242

Actual laundry
Posted on June 12, 2025 by David M Willis

242 thoughts on “Actual laundry”

  1. mindbleach

    It’s how you extract all the dopamine!

    1. Steamweed

      Wring out those brain tissues like a wet rag.

      1. Imogen

        ironically, dorothy has been joyce’s special interest frequently over the course of this year and that’s part of the “problem”.

  2. Animedingo

    To be fair, post religion, she wanted to be made in dorothys image

    1. Lilith Rose

      To be fair, Dorothy aiming to be president was the next most powerful personal relation Joyce could be make herself in the image of after her last one turned out to be a dud.

      1. clif

        To be fair, Dorothy has a pretty nice image.

        1. Barf Ninjason

          Ain’t that the truth. Dorothy is probably the one I would like the most in real life. Her and Walky, actually, come to think of it.

        2. StClair

          as I’ve said a few times, Penny is more my taste… pity about her villainy personality, in both universes.

      2. Sharizard

        Are you saying Dorothy is her god now?

        1. Tessea

          Honestly? I’ve seen people choose a LOT worse.

        2. morleuca

          I think they’re saying that Dorothy is actually attracted to herself.

    2. Amós Batista

      To be fair, after I left the most of my former religion, I started to follow a master of martial art. I liked him and started to trainning in dojo.
      It was 10 years ago, and I still go there.

      Is this the fate of all humans? We always are “doomed” to follow someone?

      1. willow wind

        You’re not *fated* to follow someone. It’s just that 1) following or being followed is a very normal relationship to have, and 2) if you’ve spent most of your life in a “follow” kind of mentality, it has become a comfortable way of life for you. So following someone else when you give up the previous not very good cultish group makes you feel comfortable in a familiar way. As long as you don’t fall into *another* cult (which is actually very common) it’s fine to follow a leader in a healthy way.

        Do try to practice having your own opinion on things and try not to *just* be a follower of other people in everything you do

  3. The 25th

    I don’t think the denial is working

    1. The 25th

      Re: panel 1 and 2

    2. Thag Simmons

      They’re like a day out from kissing, tops.

      1. DJTsurugi

        which will only be 267 more pages. ~<3

  4. NGPZ

    Gal Pal version of Bro Clone XD

  5. Doopyboop

    NO DOROTHY NO!! YOU’RE GONNA SUMMON THE GUY WHO THINKS YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO BE JOYCE’S MOTHER

    1. Liara

      That’s a guy? Oh no..

      1. Doopyboop

        Ooh yeah, he was here in the comments trying to argue that Dorothy doesn’t ACTUALLY have a feelings for Joyce, she just wants to be her MOTHER and got the feelings confused somehow!!

        Haha!

        Ha ha ha…

        1. tb

          this happened in fruits basket lol. honestly my favorite way a love triangle has resolved so far. 10/10 super creative + did not see it coming

        2. Opus the Poet

          +1 for referencing Fruits Basket ??. That was a little trope heavy, but it was a beautiful story.

        3. tb

          It’s such a unique shoujo anime and I love it very dearly. Tohru Honda is the best ever

        4. GholaHalleck

          In all the times I’ve called Dotty the “mom friend” it was always in the facet of her taking over the tasks of a mom for *everyone,* and thinking she was “more mature” then her friends.

          None of this alabama slammer stuff. The UST broke her out of that spot for me.

        5. Doopyboop

          Oh I agree that Dorothy is very mom friend. Commenters like that weird alabama slammer guy just don’t understand the difference between a mom friend and literally being someone’s actual factual mother.

        6. Taffy

          What do you mean??? Dorothy is Joyce’s biological mother!

        7. Doopyboop

          You’re right I forgot about the strip where we discovered that Carol is Dorothy from the future who went back in time to marry Joyce’s dad and give birth to her.

        8. Opus the Poet

          Carol is dead now, I think she chased a cat out in traffic and got run over 22 times. Don’t worry, the cat’s fine after tripping Carol in the far lane of the stroad.

        9. Doopyboop

          That cat is a hero.

        10. Steamweed

          Oh lawsy no we are not doing Heinlein’s writing in my Dumbing of Age. Nuh uh nope.

        11. Dread Pirate Robin

          Riiiiiiiight. Not like it was established pretty early on that gestures like that’s how Dotty shows affection. Or does she want to be Walky’s mom, too?

        12. Aura

          Off topic but I love your username

        13. Steamweed

          The gravatar is neato, also.

        14. Dread Pirate Robin

          Thank you, both!

        15. Nymph

          You know, it’s interesting, but I’ve actually NEVER seen any weird accusations of incestuous perversion regarding Dorothy’s mothering of Walky. Meanwhile I’ve seen several leveled at Dorothy regarding Joyce.

          So interesting. So inexplicable.

        16. Li

          Almost like maybe sapphic ships and relationships don’t actually get this universal pass for being more pure that I keep hearing talked about….

        17. Nymph

          SO INEXPLICABLE

      2. Nadamás

        There a couple actually.

