595

Away
Posted on December 12, 2014 by David M Willis

595 thoughts on “Away”

  1. Jen Aside

    “Oh Becky, I love you, too! I braved a horrible disgusting shower stall for you!”

    [terrible alternative: “You just love me for my phone!”]

    1. Jen Aside

      Patreon finally loaded…AHHHHHHH

      [[cryptic enough??]

      1. Dragon

        Oh god. She’s gonna be all “gay people are sinners and are going to hell!!” and start shaming her for being gay, isn’t she. Or, alternatively, Willis is going to cut to Walky and Dorothy.

        1. Jupiterror

          four entire panels of joyce screaming, calling it now

        2. Rikushadow5

          No, better still. 4 beat panels, followed the next day by 4 panels of Joyce panicking.

        3. jiynx

          Its gonna be a cutaway. That’s entirely in keeping with Willis’ style. Dude thrives on being a cocktease.

        4. Yet_One_More_Idiot

          Yeah, I bet it’ll be a cutaway to after-sex snuggles between Billie and Ruthie. :3 I’m calling it now. 🙂

        5. Led

          Cutaway to Joe going “Something wonderful has happened.” 😀

        6. Ghola

          Cut away to Ruth and Billie in the afterglow, then hearing joyce’s scream as is slowly fills the panels.

        7. Arianod

          Of course! Willis will do whatever’s worst.

        8. Valmore

          Nope, to piss us off, he’s going to do a couple Blaine strips.

        9. Freemage

          Roadtripping Wundermenschen: Blaine and Faz, on the highway of life!

        10. Animal

          In which Blaine will hire Bart O’Ryan to file a civil suit against the college for failing to prevent an assault.

        11. Random832

          I’m pretty sure he was on McDonalds property, not on campus (which he had been banned from).

        12. Random832

          Oops… Amber was coming from the direction of the McDonalds. He was on AAA property, outdoors and after hours.

    2. OmegaDez

      Not gonna happen.

  2. Herohatch

    I can’t slight Joyce here; that’s the reaction any person should expect.

    1. Anderhail

      …I am so conflicted. I know sexuality is consistent across universes, but my memory is too fuzzy to remember if there was ever a definite…. gah… and I don’t want to look it up either…

      1. LeslieBean4Shizzle

        Is it? I don’t recall Becky in “Joyce and Walky” ever coming out of the closet. So if she was gay there, it was never shown (or even implied that I recall). Likewise, I don’t think Danny was bi in Roomies.

        1. Tom Speelman

          Danny was retroactively declared bi in the Walkyverse. I haven’t read J&W in a while, but Becky was there?

        2. Adam Black

          I thought Becky was a new character

        3. Tommy Fresh

          Becky lived in J&W’s apartment building (I think – or nearby to them?)- Joyce befriended her when she was worried she didn’t have many female friends to be bridesmaids. I don’t remember if there was any confirmation about what people Becky was into, though.

      2. Jackson

        I don’t think he’s going to restrict himself creatively just to keep everyone’s sexuality the same.

        1. showler

          Why not? You think he can’t get creative with people of established sexualities?

          The vast majority of his characters haven’t been defined, just assumed, so he still has lots of freedom.

        2. Cricket

          Yeah, I’m pretty sure I recall Willis saying something about people’s sexualities being constant across the two universes? That doesn’t mean they all understand, describe, or express themselves in the same ways in both (which would probably be true anyway because these versions of the characters are mainly teenagers as opposed to adults in their thirties and live in a very different world in some respects), but that they at least have the potential for the same kinds of desire.

        3. Random832

          Keep in mind, that was back when everyone was doing the is-Ethan-gay joke.

          And in principle anyone could be bisexual, or at least a Kinsey 1.

      3. Aolbain

        I think the general consensus is that she’s closeted bi, but random kissery from people you don’t expect random kissery from can break the best of us.

      4. Elva Rodríguez

        Joyce firmly state in the Walkyverse that she was heterosexual (the time she and Walky ganderbender) D: still, Becky deserves hugs and kisses

        1. John

          I’m pretty sure if you asked Danny, he’d say he was heterosexual, too.

        2. Psyme

          Well… she could still be straight. With an exception.

        3. Kirt

          I think the problem y’all are getting into is that sexuality does not neatly divide up into straight/gay/bi.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale

        4. masterofbones

          Isn’t that just bi, but really low on the kinsey scale?

        5. Charlie

          Not necessarily – people get to choose how they identify, so if a person says they are straight but are attracted to one particular person of the same gender, well, they are ‘straight, with an exception’.

        6. mistergray

          Its like your best friend in the world kisses you and says they are in love with you and all your thinking is wtf? That’s how I took her reaction.

        7. Robbzilla

          Beats what happened to a schoolmate of mine. He crashed at his best friend’s place and woke up to his buddy going down on him. Seeing as how he wasn’t gay, it was pretty traumatic for him. (plus, it was the 80’s)

        8. Krixwell

          Pretty sure that’s a form of rape. Also, I figure it would likely be traumatic regardless of his sexuality.

        9. Deanatay

          Wouldn’t it be weird if Joyce leans in, starts to kiss Becky back… and then wakes up?

          (Would Willis do that to – yes. Yes, he would.)

        10. John

          This is not nearly weird enough to be Joyce dreaming about her repressed sexuality.

        11. Kelly

          Not sure that he would pull “it was all just a dream”. Too overused, and a cop out. Previous dream in DOA was pretty clearly a dream right away.

      5. Deinol

        Is it established? I know Willis had to say “YES ETHAN IS GAY IN BOTH UNIVERSES” a lot early on, but I don’t know if that is a binding contract to keep all characters the same sexuality.

        1. timemonkey

          He said sexualities were consistant since they have the same genetics. Which was a good argument until he started changing the parentage of characters, thereby radically altering their genetics.

        2. John

          I think the only character whose parentage changed didn’t have genes in the other universe, anyway. (She had overalls!) Carla shouldn’t really exist at all, but she’s fun so I’m not complaining.

          And maybe Billie, but we’ve never seen her mom in either universe, and Willis made her half-Asian in the Dumbiverse because people were assuming the Walkyverse version was anyway, so I’m not sure it’s a Dumbiverse change so much as a Walkyverse retcon.

    2. SycrosD4

      Her college career is just not going very well, is it? Threatened with raped, bullied and teased, and now this???

  3. Echelon Four

    Joyce, just pretend she is Dorothy and lean into the swerve. It is inevitable. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/inevitable/

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Did you like it that Joyce, that was the smooch of inevitability.

      1. KingMabel

        Oh please, if it’s inevitable than evolution is real!

        Wait….

  4. T Campbell

    Ohhhh nooooo^2

    1. otusasio451

      It’s about to hit the fan.

      1. Tunaro

        The fan got hit a looooong time ago. This is just the latest in a combo-chain of shit flying into the blades.

    2. T Campbell

      There’s… not a lot of reason to expect that this will end well for Becky. Yes, yes, yes, Joyce has had some confusingly intense feelings about Becky, Dorothy, and Billie, but she’s been counting on Becky as an anchor from her past life, someone who could help her hold onto herself. Also, she DOES have a boyfriend. Also, there are still some pretty enormous questions to be answered about just what happened at Anderson and it seems increasingly unlikely Joyce will be happy about the answers.

      Really, the best-case scenario I see here is that Joyce will fall back on her best quality, her kindness, and never lose sight of that no matter what other confusing impulses she has.

      And now that THAT’s out of the way, I’m off to the Patreon to see what happens next.

      1. liahansen

        Oh you people with your fancy digital money just think you’re so great

        1. Barf Ninjason

          That IS a pretty good face for having a bunch of fancy-pants digital money

        2. liahansen

          If you zoom out, you’ll see that he’s wearing a top hat and a tuxedo, holding a monocle in one hand and leaning on a cane with the other.

        3. Ancestral Hamster

          And that’s why I forbid money on “Free Parking”!

        4. Barf Ninjason

          You’re doin’ the Lord’s work

      2. showler

        Wanted an anchor.

        Got a ship.

        1. Leorale

          +1

        2. pumacatrun2

          +10

        3. Killjoy

          All the +1s.

        4. chisci

          and then some more +1s

      3. Isaac Rader

        Like that boyfriend thing will last.

      4. Kelly

        well said!

      5. SDGlyph

        +1
        I need a like button.

      6. greengeekgirl

        But Joyce has also been known to show an incredible amount of kindness even toward “sinners,” so… there’s no reason not to hope that she might be compassionate toward her best friend, even with a firm “no.”

  5. copperyy

    The facial expressions really nail the awkward.

    1. Kirt

      I really <3 Becky's awkward expression a little too much.

  6. Tunaro

    I think you can actually see Joyce’s brain cracking in the last panel.

    1. Keroshino

      Snapped like a twix bar!!!

    2. Les

      I think the British expression “Gobsmacked” works perfectly here…..

  7. Aolbain

    I think you broke Joyce.

    1. Mr k

      She won’t talk for the next 60 years.

      1. Kelly

        Gee, thanks, now you made me think of the new Dumb and Dumber movie -_-

      2. Gigafreak

        Dumbstruck of Age

    2. LeslieBean4Shizzle

      I think Willis broke a lot of us.

      1. Yotomoe

        I’m unbreakable.

        1. StClair

          Stay away from water.

  8. blackhat64

    Oh… oh. Oh gosh. Oh jeez oh dang.

  9. caramelundqueer

    Oh god is Becky going to start crying? Are they BOTH going to start crying?

    1. Yotomoe

      “But when you cry…I CRY!”

  10. Cephalo the Pod

    Well, at least Joyce hasn’t punched her yet.

    1. Lel

      CHRIIIIISTIAN PUUUNNNCH!

  11. John

    If you look real close into those big blue eyes, you can see the white text describing the system error.

    1. Rachel Roth

      Holey crow! It’s illegible, but it’s THERE!

      1. Opus the Poet

        Especially in the first panel.

      2. fit-to-freak

        dammit you guys I really looked!

        1. Emily

          Same.

    2. Jonathan

      absolutely brilliant! Willis should steal this idea from you.

  12. winter

    “Figger” is driving my crazy. Am I a grammar nazi? WHAT HAVE I BECOME?

