Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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when 'leave room for jesus' becomes 'save room for dessert'
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May 5, 2026

Churchless

by David M Willis on July 14, 2019 at 12:01 am
  • 04 - Vote for Robin
└ Tags: joyce, sarah

Discussion (160) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    July 14, 2019 at 12:05 am | #

    “now, hear me out… THREE scoops”

    “YOU GO TO FAR”

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      July 14, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

      Get thee behind me, Satan!…I was in this ice cream line first!

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        July 14, 2019 at 1:06 am | #

        Goddammit, that’s funnier than it has any right to be.

    • JetstreamGW
      JetstreamGW
      July 14, 2019 at 12:07 am | #

      NOT IF IT’S A BANANA SPLIT!

    • Suitora
      Suitora
      July 14, 2019 at 12:09 am | #

      “You know not the immense power you speak of, Joyce! You could destroy the natural order of the universe!”

      “I must do it. For it is I whose drill shall pierce the heavens!”

      “I understand. I won’t stand in your way, Joyce.”

    • jeffepp
      jeffepp
      July 14, 2019 at 12:36 am | #

      Ice cream Sundae

      • Chris Phoenix
        Chris Phoenix
        July 14, 2019 at 4:47 am | #

        Sundae actually gets its name from Sunday.

        Not long after soda was invented, the U.S. was/is so religiously weird that we actually, in several places, passed laws that made it illegal to serve sodas on Sunday. Sweetened carbonated drinks were too decadent, or something like that – anyway, not suitable for the Lord’s day.

        Soda fountains (businesses that sold soda over the counter) wanted to continue to sell their soda-flavorded-sugar-syrup on Sunday, but they weren’t allowed to mix it with water. So they poured it over ice cream. And thus, the “Sunday Soda” was created – later shortened to “Sundae.”

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        July 14, 2019 at 11:37 am | #

        A man is shipwrecked on a desert island. He searches the entire island, and while he finds potable water, he doesn’t find a food source. The only thing he’s able to recover from his sunken ship is a calendar.

        A year later, he is rescued in perfect health. The rescue crew asks him how he survived for a year with no food.

        “Easy”, says the man. “I ate the dates from the calendar, and every week I got a Sunday”.

        • Charlie
          Charlie
          July 14, 2019 at 7:24 pm | #

          That… doesn’t sound nutritionally complete.

    • Walky_Talky
      Walky_Talky
      July 14, 2019 at 2:46 am | #

      You’re verging on the devil’s brain freeze territory if you go three scoops.

      • raker
        raker
        July 14, 2019 at 2:17 pm | #

        She went full sundae. You never go full sundae.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      July 14, 2019 at 9:19 am | #

      It’s more serious than you think.

      Look at that cone. It’s got chocolate. AND vanilla.

      TWO flavors. TOUCHING. RUNNING TOGETHER.

      Who IS this, and what has she DONE with our Joyce?!?!

    • S'toon
      S'toon
      July 14, 2019 at 7:15 pm | #

      You have meddled with the primal forces of NATURE, and YOU. SHALL. ATONE!

  2. ADLegend21
    ADLegend21
    July 14, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    Big mood Joyce. Churchless Heathen has perks!

  3. William Leonard Reese Jr.
    William Leonard Reese Jr.
    July 14, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    . . . .This is a cute page. I always like seeing these two get a long and they’ve been doing so well together lately as well.

    • Abbefaria
      Abbefaria
      July 14, 2019 at 9:49 am | #

      I think on some level Sarah is realizing more about Joyce as a person that she previously just wrote off as her being a religious nut. Example presently Joyce trying to change if only with baby steps. Also she’s realized by now that her usual cynical nature is either going over Joyce’s head or Joyce literally and genuinely cares about her as a friend enough to not care if she does understand.

      Oh and that Joyce is innocent…but not naive. (at least not overly so in my op)

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        July 14, 2019 at 4:24 pm | #

        “Innocent but not naive” is the perfect way to describe Joyce. She’s so smart (like, everyone is, and I love it), she just hasn’t seen very much of the world.

