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Joe is obviously not putting her in the queue. Is Jacob a little oblivious? Or does he simply not see the ellipsis that we can see? Or does he not know that Joe and Joyce are friends… or at least friendly?
I don’t know if he knows that Jow and Joyce are friends but I think he is just missing the difference of tone that Joe is using. To be fair to Jacob though, he has stuff on his mind, figuring out whether or not Joe is actually planning to do someone is not first on his mind.
Joe is bringing the topic up as he saw it coming, though he objected to it in the first place. I almost forgot that myself as it has been some time ago. It was even before we started the unending wait to learn Mike’s fate. Then again, how long did we have to wait to learn whether or not Amber straight up murdered Ryan?
I went and looked. The final Ryan strip (to date) was on June 4, 2017 (well, it was the final strip for parts of him. The last time his scarred mug showed up was the day before). The confirmation that he did not die came from Joyce on July 30, 2017, when she told Amber she wished that she had killed Ryan.
Yup, “look what a nice present the kitty brought you: a dead Mike. It means your kitty loves you veeeery much (and thinks you can’t hunt for yourself even if YOU give it food every single day)”…
1. Jacob did apparently miss the whole passive aggressive pizza lunch thing’s subtext, so yeah, fairly oblivious at the best of times.
2. Yeah, what everyone else said about being distracted, too.
Their friendship has always been pretty superficial. I don’t think we’ve seen them talk about Joe’s recent attempts at change and absent that, Jacob’s assumption is perfectly in line with Joe’s presentation. He did tell Danny he was putting Dorothy on the List within minutes of them breaking up. It’s the problem with acting like a creep – people believe you.
It’s obvious to us that’s not what Joe was aiming for here, but that’s because we’ve got lots of context Jacob doesn’t have.
Jacob has always been shown to be oblivious but this is also just a case of Joe brought that assumption on himself with his past behaviour and Jacob still being hurt by Joyce’s actions so he is looking for ulterior motives from others now.
He was always aware of ulterior motives in people, he was just bad at spotting them. I think he’s just bitter that yet another relationship was spoiled by them. He’s also annoyed that he just realized that his “list of criteria” (which Raidah fit almost perfectly) isn’t actually what he wants (someone like Joyce is). He doesn’t have a plan now and that’s upsetting.
Further, he’s upset with his own ‘infidelity’ to Raidah by going along with Joyce’s deception.
There are bad feelings all around and it sucks. This was an ugly breakup so of course he’s irritable despite his workout which usually makes him feel good.
I assume that yes he was always aware that other people have ulterior motives but right now he is actively *looking* for them in the people that come to him rather when usually he just looks past things. It’s a temporary hyperawareness like when you learn a new word then suddenly it turns up everywhere you look. He has a lot of bad feelings to feel right now.
That was said in the heat of the moment. Willis was always going to cool down, get back in the saddle, and up his art game by drawing stuff outside of his previous comfort zone. We just had to weight.
Jacob you could also invoke bro code and have Joe not put her in “the queue.” Although based on Joe’s inflection, I don’t think he actually plans to anyway. I’m guessing recent events are leading to a Joe change of ways?
Yeah, Jacob seems real likely to say “I broke up with Raidah, but she’s still my property, so you’re denied permission to use her for fucking.” Am I understanding this “bro code” thing correctly?
Personally, I think Jacob would be glad for Joe to pick up Raidah since it would be making his decision final. The “bro code” thing is not as much about protecting Jacob’s property but about not creating an impediments to bros hanging out and talking about common things on their mind.
The bro code isn’t about the women, it’s about the men. It’s about jealousy and the risk of male friends being compared unfavorably to each other by women. It takes “plenty of fish in the sea” and extrapolates it to “Don’t cause emotional issues for your friends by bringing their exes back into their lives.”
“Bro-code” and “property” aside it’s pretty commonly considered at least rude to hook up with a friend’s ex right after a break up. Male or female. Give it a little bit of time for the worst of the pain of the break up to wear off.
JOE, YOU VERY STUPID PERSON!!! Not a single person is impressed by the ‘ready and willing to have sex with every girl on campus” persona. You don’t have to keep it up to keep up apperance or whatever.
Just ask him if he’s OK, if that’s what you are wondering, or what’s up with him and Joyce i that’s what you are wondering.
