611

Want
Posted on May 3, 2025 by David M Willis

611 thoughts on “Want”

  1. NGPZ

    *plays “Mystery Kindaichi Band” on hacked muzak*

    1. NGPZ


      Operation: A.M.A.T.E.R.A.S.U. once again resumes!

      Oooooh yeaaaaah!!!! B)

    2. Risky

      Um, can’t say I disagree with the choice of random kinda awkward disco chiptune porn music for this situation.

      1. Aquila

        How about late 70s pop-rock musical?

        1. Needfuldoer

          Nah, late 60s to early 70s prog rock concept album.

        2. Lysbeth

          I didn’t know there was progesterock

          … I wrote this as a joke but now I want to start an all-transfem prog rock band called progesterock

        3. Booster's hotter doppel

          Keep me posted, I’m in

    3. Decidedly Orthogonal

      You’re killing me Smalls!

    4. Nymph

      I’m going to keep imagining the actual song the artist put over the scene I think lol

      1. Clif

        +(infinity)

      2. Bryy

        A user commenting on the strip is a weird thing to take offense to.

        1. Nymph

          Point to me where I said I was offended? By the comment, the user, or otherwise?

    5. Anon

      insert the ‘now kith’ meme here lol

  2. Jay

    Bad time to come on only exception by paramore

    1. Rose by Any other Name

      You mean BEST time.

      1. Clif

        That’s what I heard.

        1. DJTsurugi

          lol my literal response to this page was “fuck” followed by “who’s going to make that move?” ~<3

        2. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Or Willis is bein’ wicked wiley, and we won’t witness what’s waiting for a week while wistfully wondering. When what is, will be what was, and it wasn’t what we wanted as Willis’ wonderful wise-woman whooshes what was wiffled.

        3. Peter Huppertz

          … what?

        4. Shadowsnail

          Winningly whimsical wordplay!

    2. Dante

      Hayley is singing directly to them.

      It’s their Palpatine “Do It”

      It’s Destiny.

      1. 3oranges

        Wait, is that the kind of doing it Palpatine meant? I really need to rewatch that movie I guess, I missed a lot of subtext.

        1. GholaHalleck

          I mean, you have Christopher Lee on his knees wearing silk, and you’ve got a raging light based hard-on pointed at his mouth.

      2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

        Is Joycy about to make the first move on Dotty? Am I finally gonna see this?

        Or am I gonna be screaming DAMN YOU WILLIS! to the heavens in about 3 days’ time? xD

    3. Thag Simmons

      We are three for three so far

      1. Thag Simmons

        Maybe “That’s what you get” is next up for when things go disastrously wrong somehow

        1. Rose by Any other Name

          Personally, I’m hoping for Crush Crush Crush.

          “Let’s be more than this.”

    4. arjay2813

      Could also have been introducing Joyce to South park, and have Towelie saying “I choose…I choose BOTH!” which is what has been gin my head about this since yesterday.

  3. Sirksome

    Every bestie gets one!

    1. Rose by Any other Name

      Billie/Jen said it, so we know it must be true.

      1. Steve

        Billie Jen is not my lover

        1. cain

          She’s just a girl who bangs her best friend, like, once

      2. Dante

        Y’know, I really love how Billiefer was the one to nudge Joyce into this.

        She, who once told Dorothy “I know Joyce is yours” and called her out on how Joyce was the thing Dorothy was the most passionate about.

        Peak writing

        1. Li

          Don’t forget she also enabled the cleavage pic, by directly encouraging Dorothy to send such a photo to anyone-not-Walky, by sending her OWN photo*, and by later being so upset that her photo might’ve gone to Walky that she prompted Joyce to actually check her texts finally.

          * I wanted to say this like weeks ago, but never did, I don’t think, but I think Joyce’s very lukewarm “why did Dorothy send me a picture of Jennifer’s breasts?” reaction was an important contrast for her obvious fluster over Dorothy’s more modest pic. It showed us that Joyce’s fluster couldn’t be explained away as mere “oh jeez, a suggestive photo of a friend, that’s scandalous!”, and also provided important contrast for her much earlier surface-level interest in Jennifer’s cleavage and her deeper feelings for Dorothy.

        2. Rectilinear Propagation

          OOooooh, excellent observation!

        3. Li

          I meant my reply to Adept to stand for the whole thread but then I got another reply so now…!

          Anyway thank you. 🙂

        4. Adept

          I’m starting to be convinced.

        5. Li

          Heh, I just think the whole thing is very clever and neat. 🙂 These wheels have been a-turnin’ for quite some time.

        6. Rose by Any other Name

          Good catch!

        7. Li

          Thanks 🙂

        8. John Campbell

          Note also that her reaction to Dorothy sexting Walky was “Let me see!”

        9. Li

          Yep!

      3. PB

        I’ve been trying to find the strip where she says that; where is it?

        1. Sirksome

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/skills/

  4. Steamweed

    Slowest. Motion. Event. Ever.

    1. Dante

      GOD I KNOW, we’re being dragged into it WITH DETAIL. This pacing has shooketh me

      1. NGPZ

        basically like Goku and Frieza fighting for “”””5 MINUTES”””” before Namek’s destruction XD

        1. Asky

          TO BE FAIR

          Frieza never specified what kind of minutes, meaning that they fought for five plot minutes.

      2. Clif

        Hold onto your hat.

        1. BarerMender

          Take off your glasses. And hers.

    2. Thag Simmons

      Man I wonder how many patreon upgrades they’ve gotten out of this sequence. Has to be at least one right?

    3. Needfuldoer

      Yeah, the daily drip feed of new events is brutal. I’m sure this will feel better paced in print or for a future binge-reader.

  5. Suet

    As of the time I’m posting this, 150 Patreon comments is way too many. Although, I can see why.

    The Only Exception? hey hey hey…

    no matter what happens
    i promise you
    ᴗ•⸝⸝)ദി ⚐ ??? ദ്ദി(⸝⸝•ᴗ dumbing of age will be even gayer next year

    1. Steamweed

      Welp, if it’s gotta be, then by golly it’s gotta be.

    2. Dante

      It’s 2:08 where I am, currently two hours after the update.

      Two hours and we’re up to 235 comments. What a blast

      1. Steamweed

        At 464 now, 1:00 p.m. CST. Mostly-ish of the “kkkiiissssss her!” category.

    3. tns

      It is taking every fiber of my being to wait 8 hours and not spend 4 bucks just to see tomorrow’s strip

  6. AbacusWizard

    dang this playlist is really on fleek

    1. Clif

      I have no idea what fleek means, but I totally agree anyway.

      1. Dante

        Relevant to topic, synonym with “groovy”

        1. Clif

          Thank you.

      2. Risky

        Boomer slang

        1. Laura

          Boomer? Please. Xennial, earliest. Come on!

        2. AlexanderHammil

          a phrase invented by kayla newman in 2013 when she was 16 that went viral in the black community and then got coopted by white people https://www.teenvogue.com/story/on-fleek-inventor-kayla-newman-aka-peaches-monroe-on-her-beauty-line

        3. Li

          Dang those Black teenagers, somehow creating Boomer slang.

          (More seriously, we owe such a cultural debt to Black teens and especially Black girls, it’s ridiculous.)

        4. AlexanderHammil

          i mean to be fair that’s where a good chunk of actual baby boomer slang came from, too

        5. Li

          Yeah, that is part of what I was saying. It’s definitely not just since 2016 that a tooooon of American culture has come from Black teens.

        6. showler

          I read that as “toon” rather than “ton”

        7. Li

          Sob

        8. Thing2

          Groovy (possibly)? On fleek (no way)?

        9. Clif

          Now I’m curious. What do you see as the distinction?

        10. Li

          At a guess, since this is a response to @Risky, “groovy could be Boomer slang, on fleek definitely isn’t”.

      3. zee

        It’s like 10 years out of date don’t worry about it

        1. clif

          Hah.

  7. Dot

    I’m gonna be completely honest, this is destined to crash and burn and not in a way I’m partiticularly excited to see.

    1. peng

      girl come on ;_;

    2. GholaHalleck

      Oh its going to be a cluster fuck of epic proportions. This will utterly destroy the entire cast dynamic.

      We’re gonna have to cut to Marcy and the roller derby for months because it’ll be the only group that’s not utterly fucked by this.

      1. Clif

        I don’t know. It’s a roller coaster, but are we headed into bittersweet or something else. Not sure.

        1. Dot

          There is no way this ends bittersweet. This is taking a firecracker to the central cast’s dynamics if neither of them is able to course correct and get the train off the track.

        2. GholaHalleck

          Yup. This breaks Joe from the group, which means Danny, and Sal. This would eventually break Walky out of the group, with probably Amber joining him again. Sarah would be livid about this, and probably just swap rooms with Dottie to get away from it all. Becky would lose her shit, which could break her and Dina up, or just drive the two of them out of the friend group entirely.

        3. Qlx

          Ok but what if they just become a polycule. Joe acted really chill about Dorothy sending lewds to his girlfriend and helped her consider what it could mean for her identity. Walky didn’t care (slash didn’t listen). Maybe they could just be a ‘cule? Becky will be heartbroken all over again unfortunately though

        4. GholaHalleck

          Just because Joe acted like a friend to Dottie, doesn’t mean he’d be okay with sharing his First Time Actual Relationship Girlfriend. What with his Martyr Man Whore Facade, and his wanting to be in a not based on boning relationship.

          Also Dottie still Despises him.

          Can we not gloss over that while Joe was supportive and actual friending Dottie she was trying to tear him down and treated him like garbage, just because uwu bisexual sapphic kissy face?

        5. Adept

          I don’t want Joe getting hurt.

        6. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Agreed Adept. Agreed.

          We don’t always get what we want.

        7. sea salt ice cream sequel

          Eh, I don’t think giving Dorothy some clemency because she had a panic attack about a major change in her life is really glossing over anything (Joe understood this just fine! Even while he was somewhat calling her out). I also really don’t know why you keep saying Dorothy still despises him…? I don’t think she LIKES him very much still (they have a long history, most of which is negative), but they ended their last interaction pretty amicably. She talked about him positively yesterday too, and if she trusts Joe with Joyce, that really means something (after all we’ve already seen plenty of scenes where that wasn’t the case).
          That said I also don’t think poly talk is on the table for now, your read on Dorothy just continues to be wrong.

        8. Li

          +1 for sea salt

        9. Fafflechaff

          Thank you. I don’t often comment here for fear of speaking out of turn, but I have had my heart broken, and two characters I’ve admired for being kind and considerate are ripping someone’s guts out, right on the heels of some very leading and manipulative behavior putting them (intentionally or not) in position to get their guts ripped out. “Can we not… just because uwu kissyface” was good to read, and covers a lot of ground.

        10. Vulcanodon

          Perhaps they will be interrupted

      2. Steamweed

        I _think_ maybe that Charlie and Carla will be unaffected. Charlie because not noticing. Carla because it doesn’t matter what her worshippers do when not in her presence.

        1. bhtooefr

          Carla might even ship it.

        2. Steamweed

          “Jugs and Not-Jugs are a thing now? Well of course I knew that was going to happen. I totally called it.”

    3. Abdomino

      Yeah, Joe is gonna have a big ol’ “You judged me for being the way I was, but I never did anything like this.” Moment and it’s not gonna be great.

    4. Dot

      Like Jesus Christ imagine how Becky is going to feel. Joe. Walky.

      1. peng

        yesssss ive been waiting for this angst from becky since she first noticed joyce being all over dorothy, this has been in the making for so lonngggggg

      2. Dante

        ……. The one who’s going to get hurt about this is Walky. I’m positive. As for the rest:

        Becky is with Dina. She might feel conflicted, since she’s not totally over Joyce. She could indeed feel awful about it — but she’s still in a solid relationship with a girl she’s stated she’ll marry. Maybe she’ll even feel validated, or react like when Joyce told her she was autistic.

        Joe already knows Dorothy is into Joyce. I love him and he does worry me, because he’s grown a lot and still feels inadequate, but potentially, he could also surprise us with his inner tenderness (like when he sought Dorothy.) I’m crossing my fingers for this dude.

        Yeah, everything could go wrong. But what if it doesn’t?

        1. Megan

          the idea that this was a long con from joe to grt these two together is terrifying and also maybe the only way this doesnt blow up for the entire cast

        2. Clif

          Don’t confuse Joe with Mike. Mike was the one with long range plans and the ability to manipulate people.

        3. Dante

          Apologies — I’m not sure whether this is a new you’re commenting/adding or…If something I said could be interpreted that way?

          Because. I really don’t think that’s the case ^^;;;;

        4. Anon

          well walky did once thought he wasn’t ‘good enough’ for dorothy so i’m sure he’d let it slide a bit more easily than joe but , butg i half expect him to semi gloat like “I KNEW she was into you/always acted liek she wanted to go down on you”

      3. Taffy

        Becky’s feelings don’t matter here, let’s not be ridiculous.

        1. thejeff

          They only matter in terms of the potential for this to blow up the entire friend group.
          She’s Joyce’s other best friend and Dorothy has to live with her.

        2. Taffy

          It seems silly to think that potential would bubble over into reality.

        3. Dot

          And she was in love with Joyce for most of her life, love that Joyce rejected because she is or was straight.

        4. Jeff K!

          *love that Joyce rejected because she didn’t feel that way about Becky, which Joyce interpreted as being because she was straight.

          Joyce has made it very clear that she sees Becky as a sister.
          Joyce doesn’t see Becky as a potential romantic interest for the same reason as Jennifer doesn’t see Walky as a potential romantic interest.
          They were raised together. Joyce had siblings for context, Becky only had Joyce as a safe haven, and that developed into romantic feelings.

          Since the kiss was Joyce’s first experience with same sex romance, and it came from someone who she would roundly turn down even if Becky were a man, she understandably came to the conclusion that she’s probably straight.

      4. justin8448

        Becky knows. She commented way back during the arc where Joyce and Jacob went on a non-date to church that she finally understands what Joyce sees in Jacob – he’s a male version of Dorothy.

        Walky knows. He called Joyce “my girlfriend’s girlfriend” back when they first started dating.

        Joe knows. His reaction to learning that Joyce had done something vaguely sexual with Dorothy was to tell her “I just want you to be happy.”

        Of course, knowing and being ok with it are two different things. But I have high hopes.

        1. Clif

          This, kind of.

      5. Anon

        I half expect becky to walk in, would be great/worse timing, idk if the door is locked right now but knocking aside they normally are close enough to just come in or so

    5. Crow

      Do you guys not read this comic for drama?

      1. Dot

        There’s entertaining drama and then there’s deeply unpleasant drama.

        1. Qube

          sorta like how there’s “Heel Heat” and then there’s “XPac Heat”

          you never want XPac Heat

        2. Clif

          We’ve already established that if Walky gets apology sex he doesn’t really care what for. Joe and Becky are more complex.

          But there are still a lot of ways this could go. Joyce and Dorothy could realize they love each other, but because of the other people it might hurt decide not to act on it. As unlikely as it seems, Joyce could be 100% straight and have no idea what she is doing. Someone could suddenly burst in with the news that Joyce’s sister was just killed in the riot.

