The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
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!
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?
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Heroes of Thantopolis
Izzy Strontium Hall
A living boy fights to save the City of the Dead.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
MASKLESS
kickingshoes
In a world where people can wield the magic of elemental Masks, all Ashe wants to do is help. Maskless and useless, with dreams of fire and smoke on the back of his tongue, he finds himself on a strange, dangerous path to uncovering the secrets of these incredible objects, and the source of the monsters plaguing his home.
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.
Anarchy Dreamers
Emily Ree
Sparkly undead kids fight society's worst Nightmares in this pastel-punk urban fantasy coming-of-age!
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Starhammer
J.N. Monk, Harry Bogosian
A teen girl inherits a powerful alien artifact and proceeds to make a series of increasingly poor decisions
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.
The Hunter of Insania
Aoi Maneki
Wiol Alkko sells fake magical objects to those desperate for cures. When he tries to scam a real witch, she curses him: within a year, Wiol must learn and respect magic, or succumb to corruption of body and mind.
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.
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
The Din
Karin (Karrey)
The Din changed the world, mankind & its technology. Gregg Emilio dreams of flying in a sky that hasn't carried airplanes in a century.
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.
Ozzie the Vampire
Eric Lide
Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy are your average everyday normal art students – except one is an immortal vampire with superpowers and the other possesses a magic talking grimoire. Also they have to save their town from a demonic invasion.
The Mash
L.F. Garcia, Danigami
In a world shrouded in mystery and threatened by great evil,a young mummy prince will use his new life to unite with other monster children to save it.
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 Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
Laws and Sausages
Zach Weinersmith
Your cartoon guide to the American governement!
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
The Glass Scientists
Sage (S.H.) Cotugno
A gaslamp fantasy comic about the life and times of a ragtag group of mad scientists and their enigmatic leader, Dr. Henry Jekyll.
Peritale
Mari Costa
A fairy godmother with no magic tries her best to successfully fulfill a Fairytale and win the respect of her peers.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
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.
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.
Sufficiently Remarkable
Maki Naro
Two young women living in Brooklyn discover that you're always coming of age.
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.
Elephant Town
Danielle Corsetto
The long, slow tale of Kris, Paul, Berto and Mirando, four people who live in the same creaky old house, but don't know each other. New chapter updates every 2 months.
[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.)
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.
Witchy
Ariel Slamet Ries
In the witch kingdom Hyalin, the strength of your magic is determined by the length of your hair.
No Need for Bushido
Suburban Samurai, J W Kovell
The flash of a blade, the clash of steel! A runaway princess and her samurai companion navigate a fractured country on the brink of war.
Demon Street
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Two kids explore a world full of monsters and magic trying to find their way home again. But when home has been stolen from you, where do you go to get it back?
Little Red & Wolf
Aoi Maneki
Delve into the daily lives of two famous fairytale characters, and their adventures in this big weird world we all live in.
Wilde Life
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Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
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!
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
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.
Novae
KaiJu
A historical romance with a touch magic and a dash of astronomy. It chronicles the romantic adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer.
Never Satisfied
Taylor Robin
Lucy Marlowe, a magician's apprentice, competes against other apprentices for an important, magical, Goverment Job.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Awaken
Koti Saavedra/Flipfloppery
Superpowers, monsters and conspiracies. Piras, the spoiled Dameschi heir, fights to recover his identity after becoming a terrorist!
Awkward Zombie
Katie Tiedrich
Gags and goofs about videogames and the things that happen in them.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
Kelly Turnbull
A weekly comic celebrating the finer things in life. Like manly men, lumberjacks, and time traveling special ops agents.
Parisa
Ellen K
Two friends, Nolan and Gwen, take it upon themselves to escort the amnesiac spirit Lelief across the world of Parisa.
Helvetica
J.N. Wiedle
This story follows Helvetica's quest to uncover who he was in life, his existential crises, and his struggle to to make death worth living.
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!
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
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We can hope.
Although I’m guessing we aren’t going to be getting a Joyeuse slipshine for a while yet. This feels like it’s going to need some time to progress.
It’ll be glorious once it happens though. I’ll be honest I spent a long time not particularly liking Joyce but more and more recently I’ve begun to like her a biiiit more. And starting to find her kinda hot, unexpectedly. Though that could be how Willis’ art style shift has effected her proportions.
I’ve been an atheist since I was 12, although only around then was I a super-obnoxious version of one, so, it surprised me but when Joyce rejected her fundie BS upbringing, that was what made her hot to me; I guess as long as she’s not thinking that she’s evil for wanting to “snap and suck a billion dicks” then it’s like the mental block going “Ew, no, crazy fundie” is lifted. I’ve always liked her though, her heart’s almost always in the right place even if she has no ass-idea in fuck-nowhere of how to behave considerately someitmes.
I’m not gonna lie. It was actually the Joyce and Walky married life strips that got me. was introduced through DOA , going back and reading Its Walky and seeing Joyce as like…a grown adult woman in a marriage and not like…an annoying teen who sticks her head in everybody’s business.
I think, typically, people who participate in NaNoWriMo are doing it to force themselves to sit down and write. It doesn’t matter if half of what they bang out gets trashed, it’s making them sit down and think about what they’re writing and forcing themselves to work through blockades.
At least, that was always how myself and others I knew approached it.
That and if they like the concept then they can treat the WriMo like a first draft and give it a “fine tuning” in the second.
Just because the goal is to write a book in a month doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the draft you have to publish after all. Unless there’s something in the challenge’s fine print I’m missing.
Yeah, my understanding was that the concept is this way you know you can physically sit down and write a book. Plus the discipline of routinely writing.
Also they have a young writers platform where kids can do any length (words and timewise), any time challenges so my eldest can say she wrote her first novel aged 7 (it’s 11 chapters and I think 3800-ish words. It’s a story mash-up and ridonkulous and my kiddy hadn’t yet learnt about various punctuation rules so that made for fun times – but it’s also probably about as long as the main type of books I’d say it’s sort of in the style of, and gloriously cracktastic, imaginative, addresses a thematic issue that bugs us both about that series…). I’m super-proud of her for doing it!
Games are fun. Our meager existence is so full of challenges where failure means that we can’t eat or have a house or something. Challenges like this give us an opportunity to do something difficult where the worst case scenario is “damn, I guess I failed. I’ll try again next year.” Plus there’s the sense of community. You and a bunch of other people of their own volition attempting a challenge at one. It’s a unifying experience. I love challenges and trying new stuff and having to work within certain parameters I’m uncomfortable with. Limitations make art more fun to create, in my opinion.
Or in the case of NNN, to test one’s willpower. It means nothing if you don’t particularly care about nuts but if you’re someone who quite enjoys nuts then you may wanna see how good you are at abstaining from nuts. Just to see if you can :3
I don’t get what the big deal is. The only kind of nuts I really like are almonds, and I’m already trying to cut down on those for environmental reasons; abstaining from those for a full month is easy enough. Peanuts would be a lot harder, but those are technically legumes, not nuts – that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
But they have nut in the name, don’t they. You must also abstain from donuts, despite the fact that those too,are not true nuts. Also Peanut butter, Coconuts and coconut oil, and also the phrase “That’s nuts”
I would love to do NaNoWriMo one year. Trouble is, November is always the month when lots of things got wrong. In between Stupid Crisis 11,405 and Stupid Crisis 11,411 there’s not a hell of a lot of room for writing.
I manange February Album Writing Month most years. February is drab but uneventful.
Can’t shave, can’t jack it, and ya gotta write a whole-ass book, all in the same month as Thanksgiving (in the USA)? That’s too many things. We’ve got perfectly uneventful months with no Big Money Holidays, may as well take advantage of the peace and quiet for at least one of ’em.
Just live in Canada, get thanksgiving outta the way way early on and then you got all of November to bask in the Halloween afterglow and use the discount candy to fuel your way through all the challenges
What makes me so happy about this is that regardless of the improbability Joe has been able to express himself Romantically to Joyce in a way that hasn’t made Joyce feel as though she needs to give an immediate yes/no answer.