  4. ValdVin
    ValdVin
    July 14, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    Skipping church is one thing. Associating skipping church with two scoops of ice cream? That’s really piling on the competition.

    • motorfirebox
      motorfirebox
      July 14, 2019 at 12:46 am | #

      I mean, not going to church is a pretty big draw all by itself.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      July 14, 2019 at 3:09 am | #

      Just sleeping in instead of getting up early to go to church seems pretty good already. Having ice cream as well is even better.

      • ShinyNeen
        ShinyNeen
        July 14, 2019 at 11:56 am | #

        Next time, she could have ice cream… in bed!

        • MatthewTheLucky
          MatthewTheLucky
          July 14, 2019 at 8:07 pm | #

          TOO FAR TOO FAR

  5. Shiro
    Shiro
    July 14, 2019 at 12:06 am | #

    Are chocolate and vanilla allowed to touch in Joyce rules, or is this another glimpse of New Joyce Who Questions Her Faith And Occasionally Has Meatballs On Her Noodles?

    • JetstreamGW
      JetstreamGW
      July 14, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

      Chocolate and vanilla are the same food product, just different flavors. Putting fruit, candy, or cookies on the ice cream is almost certainly verboten.

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        July 14, 2019 at 12:09 am | #

        What if it’s a flavor of ice cream that has those components already integrated?

        It Joyce gonna break out the tweezers and spend hours extracting the cookies from her cookies ‘n creme?

      • TheOthin
        TheOthin
        July 14, 2019 at 12:11 am | #

        Especially since Joyce’s food sensitivities most likely relate a lot to texture.

        • BBCC
          BBCC
          July 14, 2019 at 12:13 am | #

          I’m like that too, although mine also apply to when the food touching makes it taste different. I can’t do mixed flavours. Neapolitan ice cream disgusts me viscerally on every level and all who enjoy it are heathens. 😛

      • ValdVin
        ValdVin
        July 14, 2019 at 12:22 am | #

        Cookies? Okay, I wasn’t wondering about it but now I need to know: Are Oreos something Joyce needs to separate into component parts?

        • BarerMender
          BarerMender
          July 14, 2019 at 12:37 am | #

          I thought that was the proper way to eat an Oreo.

          • He Who Abides
            He Who Abides
            July 14, 2019 at 1:07 am | #

            It’s the ONLY way to eat an Oreo. It’s in the Bible and everything.

          • ValdVin
            ValdVin
            July 14, 2019 at 7:50 pm | #

            My wife, who is a confirmed dunker, would like a word with you on that.

            (Of course I don’t see Joyce doing it.)

    • Emeraldbeacon
      Emeraldbeacon
      July 14, 2019 at 1:52 am | #

      Vanilla and Chocolate… Are we talking about Ice Cream flavors, or Joyce’s repressed desires for Jacob…?

  6. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    July 14, 2019 at 12:07 am | #

    Also be Church’s-less because their chicken is fucking gross.

  7. Dean
    Dean
    July 14, 2019 at 12:07 am | #

    What would it take to get sprinkles, though?

    • Shiro
      Shiro
      July 14, 2019 at 12:09 am | #

      Practicing witchcraft

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      July 14, 2019 at 12:21 am | #

      RAINBOW SPRINKLES.

      • Minim
        Minim
        July 14, 2019 at 5:29 am | #

        Except the blue ones, obviously, they have to go.

  8. Stephen Bierce
    Stephen Bierce
    July 14, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

    *plays David Bowie’s “Loving The Alien” on the hacked Muzak*
    Wondering if the cream came from sacred cows.

  9. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    July 14, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

    Huh, Joyce is handling/hiding this whole not going to church thing pretty well so far. She even went and got herself some ice cream. So for all the churchless heathens innthe comments, what is your favorite ice cream?

    Mine is chocolate chip cookie dough/fudge.

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      July 14, 2019 at 12:12 am | #

      Mint Chocolate Chip.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      July 14, 2019 at 12:12 am | #

      Vanilla. Occasionally I’ll eat chocolate chip.

