Akane has only one way to get back home: collect the 42 keys to parallel worlds. Eri and Ben are just trying to get through the summer before university. When a magical key turns up in an old spare set, all three are forced to change their plans and fast.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Paint the Town Red
Windy, Winter Jay Kiakas
Winona runs a werewolf shelter with partner in crime, Odile in the Gothic city of Merlot. One day they take in an injured vampire, and soon unravels many of the dark secrets of Merlot.
Shaderunners
Alex Assan, Lin Darrow
A ragtag band of bootleggers open a speakeasy for bottled colour in the greyscale city of Ironwell.
No End
Erli, Kromi
A queer romance about people attempting to build lives in a cold, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by hordes of undead.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Hemlock
Josceline Fenton
A witch accidentally marries a monster, and now she and her familiar has to navigate life around her monstrous husband and her even more terrifying in-laws.
BOOKMARK Click "Tag Page" to bookmark a page. When you return to the site, click "Goto Tag" to continue where you left off.
BUFFER WATCH
Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:
You’re both wrong! It’s laser punching date rapists in the balls. You were both pretty close though. David was just a lil too high, and Aizat forgot to follow Billie’s advice.
She just wants to be awake for her semi-consensual shenanigans. I mean, what’s the point in being sleazy-easy if you only get the consequences and none of the fun?
It looks like whoever it is is wearing a cape. Although that could be Sal’s coat.
Although, it strikes me that unless she heard about it from another source, Amazi-girl (whoever that could be) wasn’t around to hear about Joyce and Dorothy’s plan. So you’re probably right that she’s not there specifically to keep an eye on Joyce.
That is exactly what I’m saying. Pop culture depictions of Jesus are innacurate. They depict him as white, when in reality, he was actually a sentient, snarky car with a penchant for pie-ing people and dumping them in the Amazon. (Then he pied Pontius Pilate and things went a little sour from there.)
Damn, i didn’t check the tags -and- I didn’t even see her… I need to start paying attention when there’s alot of shadow. It’s nice that people are catching onto your ‘trick tags’ though, David, you’re teaching your pupils to see through deception.
Not really. Logic dictates that a broken digital clock is still right twice a day, it’s only when it is denied power that it can’t be right. The metaphor means that everyone is right occasionally, but by trying to apply modern technology you’re saying except him. He’s never right. Ya’ll just couldn’t leave a nice metaphor alone.
Except digital clocks can also be set to 24hr mode, in which case it’d be right once a day, and broken ones display all of the LEDs or none at all, I imagine, meaning it’d either be 88:88 or nothing at all, in which case it is never right.
Also, it is funner to debunk old metaphors than it is to use them.
“Even a broken clock, as long as it is still displaying a number that can be construed as a legitimate time, will be right at least once but up to twice day depending on the type of display”
I wonder how Sarah would react to this relationship. In fact, I want to find out so bad that I’m boarding this ship already (I’m telling you that sweater is foreshadowing).
Now see, I expected Joyce to be “whats a roofie? Is it like peanut butter where it sticks to the roof of your mouth and blah blah blah”
But instead her eyes imply that she knows.
Yeah, that was my initial thought, that it was disturbing that she would be in situations where that would be necessary. (But it’s solid advice nonetheless.)
Look, Willis is taking my advice finally. The 2nd panel was made far better by the mysterious silhouette jumping across rooftops. That being said, I know that people walking around on your roof is loud, much louder than say a squirrel. Amazi-Girl, (whoever she is) is going to get the police called on her ass.
He hasn’t met our urban squirrels: they are the size of small rabbits and they go “THONK, THONK” when they run on wooden planks. Too many handouts (and open trash bins) and not enough exercise.
As for Amazi-Girl, that’s really Joe in a clever disguise!
So is that Billie’s “I’m begging for it even if I can’t actually beg for it” shirt? Because if so, she may get a rude awakening on what such a shirt can and does look like.
