possible that this is just a tease, and Joyce and Joe will just shrug and toss these drawings aside as an unknowable mystery!

  48. Taffy

    Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here. There’s a chance we’ll cut to Marcie and Malaya holding hands in the park and this whole thing will go examined for months.

    1. Taffy

      Unexamined. FUCK! THE BIT IS RUINED. PULL THE FUCKING PLUG.

      1. Bash

        This is not related to your comment but I just wanted to say that your gravatar helped me with my Japanese vocabulary reviews the other day.

    2. Nedlum

      We have been almost entirely lacking in Marcie strips this semester.

      1. Thomas

        Marcie is no longer part of the main line-up, although she still plays on the Quidditch team, of course.

  49. bagge

    ?

  50. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    This is her evil twin clone, like Hannerlore’s over in Questionable Content.

    1. Laura

      Does Hannelore have an evil twin clone? I don’t remember one.

      1. Needfuldoer

        haha yeah

        It’s more of a ruthless side of herself she keeps buried most of the time.

        1. Mr. Random

          No, that’s just the inevitable future demon queen of Earth.

      2. Bash

        I think she imagined a scenario where she had an evil clone that killed her and took over her mother’s empire.

        1. Laura

          Wow! I do NOT remember that one bit. Was it a Patreon bonus strip?

        2. Needfuldoer

          I remember she imagined she had a twin who was some kind of evil assassin, but that was waaay back. Probably within the first 2,000 strips. Patreon didn’t even exist yet.

        3. NoNamePlaceholder

          Yeah, iirc, they were some kind of mercenary working for Hannelore’s mother, and Hanners was created so that she’d be able to convincingly fake her own death in the future

          I distinctly remember the scenario ending with her telling Hanners that she’d kill her *before* ripping out her teeth

        4. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, that’s the one!

          QC’s back catalog isn’t really searchable, but throwing keywords into Google Images managed to pin it down:

          https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1662

        5. Laura

          Wow, thanks, y’all! Especially Needfuldoer, for that link!

    2. Daibhid C

      It always amuses me (in a good way) that there are people reading this comic who are so unfamiliar with the Old Universe that if they make a joke about Joyce having an “evil twin clone”, they’ll reference a different comic entirely.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        I’ve read Shortpacked!, but not the rest of the DYW multiverse.

        1. HueSatLight

          She was Anti-Joyce, and her evil trait was that she fucked. And then Joyce murdered her. It was a “authur’s religion made them hate themself” storyline. http://www.itswalky.com/comic/but-what-can-you-do-now/

        2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Thanks!

      2. HueSatLight

        wouldn’t it be weird if Mike was suddenly alive again, with no explanation, like Dan Conner on Roseanne?

    3. Disastroid

      Hannedata, I assume

  51. Laura

    …OK, who’s up for a game?

    Here goes: if you were sifting through a box of memorabilia from your childhood, as Joyce is, here, what would you keep, and what would you definitely toss?

    1. Laura

      I’d keep the teddy bear, the doll I sewed with my mother, and the medical records. I’d toss everything else.

      What about you folks?

    2. NGPZ

      I’d keep all my science geek stuff and pokemon stuff. Classic PC games too.

      1. Laura

        Cool!

    3. morleuca

      My mother gave away or donated most of my childhood.

      1. Laura

        Do you feel sad about it?
        Or is it more of a peaceful feeling, like the things being at rest?
        Or something else?

    4. Da Boy

      Keep Legos, still have them.

      1. Laura

        So cool! Do you still make things with them?

    5. HueSatLight

      I think there’s still boxes labeled “1st grade”, “2nd grade”, etc for me and my sister somewhere. I have gone through something from like 8th or 9th grade. We had to do a journal for English class, and it was very [some flavor of] frustrating to read. I just imagine the teacher flipping through dozens of those, to make sure the students are all writing something, and seeing glimpses of them being various kinds of weird and cliché at the same time.

      Keeping all the sculptures I made in art class, keeping a sampling of drawings. Keeping the math worksheet from first grade, where we had to match the front half of a dinosaur with the back half, to make the addition problem correct, but the dinosaurs ended up not matching, and I was not happy about having to do that, so I was told we’d keep it so I could fix it later; so I can fix it.