Actually, I think this is Joe having realized his previous persona was shallow and looking for someone he can actually have a friendship with and reaching out on that level.
But it isn’t working, because Jacob saw through the previous persona and thinks it still applies. The persona left an impression, and that’s what stuck with everyone.
But that’s hard. I mean, not only is explicitly talking about feelings always hard, but doing it when it’s counter to the persona you’ve built up makes it an even bigger deal.
He also may have had different ulterior motives – thinking more about Joyce than Raidah. I wonder what Joe does know about the breakup. Where he learned about it, for that matter. I don’t think he did so on panel. He talked to Joyce at the party, but we didn’t see most of the conversation – assuming there was one before they fell asleep.
It’s more like Joe was trying to be genuine, but Jacob just assumed what Joe was asking about so he just went with it because sometimes expectations are hard
Joe clearly doesn’t know how to try harder and couldn’t figure out what to say so fell back on saying something comfortable like putting on that old ratty sweatshirt even though it’s started to smell of mold
Did Joe just Danny it up? I always thought Joe was a guy who could maintain “suave” and not get railroaded into sayin’ sompthing that his words didn’t mean? He must be a rattled ATM as Jacob.
He knows it’s not impressive, I think that’s the point. He would rather people assume he is shallow because he can avoid the consequences of being close to people.
Joe feel like he isn’t asking to go after. I think Joe was actually intending to ask how he was. And also possibly mention sad girl joe might have a legitmiate crush on. (who he didn’t know caused the situation)
More than just playing to type, I think Joe also probably just really doesn’t want to press Jacob on this. This isn’t amiable Jacob we’re used to, and this is probably the only time I’ve seen him with facial hair.
I wonder if Joe is going to start talking Joyce up to Jacob now to repair things a bit between them. It would be an act fitting his ongoing character development, both as someone who understands there is more to life than hooking up as well as his developing friendship with Joyce.
It would be kind of a funny awkward bit, if Joe has only heard about the breakup and doesn’t know Joyce’s role in it. “Well, he’s free now, so my objections don’t apply anymore.”
Fuck order of operations. It’s a capitalist fabrication put in place by Big Pharma to keep the commoners down. Shower, exercise and shave all at once, or else you’re a coward.
But its the Chinese Comunists that endorse a strict efficient order of operations and oppress their peasants. Shower, exercise and shave all at once or your a Communist.
This is starting to get crazy! What happened to Mike??? Has nobody noticed anything???
At this stage, I’m starting to suspect that Mike died, then AG snapped and killed Blaine and Ross, then hid all three of the bodies and eliminated all witnesses…
No, nobody’s noticed a missing Mike yet. This is very soon after (like, the next day, i think?) and the only one of the circle who knows anything happened only comes out at certain times, hasn’t come out since then, and shares a meat vessel with someone who was unconscious when it happened.
The only way anyone would know there’s a problem is if Mike put someone on his floor as his emergency contact. Further, if he didn’t have his ID with him, it’s entirely possible that he’s a “John Doe” in the hospital system.
Not gonna lie, I misread the subtext as Joe being interested in Jacob, and first I was like “wait what” and then I was like “Eh, I’m into it” and THEN I was like “Oh. Nevermind.”
With Richard she could just skip the step of dating Joe.
I don’t think she’s that bad though. Definitely calculated about it and looking for a partner in practical terms as well as more conventional romantic ones, but not just using them to get to someone else.
I’m not sure a doctor would do it. Now if Joe could convince her that his father was a well connected lawyer and also pointed out how dating him could be annoying to Sarah, Jacob AND Joyce, he might stand a chance.
Like….ok….Benefit of the doubt. Joe asked a genuine question. And Jacob is the one who went Aggro real fast. It kinda feels weird for his character honestly.
Well, it is Joe who asked. It’s kind of a reasonable assumption. We don’t know how much, if any, of Joe’s attempted change in attitude Jacob’s seen, but we do know he’s aware of Joe’s old style.