God gave you a brain Joyce, use it! I can’t still believe she is going to the party in the sweater I doubt she is actually going to take it off and leave in her bra so poor girl…
They look kinda … dumpy to be going to a party in my opinion O.o
But even in my opinion Billie looks kinda dumpy… still I guess she wouldn’t want to ruin one of her good blouses considering she doesn’t plan on keeping it for long XD
I assume Joyce believes the same. Just because she believes God has her back doesn’t mean that she, for example, puts on a blindfold and walks into a busy street with no crosswalk.
God works in mysterious ways. So mysterious, in fact, that it’s often hard to tell if it’s design or chance.
Unless you’re in a webcomic; then you really can trust that the mighty creator has a capital-P Plan for you.
Third panel Joyce is adorably claiming a downright suicidal policy for going through life. Which in my case, the whole ‘being appalled’ thing is dramatically reducing how cute I’m finding her.
I’m looking forward to her inevitable character development into somebody with functional life philosophies – but have the horrible feeling that the transition thereto will be agonizing to watch.
I fail to see how it’s downright suicidal. Just because Joyce believes that Jesus is watching her doesn’t mean she’s just going to let anything happen to her because “it’s part of God’s plan.” Ignoring any discussions as to whether or not Christianity is true, the fact that Joyce believes someone is watching her and that she faith in that isn’t a suicidal philosophy. It CAN be, but so can basically every other philosophy in the world too.
My read of it is that she is overtly relying on a parachute that isn’t there, which is a perfectly functional philosophy while one is kept sheltered and homeschooled in safety, but can fail rather dramatically when you get out and start, say, jumping out of airplanes. Admittedly, perhaps Joyce was already planning for every eventuality herself, with her hand over her glass, a taser in her pocket, and Mike following them just out of frame, but we haven’t actually seen any of that; what we’ve seen is her snidely dismissing the need for Sarah’s help because she has God covering for her instead. And in this comic she reiterates that she meant that literally – and it’s presented as being in contrast to Billie’s “It’s all well and good to believe in God, but cover your own (gl)ass yourself anyway” philosophy.
The way I see it, the only way that it’s not suicidal is that Joyce isn’t knowingly imperiling herself; she’d more like a cute little bunny hopping innocently into a minefield. And again, maybe she’s actually a lot more careful than she seems – but based on what we’re seeing, I’m expecting her to walk straight into trouble expecting God to shield her from the bolts and arrows.
Of course, Amazigirl (who is actually UltraCar, who is actually Dina in disguise, who is actually Walky in disguise – have you ever seen them together?) is going to swoop in and save her, which in a way makes Joyce right: Willis, her universe’s god, will save her through a proxy. But if she weren’t a main character in a comic, she’d be sorely lacking the plot armor she believes she has.
While you do make a fair point (Especially since I don’t want to start any religious debates since that’ll just create a flame-war that will never end,) there is also evidence that suggests she does know how to look after herself, since one thing that you have to take into account is that many Christians see God’s Plan as everything, meaning, if Joyce thinks something is wrong, she can act on it, and that’s still part of God’s Plan and she’s not just giving herself away stupidly.
She now is at odds with every other person who is at their first party, meaning that if she’s suicidal, so is all the other first timers, especially since Joyce will probably pick up on some of Billie’s Party Survival Ideas.
Two other things also come to mind though. First off, Joyce tends to do better in situations she’s not familiar with better than what anyone expects. That’s not to say she’s flawless, by any means. She makes plenty of horrible mistakes/choices, but luck does seem to be on her side. Secondly, we assume Joyce is actually going to eat or drink something at this party. Given the fact she seems to be a slight germaphobe and plus all the amoral activity (From Joyce’s point of view) do we really think she’ll actually touch anything at the party, much less consume it?
I don’t think you have to be an atheist to think that God isn’t going to protect you from getting hurt if you put yourself into problematic situations. In fact, lots of Christians tell their younglings to actively avoid getting into situations like this – because in doing so, you’ve signed a release form permitting God to sit back and watch as you get your anterior portions in various kinds of moral and other kinds of trouble. Personally I think the winceworthyness of Joyce’s attitude and behavior probably spans all creeds and beliefs.