    2. Justnobodyfqwl

      Instructions unclear. I’m now imagining Dorothy realizing to her horror that her crush on Joyce makes her even think her mom is hot

      1. Doopyboop

        Dorothy’s mother is very pretty, she can get it.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Dotty’s mom has got it going on.

        2. Justnobodyfqwl

          I’ve been on the record that I’d love pinups for some of the DOA moms. The mental image of Joyce getting flustered from accidentally seeing Dorothy’s mom is adorable

        3. Deanatay

          Willis decides to do it, starts with Joyce’s mom.

          Blowback is so bad, he never does another.

    3. apricot

      No, no, now we need to summon a new guy: Dorothy’s crush on Joyce is masturbatory

      1. 3oranges

        “Hooking up with someone with the exact same image, it is kind of a fun, narcissistic fantasy…”

        1. apricot

          “It’s spelled Narcissus because baby that’s ‘us’.”

      2. BorkBorkBork

        No, that’s what the washing machines were for.

    4. cain

      what was Freud doing here?

      1. Taffy

        Masturbating, as usual

        1. clif

          Sometimes a sexual organ is just a sexual organ.

    5. Mr.Morningstar

      I mean she may not WANT to be her mother she’s certainly acted like one in the past XD

  6. Alongcameaspider

    What do you mean people dont typically latch on to a single song and listen to it and only it for months on repeat? I thought that was how everyone listens to music

    1. V

      And don’t we all play games by fixating on one new game to the exclusion of all other activities under the fever has passed?

      1. clif

        I haven’t done that since D&D was new.

        Okay, I kind of did that in moderation with Gratuitous Space Battles, No Man’s Sky and Eve Online. But very moderate by comparison.

        1. Steamweed

          Ahh, I see you are a colleague traveler of the ’70s and literate culture! How is the state of your various vertebrae and knees?

        2. Clif

          Right knee that I fell on multiple times hurts at the slightest excuse and the backbone pinches a nerve for which I get a periodic epidural. But other than that, amazingly good.

      2. Aura

        Or still the same game we played ad nauseum since we were 11… <<

        1. Big Z

          I do NOT have a current XCOM (1994) game in progress at all times, shut up, you don’t know me. >>

        2. V

          Very nice. I am playing Let’s Go Eevee on the switch yet again right now. It’s very cute and soothing. But my husband has emulators on the PC to play some Really old games.

      3. TerribleTransit

        I feel like that’s more normal with games than with music. It’s just that for most people “the fever” lasts approximately until they beat the game, and “all other activities” often makes allowances for things like eating and sleeping.

        1. StClair

          the thing that made me finally stop playing Civ(s) and other 4Xs was the way they ate entire weekends at one gulp.

    2. sultryglebe

      It is. Joyce is right.

    3. Rose by Any other Name

      Nope.
      I listen to the whole album like that.
      I have found that, if I only do the one song, I won’t give the rest of the album a chance, and when I later do, I’ll be sick of the one song which will sit like dead fish among all the “new” songs.

      1. StarfighterVicki

        This is how I come to like new songs. Find one I like, listen to the album a million times, end up liking some of the others and fond of the rest.

    4. Straximus

      This is the way.

      1. clif

        Straximus has spoken.

    5. Swissaboo

      I did that for just an album, not a single song once, and now every time a song from that album comes up on any of my playlists the game that i was playing a lot of when that album came out comes to my mind completely unasked for, and frankly it was not that great of a game.

      I do not want a repeat performance.

      1. clif

        Just think if you were into a romantic partner when it came out and it turned out they were not that great of a romantic partner.

      2. Michelle J Caboose

        I will forever associate CCR, The Traveling Wilburys and Madonna with SSI’s Pool of Radiance because for a month or two in the early ’90s, I would play that while listening to Chronicle (CCR), Volume 1 and Volume 3 (Wilburys) and Like a Prayer.

        There are certainly worse games I could associate with those albums.

    6. Steamweed

      When I was learning to play piano, I did this with songs. Practiced the exact same song, varying only slightly, drill and drill, for several hours. To the absolute consternation of everyone else in the residence.

    7. Dwampre Scorrigank

      If I get into a group I usually have to listen to the artist/group’s whole discography so I don’t feel guilty about leaving out the unpopular stuff. (Also learn a bunch of trivia about their history, plus look up lyrics because I’m terrible at extracting words from music unless it’s a style that maximizes vocal clarity… unfortunately I don’t usually love that sort of music, but fortunately I do like a lot of wordless music). Usually that’s so much content that I only get through the catalog a couple times at most before I lose motivation at which point I lose the music listening habit altogether for a while. Then if that group releases a new album I don’t even hear about it because I’ve forgotten to be excited about them anymore.

    8. keithcurtis

      This is pretty typical for me. Particularly while working. Find a catchy tune and put it on repeat for several hours. Thank goodness for earbuds. Otherwise my coworkers would certainly have murdered me.

  7. SevenFerns

    Are you supposed to listen to a song once a day or something
    Listening to it on loop is the normal way to listen to music what else would you do

    1. Nadamás

      Buddy i have some news for you.