          Or as Mike would say, “Shut up and eat your popcorn. I’m in negotiations with your mother and refuse to budge from a nickle.”

        3. Laura

          Walky seems pretty pro-poly and bi-open, from several of his statements.

        4. Dante

          I’m counting on it because the alternative is much suffering

          But yes, there’s hella precedent for poly, bicurious Walky. There’s been for years.

        5. Dare

          Yep. I’m pretty sure that Walky would be like

          Dorothy: Walky, I love you but
          Walky: Uh oh.
          Dorothy: I think I’m also in love with Joyce?
          Walky: That’s it? That’s your ‘but’ ?
          Dorothy: Well yes.
          Walky: That mean you don’t love me?
          Dorothy: No, it definitely does not mean that!
          Walky: In that case, whatever, you also love homework and eating your vegetables, and I’m crazy about you even so. Just don’t stop loving me, like, ever.

          Also

          Dorothy: Joe, I think I’m actually into Joyce.
          Joe: Called it. Fist bump?
          Dorothy: Joe.
          Joe: Dorothy, I love Joyce. Doesn’t mean I own her. Do you want to take her away from me?
          Dorothy: No! Absolutely not! I don’t know what I want but it’s not to break you two up. You are so good for each other I don’t even
          Joe: It’s fine then. Seriously. I don’t think I’m the jealous type. Besides, girl-on-girl is hot.
          Dorothy: Joe.

          (But my POV is that of a poly ethical slut (emphasis on the slut); I’d be fine with this as any of the four main affected characters.)

        6. Li

          That would be nice!

          I’m not sure I agree with it characterization-wise, but something along these lines would be really nice.

          (The “Called it. Fist bump?” and Dorothy repeated saying “Joe.” definitely made me giggle tho.)

        7. Jerach

          That’s certainly what I would hope for, especially as somebody who has recently discovered an actually stable and healthy poly arrangement, but I don’t know if the cast is ready for that kind of a discussion.

        8. Tan

          You lost me at “Absolutely not”. That’s… That’s not where Dorothy has been shown to be even slightly. I think the absolute best we could hope for would be:

          Joe: Do you want to take her away from me?
          Dorothy: ….Kinda?
          Joe: Can we sort this out where you… Don’t?
          Dorothy: Maybe?
          Joe: Fistbump.
          Dorothy: Joe.

        9. GholaHalleck

          Dottie needs to actually stop treating Joe like he’s a monster first. Maybe apologize for her asshat antics when she was spiraling, and for their entire “friendship” when her and Danny were dating.

          It’s kind of hard to have a polycue when the last time two parts of it talked she was having a panic attack about “being like” joe.

          Also, maybe she can not be a biphopic dingus. Maybe apologize to Danny for suggesting bi people cheat by default.

          Turn that self loathing inward a bit instead of throwing her only two friends under the bus because she wants to kiss her new bestie.

        10. Dare

          I think Dorothy has stopped treaing Joe as a monster. She would really try to stop Joyce from dating him, if she thought Joe really was horrible, but instead she’s showing that she trusts Joe to care for Joyce. Plus, when the drunk dorm room party happened, Dorothy was going “Double dates!” with gusto.

          Dorothy’s recent blow-up at Joe happened because emotionally she’s not in a good place, which brought a lot of her old pent-up feelings to the surface, and I figure Joe can see it. As for the bi-phobia … I think she was just being, y’know, a dumb teenager, like most everyone else in the cast, trying to get to grips about her realization about herself, and Danny schooled her about this already.

        11. thejeff

          Dorothy has to apologize to Joe for not being supportive of him being a creep for years while she dated Danny? Does she need to apologize for making him call her a lesbian for years by not being interested in him when they were 15?

          Yes, Joe’s gotten better and Dorothy didn’t keep up with that, but she doesn’t owe him anything from before he started changing. She’s come a long way on that too. Just look at what she said about him in yesterday’s strip

        12. PedanticJerkass

          He was also rather specifically Joyce–averse as far as bedroom stuff was concerned, though.

        13. Sirksome

          I totally get why folks are worried for Joe and Joyce but I am totally surprised by people caring about Walky. No offense to Walky and Dorothy but them getting back together has been laziest and most non committed thing ever. It started as just sex as stress relief and Dorothy was it’s totally up to you whether we get back together, no biggie, then immediately pivoted to talking about how hot Joyce was and that she wanted to watch them fuck. Go with the flow Walky was just like why not with all the enthusiasm of a man getting a free taco from ordering off the app.

          Just saying I do not care about Dorothy and Walky as a couple and I honestly don’t think they really do either at this point in their lives. They’re basically friends with benefits.

        14. Dante

          I don’t care about Walky and Dorothy as a ship either, they came back together in the wrong headspace and IDK, there’s like. No actual intimacy to it?

          Walky does feel like a boytoy though. And he’s not ok. I wanna see more of his issues explored because kiddo has an A+ in bottling his feels — Hence the worry

        15. Sirksome

          I admittedly was putting a bit of an uncharitable spin on it but I like your phrasing better. Lacking intimacy fits. I think they like being together as friends but neither Dorothy or Walky are really doing much as a couple. I just don’t feel the love that was there before.

        16. thejeff

          And that’s what’s going to trash Walky, even if he hasn’t really committed himself to the new version of the relationship yet. “You just wanted me back to hide from your thing for Joyce.”

        17. Li

          Oh I don’t think so, thejeff!

          I think if Walky felt like THAT about it, he’d be less destroyed, because if he conceptualizes himself as having been a shield she didn’t even know she needed, that’s a lot more positive than what he currently thinks he is, which is pure stress relief and distraction.

        18. Freezer

          There’s always the possibility that Joyce absolutely is not picking up what Dorothy is laying down and has no idea what’s she’s doing to Dorothy.

        19. Adept

          A very distinct possibility

        20. Clif

          Agreed. That’s one bend the track could take.

        21. Christron5000

          I’m team “everyone needs to grow the hell up about ‘cheating’.” Two girls are growing into women, realizing what they really want in this life, and breaking past the sort of hangups that have been holding them back for awhile.

          If this goes where we think it’s going, it’ll suck for Joe and Walky, but Joyce and Dorothy aren’t evil. What’s happening isn’t just rampant selfishness or whatever. They’ve both very scared in different ways and don’t want to be scared anymore.

        22. Nymph

          I super agreeeeee. Its interesting how many people seem to have expected something this messy and stuffed with feelings to resolve in some exactly perfect way where no one is hurt.

        23. thejeff

          I’m not even sure what that’s supposed to mean? Dorothy may be realizing that she’s really into Joyce and not into Walky, but even if Joyce is realizing that she’s into Dorothy, there’s not even a hint that she isn’t massively into Joe as well.

          They’re not evil. I don’t think any of whatever’s happening here is cruelty or even selfishness, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine. Like, I’m not going as far as Danny’s “that’s just being a morally bankrupt human being”, but the confusion of a bisexual awakening or the fears of dealing with your own sexuality might make screwing up understandable, but they don’t make it justifiable.

          “grow the hell up about cheating”: Yeah, don’t do it. It destroys relationships. It hurts people you supposedly care about.

        24. ian livs

          You know, I’m going to go as far as Danny. I think that people who are in a relationship and decide to cheat on their partner are being morally bankrupt and shitty. That shit traumatizes people for decades. It doesn’t magically become more okay just because it’s sapphic.

          If they realize this is what they want, they need to communicate with their partners *before* anything happens between them, and if their partners aren’t okay with polyamory, they need to either 1) continue to not act on their feelings, or 2) break up with their current partners if they want to be together more than they value their current relationships.

          people who don’t want to see that happen aren’t being overly sensitive and don’t need to “grow the hell up.” Cheating is morally wrong and traumatizing

        25. ian livs

          (My only caveat is if people aren’t actually in a relationship of their own free will. Like, if someone is trapped in an abusive relationship they can’t escape and they fall in love with someone else–it’s not an *ideal* situation, but I don’t find it morally bankrupt compared to what could potentially be happening here.)

        26. Li

          Just say “because it’s your ship” instead of “because it’s sapphic”, because the former is at least less obviously untrue.

          There were just as many arguments about Joyce/Jacob vs Raidah, and there were no sapphics involved there.

          Funnily enough I don’t remember quite as many people yelling and accusing Joyce of wanting to fuck Jacob and destroy everything back when she first started having confirmed-crush-feelings towards him? Almost as if actually the broader trend is in fact to vilify queer people rather than make extra allowances for them, even though Dorothy’s going through a major upheaval in the identity department that Joyce definitely wasn’t back when she first started making eyes at Jacob.

        27. thejeff

          There weren’t a lot of people accusing Joyce of wanting to fuck Jacob – because Joyce was pretty clearly not in a state yet where she was going to actually do anything sexual. She was definitely lusting after him, but was still sublimating that, not actually being ready to fuck.

          She was definitely attacked for wanting to cheat/break them up. And he was attacked for cheating on Raidah by kissing Joyce before going to break up with Raidah.

        28. Li

          I mean, I wasn’t trying to argue she didn’t get attacked? That’s why I said there were the same kinds of arguments.

          I gotta say, I don’t see Dorothy as being a heck of a lot more ready to have sex with a woman just yet, but. Otherwise fair point.

          I’m just… obviously still very frustrated by how quick everyone is to make Dorothy’s feelings not just sexual but sexual to the exclusion of romantic, as if all she’s feeling right now is horny. It’s tiresome.

        29. thejeff

          I don’t think it’s magically okay.
          I think it’s more understandable in the middle of a sexual awakening than in most other circumstances. Neither Dorothy nor Joyce have decided to cheat. If they do, which I doubt, they’ll have stumbled into it unplanned. A mistake, which I’m more willing to make allowances for than most other cheating circumstances. Not good. Not morally justified.

          But also not on the same level as Blaine having a second family down the street or Joe’s dad chasing every pretty face he saw.

        30. Li

          +1 to all of this.

        31. Thag Simmons

          None of that makes cheating on your partner any less shitty or inconsiderate.

        32. Laura

          Yeah, I’m not even sure where I stand on all that.

          I was never really a huge fan of exclusivity. I mean, I do get that sometimes it can be a way of disrespecting one’s current partner, and sometimes it can feel hurtful or like a betrayal.

          But I’m not at all sure that exclusivity is always the “default setting” on any relationship (or series of repeated hookups, which is what many freshman-year get togethers tend to be) unless specifically agreed upon as an open or poly relationship. I mean, a lot of college flings just aren’t so well defined, you know ? I’m not sure messing around with someone more than once (or even multiple times, intermittently, over several years) necessarily gives us the right to expect and demand exclusivity from them.

          I’m not really talking about Joyce and Joe. Joyce and Joe have made it clear that they are serious about each other and that Joe is willing to respect Joyce’s previously expressed “default setting” of preference for monogamy. (“I’ve been faithful!”)

          I am not certain I recall Dorothy and Walky having made a commitment to monogamy in this particular iteration of their hanky-pankyship.

          I dunno, perhaps I’m inviting a flood of attacks, like the last time I waded into this question.

          I’m just not sure that 18- and 19-year-olds have it all figured out as to what’s “cheating” and what’s not. And what they can reasonably expect of each other, when it comes to sexual exclusivity and self-restraint.

          …Especially if Joyce buys into Billifer’s characterization of same-sex best-friend hookups as “just experimentation”. She may see it as “just practice”, and not be fully taking into account that Dorothy might attach heavier meaning to it.

          I get that Walky specifically turned down Dorothy’s advances earlier because he was “Lucy’s boyfriend,” but that was primarily (I think) because Lucy was making it clear that she did want a serious, exclusive relationship with him.

          I dunno. It’s all confused. Plus there’s the fact that I’m seeing it from the perspective of an earlier generation, when infectious disease wasn’t quite such a risk related to intimate contact.

          I get why people are upset about “cheating”. I’m just not sure that teens really have their feeings about possessiveness and exclusivity all figured out yet. The generation that grew up on “Stranger In a Strange Land” and “Callahan’s Lady” and similar such free-love sci-fi might have a different perspective on what “fidelity” means. That’s not the younger generation today, of course, but today’s youngsters may have their own set of cultural influences affecting their emotional and relational judgments in ways oldsters like me can’t even guess.

        33. Laura

          Typos:

          *fee[l]ings

          * I do get that sometimes [hooking up with others, or infidelity] can be a way of disrespecting one’s current partner, and sometimes it can feel hurtful or like a betrayal.

        34. Laura

          Of course, in a world of airborne respiratory infections, all bets are off…
          It was scary enough back when we *knew* what the risks were and how to mitigate them!

        35. Laura

          OK, this describes what I’m talking about…

          https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-a-situationship

        36. thejeff

          It’s not as easy to see what Walky thinks of it, since he hasn’t directly stated it, but Dorothy clearly talked about even the lewds she sent Joyce as cheating on Walky. She sees the relationship as currently exclusive

        37. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Never go full Blue Steel!

      2. Bittersweet

        Cheating on a partner is such a horribly cruel, inexcusable action that it is deeply unpleasant to read. Particularly if you’ve been cheated on (or in my case, cheated on five times.) It would almost feel like character assassination of Joyce to cheat, that’s why I’m holding out hope that Joe said that she could have a thing with Dorothy too.

        Dorothy has already shown that she doesn’t actually care about relationships, including her own lol. Like, she cares about not looking like a bad person but not about actually hurting people (except when she cares Very Much about it? I’m not hating on Dorothy here, she’s a super complicated character and I see a lot of myself in her. Lots of conflicting actions, I think she’s a good person and tries very hard to be, I just think she is a terrible, terrible girlfriend.)

        1. GholaHalleck

          She’s botched every relationship she’s been in from Danny all the way though to now.

          And her pulling this now is pure selfishness on her part, disguised as giving Joyce the choice to cheat on her boyfriend.

        2. Bittersweet

          I find this way less egregious than the laundry incident tbh. That one just felt gross because it was missing… well, effectively it was missing the equivalent of today’s strip back then. Unless Dorothy initiated a kiss here, anything that happens right now is purely Joyce’s decision. What Dorothy does with that afterwards is more squarely on her. Sometimes your friend whom you’re crushing on puts you in a bad spot. I always adopted the policy of open disclosure because I hate that happening, but apparently most people think that’s not good. I don’t get human interactions very well, so I defer to those who allegedly do. I find this more in the realm of Dorothy picking up the stupid ball (as irl this situation does not lead to Happy Fun Times and instead leads to New Friendgroup Times and Self-Loathing) by trying to stay and be supportive past the point she’s comfortable.

          Basically, if Joyce kisses Dorothy without permission from her SO to do so, I’ll be very cross at Joyce. If Dorothy kisses Joyce, I’ll sigh and chalk it up to an established pattern of behavior. Right now they’re just listening to music that is allegedly for banging but like… is aggressively unsexy music for the occasion. Dorothy’s primary sin right now is sucking at making a sexytimes playlist, this is a cuddletime or wedding playlist at best.

        3. sea salt ice cream sequel

          Noting that Dorothy didn’t set out to make a sexy times playlist, this is just music she thinks Joyce would like.

