Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Devil's Candy
Rem, Bikkuri
A lush fantasy about boy genius Kazu Decker, the girl he constructed for his 9th grade science project, and the world of devils and monsters they live in.
Kiwi Blitz
Mary Cagle (Cube Watermelon)
Steffi thinks she can use her kiwi mech to become a superhero. This idea turns out to be very stupid.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Goodbye to Halos
Valerie Halla
Cuddles, gay flirting, weird feelings, and magic-fueled knife fights - it's an adventure across the queer multiverse!
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Monsterkind
Taylor C
Wallace Foster, a young, bright-eyed human social worker, has his entire world view rocked when he's suddenly relocated into a city primarily inhabited by monsters.
Cut Time
Juby
Rel and her trusty avian friend Fugue are on a quest to save a world that's lost track of time. Follow them and their new recruits, in a story written with help from the stars.
Paranatural
Zack Morrison
Superpowered middle schoolers fight evil spirits in their rural hometown. Come for the jokes, stay for the cast, the creatures, and the mystery that ties them all together!
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
Godslave
Meaghan Carter
Edith has been thrown into the dangerous world of modern-day Egyptian mythology. Fighting monsters and dealing with family drama of godly proportions.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Love Not Found
Gina Biggs
Abeille is on a quest to find someone who wants to do it the old-fashioned way in a time when touching has become outdated.
Starhammer
J.N. Monk, Harry Bogosian
A teen girl inherits a powerful alien artifact and proceeds to make a series of increasingly poor decisions
Fireweeds Moors
Gato Iberico
A cat-headed man and a girl with a sandwich hankering accidentally end up in a myth-infused country where magic chalices are a really big thing.
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
The End
August Brown, Cory Brown
Two aliens crash a sci-fi convention and accidentally take seven nerds on an adventure that spans the galaxy!
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Widdershins
Kate Ashwin
A series of light-hearted Victorian-era adventure stories featuring grumpy bounty hunters, accidental thiefkings, and more, in England's magical capital city Widdershins!
Alice and the Nightmare
Misha Krivanek
Alice finally attends University to learn to collect the dreams of humans, meet new friends, and deal with a pesky reflection along the way.
Ghost Junk Sickness
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Two hunters try to survive and end up being pushed to pursue a deadly bounty dubbed "The Ghost".
Star Impact
Jack McGee
A young, energetic woman fights her way up in the world of super-powered boxing after discovering the mighty gloves of her missing idol!
Cassiopeia Quinn
Gunwild, Psudonym
A cute, pantsless thief is pursued across the stars by a buttoned-up military officer in the spacey, laser-filled future.
Lilith's Word
inkPangur
If you had the power to make any wish come true using just one word, what would you say?
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Astral Aves
Moon Cabal
A fantasy coming-of-age following the adventures of Astra The Black and friends, as they navigate the mysterious world around them. It's politics, adventure, and the supernatural; oh, and crazy hair.
Kochab
Sarah Webb
A YA F/F fantasy comic about Sonya, a lost skier trying to survive a snowy wilderness and find her way back to her village; and Kyra - a fire spirit trying to fix the home that she let fall apart around her.
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.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Never Satisfied
Taylor Robin
Lucy Marlowe, a magician's apprentice, competes against other apprentices for an important, magical, Goverment Job.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Jailbird
Charlie Davis
An all-ages comic about a recently escaped prisoner's struggle to understand the outside world, and vice-versa. Also, a magic cape!
Anarchy Dreamers
Emily Ree
Sparkly undead kids fight society's worst Nightmares in this pastel-punk urban fantasy coming-of-age!
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
Caramel Corn
Potchimew
Sarah is the only human left in a world full of mythical creatures and monsters. All she wants to do is live a quiet life, but everything changes when she meets her guardian angel, Jacob.
Sufficiently Remarkable
Maki Naro
Two young women living in Brooklyn discover that you're always coming of age.
This is Not Fiction
Nicole Mannino
What do you do when the person you're in-love with is an anonymous romance novelist? Get your best friend to hire your worst enemy for help!
Go Get a Roomie
Clover
Experience the queer journey of an upbeat hippie and the friendships she makes along the way! A tale of self-discovery and love of many forms.
The Automan's Daughter
Mike Stamm
Aisha Osman and her uncle Siddig outwit bikers, spies and kidnappers while gearing up for a showdown with the formidable Widowmaker mecha.
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
The Sanity Circus
Windy
Magic, monsters and mysteries await in the odd city of Sanity. It's up to Attley and a colorful group of characters to find out just what is going on.
Tigress Queen
Allison Shaw
A barbarian warlord and a pampered prince try to avoid a marriage alliance that could end decades of violence.
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
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I read that the first time as “Lady Gaga”.
…
If you’ll excuse me I need to go get my eyes checked. I might finally need to get reading glasses like everyone else in my immediate family.
Just don’t get Harold involved else you would get more of that awkward. Wait, Danny needs a someone to make him feel good about himself.
Bring on Harold.
Maybe we can fast track and do an arc on the winter of their discount tent? Too soon? Fall then?