      1. Laura

        Oh, yeah! I think I might have found a few old “kept assignments” like that! ;-D

    6. Bogeywoman

      Keep it all and grumble about mum giving away my ponies. We do it every few years.

      1. Laura

        Oh, ponies! That’s one other thing I kept. The ponies are long gone, but I still do have one happy memento.
        One day, my grandfather came to visit with a small tool kit and some pieces of wood, and said, “If you’re going to keep ponies, you’d better build a stable for them.” (My Little Pony dolls, not real ponies. Tiny ones.) So we spent an afternoon together, with him showing me how to hammer the wood together. I painted it blue. The ponies have long since met their next great adventure, and the grandfather passed on, long ago. But the stable remains, as a platform to hold special little things.

    7. Azhrei Vep

      To the dumpster with it all. It’s trash, that’s where it belongs.

      1. Laura

        Right on! Good riddance!

  52. DashWallkick

    I wonder how much longer she’s not gonna know, because at this point it’s like a running bit how often people keep nudging her in the direction and no one has said it yet. This comic will run into 2030 and Joyce will still be like “I should call Josh” and Joe is like “…you know, maybe he doesn’t like that name” and she’d say “well he doesn’t seem to like when I call him ‘Joshua’ either, so I’m out of ideas!”

    1. miz

      ?? ethan is the only one who even knows, and he made a vague reference to it one time. aside from that, there was also one meta joke with her and becky both being clueless when they went home for the weekend. i don’t really think that’s enough to qualify as a running bit…?

    2. Derek

      yeah miz is right, literally no one knows besides Ethan, how is this a running bit?

  53. Needfuldoer

    Uh-oh?

  54. AGV

    The plot thickens!

  55. Juanoku

    Remember this plot point?
    Now you do!

  56. Mr. Random

    She knew pretty early, didn’t she.
    That’s actually something I never really considered. I wonder what the average age trans people are when they become…. aware of their identity.

    1. Hannah

      I remember reading in a research paper that it was about 7 I think? Though most don’t come out until there mid 20s

      1. Needfuldoer

        That could be skewed by the whole “I know but I have to keep my head down until I’m legally an adult and financially independent” situation.

        1. morleuca

          Very much. I was first or second grade when I started to first realize something wasn’t quite the same about me, and it took until mid 40s to finally do something about it. My 9 year old on the other hand would correct people about herself as soon as she was old enough to speak in sentences. Different environments, different safety nets, different worlds entirely.

        2. NoNamePlaceholder

          Depending on how the survey was done, the data could also be skewed by how trans people often have to say things like “I knew from the moment I was able to walk” because if you don’t your chances of getting HRT can be slim to none

    2. Alyssa

      It’s complicated. There are different levels of knowing, and access to the right words to explain it is part of it.

      I didn’t have the *word* nonbinary until college.

      I was asking to quit all-girls activities (and saying that was the reason) when I was in preschool.

    3. thejeff

      It’s also changing with wider knowledge and acceptance (even with the current backlash.)

      There are also stories of people getting shut down as kids and repressing it for decades.

  57. Allison Branford

    Yay, I was wondering when we’d pick up this dangling plot hook! Except now Walky will come in and distract everyone to forget with his usual brand of nonsense.

    1. Schpoonman

      …Why would Walky have anything to do with Joyce today?

    2. Thomas

      Walky walks in to relate how in another universe he never knew he had a sister until that fact was dramatically unveiled to him. Joyce: “Yeah, sure. Like that ever happens to anyone outside of science fiction!”

  58. Hoboturtle

    Julia Montana Gray

  59. Needfuldoer

    Remember Joyce’s off-handed comment when she was shopping for glasses frames?

    https://www.dumbingofage.com/wireframe/

    1. shrub

      Nice

  60. saltchocolate

    Based on the comments stream, I think Willis is really gonna have to set the record straight on the spelling of this woman’s name . . . ?

    1. Thomas

      Well, she’s not been in the comic for several years. It certainly doesn’t help that Joe reads her name as Joyce Lynn. And it’s not as if the tags wordcloud is visible from the comment section.

      1. Jason

        She may well have been writing her name as Joyce Lynn as a secrecy measure. Easier to pass it off as being Joyce’s if found if it’s literally signed with Joyce’s first name.