    1. Dean

      I figger you shure is, dagnabbit.

    2. Cephalo the Pod

      I like figger.

      1. Malasdair

        That’s politically incorrect, though. “Fegro” is slightly more PC.

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          Jesus Christ I almost spat Cheerios across my keyboard. 😀

        2. Thasvaddef

          That’s still not the preferred term. You might get some Flack

        3. CallMeCal

          *facepalm*

    3. Matthew Davis

      Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you.

      1. winter

        So it does!

        *takes a chill pill*

        I’ll be over here chanting the linguistics anthem:
        “Language is not defined by prescriptivism, but by how native speakers use it.”

    4. Yotomoe

      Calm down. Play with this Action Figger.

      1. winter

        *chill pill isn’t working*

        *INCONSOLABLE RAGE*

        1. gwalla

          That’s not enough. You need to chillax. Take a chillaxative. You know, to cool down and get your shit together.

        2. Opus the Poet

          This needs to go into the Urban Dictionary, under “alternative drugs we wish they would make”.

        3. Bill

          Or pseudodictionary.com.

      2. Gigafreak

        This one’s kind of tiny. Maybe we need a bigger figger.

        1. Deanatay

          Figger-o! Figger-o figger-o figger-o FIII-GAAAAA-ROOOOOO!

        2. DSL

          +3.1415926 …..

    5. Barf Ninjason

      I figger Willis gets a buncha bonus points fer writin’ out how a lot us actually talk.

    6. Barf Ninjason

      Becky says “figger” and drops her “g”s.
      You gotta deaaaal with it.

    7. MarieGrey

      Gasp!And what have you done? Do you ask yourself these things?

    8. JetstreamGW

      Y’all just calm down now. 😀

      1. Dean

        Ain’t no point a-feudin’ and a-fussin’.

    9. artemi

      Hopefully, Becky’s figger will be driving Joyce crazy in a few days here.

  13. Mr k

    Joyce will run so fast she’ll outrun Pietro Maximoff and Wally West.

    1. Opus the Poet

      But not Barry Allen.

      1. JetstreamGW

        “Those were for CHARITY, Clark!”

  14. shadowcell

    so would it be the worst-timed fart in history, or the best-timed fart?

    just kidding they are all best-timed

  15. chris73

    Hey c’mon Joyce she just gave you the greatest gift and all that

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      The gift of saliva. 😀

      1. KingMabel

        This is not Steven Universe!

    2. bananarama

      Damn, I had forgot about that. MAN poor Joyce must be feeling bad saying that now…

      1. chris73

        I’m sure she won’t even give it a second thought

    3. timemonkey

      The gift of sexual assault!

  16. Emperor Kiva

    Joyce……are you okay?

    1. Boomwolf

      I think that last one may have broken her…

      1. newllend

        Oh shit its finally happened.

      2. Emperor Kiva

        ANYONE GOT A SONIC SCREWDRIVER?! I’LL BE ABLE TO FIX HER!

        1. Boomwolf

          I NEED 20 CC’s OF SOFT SERVE, STAT!!!

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          It would take at least a gallon of Chunky Monkey to fix her.

        3. ShaggyDonahugh

          It’ll be her appetizer before the billion dicks she’s about to start blowing.

        4. fogel

          Immerse her in a tub of soft serve.

        5. Rakos

          Won’t that make the situation worse?

        6. John

          I think a vodka screwdriver might do her more good right now.

          Or, wait, wrong universe?

        7. Blue

          Not sure if you mean this in the sense of a vibrator joke or not…

    2. Yotomoe

      Joycie are you ok, are you ok, are you ok joycie?
      Joycie are you ok, Will you tell us if you’re ok?
      She left signs in her wordplay
      that you struck her, as a gay, Joycie
      She came into your bunk bed
      Left her kiss stains on your head
      And then you kissed in the dorm room
      And you made out, it was your doom!
      You’ve been kissed by
      You’ve been smooched by
      A smooth Criminal.

      1. Marisa Mockery

        *applause*

      2. Boomwolf

        I don’t even have words for how awesome that was.

      3. gwalla

        Smooch criminal

      4. Knightsky

        Your internet, sir.

  17. Jojo

    Oh no the lip wiggle. Anything but the lip wiggle Willis.

    1. Dean

      Technically, that is a wobble.

      1. gwalla

        Wibbly-wobbly lipsy-wipsy

  18. LeslieBean4Shizzle

    I want to hug Becky so much right now. Those faces. Gods, those faces.

    1. bananarama

      That’s the saddest face, because we’ve all made that face when things don’t work out. Bonus points if she says, “but I love you…” before breaking down.

      Compared to this face: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/prediction/
      This is nuclear grade sadness. I love how the art has evolved, but damn, Willis. My heart hurts.

    2. JessWitt

      All of the FACES.

  19. MrSirk

    ….sigh. Still waiting.

  20. Plasma Mongoose

    To paraphrase South Park, “SCISSOR ME BECKY!”

    1. John

      Is that like the lesbian version of Tickle Me Elmo?

  21. Yotsuyasan

    Well, no shrieking in horror yet… I dare say Joyce looks more confused then horrified. Of course, it is possible she is still processing what just happened…

    1. fogel

      EXTREME cognitive dissonance has paralyzed her.

  22. newllend

    Joyce: ( 2 years later)……. wha?

    1. Oddball

      question: does she eat or drink during those two years or die and come back just to say, ‘…wha?’

      1. Opus the Poet

        I’m going to say, umm, yes?

      2. newllend

        Dorothy and Sarah will come by and shove food in her moth she’ll commence chewing on her own, as for going to the bath room she’ll get up to come back and sit in the same place but never stop thinking about it.

  23. aitherion

    oh geez oh god oh no

  24. blackaeon

    WELP, THIS WILL SURELY GO WELL

  25. ChocolateRat

    Someone hug Becky.

    1. Leonou

      Yes, get on it already Joyce.

      1. Aolbain

        Someone not Joyce

        1. Opus the Poet

          Nope, to fix this it has to be Joyce.

  26. Khaner

    I… I don’t have anything witty to say
    Damn you Willis.

  27. Emoroffle

    Excuse me while I go sleep till the next update. Laziness. It’s like fast-forward for life!

    1. caesaria82

      Great idea, but sleeping for 24 hours is really difficult. You’re GOING to wake up at some point. Trust me, I’ve tried lol.

      1. Yotomoe

        Nothing a baseball bat upside the head can’t fix.

      2. Emoroffle

        I’ve gone to sleep on Monday and woken up Thursday before. Granted, it was not intentional as I was planning on going to class that Tuesday.

  28. Saaaam

    Oh no:(

  29. Swoop

    We had our fun, here comes the pain.lesbian happiness is short-lived in this comic.

    1. Leorale

      Any happiness is short lived in this comic.
      The traditional phrase is, “Damn you, Wilils”

      1. Swoop

        When I first started reading Dumbing of age, I wondered why everyone kept saying that. I was going to look into it, but after finding out one of the characters is a robot car in another universe I decided I didn’t want to go down anymore rabbit holes.

      2. fogel

        We’ll, the whole comic has run only a month and a half or so in universe, so happiness is REALLY short lived. Joe is basically happy, he’s maybe the only character who knows who he is,knows what makes him happy, and can usually get lots of it. Though sometimes other people exasperated him, first of all Danny.

        1. John

          It’s not even that long. I’ve lost track of the last few days, but I think it’s Thursday or Friday of Week Four. Parental issues weekend was the end of Week Three/beginning of Week Four, and we haven’t had another weekend since then, have we?

          Also, I notice checking the storyline dropdown just now that the next storyline’s entitled “Three’s a Crowd”.

      3. fogel

        Is Dina happy?

        1. Leorale

          Good question. We know that Dina likes to learn and study things, so she’s probably enjoying her academics. Also she finds the social world kind of confusing, but she knows that Amber likes her. Dinosaur facts, a friend, and endless cereal: I think Dina’s basically doing okay!

          Also, so far, Roz and Jacob seem to be doing what they want to do and doing well at it.

  30. NF

    Dammit Willis.

  31. Boomwolf

    Well, she isn’t freaking out… Yay?

    1. Itama

      it’s coming.
      Oh My Cheese, is it coming.

      1. KingMabel

        *is still staring blankly on Christmas Break*

  32. Saaaam

    This will not go the way of Pazkat

  33. ZuiyoMaru

    Plot twist; Sarah is witnessing all of this and trying desperately not to laugh.

    1. Mr k

      Or she’s trying not to join in.

    2. caramelundqueer

      Sarah’s not a monster.

      1. blackhat64

        Your gravatar is literally Sarah watching this all unfold.

      2. newllend

        I am

      3. John

        She’s sometimes kind of a jerk, though. (And that’s why I love her.)

    3. newllend

      That’s half of everyone here.

  34. caesaria82

    LOL everyone was like ‘can’t wait for tomorrow’s strip and Joyce’s reaction’ and now it’s tomorrow’s strip and Joyce’s reaction is delayed. So evil. Genius, but evil.

  35. A4lbi

    WHICH ONE OF YOU CALLED IT

    1. newllend

      Everyone !

      1. KingMabel

        NOT ME!

    2. Emily

      I didn’t actually get around to it, but I meant to write a comment saying basically panel 3. So I almost called it.

    3. Phlebas

      Did anyone not? I’m just disappointed they were all right.

  36. Rutee

    Oh you’re screwed Becky. And not in the fun way. My condolences.

    Also my condolences to Joyce, this can’t be easy for you given what you’ve been through.

    1. winter

      How likely is it that this is Joyce’s first kiss?

      But Joyce is a pretty kind person; hopefully she can respect the love that was in the gesture, even if the rest of it doesn’t match up to what she thinks is morally correct for the time being.

      1. Jackson

        How likely is it that this is Joyce’s first kiss?

        I’d estimate the odds at zero percent.

        1. winter

          I’m so dumb. Why didn’t I remember that?

          I think my overall point stands tho. It’s the first time she’s been kissed by someone who wants to kiss her for real. People can love you and find you sexually attractive, Joyce. It’s not just something for other people.