    • AutobotDen
      AutobotDen
      July 14, 2019 at 12:13 am | #

      coffee flavor is my personal favorite, though I won’t say no to chocolate chip cookie dough.

    • mrnoidea
      mrnoidea
      July 14, 2019 at 12:16 am | #

      Chocolate Brownie Thunder.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      July 14, 2019 at 12:22 am | #

      Orange sherbet with brownie bits.

    • MixMax
      MixMax
      July 14, 2019 at 12:25 am | #

      Raspberry chocolate chip all the way.

    • vlademir1
      vlademir1
      July 14, 2019 at 12:32 am | #

      Butter Pecan is my main, but Haagen Dazs lemon sorbet is a close second and vanilla is the only ice cream that I care for on other foods or as soft serve.

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      July 14, 2019 at 12:39 am | #

      There used to be an ice cream store on Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village that was only open in the summer. They had a Mexican vanilla that had tiny slivers of vanilla in it. Best I’ve ever tasted. Never seen it anywhere else.

    • C.
      C.
      July 14, 2019 at 12:42 am | #

      Cookies and cream.

    • Illithid
      Illithid
      July 14, 2019 at 12:51 am | #

      Tin Roof. Sometimes Butter Crunch.

      I survived the great Bluebell famine of 2015.

      • Sparda
        Sparda
        July 14, 2019 at 2:21 am | #

        Another Tin Roof fan! 😀

    • King Daniel
      King Daniel
      July 14, 2019 at 1:06 am | #

      Strawberry here, or banana instead if it’s of good enough quality.

    • He Who Abides
      He Who Abides
      July 14, 2019 at 1:09 am | #

      Literally anything without fruit or marshmallows.

    • dethtoll
      dethtoll
      July 14, 2019 at 1:39 am | #

      Orange (or lime, or lemon) sherbet. And if that doesn’t count, cookies and cream. Or anything with lots of peanut butter in it.

    • Michelle J. Caboose
      Michelle J. Caboose
      July 14, 2019 at 1:43 am | #

      Bluebell’s Groom’s Cake. The local Food King got me hooked on it, then has refused to stock it since. 🙁

    • foamy
      foamy
      July 14, 2019 at 2:16 am | #

      Dark chocolate & cherry.

    • Delicious Taffy
      Delicious Taffy
      July 14, 2019 at 2:18 am | #

      Gimme some combination of chocolate, mint, coffee, and peanut butter. Or rainbow sherbet.

    • Moon
      Moon
      July 14, 2019 at 2:25 am | #

      Blue Moon. IDK what the flavor actually is. It’s just like. Blue flavor ice cream.

    • Elsendor
      Elsendor
      July 14, 2019 at 2:31 am | #

      i will say my early life was p much exactly joyce’s and this is p much how it went. skipping church was never something that was HUGE and MONUMENTAL it just sorta happened and it was like. huh. didnt get struck down. neat.

      now im just waiting on this girl to turn out to be trans bc thats what i did (tho tbf, that was after college and at the rate this comic goes….)

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      July 14, 2019 at 3:13 am | #

      I forget what the name of it was, but my favorite ice cream that I had most recently has bits of Reese’s peanut butter cups in it.

      Now I’m hungry for ice cream.

    • Ed Rhodes
      Ed Rhodes
      July 14, 2019 at 5:07 am | #

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=beTsDOBRs8I

      I think that says it all.

    • Nenja
      Nenja
      July 14, 2019 at 5:11 am | #

      Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

    • Minim
      Minim
      July 14, 2019 at 5:31 am | #

      I like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. But separately.

    • Vampirechipmunk
      Vampirechipmunk
      July 14, 2019 at 6:12 am | #

      I love me some mint chocolate chip

    • Agemegos
      Agemegos
      July 14, 2019 at 6:44 am | #

      Pistachio.