I dunno. Ethan, Dina, Amber if we treat her personalities as distinct as she tries to (unclear on how much of that is enforced by her and how much is out of her control). I would argue that Carla may be something of a nerd as well.
I mean, the joke was a good one! But it doesn’t seem to me that we have a particularly high concentration of fucking nerds vs non-fucking nerds.
I’ve always had to consciously remember to eat, but in college I got prescribed Adderall, which took my appetite from “food is okay I guess” to “food is gross and I don’t actually need to eat every day, you’re just making that up”. I set alarms and forced myself to eat, but that’s not a recipe to gain like 15% of my body weight in a year.
Willis, would you mind deleting my previous comment? It didn’t add much to the conversation, and people have previously shared that they’ve struggled with eating disorders, so I don’t want to be talking about food and weight n’stuff. Sorry for my thoughtlessness, online pals!
I’d say you don’t need to apologize and that your comment isn’t thoughtless. Then again, I’m also the guy who just admitted to a 25% increase in body weight in pure fat in only one year, so what the hell do know?
I’m not afraid of facts, I just prefer not to be a jerk to people, particularly over my comment that wasn’t even that interesting.
If the actual people with eating disorders are unmoved, then I’m fine with it standing. I imagine they encounter a whole lot worse all the time, after all. Indeed, Willis didn’t delete it, and nobody said they were impacted by it, so hopefully/probably I was just over-correcting myself. Woo.
To may eternal shame I gained FIFTY pounds freshman year of college. Took me five years of sit ups, push ups, pull ups, and a whole lotta juice to keep the weight but turn it into muscle instead of fat. Also squats and cardio.
As a non-American student, this concept was lost one me. I thought “freshman fifteen” was a reference to a movie or something.
Heck, where I am from, the stereotype is that college students lose weight because they don’t know how to cook or shop for groceries and they survive on ten cups of coffee and a single meal per day.
Milky Quartz is an actual variety of quartz. It’s the most common kind, and the fluid inclusions during crystallization that lend it its pallor make it useless in practical applications. #notfunfact
That said, it looks awesome banded with amethyst (which is, ultimately, another kind of quartz).
Unmixed amethyst just looks like purple glass to me. Pretty, sure, but not cool.
Now you got me imagining what the various DoA characters would look like as Gems, what kind of gemstones they’d be, and what their fusions would look like.
Amber = Ruby and Marcie’s kinda like a Sapphire? Just because Amber has a lot in common with Sal when she was younger and I’d say Sal’s more of a Ruby than a Garnet, but if Sal = Garnet in this scenario, I can see Amber working as one.
My own college actually had a single tub in addition to the usual shower stalls in each bathroom. It was very, very rare that anyone actually used it for bath though
They might not be milk jugs. Distilled and spring water also comes in 1-gallon plastic jugs, and we don’t know if her fundie upbringing extended as far as rejecting the community tap water because of fluoridation or other supposed government-added ‘contaminants’ in it.
Yeah, the tap water in my school’s town tastes…chlorine-y? Some people adamantly refuse to drink it and I can totally picture Joyce with her food sensitivities being one of them.
It literally took her until panel 3 for it to filter through to her that something was amiss: “Why is Joyce suddenly my height?” Only then did she think to look down!
Flip flops are a shape of shoe, serving the same purpose as a sandal, often worn casually by people who are aware that yes, I DON’T have a sense of fashion, why do you ask?
Shower shoes are any shoes specifically for showering, which are normally designed to cover more of the top of the foot — and stay on more readily — than the average flip flop.
that’s crazy to me, WHY would you want to cover the top of your foot while you’re showering? don’t you want to clean your feet as well?
flip flops are best thanks to their open design: they’re the closest thing to having nothing on while still protecting the soles of feet from the germy floor
plus the shower sandals you describe sound like they trap more moisture and take longer to dry
Not all flip-flops are shower shoes, and not all shower shoes are flip-flops. Soccer slides, hiking sandals, and water shoes are all perfectly valid alternatives to the flip-flop. My personal preference would be for a strappier hiking sandal…much grippier sole than a flip-flop, and it secures to the foot better.
Narrator: Joyce and call everyone they feel will be useful.
Danny: Okay…Amazi-Girl is a go
Joyce: I got the Sal posse
Narrator: Kyle and Robin walk up.
Kyle: my old coworkers have surrounded the hotel.
Robin: I need to get better at hiring people.
Danny: So basically everyone in the dorms is going to help.
Joyce: What are you going to do?
Danny: I’ll handle support with Howard.
Narrator: Howard’s face pops up on Danny’s computer.
Howard: Hey!
Narrator: Joyce turns to Kyle and Robin.
Joyce: I’m going to handle the Duke myself.
Robin: Fair enough.
Narrator: We will now cut to Joyce, Robin, and Kyle walking towards the hotel while a massive battle rages in the background. Also we will now call the Reginald soldiers bros.
Sal: There (punches bro in face) sure are a lot of these guys.
Amazi-Girl: Just keep fighting. Let the detective get to the entrance.
Carla: Really wondering why no one has guns.
Narrator: Walky looks over and barely manages to dodge a bros punch.
Walky: I don’t think they need them!