        2. bananarama

          Her first kiss was, by her own admission, an act of “sad desperation,” on her part. I’m not sure another kiss born of that, no matter much we adore Becky will help. It’ll probably be much, much worse.

        3. winter

          I don’t really see how this is “sad desperation” in the same vein as her kissing Ethan that time.

        4. showler

          I had the first thought about it being her first kiss.

          Now that someone with a functioning memory has corrected that, I’m now thinking her reaction is “Oh my god, that was so much better than kissing Ethan.” Which will really confuse the hell out of her.

      2. tbf

        Nope, it was Ethan.

        1. winter

          Mea culpa.

        2. Yotomoe

          Your first kiss wasn’t with Becky

      3. CommunistCanada

        Joyce’s frist kiss was with Ethan. They were at Galasso’s with Walky and Dorothy.

        1. winter

          You’ve been beaten to the punch twice over but, yes, yes, my mistake.

        2. CommunistCanada

          Yeah, I came across your coment after reading all the others above it. I need to start refreshing beforeI post.

        3. Aolbain

          Joyce, stop kissing gay people.

      4. LimeTH

        She’s kissed Ethan a few tmes.

  37. winter

    And, oh god, are those tears of self-loathing and horror in the last panel? Becky, why, you’re such a sweetheart?

  38. Tacdud2

    Damn you Willis.

  39. -Sentinel-

    Time to switch to a Danny scene.

    1. Mr k

      Danny comes into the room and makes the situation even worse.

    2. Oddball

      nah they should switch to two random robots fighting for NO REASON.

      1. Zababcd

        But then both robots lose and you realise they were both Danny all along.

      2. fogel

        Would Diesel Sweeties so?

  40. AgentKeen

    I wonder how many new patrons this one gets.

    1. Kelly

      as a patron who hasn’t looked yet, I wonder if our sneak peak will show a scene change…

      1. AgentKeen

        See, the early sneak peeks are tempting, but then it’s just a different 24 hour wait.

        On the other hand, Willis deserves the patr(e)onage, and the bonus strips would be nice to see.

        1. Rutee

          That’s why it’s not working on me. If I do it, it’ll be because I like him and don’t mind giving him my money for the entertainment, not… because I get to see stuff a day early. Shoot, I wait months for games, ya think a day’s gonna make me roll about?

        2. C.

          Bonus strip. If you Patreon, you get a monthly strip that won’t appear on the DoA website (but in the compilation books).

        3. Kelly

          I probably won’t regularly read the strips ahead of time.

          But for ones like this, knowing there is a way to see them (short of hacking David’s server I mean), well I just have to.

        4. fogel

          But if you hack it, think, you could read his entire buffer! Do you think that you could survive that?

        5. Drakey

          the reason i don’t do it is that I find Patreon vaguely creepy. There’s something a bit Aldous-Huxley-Brave-New-Big-Brother about it to me.

        6. Kelly

          Wait, what? How does that apply to Patreon? If you said “Google” or “Facebook” or something I wouldn’t bat an eye. But Patreon? Do you feel that way about Kickstarter or Subbable?

          I mean it is just a way to support artists directly (vs ads or merch), while being a bit more unified and than just sending checks on a one off basis or something…

  41. arank11

    Okay, people! Crunch time! We need to prepare for tomorrow’s strip when Joyce freaks out and Becky gets her heart broken! I’m bringing the hot cocoa to comfort us. Who’s bringing the tissues?

    1. Yotomoe

      I’ll bring the popcorn as I watch this ship burn to the ground. If the FazDina or the BeckyWalky can’t sail, no ship shall sail.

      1. ThatMadCat

        FazDina but Faz is … Faz.

      2. fogel

        Why you hate Dina?!?

    2. AgentKeen

      I think it might be more of a blue screen moment than a freak out.

    3. takashid

      i think Becky’s heart is already breaking tbh. Look at her face in panel two. She’s realized that her misconceptions were wrong and that Joyce doesnt like her back. Thats why in the last panel it looks like she’s struggling to hold back tears 🙁

    4. timemonkey

      This ship was never going to sail, what with Joyce being straight and all. But on the bright side Joyce has a much better chance of being understanding than she would have if she hadn’t had a month of character development away from her brainwashing lifestyle.

  42. GoogerGeiger

    Joyce’s first swearword incoming?

    1. meghantheworldeater

      Hmm. I think you may be on to something there.

      1. Yotomoe

        Fuck that felt good.

      2. Bill

        “When angry, count to ten.  When very angry, swear.”
            …. Mark Twain

        I imagine Joyce cursing or using foul language would result in a situation similar to when Mark Twain’s wife, in an effort to shame him for his vocabulary, repeated word-for-word one of his more profane outbursts.  Twain’s reaction was to remark that “…. it would pain me to think that when I swear it sounds like that.  You got the words right, but you don’t know the tune.”

        1. John

          Joyce has it the other way around. She knows the tune; she just makes up her own lyrics.

          I noticed when I was doing the trawl through the archives for the initial F-bomb count that, while Joyce never actually comes out and says “fuck”, she says “friggin'” and “freaking” and “fudge” and “I’m getting some soft serve” and the like a lot. The girl’s got quite the mouth on her; she just has a little part of her brain sitting there with a thumb on the censor button.

        2. Drakey

          My grandmother, being a Good Christian Girl (capitals intentional) didn’t swear much. As a result, when she did, it would come out as a high-volume squeak, i.e. “You people are treating me like…” thirty seconds of building pressure leading to a very fast, three-octaves-higher “SHIT!”

          I imagine something similar being Joyce’s default swearing.

        3. 0kami

          Your grandmother sounds absolutely adorable. And I would very much like to meet her, shake her hand and buy her a cup of tea, ask her about what things were like in her day and be a genuinely attentive listener. 🙂

  43. Kit

    Damn you Willis

  44. IAmDeltaS

    Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no…
    BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN

  45. Deathhead

    Yeah…this won’t end well.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Yes, but at the rate they’re going that won’t be for at least a couple of years in the real world.

  46. Katie

    Oh god, this is going to go poorly. …. Unless Willis pulls out a surprise “Joyce has a revelation and everyone is happy.”

    1. chris73

      All bets are off on this I think

    2. Mr k

      I hope so. Maybe Joyce’ll politely turn Becky down. I don’t think she’s really into dating her childhood friend.

    3. Bill

      Did Willis ever play D&D?
      “Rocks fall, everybody dies.”

  47. Geisthander

    Joyce, be cool. Please be cool about this, Joyce. Kissing people who aren’t expecting it isn’t cool and we all know that but Joyce please for the love of things that need love, be cool.

  48. the last guy

    OK ok so this can still go good, Joyce just don’t over react we can make everything good and happy and Becky heart won’t shatter like an ice sculpture attacked by a sledge hammer

    1. fogel

      Or a naked clam lady in a fountain being seriously defaced.
      .. or the fishes spitting on her?

  49. Idon'tcarenomore

    We noticed, pertaining to the hovertext.

    Finally, a ‘normal’ reaction from Joyce. Now we can wait another day and ‘figger’ out what Joyce is going to do…..a really far reach here, surprised the Hell out of her.

    I think she’s going to run, as soon as she can move.

    1. the last guy

      Honestly as long as she doesn’t turn into a hater and attack Becky for this as a homophobe think that’d be good

      1. timemonkey

        What if she attacks her as a sexual assault thing instead?

    2. ChocolateRat

      I think Joyce would ask questions before running away because I don’t think she really understands any of this very well.

  50. Henry

    Oops. She broke Joyce.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      You break her, you bought her.

      1. AgentKeen

        Becky is ok with this. Just means she’ll have to spend time healing her.

        Get your mind out of the gutter, jeez.

  51. thinkingofthechildren

    We know you do, Dave. We know.

  52. liahansen

    Dangit I was hypnotized watching videos of a red hot nickel ball burning through stuff. Damn you Youtube!

    1. Kelly

      sounds cool, er, hot though.

  53. Plasma Mongoose

    I have a feeling that Joyce’s internal hamster is out of commission.

    1. fogel

      Yep, Poor hamster can’t keep up with everything that joyce needs to process!

    2. chisci

      something like this

      1. Drakey

        Rarely have i seen anything as amazing as that gif.

  54. Weebles

    This is such a vulnerable, precious, a precipitous moment. Love it.

    1. gwalla

      Precious Moments by David Willis

      1. fogel

        OH YEAH, he HAS to publish a boxed set of DoA “greeting cards”!!!

  55. Ele

    This is going to end HORRIBLY, isn’t it? Flames and tears and tearing of hair kind of horribly. We’ll never see Becky again, Joyce is going to be broken, the dead will rise from the grave, dogs and cats living together, MASS HYSTERIA!

    1. meghantheworldeater

      And then someone will get hit by a truck!

      1. bananarama

        I knew it. It’s not liquor this time, kids, it’s love!

      2. Kelly

        No trucks this time. It has been foretold.

  56. showler

    Any chance this is Joyce’s first kiss?

    1. Blue

      I’m pretty sure she’s kissed Ethan in-comic.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      It was her first gay kiss.

      1. Yotomoe

        No it’s not. She kissed Ethan. Hahahaha.

        1. newllend

          Well good for her that meant something for both Joyce and Ethan…. Right?

  57. Triniking1234

    Now I gotta wait 24 MORE hours.

    Good thing there’s no weekend break at this college.

  58. Anywhere

    no becky don’t cryyy T_T nooooooo i’m gonna cry nowww

    Everything Joyce ever wanted to hear, in exactly the way she never expected.

  59. Rabid Rabbit

    Panel 2 Becky: “Remember, keep the hand off the breast. I know it really wants to, but keep it away. That would be going a tiny bit too far.”

    Meanwhile, Joyce’s mind is breaking because the words “I’ve always loved you” are hardwired into her sitcom-ish mind as a trigger for “I’ve always loved you too”, and this is causing some acute distress.

    1. Yotomoe

      I will admit, Joyce honestly seems to have a nice chest. I can understand such temptations Becky. But don’t do it. You’ve only bunted your way to 1st base. Don’t get greedy.

  60. Bleh

    What about Ethan.