      1. clif

        No, I agree. Too much is never enough.

    2. Sam

      You’re ‘supposed’ to add it to your playlist and enjoy it when it occasionally comes up.

      It seems much more efficient to play it 300 times in a row until you want to listen to something else.

    3. Big Z

      No, you’re supposed to add it to your ONE BIG PLAYLIST of 5000+ songs and play only that on random all the time with no playlists or album groupings.

      …there’s more than one neurospicy way to consume music, I suspect.

      1. thejeff

        What I actually want is a way to make that big playlist on random sometimes play whole albums.

        1. Dark_Panda

          Record some whole albums and save them as single sound files, and add said files to your playlists.

          You’re welcome.

        2. StClair

          I have the reverse of that problem, in that some files I’ve downloaded off YouTube are whole albums, and sometimes I’d kind of like to have the separate tracks.

        3. Big Z

          I have exactly one album that’s set up like that (there’s a Daft Punk live album that’s legitimately one track) and I hate it.

      2. Bogeywoman

        I’m of the 5000 playlists for specific moods or themes which often include the same six songs.

        I am currently working on a playlist that would get me kicked off a plane.

      3. Sam

        Random!? Are you mad!? We play them in the exact order they come listed and in no other order starting from whatever song you feel like and ending when you no longer feel like hearing any of the things.

  8. Doctor_Who

    I am, as far as I know, completely neurotypical…but I listen to new songs exactly like Joyce.

    Usually because I’m mentally scoring the hypothetical adaptation of whatever book I just read, and that take a lot of drafts.

    1. Steamweed

      Er, not to go all armchair psychoanalyzer on you, but such mental behavior is a bit indicative of neurodiv cognitive behavior. 🙂

      1. AK

        Many things that are more common in ND people are also just. Stuff people do. Most ND diagnoses are really just descriptions of clusters of traits, with medical research only just starting to understand any of the neuroscience of it. LOTS of people do typically ND stuff but not enough of it to end up with the diagnoses that are basically either you had this many behaviors in this behavior bucket or the ones that you do have generate meaningful support needs.

        There is much less of a bright clear line between ND folks and everyone else than internet discourse would have you think.

        1. Peter Huppertz

          ^^^

  9. ChrisAshtear

    Try not to listen to it again on your way to the parking lot!

    1. Cheesy1

      Hey!
      Hey you, get back here!

    2. bubba0077

      What percentage of the audience is younger than that movie?

      1. DanMan9820

        Probably a pretty substantial chunk. I’ve been reading Willis’ comics for 12 1/2 years and I’m four years younger than Clerks.

  10. Decidedly Orthogonal

    “… what you’re willing to eat..” said Dorothy, breathless and hopefull.

    1. drs

      Whoah there, let’s not get crazy.

      1. Rose by Any other Name

        Dorothy: “Thai Curry!”
        Joyce: “Nnoooo! Too crazy!”

      2. Shakes

        Joyce did eat (swallow whole) a sushi once!

    2. Dot

      Trying to get Joyce to mix her foods might be the one thing to kill whatever’s happening in her cooter stone dead.

  11. Justnobodyfqwl

    LOVED the 37 gag. It’s going to be very funny seeing the very autistic DOA comment section all go “wait how else do you listen to music”.

    1. bubba0077

      In a row?

      1. cain

        some days it’s the same song for hours. in a row! it’s great fun!

      2. Nymph

        God yes. I wrote my dissertation listening ONLY to a single song for the entire write up (I like the way you kiss me by Artemas) and ended up in the top .001% of listeners for him last year lmaoooooooooo

        I go through songs like that. At least a week of one song on repeat forever and then it goes into the big playlist of a billion songs I know I love for when I want to listen to a mix.

    2. John Campbell

      Personally, I throw it all into a big pile and put it on random play.

      My MP3 player software has a limit of 16,535 tracks in a playlist. Guess how I know this.

      1. StClair

        When I had to make that a named playlist, I called it “One With Everything”.

        1. Thor

          So your playlist reached enlightenment, eh?

      2. thejeff

        That’s basically my approach. It does mean there’s a good chance I’ll never hear the new song again. 🙂

        1. John Campbell

          But you do get the extra dopamine hit when one of the “special” ones pops up!

    3. StClair

      *sheepishly raises hand*

    4. Li

      …another check in the column, heh.

    5. Yumi

      I got my autism diagnosis last year, and then a couple months later I was talking with a close friend from high school, and she was like, “Do you remember when we listened to that song on a loop for hours for some reason?” And I was like, “…I have something to tell you.”

    6. Kyulen

      I got diagnosed 3 years ago. I didn’t realize this was a thing autistic people do before then.

  12. Tan

    You know it’s true because she said “actual” twice.

  13. John Campbell

    Try not to listen to any Paramore on the way to the parking lot!

  14. Kyulen

    If I like a song, I’ll listen to it a ridiculous number of times in a row, but that’s apparently a thing for autistic people.