Dorothy: I’ll watch cartoons with you tonight if you take out at least five of them.
Walky: Woohoo! (knees bro in crotch)
Kyle: Looks like those guys are being kept busy.
Narrator: Joyce kicks open the hotels front doors and rushes in. Kyle and Robin follow close behind her.
After a series of fights up the stairs, during which both Robin and Kyle showed a surprising amount of skill, they reach the top.
Kyle: This seems too easy.
Robin: Well I like easy.
Joyce: Be on guard.
Narrator: Xaviar steps out of a room.
Xaviar: The Duke doesn’t wish to be disturbed.
Kyle: You guys go on ahead, I’ll handle the lug-head.
(So this wasn’t the last one, it may be a few more)
The US has no equivalent of the British children’s magazine program Blue Peter. That’s odd because, frankly, that’s the only place where Joyce could have got inspiration for such a DIY solution! Maybe she saw reruns on PBS or something?
Highlights for Kids might have such a thing, but it also has Goofus and Gallant, who displayed morality without acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ as morality’s origin, so it was strictly forbidden.
Yes. I was just thinking that. All it takes is one step with that plastic on slippery tile and she is done for. Granted, I’m waiting for her to trip on the first step in their room!
As a citizen of ex-commie country I approve of Joyce’s ability to get by without relying on products specifically designed for their purposes. Improvisation is the God’s Skill!
Because the thing about positive reinforcement… it works much better than the negative kind. It really does. Showing that you acknowledge the effort of improvement is the absolutely best way to keep the improvement going.
That being said, I think that while this strip probably won’t make a direct follow-up*, I think that in the next few imaginary panels, Joyce will probably apologise profusely -and- make sure to thank Sarah. Because Joyce is definitely not someone who takes other people’s kindness for granted.
She might also hug Sarah just because it’s easier to hug her now that they are the same height.
Sarah will not be amused by this.
*As in showing what they will say right after the last panel here. There might still be other “adventures in the dorm showers” strips.
I’ve read that dolphin trainers make great parents. Why? Because they learn how to train dolphins — which are animals that it’s impossible to punish. (What are you gonna do, spank them?) The only thing that works is positive reinforcement. Applying those lessons to one’s own kids translates into great parenting.
As far as I remember, Joyce has never thanked Sarah outside of the Ryan incident, and there it was an indirect compliment as she praised the Lord for delivering Sarah to save her.
It’s a bit easier at times to forget to thank people ‘older’ than you since they’re ‘supposed’ to take care of you.
Apart from this situation being funny, I think Joyce will actually rather use the shoes Sarah bought. Based on her face in the last panel she realizes how dumb her own attempt is, she seems embarrassed she didn’t think is those.
It depends on your standards. Or, more accurately, the standards of the person(s) who showered before you.
I personally would just scoop up any hair on the drain, if it was a bit too much to ignore, and toss it in the trash. But other people have a higher squick factor than I do. On the other hand, those people usually went off-campus as fast as they were able.
I lived in a dorm, lo those many years ago, and I just don’t remember this being a thing. I know I wasn’t bothered by it and I don’t remember anyone else freaking out – or even joking about it. I don’t remember “shower shoes” or any of the rest of it.
FOREWARNING: this comment is just me continuing to rant about yesterday’s comic and the Amber/AmaziGirl dynamic, so skip this comment if you want.
Honestly, I’m kind of curious if anyone knows any specific examples where AmaziGirl says that Amber is not generally safe and trustworthy (and not in the context of preventing Amber from having a trauma-induced meltdown: “be careful when she gets angry” is a lot different from “a relationship with her will hurt you”). If AmaziGirl actually is shitty to Amber, it would greatly change my perspective about her and the progress she’s made in accepting Sal. I was under the impression that most of the negative impressions about Amber were from Amber herself, not AG. But if AG sees Amber in the same way as Amber sees herself… the situation is a lot worse than I thought. That would change things from just poor self-esteem to abuse. I think it would be nice to establish just how exactly AG views Amber.
After Amber’s and Danny’s fight, where he tried to kiss Amber as she was retelling her story about rescuing Becky from Toedad, they have at least a line or two about Amber’s anger and how it’s problematic. I don’t think Amazigirl goes as far to say that Amber is the bad part of her duality, but it’s implied to an extent that Danny basically should cut down on his time with Amber and stick to Amazigirl. I’ll look for the strip in question once I’m back at my desk.
It sounds like she’s angry at Amber for almost insulting her boyfriend. It could be that she really thinks Amber is untrustworthy, but it could also be her reaction in the heat of the moment.
She straight up told Sal she wasn’t a good person under her mask (implying Amber) and that she needed to protect Sal from Amber (this despite the fact that AG is the only one who has pursued violence against Sal since the convenience store – Amber sometimes tries to sic AG on her, but she’s still more likely to run away and cry).
I never said the mask was the tell, I’m saying AG is the one insisting she’s not a good person and is dangerous in particular to Sal, which has not been the case since said stabbing. Amber’s response from Sal is to freeze up, and then run away, usually crying. Sometimes she tries to sic AG on her, but AG’s the only one who has attacked and tried to do violence to Sal since the robbery.