  61. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Taylor Dayne’s “I’ll Always Love You” on the Muzak*

  62. Bleh

    What about Ethan.

    1. liahansen

      What about Ethan?

      …no but seriously, if Joyce being forced to examine her romantic relationships is good for anybody, it’s good for Ethan.

  63. liahansen

    augh jesus that last panel lord help me

  64. Cephalo the Pod

    Is it too much to hope that Joyce just kisses back?

    1. Opus the Poet

      Probably, yes. Probably too much to hope.

    2. Hoboturtle

      I seldom write fanfiction. But if this whole thing blows up tomorrow I might write some for therapy.

  65. Em

    Joyce doesn’t look…angry? I think it’ll be okay. I mean, I don’t think Joyce will return the feelings, but I don’t think it’s going to go too badly.

    *crosses fingers*

    1. ChocolateRat

      I think so too. I think Joyce would do everything she can to avoid hurting Becky. In general she tries to not hurt people, sometimes she can be oblivious though.

    2. cmd1095

      I think it’s too soon to tell, right now I think she’s still in shock, she needs a few moments to process what just happened before she can be (or not be) angry

      1. fogel

        Or a few years. Or decades. She should take her time. No hurry.

    3. Zababcd

      Anger is not the only terrible look for Joyce to have. I think it will be okay, but on the other hand, this look could be pushing towards horror or fear.

    4. Thomas64

      @Em: Reading through the comments, I was starting to wonder if nobody else thought that Joyce was taking this rather well!
      I’m still not shipping these two, but I am cautiously optimistic that their friendship will survive this.

      1. Thomas64

        But then again, friendship surviving or not, it seems like heartbreak is about to happen, and that makes me feel really, really sorry for Becky right now.

  66. M-M

    “I’ve wanted to do that my entire life.” Becky, you’re killin me. All the feelz.

    1. StClair

      Yes.

    2. SDGlyph

      +1

  67. Extreme Salsaing

    Notice that Joyce doesn’t look mad. I think she would have been more back at the beginning of the comic, honestly, but now she’s changed a bit.

  68. random webcomics junkie

    Damn you, Willis.

  69. Sam

    Aww Becky…be strong.

  70. grantimusmaximus

    This comic is the Kinsey Scale in action. Everyone’s a little bit Bi! To varying degrees of course. Mostly. Except for, like, probably Joe.

    1. barefootbiker

      I like to think of Joe as akin to “The Todd” from Scrubs– no matter what the gender, he appreciates hot.

      Not sure whether that’s canon or not, but it seems fitting.

    2. chris73

      I don’t think Joe would go for a guy as such but if a threesome opportunity presented itself as Joe + Guy + Girl I don’t think he’d turn it down either

      1. Kelly

        he did once say something like “what kind of a threesome *did* I have last night?”. He seemed unsure, but not unduly upset…

        1. Leorale

          If Joe had wanted to hit on a man, he would’ve done so by now. If a hot lady wanted to bring a man along, I imagine he’d be down with that, too, and afterwards he’d give the other dude a high five. He is totally secure in his heterosexuality/masculinity/bro-ness etc.

        2. Louis

          It’s entirely possible that it happened off-screen. Joe isn’t exactly a major character in this webcomic; at most, he’s been a foil for the others to develop off.

      2. gwalla

        It’s okay, when it’s in a three-way
        It’s not gay, if it’s in a three-way
        When there’s a honey in the middle there’s some leeway

        1. grantimusmaximus

          He’d probably take a page out of the Bro-code– never look a guy in the eye in an MMF threesome.

        2. Leorale

          Joe disagrees with rules like that!

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/manhood/

        3. grantimusmaximus

          Ah! Indeed he does. Touche. I appear to have underestimated his openness…as do most people he meets, I suppose. I admit defeat.

        4. Leorale

          ::bows:: You are a worthy comment-opponent. Til next time.

  71. Mattyos

    I’d say this is a Russo swerve but that would be doing Willis a discredit to his ability as a writer.

    1. gwalla

      And there’s no turkey on a stick.

      1. Mattyos

        that too

  72. Kodra

    The smile in panel 4 destroys me emotionally.

  73. BobaFett2

    Damn you, Willis.

    I’m 99% certain that Joyce is going to freak the fuck out, but….I need to know.

    1. Em

      I’m more inclined to think that she’ll politely ask Becky to leave, and THEN freak out.

  74. Keroshino

    Joyce.EXE has Crashed/Stopped Working!

    1. newllend

      Maybe this is more serious then we let on, this is probably going to be the thing that sets her over the edge of madness.

      1. Jess

        The suck a hundred dicks madness or the homicidal rage madness?

        1. Keroshino

          Why not both!

        2. ShaggyDonahugh

          An internet to you good sir, as I let out a bark of laughter that probably woke up everyone within the tristate area.

        3. Jess

          You are welcome. lol.

    2. fogel

      Fade to blue. Screen.

  75. newllend

    And here I thought at the beginning of all this that Becky didn’t know about her lesbian feelings for Joyce.

    1. Rutee

      Hey, ya nailed that one!

  76. beege

    You know Willis is going to switch to another storyline now.

  77. cmd1095

    Well Joyce did ask god for some sort of sign, then Becky shows up, and then this, well Joyce, you got what you wanted, now what are you gonna do?

    1. JessWitt

      Egads, Becky. What now, Joyce?

    2. Rabid Rabbit

      “Embrace the gayness, Joyce! For so sayeth I, Willis the Lord!”

      “But… but I’ve been hugging Ethan for weeks! How is that not embracing the gayness?”

      1. takashid

        “Embrace the gayness that want to embrace you, Joyce”

        “………does not compute”

        1. gwalla

          Believe in the gay that believes in you

        2. Kelly

          Classic. I hope some TTGL slash out there has that phrase. But not really enough to go looking…

        3. StClair

          Thrust through the… uh…

  78. zebrathinker

    oh man this is gonna be. cuz like. there’s no way Joyce will respond well to this on the SURFACE

    but these past few weeks of comics have all been about how Joyce wants someone to love her. and now she knows someone does! but- you know- GAHHHH

  79. Zak

    I know theres gonna be an update tomorrow, but…Damn you Willis

  80. OnyxIdol

    Re: Alttext: JA, NO KIDDING.

  81. The_Master

    Eh, her boyfriend is gay, why not her girlfriend?

    1. Yotomoe

      Maybe if I date a gay girl, and a gay boy, they’ll cancel each other out and NEITHER of them will be gay!

      1. ChocolateRat

        This made me laugh.

      2. StClair

        It’s all about making the signs come out even.

    2. newllend

      +1 just +1 so hard

      1. gwalla

        So…+4 in total?

    3. newllend

      +1 just +1 so hard

  82. Hannah

    Why do so many people sympathize with Becky right now? Regardless of the fact that she doesn’t know about what happened at the party, kissing Joyce without her permission, especially by surprise pretty much negates any feelings of “d’awe Becky” that I might have had. What she just did was a horrible violation of trust regardless of the circumstances, and frankly, I wouldn’t blame Joyce if she freaks out.

    That said, I’m kind of hoping that what’s about to come next isn’t a homophobic, religious rant, but instead one about personal space etc that gets Joyce to talk about what happened at the party. I know it’s a lot to ask for given the circumstances and the people involved, but I can dream~

    1. Yotomoe

      According to the comments yesterday many people have tried the “Lean in for a kiss” thing to varying degrees of success. I ain’t saying you gotta like it, but I also ain’t gonna fault people for sympathizing with it. You’ve got your kiss issues (kissues?) and we’ve got ours.

      1. Keroshino

        Kissues ~teehee~

        I like it! 😀

      2. Hannah

        Leaning in and hoping the other person does the same thing is vastly different from grabbing them and kissing them without giving them the chance to decide whether they actually want to. They’re two very different scenarios.

        As for anybody who sympathizes because they’ve done the same thing Becky just did, they were just as much in the wrong when they did it, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

        1. Yotomoe

          There’s no such thing as right or wrong. It varies from person to person, situation to situation, by a multitude of minor factors too complex for us to widdle down to a definitive thing.

    2. Ailorn

      I agree with you.

    3. winter

      I would be a lot less sympathetic if Becky was still kissing Joyce in today’s strip. It’s one thing to steal a quick peck when you aren’t sure how someone feels about you, and another to shove you tongue down their throat and not give them a chance to talk, or to persist when they’re trying to pull away.

    4. ChocolateRat

      It’s possible to acknowledge that it’s not right to kiss people without permission and still feel sympathy for Becky. I agree with you, and I’d hate a lot if someone did that to me, but Becky is still in a difficult situation, with the environment she grew up in and then falling for someone who could betray her strongly because of this if they wished to.
      It doesn’t excuse it, but I also think you can disapprove of what she did and still care about her feelings.

      1. TGS

        This. I am willing to be a bit more lenient with Becky in this case because of her special circumstances. No, its not ok, strictly speaking, but if she had been bottling up this growing pressure for all those years, it was bound to escape in a more dramatic manner. Its not like I can reasonably expect her to have grown up with a healthy mechanism to deal with feelings like these, and these feelings have been building up for a long long time.

    5. Rutee

      What part of that has anything to do with the fact that her feelings aren’t going to be returned and she very well may suffer inexcusable bullshit as soon as Joyce is able to form words again? If Joyce were, let’s say, Daisy, I’d actually be pretty mad at her, because I doubt Daisy would go full homophobe.

    6. Cricket

      I’m definitely in the same place as you around this situation, especially because Becky had just brought up the fact that Joyce seems to feel way less positively about boys now and Joyce made a sad thoughtful face, which I’m assuming was because she’d just been reminded of the dude who drugged and then tried to assault her. While Becky had no way of knowing that was the memory she was triggering, it adds another layer of awful to the fact that she just kissed Joyce without her consent. Even if it was an awkward, physically gentle gesture followed by a statement of love, she still did it without asking and that means it’s still an awful thing to do. Loving someone doesn’t mean you automatically get any kind of physical access to them.

      But yeah, I’m really, really hoping Joyce’s response is about the nonconsensuality of the kiss, not about its gayness, because that is the actually relevant concern here. I’m honestly expecting Joyce’s response to have at least a little bit of a degree of care/gentleness to it even though she’s upset and by no means obligated to be nice about the situation, because Becky is still her best friend.