        4. Bittersweet

          Ohhhh yeah, you’re right. My bad, I merged this and the needing help making decisions for sexytimes thing together. I have half the memory of an elephant and half that of a mayfly, I forgot.

          Yeah, then *right now* Dorothy is fine lol.

          [Ohmggod, how hilarious would it be if tomorrow Joyce leans in really close and is like “Dorothy…. I…. I don’t think I like Paramore?.” I think the comment section would implode.]

        5. Suzi

          God I hope that’s what it is, and then just five panels of Dottie frazzled.

        6. thejeff

          But it seems that “music she thinks Joyce would like” is deeply colored by her own feelings towards her

        7. Li

          Sure, but sea salt wasn’t saying this is a great playlist free from issues, just that the specific criticism of “it’s terrible music for having sex with Joe” forgot that it wasn’t supposed to be for having sex with anyone.

        8. NubeTrasnochada

          The thing is that Joyce just heard from Jennifer that kissing your bestie is perfectly platonic and SEEMED TO BELIEVE HER… which makes it happening a real possibility, but also the possibility of doing so and then brushing it off as a friend kiss which… yikes…

        9. Clif

          Yes, that’s certainly a possibility.

        10. ian livs

          It really would feel OOC from Joyce to me too. like, she’s an adult–surely she can’t *really* believe Jennifer when she says it’s normal for besties. Even at an equivalent level of sheltered and naive, I wouldn’t have believed that.

          Also, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Being cheated on can be so traumatizing, and I hate that some people act like being triggered by it is something people should “grow the hell up” about ?

        11. thejeff

          Jennifer was also talking about it being normal for besties to bang even though they’re straight, with no hint of cheating involved.

  8. Lucretiel

    Damn you, Willis. Damn you.

    1. Steamweed

      And times sixty-nine, too.

  9. Taffy

    Joyce in that last panel: “Hey, Adora Dorothy~”

    1. Dara

      aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
      aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
      aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

      this absolutely made me forget all the “oh gods this is going to go so wrong” for at least 15 seconds thank you 😀

    2. Dante

      I heard it in my mind and got them shivers

      Shaking your hand rn in gratitude

    3. Bobbi

      Catra’s voice saying those two words hotwires every gay cell in my gay brain, if Joyce does that I will take no responsibility for how much I ship them, despite preferring them both with their current partners

      [Haven’t commented for a while, GravRoulette time]

      1. Wraithy2773

        Catra wearing a suit and dancing with and dipping a dress-wearing Adora in season 1 was basically the “yeah, this isn’t subtext any more, its fucking text” moment of the show. 😀

        1. Rose by Any other Name

          Ayup.
          Also, still pissed at Netflix for not releasing the last two seasons on physical media like they did the first three.

        2. NGPZ

          I’m pissed at them for canceling Inside Job, buying the distro rights to CowBoy Bebop and white-washing Radical Edward T_T

          well, at this point I just never gonna forgive them

  10. hell yeah

    oh.. oh no…. you two…… ah geez /:

    1. Clif

      Wait for it.

  11. Tawnee

    Surely, SURELY we’ve now gotten to the top of the rollercoasters agonizing, slow, creaky ascent and Willis can proceed to throw us into a trough accompanied by much screaming.

    1. Steamweed

      Aaaaand tomorrow’s is a cutaway to Steve eating cereal.

      1. Dante

        Noooooo don’t do this to me, please, what a questionable reference

        1. Marianne

          C’mon, that’d be great content!

      2. AbacusWizard

        Meanwhile, in Cubetown…

        1. Steamweed

          Energy Propagations Division is inventing a cereal that AI can “eat”. Wacky Hijinks Department is field testing it by eating it and testing for causation and correlation during quantum-entangled high-drama moments.

      3. Wraithy2773

        I’d fucking love it if Willis pulled that at some point.

        Only problem is how would it play in print…

        …

        Maybe you expand it out so a full page of the book is just Dina or whoever going to town on some cereal? Maybe one strip for a bunch of different characters each having breakfast?

    2. Clif

      The rollercoaster metaphor is apt, but I don’t think we’re quite at the top yet.

      Pro tip. Have your “Damn you Willis”es ready.
      I don’t know which way the track bends, but they’ll come in handy either way.

    3. Opus the Poet

      Gigglesnort!

  12. Dante

    I HAVE BEEN REFRESHING THIS PAGE SINCE MIDNIGHT

    YES. YES. THE TIGER IS OUT. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

    Look look I legit like JoeJoyce but HOLY SHIT THIS IS GLORIOUS

    1. Yumi

      Solid poetic reference.

      1. Dante

        We all owe Nael, Age 6 so much.

    2. StClair

      and I am with you again.

      1. Dante

        Bringing out the snacks and drinks then, let’s make it a party

    3. Li

      <3

      1. Dante

        ;ww; <3!!

  13. Animedingo

    Ok placing bets on who walks in

    Dina, walky, becky

    1. Steamweed

      Joe

      1. Yumi

        Joe, and he’s dripping wet, his shirt is half-scorched, he’s missing a shoe, and he has the wildest story to share, but then it collides head on with the vibes that are happening here, and there’s just, like, three strips of characters staring silently at each other.

      2. Dara

        Oh I called Joe walking in the second this little misadventure got started, and I’m standing by it.

        1. Steamweed

          Everything will be fine. No problems. All good. 😀

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      They still haven’t learned to
      LOCK
      THE
      DOOR?

      1. Steamweed

        That entire hall. Maybe they don’t lock them anymore because they all learned to pick locks?

      2. Anon

        @button don’t they also share a ‘half bath’ i’m sure someone can go in through that way even w/o a door lock and joyce was busy coming back from a shower/we didnt’ see her lock the door so i imagine it’s unlocked

    3. RassilonTDavros

      Dina doesn’t need to walk in.

      She was in all along.

      1. Opus the Poet

        Behind the door.

        1. Steamweed

          She’s down at the desk, doing a nuanced fact-check on Joyce’s Biology class essay.

        2. Rose by Any other Name

          Oh gods. I’m imagining the slipshine now.
          (Actually does Willis do slipshines anymore now that he has the second Patreon?)
          Joyce and Dotty having full on sex while Dina is in the very bottom corner of the panel meticulously taking notes. Neither of them notice Dina until she makes a suggestion about technique based on her experiences with Becky, at which point both freeze and look at her in dawning horror.

        3. Steamweed

          Willis said that when Slipshine requests a commission, then he delivers it. But he doesn’t send anything to them cold. So most of his spicy stuff goes into his damnyouwillis69 Patreon.

    4. Sirksome

      I know this comic is all about drama but I feel like someone just walking into the dorm would feel a little forced. Everyone is conveniently busy. Joe’s setting up the date, Sarah is with Tony. Maybe Becky or Walky but then why would they be specifically looking for Joyce or Dorothy right now? It’s almost like this scenario has been setup in a way that no one can bother them.

      1. Dara

        Joe walks up to the door to knock, Dorothy – dishevelled, hot, smug, and reeking of sex – opens it before he can, says, “I warmed her up for you. You’re welcome” before tossing him Joyce’s unworn panties and swaggering down the hall.

        1. V98

          I could see her antagonizing Joe about this. Girl’s got a LOT of pent up aggression and Joe’s a perfect target.

          (Also what idiot made this site have the “report comment” button right next to the “reply” button with no confirmation box or anything wtf)

        2. Marianne

          He’s called Willis, and people here frequently damn him. But also if you click Report by accident he’s the one who reviews such reports, and I think he’s accepted that his design shortcomings mean most of them are accidents.

        3. Li

          More like, Willis isn’t much of a coder. They found a plugin and this is where the report button went. It’s definitely been a subject of ire, but a lotta people have to report something for it to do anything.

        4. thejeff

          That was pretty much explicitly stated when the Report button was added. There were limited configuration options.

        5. Li

          Yeah, I’m just reiterating / reminding. ? I remember Willis admitting as much.

        6. Thag Simmons

          An individual report means nothing, you need multiple ones to actually get a comment flagged for mod inspection, and if it’s an innocuous comment it gets restored like nothing happened.

          It’s not great UX but it’s fine.

        7. Steamweed

          A common problem. A rite of passage, you could say, to both do it and be done by it.

        8. Opus the Poet

          You misspelled “staggering”. You’re welcome.

        9. Dara

          Oh

          I think Joe will be the one who is staggered. xD

        10. Steamweed

          I believe the “staggering” version. Joyce’s effect on people _so far_ is 100% mindblowing / staggering on them. I.e., she handjobbed Joe, left him dick-out exposed _in the hall kitchenette, staggered, unable for a short time to pull up and zip up. Good thing no one walked in then!

        11. Rose by Any other Name

          @ Dara
          I love what you have described and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

          (not actually – who actually willingly subscribes to a news letter anymore? The only thing I subscribe to is Youtube channels).

        12. Dara

          I also subscribe to AO3 authors ^_^

    5. Deanatay

      Smash cut to different characters tomorrow. We have to wait two weeks to find out.

  14. Giffem

    i feel i need to change my vote on the poll for joyce on thr Kinsey Scale after this update.

    the looks! the looks…

    1. Clif

      You think?

    2. SillyGoOse

      I’m still on the fence. My reading rn is 50/50 Joyce leaning in to kiss Dorothy or blurting out “Are you into me?” then reacting as with Becky.

      1. Anon

        @goose i half expect a smashcut to something totally unrelated/a chara we haevn’t seen in forever lol like vivian, altho i guess the patreon blurred preview still shows more

    3. Rose by Any other Name

      I am more confident than ever that I voted correctly in the first place.

  15. Ty34er

    …damn it Joyce

  16. mindbleach

    Dorothy Margaret Keener. You fuck this girl, right now.

    1. Rose by Any other Name

      **steeples finger** “Do et.”

      1. RassilonTDavros

        Hey, the twentieth anniversary isn’t for another two weeks yet!

        (so naturally the re-release is already out of theaters grumble grumble)

        1. Rose by Any other Name

          Huh? Rerelease of what?

          I’m quoting the Game Grumps.

        2. RassilonTDavros

          My bad, I thought you were going for ROTS Palpatine.

    2. BarerMender

      I think the ball’s in Joyce’s court, now. Joyce: what mindbleach said.

    3. Steamweed

      Isn’t that what Ethan’s mother said?

    4. Anon

      i mean joe might be understanding but i think it’d still count as cheating/a convo all of them should have

  17. AnonGrouch

    Man this comic (the whole thing, not today) has really done a good job at making me change my mind on my perception of Joyce. She’s such a well balanced nuanced character.

    I used to be in the camp that Joyce is straight. I’m pretty much in the ‘she’s probably bi’ camp now. But I also think it comes from a nuanced place. Like the thing she said yesterday to me reads as ‘It’d be easier because I want to BE you and I already jill off.’ and I think there is a some pretty good underlying exploratory narrative on the nature of attraction to others versus the self going on here.

    But damn you Willis what even are these song lyrics. Did you pick them out before writing these panels?

    1. Dante

      Look. As a writer, I’m confident on declaring it’s HIGHLY LIKELY the songs were already in his head when inspiration struck

      Love the comment btw, solid analysis

      1. Yumi

        Sometimes you hear a song and you’re like, “Oh, I know exactly what characters that song would be perfect for.” Sometimes they’re your own characters.

        1. Dante

          Gotta love when neurons collide and you suddenly see The Path. One of my favorite things even

    2. Envy

      Yeah, I’m almost positive Paramore was chosen specifically so this moment could happen. “The Only Exception” was even the first song I thought of when Dorothy mentioned them.

      1. Li

        Plus next storyline title.

        1. Dante

          …………………… I hadn’t noticed.

          Thank you, o’ harbringer of yelling — This is gonna slap

        2. Li

          😉

    3. Thag Simmons

      Paramore really spoils you for choice when writing a scene like this.

    4. finep

      I’m not sure if everyone noticed, so sorry if this is obvious, but Joyce comment about wanting to be Dorothy and not be with her, and how those feelings are impossible to confuse between look like dramatic irony, doesn’t it? It felt like the punchline, but I think it can easily be missed.

      And it may not be relevant, since it only matters what she thinks is true, but she clearly wants to be like Sal and with Dorothy, even assuming it’s not in a romantic/sexual way.

      1. Li

        Absolutely I think that strip was Willis trying to clue the audience in that Joyce might, in fact, not be straight.

        It didn’t really work out for them, but I think that was the intent.

        Especially since the discussion about unused Patreon strips for the Dorothy-Joe confession scene also included them pointing out Dorothy’s admiration for Amazi-Girl, and strongly implying that was the same thing (Dorothy confusing wanting to “be” Amazi-Girl for wanting to be “with” her).

    5. Rose by Any other Name

      I would like to point out, my wife called Joyce being bi over a full decade ago after only reading DoA book 1.

      If Joyce ends up in a polycule, then she’s two for two.

  18. Clif

    Hoh, boy.

    1. Clif

      Oh well. It’s not like the strip was titled Want-2? or anything.

  19. Yotomoe

    I feel the way about this strip the same way I feel about like…Hanukah. Not for me, but happy for everyone who observes. You’re eatin’ good.

    1. NGPZ

      indeed today we re-JOYCE!! ^^ <3

      hava NAGILA!!!

      hava NAGILA!!!

      hava NAGILA!!!

      ve NISMEHA!!!

    2. Amós Batista

      Hell yeah.
      Also: hi again, long time I don’t see you here.

      1. Clif

        Yeah. It’s reassuring you haven’t dropped of the face of the earth!

      2. Yotomoe

        I mostly just don’t like posting if I don’t feel like I have anything worthwhile to say. Plus I really don’t wanna get into arguments with people. I feel like I’m bad at expressing how I feel. I have been working on a little project though that I may post sometime in the future.

        1. cbwroses

          I was wondering where you were.
          Glad you’re still around.
          And I look forward to any project you feel like sharing in the future.

        2. Deanatay

          Us: We miss you, Yotomoe!

          Yotomoe: You miss me? I still live here!

          …

          Wait, you miss me? * straightens tie*

        3. Yotomoe

          I’m very flattered anyone misses me. I was under the impression y’all were gettin’ sick of me.

        4. Taffy

          No no, I’m the one people are sick of. You’re the one with something they want.

        5. Dante

          I shall insist it’s really nice to know you’re still around, then!

        6. Li

          I have missed you for sure. ?

        7. Mewzard

          You’re always a blast to have around Yoto!

        8. tns

          @Yoto Not at all man. Not tired of you at all

    3. Crow

      So…no fanart about this?

    4. Syd

      Yeah same. Do you know how rough it is to be a lesbian who doesn’t like the sapphic ship the author loves??? ? Billieruth and Joeyce have always bern my lifeblood… what do I do now! ?

      1. Yotomoe

        Like I wanna like Jorothy but Joeyce is SOOOO good that I simply cannot. Same thing happened with Walkamber. I simply can’t get invested in Walkcy or Walkthy (or alternatively Dorky as a funnier ship name) cuz Walky and Amber had such electric chemistry.