His feelings can simply exist, and be known, and acknowledged without definite reciprocation and that’s fine.
I know that this is the ideal. But that Joyce can reach this point with Joe given their history is so very very wholemsome.
I think there’s a part of Joe that doesn’t want her to answer, because answering makes it a Thing, and making it a Thing means it’s Real, and it being Real means that he could break it because he is No Good. So it being out there but the waveform not collapsed is sort of the perfect place for now.
Honestly, I am squeeing for her. She’s been harbouring feelings for him herself, and I can say unequivocally that there is nothing like that initial feeling when you find out that someone you really, really like like feels the same way about you! ^_^ <3
Yeah! I think there have definitely been a few moments when she suspected he was attracted to her (or maybe I should say, was *still* attracted to her, after their dumpster fire of a date) but he would literally run away every time she tried to bring it up. And here he is, admitting that yes, yes he does, and without even being directly asked about it!
And somehow Joe’s revelation is actually *less* awkward than my partner’s confession was.
(Accidentally on Valentine’s Day. Had been that couple that everyone ELSE knows months and months ahead of it becoming official for 2 years. Literally when we became official one of our friends just said “fucking FINALLY! Holy crap I was wondering if you two were ever going to shit or get off the pot.” Was trying for Friday the 13th because he knew I’d find it hilarious. Accidentally romantic instead which is somehow even funnier. And he told me he was “fond of me” and I replied that the feeling was mutual in pretty much those words. Much awkward, such romance, wow.
But hey we’re still together over 10 years later so guess it worked out for us.
I will never not find our start of official relationship funny though.)
“Come Sail Away with Me by Styx” sounds like a vaguely nihilistic or mournful song about death and grief. Yet, it is a famously fantastic and uplifting piece about overcoming adversity and moving on to new adventures.
On an semi-related note, have you ever read “Lore Olympus?” I have some highly nitpicky issues with it, but over all I think it is a fantastic and definitely well drawn webcomic. Still it lack a fun small community like this – every update has something like a thousand comments.
I think Sal would be a bit perturbed seeing this side of Joe. It’s SUCH a departure from “hey there, ridiculously hot female-Walky”… “Could love make me act that goofy? Ah better run for the hills, screamin’, while ah still can! You comin’, Danny?”
it’s more of a ‘puppy dog eyes’ kinda look tho it looks borderline creepy at this size lol xD but you can google ‘pleading emoji’ to see a better example
They tease each other, it’s cool. She knew not to push it so far that he went past playing offended for laughs into actually being offended. They are not strangers now, they’ve been friends for a while.
As cute as this is it feels very wrong/out of character. Joyce’s reaction is that of someone who likes the other person. It doesn’t make sense when you consider that she has ALWAYS treated Joe like an immoral pervert who disgusts her. I’m reasonably sure she’s used those exact words before.
I dont think thats a fair read of their dynamic, I feel like Joyce historically treats him like she knows he can be better and is disappointed when he isn’t
And yet she has been utterly fascinated with him, and has been texting and talking with him quite a bit. I think she is thrilled to find out there is more to him than what she feared.
She went to him for advice on her parents. She opened up about her assault, the only person she’s told who wasn’t there, and asked him to be more thoughtful. She talked about her atheism and trusted him not to make fun of her. Your premise, that she only treats him like a pervert, is faulty.
And there have been other hints of her ‘interest’ in Joe (although often followed by her trying to hide it)…
When she went to get him to work on their project, and he was walking to the shower (with her sort of embarrassed by her attraction to him)… when they high-fived/held hands in biology (which she then acted like it was gross)
Joe was the person she texted when she went back home and needed to vent. She also came out as an atheist to him before most others in her friend group. They’ve been friends for a while, and recently her jibes at Joe being an immoral pervert were mostly just poking fun, as he pokes fun at her for being a prude. We also know she finds Joe attractive.
Their relationship dynamic started to change around the time Scar faced rapist guy got outed as a rapist during the election and he realized how dangerous his do-list was. It’s been a real slow burn enemies to lovers joint like Amber noted.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m with you all the way on the sarcasm. But if you want to find out what’s wrong with something you’ve created, ask someone who dispises you for an opinion. They are motivated to find the flaws in a way that someone who loves you will never be. You still have to evaluate what they say and decide if it’s BS, but knowing what to focus on next time is valuable.
Either that or someone who does love you but is also neurodiverse to the point that they never really learned how to blunt their words. If they have ever taken something too literally then they’re perfect for pointing out any issues they see
source: I don’t know much about art theory but my graphic designer best friend will still send me wips and ask for my thoughts
This feels like a take that only works from their early interactions and not AT ALL with any of the more recent ones.
Joyce felt that way near the beginning of the classes when she first met him due to her religious upbringing and religious hang-ups having a large effect on her views.
But over time due to talking to him over text and in person, their dynamic clearly shifted in later interactions especially after their talk about the Zero Minus where Joyce appreciated it for being the only one rated as a Human Being.
And she has shown disappointment in him feeling unable and unwilling to connect with others meaningfully before. And there have been several recent strips showing Joyce is attracted to him.
This hasn’t exactly come out of left field, it has slowly built over time that they didn’t initially get along but bonded over stuff like parental strife, he’d worried about her getting hurt on exercise equipment, and she’s put together that he uses his ‘sexual hot guy that has all the sex’ thing as a mask to not be vulnerable with people.
So she’s happy that he’s being vulnerable with her as she’s wanted him to be for a good while now.
i think she’d probably be more frazzled/defensive if amber /had/ blurted out ‘ you should — him’ versus him just them ‘hanging out’ in a relatively chill area
Well, now that Joe is all wholesome… I guess that means that to preserve the dynamic, Joyce is going to get raunchy (or what counts as raunchy for her).
Ooh that is sure to be hilariously cringe. But I think you are right, she can be naughty now, and hold hands (lol) maybe even KISS A BOY and say the f word, she isn’t controlled by her mother anymore. I predict much seesawing back and forth just like her bestie is doing. Perhaps Joyce and Becky can hilariously try to keep up the pretense of virginity to each other.
That is part of why I don’t think we’re in for a huge blow, exactly, because if these two ARE getting together, it’s going to be interesting to see how Joe’s notions that people cannot change will be further challenged and evolved, Joyce’s relationship to sex now that she isn’t a Christian anymore, and the two of them navigating their respective reputations.
Like, there’s going to be so much drama whether either one gets their heart broken or not.
People often ask for someone to “Talk dirty to them”. There’s truly an untapped market of “Talk clean to me” Gimmie sexy talk that’s PG. That steamy dialogue you could show at 4 in the afternoon on Disney Channel.
It’s going well, though I’m running into more and more panels I may need to fully redraw or am just gonna have to work harder to pose. Which is why to break up the monotony a bit I’m coloring early pages as well. Though I do hope I can make the sexy parts as sexy as I can o3o.
. . .Okay this may be a dumb question that I never actually pondered before but what hair color is Joyce’s hair?
Is it a Cool Brown? Ash Brown? Dirty blonde?
My query aside, I do find this super cute and it’s refreshing to see Joyce be the teaser rather then the teasee, just as heartwarming as it is to see Joe finally open up. Even if it’s just a bit, I look forward to seeing what he will open up about in the future.
I’ve always read it as a dirty blonde. Too light too be a brunette but not exactly fully blonde. She strikes me as the kinda person who had much lighter hair as a kid and as she got older it sorta settled on this shade.
Is it just me, or is this an increasingly common question around here? I swear it’s been asked at least twice in the last few weeks, and another couple of times just prior.
(Not a criticism)
It keeps coming up for some reason! It’s not a big deal, but I’m a little surprised, considering that Joyce’s hair color is an extremely common shade among naturally blond adult caucasians.
It is, but even though I know it’s blonde, her hair color doesn’t translate as blonde to me. I think some of it comes from a standpoint of “this is a cartoon” and how blonde in cartoons is often depicted with yellow. Also, there’s a a continuum of hair colors, and the line between darker blondes and lighter browns isn’t always clear. (Even without trying to make that distinction though, it’s hard for me to translate Joyce’s hair color to a real world hair color even though you could color match part of her hair to part of a real person’s and be like. yup. that’s it.)