      1. Tom T.

        Your last line points out what’s extra sad about this, because now Joyce has to wonder whether Becky was ever really her friend or not. Like I said yesterday, it’s XKCD’s Nice Guy situation.

        1. Z

          did you just compare a girl realizing she was in love with her best friend after a few weeks of separation to a nice guy situation because i’m kind of baffled right now

        2. Em

          No she won’t wonder that. She and Becky have been friends since childhood. I mean, maybe a kid would only make friends with someone cause they liked them and then faked the relationship until freshman year of college, but that seems unlikely to me.

      2. Jonathan

        :: insert michael jackson eating popcorn “I’m just here for the comments” meme here::

    7. Benjy

      Oh good, I’m not the only one who thought that. Lots of people were.

    8. SDGlyph

      Because it’s possible to sympathise with someone even as they make mistakes?

    9. Kaunisenkeli

      I am in complete agreement. Yeah, I can definitely sympathize a bit with Becky in regard to feeling too awkward to say what you’re feeling, but kissing someone without their permission is never the right thing to do. That said, I am hoping we get the talk about personal space, consent, and what happened to Joyce instead of the (all too likely) homophobic explosion.

    10. MM

      Becky probably grew up with the same romantic narratives Joyce did, where the guy kisses the girl because he’s the one driving what happens and she’s fine with it because true love (and also nobody has to worry about things going any further than that because that would involve premarital hanky-panky) and then everyone lives happily ever after. I’m not sure how much personal space and consent came into it.

    11. showler

      Having been best friends their entire life, I wonder how much permission is assumed between them.

      I mean, clearly the situation is vastly different, but Becky had no problem using Joyce’s phone without asking for permission. Probably the same deal with clothes, toys, etc.

      If Becky is used to assuming permission, that might have affected this decision in some way.

      1. Dragon_Nataku

        Cept for the soft serve issue. Joyce never used to share (although maybe Joyce offering to share might’ve helped confuse Becky).

    12. AlSchroeder

      About the inappropriateness of Becky’s kiss…

      I read it as an act of desperation; if she knows Joyce as well as she seems to; if she knows that Joyce used to be (Compared to Becky) boy-crazy, if she knows how much Joyce’s fundamentalist view of Christianity matters to her, she knows there is almost zero chance that this will go anywhere.

      But she is convinced Joyce is the love of her life. She thinks this is her only hope of happiness, if Joyce has—perhaps—realized she misses Becky the same way Becky missed Joyce. She’s staking her whole future (she thinks) on this…

      ….and probably, after the kiss, realizes what a terrible misfire it is. That’s why BECKY’s expression is the way it is. She realizes that she’s just lost Joyce…the way she wants Joyce…forever.

      1. Em

        Also Joyce kinda did the same thing with Ethan. There have been a lot of “hey you I’m gonna make the kisses with ya” in this comic.

        I personally don’t think it was wrong of Becky…I’ve had this done to me before,(twice actually, now that I think on it) and I didn’t have a problem with it. But that was because there was context. There was a sense that the feelings were mutual. Actually the first time there wasn’t. I was crying and the guy kissed me. I’m surprised it didn’t piss me off tbh.

        This is a very difficult issue. Consent is very important. I think this was the only way she felt that she could broach the issue without having the whole “Becky, what are you trying to say to me?” kind of thing, or have Joyce intentionally warp her words.

      2. SDGlyph

        I think you just perfectly described panel 2 – the moment of realisation. That’s the one that gets me, not panel 4.

  83. Bent

    This is too sad 🙁

    Joyce is about to do something very bad. Joyce, you had better make things right after your inevitable horribleness. God damnit!

    1. Kelly

      I wouldn’t bet on horribleness from Joyce in this. If it happened at the start of the school year, maybe (but even then I wouldn’t guarantee it). Now? It just doesn’t fit who she is and how she has changed.

  84. LegalSeagull

    My prediction? Joyce runs out of the room, bumps into Billie walking out of Ruth’s room, hair frazzled, clothes dishevelled, Joyce puts two and two together, and literally explodes.

    1. Saintslayer

      That would be the most perfect timing ever.

  85. advancecasette

    oh fuck

    my heart

    the sadness

  86. Tealjoy Berry

    Read that hover text, you are a dirty liar Willis and you know it.

  87. Leorale

    Okay, so, tomorrow Joyce goes to PFLAG, right? And then she brings Becky’s parents, and everyone is nice to Becky. Then Joyce’s sister sees what a great ally Joyce has become and decides to come out of the closet, too, and everyone is nice and kind to each other forever T.T

    1. Leonou

      I like your delusions.

  88. PureLionHeart

    I like how you can always tell which strips he planned for a Friday cliffhanger back in the bad ol’ days.

    1. Bill

      Willis has been doing 7 strips a week for over a year and a half now (since May 2013).  The strips he drew when he was anticipating only M thru F updates have long since passed thru the buffer by now.

      1. timemonkey

        But he’d still be in the habit of setting up cliffhangers every few strips. Only difference now is they only last 24 hours instead of three days.

  89. Kernanator

    Okay, now Willis is just being evil, stretching the suspense like this.

  90. newllend

    You know what happens next, Joyce runs down to the boy wing and starts beating on Walky and yells,”This is all your fault !”

    1. Yotomoe

      Hopefully this doesn’t happen simultaneously with Dorothy beating off Walky.

      1. Roborat

        Beating off Walky? Well, that is Dorothy’s turf.

  91. Eebiot

    Cliffhanger part 2? Damn you Willis!

    1. Eebiot

      DAMN YOU WILLIS!

      1. Keroshino

        Ciiffhanger 2: the Cliff-inning!

        1. Leorale

          Cliffhanger 3: Revenge of the Cliff

        2. Roborat

          Cliffhanger 4: Return of the Cliffinator

        3. Deanatay

          Cliffhanger X: Hanging Ten

  92. Songbird

    Hasn’t Joyce had this whole “Never been kissed” crisis going on anyways? She freaked out over her first kiss with Ethan and to have this come so (to her) out of left field… she’s well out of her depth here and I think she’s most likely to have a pretty freaked out reaction.

  93. Red5

    Uh-oh. This crossed some sort of line. This isn’t just a single mental *snap.* This is like… a dozen Joyce mental *snaps.*

    1. Roborat

      And now I am hearing the theme music for The Addams Family.

  94. Flimsyfishy

    I hope things end as well as they can, especially seeing as they’ve been best friends forever. Don’t go off the deep end Joyce. Pls no deep end.

  95. TGS

    *steps out of the lurking for a moment*

    Becky clearly was reading subtext in Joyce’s words that Joyce didn’t intend – of even realize – consciously. Its the only explanation I can think of for why Becky would be so forward. One way or another I think this will be the springboard that ultimately leads Joyce to… maybe not RENOUNCING her fundie upbringing, but at leaat evolving it. She already had a pretty big breakthrough when she defended Dorothy to her parents – one of the first and subtlest indicators the Joyce might be a full on Friend of Dorothy, and not just Dorothy’s friend. But putting aside Joyce’s possible sexualitty… if Joyce is the most autobiographical of the characters, then the good news is that this is likely the start of Joyce leaving the fundie flock. But it won’t be quick or easy, and there may be some horrible moments along the way. She could initially double down on the fundie outlook and dig in, perhaps even ending her friendship with Becky (and maybe a few others)… maybe even forming an ill attempted friendship with The Other in an attempt to hold on to the only outlook that she has ever known.

    In short… its going to get worse before it gets better. But I’m pretty sure it will get better

  96. Leonou

    Cuteness overload !

    1. 4th Dimension

      That avatar with that comment + that situation 😀

  97. advancecasette

    computer

    initiate 24 hour cryo sleep

    1. Kelly

      Initiate sleep until Becky/Joyce is canon.
      I hope I get to wake up…

      1. Keroshino

        Oh god, no…No!…I SLEPT TOO LONG!!!

  98. Taigan

    Here’s my nightmare scenario: Joyce tells Becky it’s ok and hugs her. Then share the “wisdom” she learned from Billie about how”everyone” has those thoughts at college. “You’re just confused,” she’d tell Becky. “But it’s ok. I’ll help you get past this.”

    1. liahansen

      Joyce: sucking the campus’s queer population into her vortex of love/hate one awkward semi-sexual encounter at a time

    2. Cricket

      Oh god, your comment actually gave me chills. I hope your prediction is wrong but I’m scared you might be right.

    3. Orangey

      Oh god, oh god, that sounds horrifically plausible.

    4. SDGlyph

      This. This is what I’m afraid of, once Joyce recovers from her BSOD. Joyce is a fundamentally kind person and would never intentionally hurt her friend (and I honestly don’t know which comic some other commenters have been reading at times), but her fundie baggage keeps landing her on the wrong side of the line.

      C’mon Joyce, you can do it. I believe in you.

    5. timemonkey

      That’s your nightmare scenario? Not ‘Joyce punches her in the face and accuses her of sexual assault’?

      1. Taigan

        No because
        1) I can’t imagine Joyce doing that
        2) I think that would actually be kinder to Becky. It’s not acting like her feelings aren’t real at least.

        1. timemonkey

          She ounched the crap out of Joe for looking at Connie’s boobs, has always been enraged by unwanted sexual advances and is suffering from getting roofied and nearly raped. I’m not saying it’s the most likely scenario but violence is far from out of the question.

    6. Chris

      Dammit Taigan: why you gotta put that thought in my head. Too damn plausible. I’m going to hate you if you’re right. (And I really don’t want to hate a compatriot fan.)

    7. MM

      Still probably better than what I half-expect to come out of Joyce’s mouth, which is absolute terror that her best friend is going to Hell now.

    8. chisci

      oh dear… considering also her interactions with ethan that does sound likely, and likely the worst she could do, which makes it likelier @__@

  99. 6Qubed

    Man, what is with Joyce and making out with gay people.

  100. Jules

    Becky looks a little deranged there in panel 3.