    1. 3oranges

      Nobody has ever actually suggested I’m autistic in person, but this comic sure thinks I am. 😐

      1. Nymph

        You might be high-masking/low-needs. I’ve never been accused of being autistic in person, but when I started telling people my AuDHD diagnosis I got a lot of “OH MY GOD THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE”.

      2. Astariel

        Me too. The number of neuroses Joyce and I have in common is…unsettling.

      3. Yumi

        A lot of people aren’t going to suggest that someone else is autistic in real life unprompted. Very reasons for this, including their own view of autism and what they might think the proper approach to concluding that one is autistic is.

        My previous therapist, who I saw for years, never suggested that I was autistic, but did eventually bring up the idea of an assessment for *something.* (It wasn’t clear if they were thinking the assessment would look at autism or not; it didn’t end up doing so, but that could have been because of unclear expectations or something.)

        Anyway, again– a lot of people aren’t going to suggest someone else has autism, even if they might suspect it.

        When I started seeing my current therapist and finally got that assessment (I had been on a wait list for a while) and it didn’t tell me anything helpful, she was like, “I thought the results might show an autism diagnosis.” Because she was much more familiar with working with neurodiverse folks– and then her saying this allowed me to admit that I’d been wondering if I was autistic for a couple years at that point.

        1. Yumi

          Weird mess up on my comment where the paragraph starting “Anyway, again” was meant to be at the end of the comment but apparently I tapped in the wrong place.
          Also, *”various reasons for this”.

  15. Lanie

    I’m with Joyce on the music, honestly. New album that I like? Time to listen to it 8,000 times in a row until I have it memorized.

  16. Bittersweet

    I feel Joyce and the music thing. I found a new song I liked and listened to it on loop for 8 hours straight yesterday.

  17. ChrisAshtear

    I kind if really want to see Joyces reaction to “Turn it Off” by Paramore.

  18. IntangibleMatter

    One time an artist I like released a single and I listened to it for 72 hours with the only breaks being for sleep

    1. BarerMender

      When I discovered _Frozen_ (a year after it came out), I listened to “Let it Go” repeatedly, every day for a month. Found it in other languages with literal translations back to English. I absolutely adored Elsa. I understood her. She spoke to me. Didn’t care about anyone else in the movie.

      1. Steamweed

        That song – and that character – resonated deeply with many, indeed.

      2. Dark_Panda

        I not only listened to “Let it Go” repeatedly, I’d watch the animation sequence that goes with it. It’s one of the most beautifully choreographed pieces of animation art ever created. Watch the cut from Elsa’s glove blowing away to the next shot, for example.

      3. Nymph

        omg there is no greater feeling than finding a translation that absolutely slaps (into any language idc) of a song you like.

        1. Li

          Japanese!Let It Go is so much better that it makes me like the original more.

          (Menzel’s performance is amazing, the music is totally fine, but the lyrics are weird and weak and confused, and they also contain artifacts of Elsa’s earlier villain writing that don’t work anymore. The Japanese dub is a lot tighter and also hews closer to what the song has become for a lot of people, which is a triumphant coming out.)

        2. BarerMender

          I found the lyrics to be sharp and powerful. I especially liked the strong, natural English phrases, such as, “Well, now they know!” and “The cold never bothered me anyway.”

        3. Li

          How’s about instead of whining more about the song I don’t love, I share the lyrics I like so much from the version I like better? ?

          (Keeping in mind that I’m providing rough translations, not trying to write good song lyrics myself.)

          降り始めた雪は足跡消して
          真っ白な世界にひとりの私
          風が心にささやくの
          このままじゃ、ダメなんだと

          New-fallen snow has erased all footprints
          In this completely white world, there’s only me
          And it’s the wind that whispers to my heart:
          “Things just have to change.”

          とまどい傷つき
          誰にも打ち開けずに悩んでた
          それももうやめよう
          I was lost and in pain
          In trouble, but had no one I could be honest with
          But now, I’ll put an end to all of that

          ありのままの　姿見せるのよ
          ありのままの　自分になるの
          何も怖くない　風よ吹け
          少しも寒くないわ
          I’ll show it to you: my real form!
          I’ll become it: my real self!
          I’m not afraid of anything, so blow, o wind!
          Because I’m not even a little cold

          悩んでたことが　嘘みたいね
          だっても自由よ　なんでも出来る
          どこまでやれるか
          自分を試したいの
          そうよ変わるのよ　私
          All my troubles, it’s like they were never real
          Instead, I’m free! I can do anything!
          And if I could go anywhere, do anything?
          I’d want to try out *being me!*
          Yeah, that’s right, I’m going to change… *myself!*

          ありのままで　空へ風に乗って
          ありのままで　飛び出してみるの
          二度と　涙は　流さないわ
          I’ll try riding the wind, as I really am
          And flying through the sky, as I really am
          And I’ll never shed another tear

          冷たく大地を包み込み
          高く舞い上がる　想い描いて
          花咲く氷の結晶のように
          輝いていたい　もう決めたの
          Enshrouded by a cold land
          I see myself soaring so high
          Like crystals of ice blooming
          I want to shine— Yeah, I’m sure of it!