I’m struggling with my own probably unrequited feelings for a friend right now and trying to work out how to tell her…this comic kinda hit home for me. Made me feel like it could actually work, ya know? Like it doesn’t have to ruin the friendship, like whatever she says if she still smiles at me afterwards it will all be okay. dunno.
From Joyce’s drawing, the model got to change pose, so hopefully not getting a cramp in this one.
Anyways, complications later, happy fuzzy feelings now.
Sometimes the takes in this comments section are so wildly out of line with what’s actually happening in the comic that I’m forced to wonder if there’s a Mandela Effect and we didn’t actually read the same comic.
Phipps, no. You don’t tell a girl who ISN’T smiling that she’s pretty when she smiles because that’s downplaying her feelings. You can tell a smiling girl that you like it when she smiles because that’s just expressing appreciation for something she’s already doing.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here folks. This is very sweet, but it’s not a confirmation of the relationship. There is still ample room for some kind of “I’m happy you confided in me but I’m not looking for that kind of relationship with you,” resolution. This ship is fully stocked and prepared to journey, but we haven’t left the harbor yet!
Oh please, we don’t even seem to wait for a character’s reaction to a sentence they just heard, ’round these parts. If we can call Joyce a diagnosed autistic person, we can call her Joe’s live-in girlfriend.
1. I’m coloring the comic.
2. What color should Walky’s shirt be? I decided long ago Billie was wearing her yellow tanktop cuz I think yellow is a very Billie color but the only thing I knew for sure about Walky is that he’s wearing Pajama jeans.
I color picked these from t-shirts he’s worn (pre-timeskip)
1. YAY
2. Orange. Every other color (except maybe the brown, but I don’t see him wearing brown) feels a bit too cool for him. The orange is a nice warm tone. That said, if you hadn’t asked, I doubt I would’ve seen anything amiss with any of those colors.
I think the purple suits him best, but he’s much more likely to actually wear the orange – given his weird ideas of masculinity (men not having shoes, not being able to buy the pjyamas for himself, etc) I doubt he’d be cool just casually wearing purple
You can tell I’ve been personally victimized by this comic before because instead of reveling in this pure joyous moment I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I’m right there with you, but im still blindly hopefull on this one. Aside from Danny and Dorothy, this feels like the OG pairing of the comic. This has been building since book 1, and somehow just feels right for Joe to get a second try at this.
Oh, mine goes absolutely apseshit on a regular basis. If I scroll all the way to the bottom and try to scroll up afterwards, it’ll snap down about 350 pixels every single time it moves. Gets real troublesome, but I haven’t a single earthly clue what the cause or solution could possibly be, so I just put up with it now.
Wholesome!! I don’t even need anything more than this. Platonic would be just as precious.
Now which one of Joyce’s friends is going to lose their shit first? Or the most?
Part of me is leaning towards Sarah because it’s expected at this point but Dorothy has been evolving…
For me the big question is: How will Sarah react. She’s extremely protective towards Joyce and Joe is, well, someone she seems to despise more than most people.
Will she recognize that Joe might have changed and be…. OK… for Joyce to hang out with? Will she fly off the handle and try to beat Joe senseless with her bat?
I’ve got five on the comic ending with Sarah standing over Joe’s dead body holding a baseball bat before going into a Rocky 3 freeze frame with Jennifer who killed her new friends when they made it clear they were only tolerating her
Sarah will just be relieved that Joe isn’t after her actual sister. What is inevitable however is that now Joe has admitted an interest, Jacob will be showing up again.
I’m now picturing Sarah and Jennifer both dragging bodies into a quarry one night, seeing the other by chance, and just going “yeah, that tracks” and continuing on their business.
Billie: Be each other’s alibi?
Sarah: Everyone knows I hate you. Who’d buy it?
Billie: … MAYBE my dad might be setting up some sort of law scholarship? We could have been talking about that?
Sarah: … OK. Believable. Is it a real scholarship? And where and when were we?
Billie: If it keeps me out of jail and his name clean, sure. Throwing money at problems is one thing Dad’s good at. And since law students sit the bar, how about sitting at a-
Sarah: NO.
Billie: Fine. But can we go somewhere that sells drinks once we’ve cleaned up? It has been A Day.
I love Sarah. I enjoy seeing Sarah in a storyline and how she reacts to things. Her complete lack of patience for Joe and him just accepting that is funny to me a lot of the time.
Fuck Sarah right now, though, this ain’t about her. She can eat pretzels in the corner and mind her business.
Liz already thinks Joe and Joyce are FWB and do the down and dirty frequently. It’s partly why she pounced on Joe (safe guy to lose her V card to) before freaking out (not ready to do that)…
I think if Joe actually TELLS Joyce/Sarah/Liz he went along with Liz jumping him to try to get “perky ex-Fundie young woman”-type out of his brain because he didn’t deserve Joyce and Liz was literally throwing himself at her, they will be unamused but the fact they then didn’t DTD and he was respectful, considerate, and immediately snapped out of libido-mode to reassure her will help?
I doubt Sarah will ever like him, but I think Joyce would forgive him and Liz will accept her share of the blame?
I don’t think she’s going to be happy, but A. she did get chastened a bit when he called her out on what she was doing during the Jacob storyline, and B. I could see it getting back to her that Joe did the right thing with her sister and maybe getting her to see him in a more favorable light.
Fukkkinnngggg ouch.
You’ve got an autism non-diagnosis and you don’t belong at home and everyone around you is pushing for you to Be something or Change something and YOU’RE pushing you to grow and Be someone and
Someone just likes you.
They just like it when you smile at them.
That is a possible angle this can take. I do think he *would*, but that he would not do it lightly. Like, it’d definitely need to be built towards for him, for both of them really, but especially after we already saw Sarah’s sister lose her nerve with him despite talking a big game.
Agreed. I think his awareness of her sexual hangups (heavily reinforced by that experience with Liz, who he explicitly thought of as being a Joyce proxy, but one who was available) is tied to his anxiety about the prospect of dating her.
Not because he’s worried he won’t be able to get laid with her, but because he’s worried he’ll cause her harm.
Very glad to see Joe’s reaction here. Yeah, Joyce was razzing him, but I feel like that, in addition to him validating her, I think she’s kind of showing him that he can be anxious about this all he needs and wants, but she’s not running, and the world’s not ending due to his having feelings. He doesn’t have to bail on her and go fuck Malaya or other things he’s done in the past when facing his feelings, it’s totally alright.
It’s like he’s realizing it here, too, after a beat, that no, now that he’s embraced it, he doesn’t regret it.
I am kind of surprised of how non-flustered Joyce is to this revelation, all in all.
I was expect to at least slightly panic a little while she is trying to check her own feeling, not being sure how to react to a love declaration she is not sure she reciprocate.
This is so sweet, cute, and adorable that everyone in that classroom will have instant cavity! Joe is just great here and Joyce looks so happy ♡♡. I don’t know how long it will last, but I hope it will last for a while. Also because I want to see everyone’s reaction to the news, especially Sarah’s.
Dawwww… I hope good things happen to the two of them. And especially for Joyce, because honestly I think this “day” is the first time in a long, long while that we’ve actually seen her genuinely happy.
I love that Joyce seems to understand that the fact of having feelings is part of the anxiety, not just what the feelings are. I think that not only does Joe not regret confiding in her, he’s now actively glad he did. Look at those smiles!
I’m pleasantly surprised at how Joyce is the confident one in these interactions. It feels important, given their dynamic, that she’s more able to be at east than he is.
Either way they are being very cute- a LOT sooner than I expected- and I hope things continue to move in a healthy direction for both of them!
That’s the last time he’ll be able to get away saying that to anyone. Once you hit a certain age and find yourself in a certain situation, saying, “C’mon honey, you’d be real purty if yuh just give us a smile” will bring you nothing but a world of hurt.