  101. LeonReichs

    I SHIP THIS SOOOO HARD

  102. skdk

    I didnt know anyonr could love joyce

  103. FuryOfFirestorm

    You can almost see the gears in Joyce’s head come to grinding halt as she contemplates Becky’s feelings versus her own feelings and the fundamentalist dogma ingrained into her since birth.

  104. Jerry

    Sometimes, always… No monsters though. (well, maybe one.)

  105. litui

    Sigh. I don’t see Becky getting let down easy, though Joyce could surprise me. She has a look of being in shock which might calm her reaction.

  106. Ellen

    HOLY FORESHADOWING BATMAN. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/related/

    The kiss is one thing… the admission of love is quite another. THIS is what will short-circuit Joyce’s brain.

    Joyce is very romantically-oriented and has really been hurting to have someone care for her in this way. But she never thought it would be Becky.

    1. Kelly

      Hmm…

    2. StClair

      Bonus if this shows up next strip in a colored panel.

    3. SDGlyph

      Oh, nicely done Willis, you magnificent bastard. I’d forgotten about that line.

    4. Luzahn

      Oh god, just reading back through all of the Becky strips now. There is so much foreshadowing.

  107. Mr. Random

    Sooooooo. Who else thinks Joyce keeps hearing Billie inside her head.
    “I think it’s inevitable.”

  108. Benjy

    She’s gonna bolt.

  109. NinjaNick

    …but I have to do that again.

    😉

  110. Nena

    I would not mind having the looks and the body of being that age, but the psychological and emotional bits of being that age? NO WAY! People are so vulnerable and clueless at that age. So much hurt and confusion. You get all these kids from so many backgrounds and with so many issues basically thrown together with no clue or guidance and drama is bound to happen.

  111. TrueVCU

    WELP

  112. TrueVCU

    Also, is it just me or is it impossible to be platonic best friends in this universe? Next up: Joe suddenly puts the moves on Danny

    1. foolicus maximus

      we all knew it was going to happen eventually.

    2. airyu

      That would be the worst slipshine.

      1. Kelly

        “worst slipshines” involve Faz

    3. Leonou

      Actually there is also a third alternative on middle ground …

      1. Drakey

        😀

        That is all.

    4. StClair

      I’m… pretty sure it’s possible.
      I dunno. It’s funny; it’s something that bugs the heck out of me when fans do it, mostly ’cause I often feel they’re ignoring the existence of such friendships – even long and intimate ones, where people will trust each other with their secrets, lives and more, but with no sexual dimension to speak of – not to mention established characterization, etc, just because they want to imagine Two Hot People (characters and/or actors) Getting It On. But here, it’s the creator doing it? And it just seems less forced in general.

    5. Em

      Dorothy-Joyce: Platonic (it’s only speculation that Joyce likes her)
      Danny-Joe
      Amber-Ethan
      Raidah-Char-and whats her face
      Bilie-Walky
      Sal-Carla

      Yeah. There are a lot.

      1. Em

        NO
        NO
        NOT CARLA
        MARCIE
        WOW WTF ME

  113. Gigafreak

    “I have sclera and you don’t. OUR LOVE CAN NEVER BE.”

    Dorothy and Walky: both drawn without sclera
    Billie and Ruth: both drawn with sclera
    Sal and Jason: both drawn without sclera
    Danny and Amber: both drawn without sclera (though Amber is rarely barefaced long enough to show her lack of sclera)
    Sarah and Jacob: she has sclera but he doesn’t, thus they are DOOOOOMED

    1. airyu

      I think you might be on to something there

    2. John

      The other universe was full of inter-sclera marriages.

  114. Orangey

    OH MY GOD WAIT didn’t Joyce say how “It would be kind of sweet if you grew up as childhood friends and then fall in love” in terms of Walky and Billie? And then also shouted at Walky about throwing the ‘best thing ever’ back in Dorothy’s face?

    AND NOW THIS

    AND AGHHHH

    My heart is breaking so bad for Becky, she’s really trying not to cry there omg Becky it will be ok right, it’ll be ok. Aghhghh what’s Joyce going to do aghhh

    1. Nightsbridge

      Oh my god I didn’t realize Joyce has been unintentionally pushing this forward since Becky arrived and oh my gawd.

    2. Regalli

      And then there’s Walky’s “Does Joyce always treat her friends like she wants to go down on them?” line, too.

      Yeah, I can definitely see Becky getting a lot of “Is she maybe into me? I think she might maybe be into girls, there’s hope!” thoughts today.

      1. Luzahn

        There was the hallway encounter with Mary too, where Joyce basically said she could be friends with a lesbian.

        …So yeah. Poor girl.

        1. Bill

          She could be *FRIENDS* with a lesbian …. just like she can be friends with an atheist (Dorothy).  Doesn’t automatically mean she wants to crawl into the sack with her.

        2. John

          I don’t think bringing up Joyce’s relationship with Dorothy actually helps your case there.

        3. Orangey

          I think Luzahn was replying to the comments about Joyce giving Becky unintentional encouragement, I don’t think they were saying ‘omg Joyce can be friends with a lesbian, shock horror’

        4. Luzahn

          Pretty much this, yeah. It’d give her encouragement to come out to Joyce regardless of romantic interest.

  115. Zaxares

    This won’t end well…

  116. Rani

    …this has not been thought through.

  117. Avery

    Honestly, I think Joyce is about to start crying, too.

  118. XMinusOne

    If Joyce’s eyes get any bigger, they’ll pop out of her head.

    “Oh no, my childhood friend is unclean, the devil’s spawn!” *runs off looking for a torch and pitchfork*

  119. Onions

    Wait, have Joyce and Ethan kissed? This might be Joyce’s first kiss…

    1. 0kami

      No, they’ve kissed, which led to Joyce having a panic attack and having a talk with Dorothy through the bathroom stall door.

      Link: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/first/

      1. Onions

        Ah, that’s right. Thanks, I forgot about that.

        Well I guess this is dramatic enough already.

  120. Muttski

    I really hope something good comes out of this for Becky, but based on past events, I see a train wreck in the future.

    Oh, and “Damn You Willis!”

  121. nothri

    Well, all else aside, props for just laying it all out in the open.

  122. S-Storm

    I imagine this is what’s going through Joyce’s head at the moment:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSRG0TqxLWc

  123. Neonix

    This cannot end well.

  124. RK Coyote

    So, what are the whiteboards gonna look like this time?

    1. Bill

      Tacos?

      1. OsoPescado

        Tacos with dicks in them.

  125. Lulu

    Next page Joyce freak out time!
    “I kissed a girl and I liked it but she’s a girl and my best friend so my God says to hate it!”
    I know the plot how to soften the blow, let Becky meet the newspaper girl.

    1. Nightsbridge

      She mostly seemed in shock to me.

  126. Emily

    Wait are they standing? Where did the bed go?

  127. Malchus

    Joyce 9000: “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do . . .”

    1. John

      Daisy’s answer is, “Okay, draw her close and kiss her real slow like. Mmm, yeah, like that… wait a second, lemme record this. For, uh, journalistic purposes.”

  128. Iggzy

    So far she’s handling it well

  129. Alex

    Is it bad that there’s a part of me that hopes that Joyce will throw off all of her baggige about same sex relations out the window and immediately say yes? I mean, I know that’s not what will happen, but Becky looks so cute and vulnerable in that last panel, I just don’t want her to be crushed to bits. Damn you, Willis.

    1. notlegato

      maybe we can hope for a universal cataclysmic event where time just stops indefinitely? it’ll never progress again.

  130. Psykos

    Well… Okay, yea, I actually did not see that coming. This deserves the “What a Twist” Seal of Approval!

  131. Ron Wizard

    C’mon Joyce, reciprocate! You need to let it go and kiss the girl.

    1. SDGlyph

      There you see her //
      Sittin’ there across the way…

      1. Drakey

        You ain’t never had a friend like her.

  132. OnyxIdol

    I don’t know if she’ll freak out right now. I think she’ll retreat for some alone time and cry.

  133. mudakthemultiplier

    *Sigh* if only this could be… but we all know who Willis’ cross-dimensional OTP is…

    (For those who are newer around here, It’s Joyce x Walky)

    1. SDGlyph

      I thought Willis had said he’d done JW! and wanted to try some different pairings. Hence, WalkyXDotty and JoyceX…?

    2. Kelly

      all evidence, in and out of comic indicates he will not repeat JxW

      1. mudakthemultiplier

        Anybody remember this arc?

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/freezeframe/

        I would call that this universes “Joyce and Walky met each other in childhood and really actually knew each other the whole time but didn’t remember it” story.

        Also, There is a single universe in the multiverse canon this is a part of that Joyce and Walky did not get paired, and it is definitely not this one. Also, there’s nothing to say that other ships can’t happen in the middle, but JoycexWalky WILL be the end result

        1. mudakthemultiplier

          here’s a bit of word of God for you that I meant to find, and then was lazy, and then found anyway but later:

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/02-i-was-a-teenage-churchmouse/freezeframe/#comment-223235

        2. David M Willis

          You have taken some words I said and rearranged them to mean something I did not say.

        3. mudakthemultiplier

          hmmm… Looking back I shouldn’t have written that comment after 36 hours of no sleep… Apologies.

  134. Heavyoak

    ahhhh thats so cute!

  135. Bill

    I’ll give it two more days and then Willis can recycle this.

  136. Cale Baird

    The term “Damn You Willis” has never been so apt right now.

  137. AtomsOrSystems

    First of all, I just want to say that I think Becky is the cutest thing ever in the Dumbiverse, and I want this to end well. That being said, I have to think (personal experience as well as assumptions about the world) even the best case scenario here doesn’t end with Joyce reciprocating.

    Part of me, probably recognizing that this was drawn by David “Damn You” Willis, suspects this will not end well.

    The hopeful part of me, though, kind of is praying this leads to character growth for both of them. Joyce explains to Becky that she’s not interested without falling back on “Gay is Evil.” Becky realizes that she still has a best friend who isn’t going to fall in love with her (we’ve all had that crush). Joyce realizes a little bit about what being gay is like, maybe from talking with Becky, in a way that informs her relationship with Ethan (probably towards it’s inevitable conclusion, but that’s still positive movement).

    Yeah, that last bit is way too optimistic.