          これでいいの　自分を好きになって
          これでいいの　自分信じて
          光あびながら　歩きだそう
          少しも寒くないわ
          I can love myself just like this, I’m good enough
          I’ll believe in myself just like this, I’m good enough
          From here on, I’ll walk bathed in light
          Because I’m not even a little cold

          I just think the imagery is all on point, and I *really* like the ありのままの>ありのままで>これでいいの progression.

          ありのまま is a phrase meaning “as it is”, and therefore also things like “plain, honest, candid”. Unvarnished truth, etc.

          これでいいの is like, “this is good enough”, and the これでいいの自分 is very much, this me is good enough.

          I also think these lyrics are just much more unreservedly empowering.

          Which is arguably “wrong”, but more how the song has been taken by general audiences.

        4. Taffy

          That’s exactly how I feel about “Caramelldansen” in Spanish.

  19. jeffepp

    If no one is sitting on those running machines, you’re just playing on someone else’s quarters.

    1. clif

      Thus speaketh the pragmatist.

  20. Mym

    It’s exactly how I listen to songs…
    I am
    In the top 1% of Taylor Swift listeners this last month on Spotify…
    (Clearly I am tism, too, Joyce)

    1. rjmmbc

      I’ve been in the top 0.1% of listeners for the Hadestown Soundtrack 2 years in a row. There is no other way to listen to music.

      1. TGS

        1. The best kind of .1%.

        2. Accidentally reported. Apologies for bad thumb aim.

  21. Taffy

    I think the first song I did that with was “Super Sonic Racing”, from the Sonic R soundtrack. I’ve never played the game.

  22. Dante

    To be loved is to be changed, Dorothy.

    We’re constructs made up by little bits and pieces we’ve picked up from the people who love us. Language, visual cues, habits, shared memories. I see no “remaking” but holy shit the denial is enough to drown the laundry room wholesale.

  23. Shakes

    Is playing music on speaker in public spaces normalised now?

    1. CallynD

      Unfortunately.

    2. Thag Simmons

      It’s definitely a thing that happens and I think most people are too polite to raise a stink about it when it does, but I don’t know if I’d call it normalized

    3. Bittersweet

      Yeah, it’s pretty great. Life gets a movie soundtrack, you get to learn what people around you are vibing to, and a free pass to dance in public.

      I personally have never had a problem with people blaring music in public. More please, and louder.

      1. Bittersweet

        (I don’t do this because anxiety, but it genuinely makes my day 10x better when someone else is having a good time with their tunes.)

      2. CallynD

        Hell no. The music you like sucks and it mixes with the overhead music to make a mishmash of sound. Earphones are your friend, not wearing them in a public space should be punishable by death.

  24. Elf grrl

    LOVE DARES YOU TO CHANGE – said a wiseman

  25. Cmd1095

    I feel that about the music, if I find a song that scratches that autism brain itch in one way or another it’ll be the only thing I listen to for probably the whole day, if not longer

  26. Florence

    Both of them looking like each other might be the gayest thing happening here

    1. syd

      One thing about white queers… they *love* dating people who look like them. Many such cases.

      1. Miri

        “Do I want to *be* you or be *with* you?” is totally a confusing thing!

      2. eh, whatever

        Hetero couples also often look very similar, except for the most obvious things like hair length. That’s often been remarked upon.

        Same for people and their dogs, BTW.

        1. syd

          Lol I’ve never understood the phenomenon. I love an opposites attract moment, always!

      3. Big Z

        I may or may not repeatedly mock my partner for this, because since they went enby they look EXACTLY like the “if you’re queer you know 55 people who look like this” meme.

    2. Steamweed

      With a hint of lip bite from Joyce.

  27. Straximus

    This is adorable. They are an adorable mess.

  28. Serendipity

    I have been sniped by that reference.

    1. Serendipity

      Don’t let anyone shame you, Joyce, it’s perfectly okay to catch a listen in the parking lot on your way out of a strip mall.

  29. Parismio

    Bruh, you snuck in Clerks reference in your alt text.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Who the hell is Leonardo Leonardo?

  30. BBCC

    Relatable, Joyce, relatable.

    Really wanna hear more of Dorothy’s perspective on the remaking in her image bit.

  31. darkoneko

    Nope, that’s totally how I listen to new songs too

  32. Acher4

    Erm, was she remade by Dorothy,
    or the truest fact, that Joyce practically did all those things on her own, for her own personal reasons?

    (except the glasses, that she needed for medical reasons)

    1. Thag Simmons

      Joyce choosing change and Dorothy being the catalyst/model for those changes are pretty compatible with each other

    2. Steamweed

      Don’t forget the hussy pills. She’s taking those also because of medical reasons.

    3. darkoneko

      so is Joyce gonna run for PResident ?

      1. Pergola

        “President Brown”. Sounds refreshingly normal.

        1. StClair

          Unfortunately, I don’t think this country will be ready to elect a Brown person – especially a women – for a while.