Yes, “in a certain situation.” In conversation with someone who thinks you’re interesting — win win (maybe). In the office with a random co-worker — lose lose.
Wow. Another person pretending that complimenting someone you know well while discussing your romantic interest in them is somehow the same as telling women to smile on command like trained seals.
Gosh. I wonder why women might feel differently about a heartfelt compliment versus some fucking random who thinks they’re owed a smile just for existing. Mystery.
“I just like it when you smile at me” and “C’mon honey, you’d be real purty if yuh just give us a smile” are such completely different things it’s hard to believe anyone could confuse them.
Seems like some people grab onto the most simplistic version of the idea and treat it like a hard and fast rule.
“I like you, I like it when you’re happy, I like it when you’re happy and comfortable and enjoying my company. I like your smile. I am so happy you are smiling right now.”
“I don’t know your name or the first thing that’s going on in your life but that’s irrelevant because you are female and therefore purely exist for my pleasure, including as an ornament. Smile for my entertainment and enjoyment.”
I’ll be honest, as someone with literally no skills in talking with other people I do often struggle with those nuances. I’ll have an idea of “oh this is on and this isn’t for this or that reason” but I’ll end up second guessing myself and deciding it’s better to just keep it to myself until I can find a no risk compliment.
If I had a nickel for everyone in the comments section trying to imply that a guy admitting a crush on one of his close friends telling her he likes her smile after she asked him literally two seconds ago what he liked about her is similar to randomly telling women they need to smile more I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Also mods pls ignore flag, I just have fat fingers trying to comment on mobile lol.
♪Feelings Boy, Feelings Boy♪
♪Friendly neighbourhood Feelings Boy♪
♪Sees a girls’, triangle smile♪
♪Draws with her, for a while♪
♪Look out, here comes the Feelings Boy!♪
Why do I get the feeling their relationship is going to be Joyce repeatedly kicking Joe in the balls, but Joe not running away because she smiles while doing so.
She is reacting to it! She’s smiling, she teased him, she described his confession as “like-liking me”—she understood Joe perfectly, and she’s making it clear that hearing him admit he feels this way about her makes her very happy.
Or do you mean, why isn’t she either explicitly rejecting his feelings/making a reciprocal confession? Idk, maybe she’s not ready yet. For all that she is blatantly attracted to him and aware of it, and even even suspected Joe felt the same way, it’s still something that merits a little processing time.
It’s not even like Joe’s explicitly asked her out on a date or asked her to be his girlfriend, which is a question that might require an answer. All he’s done is admit that he likes her.
It’s those nice little moments where I tell myself, “yeah, everything will be okay”, that I start freaking out about. It’s like I’m forgetting something crucial that needs to be done and I should be doing that.
I hope for the best for these two and whatever may (or may not) be waiting for them to not ruin the moment.
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how is this so wholesome ToT
not for long!
We can hope.
Although I’m guessing we aren’t going to be getting a Joyeuse slipshine for a while yet. This feels like it’s going to need some time to progress.
It’ll be glorious once it happens though. I’ll be honest I spent a long time not particularly liking Joyce but more and more recently I’ve begun to like her a biiiit more. And starting to find her kinda hot, unexpectedly.
Though that could be how Willis’ art style shift has effected her proportions.I’ve been an atheist since I was 12, although only around then was I a super-obnoxious version of one, so, it surprised me but when Joyce rejected her fundie BS upbringing, that was what made her hot to me; I guess as long as she’s not thinking that she’s evil for wanting to “snap and suck a billion dicks” then it’s like the mental block going “Ew, no, crazy fundie” is lifted. I’ve always liked her though, her heart’s almost always in the right place even if she has no ass-idea in fuck-nowhere of how to behave considerately someitmes.
I’m not gonna lie. It was actually the Joyce and Walky married life strips that got me. was introduced through DOA , going back and reading Its Walky and seeing Joyce as like…a grown adult woman in a marriage and not like…an annoying teen who sticks her head in everybody’s business.
Also this comic is just kinda hot. I’ve even made a few references to it.This one and This one, especially
Thank you. I’ve been living with only Sarah’s imagination for so long…
Well, and your lovely work of course
Now imagine the ancient glory days of forums with a veritable flood of NSFW artings of both official, canon and fan varieties and galleries thereof…
Joyeuse?
Are there any ships named Durandal or Courtaine? Tyrfing? Tizona?
Beefrose, Beece, and Beens
I mean, given the right characters involved, those would all make fantastic ship names.
But yeah, I heard someone else refer to Joe/Joyce that way and loved it. Joyeuse (the sword) shows up in my romance novel series, so…
: D
I’m torn between “How are Your Feelings Now, Feelings Boy” and “God, Help Me, I Just Like It When You Smile At Me” for the book title.
That’s “God help me” in the ‘present subjunctive’, without a comma: “may God help me”, “I wish God would help me”, that kind of thing.
See also: “Britannia rule the waves”.
o3o I’m happy with this. I’m happy with this result.
Also I’m drawing a thing.
We are doubly blessed this November night
Ha ha if anything Yotomoe’s Porn Lord Power is enough to cancel No Nut November!
I do have a goal of making people fail NNN. But I’m too slow and lazy to draw anything sexy enough to accomplish that goal.
Oh I dunno. One of your fully inked / colored Jennifer x Walky strips might do the trick (even if that cuts it close).
close to the end of November, that is
… why is November the month when people do weird pointless challenges?
I’m speaking, of course, of NaNoWriMo. Seriously, novels need careful planning and take time to construct. You can’t just speed run them. **grumble**
I think, typically, people who participate in NaNoWriMo are doing it to force themselves to sit down and write. It doesn’t matter if half of what they bang out gets trashed, it’s making them sit down and think about what they’re writing and forcing themselves to work through blockades.
At least, that was always how myself and others I knew approached it.
She said, including a glaring grammar mistake in a comment about writing. Oh well.
What do you mean? “Myself” strikes me as a bit more emphasis than I expected, but it’s not a mistake.
That and if they like the concept then they can treat the WriMo like a first draft and give it a “fine tuning” in the second.
Just because the goal is to write a book in a month doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the draft you have to publish after all. Unless there’s something in the challenge’s fine print I’m missing.
Yeah, my understanding was that the concept is this way you know you can physically sit down and write a book. Plus the discipline of routinely writing.
Also they have a young writers platform where kids can do any length (words and timewise), any time challenges so my eldest can say she wrote her first novel aged 7 (it’s 11 chapters and I think 3800-ish words. It’s a story mash-up and ridonkulous and my kiddy hadn’t yet learnt about various punctuation rules so that made for fun times – but it’s also probably about as long as the main type of books I’d say it’s sort of in the style of, and gloriously cracktastic, imaginative, addresses a thematic issue that bugs us both about that series…). I’m super-proud of her for doing it!
Games are fun. Our meager existence is so full of challenges where failure means that we can’t eat or have a house or something. Challenges like this give us an opportunity to do something difficult where the worst case scenario is “damn, I guess I failed. I’ll try again next year.” Plus there’s the sense of community. You and a bunch of other people of their own volition attempting a challenge at one. It’s a unifying experience. I love challenges and trying new stuff and having to work within certain parameters I’m uncomfortable with. Limitations make art more fun to create, in my opinion.
Or in the case of NNN, to test one’s willpower. It means nothing if you don’t particularly care about nuts but if you’re someone who quite enjoys nuts then you may wanna see how good you are at abstaining from nuts. Just to see if you can :3
I don’t get what the big deal is. The only kind of nuts I really like are almonds, and I’m already trying to cut down on those for environmental reasons; abstaining from those for a full month is easy enough. Peanuts would be a lot harder, but those are technically legumes, not nuts – that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
But they have nut in the name, don’t they. You must also abstain from donuts, despite the fact that those too,are not true nuts. Also Peanut butter, Coconuts and coconut oil, and also the phrase “That’s nuts”
I would love to do NaNoWriMo one year. Trouble is, November is always the month when lots of things got wrong. In between Stupid Crisis 11,405 and Stupid Crisis 11,411 there’s not a hell of a lot of room for writing.