Feeling that Joyce was only getting close to him for his dating prospects, and here as well feeling that Joe was only getting close to him for his ‘sloppy seconds’
Because that was what Joyce did? Joyce betrayed him. Joyce used time with him to try to get closer to him for dating purposes despite his pre-existing girlfriend. She used his own brother to do it too. Jacob did a bad by leaning into it with his brother and was selfish to kiss Joyce, giving her fleeting hope he immediately dashed but she still betrayed his trust and friendship. His trust in people has been damaged so now he is looking for ulterior motives from people.
Raidah wouldn’t feel used by him because she literally blames Joyce as if Jacob has no autonomy. She was fighting with Joyce over him as if Jacob didn’t get a say and when he did, he decided he was better off without either.
Because Jacob found out that Joyce wasn’t satisfied with being friends. She manipulated things around him based on her interest in dating him, placing him in a very uncomfortable position. He’s not been used so much as just the unwitting object of attraction that got out of hand. At least on Joyce’s end. Ironically, he was being used by Raidah, but he doesn’t know about that. Raidah would most likely feel angry, but more because her plans involving Jacob were ruined, not because she really liked him and connected on a personal level. And Joyce was the one who messed things up by taking them too far. Jacob is the one who has been used (by Raidah) and has the most reason to FEEL betrayed because of what Joyce did. Joyce knows that she put herself in the situation she finds herself in, so only feels betrayed by herself (and projecting a bit on God). Raidah probably does feel betrayed, but most of us don’t have much sympathy for her since she was using Jacob.
I wouldn’t describe Jacob as USING Raidah… Certainly not like the way Raidah was using him. Horribly misguided in his approach to picking a romantic partner that would actually fit with him, sure, but he was in every way genuine about his romantic intentions with Raidah. Up until he got emotional-cheaty with Joyce, anyway. Which is bad, but at least once he realized that was what he was doing, he proceeded to break things off.
He still wronged her in the end. He was the ‘bad guy’ in the break-up, 100%, and it is absolutely fair to feel sympathy for Raidah on that aspect. But let’s not rewrite history. He didn’t manipulate her and never hid what he wanted from their relationship. He considered her and treated her as his equal partner in their relationship (until he violated it).
And the MOST Radiah did was not want him around a girl she didn’t trust or like who had a thing for him, and want to date him for the same shallow reasons he was dating her, they both wanted to make themselves look good, Her for her career, him to get his brother’s approval.
It was a terrible relationship, and they were both super bad for each other.
But some people act like “Well since I don’t like Radiah, this thing that is BAD and NOT acceptable is totally acceptable because morality<FEELINGS"
I disagree vehemently that Jacob treated their relationship the same way Raidah did. The second Jacob was not in earshot, Raidah talked to her friends as if Jacob were an object, a prize to be claimed. When Raidah wasn’t around Jacob talked about her… Like a person who he enjoyed spending time with and engaged with openly and honestly. The qualities he looked for in a girlfriend were heavily influenced by his desire for his brother’s approval, but he went into the relationship with a basic level of respect for her that she did not have for him.
But I strongly agree that Jacob emotionally cheating was super-shitty and has no excuse.
Joe chose a bad day to start reaching to people. He knows Joyce wronged Jacob, and he wants to keep ever closer to Joyce (at least as friends, maybe even more). Sure Jacob won’t be happy to see Joe & Joyce close, so it is understandable that Joe reverts to his usual persona. This way “nobody will be hurt”.
“Ever after”. It’s a weird old-fashioned expression, mainly preserved through the stereotypical fairy tale ending “…and they lived happily ever after.” So it would be easy to misremember, if you’re trying to apply logic to it.
“Ever after.” I’ve never seen it as “after ever;” in fact i misread it as ever after the first time and didn’t even see the error until you asked about it.
Don’t be too hard on yourself though, because because english is a real dog’s breakfast of a language. It’s picked up words from many languages, has all kinds of idioms, and its rules have many exceptions that make it hard to learn. Like the Oxford comma before the ‘and’ in the previous sentence; which btw i’m not sure i used right. Even native speakers often make mistakes.
Oh, and a “dog’s breakfast” refers to when a sick dog vomits up its food and goes back to try to eat the resulting mess. It’s not a pretty picture and pretty well describes english
Joe sincerely wanting to ask and then step back as things got to awkward… but then again feeling Jacob all sarcastic and done with shit would intimidate anyone who is used to him being mostly sunshine.
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did you want specifics about Sarah’s reasons tho or did you guess
how many asses does Jacob have, alt-text =o
Some of them might be tacos, jury’s out.