        1. Mewzard

          I mean…it’s not impossible that we end up getting both at the same time.

          Both Joe and Dorothy could date Joyce. We’ll have to see where this goes first.

        2. Yotomoe

          I dunno. I’d be more down for the Poly ship if Dorothy didn’t have very Explicit ire towards Joe.

        3. Dante

          They could work on that though ^^ They’ve already started to open up and communicate with each other, it’d make for a cool storyline

        4. Li

          I feel like their last conversation was a crucial step towards them becoming real friends who like each other.

          But also asymmetrical poly is good, too!

        5. Nymph

          People keep saying this, and I’m confused.

          You don’t have to like you metamour (partner’s partner). You don’t have to date them, get along with them, or even interact if it’s important to you. Poly doesn’t mean everyone dates everyone else or even gets along, it’s just an umbrella term for lots of nonmonogamous relationship structures.

          TLDR: Dotty not liking Joe isn’t a dealbreaker for being in a poly relationship

        6. Yumi

          Some people do think a poly relationship has to mean “everybody dates each other,” but even without that misunderstanding, I could see how metamours disliking each other could make a poly setup less appealing to shippers. (I also think it’d be hard to characters, especially Dorothy, to deal with that in their first experience with being in a poly relationship; difficult situations can make for interesting character growth, though, so that’s not a total negative from my perspective.)

        7. thejeff

          I’m not that familiar with the poly world, but I think there’s a certain level of trust that’s needed? Or least not the kind of lack of trust that Dorothy had for Joe.

          It’s kind of moot here since Dorothy has basically come to accept that Joe is serious about Joyce, even if she’s still not fond of him.

        8. Rose by Any other Name

          @Yotomoe
          I would point out the hinge poly set up whereby one person has two significant others who agree to the arrangement but are not themselves involved.

          So Joyce could date both Joe and Joyce while Joe and Joyce only have to be civil with one another, not romantically involved.

        9. Rose by Any other Name

          … fucking typo.

          Joyce could date both Joe and Dotty while Joe and Dotty only have to be civil.

        10. Li

          I think at the very least you are VERY likely to get Walky/Amber back. I say this as someone who shipped him more with Dorothy the first go-round, but I feel like Walky was better able to defend Amber to his parents, and that plus Charles telling him he should be with the one he really liked, plus that girl committed a crime for you………

          I think all of that was conveying something, and it would be a real waste if Walky/Amber didn’t get another shot. ?

        11. Yotomoe

          I certainly hope so, but I’m not holding my breath. Walky’s been pinballing from relationship to relationship. I’m not sure if he should jump right into a thing with Amber at this point, as much as I really love them.

        12. Li

          Oh I agree, I think he needs a bit of a break. But I feel like the pull is in that direction ?

        13. tns

          @Yoto: Honestly I get this. I like both Jorothy and Joeyce pretty equally. Same thing with Walkamber. Though I kinda wanna see Amber and Booster get together.

      2. Dante

        I will hold out hope for BillieRuth until the heat death of the universe. Mark my words, they gonna come back

        1. Yotomoe

          I concur.

        2. Clif

          I think that would top my wish list, but then we’ve firmly established that I’m in the chaos goblin camp.

        3. Li

          I do think that Alice joining the cast page and living in Jennifer’s building makes a possible Alice/Jennifer relationship pretty likely… but I also feel like Willis has deliberately left Ruth hanging. Like, until something changes, Ruth has been effectively put in a relationship freezer where she’d say yes the second Jennifer asked to date her again.

          A surprise took to help us later, as Mickey Mouse might say.

          I also don’t think Alice and Jenn NEED to date, mind you: I think they need to resolve things that were left unresolved when Alice ghosted Jennifer after the car crash. I think Alice could also really help Jennifer stop feeling like she’s poison, as the person who originally planted that seed, which is important for Jennifer having healthy relationships with people she cares about… as opposed to “I can date you because we’re BOTH poison” (Ruth) and what seems to have been “I can date you because neither of us is super invested in the other, which makes it harder to hurt people” (Asher).

          Note that that last bit? I don’t think that last bit is fair to Asher. I think Asher WAS invested. But I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jennifer responded to his greater investment by actively pulling away.

          Also: that Asher went from Jennifer to Ethan miiiiight say something about his OWN feelings about what he deserves / what his role is in a relationship. It might be that he feels a need to help people recover from depression. Which is not inherently bad or anything, and doesn’t necessarily doom relationships! But which does probably have a bit of a root in complicated feelings about his family.

        4. Li

          *tool not took sigh

        5. Proxiehunter

          Surprise Tooks can be helpful too. Just ask Gandalf.

        6. Li

          Surprise Tooks are ALSO surprise tools to help us later!

  20. Comic.phile

    I could totally get behind this ship, but I do NOT want them to cheat on their respective partners for it 🙁

    1. Wereg

      That’s pretty much exactly how I feel about it

    2. StClair

      Ditto.

    3. Kyulen

      Same.

    4. Bash

      So, yes, obviously I feel the same way. BUT on the other hand this is maximum drama and I love it.

  21. Anna Grant

    It would be the troll maneuver of all time if Willis dropped a “Continued on the nsfw patreon!” and the next strip was about Joe picking out shirts.

  22. DiDi

    Ugh…

    The narration has done ALL this work to make me like adore Joe.

    Please don’t let him get hurt. Or worse, have him backslide because he gets hurt.

    1. Dante

      Oh yeah def. I’m here all excited because I live for drama, this is my telenovela, and this ship has _so much potential._

      But I do love Joe. And JoeJoyce. And he’s grown so much!! Not only on his relationship with her but in general?? So dunno where this is going but forreal, I’m with you crossing my fingers this doesn’t fuck up his wellbeing.

    2. Big Z

      Ugh, too.

      The strip’s also done so much work to make me like Joyce, and frankly I’d be very disappointed if she ends up being the kind of person who cheats after all that growth she’s been doing.

      1. thejeff

        Agreed.

        The only way I could see that working is if it was treated narratively as a serious screwup with real consequences that she learns and grows from. I could kind of see that for Dorothy in her current state, since we’ve seen her confusion and conflict over this, but not for Joyce. She’s been so excited about sexytimes with Joe it would be out of left field – unless it was framed as okay because it was just practice like people have suggested.
        But that seems like a cheap out.

  23. Amara

    I wonder how much of this is genuine on Joyce’s part, and how much of it is her trying to sabotage her date night with Joe because she’s nervous about it. She’s excited but nervous. On the flip side, this romance with Dorothy has been brewing for a very long time. Tomorrow is either going to be a smash cut away to a different scene with like jennifer or Ethan or it’ll be the start of the Dorothy Joyce slipshine advert. I don’t think Dorothy can resist anymore.

    1. Clif

      There’s a third option. Also the pacing has slowed way down. Or hadn’t you noticed.

      1. HueSatLight

        In line with this scene being from Dorothy’s perspective.

    2. Shakes

      Never has a smash cut to Dina eating cereal been more appropriate.

      1. Wraithy2773

        Hah, I was hoping someone here would say the truth of what should follow!

    3. Dante

      Agreeing with you that Dorothy’s going to fold, like. Who wouldn’t srsly

      Disagreeing with you on this being the result of Joyce not being genuine (!!) and/or sabotaging (consciously or not) her date night

    4. thejeff

      I don’t think it’s genuine or sabotage. She’s definitely excited, but nervous, but I don’t think she has any idea what she’s doing to Dorothy here.

      Any attraction she has to Dorothy is at least as repressed as Dorothy’s was a while back. She’s not thinking about it consciously.

    5. HueSatLight

      I don’t think Joyce is trying to sabotage date night with Joe. But maybe Joe is kind of sabotaging his relationship with Joyce. He probably still thinks he doesn’t deserve to be with her, and maybe one of the reasons he encouraged Dorothy to realize she was into Joyce was for Joyce to have a better option than him. If this chapter wasn’t already so long, Danny might get a second flashback in the same day.

  24. Joyfulldreams

    Oh my god I am peeking through my fingers at this trainwreck, what the fuck? AAAUUUGH.

  25. RassilonTDavros

    So tell her what you want, Joyce. What you really, really want.

    Also hey the song lyrics contain the title of the next storyline after this, that’s probably significant

    1. Jeff K!

      She’ll tell her what she wants, what she really really wants!

  26. Giraffe

    Listen I know this isn’t the best time but with everything happening right now Becky is ether going to have the world’s biggest headache or spontaneously explode.

    1. Amós Batista

      Dinah is treating her well tonight. I hope.

    2. Anon

      i’d expect them to stay together for a while, but idk if there’d be options for them to date ‘next’ or so , becky might consider it but dina seems ace-coded enough to not actively seek out another partner (tho she did make the first move on becky way back then)

  27. Mym

    I’M NOT OK

    1. Dante

      I PROMISE

    2. Taffy

      I trust you.

    3. Steve

      I’m not o-fuckin’-k

      1. Clif

        Is that a kind of cereal?

  28. Steve

    This is like one of those slow-burn shojos where they don’t kiss until 14 volumes in.

    1. RassilonTDavros

      We’re on 15, actually.

      1. Steve

        Right, but that book isn’t in tankobon form just yet. 🙂

        1. Dante

          Blowjobcat-Sama Ga Miteru

        2. Steve

          Kimagure Dumbing Road

        3. Tan

          I would like to express my appreciation for how well Blowmite works in both maintaining required elements to recognize the reference and also having an absurd yet coherent meaning of its own.

  29. Taffy

    I wonder how Joe would respond to a text that says “Hey, Billie said it was okay to hanky panky your friends once, and Dorothy’s lookin’ hot as hell tonight, do you mind if I have sex with her before OUR date, to help relax my nerves?”

    1. Jeff K!

      Honestly, probably relieved.

      1. mindbleach

        Albeit concerned about Jennifer as a source of trusted advice.

      2. Li

        I think that’s possible. I certainly think that Joe would be feeling a LOT less anxious right now if Joyce weren’t so inexperienced.

        I also think he’d be sad, the way he was when he tried to tell Joyce he didn’t think he “got” to be jealous about her going out for to get drunk for the first time ever with Dorothy. Sad, but understanding, but sad.

        I also think Joyce is totally capable of addressing and soothing that sadness, once she knows it’s there.

  30. Cmasta1992

    I hate this I hate this

    1. Taffy

      What is there to hate?

      1. cmasta1992

        Whatever you feel about JoycexDorothy the current state is Joyce is in a relationship with Joe. This is all approaching cheating.

        1. thejeff

          And being cheated on by his first serious relationship would definitely mess Joe up.

        2. HueSatLight

          With the aftermath of Joyce and Jacob’s big adventure, and how Joyce indicating they’re exclusive, it would cast a pall over Joyce and Dorothy’s friendship and/or relationship.

      2. Queen Anthai

        (affectionately) I hate HOW LONG THIS IS TAKING ASDFGHKJKGL

  31. Amós Batista

    It’s totally unrelated that Willis has changed poll to: where is Joyce on the Kinsey Scale?

    1. Clif

      I went with 2 on the theory that Dorothy is the exception that proves the rule.

      1. Li

        Same.

        1. Adept

          Same also

      2. Jeff K!

        “I could crawl into them and be safe forever” – Joyce, staring at Jennifer’s breasts.

      3. Anon

        don’t forget sal too lol

    2. HueSatLight

      What if my answer is the same as my Dorothy answer, but along a different axis?!

  32. HueSatLight

    feels like it’s not an accident this is coinciding with the kickstarter wrapping up.

  33. Doxkid

    I want you to make believe it’s the first time time. And I gotta say to you: Love will find a way, and that’s always true.

  34. DailyBrad

    You have me on the edge of my seat, honestly.

  35. peng

    i dont get how this isnt not the most universally praised turn of events. its so romantic. idgaf about joe and walky. like yeah theyre probably not gonna be together forever, or maybe still even at all, but theyre freshmen in college who cares. if doyce has 1 million fans i am one of them if doyce has 0 fans that would never happen everybody love doyce. for real if ur not into it did you listen to the only exception while reading because if not u should put it on

    1. V98

      i love you and i agree with you but family we cannot be calling it doyce. 4-eyed blondes is canon ship name but kinda long. but anything but doyce

      1. peng

        #doyce

        1. Taffy

          #gabario

        2. AGV/Ruby

          Read in Goofy’s voice

      2. Heavensrun

        I’ve been calling it Joyrathy for years.

      3. Dante

        I’m partial to DoroJoyce :33

      4. Dara

        4-eyed blonds is an amazing ship name, well done fandom

    2. Corey C.

      There was a comic after the end of “It’s Walky” which had Walkyverse Walky and Joyce wonder if, in a parallel world with no aliens or superpowers, the two would be together. Walky said that he believed so, and this series, I’ve always thought, was made to prove he was right. Now, Walky and Joyce are friends (or rather, friendly acquaintances), and they currently aren’t showing any bit of interest in each other (as compared to Walkyverse Walky, who developed a crush on Joyce the moment he saw her) but, in a world where every character is with someone they weren’t in the original timeline, I still think the end game will ultimately have Joyce and Walky together… I just have a feeling it might take till the end of the spring semester for even one of then to notice each other. (Which as of this writing might take DECADES.)

      1. Yumi

        But also, it’d be really funny if this series was made to answer the question and the answer was “no.” At the end of DoA, a Walkyverse strip comes out where Walky and Joyce are looking at this through the multiverse, and they go, “Huh. Guess not.”

        1. Corey C.

          Well, if Walkyverse Dina can show up out of a worm hole at the end of “Shortpacked!” after she canonically got blown to bits near the end of “It’s Walky!” I suppose that IS possible.

        2. HueSatLight

          … must. resist. sharing. multi-dumbiverse theory.

      2. BBCC

        Willis has said once when he was finishing Joyce & Walky that one of the things that blew his mind when he was revisiting the Walkyverse after working on DoA was that Joyce and Walky were together (as well as Sal and Marcie not being best friends and EVERYTHING about Dorothy).

        1. BBCC

          Dammit, hit before I was done. I was gonna say ‘So I wonder how it’ll shake out if you were right and this was going to answer as a yes after exploring some other possibilities first.’

    3. Thag Simmons

      Any potential romance here is undercut by Cheating being just a staggeringly shitty thing to do to someone.

      1. HueSatLight

        It would be an odd choice to have Danny point out that despite the stereotype bis are not more likely to cheat, cheating is “morally bankrupt”, and then have two characters cheat the very same day they realize they’re bi.

  36. AlexaSpuds

    I have absolutely no idea how I want this to go but I’m gonna root for Dorothy anyway cuz sapphics gotta support sapphics.

  37. keithcurtis

    Next strip: two month time skip.

    1. Taffy

      Some how Joe is pregnant.

      1. Li

        This killed me dead ty.

      2. Dara

        babby is stored in the balls

        1. Taffy

          First pee, then micro plastics, and now babby? The balls are getting crowded.

        2. Nymph

          The balls are the powerhouse of the cell.

  38. Rocketboy1313

    Good diegetic music choice.

  39. Kyulen

    I would love to support this ship, if Joyce wasn’t already dating Joe. And I can’t remember if Walky and Dorothy are dating again or not.