I manange February Album Writing Month most years. February is drab but uneventful.
My experience with Nanowrimo is exactly the same. November is “guess what broke today” month.
Last year it was my car and my psyche
This year I’m hoping it’s just like, a pencil or something
Can’t shave, can’t jack it, and ya gotta write a whole-ass book, all in the same month as Thanksgiving (in the USA)? That’s too many things. We’ve got perfectly uneventful months with no Big Money Holidays, may as well take advantage of the peace and quiet for at least one of ’em.
Just live in Canada, get thanksgiving outta the way way early on and then you got all of November to bask in the Halloween afterglow and use the discount candy to fuel your way through all the challenges
She does indeed have an awesome smile.
Plus, you can tell she liked Joe’s answer because she gave him more of what he likes.
What makes me so happy about this is that regardless of the improbability Joe has been able to express himself Romantically to Joyce in a way that hasn’t made Joyce feel as though she needs to give an immediate yes/no answer.
His feelings can simply exist, and be known, and acknowledged without definite reciprocation and that’s fine.
I know that this is the ideal. But that Joyce can reach this point with Joe given their history is so very very wholemsome.
I think there’s a part of Joe that doesn’t want her to answer, because answering makes it a Thing, and making it a Thing means it’s Real, and it being Real means that he could break it because he is No Good. So it being out there but the waveform not collapsed is sort of the perfect place for now.
Joyce can definitely pierce Joe’s AT Field.
Honestly, I am squeeing for her. She’s been harbouring feelings for him herself, and I can say unequivocally that there is nothing like that initial feeling when you find out that someone you really, really like like feels the same way about you! ^_^ <3
Yeah! I think there have definitely been a few moments when she suspected he was attracted to her (or maybe I should say, was *still* attracted to her, after their dumpster fire of a date) but he would literally run away every time she tried to bring it up. And here he is, admitting that yes, yes he does, and without even being directly asked about it!
Same.
And somehow Joe’s revelation is actually *less* awkward than my partner’s confession was.
(Accidentally on Valentine’s Day. Had been that couple that everyone ELSE knows months and months ahead of it becoming official for 2 years. Literally when we became official one of our friends just said “fucking FINALLY! Holy crap I was wondering if you two were ever going to shit or get off the pot.” Was trying for Friday the 13th because he knew I’d find it hilarious. Accidentally romantic instead which is somehow even funnier. And he told me he was “fond of me” and I replied that the feeling was mutual in pretty much those words. Much awkward, such romance, wow.
But hey we’re still together over 10 years later so guess it worked out for us.
I will never not find our start of official relationship funny though.)
GOD HELP ME I JUST LIKE WHEN YOU SMILE AT ME
love has made joe such a romantic cheeseball
Always has been. He’s just been too afraid/guarded to show it.
MY HEART!!!!
Joe has feelings. What a loser!
A loser that’s also winning somehow.
A loser who might actually have won the girlfriend of his dreams.
He really does owe Amber now
She’s going to be perfect someday, you know.
…. wait, what’s the point of being a winner if you’re not allowed to have feelings about it?
to be a winner, obviously
Ladies, gents, and enbys, the ship has officially sailed.
🥰 *plays “Come Sail Away With Me” by Styx on hacked muzak*
“Come Sail Away with Me by Styx” sounds like a vaguely nihilistic or mournful song about death and grief. Yet, it is a famously fantastic and uplifting piece about overcoming adversity and moving on to new adventures.
On an semi-related note, have you ever read “Lore Olympus?” I have some highly nitpicky issues with it, but over all I think it is a fantastic and definitely well drawn webcomic. Still it lack a fun small community like this – every update has something like a thousand comments.
I follow it!! It’s a coming of age romance story with a heck of a kick…
Lore Olympus is a tale covering decades in less time than DoA covers a week. Probably because it doesn’t dwell on day-to-day minutia.
I’m not sure it’s set sail yet but they’re definitely pulling up the anchor to get ready to set sail
d’awwwwwww
Danny will be most smug
I predict Danny wants to double date. Joe and Sal are not nearly as excited about the idea.
I think Sal would be a bit perturbed seeing this side of Joe. It’s SUCH a departure from “hey there, ridiculously hot female-Walky”… “Could love make me act that goofy? Ah better run for the hills, screamin’, while ah still can! You comin’, Danny?”
you most often find your
destinygushy romantic side on the path you take to avoid itTake my upvote
this is so cute this is So Cute. I’m melting down this is the best
How are you going to break us after giving us this cuteness
Awwww. I’m happy. Thanks.
The biggest twist in Walkyverse: Joyce is a dom
🥺
Why the sad face? Is everything ok?
I think that might mean they find this unbearably cute.
Is that emoji meant to be sad? I only know it as a signal that somebody’s a bottom.
please help, I did not come to this comments section to be attacked like this.
well, as a bottom, what is your preferred method of being quote-unquote “attacked”?
it’s more of a ‘puppy dog eyes’ kinda look tho it looks borderline creepy at this size lol xD but you can google ‘pleading emoji’ to see a better example
Aaaaw
So adorable! Good job Joyce, she knew just the right amount to tease.
This is going much better than I expected, especially after the smug Joyce from a few days ago
bless their hearts, they are adorable
Omg Joyce has abused him so badly that now he’s codependent.
Oh wait no that’s Ruth and Jennifer.
Also Yoooooo
They tease each other, it’s cool. She knew not to push it so far that he went past playing offended for laughs into actually being offended. They are not strangers now, they’ve been friends for a while.
Yeah, I know. I’m poking fun at all the negative comments Joyce gets.
My god, that’s a heck of a line! Way to go, Joe!
This genuinely made me smile, which I really needed after today events. Thanks Willis.
Joyce and Joe’s Bizarre Adventure has officially begun!!!
Hurray! Though to support all the fans’ hopes for it, this adventure will have to be as strong as pillar, man.
As cute as this is it feels very wrong/out of character. Joyce’s reaction is that of someone who likes the other person. It doesn’t make sense when you consider that she has ALWAYS treated Joe like an immoral pervert who disgusts her. I’m reasonably sure she’s used those exact words before.
I dont think thats a fair read of their dynamic, I feel like Joyce historically treats him like she knows he can be better and is disappointed when he isn’t
And yet she has been utterly fascinated with him, and has been texting and talking with him quite a bit. I think she is thrilled to find out there is more to him than what she feared.
She went to him for advice on her parents. She opened up about her assault, the only person she’s told who wasn’t there, and asked him to be more thoughtful. She talked about her atheism and trusted him not to make fun of her. Your premise, that she only treats him like a pervert, is faulty.
And there have been other hints of her ‘interest’ in Joe (although often followed by her trying to hide it)…
When she went to get him to work on their project, and he was walking to the shower (with her sort of embarrassed by her attraction to him)… when they high-fived/held hands in biology (which she then acted like it was gross)
Joe was the person she texted when she went back home and needed to vent. She also came out as an atheist to him before most others in her friend group. They’ve been friends for a while, and recently her jibes at Joe being an immoral pervert were mostly just poking fun, as he pokes fun at her for being a prude. We also know she finds Joe attractive.
Fully accurate read on their relationship! Ten years ago.
Especially since people always say exactly what they’re really feeling, completely honestly to both others and themselves.
Kind of agree when we talk about Joe, still don’t buying much of him. But Joyce have seen today his huge improvement, and she liked it.
Joyce has always been attracted/interested in Joe. Like looking up Roz’s sex tape with him levels of interested.
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/scrootoob/
Their relationship dynamic started to change around the time Scar faced rapist guy got outed as a rapist during the election and he realized how dangerous his do-list was. It’s been a real slow burn enemies to lovers joint like Amber noted.
Soooo what’s your theory on why she asked him to join her for art class?
If you’re not asking people you despise to join you to sit in on an art class then you’re not an artist my friend!