Butt-Tacos?
maybe having one attracts more sweet asses around him?
Like gravity…but with asses…
After yesterday, I’ll bet it is.
*plays “Benefit Of A Doubt” on the hacked Muzak*
suggests Sir Mix-A-Lot – Baby Got Back as a followup (even if the lyrics don’t suggest Jacobs butt
)
Joe is obviously not putting her in the queue. Is Jacob a little oblivious? Or does he simply not see the ellipsis that we can see? Or does he not know that Joe and Joyce are friends… or at least friendly?
He’s still probably a little in his own head about how f’ed up the whole thing was.
Heck, he’s probably working out to clear his head a little.
I don’t know if he knows that Jow and Joyce are friends but I think he is just missing the difference of tone that Joe is using. To be fair to Jacob though, he has stuff on his mind, figuring out whether or not Joe is actually planning to do someone is not first on his mind.
Joe is bringing the topic up as he saw it coming, though he objected to it in the first place. I almost forgot that myself as it has been some time ago. It was even before we started the unending wait to learn Mike’s fate. Then again, how long did we have to wait to learn whether or not Amber straight up murdered Ryan?
It was at least a month or so, if I recall. With that as precedent, I expect to see any sort of clue as to the outcome no sooner than mid-February.
I went and looked. The final Ryan strip (to date) was on June 4, 2017 (well, it was the final strip for parts of him. The last time his scarred mug showed up was the day before). The confirmation that he did not die came from Joyce on July 30, 2017, when she told Amber she wished that she had killed Ryan.
Mid February you say? So, like, February 14th?
Hmm.
Yup, “look what a nice present the kitty brought you: a dead Mike. It means your kitty loves you veeeery much (and thinks you can’t hunt for yourself even if YOU give it food every single day)”…
What are you talking about? She’s on the list! Joe would never lie about something as important as the liiiiiist, would he?
Of course not, but he would lie about the queue.
1. Jacob did apparently miss the whole passive aggressive pizza lunch thing’s subtext, so yeah, fairly oblivious at the best of times.
2. Yeah, what everyone else said about being distracted, too.
Joe’s gone to pains to demonstrate that he does not care about Joyce.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/02-everything-youve-ever-wanted/boyspizzaretreat/
Methinks the man-child protests too much…
Oh he absolutely does. I am just pointing out in regards to Jacob’s presumable impressions.
Their friendship has always been pretty superficial. I don’t think we’ve seen them talk about Joe’s recent attempts at change and absent that, Jacob’s assumption is perfectly in line with Joe’s presentation. He did tell Danny he was putting Dorothy on the List within minutes of them breaking up. It’s the problem with acting like a creep – people believe you.
It’s obvious to us that’s not what Joe was aiming for here, but that’s because we’ve got lots of context Jacob doesn’t have.
Jacob’s in self-pity mode and wants to believe everyone’s out to get him
Jacob has always been shown to be oblivious but this is also just a case of Joe brought that assumption on himself with his past behaviour and Jacob still being hurt by Joyce’s actions so he is looking for ulterior motives from others now.
He was always aware of ulterior motives in people, he was just bad at spotting them. I think he’s just bitter that yet another relationship was spoiled by them. He’s also annoyed that he just realized that his “list of criteria” (which Raidah fit almost perfectly) isn’t actually what he wants (someone like Joyce is). He doesn’t have a plan now and that’s upsetting.
Further, he’s upset with his own ‘infidelity’ to Raidah by going along with Joyce’s deception.
There are bad feelings all around and it sucks. This was an ugly breakup so of course he’s irritable despite his workout which usually makes him feel good.
I assume that yes he was always aware that other people have ulterior motives but right now he is actively *looking* for them in the people that come to him rather when usually he just looks past things. It’s a temporary hyperawareness like when you learn a new word then suddenly it turns up everywhere you look. He has a lot of bad feelings to feel right now.
It’s been long enough, I’ve almost forgotten that we’re still waiting on resolution on what happened to Mike.
He got transferred to Miss Zarves’ class on floor 19.
fUCK
Have an upvote.
There is no 19th floor. There is no Miss Zarves
…so what does Mike Warner flavored ice cream taste like?