    • AbelUndercity
      AbelUndercity
      July 14, 2019 at 6:57 am | #

      Butter pecan

    • Ryek Hvek
      Ryek Hvek
      July 14, 2019 at 8:38 am | #

      Strawberry Almond Chip – a creation of the old Howard Johnson’s corporation

    • FacelessDeviant
      FacelessDeviant
      July 14, 2019 at 9:11 am | #

      Rasberry sherbet.

    • Deanatay
      Deanatay
      July 14, 2019 at 9:23 am | #

      Half-Baked. Mixing CCCD and Chocolate Fudge Brownie is the ultimate in sacriliciousness.

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        July 14, 2019 at 4:26 pm | #

        Ooh, I had that one once. It was glorious.

    • thejeff
      thejeff
      July 14, 2019 at 9:23 am | #

      The University of Connecticut’s Dairy Bar makes a peach ice cream that’s ridiculously good. Outside of that vanilla or some other fruit flavors.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      July 14, 2019 at 9:38 am | #

      I like peanut butter, or the kind with chopped-up peanut butter cups in it.

      Been having more mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt lately, though.

    • StClair
      StClair
      July 14, 2019 at 11:02 am | #

      That is a tough question. I have several – but probably cookies and cream for the top spot.

      Others: Heath Bar (chocolate-coated toffee chunks in vanilla), strawberry cheesecake, blackberry swirl in vanilla, and various sherbets/sorbets.

    • Freemage
      Freemage
      July 14, 2019 at 11:54 am | #

      Jeni’s Queen City Cayenne–chocolate ice cream with hot pepper mixed in.
      https://jenis.com/flavors/ice-creams/queen-city-cayenne/

  10. Gojira
    Gojira
    July 14, 2019 at 12:08 am | #

    Wait a sec…is that two DIFFERENT flavors of ice cream (touching each other!) that she’s eating?!? Who is this and what did she do with Joyce?

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      July 14, 2019 at 12:23 am | #

      More to the point, THAT’S NOT SOFT SERVE!

      • jmsr7
        jmsr7
        July 14, 2019 at 1:38 am | #

        Hard ice cream for a hard new woman.

    • AbelUndercity
      AbelUndercity
      July 14, 2019 at 6:58 am | #

      Ice cream can touch ice cream. It’s a loophole.

  11. BBCC
    BBCC
    July 14, 2019 at 12:10 am | #

    I would never dream of judging Joyce for not going to church. I will judge the FUCK out of her for having two different flavours touching though. Gross.

  12. Marsh Maryrose
    Marsh Maryrose
    July 14, 2019 at 12:11 am | #

    I’m assuming we have seen the POOP sign somewhere before, presumably in the background of a strip. I am assuming this because Willis loves to put in little Easter eggs like this.

    Can anyone confirm?

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      July 14, 2019 at 12:12 am | #

      Yeah, it’s been around. It’s on their bathroom door.

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      July 14, 2019 at 3:21 am | #

      I’m assuming it’s been in previous strips, but I somehow never noticed it until today’s strip.

      • Keulen
        Keulen
        July 14, 2019 at 3:24 am | #

        I found one previous strip where the POOP sign was in the background:
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/03-the-butterflies-fly-away/nemeses/

  13. MatthewTheLucky
    MatthewTheLucky
    July 14, 2019 at 12:13 am | #

    Is this the first time we’ve seen Sarah with her hair down?

    • Bunny
      Bunny
      July 14, 2019 at 12:28 am | #

      I think so? She might have done it differently bc i remember it being in a poof, here it looks like locs?

    • Rotunda
      Rotunda
      July 14, 2019 at 12:37 am | #

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/goodmorning-2/

      • MatthewTheLucky
        MatthewTheLucky
        July 14, 2019 at 12:53 am | #

        She still has an up-do in that strip, so no.

    • showler
      showler
      July 14, 2019 at 7:03 am | #

      Technically we saw it down in her earlier appearance on this same Sunday morning, but the back of her head was out of frame the whole time.

      I actually was trying to figure out what kind of hat she was wearing in place of her kerchief before I realized it was just her hair.