  33. Zamperla

    Dorothy 5 minutes from convincing herself that “the totally normal amount of things you learn and pick up and absorb from a friend” is a trauma induced subconscious emotional manipulation on her own part.

    1. Astariel

      I think 5 minutes is optimistic.

      1. Throwatron

        yeah, those are rookie numbers. she can have this rationalization solidified in SECONDS, people!

    2. Bittersweet

      See, I argued the first laundry room scene was her subconsciously enforcing her authority and Joyce deferring to it because “authority said so, must do.” It was a big problem I had in college and led to me spending $800 on family because my older sibling was broke, but they were also the parentified sibling who raised me so I didn’t feel like I could/should say no and that I should trust them.

      I still wish the initial scene had a more enthusiastic “yes” from Joyce, but I don’t feel that way anymore. But it’ll be interesting if the realization hits Dorothy like that and *she* believes she was being manipulative even though it’s very clear now that she isn’t and wasn’t.

      And then beyond infuriating (for me) when Joyce kisses her to reaffirm her own agency, but I’ll live. I’m moving on from Joeyce to Joe/Sarah or Joe/Rachel (in the most mutually destructive way that could turn out only). It’ll be aight.

  34. Queen Anthai

    Hey Joyce, try not to listen to any music on your way across the parking lot!

  35. furubatsu

    For those who don’t get the “37 times”/”In a row???” joke and the comments telling Joyce not to do it again in the parking lot, look up Clerks.

    (Some of you have probably seen the Mako/Korra edit of the scene they’re all referancing on tumblr at some point or another)

    1. Taffy

      The just-okay movie, the sequel, the show, or secret other thing?

      1. clif

        I know the answer is yes and I don’t even know what we’re talking about.

      2. Steamweed

        Dammit you can’t mention the secret other thing! This is an unsecured comment section!

  36. Tawnee

    If everyone silently adds a tick to their personal “ND trait” column after reading this strip, are we really the ND ones?

    1. Nymph

      Yes, we are. This is a small and very specific sample of people (those who read a comic strip about an autistic bisexual woman written by a nonbinary (I think also queer and also ND but I don’t remember) author.

      We’ll have a higher-than-average concentration of ND people here, it’s not a representative sample of the general population.

      1. Li

        I remember, and the answer about the author also being queer and ND is yes. And anyone who wants to argue about nonbinary people in “straight passing” relationships can step on legos about it. ?

        Also +1 to everything else Nymph said. Self-selected groups being higher percentage of a given subtype of human than the general population is just how things work.

        To say nothing of the overlap between ND people and “participating in a webcomic comments section” versus the readers who have never once glanced at the comments, or who do but don’t feel the need to engage? Regular commenters are an even smaller subsection of those readers. Etc etc.

    2. John Campbell

      I’m increasingly convinced that sapience is a neurodivergence.

  37. Dread Pirate Robin

    Okay 1) she clearly needed glasses 2) you parted her hair like that for a Rapunzel costume and it just happened to stick. 3) if memory serves she got the fitness watch for JACOB.

    I think Dorothy is trying to rationalize why she thinks she bad for Joyce and broaching the whole “wedging myself between you and Joe” thing would put it too much in romantic terms.

    1. Doopyboop

      Regarding 2, there’s also many strips before Halloween where Joyce has her hair parted to the right so yeah. Dorothy’s just reaching for reasons to be terrible and no good for Joyce so her feelings aren’t real. As for 3, you’re actually on the money!

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/sniping/

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/courtesy/

      1. Doopyboop

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-8/02-this-is-the-way-that-we-love/sweatband/ This strip is the watch’s first appearance so I think this is why Dorothy thinks ‘she’ made Joyce get it somehow.

      2. Tan

        Jacob’s comment in the first link “Hey, look, I’m tracking my steps now, too” (emphasis added) actually suggests that Jacob is the one who got his because of Joyce after Joyce got hers because of Dorothy.

        1. Dread Pirate Robin

          Ah, thanks. I just remembered the strip where they have a repartee about their watches, and it was right in the middle of Joyce’s not so secret crush on him.

      3. David M Willis

        Before Joyce’s hair always parted to the right, the rules were it parted in the opposite direction of the way her face was looking. When drawn head-on, I’d choose a direction that looked best to me.

        Believe Dorothy! She knows what she’s talking about.

        1. Doopyboop

          I like this, this is the best answer I’ve ever gotten. The mental image of Dorothy having such a huge crush on Joyce that she’s internalized this hair knowledge and of course that it is her “fault” that Joyce kept it to the right… she puts the disaster in disaster bisexual.

  38. Amós Batista

    sometimes, enlightenment gets you right before sex…

    1. Steamweed

      Instead of post-nut clarity, it’s pre-nut clarity.

  39. Morhek

    I for one am not seeing the issue with listening to the same song 37 times. How else are you meant to memorise the lyrics so you don’t end up repeating the mistake of thinking Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” starts with “I got my first real sex dream”?