…and how did Mrs. Jewels acquire it?
It tastes like your mom, and it costs a nickel.
Oh no! But that’s the NORMAL class!
Imagine Mike in a class of oddly well-behaved middle-schoolers…
He’s absolutely chill, but any questions he is asked are answered as brutally honest as they can be.
God dammit I am a sucker for nostalgia. Your comment makes me laugh every time I read it. Have all the upvotes.
Damnit but that takes me way back… Like around thirty years back.
Y’know, if Mike does turn out to be dead, points to Danny. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2019/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/clingyweirdos/ (last panel)
Yeah, having a reputation sucks for multiple reasons I guess.
Nice to know where you stand, Joe.
And is it just me or does Jacob look a little Picasso-ish in the final panel?
Jacob never skips cubism day.
The art looks kind of off on this one (after many thousands of strips), even after I realized Jacob’s shirt has white side panels.
hey look it’s the exercise machine Willis vowed to never draw again
we should feel honored
That was said in the heat of the moment. Willis was always going to cool down, get back in the saddle, and up his art game by drawing stuff outside of his previous comfort zone. We just had to weight.
I see you’re exercising your punning skills yet again.
Well I do have a rep.
-utation or -ertoire?
It’s part of my set, but it’s not -ertoire.
-etition, I think.
Either way, it’s part of my routine.
Lats not overdo it.
I was gonna muscle in here and add one of my own.
Couldn’t think of one.
That’s okay, Joe. He abs-olvo.
Te. Thrice-accursed Latin-illiterate spell-checker ruined my joke.
Good puns, I can’t pec the one I like the best.
Adidas like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Te. Thrice-accursed Latin-illiterate spellchecker ruined my joke.
Willis said he would never draw the exercise machine again? Well I did hear he was going to be breaking one of his own rules.
Wouldn’t that be a relief?
Jacob you could also invoke bro code and have Joe not put her in “the queue.” Although based on Joe’s inflection, I don’t think he actually plans to anyway. I’m guessing recent events are leading to a Joe change of ways?
I also don’t think Jacob gives two shiny shits what happens to Raidah.
Yeah, Jacob seems real likely to say “I broke up with Raidah, but she’s still my property, so you’re denied permission to use her for fucking.” Am I understanding this “bro code” thing correctly?
Personally, I think Jacob would be glad for Joe to pick up Raidah since it would be making his decision final. The “bro code” thing is not as much about protecting Jacob’s property but about not creating an impediments to bros hanging out and talking about common things on their mind.
The bro code isn’t about the women, it’s about the men. It’s about jealousy and the risk of male friends being compared unfavorably to each other by women. It takes “plenty of fish in the sea” and extrapolates it to “Don’t cause emotional issues for your friends by bringing their exes back into their lives.”
“Bro-code” and “property” aside it’s pretty commonly considered at least rude to hook up with a friend’s ex right after a break up. Male or female. Give it a little bit of time for the worst of the pain of the break up to wear off.
Joe’s totally going through the motions
Walking through the part
Nothing seems to penetrate his
HEAAAAAAART
Will he stay this way forever, sleepwalk through his life’s endeavor?
Is my homeboy too far gone to care?
I’ve got a theory…
We should work this out.
(Jacob does more reps)
Work THIS out, Jacob.
Ah, a friendship where you can honestly communicate what you’re thinking and feeling with each other.
…….. and I ruined a joke by leaving out the key words. SIGH. It’s been that sort of day.
JOE, YOU VERY STUPID PERSON!!! Not a single person is impressed by the ‘ready and willing to have sex with every girl on campus” persona. You don’t have to keep it up to keep up apperance or whatever.
Just ask him if he’s OK, if that’s what you are wondering, or what’s up with him and Joyce i that’s what you are wondering.
Actually, I think this is Joe having realized his previous persona was shallow and looking for someone he can actually have a friendship with and reaching out on that level.
But it isn’t working, because Jacob saw through the previous persona and thinks it still applies. The persona left an impression, and that’s what stuck with everyone.
… in other words, they ARE impressed.
Sure, but here Joe had the chance to divert from that persona with just a few words. “No… I just wondered… are you OK, bro?”
But that’s hard. I mean, not only is explicitly talking about feelings always hard, but doing it when it’s counter to the persona you’ve built up makes it an even bigger deal.