  14. mrnoidea
    mrnoidea
    July 14, 2019 at 12:22 am | #

    Two scoops of ice cream? Fidel Castro must be laughing in his grave.

    • Bagge
      Bagge
      July 14, 2019 at 3:21 am | #

      Hey, baby steps

      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-two-icecream-scoops-guests-get-one-time-magazine-diet-coke-thousand-island-dressing-a7732101.html

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        July 14, 2019 at 5:52 pm | #

        That URL is gibberish.

  15. 1 2 2 50 in Roman numerals
    1 2 2 50 in Roman numerals
    July 14, 2019 at 12:23 am | #

    In case of emergency church can be replaced with icecream

    • Agemegos
      Agemegos
      July 14, 2019 at 12:25 am | #

      Why wait for an emergency?

      • Wizard
        Wizard
        July 14, 2019 at 5:46 am | #

        Lack of ice cream constitutes a legitimate emergency.

  16. timemonkey
    timemonkey
    July 14, 2019 at 12:25 am | #

    The whole point of church is to keep people from realising how much more awesome not going to church is. God is everywhere nd all knowing, He hears you just as well at home as he does in church.

    • Koms
      Koms
      July 14, 2019 at 7:53 am | #

      Wasn’t there a Simpsons episode where Homer doesn’t go to church?

      • Delicious Taffy
        Delicious Taffy
        July 14, 2019 at 8:28 am | #

        Yeah, and he has a fantastic day.

      • timemonkey
        timemonkey
        July 14, 2019 at 10:09 am | #

        He also proved beyond a doubt that God isn’t real.

  17. Catman
    Catman
    July 14, 2019 at 12:26 am | #

    Hatless Sarah cute

  18. abysswatcher1993
    abysswatcher1993
    July 14, 2019 at 12:28 am | #

    I became a churchless heathen in 2013 and I just use my time from Sunday to do homework, eat ramen at a maid cafe and watch cartoons.

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      July 14, 2019 at 12:42 am | #

      I became a heathen in 1963, but I had to keep going to church until I left home. I didn’t even dare suggest otherwise.

  19. Newllend(henryvolt)
    Newllend(henryvolt)
    July 14, 2019 at 12:28 am | #

    Sarah’s hair…looks beutifal like this.

  20. FLUFFYWOLF
    FLUFFYWOLF
    July 14, 2019 at 12:31 am | #

    Well, to quote Rory’s mother in Something Positive: Salvation will never feel as good as being able to sleep in.

    • Dana
      Dana
      July 14, 2019 at 12:38 am | #

      Billie agrees.

  21. ian livs
    ian livs
    July 14, 2019 at 12:35 am | #

    Careful, Joyce, you’re gonna end up conditioning yourself into associating skipping church with the sweet, sweet taste of ice cream. 🙂

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      July 14, 2019 at 12:43 am | #

      Not to mention with sweet, sweet freedom.

  22. GoblinScribe
    GoblinScribe
    July 14, 2019 at 12:56 am | #

    Sarah looks a lot like Dora from QC right now. Is that just me?

    Anyways, I read Joyce’s “churchless heathen” as sort of self-aware joking, and not literally how she sees herself—or at least, she wants it to come across that way. She’s using humor to disguise that she’s actually feeling really guilty right now. “Back from being a churchless heathen, haha. Ice cream.”

    I say this ’cause I think we have an instinct to read Joyce’s “silly” stuff at face value, and I think she’s a bit more self-aware these days than people remember.

  23. Pocky
    Pocky
    July 14, 2019 at 1:09 am | #

    Hold up; when was it that being a churchless heathen came with two scoops of ice cream?

    Either Joyce is special; or my local ice cream shop has been holding out on me for years.