Spa shoes are mostly made of cheap fabric with something akin to cardboard in the center for stability, and are more expensive per unit (~$1.20/pair). That’s probably more similar to what Sarah actually got Joyce.
Willis also tends to use lots of references, and given the lack of a box in any of the images for what I’m talking about on sites like amazon, I have a very strong feeling they’re different.
I’m not sure if those are milk jugs or bottles of bleach that Joyce has strapped to her feet, but I’m positive that neither are more sanitary than a shower stall filled with soapy water. I know it might be a little modly, but still…. I mean if I have to come into contact with any type of foreign materials, I would at least choose something that I know my immune system can handle and fight off. Mold is one thing, but bacteria and hormone laden milk or bleach that is essentially so sterile that it prohibits your immune system from fighting off anything even remotely related to infection is probably a little hazardous to your health down the road. Especially if it is absorbed into the skin or gets into a cut or something on your feet
Panel One: THANK YOU, SARAH. She’s needed a pair for so long. And yeah, makes sense. Sarah can be good with practical solutions like this. This is a good solution for Joyce’s neurosis. And so so so cute she’s trying to help with a reach out and solution. Good job big sis-ing, Sarah. A+
Panel Two: Joyce seems unphased. BBCC is slightly displeased because this solution was adorable. And it’s cute seeing Sarah explaining it to her.
Panel Three: And then it sinks in – ‘wait, Joyce is suddenly just as tall as me, what happened, what’. Joyce isn’t even blinking, and is just waiting for Sarah’s reaction.
Panel Four: Awwwwwwww. Joyce’s sheepish grin here is precious! And Sarah’s grumpy throwing the shoes over her shoulder. Awww. She meant so well. Darn it, Joyce.
Although, frankly, I’m surprised she can stand on that milk jug. You’d think she’d be too heavy. Though then again, Joyce is apparently 30% sweater.
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ya know, I had remembered the dollar store sells them for $1/pair but eh
Joyce just wants to please Lady Gaia.
I read that the first time as “Lady Gaga”.
…
If you’ll excuse me I need to go get my eyes checked. I might finally need to get reading glasses like everyone else in my immediate family.
Ditto…
I can totally see Lady Gaga wearing shoes like that.
Same, I think my mind auto-corrected to make it a joke…
Sarah’s mood will not improve when she finds the hefty bag full of milk taking up all available space in the mini-fridge.
Joyce was raised not to waste food.
What is this, Canada?
It is now, thanks to Joyce.
And what would be wrong with that >=|
Oh, there’s nothing wrong. Joyce is just the one responsible for the shift in countries, is all.
Milk in a bag?! Now she’s done it!
Joyce has gone full-on Canadian.
She did come up with a solution Red Green would be proud of, it just needs more duct tape.
Red Green? Huzzah!
Okay, now I meant a crossover.
…want a crossover…
Just don’t get Harold involved else you would get more of that awkward. Wait, Danny needs a someone to make him feel good about himself.
Bring on Harold.
Maybe we can fast track and do an arc on the winter of their discount tent? Too soon? Fall then?
I see you watch Buzzfeed.
Milk in a bag has made it to this side of the Atlantic.
It’s like milk, but in a bag.
Best way to package it. If people can be bothered to recycle it properly.
Say’s the guy from an ex-soviet state.
Well, eastern Canadian, at least.
Everyone knows you need to drink a lot of milk.
Calcium makes your bones grow, therefore you will be taller, therefore farther away from the shower sludge. And closer to the Lord!
Logic!
She’ll be closer to the ceiling sludge though. She needs to float in airtel.
Air not airtel.
What, with some sort of shower swing?
Joe might be able to help there. I mean, there’s no reason you couldn’t put it in the shower.
Yez, but consider the state of a shower swing after all those naked buts have sat in it.
“I don’t need to grow up! I drink milk!”
joyce u fuckin nerd
Actually, Joyce is currently one of the few non-fucking nerds in the strip.
That statement is very false
Pablo mean she’s a nerd who isn’t fucking. All the other nerfs seem to be, at least until recently, fucking on the regular.
I dunno. Ethan, Dina, Amber if we treat her personalities as distinct as she tries to (unclear on how much of that is enforced by her and how much is out of her control). I would argue that Carla may be something of a nerd as well.
I mean, the joke was a good one! But it doesn’t seem to me that we have a particularly high concentration of fucking nerds vs non-fucking nerds.
Yes but she’s still non-fucking
Joyce is a nerd, but she isn’t a fucking nerd.
OKAY ALREADY I SEE THE HYPHEN NOW GEEZ
>:Itose shower shoes may be more comfortable
omg that was so thoughtful though
Ah, a nice joke comic that isn’t full of angst. Feels good man.
Well, the somber had to let up sometime. This isn’t Funky Winkerbean.
TWIST:
Those milk cartons eventually give Joyce foot cancer.
No no no, you only get foot cancer if you get a bruise on your foot! Everyone knows bruises turn into cancer if you leave them unattended!
Well, of course not, nobody has been bushwhacked yet.
DYW is toying with us, lulling us into a false sense of security.
Based on your personal experiences too, Willis?