What you said, only without the sarcas…
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m with you all the way on the sarcasm. But if you want to find out what’s wrong with something you’ve created, ask someone who dispises you for an opinion. They are motivated to find the flaws in a way that someone who loves you will never be. You still have to evaluate what they say and decide if it’s BS, but knowing what to focus on next time is valuable.
Either that or someone who does love you but is also neurodiverse to the point that they never really learned how to blunt their words. If they have ever taken something too literally then they’re perfect for pointing out any issues they see
source: I don’t know much about art theory but my graphic designer best friend will still send me wips and ask for my thoughts
Or someone who knows you well enough to understand that you want the unvarnished truth, and loves you enough to give it to you.
This feels like a take that only works from their early interactions and not AT ALL with any of the more recent ones.
Joyce felt that way near the beginning of the classes when she first met him due to her religious upbringing and religious hang-ups having a large effect on her views.
But over time due to talking to him over text and in person, their dynamic clearly shifted in later interactions especially after their talk about the Zero Minus where Joyce appreciated it for being the only one rated as a Human Being.
And she has shown disappointment in him feeling unable and unwilling to connect with others meaningfully before. And there have been several recent strips showing Joyce is attracted to him.
This hasn’t exactly come out of left field, it has slowly built over time that they didn’t initially get along but bonded over stuff like parental strife, he’d worried about her getting hurt on exercise equipment, and she’s put together that he uses his ‘sexual hot guy that has all the sex’ thing as a mask to not be vulnerable with people.
So she’s happy that he’s being vulnerable with her as she’s wanted him to be for a good while now.
i think she’d probably be more frazzled/defensive if amber /had/ blurted out ‘ you should — him’ versus him just them ‘hanging out’ in a relatively chill area
It’s also out of character for Joyce to be attending an art class with a naked lady! Isn’t that against her religion?
Merely letting her eyes fall on that body is an act of homosexuality! She must repent for such a sin /s
You have had some incredibly uncharitable and inaccurate readings of Joyce’s behavior the past couple of pages.
Aah, another me!!
Another me! It’s fine, because I am lowercase miri and you are uppercase Miri.
Yesssss I’m fulfilled
Well, now that Joe is all wholesome… I guess that means that to preserve the dynamic, Joyce is going to get raunchy (or what counts as raunchy for her).
Ooh that is sure to be hilariously cringe. But I think you are right, she can be naughty now, and hold hands (lol) maybe even KISS A BOY and say the f word, she isn’t controlled by her mother anymore. I predict much seesawing back and forth just like her bestie is doing. Perhaps Joyce and Becky can hilariously try to keep up the pretense of virginity to each other.
I mean, we saw how she acted around Ethan.
That is part of why I don’t think we’re in for a huge blow, exactly, because if these two ARE getting together, it’s going to be interesting to see how Joe’s notions that people cannot change will be further challenged and evolved, Joyce’s relationship to sex now that she isn’t a Christian anymore, and the two of them navigating their respective reputations.
Like, there’s going to be so much drama whether either one gets their heart broken or not.
Brb, making a high pitched noise only dogs can hear.
(Why are they so cute and sweet!)
THEY’RE BOTH SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS? this is so good for them?
I thought that was just my ears ringing louder.
:▷
So cuuuute ^^
Happy feelings!
https://imgur.com/a/u7gsevs
Idea I had earlier. Been a while since I did one of these (mostly cuz I’m working really hard on my OTHER DOA thing.
Oh that is super cute and adorable I love it.
It’s a mock Joyce really can push into Joe.
**chef kiss noise and hand motion**
You’ve always had excellent facial expressions in your art, but these Joyce FAAAAAAACEs, and especially the last one, are immaculate.
Adorable
And now I’m wondering why it’s okay to be bosom buddies, but not tushy buddies.
Maybe it’s because of the possibility of acquiring butts disease.
Yep, nailed the sex appeal of Joyce. “Touch my tushy in these tights like it was my bare b-bottom in this cartoon I drew.”
People often ask for someone to “Talk dirty to them”. There’s truly an untapped market of “Talk clean to me” Gimmie sexy talk that’s PG. That steamy dialogue you could show at 4 in the afternoon on Disney Channel.
Okay, but that makes me think of the Patton Oswalt bit and that’s a terribly fine line to walk.
I hope it’s not that he likes her use of ‘tushy’
I’ve heard many guys appreciate a good use of tushy.
Yes, Yes, Yes.
Extremely cute!
And how’s the OTHER THING going btw?
It’s going well, though I’m running into more and more panels I may need to fully redraw or am just gonna have to work harder to pose. Which is why to break up the monotony a bit I’m coloring early pages as well. Though I do hope I can make the sexy parts as sexy as I can o3o.
thank you for this gift
. . .Okay this may be a dumb question that I never actually pondered before but what hair color is Joyce’s hair?
Is it a Cool Brown? Ash Brown? Dirty blonde?
My query aside, I do find this super cute and it’s refreshing to see Joyce be the teaser rather then the teasee, just as heartwarming as it is to see Joe finally open up. Even if it’s just a bit, I look forward to seeing what he will open up about in the future.
I’ve always read it as a dirty blonde. Too light too be a brunette but not exactly fully blonde. She strikes me as the kinda person who had much lighter hair as a kid and as she got older it sorta settled on this shade.
I think it has been stated to be “dark blonde”.
Blond (just my opinion)
In-universe she’s been referred to as a blonde. Most likely a dirty blonde and agree with Yotomoe’s assessment that her hair prob got darker with age.
Darkening of Age.
Is it just me, or is this an increasingly common question around here? I swear it’s been asked at least twice in the last few weeks, and another couple of times just prior.
(Not a criticism)
It keeps coming up for some reason! It’s not a big deal, but I’m a little surprised, considering that Joyce’s hair color is an extremely common shade among naturally blond adult caucasians.
It is, but even though I know it’s blonde, her hair color doesn’t translate as blonde to me. I think some of it comes from a standpoint of “this is a cartoon” and how blonde in cartoons is often depicted with yellow. Also, there’s a a continuum of hair colors, and the line between darker blondes and lighter browns isn’t always clear. (Even without trying to make that distinction though, it’s hard for me to translate Joyce’s hair color to a real world hair color even though you could color match part of her hair to part of a real person’s and be like. yup. that’s it.)
My b
Iirc she is ash blonde.
Sorry, Dorothy, you have lost her to Joe…
*deep breath* So. FUCKING. CUTE AAAAH
Okay, that’s much better.
Cool, glad it didn’t tip the other way. Genuinely.
whenever it zooms out and i see their ridiculous sitting positions
I don’t like this chair. 30 minutes sitting in this, my spine starts to snap out my back.
I’m struggling with my own probably unrequited feelings for a friend right now and trying to work out how to tell her…this comic kinda hit home for me. Made me feel like it could actually work, ya know? Like it doesn’t have to ruin the friendship, like whatever she says if she still smiles at me afterwards it will all be okay. dunno.
my heart
From Joyce’s drawing, the model got to change pose, so hopefully not getting a cramp in this one.
Anyways, complications later, happy fuzzy feelings now.
Oh, thank Willis I can finally let out the breath I’ve been holding.
IT’S SO
FLUFFYWHOLESOME I’M GONNA DIE!!!No, Joe! Don’t tell a woman she’s prettier when she smiles!
Bad Joe!
That’s… not what he said, though. He said he likes it when she smiles at him.
You can compliment a woman’s smile without it being Bad, Actually to do so. Joe’s doin’ it right now, in fact.
Sometimes the takes in this comments section are so wildly out of line with what’s actually happening in the comic that I’m forced to wonder if there’s a Mandela Effect and we didn’t actually read the same comic.
That’s…what?
It’s okay to tell someone you’ve just admitted you’re romantically attracted to that seeing them happy makes you feel happy.
this is like unplugging somebody’s microwave because smokey the bear said to stop forest fires
it’s getting that fire is bad, but not understanding when or why
No but seriously.
Phipps, no. You don’t tell a girl who ISN’T smiling that she’s pretty when she smiles because that’s downplaying her feelings. You can tell a smiling girl that you like it when she smiles because that’s just expressing appreciation for something she’s already doing.