  24. He Who Abides
    He Who Abides
    July 14, 2019 at 1:20 am | #

    I feel like Sarah’s going to convince Joyce to somehow keep the faith. I mean, it’s clear (to me, anyway) that Joyce is hurting far more than she’s letting on, and she needs to talk about it. Maybe she doesn’t go to church every week. Maybe she starts letting off steam through video games (the Devil’s recruiters!) or other things her family wouldn’t allow because they saw them as sinful. I can’t say for certain. But Joyce’s faith has been a part of her life for so long, that I don’t think throwing it away will do anything other than hurt her even more. And I think Sarah knows that, and cares enough about Joyce to do whatever it takes to restore that faith; y’know, like a big sister does. Even if it means sitting through a few masses. It’s worth it to both of them, and I’m hoping that’s what happens.

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      July 14, 2019 at 2:15 am | #

      Take it from someone who “threw away” (i.e., got rid of, evaded, escaped, shucked, shit-canned) his faith: You are wrong, wrong, wrong. I went from Catholic to agnostic to atheist in a week, and my life has been better every day since. Even on the terrible days. Even for every day of two and a half years of deep, black depression. Believing was the worst.

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        July 14, 2019 at 7:12 pm | #

        Well, I can’t speak to your experience (and wouldn’t even if I knew it, it’s your story), but with Joyce it seems more like she’s questioning God because of all the other issues in her life currently as opposed to because she’s hit the breaking point between her and God. I could have the wrong read on it (and could have said it better in my first post), but that’s just how it looks to me.

    • Shane Wegner
      Shane Wegner
      July 14, 2019 at 4:25 am | #

      “Do whatever it takes to restore Joyce’s faith”?? Nah, that’s not Sarah. She doesn’t do mushy reaching out like that, and it’s beyond her character to say “Oh you lost your faith, that means you’re broken but I will go to lots of boring masses to fix you.”

      If anything it feels more likely Sarah would say “Yeah that’ll happen, it’s probably better this way.”

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        July 14, 2019 at 6:58 pm | #

        Okay, I probably said it wrong in my original post, but I feel like she’s at least going to try and get Joyce to talk to someone about everything she’s going through right now. It just feels like . . . I dunno, like Joyce’s current crisis is a lot deeper than she wants people to think it is, and I know from experience that you don’t want to bottle all that shit up. And frankly, it seemed out of character for her to become the surrogate big sister of a naive little fundie white girl. But here we are. And honestly, if Joyce asks her to come, just to make sure that she (Joyce) goes, I suspect she would. I mean, she’d put on a show so everyone else knows she’s been “forced” to go, but I doubt she’d leave her “little sister” hanging if asked.

    • Agemegos
      Agemegos
      July 14, 2019 at 5:45 am | #

      Perhaps this is because I have never been a believer, was not raised as one… but the idea that “throwing away” a belief is a discretionary act, that it belief be restored by sitting through masses, seems like a strange one to me. It seems to me that I am persuaded to belief by evidence and argument, not that I choose what to believe and then believe it. No doubt I am subject to cognitive biases. Perhaps in a way they reflect a sub-conscious choice to believe this or that. But I never got the argument in Pascal’s Wager, that I should believe in my interlocutor’s god because it would be advantageous to me to believe. I can’t do that. I can’t believe what seems not to be true.

      • He Who Abides
        He Who Abides
        July 14, 2019 at 7:08 pm | #

        I wasn’t raised as a believer either, but mass seemed like it was important to Joyce. And honestly, I think she could use something routine right now. After all the crap she’s been through so far (the roofie, Becky, her parents, Becky’s dad, et cetera) the girl could use something normal for her in her life to anchor herself right now. Something that let’s her keep her sanity. Because, while the Slipshine subscribers might enjoy Joyce engaged in some hard-core premarital hanky panky (or whatever she does when she absolutely loses her shit over everything), it probably wouldn’t be good for her in the long run.

    • Nathalie L Achille
      Nathalie L Achille
      July 14, 2019 at 8:58 am | #

      I don’t know if Sarah can or would want to do anything about Joyce’s crisis in faith, except try to be supportive.