Joyce differs from most first-time party-goers in that she is substantially more naive about the world than them – most have at least some vague idea of what to expect about such parties, while she *clearly* has none. And she remains almost frighteningly oblivious about what is to come, aside from a rather significant number of hints being dropped around her – the attire of her fellow party-goers, the fact they seem to have talked her out of bringing her safe party game, and of course the fact that *nobody* seems to think that her coming to the party is a good idea. Plus, of course, the mentions of little things like date rape.
Of course, there’s also the fact that nobody has bothered to actually sit her down and explain what is likely to be going on at these parties – but if they had, she probably wouldn’t have come, and what fun would that be?
As for Joyce being able to handle situations better…which situations? She’s done remarkably well at not being a bigot, I’ll freely credit her for that. The date with Joe? I would actually call that rather a disaster – the only salvation was that she brought Mike. Of course, she seems to have forgotten to hire a face-punching white knight this time…and I seriously don’t think Dorothy or Billie are really up for it.
Of course Willis is providing UltraCar to fill the role of Joyce-saver, but that’s not Joyce’s doing. She’s walking into the lion’s den, whistling all the way.
Oh, and I forgot to mention – I certainly think she would have drunk or consumed something if Billie hadn’t mentioned conveniently mentioned something. And based on the general obliviousness she’s been showing, who knows, she still might. She’s being quite cheerfully dim at the moment. Regardless, she’s hardly prepared for what she’s getting into. (Well, presuming the party’s as bad as all the other characters seem to think it will be, anyway. Maybe it’ll turn out to be a sewing circle after all.)
Well, there’s not much I can say other than what I’ve already said, so it’s just a matter of different opinions. But you do make good points, I’m not saying you don’t. Either way, we shall see.
Oh, and as for the Joe incident. Yes, it was a disaster, but Joyce handled it better than what lots of people thought she would. If she truly were completely oblivious to everything, Joe would have walked all over her. No, Joe shouldn’t have been punched and she could have done a lot better, but she at least held her own and didn’t fall for any tricks. So, who knows? Maybe Joyce tries to remain pure and innocent on the outside, but inside she is aware to an extent of the world around. That’s jsut a theory though. I have no absolute proofs for it.
Just don’t eat or drink anything. That’s the surest way to be safe from getting drugged. I mean, COME ON. That’s not a regular old chocolate cake and brownies on the table, the fruit punch is probably more vodka than punch, and those free stickers are NOT for decoration. Trust nothing and no one, that’s the safe way to party.
Unless Amazi-Girl was in the background, I’d have forecast that Joyce was absolutely DOOMED.
It’s really a shame that a college age girl has to realistically worry about being drugged at a party by some ass who’s thinking with his dick instead of trying to get laid the old fashioned way-by being interesting enough to get her attention.
‘Course, that never worked for me during four years of college but even back then I wasn’t that good looking and pretty boring. At least I can say I didn’t have to drug a girl to get some action. I was patethic enough as it was-not making things worse that way for sure.
Sadly, it’s not just college girls at parties. My sister, who’s 30, was out at a club and some guy roofied her drink when she set it down on the bar to look for her phone. Luckily for her, and unbeknown to the would be rapist, my sister had friends/family waiting at a table for her and so was safely with them when it took effect.
The more disturbing reason why they use roofies is that for some guys, non-consent is a major turn-on.
Another sad but still disturbing reason is some guys are so hung up about ‘performance anxiety’ that they rather fuck an unconscious woman than risk criticism.
The internet needs more Ivanova. It would be a much saner place.
Now I’m picturing her on the bridge of a White Star, fingers at the trigger button, ready to fire the moment someone on the internet does something stupid.
“Trust God, but verify.” Essentially like saying “Trust in God, but lock your car.” I think it works well in any situation, especially with making sure your drink doesn’t get roofied. I’d hate to see anything bad happen to our favorite God-loving girl.