Joyce is just happy to finally be Sarah’s height.
I actually got the reverse freshmen fifteen. I lost a lot of weight in college.
I did at first, but then started working nights. During the day there were lots of healthy options on campus; sushi, salad bars, tofu burgers, etc.
At night? Pizza and burritos. Yeah, got my fifteen and then some.
I’ve always had to consciously remember to eat, but in college I got prescribed Adderall, which took my appetite from “food is okay I guess” to “food is gross and I don’t actually need to eat every day, you’re just making that up”. I set alarms and forced myself to eat, but that’s not a recipe to gain like 15% of my body weight in a year.
Willis, would you mind deleting my previous comment? It didn’t add much to the conversation, and people have previously shared that they’ve struggled with eating disorders, so I don’t want to be talking about food and weight n’stuff. Sorry for my thoughtlessness, online pals!
I’d say you don’t need to apologize and that your comment isn’t thoughtless. Then again, I’m also the guy who just admitted to a 25% increase in body weight in pure fat in only one year, so what the hell do know?
What you said is in no way offensive, that would be like me being offered by someone saying they have nice handwriting because I have dysgraphia.
Meh. A lot of people put on weight their first year of college. It happens.
We have to stop being so afraid of simple facts.
I’m not afraid of facts, I just prefer not to be a jerk to people, particularly over my comment that wasn’t even that interesting.
If the actual people with eating disorders are unmoved, then I’m fine with it standing. I imagine they encounter a whole lot worse all the time, after all. Indeed, Willis didn’t delete it, and nobody said they were impacted by it, so hopefully/probably I was just over-correcting myself. Woo.
To may eternal shame I gained FIFTY pounds freshman year of college. Took me five years of sit ups, push ups, pull ups, and a whole lotta juice to keep the weight but turn it into muscle instead of fat. Also squats and cardio.
As a non-American student, this concept was lost one me. I thought “freshman fifteen” was a reference to a movie or something.
Heck, where I am from, the stereotype is that college students lose weight because they don’t know how to cook or shop for groceries and they survive on ten cups of coffee and a single meal per day.
I’ll I want to do I see you turn into a moderately taller woman
Fusing with Milk is the only way Joyce could possibly be whiter.
Milky Quartz is an actual variety of quartz. It’s the most common kind, and the fluid inclusions during crystallization that lend it its pallor make it useless in practical applications. #notfunfact
That said, it looks awesome banded with amethyst (which is, ultimately, another kind of quartz).
Unmixed amethyst just looks like purple glass to me. Pretty, sure, but not cool.
Geology nerds.
I would have said mayo or Swiss cheese, but milk works as well.
As far as cheeses go Swiss isn’t exceptionally white. Feta or cottage cheese would be a more apt comparison.
Oh man. Cottage cheese seems like a very Joyce cheese. I can easily imagine her not liking it but the comparison seems apt!
[insert “chunky” joke here]
Now you got me imagining what the various DoA characters would look like as Gems, what kind of gemstones they’d be, and what their fusions would look like.
Sal: Garnet
Sierra: Amethyst
Dorothy: Pearl
Joyce: Steven
Carla: Peridot
Mary: Jasper
Not sure who would be a good Lapis.
Billie maybe?
But, but, who’s Connie in this situation? Or Ruby and Saphire?
Amber = Ruby and Marcie’s kinda like a Sapphire? Just because Amber has a lot in common with Sal when she was younger and I’d say Sal’s more of a Ruby than a Garnet, but if Sal = Garnet in this scenario, I can see Amber working as one.
Though I’d argue Becky’d make a better Amethyst.
After many hours of offline consideration, I have come up with the following exhaustive list:
Dorothy: a Peridot, maybe?
Ruth: definitely some kind of Quartz, perhaps an Agate due to her (former) position of authority.
…okay, that’s as much as I got so far.
Sarah is mom friend.
Where did Joyce get all those empty milk jugs?
It’s better you not know
She went dumpster diving so she wouldn’t have to touch the floor of a shower stall.
No, don’t question it, you’ll go mad.
I want to guess she probably got them from the cafeteria lady. Otherwise, Sarah probably doesn’t want to see where Joyce may have dumped all the milk
University cafeterias tend to order milk in bulk. Either half pint cartons or five gallon bags, there is no in between.
Huh, I didn’t know that – makes a lot of sense, actually.
Supermarket, then? She collected milk jugs like Billie collected/collects(?) beer bottles o-o
What? You guys never heard of bathing in milk?
That would require a bathtub, which Joyce doesn’t have. Maybe she’ll change the water from the communal showers room with milk.
My own college actually had a single tub in addition to the usual shower stalls in each bathroom. It was very, very rare that anyone actually used it for bath though
She chugged all their milk. She’ll be barfing it all back up shortly.
They might not be milk jugs. Distilled and spring water also comes in 1-gallon plastic jugs, and we don’t know if her fundie upbringing extended as far as rejecting the community tap water because of fluoridation or other supposed government-added ‘contaminants’ in it.
Or, just because she thinks it tastes funny.
Not that I’m speaking from experience (totally speaking from experience)!