He also may have had different ulterior motives – thinking more about Joyce than Raidah. I wonder what Joe does know about the breakup. Where he learned about it, for that matter. I don’t think he did so on panel. He talked to Joyce at the party, but we didn’t see most of the conversation – assuming there was one before they fell asleep.
… Huh, Joe is male-Billie (but without the alcohol addiction)? Given how she apparently acted at parties that makes a lot of sense on a few levels…
Could Joyce be his Ruth? And what would either woman make of that sentence?
although, I was wrong. at least one person was impressed.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/lying/
It’s more like Joe was trying to be genuine, but Jacob just assumed what Joe was asking about so he just went with it because sometimes expectations are hard
He should have tried harder.
Not “Joed” harder.
Joe clearly doesn’t know how to try harder and couldn’t figure out what to say so fell back on saying something comfortable like putting on that old ratty sweatshirt even though it’s started to smell of mold
That’s a good point.
and that’s why I scream at him.
Ha-HA! Harder.
Did Joe just Danny it up? I always thought Joe was a guy who could maintain “suave” and not get railroaded into sayin’ sompthing that his words didn’t mean? He must be a rattled ATM as Jacob.
He knows it’s not impressive, I think that’s the point. He would rather people assume he is shallow because he can avoid the consequences of being close to people.
Joe feel like he isn’t asking to go after. I think Joe was actually intending to ask how he was. And also possibly mention sad girl joe might have a legitmiate crush on. (who he didn’t know caused the situation)
That’s my take too.
It’s gotta hurt Joe that even Jacob thinks that’s all Joe is, and with a hint of contempt in there.
Vesti la giubba, eh, Joe?
More than just playing to type, I think Joe also probably just really doesn’t want to press Jacob on this. This isn’t amiable Jacob we’re used to, and this is probably the only time I’ve seen him with facial hair.
Owning a sweet ass is both a blessing and a curse.
Can confirm.
“Unattached ” huh? Very formal way of putting it. Also glad to know Jacob appreciates people being upfront with him.
I wonder if Joe is going to start talking Joyce up to Jacob now to repair things a bit between them. It would be an act fitting his ongoing character development, both as someone who understands there is more to life than hooking up as well as his developing friendship with Joyce.
I doubt it – Joe was extremely opposed to Joyce’s trying to break up Jacob and Raidah.
It would be kind of a funny awkward bit, if Joe has only heard about the breakup and doesn’t know Joyce’s role in it. “Well, he’s free now, so my objections don’t apply anymore.”
Jacob is growing a beard just like Joe. That isn’t a good sign.
Work out. Then shower. Then shave.
Fuck order of operations. It’s a capitalist fabrication put in place by Big Pharma to keep the commoners down. Shower, exercise and shave all at once, or else you’re a coward.
But its the Chinese Comunists that endorse a strict efficient order of operations and oppress their peasants. Shower, exercise and shave all at once or your a Communist.
Spell correct doesn’t like you’re now? Oh, it does, it’s just in third place after your and hoy.
This is starting to get crazy! What happened to Mike??? Has nobody noticed anything???
At this stage, I’m starting to suspect that Mike died, then AG snapped and killed Blaine and Ross, then hid all three of the bodies and eliminated all witnesses…
I’m expecting Mike’s either in a hospital somewhere, or he’s gonna show up with only a few cuts and bruises somehow.
Who’s Mike?
Mike is showing his nickel collection to Blaine’s mom.
No, nobody’s noticed a missing Mike yet. This is very soon after (like, the next day, i think?) and the only one of the circle who knows anything happened only comes out at certain times, hasn’t come out since then, and shares a meat vessel with someone who was unconscious when it happened.
The only way anyone would know there’s a problem is if Mike put someone on his floor as his emergency contact. Further, if he didn’t have his ID with him, it’s entirely possible that he’s a “John Doe” in the hospital system.
Yeah, that’s… that’s exactly what I was gonna ask. You know me, bro. … Everyone knows what kind of guy I am.
Yeah, that is how he has marketed himself. Very successfully. He might have regrets, but it’s going to take a bit to change that image.
Reading the comments, I’m surprised no one got that suspicious Jacob vibe that I got from that last panel.