    1. clif

      I am so disillusioned.

    2. Steamweed

      ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy!

      1. BYM!

        Except sometimes in concert Hendrix actually did do that one ’cause he thought it was funny

    3. Andy

      Give me the Beach Boys (beat boys)

  40. BorkBorkBork

    I am realizing I might be more ND than I thought.

    The act of listening to an album on repeat for 37 times sounds exhausting.

    The act of listening to an album on repeat twice, sounds exhausting.

    The act of listening to an album. AT ALL, and not instead just searching “Best Stardew Valley songs” on YouTube, and having it go in the background for a good twenty minutes until I remember that thing about cats and cucumbers, and interrupt what I was doing to find out WHY cats jump from cucumbers, then watch several shorts of cats jumping away from cucumbers, then look up cats on Minecraft and look up what you can do with them, and then finish a few hours later by playing Mario Kart World, because I was *going* to play Minecraft, but why the hell should I play old ancient Minecraft on my Switch 2 when there is a beautiful new Mario Kart – compared to that, listening to an album sounds exhausting.

    I mean, it’s like deliberately giving yourself an earworm.

    1. Miri

      Life is exhausting, yes.

      Without looking it up, I recall hearing it’s because they have a startle “it’s a snake!” instinctive reaction?

    2. rjmmbc

      See and I’m the opposite; that YouTube rabbit hole sounds exhausting but I’ve listened to the Hadestown soundtrack approximately 120 times in the last year because it is simply the only thing I want to listen to most of the time. Before that it was Hamilton for 6 years straight.
      My music taste has been all over the place in terms of genre (adhd) but also very focused at any given time, since i definitely fixate on specific songs or albums (pretty sure thats the ‘tism).
      Joyce is doing what I do when I find new music I like.

      1. BorkBorkBork

        Yeah, I don’t find new music. Never have. Grew up in the 90s, never bought a CD in my life. Have no bands or singers or anyone who I like – at least, none that I like enough to really remember once they’re no longer playing.

        I might get *a* song stuck in my head, because I know a ton of songs, but I couldn’t tell you who sang them. You could say to me, “Name a Taylor Swift song,” and I will stare blankly into space for a few seconds before guessing “I dunno, that one where she took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights?”

        And I know that because I sat here, blankly, trying to remember, then typed that into Google before learning I was wrong.

        But I will play Outer Wilds, and it will *wreck* me, and years later I will pull up that OST, and every time it comes to 14.3 Billion Years it will still wreck me, leading to big ugly tears while I duck under my desk and my coworkers wonder if someone in my family died.

        I guess that’s my fixation. Occasionally it’ll be a movie… but realistically, 99.9% of the time, the only music I actually care about comes from a game.

        I wouldn’t begin to know where to start if I was ever asked to come up with a sexytimes playlist. I haven’t played enough video games that had that much of a vibe.

  41. Adept

    Is Dorothy starting to think this through?

    1. Miri

      What aspect of “this”? I think she’s deciding she made Joyce over in her own image and then developed a crush on her and this makes her a narcissist and an awful friend, and generally a terrible person, and she’s going to get back on her depression spiral and travel a few floors further down?

      1. Needfuldoer

        I suppose it means what she really wants, deep down, is to go fuck herself.

  42. Tessea

    I love that despite everything else that’s happened in the last 24 hours or so, Joyce has an EXACT count of how many times she’s listed to Dorothy’s ‘mix-tape’.

    1. eh, whatever

      I’ve met someone who counts his steps. Always. He’s actually baffled that not everyone is constantly doing that.

      1. Tessea

        Some form of OCD? I can’t imagine realistically staying accurate with that. That’s what my smartwatch pedometer function is for!

  43. AnonGrouch

    Nah Dorothy you shared culture with your friend/crush. That’s just fucking normal. It’s like hanging around a bunch of dnd nerds and suddenly realizing that they acquired dice with more than six faces they didn’t buy and started using ‘i failed a skill check’ in normal conversation.

  44. thumb

    Can’t believe Dorothy is instilling such filthy horrible doubt in Joyce.

    OF COURSE YOU LISTEN TO IT 37 TIMES IN A ROW, JOYCE! THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LIKE A SONG!!!!

    It’s everyone else who’s a weirdo for doing it wrong.

  45. mel

    please show her how to kiss to assert independence

  46. Dot

    Wonder how many ways Dorothy is going to find to rationalize her repression until it explodes. The genie can’t go back in the bottle, Keener!

  47. Starlight

    It’s okay, Dorothy – you know who else fell in love with a girl while trying to help her through her trauma and psychological issues, kind of consensually remade her in her own image, and ended up in a strange situationship where it always feels like they’re about to kiss but never quite do and if either of them actually acknowledge out their feelings for the other they’ll have a mental breakdown about it?

    That’s right: Twilight Sparkle. And she ended up ruling all Equestria. Don’t feel so bad about it now, do you?