    1. Icalasari

      Walky and Dorothy are dating in name only. It’s more FWB from what I recall, but Walky doesn’t know the term so looks at it in a BF/GF light yet sorta not

      Basically, that part is messy asf

      1. Kyulen

        Yeah I wasn’t sure what their relationship was now. But my point is that while I’d love to support Jorothy (or Doyce?) as a ship, not if it means one or both of them are cheating on the person they’re already dating.

      2. thejeff

        When Joe confronted her about being into Joyce, she framed it in terms of cheating on Walky.

    2. Bittersweet

      They’re exactly as together as they were before Dorothy dumped Walky the first time, which is to say they’re as together in a relationship as Dorothy decides at any given moment in time. He didn’t even get a real convo about them getting back together iirc, she just told him it was back to normal and he stared up at the ceiling like “Huh :|”

      1. Bittersweet

        (This doesn’t make me angry or dislike Dorothy, btw. I view it as part of her character flaws that will probably be addressed at some point and I just want Walky to crash out on somebody at this point. It’s been a hot minute since he’s been a focal point, but every time he gets a storyline I always find myself thinking that bro needs a better circle.)

        1. HueSatLight

          Walky needs a “guy friend”, and they should be Malaya. Taking the shit out of each other, taking the edge off of each other for everyone else, but also building each other up.

      2. sea salt ice cream sequel

        She said “If you want to be. I’d like it” when Walky asked about being back together, and then they start talking about Joyce. The “Huh :l” you’re probably thinking of is when she says “this doesn’t matter, when I make a mistake noone gets hurt” (talking about a fanwiki but we know what Walky was thinking about instead).

  40. Taffy

    I’m probably the most Normal About This™ a person could possibly be.

    1. Dante

      Your glorious choice of Gravatar says otherwise

  41. Corey C.

    Dorothy completely misreads the situation and kisses Joyce in 3… 2… 1…

    Come on, Dotty, don’t become Becky 2.0, because OG Becky will come for you, given everything she said about her will have been true. Except it’s WORSE- When Becky made her declaration of love, Joyce was dating Ethan, whom she knew was gay but was trying to “convert,” and Becky was single. Now Dorothy is dating Walky, knows that making a move on Joyce would be bad for both her friendship and her romance/f*ck-buddy arrangement, AND Joyce is dating Joe, who is quite straight and very much into Joyce, and vice versa. Becky had nothing to lose when she kissed Joyce. Dorothy has EVERYTHING to lose is she tries it.

    1. Bash

      So if this ISN’T a romantic situation, what exactly is it to Joyce?

      1. Big Z

        I’ve said in other threads that I’ve had to help weeping lesbian friends of mine through situations where they had made wrong guesses about just how emotionally intimate their straight friend could be while being 100% straight.

        I could easily see Joyce going in for the heartfelt hug and “Thanks, Dorothy. You saying I should know what I want is exactly what I needed to hear to get past the fundie-guilt cloud that lives in the back of my head. I can’t wait for Joe to get here.” and it would make just as much sense with the buildup.

        1. Leon

          Nah, it would make 1/1000th of the sense but I guess it’s not literally impossible in some alternate universe.

        2. Clif

          What about if Joyce goes in for a heartfelt kiss. Which is still not impossible with Big Z’s scenario.

        3. Leon

          My multiverse viewing crystal ball is giving me nothing, but admittedly I got it from a garage sale for 4 bucks.

          Fr tho, I think you’d have to be straining hard to say that it would make much sense, let alone be equivalent, given everything we know (in-universe and out) and what’s on display right now.

          We even got mood music, lyrics, and alt-text that further highlight Joyce’s purposely wordless response to Dorothy (as in it seems pretty deliberate to show the song change with that specific lyric despite it being 1 min into the song in that specific panel). Then you have the fact they were side eye glancing at each other for almost 3 minutes after Joyce’s statement in yesterday’s strip. I do somewhat get why someone would read it like that, though.

        4. thejeff

          I think it would make sense – Joyce is definitely still dealing with fundie driven sexual anxiety and she’s very definitely into Joe.

          None of that means she’s actually completely straight and not just repressing any conscious awareness of her romantic/sexual interest in Dorothy. Just that she hasn’t admitted it to herself and right now she’s too hung up on Joe to even consider anything else.

        5. perpetual sea

          Joyce notably already said 2 parts of that message: she thanked Dorothy and said she felt relieved by what she told her – and then went “this’d be so much easier if it were you.” I think even if she now repeated the first part & then talked about being excited for Joe, it’d be an important parallel that’s being drawn there.

          I mean, I’m honestly sort of hesitant myself, but I think I think better of Willis as a storyteller for them to JUST go “haha SIKE” at the end of this. At the very least I think this will have narrative meaning even if nothing actually happens now – and not just for Dorothy, if she’s being rejected. Joyce simply isn’t straight, and we’re gonna get there in the narrative eventually. Seeds are being planted and whatnot.

  42. darkoneko

    …no. NO.

  43. V98

    WOW!!!

    Okay. So.

    1. This could still go bad for Dorothy. This *could* be a psych-out! It would be cruel, and so very sad. But I would understand the decision.

    2. There’s no fucking way this is a fakeout. Joyce can be flippant and a little thoughtless at times, but right now she’s dead serious and she does have some level of emotional intelligence. I dunno exactly what’s going on behind those big blue voids – realization, acceptance, something else – but Joyce is seriously considering the thought of doing something romantic or sexual with Dorothy right now. That’s growth!!!

    3. Yeah this is probably cheating. If both Joe and Walky are okay with it, then whatever. I really can’t see Walky getting that upset about it – he and Dorothy are a couple in name only already and he *knows* it (“it’s nice to do something that doesn’t matter!” paraphrasing Dorothy). Joe, I think, would be a little hurt if Dorothy fucked Joyce before je did especially after all the pressure he’s been under to give her a good first time. I don’t think he’d be categorically opposed to the idea though. His talk with Dorothy had zero subtext of “stay away from my girl” at all, and he was really nothing but supportive. Could lead to drama and jealousy down the line, though!

    4. If either of them is NOT fine with it? I think a cheating scandal is exactly the kind of queer friendgroup drama that DoA really excels at. I’d be happy to see shit go down, lines to be drawn, and friendships implode.

    5. Okay but imagine a full, thriving, unencumbered Joyce/Dorothy relationship. Where would something like THAT go? Codependency City, baby. They’re not even dating and Dorothy is “the gross pervert deciding what happens to [Joyce]” (paraphrasing again) with that list of non-sex sex acts. Dorothy really would do *anything* for Joyce.

    1. Icalasari

      6. Wait til Becky finds out that Dorothy is Joyce’s one exception to being straight

      Yes, Becky is happy with Dina. But that would still be like, critical damage to her

      1. V98

        I was thinking about that too! It’d be kind of a funny conclusion to her recent little “learning sexuality is fluid” arc. Honestly? I think – or at least hope – that she’s moved on from Joyce. At least a little bit.

      2. Corey C.

        Joe hasn’t said “stay away from my Joyce” to Dorothy, but Becky more or less has. She’s felt threatened by Dotty since she became a main character, referring to her as “my nemesis” even AFTER she started dating Dina. Dotty making a move on Joyce, and Joyce having the same reaction when when Becky did it, would most likely result in Becky punching or kicking Dotty clear across the room, since everything she said about her was right.

        1. HueSatLight

          Becky four days ago.

        2. Clif

          But what if it’s Joyce making a move on Dorothy? Dorothy could have tried to make a move and she didn’t. But we are obviously building up to something. The more I think about it, the more it feels like we’re moving towards Joyce kissing Dorothy. But where we go after that I have no idea.

          Disclaimer – I’ve been wrong before.

    2. Bash

      I really, really doubt this is an intentional psych-out. That would be beyond cruel and way out of character for Joyce.

      If they actually end up having sex then of course that’s cheating. I’m less optimistic that their partners would be fine with it. Both relationships are based on feelings, not just sex.

      1. thejeff

        I’m not even sure what’s supposed to be an intentional psych-out here.

        At least by Joyce. It’s intentional on Willis’s part.

        Joyce doesn’t say or really do anything here

    3. Grimeyville

      Walky did look /pretty/ hurt when Dorothy said it’s nice to do something that doesn’t matter” if I remember correctly. I know people like to write Walky off as joking his way through life but to quote a line from Justice League Unlimited:

      “You play the clown to hide a warrior’s pain.”

      1. Dante

        Good point, great quote, and tits out Danny is a beautiful Gravatar

      2. The Queer Agenda [frog memes]

        Yeah, Walky may hate talking about feelings, but I think he caught them for Dotty pretty early on in their thing (and had no idea what to do with that.) It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s that he’s self-sacrificing/loathing and willing to accept whatever breadcrumbs she gives him.

        1. thejeff

          Right. Walky would take this as “Of course you just came back to me because you were in denial about Joyce. I know I’m not really good enough for you.”

          Joe’s got a thing about cheating and I don’t think he could come back from that. He might be okay with some kind of poly thing, though that would be a big stretch for all of them to work on. If it started with cheating though, Joe will be gone. And probably won’t be able to trust in a relationship for years.

  44. cbwroses

    I’ve never had nor expected to have butterflies in my stomach over a comic strip before today.

  45. Chaucer59

    Joyce looks like she’s ready to punch Dorothy.

    1. Dante

      With her lips

      1. Clif

        Mmm.

  46. Lilith Rose

    If where this is going happens…

    … it would break Joe…

    For the first time, he does everything right and respectful, and then…

    1. GholaHalleck

      He’ll go right back to Martyring himself for others happiness until it eats him alive and he goes on a sleaze bender because if Joyce is okay with fucking other people, why can’t he?

      1. thejeff

        It’s not “Joyce is okay with fucking other people”, it’s that the girl he finally fell for is a cheater. Like his dad.

        1. Fuzzy

          Yeah, this.

        2. GholaHalleck

          Oh daaaamn…. That never registered but that makes it even WORSE.

        3. Lilith Rose

          Yea, I want Joyce/Dorothy to happen, but definitely not at the expense of Joe being reformed.

          An amicable breakup at some point in the future over some incompatibility and THEN Joyce/Dorothy get together, both Joyce and Joe being richer for the experience, fantastic. But the destruction here would cause in Joe is a complete no-go.

  47. SevenFerns

    Good god, Willis somehow found the ONE scenario where I don’t want Joyce and Dorothy to get together

  48. Deanatay

    Hey, young Romance is like this sometimes. You don’t really know what you’re feeling, so you just gotta stare into each other’s eyes for a while and see what percolates to the surface. Could be love, could be sillies, could be hugs. You won’t know till it happens.

    1. HueSatLight

      I had a couple of roommates do this, make out a little and then both say, “nah” and that was it. They were both single at the time, though.

  49. Straximus

    I’m on my way to believing.

  50. Leaflet Erin

    As someone who has enjoyed the growth and effort in the Joyce/Joe arc
    *Darth Vader Nooo gif*

    As someone who enjoys the story and just wants everyone to be as happy as possible… I just hope whatever happens doesn’t blow up in everyone’s faces.

    As a Drama and trash goblin like Amber…. NOW KISS

    1. Steve

      They’ve pulled the drama tag!

    2. Li

      The three faces of fandom shipper, haha.

    3. BBCC

      You. You understand me.

  51. peng

    <3 i really love this 🙂

  52. Acebender

    WOAH WOAH WOAH

  53. Li

    Beautiful art as always Willis, and I also want to really compliment the pacing of everything, especially as it culminates here in these last two couple of panels with these specific lyrics.

    Tension you could cut with a knife.

    I am excited to see where this goes. ❤️ Dorothy’s arc has been really really gripping. I’ve wanted to know where it was going for years, and I didn’t want to let myself hope it was going anywhere near here.

    Whatever happens tomorrow, thank you for actually exploring the tension between these two characters, instead of leaving it as a winking nudge forever. I hope that no matter what anyone else thinks of the storyline, it’s going where you want it to, and I appreciate that you’ve shared it with us.

    1. Dante

      Beautifully said, my friend. I’ve been yelling everywhere but, getting a little more serious, know I’m going +1 here

      “I didn’t want to let myself hope” is exactly what I felt and yeah, I’m so so glad this is all getting explored. We’re being taken for a ride, and the artistry is masterful

      1. Li

        It’s all really really well done, and despite my trepidation earlier about leaving a top-level that wasn’t full of preemptive disclaimers, well…

        I didn’t wanna stay silent when a lot of other folks are expressly going “NOOOOOOOO!!!!”

        Joe/Joyce isn’t my favorite ship or anything, but I have really enjoyed the character arcs it’s taken both of them on, and I’ve thought it was really cute. I particularly love how Joyce’s lady-heavy friend group has also given Joe just a TON of chances to interact with a ton of women in atypical (for Joe) fashion, like.

        His friendship with Dina!!!!! The antagonism with Dorothy AND Sarah, until they both chilled out. Most recently, we got to see him interacting with Jennifer.

        I am actually not seeing like, a Doom Tornado of Doom crashing through Joyce’s friend group and devastating everyone in the near future, because all these kids love each other for certain values of love, and all of them have survived breakups and unrequited love at one point or another.

        But I’m still rooting for a poly thing here, maybe where Joe does try to step aside like the gentlemen we know he’s become, but Joyce is like, “What? No! What?! No, I have two hands and I want you both.”

        And either way, I think Joe will get to keep the friends he’s made AND the character growth he’s gained. I think despite the angst, he’s enjoyed being with Joyce a lot more than his previous short-lived “date them until they put out” adventures (see: his first overtures with Joyce way back when), and I think even if he and Joyce break up, he’ll carry that knowledge into his relationship.

        1. thejeff

          If it’s going to be a poly thing, nothing can happen now but talking.

          Any sign of cheating will destroy any chance of that.

        2. Li

          I don’t know why you’re saying this to me, heh. I am not egotistical enough to expect people to keep track of my comments and the opinions thereof, but for the record what I was referencing above is how just yesterday I complained at length about how exhausting it is to feel like I have to preface every comment right now with “by the way I don’t approve of cheating” and “I don’t want these two to actually literally cheat on their partners” and “I care about Joe and Walky’s feelings”.

          Why can’t the consensus be that actually everyone should be assumed to be anti-cheating until they say something like “woooo fictional cheating, my favorite plot line! Also real-life cheating is rad!”

          Anyway, I think Joyce and Dorothy could stare into each other’s eyes and Joyce could realize she wants things and maybe even, caught up in the moment, start to reach for Dorothy — but that’s about as close as they can get to kissing right now without majorly throwing a wrench in their romantic journey. Even if I cared about nothing and no one* apart from my ship, I’d recognize that.

        3. Li

          * oh I left this asterisk behind

          * it was going to be on a footnote about how “caring about no one” is a dramatic thing to say about fictional characters but “even if I cared about nothing and no characters apart from my ship” is clunky af.

        4. Astariel

          I hope you’re right. I’ve been worried that the poly solution would not be dramatic enough for Willis to go there, but it occurred to me that just as we saw Joyce get introduced to trans issues to prepare her for dealing with her sister, we may have seen her get introduced to polyamory to prepare her for this.