Yeah, the tap water in my school’s town tastes…chlorine-y? Some people adamantly refuse to drink it and I can totally picture Joyce with her food sensitivities being one of them.
Treading softly, Joyce
I like how every new day starts with Joyce-Sarah wackiness.
Their dynamic is just perfect.
But… It’s not the start of a new day…
Don’t throw those out Sarah. There’s no way on earth that what Joyce is standing on could even remotely be comfortable on her bare feet.
Not only that but wouldn’t the jugs just fill up with water from the shower anyway?
It is possible that Joyce has not thought this through.
It’s fresh water! If it collects in her (*heh*) jugs, it doesn’t get icky!
(Read in soft, slightly creepy whisper) Dead skin, dirt, and pubic hair. From her own body. (Slide out of perspective)
But it’s her OWN dead skin, dirt and pubic hair! Doesn’t count! Doesn’t count!
Yeah, but it will also be full of soap. I vote for still gross.
Sarah couldn’t see Joyce’s new shower shoes until the last panel because they were off-screen.
Heh, this could be fixed if Sarah looked down in the 3rd panel. But whatevs, funny comic, let’s go with it. : )
It literally took her until panel 3 for it to filter through to her that something was amiss: “Why is Joyce suddenly my height?” Only then did she think to look down!
what’s with this entire storyline calling them sandals or shower shoes? nobody says flip flops in Indiana or something?
Flip flops are something different.
what’s the difference?
Flip flops are a shape of shoe, serving the same purpose as a sandal, often worn casually by people who are aware that yes, I DON’T have a sense of fashion, why do you ask?
Shower shoes are any shoes specifically for showering, which are normally designed to cover more of the top of the foot — and stay on more readily — than the average flip flop.
that’s crazy to me, WHY would you want to cover the top of your foot while you’re showering? don’t you want to clean your feet as well?
flip flops are best thanks to their open design: they’re the closest thing to having nothing on while still protecting the soles of feet from the germy floor
plus the shower sandals you describe sound like they trap more moisture and take longer to dry
Well, they don’t necessarily cover the entirety of the top of the foot, but having more material there helps them stay on when wet.
Not all flip-flops are shower shoes, and not all shower shoes are flip-flops. Soccer slides, hiking sandals, and water shoes are all perfectly valid alternatives to the flip-flop. My personal preference would be for a strappier hiking sandal…much grippier sole than a flip-flop, and it secures to the foot better.
I guess I’m in the minority in thinking that sandals are ‘dirty’ outside shoes while flip flops are a ‘clean’ inside ones
this is related to the discussion people had the other day about Joyce wearing her dirty boots on the couch and inside vs outside shoes
I’m fine with that line of thinking.
I’m kinda with Derek in that my ‘shower shoes’ were…flip flops. And I called them ‘my shower flip flops’.
Ah, flip-flops. Useful for the surfer look just out of the water and hanging around the slipway of an evening.
I spent whole summers in flip-flops.
Well then… that’s one way to solve that problem I guess.
From the preview panels I had thought Sarah had bought a new Other Jacob. Well I was wrong.
Joyce is going to wear her Ugg boots into the shower?
I love how close Sarah and Joyce are. A lot of stuff that would be major dynamic problems for other cast members just flow off their backs.
Depicted: Sarah shows that she likes Joyce in small ways, not just only in a grand, rare gesture.
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/05-saturdays-all-right-for-slighting/gesture/
Aw, that’s true! Nicely spotted.
I was thinking the same, but I guess I felt like I needed to be witty about it, and tonight I’m only a halfwit.
“Why yes Sarah, I did get taller. How correct for you to notice. Of course, Walky, I will acquire those Chee-Z Chaps from that very high shelf.”
“Hey, they even function in reverse!”
THAT much taller? Joyce is normally almost a full head shorter than Sarah.
Joyce is 5’4″ in the old continuity according to Walkypedia.
Yeah, and iirc Sarah’s around 5’10-5’11.
Not milk jugs,… “Water- 1 gallon size”
I am curious about her thought process for this.
I think it went “Eeek the ground is coverd in slugge!”
Noir Dumbing of Age
Narrator: Joyce and call everyone they feel will be useful.
Danny: Okay…Amazi-Girl is a go
Joyce: I got the Sal posse
Narrator: Kyle and Robin walk up.
Kyle: my old coworkers have surrounded the hotel.
Robin: I need to get better at hiring people.
Danny: So basically everyone in the dorms is going to help.
Joyce: What are you going to do?
Danny: I’ll handle support with Howard.
Narrator: Howard’s face pops up on Danny’s computer.
Howard: Hey!
Narrator: Joyce turns to Kyle and Robin.
Joyce: I’m going to handle the Duke myself.
Robin: Fair enough.
Narrator: We will now cut to Joyce, Robin, and Kyle walking towards the hotel while a massive battle rages in the background. Also we will now call the Reginald soldiers bros.
Sal: There (punches bro in face) sure are a lot of these guys.
Amazi-Girl: Just keep fighting. Let the detective get to the entrance.
Carla: Really wondering why no one has guns.
Narrator: Walky looks over and barely manages to dodge a bros punch.