Loading ...
and shenanigans ensued…
with a penis?
obligatory in the FFFAAAAAAACCEEE reply
now to wait for the nickle reply
Obligatory nickle reply.
Now to wait for femurs reply.
Obligatory femur reply.
Now to wait for Amazi-Girl reply.
Obligatory Amazi-Girl reply.
Now to wait for obligatory double homicide reply.
Obligatory COMBO-BREAKER!
OBLIGATORY MEMETIC OVERLOAD AND EXCESSIVE TROLLING WITH BAD GR4MM0RZ AND CAPS ABUSE COLON RIGHT PAREN!
Well, at least Billie knows THAT much.
And now, so do they.
And knowing is half the battle.
G.I. JOOOOOOE!
The other half is punching date rapists in the dick.
I thought the other half was lasers.
You’re both wrong! It’s laser punching date rapists in the balls. You were both pretty close though. David was just a lil too high, and Aizat forgot to follow Billie’s advice.
She just wants to be awake for her semi-consensual shenanigans. I mean, what’s the point in being sleazy-easy if you only get the consequences and none of the fun?
Am I going to hell because this actually made sense to me?
Made perfect sense to me.
Oy, Zxbwzb, more boiling oil over here, my skin’s almost keeping up.
That is a good philosophy.
And a very good advice!
thumbs up for good advice!
And I feel a bit better about Billie again…
Cloaked figure spotted. Nice touch not adding a tag for her…
I didn’t notice until a second after I posted a comment.
You mean “I knew about that before everyone else woman?”
Holy shyte where did that come form. 0.o
Yes, because it’s clearly obvious who she might be to the cleverest of eyes.
…seriously, who’s that supposed to be. =P
Amazi-girl has Joyce’s back!
…
Does this mean Amazi-girl is Jesus?
Actually, that MIGHT be Sal, with her hair in a ponytail tied about halfway down.
Could be Amazi-Girl out on patrol, though. I don’t think she’d be specifically keeping an eye on the party, though.
It looks like whoever it is is wearing a cape. Although that could be Sal’s coat.
Although, it strikes me that unless she heard about it from another source, Amazi-girl (whoever that could be) wasn’t around to hear about Joyce and Dorothy’s plan. So you’re probably right that she’s not there specifically to keep an eye on Joyce.
Well, she was stalking Billie earlier. She might be following her?
Shouldn’t we be calling Billie ‘Lois’ then?
Wait … are you saying Ultra-Car is Jesus?!
That is exactly what I’m saying. Pop culture depictions of Jesus are innacurate. They depict him as white, when in reality, he was actually a sentient, snarky car with a penchant for pie-ing people and dumping them in the Amazon. (Then he pied Pontius Pilate and things went a little sour from there.)
Damn, i didn’t check the tags -and- I didn’t even see her… I need to start paying attention when there’s alot of shadow. It’s nice that people are catching onto your ‘trick tags’ though, David, you’re teaching your pupils to see through deception.
Wait… did Billie just suggest something sensible?
HOW CAN THIS BEEEEE??!!??
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Not if it’s digital.
Or if the hands are missing.
You know, a lot of great quotes are ruined when you start applying technology to them.
Don’t you mean logic?
Twice a day.
Not really. Logic dictates that a broken digital clock is still right twice a day, it’s only when it is denied power that it can’t be right. The metaphor means that everyone is right occasionally, but by trying to apply modern technology you’re saying except him. He’s never right. Ya’ll just couldn’t leave a nice metaphor alone.
Except digital clocks can also be set to 24hr mode, in which case it’d be right once a day, and broken ones display all of the LEDs or none at all, I imagine, meaning it’d either be 88:88 or nothing at all, in which case it is never right.
Also, it is funner to debunk old metaphors than it is to use them.
“Even a broken clock, as long as it is still displaying a number that can be construed as a legitimate time, will be right at least once but up to twice day depending on the type of display”
Doesn’t have quite the the same ring to it…
or if it’s a 24 hour clock…my buddy’s ‘rents have one that’s HUGE
And even an alcoholic party-girl doesn’t like having her unconscious body screwed by unknown guys.
actually she kinda said she does lol. back a couple a pages
She didn’t say unconscious though. Just really drunk.