    2. HueSatLight

      There’s a bonus strip where Carol turns down the name Jocelyne for Joyce because it is too hard to spell. (Sept 2015)

  61. DarkoNeko

    oh ! oooh.

  62. Nicoleandmaggie

    VERY excited for this storyline.

  63. Rabisch

    Don’t tell me finally Joyce and Joycelynn are about to have a real conversation? That would be great!

  64. DumbingOfAlice

    HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLSY HTISHS

    it’s happening it’s happening it’s happening it’s happening!!!!!!!!!

    THE RETURN OF THE JOCELYNE!!!!!!!!!

    lowkey glad I only discovered this comic earlier in 2023 – to commenters like AlexaSpuds who’ve been waiting YEARS for this development, idk how you’ve managed to cope :’D

    also I appreciate that this may not come to fruition for a while, but finally another lil hint, another lil beckoning for joyce to be like “hmmm, I wonder how ‘Josh’ is doing?”

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Jocelyne is a writer, so the return was probably held up by the writers strike.

  65. ValdVin

    I’m enjoying their physical proximity here.

  66. Kelibath

    Agh, they’re so close!! (in more ways than one)

    Seriously, though; I’m wondering what this means about her dad. Because “he put the stuff in their basement” and presumably never talked about it to his wife following that point, leading Carol to assume this was all about Joyce. But he must have seen the drawings. Was he oblivious? Assuming it was a creative exercise for school or something? Or quietly realising..?

    1. thejeff

      Other than Joyce’s mad idea about a secret Canadian family, there’s no reason to think Hank put this stuff in these boxes without Carol knowing about it.

      It does suggest they had more clues to Jocelyne than we knew, but that kind of stuff is easy to dismiss as just kid’s play and still be completely surprised when your kid comes out. While at the same time acting on it by clamping down harder and pushing them toward gender appropriate behavior.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Maybe she hid this stuff in the bins of Joyce’s stuff, for “plausible deniability if found by the parents” reasons.

        1. thejeff

          Possible, but I get the impression it was young Jocelyne stuff – that Joyce couldn’t have made at the time.

    2. Big Z

      Honestly, my suspicion is that they’re in Joyce’s bin because they say “Joyce” on them, or close enough that Carol/Hank can pretend everything is perfectly normal.

  67. Acher4

    The revelation (finally coming) for her sister is the best!

    But I can’t also but feel how adorable the two sitting like that is… awwwwww

  68. Vulcanodon

    Afraid to hope but controlled excitement for possible storyline where Joyce and Jocelyn truly meet…

  69. Bogeywoman

    It’s 2am and I let out a high pitched sound. Jocelyne! Jocelyne! I have been waiting for this storyline for years!!

  70. Makkabee

    I wonder who’s going to figure this out first.

  71. Chester

    true story: My mother in law found out that her dad had *two* secret families and all of the children had the same names. The two secret families had been aware of each other for some time but my MiL’s family didn’t find out until they met the others at his funeral

    1. Taffy

      What the fuck, though. Like, did he just go with those names so he wouldn’t slip up and call one of his sons Kevin instead of Richie?

    2. a/snow/mous/e

      …he had three sets of kids with all the same names??

  72. Mr.Morningstar

    Oh!

    OOH!

  73. Alan in DC

    Joe, Frames 4 and 5 — I wish I could do that with *my* eyes…

  74. Alan in DC

    Now that I actually see it, is Joyce oblivious to the fact she’s leaning back against Joe’s dingdong?

  75. kaitou

    Heavens to Yates! A POOP sign!

  76. Harmony

    Wait….

    …. wait…

    …. wasn’t Joyce’s middle name Lynn in the “It’s Walky”-parallel timeline?

    1. a/snow/mous/e

      Nope, it was Nicole.

  77. Maddie B

    This page launched med into several hours of reading from the archive, even though I don’t have time for that right now!

  78. Tesset

    Does Carol’s nonsequiter about the transgenders help give this some possibility of being the moment where Joyce finally finds out about Jocelynn? Otherwise, this seems like a less narratively-likely moment than prior ones.

  79. bcb

    Oh my Cheese. Well, I guess it’s good that Carol didn’t realize what those drawings meant.

  80. CombustibleLemons

    Aww, Jocelyne!! I wanna cry…

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