Walky: I don’t think they need them!
Dorothy: I’ll watch cartoons with you tonight if you take out at least five of them.
Walky: Woohoo! (knees bro in crotch)
Kyle: Looks like those guys are being kept busy.
Narrator: Joyce kicks open the hotels front doors and rushes in. Kyle and Robin follow close behind her.
After a series of fights up the stairs, during which both Robin and Kyle showed a surprising amount of skill, they reach the top.
Kyle: This seems too easy.
Robin: Well I like easy.
Joyce: Be on guard.
Narrator: Xaviar steps out of a room.
Xaviar: The Duke doesn’t wish to be disturbed.
Kyle: You guys go on ahead, I’ll handle the lug-head.
(So this wasn’t the last one, it may be a few more)
That explains the chapter title, lol.
Did…did Joyce make DIY Moon Shoes!?
..*sniffles* I’m so proud ;^;
I love the fact that it took Sarah a moment to realize Joyce had suddenly become as tall as her.
Maybe cos I woke up at 3am and read it, but it took me that long too.
Life hacks with Joyce Brown.
Scratch that. Dorm life hacks with Joyce Brown.
What no one realizes is that those are empty gallons of bleach for obsessively washing her clothes too much.
Wait, so the bleach isn’t how she got her super shiny smile?
She doesn’t realize that she has been using it wrong for years.
Those disposable shoes better cost a dollar per pair.
I…I guess that works
Nice jugs, Joyce.
slow clap…..
The US has no equivalent of the British children’s magazine program Blue Peter. That’s odd because, frankly, that’s the only place where Joyce could have got inspiration for such a DIY solution! Maybe she saw reruns on PBS or something?
If it was Blue Peter the shoes would have lolly sticks somewhere.
What do you think Joyce is standing on that’s keeping her feet off of the bottom of the bottles? It’s a platform of lolly sticks!
When I was a wee lad, our school library had Pack-o-Fun. I suspect they are similar.
Highlights for Kids might have such a thing, but it also has Goofus and Gallant, who displayed morality without acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ as morality’s origin, so it was strictly forbidden.
WHAT IS SHE STANDING ON?!?
joyce, you’re gonna slip and die, jeeze
Yes. I was just thinking that. All it takes is one step with that plastic on slippery tile and she is done for. Granted, I’m waiting for her to trip on the first step in their room!
Aww, Sarah’s so sweet.
Joyce, I love it when you’re crazy.
what a good way to re-use bottles of bleach
She’s standing on nothing. How can she be higher?
Either squeegee sponges or some rigid platform inserted into the hollow to stand on.
Joyce has a hidden talent for crafting! Someone get her to switch her major to engineering!
I concur! Way to go, Joyce!
The jugs aren’t completely empty, and Joyce is the second coming of Jesus.
Next question!
As a citizen of ex-commie country I approve of Joyce’s ability to get by without relying on products specifically designed for their purposes. Improvisation is the God’s Skill!
Thoughtful Sarah! *Character Development!*
That’s actually a good idea, Joyce.
omg Sarah being considerate and then it’s just wasted effort. i feel like considerate Sarah needs positive reinforcement.
That’s a very, very, very important point.
Because the thing about positive reinforcement… it works much better than the negative kind. It really does. Showing that you acknowledge the effort of improvement is the absolutely best way to keep the improvement going.
That being said, I think that while this strip probably won’t make a direct follow-up*, I think that in the next few imaginary panels, Joyce will probably apologise profusely -and- make sure to thank Sarah. Because Joyce is definitely not someone who takes other people’s kindness for granted.
She might also hug Sarah just because it’s easier to hug her now that they are the same height.
Sarah will not be amused by this.
*As in showing what they will say right after the last panel here. There might still be other “adventures in the dorm showers” strips.
I’ve read that dolphin trainers make great parents. Why? Because they learn how to train dolphins — which are animals that it’s impossible to punish. (What are you gonna do, spank them?) The only thing that works is positive reinforcement. Applying those lessons to one’s own kids translates into great parenting.
As far as I remember, Joyce has never thanked Sarah outside of the Ryan incident, and there it was an indirect compliment as she praised the Lord for delivering Sarah to save her.
It’s a bit easier at times to forget to thank people ‘older’ than you since they’re ‘supposed’ to take care of you.
Actually scratch that, she did thank Sarah on Freshman Family weekend.
Apart from this situation being funny, I think Joyce will actually rather use the shoes Sarah bought. Based on her face in the last panel she realizes how dumb her own attempt is, she seems embarrassed she didn’t think is those.
I never lives in a dorm. Are the showers really that bad?
It depends on your standards. Or, more accurately, the standards of the person(s) who showered before you.
I personally would just scoop up any hair on the drain, if it was a bit too much to ignore, and toss it in the trash. But other people have a higher squick factor than I do. On the other hand, those people usually went off-campus as fast as they were able.
I lived in a dorm, lo those many years ago, and I just don’t remember this being a thing. I know I wasn’t bothered by it and I don’t remember anyone else freaking out – or even joking about it. I don’t remember “shower shoes” or any of the rest of it.
Varies.
No worse – or no better – than sharing a house.