Sensible, yes. But isn’t “verify” a bit of a nerd word?
No, it’s a journalist word.
Unless your work for Faux News.
Joyce and Dorothy’s faces in that last panel.
Billie’s ‘this is completely normal’ face in that last panel.
Who’d of thought Billie of all people would have the rare gift of common sense?
well, the girl has some experience when it comes to drinks…
Experience doesn’t always provide wisdom. Thought I was looking at Lady Cassandra, but then she started throwing a little Face of Boe at me.
Is Velma going to meet Shaggy at this party?
The very idea that Joyce could end up with a stoner BF amuses me greatly.
“Sweetie, what’s that thing you’re holding up to your mouth?”
“It’s an…um…an inhaler.” Yeah. *coughcough*
“Why are you holding a lighter up to it? Are you trying to set it on fire?”
But will he be a hifter or a drippie?
I wonder how Sarah would react to this relationship. In fact, I want to find out so bad that I’m boarding this ship already (I’m telling you that sweater is foreshadowing).
Look at what you’ve done, Plasma: You’ve started a ship with a character that doesn’t even exist.
Does this count as a Ghost Ship?
ZOINKS! G-G-G-GHOST PIRATES!
Nice read, Velma.
Achievement Unlocked: “Shipping Houdini”
Actually, I think I remember seeing a character that looked like Shaggy early on in this continuity.
I love the expressions in this.
This is why I always bring my own waterbottle when I leave home! ^^
The line up here looks like three different eras of clothing.
Not really.. Dorothy and Billie are wearing the same era, just one’s more revealing.
I can verify this, saw someone at the grocery store a few days ago wearing essentially the exact same outfit.
Being currently worn doesn’t mean it isn’t representative of a different era.
Or actually, I should be saying decade, it’s just that the terminology in doing so isn’t quite correct.
Billie actually has good advice.
It had to happen at some time. ^_^
Yeah, I know, I’m just shocked it happened on the way to a party.
I’m shocked that it’s ‘premarital hanky panky’ based (… what? Technically it is…) advice that Joyce might just follow.
Now see, I expected Joyce to be “whats a roofie? Is it like peanut butter where it sticks to the roof of your mouth and blah blah blah”
But instead her eyes imply that she knows.
She doesn’t seem to be nearly as sheltered in DoA than she was in Roomies.
She walks the shadows, She stalks the night, She is Amazi- Girl.
Stronger than the smell of garlic! More powerful than a well chosen metaphor! Able to leap small children in a single bound!
immune to criticism! able to carry fat ex-cheerleaders down a single hall!
Her pokemans are level 100!
So amazi-girl is an Action Replay user.
That explains how she lifted billie.
Why does Billie look as mortified as the other two in the last panel?
flashbacks bro
Yep
She still feels shame over using them to score a little non-consensual lovin.
Are you saying that Billie uses roofies to score some action?
OH MY!
Is it me or does the art look different then usual?
Probably just because they’re in profile.
I just noticed that all three of them have the same inner ear squiggle, and now I can’t stop seeing it.
That’s…actually a pretty sensible policy to have there, Billie.
But now I can’t help but feel that she’s speaking from experience.
Yeah, that was my initial thought, that it was disturbing that she would be in situations where that would be necessary. (But it’s solid advice nonetheless.)
Look, Willis is taking my advice finally. The 2nd panel was made far better by the mysterious silhouette jumping across rooftops. That being said, I know that people walking around on your roof is loud, much louder than say a squirrel. Amazi-Girl, (whoever she is) is going to get the police called on her ass.
Wait, silhouette jumping across whaaaaaaa–!?
*looks back up at the comic*
I…I didn’t even notice that. 0_0 -_- 0_0
Pretty kick ass.
Had people walking on your roof much, have you?
He hasn’t met our urban squirrels: they are the size of small rabbits and they go “THONK, THONK” when they run on wooden planks. Too many handouts (and open trash bins) and not enough exercise.