    1. AtomsOrSystems

      Also, am I the only person kind of hoping Becky left or got expelled, so there’s a chance for a transfer to IU? I don’t expect it, especially because I don’t know how the timing would work, but… it is the holiday season.

      1. Steven

        I am at least 90% sure Joyce is a closeted lesbian, and Becky’s kiss is gonna be one of those world rocking things.

        I also kinda suspect something is up with Becky, and it probably is close to what you said. Though I am also worried the something that happened is the “going away” kind of thing.

        1. Killjoy

          Why?

          Whose chest does she daydream about the shower?

        2. Kamino Neko

          Lindsay Lohan’s.

        3. Regalli

          I’m thinking she and Danny are going to have the journey of self-discovery into “hey, bisexuality is a thing!” land together.

          Or in Joyce’s case, possibly biromanticism. I mean, she’s mentioned wanting to curl up in Billie’s boobs and the like, and if she is attracted to women I can see this being her realization moment, but yeah, she hasn’t really had That Moment Fantasizing About Wanting to Do Things With Girls yet. At least that we’ve seen.

        4. gwalla

          I am 100% sure she isn’t. Even if you set aside the whole “same sexualities in both universes” thing and her room-destroyingly enthusiastic first time with Walky in the other universe, she’s been shown being attracted to Ethan (http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/03-up-all-night-to-get-vengeance/wean/ http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/mind-off/ http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/diddlin/) and having a (poorly informed, derailed by guilt & fear) sex dream about him (http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/06-strange-beerfellows/thing/ http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/06-strange-beerfellows/tummy/). The degree of her attraction to women is still unclear (there seems to be some but not as intense) but her attraction to men is clearly strong. Stronger than she is all that comfortable with.

      2. Bill

        Not in the DoA calendar.  They’re barely six weeks into the semester.

      3. MM

        I hope she left. Can’t imagine her being happy at a school where same-sex relationships are probably grounds for expulsion.

  138. Sorinari

    So, I stopped reading for a couple months (had a move, didn’t have internet, life stuff), and I get back to catch up on all the goodies…AND THIS IS THE CLIFFHANGER I SEE AFTER A COUPLE HOURS OF READING. WHAT DO I DO WITH MY LIFE?

  139. maxlines

    Joyce is going to run screaming from that room.

  140. Dormagio

    I hold out some sliver of hope because Joyce doesn’t look angry, just afraid. They may be able to not hate each other.

    1. MrBurrows

      She doesn’t look afraid of Becky though, that’s an internal fear and confusion. The way she’s holding her hands over her lips suggests she might not be sure if she enjoyed it.

  141. Saintslayer

    I don’t usually do this but I ship this soooo hard now.

  142. Inyo

    awwwwww! And so sad because I really doubt Joyce can would participate right now even though it makes more sense than her and Ethan pseudo dating.

    1. Inyo

      That was supposed to say reciprocate. Silly morning.

  143. Alexis

    This better be the point where Joyce realizes the parallel between this situation and her situation with Ethan.

    Incompatible sexualities is a real thing Joyce! The sooner you get that Ethan can’t love you the way you can’t love Becky, the better.

  144. Turbanous

    Unrelated to the comic, Willis when reading DOA on my iPhone I keep getting redirected and launched into the App Store for for the Karrashian Holloywood game. The base url I keep getting redirected to is: http://tracking.crobo.com
    I can provide the whole link if you need. This started happening to me yesterday

  145. thelastnerd

    “A few weeks”? Has it really been a few weeks? I knew the first week lasted a year but I thought we had picked up the pace a bit since then.

    1. Lulu

      I follow some other webcomic where a few minutes argument talk took counting now 3 weeks of 3 times per week of updates and is still ongoing….
      This is nothing.

      1. Roborat

        For example: Between Failures, 300 pages to cover part of one day.

  146. hof1991

    Voice of god said on tumblr that he had this scene in mind from the start. Looking back, it was massively foreshadowed. Since Joyce is really the main character, most other plots have existed to bring us here with the proper lead ins.

  147. Alexx

    Awwwww maaaan…..geeze. Ah. Uh. OOW. It hurts! You bring in Becky, make her funny and cool, and now you’re gona break her heart.

    *DEEP BREATH* ….okay. Lets get on with it.

  148. WikiDreamer

    *exhales with a low slow whistle* Y’know she’s taking this awfully well considering her stance on homosexuality. While I don’t doubt she may well turn into an emotional black hole to a whole new dimension of religious ignorance, her initial reaction is fairly…well, normal by human standards. I do hope that Joyce has the sense to let her down gently. I mean she stood up for Dorothy and is determined to “help” Ethan…well, maybe we’ll see.

    1. WikiDreamer

      Also, HOLY CRAP Joyce is wearing the EXACT same outfit as when she first moved on campus!
      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/home/

      1. SDGlyph

        Good spot! Goes well with the “don’t ever change” and “same ol’ Joyce”…

      2. Bagge

        SYMBOLISM

  149. Just Here

    Whoah. Okay, I know everybody and their dog ‘called it’ on this one, but the reactions here are just priceless. Joyce is just stunned, and processing, and Becky is looking at her like “Say something, Joyce, please don’t be mad, you mean more to me than anyone.”

    And, just because I’ve never actually said it, DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!

    1. Just Here

      And that tremble in Becky’s lip in the fourth panel. Dawwww.

    2. Bagge

      You saved it and made it count. Bravo to you

  150. Bagge

    There will be tears. There will be hugs. Joyce has again and again demonstrated her compassion, willingness to look past perceived faults in people, especially for the sake of love. And she does love Becky, that has been clear all the time. But like this?… And Becky has put her everything in this moment. She will understand, she will let the reaction build and take it’s time. She has lived through this moment uncountable times the last weeks – she is ready for whatever may come.

    So, yes, they will talk. This will not be degraded to cheap drama. But Joyce is not in the place to give Becky what she wants right now, if ever (and I still think there are other issues that makes Becky’s situation more sticky than we know). However this discussion goes, both will go out of it sader but maybe wiser

    And when they leave the room, hand in hand, tears still on their cheeks, to face whatever terrible future as women rather the little girls for whom things were still simple and clear, Joe will stand there and chant “Kiss, kiss, kiss,” and that will be such a mood breaker that the forum will buuuuuurn.

  151. Gravatarnator

    A few weeks? This comic has been going on for… oh… right….

  152. clodia

    Joyce, grow from this. This is your beloved best friend. I know you don’t have pants feelings for her, but let her down easy. Then break up with Ethan. Hug Becky lots. Love her as a friend forever. You can do it.

    1. Marie

      It would be kind of nice if talking to Becky made her realize that this wasn’t the sort of ‘support’ Ethan needs.

      1. clodia

        It’d be the best of all possible worlds. I mean, she was just asking god for a sign of what she should do about Ethan and all. It’d be appropriate for her to take it as a sign!

        The worst thing that could happen is that she double downs on her beliefs and rejects Becky. I’m pretty sure that she’d change her mind later, but I’d hate Joyce a little if she did that.

  153. Miles

    Looks like its time for more drama and tears! I really liked Becky because when she showed up I thought she was just going to be a fun break from all that and help Joyce be less confused…. Nope! Everything is worse now!
    Is there anyone in the cast who seems like they’re just feeling fine right now?
    Lets see….Danny and Ethan are minutes away from an affair which will break Amber…. Joyce is…. here…. I don’t even know what Sal is up to, and I don’t even remember the last time Joe made an appearance nor do I remember any of the other characters.
    But I think Walky and Dorothy are doing ok and So are Billie and Ruth…. Lets just stick with them and ignore everyone else because I like this comic a lot more when it focuses on being funny

    1. timemonkey

      Amber won’t break, she wants Ethan to be happy and openly gay too much. Also guy on guy turns her on waaaay too much, she’d be moderately mad at most.

    2. clodia

      Mutual feels does not equal minutes away from an affair. For one, neither know the other is interested. For two, Danny would never do that to Amber. For three, Ethan would never do that to Amber. The worst case scenario is a kiss after much pining. They immediately go tell Amber. Amber punches things. And then writes fanfic. And punches more things.

      1. Kamino Neko

        For four, Danny hasn’t quite accepted that about himself, yet. (Remember the only time it’s come up in any way except being REALLY awkward around Ethan was sleeping with Amberzigirl to reassert his heterosexuality.)

  154. Jen

    I always find it interested the comments that say, in essence, “Well in Walkyverse/Roomies this character’s sexuality was NEVER brought up, so therefore they were straight. Because unless Willis specifically made a storyline about them being GLBT, they were definitively hetero.” The assumption of straightness is very irksome.

    Good luck, Becky. But I can’t see this ending well. Oh geez, and I worry about her going back to Anderson. The rejection combined with the indoctrination of fundamentalist values at that school could easily push her into a shame/self-hate spiral that could result in some really dangerous self-damaging behaviors and potential suicidal thoughts. I don’t know how deep Willis is planning on going in DoA and if he’s going to throw a couple of Degrassi-style curves at us. 🙁

    1. Killjoy

      What are the odds of “assumption of hetero” being correct? Something like 9 out of 10?

      1. SDGlyph

        I don’t know the real-world stats, and Clark Wing seems to be a local peak for story purposes, but the point there is that “most likely hetero, all other things being equal” != “not explicitly queer, therefore hetero”.

      2. MrBurrows

        Killjoy, if you actually look at the stats for the generation he’s writing about in DoA, being “completely straight” is actually the minority. (Also, even before then, 1/3 women were still considered “bi”, which didn’t factor into the 10% homosexuality)
        In a world without sexual repression, people actually understand that sexuality can be fluid, and not have to follow rigid bonds of “straight” and “gay”.

    2. WeezerLuvr3030

      Jen, I think the people who “assume” the character is hetero are not merely assuming. Straight people do lots of straight things and assume they are somehow neutral. that is, there is straight behaviour that they think is basic and equivalent to “not mentioning sexuality” when it is actually a very loud broadcast of straightness.

    3. 3oranges

      “Because unless Willis specifically made a storyline about them being GLBT, they were definitively hetero, to the point where they never once acted otherwise in college.”

  155. Maycroft

    Say you love her back, say you love her back!!!