I dunno, I’m just getting a ‘what motive does he have here’ vibe from his face.
Not gonna lie, I misread the subtext as Joe being interested in Jacob, and first I was like “wait what” and then I was like “Eh, I’m into it” and THEN I was like “Oh. Nevermind.”
That’s fair. But what would you have said if you lied?
I’m a well adjusted human being?
You did the right thing then. It’s best to keep the lies believable. There are no well adjusted human beings.
Either that or they’ve been avoiding me for the last 70 years. Tho to be fair, I don’t remember the first few that well.
Raidah ? With Joe ? pffff nah
Raidah would only date Joe to get closer to his father (successful doctor).
With Richard she could just skip the step of dating Joe.
I don’t think she’s that bad though. Definitely calculated about it and looking for a partner in practical terms as well as more conventional romantic ones, but not just using them to get to someone else.
I’m not sure a doctor would do it. Now if Joe could convince her that his father was a well connected lawyer and also pointed out how dating him could be annoying to Sarah, Jacob AND Joyce, he might stand a chance.
Wooo, a new character! We need a new character tag for “pissed-off Jacob”. He’s wrestled all night with an angel and now is not as hip as he was.
Joyce was at Becky’s, lounging on Joe. She and Jacob couldn’t have been “wrestling” all night.
Thank you for pointing that out (so I didn’t have to.)
The second coming of The Willis is not an angel.
Like….ok….Benefit of the doubt. Joe asked a genuine question. And Jacob is the one who went Aggro real fast. It kinda feels weird for his character honestly.
Well, it is Joe who asked. It’s kind of a reasonable assumption. We don’t know how much, if any, of Joe’s attempted change in attitude Jacob’s seen, but we do know he’s aware of Joe’s old style.
And also, he’s really not in a good mood. He just broke up with his girlfriend and was seriously let down by someone he cared about. It’s human.
He also cheated on said girlfriend too, I hear that’s a big ol bummer
Ooh, a bitter and disshelved Jacob! Now this is a side of his characters we didn’t get to see before.
Poor jacob. He feels used and betrayed. I hope Joe will tries to console him, perhaps by talking to him about Joyce.
Wait, wait, wait. Between Joyce, Raidah, and Jacob, how is JACOB the one that would feel used and betrayed?
Feeling that Joyce was only getting close to him for his dating prospects, and here as well feeling that Joe was only getting close to him for his ‘sloppy seconds’
This!
Because that was what Joyce did? Joyce betrayed him. Joyce used time with him to try to get closer to him for dating purposes despite his pre-existing girlfriend. She used his own brother to do it too. Jacob did a bad by leaning into it with his brother and was selfish to kiss Joyce, giving her fleeting hope he immediately dashed but she still betrayed his trust and friendship. His trust in people has been damaged so now he is looking for ulterior motives from people.
Raidah wouldn’t feel used by him because she literally blames Joyce as if Jacob has no autonomy. She was fighting with Joyce over him as if Jacob didn’t get a say and when he did, he decided he was better off without either.
Because Jacob found out that Joyce wasn’t satisfied with being friends. She manipulated things around him based on her interest in dating him, placing him in a very uncomfortable position. He’s not been used so much as just the unwitting object of attraction that got out of hand. At least on Joyce’s end. Ironically, he was being used by Raidah, but he doesn’t know about that. Raidah would most likely feel angry, but more because her plans involving Jacob were ruined, not because she really liked him and connected on a personal level. And Joyce was the one who messed things up by taking them too far. Jacob is the one who has been used (by Raidah) and has the most reason to FEEL betrayed because of what Joyce did. Joyce knows that she put herself in the situation she finds herself in, so only feels betrayed by herself (and projecting a bit on God). Raidah probably does feel betrayed, but most of us don’t have much sympathy for her since she was using Jacob.
Actually I have sympathy for her, considering her boyfriend cheated on her with another girl emotionally before breaking up with her.
And yes what Jacob did was emotional cheating, Joyce took things too far, but Jacob flung them both off the cliff.
AND Jacob was also using Radiah, she ticked the boxes that he thought would make his brother proud.
Jacob was awful, Joyce was awful and Radiah is always awful, but she most definitely didn’t deserve to be cheated on.
This is accurate. None of them did well in that situation.