        5. Li

          Yep, there’s definitely been some narrative seeding wrt Sierra et al.

          Considering Willis has said they knew Dorothy was bi since before the timeskip, and we also know from Patreon unused strips posts that they planned on having some version of Joe and Dorothy’s conversation years ago, I wonder if Joyce originally learning about Sierra’s polycule didn’t coincide with early plans…

    2. Li

      Also: parallels.

      They both want Joyce to do what she wants.

  54. Heavensrun

    I have been lowkey shipping these two for SO LONG, I don’t think my brain is willing to accept where this actually seems to be going. I’m waiting for the rugpull.

  55. Fireprincesslily

    Y’all Joyce has TWO hands

    1. AGV/Ruby

      EXACTLY! God I love math

    2. Anon

      yeah but usually with polycouples you tend to talk things through first (hopefully) versus dating someone, kissing anotehr person outta curiosity and then being like “yeah i’m adding x to our polycule now”

  56. Mr. Random

    I think Dorothy is one… but Joyce is, in my opinion, a three.

  57. IntangibleMatter

    Joyce, Joyce, either kiss her or stop torturing the poor girl.

    Or your first time ends up as a threesome, but I don’t think I would recommend that.

    1. The Queer Agenda [frog memes]

      I can’t see Joyce asking for the latter, but if she did:
      A. It plays out like Mass Effect 1’s ‘romance both’ route, and Joe declines.
      B. Joe and Dorothy turn it into a competition. Joyce suffers, but it’s comedy gold.
      C. Joe and Dorothy turn it into a competition. It’s not funny, and Joyce dumps one or both of them.
      D. Joe declines, and ends up comiserating with Walky. They seduce each other for the hell of it or out of spite, and somehow become the greatest romance in the comic.

  58. NinjaNick

    Do it, Joyce!

  59. Bladeglory

    Joe: …now make out. Make out, dammit.
    Walky: Has that ever worked?
    Joe: Once, on a TV show.
    -September 8, 2011

  60. Leon

    I love all of this, particularly the side eye glances.

    Also, they were stun locked for 2 to 3 minutes after what Joyce said in the last strip if you pay attention to the lyrics. They’re on the bridge of “My Heart” at the end of the last but already at the chorus of “The Only Exception” in this one.

    1. V98

      WOW. Nice catch!

      The fact that time is collapsing like this between strips gives me the feeling that someone’s gonna walk in any minute.

  61. DashWallkick

    I am suddenly realizing the next story arc is Joyce going on her date with Joe, brain rattled by her encounter with dorothy, whatever that means.

  62. Rabisch

    Love how cinematic this is. I would love to see this slow, tender moment animated.

  63. Florence

    The 2K25 kiss of chaos might actually happen? I didn’t think it would get this far

    1. NGPZ

      ポリリリリリ… YESSS as Trash Goblins Who Crave Mess we will surely witness the birth of the Chaos Kiss!!! >:D

      *plays “Count Bleck’s Plan” from Super Paper Mario on hacked muzak*

      1. Florence

        It’s going to be so messy, so much drama

  64. Professional asexual

    What. What

    1. NGPZ

      that’s what i talkin about

      can I get a WHAT WHAT!!! :D

  65. MissKellie

    He-he… ho-ho, even.

  66. BorkBorkBork

    Ten bucks says that tomorrow’s strip is going to be, like, Galasso, and Ken, dealing with a somewhat irritated customer who got just a little bit too many olives on their pizza (and sub!).

    Just to fuck with us all.

    … but, for real, I’m getting secondhand anxiety from this. I made so many stupid decisions when figuring myself out that hurt so many people and it’s really hard to see others in the process of ruining everything.

    And I don’t think I’m being melodramatic. Joyce is literally the center of their friend group; Joyce’s strong friendship with Sarah, Dorothy, and Becky are what ties different characters together who really don’t have much interaction otherwise. Dorothy connects Walky, Joe and Danny; Walky connects Jennifer and Sal; Becky connects Dina and by extension Amber, Sarah connects Jacob. There’s a few who are friends-of-friends, like Ethan and Lucy and Ruth and Jason, but they are literally outliers, and don’t have much screen time other than as accessories to other, main-er characters.

    So with one fell swoop, both Joe and Walky are cheated on, with one of their closer friends. So immediately that’s going to sever a lot of friendships. People will take sides. Meanwhile, there’s Becky, who will be DEVASTATED by this, and Dina will be devastated by Becky’s reaction. It’ll be “dranks,” times a hundred, because it wasn’t that Joyce didn’t like girls, Becky, she just didn’t like you.

    So what friends will Joyce have left? Not Sal or Jennifer or Walky. Not Dina or Becky. Lucy and Ruth are really more acquaintances. She’ll have Sarah, who will be spending more time with her boyfriend, and won’t say all that much other than that Joyce was dumb and this was wrong.

    Yes I know I’m stressing about cartoon characters but dammit, I don’t want their imaginary relationships to be messed up because they’ll feel sad, OK?

    I really, really hope that one of them stops the other, and says that they need to wait, and think it through, and make some decisions first.

    But we probably won’t find out until like August. Again, smash cut to Galasso, and later all we’ll know is that Joyce called Joe to cancel their date because she’s feeling under the weather.

    1. BorkBorkBork

      (Sorry, I can’t stay away, damn you Willis)

      And you know what the worst part is? These two whoopsiepoodles haven’t even talked about what this *means.* Dorothy says to “be sure what you want.” Well, what does that mean, past right now? What if they have a wild twenty minutes, and after all that, Joyce smiles hugs Dorothy, and says “Thank you so much; now I’m not anxious at all about tonight with Joe. You’re such a good friend.”

      She’s listened to plenty of people (OK, so Jennifer) say that it doesn’t count, that friends can fool around a little and it doesn’t mean anything. And Dorothy’s *already* shown her how to do other things here. How do we know she’s not thinking of that in the exact same way?

      And if she is – just how much is that going to devastate Dorothy? Forget Joyce – what friends does Dorothy have who aren’t *better* friends with Joyce, Wally, or Joe? Hell, Becky is her ROOMMATE. What then? Is this what drives her to Yale after all?

      Dammit, I need to put my phone down and breathe into a paper bag or something.

    2. yak

      Probably, lmao.

  67. JA

    /slowly chews popcorn

    1. clif

      Don’t choke.

  68. Zamperla

    lifts opera glasses and settles in.

    If you have scrolled through the comments far enough to get here: Hi! Welcome. Man these two huh. Poor doofuses. You checked out Blue Prince yet? damn good game.

    You ever notice people who read ongoing serialized media sort of assume the worst possible outcome of any given dramatic development? its an interesting phenominon.

    1. Nadamás

      I know right?And I heard about that game but didn’t quite get what it was about, could you explain it?

      1. AGV/Ruby

        I haven’t played it yet, but to my understanding it’s a bit of an escape room roguelike. You’re basically charting a shifting manor.

    2. Li

      It’s definitely more true for some characters than others. The more uncharitable one feels about a character, the more likely they are to predict that character doing horrible things, regardless of past characterization or narrative sense.

      1. Nadamás

        ÷1 for you.

      2. Nadamás

        You know shagdved you get a divided one why not.

        1. Nadamás

          *Whatever

        2. Li

          Haha, a divided one is more unique anyway ? I’ll put it in my little collection of upvotes.

    3. Darastrix

      I’ve had that game on my wishlist for a few weeks. I’m stuck in the ‘I want, but full price, but I want…’ cycle. Do you think it’s worth it at the $30 full price, or should I wait for the Steam Summer Sale? (It’s not like I don’t have a backlog as it is)

    4. Steamweed

      Is it “House of Leaves: The Computer Game”?

  69. GUIGUI

    I know a lot of people are rooting for them being an item, but I don’t want them to be cheaters.

    1. Florence

      Join me in the “realises they have feelings but decides to not commit to it” lounge

    2. Rabisch

      Especially since Joyce will be devastated by guilt afterward. Dorothy… I don’t think so.

  70. Rabbit

    IIIIIIIIIII HATE CHEATING PLOTLINESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

    I especially super hate it for Joyce, because it feels so wildly out of character for her to do to Joe here.

    I used to ship Dotty/Joyce. Way back before they introduced Joe/Joyce bc I thought Willis would never do Joe/Joyce. I normally multiship, but I just… can’t get behind Dotty/Joyce now as it is in canon.

    1. Rabbit

      inb4: buh buh buh it’s not cheating yet

      If my partner was doing this to me, saying this kind of thing to their friend, it’d hurt me. Especially if I knew their friend was secretly in love w/ them.

      If it were to go any further than right here, then I’d consider it fully cheating, even without kissing happening.

      1. Heavensrun

        I get where you’re coming from, but how bad it is really depends on what they do now and how things move forward?

        Like, If they recognize the mutual attraction, stop, talk about it, and decide to break up with their boyfriends before doing anything else, I’d argue they’ve done nothing wrong at that point. Dotty didn’t make a move to steal Joyce or anything, she just failed to hide her feelings from Joyce, who had an epiphany over that.

        If they kiss, *then* stop, yeah, that’s not good, and you might call that kiss “cheating”, but again, there’s a gradient there. Getting swept up in the moment isn’t unforgivable, as long as they both stop and deal with what that means for their other relationships before going any further than that. Certainly would mean the death knell for Dotty/Walky, and it’d hurt Dotty and Joe’s…friendship? Can you call it that? And Joe/Joyce might come apart, but it doesn’t have to involve long term hard feelings.

        If they have sex, *then* deal with their boyfriends, that’s pretty bad, at that point, it’s definitely a serious breach of trust.

        If they have sex, and then *try to hide it*, that’s pretty unambiguously awful, and I doubt we’re going there. I could see them losing themselves in the moment and going all the way, I can’t see either of them deciding to make it a secret affair.

    2. Doopyboop

      As someone who also hates cheating plotlines, I don’t really consider this cheating. It seems more like both are recognizing their shared attraction and being like “huh, what do”. Is it emotionally intimate? Yes. However, I don’t think it’s cheating in any way, not even emotional cheating. So long as it stays like this and only happens like, this one time. If anything, I think recognizing a shared attraction does mean Joyce and Dorothy might actually have something of a… break? They’ve been unheathily attached for a while, with Dorothy in particular literally having traumatized nightmares about Joyce, so I think they might just need a bit of time apart as they figure their feelings out and such. They’re not gonna kiss.

      1. thejeff

        I’m not even sure that they’re recognizing anything. Obviously Dorothy’s admitted hers to herself, but it’s quite possible for Joyce to still be in oblivious denial and I’m not sure why so many think she isn’t.

    3. MissKellie

      To be fair, I think Joyce is the only one who’s like actively tried to do some cheating so far? I might be forgetting something but the only instance of canonical cheating I remember is when Joyce lied her way into a date with Jacob while knowing he was with Raidah, got Jacob to lie to his brother, and caused them to split. I think Joyce even kissed him before the breakup?

      Like, this wouldn’t be my first choice for the start of Jorothy, but it is most in character for Joyce if any cast member.

      1. HueSatLight

        Jacob kissed Joyce. In fact, the order was: Jacob decides to reject Joyce, Jacob kisses Joyce, Jacob rejects Joyce, Jacob breaks up with Raidah.

        And Dorothy asked Walky to get back together while he was still seeing Lucy.

        1. Li

          The key word there being “asked”. As I’ve said elsewhere, actually kissing Joyce while she knows Joyce and Joe aren’t “probably over” would be a serious escalation for Dorothy.

      2. thejeff

        But it was also explicitly a learning moment for Joyce. It was her playing with being her religion’s messed up idea of what an atheist was: No God, so no moral concerns. Instead she learned the people still have feelings and you still care about hurting them.
        It would be out of character now because she’s learned that.

        1. Li

          …what? No.
          I mean, sure, that’s how Joyce tells the story to Dorothy, when she’s mired in self-loathing over it, but the reality is that she wasn’t thinking anywhere near that clearly, and also that her fundamentalist beliefs previously had her explicitly saying it was okay for her to conspire to get Jacob to dump Raidah for Sarah, because true love excuses everything.

          Joyce made a bad split second decision that then snowballed. Far from not expecting her actions to have consequences or forgetting that other people have feelings, she felt bad almost the whole time. She DID use the opportunity to ask Jacob about his own behavior: specifically, why his brother didn’t know Raidah’s name, but knew all about her, and whether she was really just a friend to him. She offered to come clean to his brother for him, and Jacob said no, because he still wanted Harrison to like her. They mutually agreed that their fake-date was kinda nice. Then, at the end of it, Jacob decided to break up with Raidah. Joyce protested that they hadn’t done anything TOO wrong, it wasn’t like he’d kissed her—

          And then he kissed her, and told her that if she’d come to him directly with her feelings, they “probably” have been able to work things out, but he doesn’t like that she lied to his brother or that he lied for her, because of how much he likes her. “That’s not… a great precedent to set.” Then he walked away, but not before telling her his new checklist was going to be a lot more like her than like Raidah, “minus some things”.
          The VERY next strip has Joyce say heavily: “Sorry to disappoint you, God. If you’re even listening.”

          Plus, don’t forget how Joe framed it soon after: sitcom-y and hilarious. Sure, Jacob argues that it’s different when it’s real life, but Joe’s rebuttal is that Joyce keeps learning and striving to do better and someday she’ll be perfect and Jacob will be kicking himself for letting her go.

          I… just do NOT think the intended takeaway was “Joyce’s worst possible description of herself as having no moral compass and not caring about other people’s feelings was accurate”.

        2. Li

          Ugh. My first version had too many links and now the formatting’s a little weird. ANYWAY.

          I don’t even disagree that Joyce wouldn’t let herself cheat here, but I do strongly disagree that she ever didn’t think other people’s feelings were real “because atheism” and that she had to learn that the hard way.

          I am also forced to admit that Joe’s dismissiveness in the moment might have set him up for some narrative irony here where he decides that sitcom-y hijinx DO suck when it’s real…

          But also: that storyline didn’t just demonstrate that cheating is a bad way to start a relationship. It also demonstrated that well-intentioned, misguided, quasi-cheating is recoverable. It just takes time. Joyce and Jacob didn’t see each other again until November, 2023, but their reunion here is noticeably absent any hostility, or Jacob trying to tell Joe not to trust her because she’s a liar and a cheater, or anything like that. Their previous friendship hasn’t recovered, but also, the thing Joyce was saddest about losing when she spoke to Dorothy (a friend she could talk to about her faith) is no longer something she needs in her life. So… they probably would have grown apart regardless.

  71. bwooom

    CACKLING MADLY. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT IS HAPPENING. IF THIS GOES EVEN A STEP FURTHER THERE’S NO RECOVERY. WHERE ARE WE. I’M ELATED.

    1. Nadamás

      Love the energy!

  72. Bluesnake463

    And now they all from a polyamory relationship around Joyce

    1. Nadamás

      As the prophesy foretold. (The prophecy is me, saying it a few times)

    2. Steamweed

      As was clear from the beginning. Lo, the prophecy did foretell it. Hwaet, harken to the shippers and commentariat singing in one accord.