I often assume your comments aren’t meant seriously* because they’re often, like, “what.” But even by that standard…what.
*Though at various times you have clarified that you did, in fact, mean the comment in question.
i love these goofballs
Awww! What a cute smile! It’s been too long since we’ve seen it.
Dang they’re cute
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here folks. This is very sweet, but it’s not a confirmation of the relationship. There is still ample room for some kind of “I’m happy you confided in me but I’m not looking for that kind of relationship with you,” resolution. This ship is fully stocked and prepared to journey, but we haven’t left the harbor yet!
Oh please, we don’t even seem to wait for a character’s reaction to a sentence they just heard, ’round these parts. If we can call Joyce a diagnosed autistic person, we can call her Joe’s live-in girlfriend.
Awwwwwwww
https://imgur.com/a/KX6PljC
While I’m posting art I got two things of note.
1. I’m coloring the comic.
2. What color should Walky’s shirt be? I decided long ago Billie was wearing her yellow tanktop cuz I think yellow is a very Billie color but the only thing I knew for sure about Walky is that he’s wearing Pajama jeans.
I color picked these from t-shirts he’s worn (pre-timeskip)
I like the purple, honestly. The first one, specifically.
The orange looks the most Walkiest. Couldn’t tell ya why
I like the mauve best.
1. YAY
2. Orange. Every other color (except maybe the brown, but I don’t see him wearing brown) feels a bit too cool for him. The orange is a nice warm tone. That said, if you hadn’t asked, I doubt I would’ve seen anything amiss with any of those colors.
The light purple, because I’m a heavy addept of Complementary Colors. (please, don’t use the first line purple, it’s way so strong).
Gotta go with either the blue or the lighter purple. They both look great next to her yellow.
light purple or brown would be my preference.
I think the Orange or the Blue work best
The light blue looks most like that was one he picked for himself rahter than one a girl picked for him.
I think the purple suits him best, but he’s much more likely to actually wear the orange – given his weird ideas of masculinity (men not having shoes, not being able to buy the pjyamas for himself, etc) I doubt he’d be cool just casually wearing purple
God, this warms my cold dead heart so much
You can tell I’ve been personally victimized by this comic before because instead of reveling in this pure joyous moment I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Willis givith, and Willis taketh away.
I’m right there with you, but im still blindly hopefull on this one. Aside from Danny and Dorothy, this feels like the OG pairing of the comic. This has been building since book 1, and somehow just feels right for Joe to get a second try at this.
Tied with Dorothy/Walky. I miss them together
I squee’d. So much.
I suddenly remembered that, when I was a teenager, “squee!” was the sound of tearing a robot’s head off with your bare hands.
OFF: is only me, or the page is scrolling alone when you are reading some part of it?
Oh, mine goes absolutely apseshit on a regular basis. If I scroll all the way to the bottom and try to scroll up afterwards, it’ll snap down about 350 pixels every single time it moves. Gets real troublesome, but I haven’t a single earthly clue what the cause or solution could possibly be, so I just put up with it now.
my god this is so cute. something bad is about to happen isnt it
The light purple, because I’m a heavy addept of Complementary Colors. (please, don’t use the first line purple, it’s way so strong).
You are seen.
*Ugh, cursor made me miss click. It’s a comment outside topic. Stupid big fingers
Wholesome!! I don’t even need anything more than this. Platonic would be just as precious.
Now which one of Joyce’s friends is going to lose their shit first? Or the most?
Part of me is leaning towards Sarah because it’s expected at this point but Dorothy has been evolving…
Feelings Boy, Feelings Boy
Feelings Boy hates Particle Boy
They have a fight, Feelings Boy wins
Feelings Boy.
Doo doo doot doo doo
Aw damnit.
I should have gone with Triangle Grin vs Feelings Boy.
Feelings Boy, Feelings Boy
Feelings Boy like Triangle Grin
They have a talk, Feelings Boy wins
Feelings Boy.
Doo doo doot doo doo
For me the big question is: How will Sarah react. She’s extremely protective towards Joyce and Joe is, well, someone she seems to despise more than most people.
Will she recognize that Joe might have changed and be…. OK… for Joyce to hang out with? Will she fly off the handle and try to beat Joe senseless with her bat?
I’ve got five on the comic ending with Sarah standing over Joe’s dead body holding a baseball bat before going into a Rocky 3 freeze frame with Jennifer who killed her new friends when they made it clear they were only tolerating her
Sarah will just be relieved that Joe isn’t after her actual sister. What is inevitable however is that now Joe has admitted an interest, Jacob will be showing up again.
I’m now picturing Sarah and Jennifer both dragging bodies into a quarry one night, seeing the other by chance, and just going “yeah, that tracks” and continuing on their business.
Billie: Be each other’s alibi?
Sarah: Everyone knows I hate you. Who’d buy it?
Billie: … MAYBE my dad might be setting up some sort of law scholarship? We could have been talking about that?
Sarah: … OK. Believable. Is it a real scholarship? And where and when were we?
Billie: If it keeps me out of jail and his name clean, sure. Throwing money at problems is one thing Dad’s good at. And since law students sit the bar, how about sitting at a-
Sarah: NO.
Billie: Fine. But can we go somewhere that sells drinks once we’ve cleaned up? It has been A Day.
Damnit, Jennifer not Billie!!
Although I do kinda think once she gets past some of her issues she’ll probably go back to Billie…
I love Sarah. I enjoy seeing Sarah in a storyline and how she reacts to things. Her complete lack of patience for Joe and him just accepting that is funny to me a lot of the time.
Fuck Sarah right now, though, this ain’t about her. She can eat pretzels in the corner and mind her business.
I’m more interested in Liz’s reaction to be honest.
But that’s partially just cuz I wanna see liz again. She’s a smokeshow.
Liz already thinks Joe and Joyce are FWB and do the down and dirty frequently. It’s partly why she pounced on Joe (safe guy to lose her V card to) before freaking out (not ready to do that)…
I think if Joe actually TELLS Joyce/Sarah/Liz he went along with Liz jumping him to try to get “perky ex-Fundie young woman”-type out of his brain because he didn’t deserve Joyce and Liz was literally throwing himself at her, they will be unamused but the fact they then didn’t DTD and he was respectful, considerate, and immediately snapped out of libido-mode to reassure her will help?
I doubt Sarah will ever like him, but I think Joyce would forgive him and Liz will accept her share of the blame?
I don’t think she’s going to be happy, but A. she did get chastened a bit when he called her out on what she was doing during the Jacob storyline, and B. I could see it getting back to her that Joe did the right thing with her sister and maybe getting her to see him in a more favorable light.
Fukkkinnngggg ouch.
You’ve got an autism non-diagnosis and you don’t belong at home and everyone around you is pushing for you to Be something or Change something and YOU’RE pushing you to grow and Be someone and
Someone just likes you.
They just like it when you smile at them.
As if i don’t have enough feels from this already
I think I have diabetes now.
I’m surprised Joe hasn’t gone back to blushing.
Who is this flirty confident young woman masquerading as Joyce??? (Loving the Joe/yce ship!)
Ok when and how will this go horribly wrong?
The only healthy relationship in this comic is Sally and Dan, and we ALL know that will eventually burn because Dan
I don’t feel good about this D:
I honestly think, if it does burn, it’s less going to be Danny and more if Sal’s parents fuck it up, or if Asher causes problems.
I wonder how Joyce will react when she discovers Joe won’t sleep with her?
That is a possible angle this can take. I do think he *would*, but that he would not do it lightly. Like, it’d definitely need to be built towards for him, for both of them really, but especially after we already saw Sarah’s sister lose her nerve with him despite talking a big game.
Agreed. I think his awareness of her sexual hangups (heavily reinforced by that experience with Liz, who he explicitly thought of as being a Joyce proxy, but one who was available) is tied to his anxiety about the prospect of dating her.
Not because he’s worried he won’t be able to get laid with her, but because he’s worried he’ll cause her harm.
This ^ all of this^^.