  156. Clare

    Oh no the dreaded straight girl crush. Poor Becky……

  157. brumagem

    That feeling when you have to let something out in the open even if you KNOW nothing good will come of it.

  158. yarner

    The trauma finally pushed Joyce over the brink.
    And thus…
    the Whiteboard Dingdong Bandit was born!!!
    (THUNDER)

  159. Crumplepunch

    Well, this can’t end well.

  160. Huxter T Meredith

    No Joyce, don’t do it!

  161. Mr. Morningstar

    I think she just broke Joyce.

  162. Rakzo

    Oh boy, her heart is going to sooo broken.

  163. RC

    I feel back for Becky now. Having to go to a fundie college that will never accept her.

  164. Kater

    Ok, bare with me, is it possible that Joyce is closeted biromantic and heterosexual? She is eager to throw around the term “love” in relation to other women and apparently has a history of extreme emotional attatchment to women. She’s pretty sex repulsed actually, due I guess to upbringing, across the board but is desperate for emotional connection with men and women.

    1. Regalli

      Totally possible, though not so much “closeted” as “genuinely unaware being attracted to multiple genders/having a different romantic orientation than sexual one/both is a thing”. I think she’s been sensually attracted to other ladies up to this point (wanting to live in Billie’s boobs), but yeah, her sexuality is a huge fucking mess and I’m not sure romantic vs platonic-wise.

  165. Rartorata

    Well, this is an interesting place to no longer be able to just click to the next comic, innit?

    1. Deanatay

      First-time reader?

      1. Rartorata

        Yup.

  166. Marie

    Joyce looks too heart broken (different way than Becky) and confused to have an actual, energetic, emotional freak out. That’s not to say she isn’t/won’t inside, but.

    Anyway, not super likely but possible thing for next week: Joyce swears for the first time. Not at Becky, but this Joyce-in-shock, Becky-unsure thing continues and Becky goes for a walk to give them some processing time (or Joyce leaves in a stupor and does). Once apart, “…fuck.” Or more likely “shit,” or “shit,” since it’s her first swear, but I think fuck conveys my point better.

    1. Marie

      Shit or DAMN, not what I said

      1. gwalla

        “SHIT and/or DAMN!”

  167. Triniking

    A Lesbian Suicide Pact can solve these girls’ problems. 😀

  168. MrSpkr

    [Butters voice]”Are we gonna lez out now?”[/Butters voice]

  169. Atlas

  170. lordhaw

    Joyce is quite obviously in shock here. But that last panel…something has registered in Joyce’s brain, with the hands to the mouth gesture. Poor Becky is almost in tears here.

    Joyce, despite the shock is so far taking this rather well, considering past history. I just don’t know how this really is going to go. The hands to the mouth gesture could be a “Oh my goodness! I have feelings for her too!” kind of thing, or it could be a “my best friend is gay!” kind of thing or many other possibilities. It’s rocking her world though that is to be sure. But so far, all of Joyce’s experiences at college have been rocking her world so no matter what, it’s been a very educational experience for her…in life.

  171. Reltzik

    So anyhow, Willis went back to taking weekends off. Next update on Monday!

    (j/k)

  172. Opus the Poet

    And now we cut to 4 panels of Riley eating cereal and thinking “I wonder what kinds of fun things they are doing at that college?” The DoA equivalent of QC’s “Steve eating cereal” comic.

  173. Alex

    On the bright side, at least we know she hasn’t eloped with her bisexual professor and became an erotic dancer. XD

  174. Cb

    Willis you bastard
    Why do you have to keep us waiting

  175. Ikaru

    Damn you Willis.
    Sort of cute but…..something is gonna drop or hit the fan.

    1. democraticMayonaise

      Drop AND hit the fan, silly. Suddenly the bunk crashed and some of the debris hits a by standing fan.

  176. Freezer

    Don’t think Joyce’s brain has finished rebooting.

  177. Emperor Kiva

    I think Becky’s lying

    1. Kelly

      Um, what? Why the hell would she lie about this? How would that make any sense at all?

      1. Emperor Kiva

        It’s been done before. It wouldn’t suprise me in the slightest

        1. Emperor Kiva

          Just make me hate Becky even more. Why? Dammit I said I have a small crush on Joyce.

        2. Kelly

          It doesn’t make any sense though. What would be the point? I mean if if Becky was a mean joker/trolling type of person or something I could kinda sorta see it. But while she like farting and making Joyce make faces, she hasn’t been setup as that kind of rotten troll at all.

          Mike (at least Walkyverse Mike) is about the only Willis character I could see going for that type of troll. And he’d have to have good reason to go to that much effort.

        3. Emperor Kiva

          And that’s where they get you. “Oh she’s nice.” *BOOM!* “I don’t love you really I just said it.”

        4. Mr. Morningstar

          Mike already has, in shortpacked, when he slept with ethan.

        5. Emperor Kiva

          Well it may happen again

        6. JWLM

          The scenario in which Becky has placed herself is a nightmare for any young gay, lesbian, or bisexual person. It’s bad enough to confess your romantic feelings for someone of the socially appropriate gender; it’s physically *dangerous* to confess such feelings to someone of the socially inappropriate gender out of the blue.

          Now, that’s partly saying the Becky has been very, very foolish in this story arc, a fact that we already knew. But…God no, this would be a dangerous joke to tell.

  178. Hoboturtle

    Still happy. Cant you please just drag out Becky kissing Joyce.

  179. treason

    You monster…. that is all

    1. Emperor Kiva

      Who me?

  180. Asurasur

    http://www.quickmeme.com/img/60/6063663976f46bb71192f44939282137cd7d289a871ccea6d8f832bab11d80f6.jpg

  181. Angie

    Ohnoohnoooooo I’m so worried this is going to end in heartbreak for Becky…

  182. Darwin

    Joyce is so hilariously thunderstruck.

  183. vmgx

    ok. you got my money

  184. KRG

    Unwanted and unexpected advances from unfamiliar boys at parties are bad. But from friends that you hadn’t even previously considered sexual interest from. I feel like this is going to cut really deep, and Becky isn’t even going to understand how bad a mistake this was until someone fills her in on what already happened to Joyce.

  185. Tenn

    “How will Joyce react tomorrow?” we asked ourselves yesterday.

    And I love that we can still ask that question today. Joyce has barely finished registering what just happened; she doesn’t know the answer herself.

    This isn’t teasing or stalling. It’s good storytelling.

  186. OsoPescado

    I’m betting one of two things.

    1) A total meltdown with crying and becky not knowing what to do

    OR

    2) Cold. Hard. Face. Slappage.

  187. SDGlyph

    I have a complaint; it’s 12:12 and I see no new comic.
    …Stupid GMT.

    Oh well, since I’m on an accidental archive binge, I may as well leave this here.

  188. Ashley

    I just wanted to say kudos on Becky’s facial expression on that last panel. It’s a great mixture of sadness/fear/hope. Very powerful.

  189. dekho1

    I wonder if there is some sense in me sitting here in Europe in deep night waiting for midnight in America and listening to infinitely looped “what is love, baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me no more”?..

  190. democraticMayonaise

    I JUST realized that Carla’s name was CAR-la. As in Car. Car and then La. Carla.

    1. 3oranges

      Are you saying she’s named Carla because she’s from Los Angeles? Because I don’t know if Willis ever established that.

  191. Kammon

    …Can we draft in Shortpacked! Regan here, to give Joyce a speech about the way things are? Perhaps a montage of Joyce and becky, growing up and playing house?

  192. GodtiernickCage

    ok. so what ever happens i don’t care, i just want a joyce/becky slipshine. like my slipshine account needs resubbing, i just want the universe to contain that comic, even if its small and kinda bland

  193. Zababcd

    Let me be the first to congratulate you on the achievement of your $3500 funding goal on Patreon. It’s not quite achieved yet – you’re at $3490. That’s why I’m the first.

    1. Zababcd

      I wish I could push you over the line, but even if I did contribute, it would be at $1 a month, not $10, because I am near-penniless.

    2. SDGlyph

      Aaand it’s just hit £3500. Congrats!

  194. bunivasal

    Oh man. Fresh sexual assault trauma plus gay panic plus that thing where you kind of freak out when someone you consider a platonic friend has probably fantasized about making you rub their tummy? This is going to be a god damned catastrophe.

    1. Lel

      This guy gets it.

  195. N

    I canot wait for tomarrow

  196. Morty

    I’m betting Becky was Really counting on Joyce being also super closeted, and had this moment playing out in her head with “let my love open the door” blasting in the background.
    Thaaaaaatts…. probably not gonna be how this turns out

  197. Kelly

    Guys, I am not ready for this! 10 minutes!

  198. Ulzur

    *Ruth bursts into the room, guns ablazing*
    “There’s only room for three lesbians in this comic strip – me, Billie, and that unsubtle editor girl nobody seems to remember.”

  199. Adam Black

    Joyce is is a Pickle.
    She’s crazily Homo-social , just told Walky this is “the best gift one person can give another”

    and was Furious at him for “throwing it back at Dorothys face”

    Shes been Jealous no one feel this way about her, ( including Dorothy ) …

    She prayed to god for this, and Willis answered!!

    uh-oh…

  200. Ulzur

    This is Twilight-level romance right here – so gratuitous and pointless and utterly nauseating to witness and experience. Part of me is just like “Somebody has to corrupt Joyce. They have to break her down and let her build herself back up, because until she becomes a tired, defeated person like the rest of us she’ll always be the complete opposite of a human being.”

  201. Johnny Z

    A few weeks, man. The comic’s been going on for years and it’s still only been a few weeks?

    1. Adam Black

      Parents weekend was 3/4 of this year, and we have not reached the end of the week yet.

      Willis has said this comic will never get to Sophomore year. ( i think)

      We are near October now. Move in day was late August

      1. Johnny Z

        Trading sex for grades seems like a really inefficient thing to do in the first semester.

  202. Krzysz

    This is all the feels! All of them!

  203. Tok3n

    AH KISSED A GRIL AND I LIKED IT
    HOAP ETHAN DONT MIND IT

  204. Asper

    This might be a bit awkward for them to explain to their parents.

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