    3. thejeff

      It would be a fun ending. That ouroboros smoochy chart, but all at once.

      If we’re headed there though, we’re nowhere near it. A lot of growth and angst before anyone’s ready for that.

      1. Steamweed

        Oh, of course it will take time. Going from “Dumbing of Age” to “Polyculing of Age” is a slow, organic process. Can’t rush these things.

  73. CianM1301

    Looks like Joyce is about to potentially her second nickel for kissing a girl on her bed.

  74. bhtooefr

    Thought: while Becky may well be devastated, it’s possible that the Westermarck effect could be applying for Joyce (…but not Becky).

    1. Axel

      Not saying you’re wrong but I think it’s fair enough for Joyce just not to like Becky that way.

    2. HueSatLight

      Joyce’s family changed churches a lot for a while, so they probably hadn’t met, much less lived together as siblings for that.

    3. Li

      Also? Sometimes you’re just not into someone. You feel horrible because you love them platonically, but there are no romantic and certainly no sexual feelings there. You call it seeing them like a sister because that’s how society allows you to spare their feelings.

      I do also think Becky and Joyce have a certain dynamic that’s not totally unlike Joyce’s dynamic with Jocelyne, but it’s also not totally unlike her dynamic with Walky, whom she met like five months ago.

  75. Kenny Williams

    Joe will be fine so long as he’s invited.

  76. Danae Jay, Local Gay

    KISS HER. DOOMED YURI WOOO.

    Well. A very mild doom. Interpersonal drama doom, which is light as far as dooms go. But still, DOOMED YURI WOOO.

    1. Nadamás

      Diet doomed Yuri if you will.

    2. Anon

      it’s not that doomed since she didn’t committ to leaving for harvard 8D;

  77. Axel

    noooo

    [being gay doesn’t mean I have to like this ship]

    1. NGPZ

      nobody said you had to? XD

      1. Axel

        I have heard otherwise several times across the years (and while it’s not that serious, sometimes it feels like less effort to put a disclaimer than potentially have an internet argument)

        1. NGPZ

          I see, understandable

  78. BBCC

    As a shipper, Joe/Joyce and Walky/Dorothy utterly own me and I’m not really into Joyce/Dorothy and so I say – Oh, BOO. 😛

    As a mother hen type fan who always goes ‘Ahhh, baby, no, what are you DOING’ when characters do wrong, hurtful things like cheat on their partners – Aaaahhhhh, babies, no, don’t do the wrong, hurtful thing here.

    As a fan of the characters and their story arcs AND a drama craving goblin? Oh my god, I LOVE THIS and I want to inject it into my veins. This is a culmination in their dynamic and their individual character arcs that’s been a LONG time coming and I am DYING to see where it goes.

    1. Nadamás

      Proof that people can contain multitudes.

      1. Yumi

        Off of that, I was wondering if you commented on here under a different name until recently? Or if you’re newer to commenting.

        1. Nadamás

          I did, I needed a time away due to stress so I deleted my username but I eventually made another.

      2. BBCC

        I contain many contradictory opinions! I both REALLY want this to happen and I really don’t. xD

  79. Kim

    Iiiiiiiiih!✨

  80. AGV/Ruby

    The commentariat is being overly catastrophic methinks. Call me naive but, ye of little faith, this doesn’t have to end in disaster.

    I must add that I’m a bit of a weirdo because there’s a very few bad things that a lover of mine could do with someone else unless they did it with the explicit intent of hurting me.

  81. Charlotte

    Oh no.
    But Dorothy was being such an excellent selfless friend. (I mean, she hasn’t done anything bad yet either.)

    Personally, I find Dorothy/Joyce a much more compelling ship than the current canon relationships, but that’s why I don’t want to see it crash and burn, which the current situation is set up to do. Also, they already have such a beautiful friendship, plus Joe really has changed and Joe/Joyce are cute together.
    So, no, better not.

    (I do think Dorothy/Wally should break up. For me, least interesting relationship in the comic.)

    1. Charlotte

      Ugh autocorrect. *Walky*

  82. Dorjojoe

    on one hand love the drama but on the other if this actually leads to breaking up Joyce and Joe after like a decade of buildup i will def cry

    1. Syd

      I’ve already cried over it 🙁 they’ve been my fave since I started this comic as a baby lesbian

  83. TerribleTransit

    I dunno, alt-text. It feels more like we’re two-ing in on it.

    1. David M Willis

      RobertDiNiroFingerWag.gif

  84. Rectilinear Propagation

    Criminetly!

  85. yak

    Next comic is going to be four panels of Joyce ambiguously staring at Dorothy.

    1. Amós Batista

      I can handle that
      no, I can’t

    2. Elsewise

      I’m calling it right now, tomorrow we cut to a different storyline.

    3. Anon

      Cut to steve eating cereal 8D;

  86. ADLegend21

    uh oh

  87. Maddie B

    I’ve got chills, they’re multiplying

  88. Thing2

    Joyce: Well, I want to make Joe happy… aaand… get hanky pankied

  89. Daibhid C

    Okay, I think my brain has finally recallibrated what gay subtext even looks like, this having been badly skewed during the period when the comments were all “OH MY GOD, JOYCE IS ASKING DOROTHY TO HAVE PRACTICE SEX WITH HER AND DOROTHY WILL PROBABLY PRETEND THAT’S NORMAL AND GO ALONG WITH IT!” (which it turns out is not, in fact, a thing that’s happening). And gosh, that sure is some gay subtext.

    1. Leon

      Everyone underestimated Joyce’s (gay) power level, so some kind of pretext seemed necessary for this turn of events to happen (unless it still ultimately was from a certain point of view) when you also factor in Joe and the specific phrasing didn’t help either. I was initially of the opinion she was well aware of what she was saying even after her declaration to Clara in the hallway, but golly.

  90. JepMZ

    Wh-wh-what??? That love hexagon really is true

  91. Sirksome

    A thought just occurred to me. Joe has been so absolutely terrified of ruining Joyce’s purity that he might actually be relieved if Dorothy takes her virginity. This could actually be the ideal outcome for nearly everyone. Maybe that’s naive and optimistic but I can see it.

    1. Yak

      I don’t really feel relieved when someone else accomplishes something that I see as a major challenge for myself.

      1. Sirksome

        I really don’t think Joe sees Joyce’s virginity as a major challenge he needs to overcome. His character has thankfully developed beyond that. In fact his most recent appearance only further highlights his insecurity about the whole thing. He’s almost the complete opposite in attitude towards Joyce than he was when they first met.

        1. yak

          He’s stressing about it all the time, he put it off for a long time because he didn’t feel the time was right… I don’t know, it definitely seems like he still views it as a big deal.

        2. Axel

          maybe not a challenge, because that kind of applies an achievement and i maybe a little too goal-focused, but it’s still something he has been taking seriously and spending a of time considering and struggling to make sure he gets right.

          kinda like if you have to do a performance, or a test, or something, and at the last minute, after a lot of preparation, someone says ‘oh dw we got someone to fill in for you.’ Doing the thing might be stressful, but you’ve already put so much anxious energy and effort and consideration toward it that you’ll feel cheated (no pun intended) when you find out you’re not actually doing anything with all that effort you spent.

          (that said, I do think that Joyce’s second time, and first time with a man, would still be an almost entirely new thing for her; it’s not like you learn everything in one go)

        3. yak

          Yes! Precisely what I meant

    2. HueSatLight

      I think Joe worries he’s not good enough for her at all, not just the virginity thing. Like some small portion of the “bow out” unused strips is a little voice in his head.

    3. thejeff

      He’s worried about her purity/virginity in the sense that he’s afraid that after they do it she’ll think she’s “ruined”. If he’d gotten together with Joyce after she’d already had sex, that would take that fear off the table and he’d be fine with that.

      But that’s not the same as wanting her to have sex with someone else now while they’re already dating.

  92. MAC089

    I can’t imagine Joe objecting to finding these two making out.

    1. Dot

      “It’s different when you’re the one in a situation,” as Jacob said. Sure Joe might, in the abstract, enjoy the idea of two women making out (or he certainly would have pre-character development), but when it’s Joyce? When he has put so much effort into being a good partner to her? Do you really think he would have no negative reaction to her cheating on him?

      1. thejeff

        When his dad cheating is what ruined his family and drove his entirely approach to life?

        Yeah, I’m sure he’d be just fine with it. He might be okay with some kind of poly thing, but not if it starts with cheating.

  93. William

    Joyce and Dorothy start making out. Elsewhere, Becky feels a great disturbance in the Force.

  94. Chubseus

    Joyce: “…I want to BE you. So I’m gonna go out and hanky-panky this boy just like you would. Bye!”

    1. Poppakat

      That strikes me as a very accurate read of the situation

  95. mel

    yay :3

    so:
    – i think if they kiss (or almost kiss!!!) they will have to create distance and say this was a misunderstanding. this will make things irreparably awkward and isolate each other.

    – Joyce will be thinking of this the entire time and refuse to open up or relax, and Joe will think she is distant because he is not more accomodating to Joyce!!! Hurting himself, and hurting joyce too :3

    – Joyce and dorothy will find it too awkward to talk and neither will be able to support the other, causing each to introvert as talking about it admits to cheating!

    – This is artisinal, bespoke, finely peppered fuel for a irreconcilable break- up. Joe spent the majority of the relationship assuring Joyce’s entourage that he would never hurt her, he is different now, he sees her as a person etc – but as he has never been this sincere and caring with someone, she will unintentionally hurt him at his most vulnurable!

    – Joyce’s arc of self-actualising can include hurting someone she cares about, in a way that is naive and not malicious. Exploring bisexuality is completely in line with her motivated reclamation of sinful behaviour, which has been as much a motivation for having sex as much as her sexual and romantic feelings for Joe. The age she is at, the history she has had, and the kind of person people keep treating her like, is exactly the kind of person who would hurt someone with an act of love.

    -I need Ruth to have a drink with Dorothy about this like “that’s rough buddy”

  96. ValdVin

    I’ve slept (and romped) in a college twin bed and Willis draws them a bit roomy. But I’ll be the first to admit that this unrealism helps the story. The space between them is important here.

    1. Li

      It’s an in-universe joke that Joyce’s bed is too big actually. Joyce asked Sierra in a bonus comic about jealousy I think and Sierra commented that the beds are too small for all three of them to fit, and Joyce was like, “Really? I’ve fit three people in MY bed” (referring to watching cartoons with Dorothy and Walky, one of the fond memories Dorothy had while looking through sweaters and hoodies)…

      (And Sierra asked Joyce who was in her polycule and Joyce said, “my what now?”)

  97. peat_moss

    I’m going to fucking combust

  98. Mr. 2

    Next words out of Joyce’s mouth: “soft-serve ice cream”

  99. goggleman64

    Oh this is *agonizing*!!! XD

  100. Vulcanodon

    Did they lock the door?

  101. zee

    Okay so are they gonna like… open the relationship and hinge it?like I could see Joe being chill with that, esp given the unused pages on Patreon. But idk how Walky would take it. Imma be real I love him but he is who I care about the least in this equation lol, I just don’t want JoJo to crash and burn

    1. Dot

      Walky has joked about being open to poly before, although that was with Lucy. With Dorothy, I can see it feeding his complex about not being good enough for her.

    2. Grimeyville

      What I’ve found genuinely funny in all this is that’s a large consensus of comments leading up to this. You aren’t alone in caring what happens to him the least. A lot of folks either wonder if we get Joyce/Dorothy or Joe is added in.

      I feel like I’m one of the few hoping this is the one thing that finally breaks him/puts him on a path of growth/anything besides jokes hiding sadness.

  102. Poppakat

    He is going to be evil and switch to a totally different story and make us wait for like a week.

    1. BYM!

      He’s going to switch to Ethan and Asher making out

      1. Katosen27

        I don’t follow the Patreon, but that is pretty damn believable.

        1. Taffy

          Don’t listen to BYM!, tomorrow’s strip is Faz and the mountain lion battling the coyotes. It’s possibly the bloodiest strip Willis has ever drawn, but it honestly has to be for the sake of the story.

        2. clif

          Maybe I’m being a sucker, but I really don’t think we’re cutting away tommorow. Willis is going somewhere with this and we’re not there yet.

    2. Steamweed

      Or their faces are three inches apart, lips open….and then Joe knocks on the door. Kissus Interruptus.

  103. Juanoku

    OH C’MON THAT’S NOT FAIR TO HER
    YOU’LL KILL HER

    1. Steamweed

      RIP Dorothy M. Keener

  104. UrzaMTG

    I started reading about a month ago, blitzed the entire archive, and THIS is the cliffhanger I catch up on?!?

    1. Steamweed

      Welcome to the David Willis fanbase and DoA commentariat. Please register at the front desk there on the left. You will receive a complementary subscription to Trainwreck Popcorn Of The Month. You will be assigned a placebo prescription for your attention disorder symptoms, a sense of community in feeling angst and outrage, and an icepack and reusable bandage to put over the (metaphorical) stab wounds as Willis repeatedly plunges his artistic (and metaphorical) knife into you and twists it on regular occasion.

  105. PB

    Oh sweet Jiminy H. Joyce DOES know what she’s doing.

    This is going to end with someone getting hurt. I just need to know who.

    1. Yumi

      Everyone, maybe

    2. thejeff

      That seems to be reading a lot into very little evidence in this strip.

      What am I missing?

      1. Li

        You’re not missing anything, you just aren’t reading the atmosphere of this and the previous strip the same way some of us are. It does help to listen to the songs, heh, but for those of us talking about it like Joyce is clearly considering something with Dorothy, that’s because we are feeling a lot of romantic tension in Joyce’s gaze.

        1. Yumi

          I’m not sure if thejeff means that in general or specifically “Joyce DOES know what she’s doing”– like, I don’t think this strip really confirms that. I think she’s figuring it out as we’re seeing it happen.

        2. Li

          Oh, that’s fair.

          I picked the wrong one of @thejeff’s comments to respond to, then! I’ve seen what I thought was a fair bit of general confusion over why people think this strip shows Joyce having Thoughts or Feelings. And that’s not missing something, it’s just disagreeing about the atmosphere, I think.

        3. thejeff

          That’s fair. I’ve just seen a lot of comments to the effect of “This strip means Joyce does know what she’s doing” and I just don’t see that here.

          The songs definitely contribute to the atmosphere of the scene, but they’re not anything explicit about Joyce herself. Unless you’re reading Joyce as specifically reacting to the song in this scene, rather than it being background?
          Maybe I am just missing something in Joyce’s gaze, but I’d be very surprised if she made any kind of overt move in this scene. (Even more surprised if Dorothy did, given what she’s already said and how she’s reacted all along.)

        4. thejeff

          Note since it might be misconstrued: Overt move here doesn’t necessarily mean cheating, but could include a confession with thoughts of Joyce breaking up with Joe or asking him about a poly relationship or whatever.

        5. Li

          I do feel like there is Something in Joyce responding to Dorothy’s prompt by turning to gaze at her, but yeah, like.