As for Amazi-Girl, that’s really Joe in a clever disguise!
Well, had the roof redone a couple years ago and I tried to sleep through at least part of it, so yeah, plenty of people on the roof.
Yes, but have you ever had a car walking around on your roof?
Willis, you draw some cute girls.
Someone introduce Joyce to a minotaur. Post-haste.
Someone introduce Joyce to a Nimontaur. Post-haste.
Praise him.
huh. I thought she would have liked to get roofied. I stand corrected.
heh……”Roof”ied, after panel 2.
Billie is wise beyond her years.
Her liver has been damaged beyond her years too.
The innocence, it hurts so much.
In vino, veritas.
In veritatem, ira. In iram, odium. In odium, miseria. In miseriam, pars obscura.
In canis corporatus transmuto.
Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.
Quare es vos totus laudo amo vos es iacio Differo Potter alica?
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
wingardium leviosa
Avada kedavre.
This ^
That last was @Izzy and Asuka L.S. both.
Expelliarmus
Damn, these non-sequitur threads ammuse me.
Peas yesu domine dona eis requiem…*THWACK*
I feel like I should bring out the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch now.
Timor introducit ad iram, iram ad odium, odium ad dolore?
That too, though I did it to fit style of the proverb.
My philosophy is trust no one including yourself.
But trust in God is still a valid philosophy.
So is that Billie’s “I’m begging for it even if I can’t actually beg for it” shirt? Because if so, she may get a rude awakening on what such a shirt can and does look like.
Wait a sec, I know I shouldn’t brought up the older continuity but isn’t that the same top Billie wear when she did it with Danny?
She didn’t say she’d wear the date-rape-top to this party, though.
God gave you a brain Joyce, use it! I can’t still believe she is going to the party in the sweater I doubt she is actually going to take it off and leave in her bra so poor girl…
They look kinda … dumpy to be going to a party in my opinion O.o
Keep in mind that two thirds of them apparently have little to no experience with parties.
You mean none of them have ever been in a Wal-Mart parking lot with 5 people?
don’t forget the case of beer!
But even in my opinion Billie looks kinda dumpy… still I guess she wouldn’t want to ruin one of her good blouses considering she doesn’t plan on keeping it for long XD
Who’s that on the rooftop? Is it Batman?
Maybe it’s Spider-Car!
C’mon guys, it’s totally a Were-Danny.
“Trust God, but Verify”
Also known as “God helps those who help themselves.” Keep them roofies away….
I assume Joyce believes the same. Just because she believes God has her back doesn’t mean that she, for example, puts on a blindfold and walks into a busy street with no crosswalk.
‘Trust God, but verify’ strikes me as an oxymoron.
Billie is a philosophical genius.
AMAZIGIRL ON THE ROOF!!!!
How does a car not fall through a roof?
If i didn’t know this was a realistic reboot I’d swear that was the Head alien and not Amazigirl.
God works in mysterious ways. So mysterious, in fact, that it’s often hard to tell if it’s design or chance.
Unless you’re in a webcomic; then you really can trust that the mighty creator has a capital-P Plan for you.
Interesting. Billie is apparently a Reagan fan. I have a whole new respect for her now.
“Trust but verify” was originally a Russian proverb.
don’t listen to him, lightsabermario! he’s just trying to distract you from the ronnie introduction on friday!
Of course, the Russians usually said “doveryai, no proveryai.”
I’m pretty sure that doesn’t work the same when you stick the ‘God’ in there – unless you’re talking about verifying God, that is.
Have you verified that?
Insofar as I trust Wikipedia.
0_o
Glad to see that Billy both knows and is passing on the partying with strangers rule #1. I’ve never been to such a party and even I know that one.
Also I think there’s a tag missing?
EEE! Third panel Joyce is adorable!
Third panel Joyce is adorably claiming a downright suicidal policy for going through life. Which in my case, the whole ‘being appalled’ thing is dramatically reducing how cute I’m finding her.