I can see this as being the straw that breaks Becky. “I’m okay with my religion and I had sex but you’re an evil atheist and you WON’T?”
If you’re gonna be a sinner at least do the fun sins.
Very glad to see Joe’s reaction here. Yeah, Joyce was razzing him, but I feel like that, in addition to him validating her, I think she’s kind of showing him that he can be anxious about this all he needs and wants, but she’s not running, and the world’s not ending due to his having feelings. He doesn’t have to bail on her and go fuck Malaya or other things he’s done in the past when facing his feelings, it’s totally alright.
It’s like he’s realizing it here, too, after a beat, that no, now that he’s embraced it, he doesn’t regret it.
Can we get THIS for a book title? God that’s a cute line.
OMG the feels. The feeeeeeels…
Joyce’s triangle smile is very acute. I hope that’s not too obtuse.
THATS A WIN! Not full confirmation, but this ship floats baby!
…..
I did not have Joyce and Joe being a Lowkey Couple on my 2022 Bingo Card.
Adorable.
Triangle smile, triangle smile.
Triangle smile hates particle smile.
They have a fight, triangle wins.
Triangle smile.
The juxtaposition of this comment with your icon is a thing of beauty.
That’s so cute it can melt the ice caps of Mars.
in before she has another interaction with someone that puts her in a ‘pissy’ mood again lol
I am kind of surprised of how non-flustered Joyce is to this revelation, all in all.
I was expect to at least slightly panic a little while she is trying to check her own feeling, not being sure how to react to a love declaration she is not sure she reciprocate.
Thank you, Willis.
Thillis.
I understood that reference!
Aww, that’s really sweet.
Oh gods, way too adorable!!!! *squee*
Yknow
I’ve always thought shipping people who get into shipping were weird
But as a YA of 20 I squeed out loud at this
I understand now
Aaaaw, that’s really cute
This is so sweet, cute, and adorable that everyone in that classroom will have instant cavity! Joe is just great here and Joyce looks so happy ♡♡. I don’t know how long it will last, but I hope it will last for a while. Also because I want to see everyone’s reaction to the news, especially Sarah’s.
Dawwww… I hope good things happen to the two of them.
And especially for Joyce, because honestly I think this “day” is the first time in a long, long while that we’ve actually seen her genuinely happy.
Sooooo cuuuuuute
I love that Joyce seems to understand that the fact of having feelings is part of the anxiety, not just what the feelings are. I think that not only does Joe not regret confiding in her, he’s now actively glad he did. Look at those smiles!
I’m pleasantly surprised at how Joyce is the confident one in these interactions. It feels important, given their dynamic, that she’s more able to be at east than he is.
Either way they are being very cute- a LOT sooner than I expected- and I hope things continue to move in a healthy direction for both of them!
next page : everyone else in the room applauding (except the model, which is unfortunately stuck)
JoJo is a go-go!!
Thank you Willis!!
(Maybe I will regret it later, but still)
Oh thank goodness! I was afraid this was gonna go south quickly. It still could go south later but I’m happy we get the fluff now.
That’s the last time he’ll be able to get away saying that to anyone. Once you hit a certain age and find yourself in a certain situation, saying, “C’mon honey, you’d be real purty if yuh just give us a smile” will bring you nothing but a world of hurt.
Yes, “in a certain situation.” In conversation with someone who thinks you’re interesting — win win (maybe). In the office with a random co-worker — lose lose.
Wow. Another person pretending that complimenting someone you know well while discussing your romantic interest in them is somehow the same as telling women to smile on command like trained seals.
Gosh. I wonder why women might feel differently about a heartfelt compliment versus some fucking random who thinks they’re owed a smile just for existing. Mystery.
“I just like it when you smile at me” and “C’mon honey, you’d be real purty if yuh just give us a smile” are such completely different things it’s hard to believe anyone could confuse them.
Seems like some people grab onto the most simplistic version of the idea and treat it like a hard and fast rule.
“I like you, I like it when you’re happy, I like it when you’re happy and comfortable and enjoying my company. I like your smile. I am so happy you are smiling right now.”
“I don’t know your name or the first thing that’s going on in your life but that’s irrelevant because you are female and therefore purely exist for my pleasure, including as an ornament. Smile for my entertainment and enjoyment.”
(These things are very different in tone, intent, etc.)
But somehow some people internalize it as “bad to say woman smile is good”.
It’s not even a particularly nuanced thing.
I’ll be honest, as someone with literally no skills in talking with other people I do often struggle with those nuances. I’ll have an idea of “oh this is on and this isn’t for this or that reason” but I’ll end up second guessing myself and deciding it’s better to just keep it to myself until I can find a no risk compliment.
Mmmmnope.
You… Tried?
If I had a nickel for everyone in the comments section trying to imply that a guy admitting a crush on one of his close friends telling her he likes her smile after she asked him literally two seconds ago what he liked about her is similar to randomly telling women they need to smile more I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Also mods pls ignore flag, I just have fat fingers trying to comment on mobile lol.
This is about the cutest thing i’ve seen here in ages!
All I can say right now is thank you Amber for pushing these two into adorably confronting Joe’s anxieties!
♪Feelings Boy, Feelings Boy♪
♪Friendly neighbourhood Feelings Boy♪
♪Sees a girls’, triangle smile♪
♪Draws with her, for a while♪
♪Look out, here comes the Feelings Boy!♪
It seems that a bunch of people are thinking something like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tc7MH5ZXbg
Oops
It looks like I forgotto make sure the “aut•play” would be off
100% fresh
Excellent taste. We like a good AMV, from time to time.
Joe keeps saying the cutest things how is
Why do I get the feeling their relationship is going to be Joyce repeatedly kicking Joe in the balls, but Joe not running away because she smiles while doing so.
Hey, no kink-shaming
That’s hot.
Surprisingly adorable.
D’awww. :3
Surprisingly heartwarming. Now I’m waiting for the other anvil to drop.
Super sweet, and feels realistic. D’awwwww definitely <3 bookmarked this particular strip as well as 2 before just for the feels
Love is always better than s*x.
s*x is a nice thing to have every now and then, but love is something you can never get enough of.
Love can turn a s*xhound into a wide eyed puppy that would be happy just sitting with you in silence.
Sax.
Sox
You know what they say: sex of one is half a lovin’ of the other.
I knew what you were going for and it still took me 3 or 4 times to read that correctly.
I am utterly deceased from the sweetness of it all.
feelsman (aaaahhhh)
Enemy of the deadpan (aaaahhhhhh)
Champion of the tsun
This is SO ADORABLE
And Joyce never frowned again. Which is a stark opposite of earlier this day.
Since Joe’s a lefty, they can hold hands efficiently!
I still can’t believe this is really happening. Somebody pinch me.
Smiling with her single giant tooth… (I can’t unsee it, and now you can’t either)
I’m surprised she isn’t reacting to this? Or overthinking it? Did she not interpret this as a love confession?
She is reacting to it! She’s smiling, she teased him, she described his confession as “like-liking me”—she understood Joe perfectly, and she’s making it clear that hearing him admit he feels this way about her makes her very happy.
Or do you mean, why isn’t she either explicitly rejecting his feelings/making a reciprocal confession? Idk, maybe she’s not ready yet. For all that she is blatantly attracted to him and aware of it, and even even suspected Joe felt the same way, it’s still something that merits a little processing time.
It’s not even like Joe’s explicitly asked her out on a date or asked her to be his girlfriend, which is a question that might require an answer. All he’s done is admit that he likes her.
It’s those nice little moments where I tell myself, “yeah, everything will be okay”, that I start freaking out about. It’s like I’m forgetting something crucial that needs to be done and I should be doing that.
I hope for the best for these two and whatever may (or may not) be waiting for them to not ruin the moment.
oh you mean like, when Liz comes back for a visit?
oh you mean like, when Liz comes back for a visit?
I’m a dumb dumb. forgot how to reply. hurp.
aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
yay!
God damn this is cute.
This would make a pretty good end to the strip, nothing concrete but hopeful for the future
I’m still so scared something’s going to happen.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
so cuTE