          What I am thinking of at the moment is highly atmospheric games like SILENT HILL 2, and how if you mute them, or talk over them, they become completely different experiences.

          Not that I’m saying you’re muting or talking over this scene, but how much or how little you feel the atmosphere of these last two strips is critical for whether or not you feel like Joyce is about to, like, reach out and cup Dorothy’s face.

          WE COULD BE WRONG, you could be right, I wanna emphasize that haha. But yeah, it’s not anything tangible you’re missing, it’s just reading the mood in the room differently.

  106. TGS

    I am having so much trouble figuring out just how aware of all the contexts and subcontexts Joyce actually is. I had originally thought that all her comments and questions were completely innocent (in relation to Dotty). Now, I am unsure. Hell of a twist by Willis to make us think this scene was from Dotty’s perspective when it was more from Joyce’s.

    Regardless of that, I still think Dotty does not initiate, and I think she puts a stop to any level of hanky hanky between her and Joyce, at least in part over concerns of Billifer’s influence. I think Dotty very much wants to be sure that anything that happens between her and Joyce can’t be brushed off as a casual thing that friends get to do. She needs it to be something more intentional and aware, or she needs it not at all.

  107. ac

    (screaming so high only dogs can hear it)

  108. Mydnyt

    I’m just saying, I’ve been on the fence about it for awhile but if I saw a post titled “Joyce x Dorothy cunnilingus” I’d instantly get the NSFW Patreon lol

  109. Yumi

    At this point, I do think Joe is going to show up. Not walk in on them– I think he’d knock, ready to pick Joyce up for their date. And I don’t think Joyce and Dorothy will kiss or something before he gets there, but they’re obviously having this intensely intimate moment, so Joyce will leave and go on the date but be in a weird headspace the whole time. (Which I also think means she and Joe won’t be fucking tonight.)

    1. Chokfi

      Alternative Option: After the date Joyce and Joe do the do while she holds hands with Dorothy

  110. Boh No

    ?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  111. Caro

    poor becky.

  112. MissKellie

    Honestly starting to get vibes that Joyce is going to be the one more hurt when this falls off. Like, at least Dorothy came into this braced to help a friend through her worries and knew what she was getting into. I don’t really know how Joyce would react if Dorothy turns her down on what really seems like the start of an intimate moment. Like, from Joyce’s POV, it’s Dorothy and when has Dorothy ever said no to Joyce?

    Also, can someone, like, point me to all this Joe Growth that I seemed to have missed? Like, he’s getting better but as far as I can tell he’s a bit of a transphobe and a lot of misogynist who doing better for the girl he likes. Feels like a super common college freshman thing and usually barely lasts 3 months past the relationship. Joe still has a lot to unpack before I’d go to bat for his character.

    1. V98

      What was his most recent transphobia moment? Only one I can even vaguely remember would be the question of whether or not Carla was on his bang list.

      1. MissKellie

        I mean, not seeing Carla as women is what I was referring to, but it’s also not a question. She was explicitly not on the list and Willis confirmed that women he’s not attracted to get 0s instead of excluded. His response to Joyce prompting some reflection was basically, ‘I hooked up with someone and I think she is a they now. I’m basically bisexual.”

        Until I see him talk to/about about Jocelyn some more, jury’s out imo and he started in the red.

        1. thejeff

          And his comment about Jocelyne that prompted that conversation wasn’t great either: “I’m not going to be mean”.

        2. Taffy

          To put a positive spin on it, not being mean is a step in the right direction. It means he can be taught and brought to the right side.

        3. thejeff

          It’s definitely not the worst, but it’s not a good sign. And the rest of that conversation was bad as well.

        4. MissKellie

          Yeah, but I guess part of the reason for my original comment was to not put any positive spin on it. Like, he gets plenty of positive spin already and sometime I just gotta judge what I see instead of viewing it in the best possible light. Carla and Jocelyne deserve so much more than being tolerated.

      2. MissKellie

        Also, went back to check, pretty sure that convo happened yesterday in DOA-time

    2. Sirksome

      You haven’t missed any Joe growth. Your estimation of his character is accurate. He’s still a work in progress and I think his last conversation with Joyce about trans identities in relation to his do list was meant to highlight that.

      I think there’s two factors that really carry Joe forward. Joyce and how sincere and earnest he is in their relationship. He’s changing mostly for her and being with her brings out the best in him. The other is just that he was so bad pre time skip that reaching a bare minimum of decency is massive for him. It’s like how shocked people were that one day Mary was nice.

      Joe on paper is maybe just average or slightly above average on the decent dude scale, but he’s coming up from being DoA’s ultimate misogynist. Really early on you could argue he was even a villain. Kind of DoA’s own Prince Zuko.

      1. Li

        The comparison to Zuko is very apt.

        I remember Katara getting a loooooot of hate in Season 3 specifically for not immediately telepathically intuiting Zuko’s character arc, from fans who had always loved and been sympathetic to Zuko (and let’s be clear, Zuko was sympathetic earlier than Joe — there were very early hints about his relationship with his father that really reframe his pursuit of Aang and a lot of the actions he takes)… and who were upset with Katara for not being on the same emotional page.

        I think Joe is a great character, but I can still recognize with no trouble at all why Dorothy or Sarah might have trouble accepting him as even a decent guy, much less a great one.

        1. Twilight of the Sandwiches

          The phenomena of people grading Joe on a curve and then attacking female characters for not being as infinitely charitable towards him goes back a long way…

          I remember back during Joyce’s first Dorm Party Arc (the one that happened shortly after Becky moved in, the one predicated on letting Joyce have fun in a safe environment that’s removed from the Trauma of Druggo Not-Yet-McStabbed), there was a gag about Joyce having an ‘Definitely Not Invited” list that included Joe and no one else.

          And some folk did actually got mad at *Joyce* for not inviting Joe (and maybe more specifically sending Becky to directly tell him that there’s a party and he’s NOT invited) even though he’s such a Cool Guy! He ‘understands consent’ (….according to one conversation based around shaming his best friend for not wanting to have sex, that Joyce had no way of knowing about)….

          I think a lot of the time Joe isn’t even being compared with his Pre-Character-Development-Self as much as with Roomies!Joe or just a vague idea of a generic ‘haha sexual assault!’ horny guy comedy character (…so Roomies!Joe basically)

        2. Li

          I do think people tend to remember a couple of moments with Early Joe in distinctly rosy hues. That conversation with Danny and also the time he told Walky to keep his fragile masculinity to himself (re: shoes).

          But I don’t want to rob Joe of his growth, either. But I do think a lot is made of his character beats, and that he gets a lot of grace for having decent enough intentions, while other characters get flayed alive for not ensuring they always have perfect impact, heh.

  113. thumb

    The ball is in the air! It’s anyone’s guess whether the shot will score. The crowd is tense with anticipation.

  114. Florence

    All giggling aside, rereading the strip and I am emotionally devastated by these two, especially with “you are the only exception” playing while I read It

    I can’t help but feel so much, they’re both finally facing what’s been hiding for so long, being vulnerable in a way they never have

    1. Florence

      “Joyce, just know what you want” ?

  115. Kazuma Shouri

    wow, the music has been on point this entire time? no wayyyyy

  116. JC

    Plot twist, they live out “the college try” by Garfunkel and Oates and pinky swear to completely forget it ever happened despite possible nightmares.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n39RzgVNP8

  117. Woop de doop

    The song says you are the only exception but i’m pretty sure Joyce is higher on the kinsey scale than Dorothy.

    1. Woop de doop

      And Dorothy is horny for other girls too, besides Joyce. Namely Amazi-Girl. Joyce is also attracted to Sal. So neither of them are each other’s only exception!! Well maybe they each are the only girl they’ve ever really really super liked enough to want to date.

  118. Bryy

    This is some master baiting right here.

    1. Nadamás

      Is the baiting in the room with us?/j

    2. Taffy

      Somebody’s getting a finger somewhere.

  119. Yeet

    becky is going to flip her shit I think

  120. Jess

    Personally, regardless of who she ends up with, I don’t want Joyce to be a cheater.

  121. Amós Batista

    Look, I will wait next 2 days until vote in Joyce’s gayness level.
    My bey is that Joyce is just going to ask Dorothy if she wants to be with her, during sex with Joe.

    1. HueSatLight

      Joyce is going to punch Dorothy, look at her hand. Then she’s going to say, “I want Joe to sit on my face, but it would be much easier if it were your face he was sitting on, so I could watch.” I am very good at predictions.

      1. Axel

        okay this is the only comment I’m deciding to believe

  122. TGS

    Ok, here’s a prediction. Maybe a projection as well. This is all based on the overriding premise that I feel is going through a lot of this, which comes from a Picard quote in STTNG. “It is possible to do everything right and for things to still not work out. That is not a failure, that is life.” I am paraphrasing, but I assume you get the idea.

    Dotty can’t bring herself to initiate. Joyce, with the words of Billifer dancing in her head, decides to initiate. Dotty stops it, telling Joyce that she doesn’t want to do to anyone else what she did to walky. She reassures Joyce that things are going to be fine with Joe, and probably leaves to confront Billifer about the terrible advice she gave Joyce. Joyce, confused by Billifer’s advice and the growing realization of what this might mean, attempts to go through with hanky panky times with Joe. It isnt bad – Joe is as wonderful about everything as we all assume he will be given his current character arc. But it’s not quite good either – enough so that Joyce is co fused why it didn’t live up to whatever expectations she had. Joyce then gets to go through her version of identity and sexuality questioning. While this is happening, Dotty breaks up with Walky, out of guilt for cheating (which she feels she did) and out of her growing bi side, which puts her in a rough place. Perhaps Dotty attempts to explore her newly discovered feelings with someone else, although I dont have any steong fewlings on who it would or should be.
    But she likely starts something that Willis makes us think is actually pretty healthy for her. Joyce continues to make things work with Joe, but is unable to shake the feeling of something missing. Joyce ultimately decides that she needs to explore further, so she breaks up with Joe and approaches Dotty to see what a relationship between the two of them would be like. Dotty breaks things off with whomever she is with, leading us finally to the Joyrothy relationship that so many have been hoping for – but in a way that had a much better chance at working.

    This prevents both Joyce and Dotty from cheating, and still leaves room for plenty of group dynamic upheaval. More importantly, it makes a potential Joyrothy relationship inherently more likely to work. If they want to expand it to a polycule, they have the option of doing so of course, but I believe any polycule relationship involving them will be more successful if they stabilize their relationship first. I have not been in a poly relationship, so I could be completely off base on this. Apologies for my ignorance if so.

    1. Adept

      Uh, I hope not.

    2. Heavensrun

      I suspect Joe’s about to chicken out anyway. His terror at Dina’s advice about the religiously-motivated shame sobbing might have undercut his enthusiasm. In fact, he might just straight up decide he doesn’t have the confidence to be Joyce’s boyfriend. And he knows how Dorothy feels, and he didn’t seem upset about it. Didn’t give her any judgement, didn’t get possessive or territorial…Honestly, there are a lot of ways this could go, I’ve been dwelling on it since last night, and a lot of the possibilities hinge on exactly what happens in the next 1-2 comics.

  123. kaleidoqueer

    Just started yet another reread, and… right in the first chapter. https://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/forget/ Has Dorothy Joyce been the plan right from the get go? 😮

    1. Axel

      because they’re on the same page? I’m not trying to be sarcastic I jut don’t see what the foreshadowing is

      1. kaleidoqueer

        Becky saying “Just don’t let anyone change you”, while Dorothy is framewise ‘in between’ Becky and Joyce. It’s not a Lot, but given how much Dorothy and Joyce have helped either embrace change.. it reads like it could be Something to me :]

  124. NGPZ

    Hey Willis sorry if this off topic but like the BlueSky feed panel on the site doesn’t seem to be updating anymore :0

  125. extremesalsaing

    This strip is where it really hit me how much this storyline has been from Dorothy’s perspective and not Joyce’s. What’s going on in YOUR head right now, Joyce? Prying minds want to know.

  126. Dana W

    If this goes down Joe is going to rebound back into jerkhood so badly.

    1. NGPZ

      I’d bet the opposite

      Joe has shown some genuine growth, if anything he’d only confirm he’s done away with his tendency to objectify women and respect Joyce’s choice to have her first time with someone else

      (heck IIRC he already knows about how she did laundry with Dorothy)

      1. Wraithy2773

        Except one of Joe’s major psychological weak points relates to divorce and his father’s infidelity. Falling head over heels for Joyce and then her cheating on him with Dorothy (and yes, I think it would be entirely reasonable for Joyce and Dorothy having sex behind his back to count as cheating on him) is absolutely the sort of thing that could cause him to backslide.

        1. Dana W

          Exactly, for good or ill I know what its like to have your entire self esteem wrapped in one partner. It warps the perspective.

    2. mindbleach

      I honestly think Joe would be pretty okay with this. He’s concerned about not fucking up how he and Joyce feel about each other. He obviously knows Dorothy wants in on that. Confronted with someone sexting his girlfriend, he politely nudged them into admitting it, and asked to be CC’d.

      It’s not like he’s been slowly chipping away at some obstacles to fucking her. He’s been actively avoiding an open invitation. He’s worried it would spoil their emotional connection. Dorothy peeling off that shrink-wrap is a non-issue – provided that it doesn’t interfere with how Joyce sees him.

      It’d be better if they all talked about this before anyone bumped uglies, but as ever, the site is not Smarting Of Age.

  127. Vancore

    This seems like a classic ‘damn you Willis?’ event about to happen.

    1. clif

      I can’t think of a possible continuation that doesn’t qualify.

  128. Leon

    I’m wondering how long Joyce has (consciously) felt this way. She has seemingly moved past gay panic into open revelation of her feelings, which is incredible for her given what we know and the fact she doesn’t have that much to go on regarding Dorothy’s current feelings. Maybe Dorothy supersedes all of that and it’s just completely natural to Joyce i.e. the only exception. Her fundie driven baggage goes out the window.

    1. Amós Batista

      I felt it. She just turned to her, like that .

  129. ThatDerpGuy

    My Monkey’s Paw finger curl for this would be Joyce and Dorothy kissing like mad only for the following strip to reveal that it was all in Dotty’s head while Joyce sits there asking her if she’s OK

  130. motorfirebox

    Photos Taken Moments Before Disaster

  131. TGS

    30 minutes left until midnight, so about 35-40 minutes until update. We are sitting on 594 comments so far. I wonder what the record for the most comments for a single strip is.

    I also wonder if the site will crash at about 12:10am est from all the folks refreshing their page

    1. Steamweed

      Record is over a thousand, I recall.

    2. tbf

      Is that when the server thinks midnight is?

      1. TGS

        Dunno what the server thinks, but I usually see the new strip posted about 5-10 minutes after midnight.

        Over 1000? Hot damn. Any idea which strip?

  132. Mewzard

    600 comments…this is definitely a popular strip.

  133. V98

    oh good lord. here it comes

  134. Paprikahörnchen

    … Okay I’ve really been shipping Joyce and Joe… But those two… HNGHDJSKGHSG

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