I’m looking forward to her inevitable character development into somebody with functional life philosophies – but have the horrible feeling that the transition thereto will be agonizing to watch.
I fail to see how it’s downright suicidal. Just because Joyce believes that Jesus is watching her doesn’t mean she’s just going to let anything happen to her because “it’s part of God’s plan.” Ignoring any discussions as to whether or not Christianity is true, the fact that Joyce believes someone is watching her and that she faith in that isn’t a suicidal philosophy. It CAN be, but so can basically every other philosophy in the world too.
My read of it is that she is overtly relying on a parachute that isn’t there, which is a perfectly functional philosophy while one is kept sheltered and homeschooled in safety, but can fail rather dramatically when you get out and start, say, jumping out of airplanes. Admittedly, perhaps Joyce was already planning for every eventuality herself, with her hand over her glass, a taser in her pocket, and Mike following them just out of frame, but we haven’t actually seen any of that; what we’ve seen is her snidely dismissing the need for Sarah’s help because she has God covering for her instead. And in this comic she reiterates that she meant that literally – and it’s presented as being in contrast to Billie’s “It’s all well and good to believe in God, but cover your own (gl)ass yourself anyway” philosophy.
The way I see it, the only way that it’s not suicidal is that Joyce isn’t knowingly imperiling herself; she’d more like a cute little bunny hopping innocently into a minefield. And again, maybe she’s actually a lot more careful than she seems – but based on what we’re seeing, I’m expecting her to walk straight into trouble expecting God to shield her from the bolts and arrows.
Of course, Amazigirl (who is actually UltraCar, who is actually Dina in disguise, who is actually Walky in disguise – have you ever seen them together?) is going to swoop in and save her, which in a way makes Joyce right: Willis, her universe’s god, will save her through a proxy. But if she weren’t a main character in a comic, she’d be sorely lacking the plot armor she believes she has.
While you do make a fair point (Especially since I don’t want to start any religious debates since that’ll just create a flame-war that will never end,) there is also evidence that suggests she does know how to look after herself, since one thing that you have to take into account is that many Christians see God’s Plan as everything, meaning, if Joyce thinks something is wrong, she can act on it, and that’s still part of God’s Plan and she’s not just giving herself away stupidly.
She now is at odds with every other person who is at their first party, meaning that if she’s suicidal, so is all the other first timers, especially since Joyce will probably pick up on some of Billie’s Party Survival Ideas.
Two other things also come to mind though. First off, Joyce tends to do better in situations she’s not familiar with better than what anyone expects. That’s not to say she’s flawless, by any means. She makes plenty of horrible mistakes/choices, but luck does seem to be on her side. Secondly, we assume Joyce is actually going to eat or drink something at this party. Given the fact she seems to be a slight germaphobe and plus all the amoral activity (From Joyce’s point of view) do we really think she’ll actually touch anything at the party, much less consume it?
I don’t think you have to be an atheist to think that God isn’t going to protect you from getting hurt if you put yourself into problematic situations. In fact, lots of Christians tell their younglings to actively avoid getting into situations like this – because in doing so, you’ve signed a release form permitting God to sit back and watch as you get your anterior portions in various kinds of moral and other kinds of trouble. Personally I think the winceworthyness of Joyce’s attitude and behavior probably spans all creeds and beliefs.
Joyce differs from most first-time party-goers in that she is substantially more naive about the world than them – most have at least some vague idea of what to expect about such parties, while she *clearly* has none. And she remains almost frighteningly oblivious about what is to come, aside from a rather significant number of hints being dropped around her – the attire of her fellow party-goers, the fact they seem to have talked her out of bringing her safe party game, and of course the fact that *nobody* seems to think that her coming to the party is a good idea. Plus, of course, the mentions of little things like date rape.
Of course, there’s also the fact that nobody has bothered to actually sit her down and explain what is likely to be going on at these parties – but if they had, she probably wouldn’t have come, and what fun would that be?