      I do hope that Joyce can find peace and that she can find her way back to her faith, in a way that is authentic to her as opposed to what was passed down from her upbringing.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      July 14, 2019 at 9:05 pm | #

      Is it called mass with nondenominational protestants? I thought that was a Catholic thing?

      • David M Willis
        David M Willis
        July 14, 2019 at 9:53 pm | #

        it is not called mass

        • He Who Abides
          He Who Abides
          July 14, 2019 at 10:56 pm | #

          Sorry, then. Most religious people I knew growing up were Catholic, and the term stuck.

          • BBCC
            BBCC
            July 14, 2019 at 11:56 pm | #

            I think it’s just called ‘the service’ or ‘church’ with Protestants. I dunno, I went to a Catholic school, so my guess is as good as yours.

  25. All-Purpose Guru
    All-Purpose Guru
    July 14, 2019 at 1:47 am | #

    I like the sign on the bathroom. Although why it’s a stop sign I’m not sure.

    • BBCC
      BBCC
      July 14, 2019 at 1:51 am | #

      Stop people from coming in I assume.

    • BarerMender
      BarerMender
      July 14, 2019 at 2:16 am | #

      Short for Poop stop?”

    • ktbear
      ktbear
      July 14, 2019 at 5:35 am | #

      Trying to decide if thats a really badly placed POOP sign or a brillantly thought out placement of said POOP sign. I mean, Willis being a comic genious n all it has to be the latter because there are a hundred other angles this scene could have been shown from, right?

    • CJ
      CJ
      July 14, 2019 at 10:32 am | #

      They share the loo with the people next door. You never know what has just happened behind that door.

      • All-Purpose Guru
        All-Purpose Guru
        July 16, 2019 at 1:33 am | #

        Wait, they have common showers. They would also have common shitters. IIRC this is Read Hall at IU Bloomington, which has common bathrooms.

        Not everyone gets the 2 rooms plus a john setup, even now. Nobody had that at all when I was in University, and all the same buildings at my school are still there, just a bit more moldy and crumbly.

  26. Bagge
    Bagge
    July 14, 2019 at 1:59 am | #

    Come to the dark side, we got ice cream

    • Clif
      Clif
      July 14, 2019 at 2:14 am | #

      In how many flavors? Asking for a friend.

      • BarerMender
        BarerMender
        July 14, 2019 at 2:17 am | #

        All the flavors. Flavors you never dreamed. Do yourself — I mean, your friend — a huge favor.

        • ShinyNeen
          ShinyNeen
          July 14, 2019 at 11:57 am | #

          I love all the flavors here on the dark side. My favorite is Dark Strawberry, but Dark Vanilla is pretty awesome when it’s topped with Dark Sprinkles.

      • Bagge
        Bagge
        July 14, 2019 at 2:49 am | #

        Two, apparently

  27. Elsendor
    Elsendor
    July 14, 2019 at 2:33 am | #

    oh my flip i just realized i’m not joyce i’m joss, but trans in the other direction. dang.

  28. BenRG
    BenRG
    July 14, 2019 at 2:48 am | #

    Joyce, I honestly think that those two things do not exist in a ‘because…’ or ‘either/or’ equation.

  29. NinjaNick
    NinjaNick
    July 14, 2019 at 3:00 am | #

    Thank God for ice cream.

  30. Keulen
    Keulen
    July 14, 2019 at 3:16 am | #

    DoA Book 9: Being A Churchless Heathen’s A Pretty Sweet Deal

  31. Eve
    Eve
    July 14, 2019 at 3:20 am | #

    huh, usually Sarah wears something on her head or has the hair pulled together somehow, I don’t remember just seeing it loose before.

    • BenRG
      BenRG
      July 14, 2019 at 4:25 am | #

      Everyone in the dorm seems to be going through a few transformational experiences right now. Sarah is marking this by stopping wearing her bandanna.

      • Eve
        Eve
        July 14, 2019 at 5:00 am | #

        Even without the bandana she usually has it up in a ponytale or something http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/awesome-2/

        I think the last time we saw it just down she was entering the shower. ..And now that I look at that page, her hair was way bigger like it normally is, this strip kinda like she’s trying dreads. Everyone really is getting changes.