I wouldn’t describe Jacob as USING Raidah… Certainly not like the way Raidah was using him. Horribly misguided in his approach to picking a romantic partner that would actually fit with him, sure, but he was in every way genuine about his romantic intentions with Raidah. Up until he got emotional-cheaty with Joyce, anyway. Which is bad, but at least once he realized that was what he was doing, he proceeded to break things off.
He still wronged her in the end. He was the ‘bad guy’ in the break-up, 100%, and it is absolutely fair to feel sympathy for Raidah on that aspect. But let’s not rewrite history. He didn’t manipulate her and never hid what he wanted from their relationship. He considered her and treated her as his equal partner in their relationship (until he violated it).
And the MOST Radiah did was not want him around a girl she didn’t trust or like who had a thing for him, and want to date him for the same shallow reasons he was dating her, they both wanted to make themselves look good, Her for her career, him to get his brother’s approval.
It was a terrible relationship, and they were both super bad for each other.
But some people act like “Well since I don’t like Radiah, this thing that is BAD and NOT acceptable is totally acceptable because morality<FEELINGS"
Ridiculous really
I disagree vehemently that Jacob treated their relationship the same way Raidah did. The second Jacob was not in earshot, Raidah talked to her friends as if Jacob were an object, a prize to be claimed. When Raidah wasn’t around Jacob talked about her… Like a person who he enjoyed spending time with and engaged with openly and honestly. The qualities he looked for in a girlfriend were heavily influenced by his desire for his brother’s approval, but he went into the relationship with a basic level of respect for her that she did not have for him.
But I strongly agree that Jacob emotionally cheating was super-shitty and has no excuse.
Willis I had a dream about Mike bloodied and bruised, put us out of this misery I beg you
Who’s Mike?
“And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs”
Joe chose a bad day to start reaching to people. He knows Joyce wronged Jacob, and he wants to keep ever closer to Joyce (at least as friends, maybe even more). Sure Jacob won’t be happy to see Joe & Joyce close, so it is understandable that Joe reverts to his usual persona. This way “nobody will be hurt”.
Now they can form a grumpy, unshaved nihilistic duo and be unhappy after ever.
Or is it “ever after”? English is hard sometimes for a sleep-deprived ESL speaker.
Conventionally it’s ever after as short for forever afterwords. But I like your way better.
“Ever after”. It’s a weird old-fashioned expression, mainly preserved through the stereotypical fairy tale ending “…and they lived happily ever after.” So it would be easy to misremember, if you’re trying to apply logic to it.
“Ever after.” I’ve never seen it as “after ever;” in fact i misread it as ever after the first time and didn’t even see the error until you asked about it.
Don’t be too hard on yourself though, because because english is a real dog’s breakfast of a language. It’s picked up words from many languages, has all kinds of idioms, and its rules have many exceptions that make it hard to learn. Like the Oxford comma before the ‘and’ in the previous sentence; which btw i’m not sure i used right. Even native speakers often make mistakes.
Oh, and a “dog’s breakfast” refers to when a sick dog vomits up its food and goes back to try to eat the resulting mess. It’s not a pretty picture and pretty well describes english
Logic in the English language is haphazard.
Thanks for understanding, everyone!
(And to jmsr7, thanks for introducing me to a new, if slughtly disgusting idiom, I’ll be sure to use it in the future! :D)
Joe’s reputation is so huge that he can’t get past it no matter how far he runs
I think Joe doesn’t realize Jacob tolerates him. He’s not actually his friend-friend.
Anyone else impressed with how Jacob is drawn to be sweating? It’s a little detail but I like it.
*sigh* JOE
It goes back to Jacob’s first appearance in Dumbing of Age: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/temptation/
Replying to ValdVin’s remark on Jacob’ sweat.
I was disappointed that Ethan/Jacob never became a thing.
Someone hasn’t read Amber’s fanfic.
I feel like Raidah might end Joe if he tried to move on her, and not in a funny way like Joyce and Mike did way back when.
(Raidah is also an underrated suspect for hacking and leaking Joe’s do-list.)
And by “hacking” we mean “using the password Joe texted her”.
Joe sincerely wanting to ask and then step back as things got to awkward… but then again feeling Jacob all sarcastic and done with shit would intimidate anyone who is used to him being mostly sunshine.