As for Joyce being able to handle situations better…which situations? She’s done remarkably well at not being a bigot, I’ll freely credit her for that. The date with Joe? I would actually call that rather a disaster – the only salvation was that she brought Mike. Of course, she seems to have forgotten to hire a face-punching white knight this time…and I seriously don’t think Dorothy or Billie are really up for it.
Of course Willis is providing UltraCar to fill the role of Joyce-saver, but that’s not Joyce’s doing. She’s walking into the lion’s den, whistling all the way.
Oh, and I forgot to mention – I certainly think she would have drunk or consumed something if Billie hadn’t mentioned conveniently mentioned something. And based on the general obliviousness she’s been showing, who knows, she still might. She’s being quite cheerfully dim at the moment. Regardless, she’s hardly prepared for what she’s getting into. (Well, presuming the party’s as bad as all the other characters seem to think it will be, anyway. Maybe it’ll turn out to be a sewing circle after all.)
Well, there’s not much I can say other than what I’ve already said, so it’s just a matter of different opinions. But you do make good points, I’m not saying you don’t. Either way, we shall see.
Oh, and as for the Joe incident. Yes, it was a disaster, but Joyce handled it better than what lots of people thought she would. If she truly were completely oblivious to everything, Joe would have walked all over her. No, Joe shouldn’t have been punched and she could have done a lot better, but she at least held her own and didn’t fall for any tricks. So, who knows? Maybe Joyce tries to remain pure and innocent on the outside, but inside she is aware to an extent of the world around. That’s jsut a theory though. I have no absolute proofs for it.
Haha, preventitive rape joke! Hahaahaahaaaahh…. Now I’m sad.
Also, good advice to give Joyce though. Out of the three of them, she seems most likely to be targeted.
Just don’t eat or drink anything. That’s the surest way to be safe from getting drugged. I mean, COME ON. That’s not a regular old chocolate cake and brownies on the table, the fruit punch is probably more vodka than punch, and those free stickers are NOT for decoration. Trust nothing and no one, that’s the safe way to party.
Unless Amazi-Girl was in the background, I’d have forecast that Joyce was absolutely DOOMED.
It’s really a shame that a college age girl has to realistically worry about being drugged at a party by some ass who’s thinking with his dick instead of trying to get laid the old fashioned way-by being interesting enough to get her attention.
‘Course, that never worked for me during four years of college but even back then I wasn’t that good looking and pretty boring. At least I can say I didn’t have to drug a girl to get some action. I was patethic enough as it was-not making things worse that way for sure.
Sadly, it’s not just college girls at parties. My sister, who’s 30, was out at a club and some guy roofied her drink when she set it down on the bar to look for her phone. Luckily for her, and unbeknown to the would be rapist, my sister had friends/family waiting at a table for her and so was safely with them when it took effect.
The more disturbing reason why they use roofies is that for some guys, non-consent is a major turn-on.
Another sad but still disturbing reason is some guys are so hung up about ‘performance anxiety’ that they rather fuck an unconscious woman than risk criticism.
Yeah, that’s why I like Billie.
Oh my Ford, it’s Spider-Car!
“Trust yourself, trust Ivanova. Anybody else, shoot ’em.”
The internet needs more Ivanova. It would be a much saner place.
Now I’m picturing her on the bridge of a White Star, fingers at the trigger button, ready to fire the moment someone on the internet does something stupid.
She’s gonna stay busy.
“Trust God, but verify.” Essentially like saying “Trust in God, but lock your car.” I think it works well in any situation, especially with making sure your drink doesn’t get roofied. I’d hate to see anything bad happen to our favorite God-loving girl.
All these Joyce comics are making the sponsored advertisements for this site the Christian Mingle site.
Hee hee. If I hover my mouse over the silhouette, it says “Jesus”!
hahaha Amazi-girl!!!
Oh my god. Foreshadowing. The air is thick with it.
Is that amazigirl in the back round? Shit is about to go down
Just remember, God’s plan may be for you to die so someone else can learn a lesson. Just ask the firstborns of Egypt, Job’s family, etc.
Say a prayer, but let the good times roll / In case God doesn’t show