      • No Name
        No Name
        July 15, 2019 at 1:51 am | #

        Sal is going through a transformation of being uncool for once.

    • Heatth
      Heatth
      July 14, 2019 at 3:11 pm | #

      I kinda assumed she have just taken a bath.

  32. Scubasteve0209
    Scubasteve0209
    July 14, 2019 at 3:53 am | #

    Pretty sure that’s how you put on the “Freshman 15…. years in purgatory.”

    • Agemegos
      Agemegos
      July 14, 2019 at 5:49 am | #

      I shed my freshman fifteen instead of putting them on. Started first year at 86 kg (190 lb), finished it at 79 kg (174 lb).

  33. KSClaw
    KSClaw
    July 14, 2019 at 6:44 am | #

    What if you get three scoops?

    • StClair
      StClair
      July 14, 2019 at 11:18 am | #

      YOU AM PLAY GODS

  34. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    July 14, 2019 at 7:05 am | #

    Sarah looks impressed by Joyce new philosophy. Next time they have to go together. Ice cream is better if you eat it with friends.

  35. Lone Duck
    Lone Duck
    July 14, 2019 at 7:06 am | #

    Now I myself am a churchless heathen… But… You can go to church AND get ice cream. Heck, if you find the right church, you could get ice cream at church!

  36. TheFlamingonator
    TheFlamingonator
    July 14, 2019 at 7:56 am | #

    ok how long until she gets a Rainbow flavored scoop though

    • Zaxares
      Zaxares
      July 14, 2019 at 8:46 am | #

      True story from when I was a kid. When I had my first rainbow ice cream, my Mom asked me what it tasted like. I apparently licked my lips a couple of times, then said “Sugar”. XD

  37. Fogel
    Fogel
    July 14, 2019 at 8:16 am | #

    Yeah, yeah, churchlessheathenicecream, sure, BUT SARAH! She’s not wearing a babushka… We can see her hair!!! HER HAIR

  38. HMH
    HMH
    July 14, 2019 at 11:04 am | #

    Ohmygod this is too cute.

    • ShinyNeen
      ShinyNeen
      July 14, 2019 at 12:10 pm | #

      Twooo scoops

  39. SpaceshipPilot
    SpaceshipPilot
    July 14, 2019 at 11:29 am | #

    Mmmm, ice cream. Now I’m hungry.

  40. John
    John
    July 14, 2019 at 2:01 pm | #

    …Wow, this just got real. This is literally what I do every week instead of go to church. I get ice cream and walk around.

  41. Mra
    Mra
    July 14, 2019 at 3:19 pm | #

    Is this really the first time she hasn’t gone to church. She’s never been sick and had to stay home or something?

    • He Who Abides
      He Who Abides
      July 15, 2019 at 4:59 am | #

      That wouldn’t be a willful decision, so I doubt she’d count it.

  42. BBCC
    BBCC
    July 14, 2019 at 4:08 pm | #

    Okay, so this is really awkward, but this is a fundraiser for the royal school for the blind in Liverpool. It’s something fans do every year in honour of Brian Jacques’ birthday. You might know him from his books, but it’s a good cause regardless. If anybody wouldn’t mind spreading the link since it’s the last day, I’d be very grateful.

    https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bjbd2019

  43. JA
    JA
    July 14, 2019 at 5:37 pm | #

    Sarah without a hat or bandana…good look for her.

    • Nat
      Nat
      July 14, 2019 at 5:59 pm | #

      Yeah she looks cute

  44. Meagan
    Meagan
    July 15, 2019 at 12:54 am | #

    Joyce’s expression in panel three is like “baffled overlaying self-satisfied”

  45. No Name
    No Name
    July 15, 2019 at 1:49 am | #

    Sarah’s head is naaaked

  46. Kendra
    Kendra
    July 15, 2019 at 11:18 pm | #

    Is that why I’m fat? I didn’t leave enough room for Jesus?

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