  48. Mo

    there’s a lot of songs in this world but not all of them will bring you lasagna at work

    or other clerks references

  49. Opus the Poet

    I was looking at My Mix on just one of the music streaming services I use and it’s right at 30 hours. Joyce could listen to it 8 hours a day and never hear anything twice for 3 days and 6 hours.

    1. John Campbell

      Weak.


      Artists: 2416
      Albums: 1350
      Songs: 13022

      DB Play Time: 36 days, 18:24:32

      (Though to be fair, there are quite a few tracks I have more than one version of, or even more than one release of the same version. Like, I have five copies of the studio version of “Lucky Man”, off the original album and four different compilation albums. I think that’s the most for just copies of the same frickin’ song. The others that I have more than two or three of, it’s different live versions or different mixes.)

      1. jeffepp

        That’s about on tune with my music collection. When I was listening to music all the time, my goal was to only hear a (version of a) song once a week.

  50. V98

    What an odd thing to say.

    1. Nadamás

      Your mok is a odd thing to say.

  51. Nothri

    Pffff. That’s like 1.5 listens to the song an hour. That’s nothing.

  52. Mr.Morningstar

    So, maybe im misreading them, but it seemed the two were basically coming here to masturbate together? And i dunno this feels like.. Cheating right? Am I wrong?

    Theres something about this whole scenario I do not like at all, and it literally is in regards to the fact theyre both in relationships.

    1. Nymph

      Yes, they came here intending to masturbate together. Yes, some people feel like this is cheating. Some people feel like it isn’t, so there’s not a definite answer, but you’re not wrong in how you feel.

      And yep, that makes sense. If you think this is cheating, then them being in relationships would be a problem for you.

      1. John Campbell

        Hot take: They’re actually cheating on each other with Joe and Walky.

        1. Li

          It did briefly occur to me to wonder if that was how Joyce was rationalizing this, heh.

        2. Taffy

          Now, this is pod racing!

      2. Big Z

        Mmm, I think honestly that “Joyce has previously expressed she’d feel like it was cheating” is enough to make me label it as “potentially cheating”, personally.

    2. Sam

      Yes, they were.

      It’s iffy on whether it would be considered cheating or not as neither have actually discussed with their partners and different people will feel differently on if this is 100% cheating, leaning on boundaries heavily or perfectly acceptable.

      I personally feel this is leaning on boundaries heavily because Dorothy especially is in denial. But that it absolutely would be cheating if they said they loved each other and decided to do this to deal with it.

      Whereas it would be perfectly acceptable if both Joe and Walky just outright did not care (some men do watch porn together and presumably take care of such needs at the same time, so it is possible there are people that would not care).

      I am not really enjoying the boundary leaning myself because it is too close to cheating for my liking.

      1. Charles Phipps

        I think Dorothy and Joyce would consider it cheating and so would their partners.

        Which is the only four people that matter.

        1. Meagan

          Yeah I’m in this camp. I’ve been through enough relationship traumadrama to know that “technicallies” have nothing to do with anything helpful. If it’s a question, it’s good to check in with your partner, and they haven’t done that at all.

        2. Sam

          Yeah, the thing is, I am not so sure on any of their feelings on it except Dorothy likely regarding it as cheating when not denying her feelings. I can see Joyce rationalising it. Joe also maybe could. I don’t know if Walky would care or REALLY REALLY CARE or get distracted by ‘I knew it!’. I am not having confident predictions on this at all which feeds into my dislike of it personally.

    3. Nadamás

      Man you are way too late the whole cheating arguments was yesterday, we are discussing listen to songs over and over now

    4. ZerglingOne

      Oh, it’s cheating, but this is fiction and us degenerates basically want every available pairing at some point. The way I see it, Amber is basically in the comic as a reminder that you can be a decent person and still want that kind of thing for all of your favorite fictional characters.

      1. Nadamás

        The sickos surpass the relationship paladins by the hundreds. We will win this war.

  53. Ajm5007

    I also listen to new music I like over and over for several days, but I don’t keep count.

  54. Matt

    37 is amateur numbers

  55. Taffy

    Dorothy’s staring a hole in Joyce’s tits.

    1. John Campbell

      Jugs is really making Dorothy’s tank top work.

  56. PB

    Your love for her is like a truck BERSERKERRRRR~

    Anyway, conscious or unconscious mirroring is a possibility on Joyce’s part here.

    1. StClair

      it hits her and sends her to another world?
      (no regrets!)

  57. thumb

    Rereading the strip, it finally occurred to me Dotty has more concerns than just “I might be bi” or “this might be cheating”. She’s also aware of the amount of influence she’s been wielding over Joyce, and is unclear how much her attraction might have swayed the manner in which she’s used it. Considering her current other hangups regarding responsibility over other people, that’s another quagmire she’s standing in.

    1. Clif

      The quagmires have quagmires.

    2. Big Z

      It’s kinda funny to see Dorothy seemingly feeling this way, given the amount of flak a lot of folks were taking for suggesting that very thing during the first laundry incident.

  58. Moonie

    37 SONGS! MY GIRLFRIEND LISTENED TO 37 SONGS!

    “…in a row?”

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