Joyce seems to be a bit compulsive in that area. Not as bad as Hanners over in QC, but in the same line.
We have had described to us on one or two days stalls so yucky that nobody would use them.
And the imagining of those stalls is much more effective in scaring me than any drawoiing could be.
FOREWARNING: this comment is just me continuing to rant about yesterday’s comic and the Amber/AmaziGirl dynamic, so skip this comment if you want.
Honestly, I’m kind of curious if anyone knows any specific examples where AmaziGirl says that Amber is not generally safe and trustworthy (and not in the context of preventing Amber from having a trauma-induced meltdown: “be careful when she gets angry” is a lot different from “a relationship with her will hurt you”). If AmaziGirl actually is shitty to Amber, it would greatly change my perspective about her and the progress she’s made in accepting Sal. I was under the impression that most of the negative impressions about Amber were from Amber herself, not AG. But if AG sees Amber in the same way as Amber sees herself… the situation is a lot worse than I thought. That would change things from just poor self-esteem to abuse. I think it would be nice to establish just how exactly AG views Amber.
After Amber’s and Danny’s fight, where he tried to kiss Amber as she was retelling her story about rescuing Becky from Toedad, they have at least a line or two about Amber’s anger and how it’s problematic. I don’t think Amazigirl goes as far to say that Amber is the bad part of her duality, but it’s implied to an extent that Danny basically should cut down on his time with Amber and stick to Amazigirl. I’ll look for the strip in question once I’m back at my desk.
This one?
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/piece-of-shit/
It sounds like she’s angry at Amber for almost insulting her boyfriend. It could be that she really thinks Amber is untrustworthy, but it could also be her reaction in the heat of the moment.
She straight up told Sal she wasn’t a good person under her mask (implying Amber) and that she needed to protect Sal from Amber (this despite the fact that AG is the only one who has pursued violence against Sal since the convenience store – Amber sometimes tries to sic AG on her, but she’s still more likely to run away and cry).
OK, but the MASK isn’t the tell that she’s AmaziGirl, it’s the lack of rosy cheeks. And for the second point, I’m pretty sure she HAS been violent, eg in http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/hostage/
Notice the tags don’t say AG, and Amber’s rosy cheeks are visible under the mask.
I never said the mask was the tell, I’m saying AG is the one insisting she’s not a good person and is dangerous in particular to Sal, which has not been the case since said stabbing. Amber’s response from Sal is to freeze up, and then run away, usually crying. Sometimes she tries to sic AG on her, but AG’s the only one who has attacked and tried to do violence to Sal since the robbery.
Its funny and all but why not just wear jandals?
Because then the sandals touch the sludge and Joyce would have to throw them out.
And she’s not going to wash them in the same sink she brushes her teeth in (or, presumably, toss them in the same washing machine her clothes go in).
I’d love to see a one off where Joyce joins the military and has to deal with communal showers
I think she’d refuse to go. XD
Could be a one shot instead
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/02-that-perfect-girl/kd/
I approve.
I’m surprised no one’s gotten her those plastic shoe covers yet. I think you can get them in bulk and average out about 30¢/pair.
Those are what Sarah’s offering here, except they just go over her feet.
Spa shoes are mostly made of cheap fabric with something akin to cardboard in the center for stability, and are more expensive per unit (~$1.20/pair). That’s probably more similar to what Sarah actually got Joyce.
Willis also tends to use lots of references, and given the lack of a box in any of the images for what I’m talking about on sites like amazon, I have a very strong feeling they’re different.
joyce has learned the 4Rs : Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Repurpose. Joyce levels up in Ecowarrior.
Achievement get!
I’m not sure if those are milk jugs or bottles of bleach that Joyce has strapped to her feet, but I’m positive that neither are more sanitary than a shower stall filled with soapy water. I know it might be a little modly, but still…. I mean if I have to come into contact with any type of foreign materials, I would at least choose something that I know my immune system can handle and fight off. Mold is one thing, but bacteria and hormone laden milk or bleach that is essentially so sterile that it prohibits your immune system from fighting off anything even remotely related to infection is probably a little hazardous to your health down the road. Especially if it is absorbed into the skin or gets into a cut or something on your feet
Panel One: THANK YOU, SARAH. She’s needed a pair for so long. And yeah, makes sense. Sarah can be good with practical solutions like this. This is a good solution for Joyce’s neurosis. And so so so cute she’s trying to help with a reach out and solution. Good job big sis-ing, Sarah. A+
Panel Two: Joyce seems unphased. BBCC is slightly displeased because this solution was adorable. And it’s cute seeing Sarah explaining it to her.
Panel Three: And then it sinks in – ‘wait, Joyce is suddenly just as tall as me, what happened, what’. Joyce isn’t even blinking, and is just waiting for Sarah’s reaction.
Panel Four: Awwwwwwww. Joyce’s sheepish grin here is precious! And Sarah’s grumpy throwing the shoes over her shoulder. Awww. She meant so well. Darn it, Joyce.
Although, frankly, I’m surprised she can stand on that milk jug. You’d think she’d be too heavy. Though then again, Joyce is apparently 30% sweater.