WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
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It is true that she hasn’t as they come nearly as much as she ought to have in her various lesbian sexcapades. She really should have banged one out after Joyce left on her date, coulda saved everyone a lot of distress.
makes sense she’d be in denial. if not hte arrogance/confidence enough to be like “yeah i’m not surprised i attract women” /willing to do threesomes “(it’s not gay if it’s in a three way” 8D)
I think she’s just deeply closeted, to the point where she can literally tell a woman she wants to go out and she doesn’t get it. In Walkyverse they were literally fucking and she still described herself as “straight (with an exception)” until she eventually relented to “undefinably queer”.
Which just basically means she’s between terms. That’s how these guys work. She lost the election and fell backwards into a cushy job that makes the university look more prestigious. But she likely hasn’t destroyed her reputation enough that she will have lost the voters for her district when the next election rolls around, and a good chunk of voters vote for the party, not for the person.
Robin is just as Looney Tunes as Carla is. And people who vote for Republicans don’t give a damn about reputation as long as they’re saying the right things and are charismatic enough, and Robin’s got charisma like Cap’n Crunch’s got diabetes. If she doesn’t bounce back, I’d be shocked.
Then again, I’m mostly basing this off of her success in Shortpacked. She DID make war illegal, after all.
Republican primaries can be cutthroat and destroy anyone who crosses the party. She cost the establishment a seat they could have won and she did it by betraying them to support a lesbian. The establishment won’t take the chance she’ll do that again. And Republican primary voters will happily look past or celebrate shit we’d consider horrific, but they’re not going to overlook what she’s done.
If she somehow stumbled into the nomination, she might still win, but that realistically shouldn’t happen.
Barring Robin shenanigans of course. With whatever the DOA equivalent of Cadbury Egg cereal, anything’s possible, but that’s not “how these guys work”.
And just to be clear: She didn’t lose the race. She dropped out weeks before the election, throwing it to the Democrat. And this was after being kicked out of the party due to the Leslie scandal (and Becky’s tweets as her). Robin has well and truly burned all her bridges.
She’s more like one of those silly straws: completely ridiculous but somehow still gets the job done (politics, teaching, etc) despite outward appearances.
Given that I have in the past been fired for all of the following:
For not attending a Christmas party.
For not asking for a promotion.
For somehow offending someone at Kraft Cheese.
I have come to the conclusion that a person can be fired for basically anything.
I got fired from the one and only time I worked in retail for being a minute late. Which was because I had to walk there. It was in high school so whatever but I still remember.
Unfortunately, in the US you can lose your job for almost anything. I think some of the few jobs where employers can’t easily just fire someone at will are union jobs.
And tenured professors, but Leslie isn’t one if I remember correctly.
There’s some weird laws surrounding whether or not professors who can be tenured can unionize, but I don’t fully understand them.
I believe a lot of folks sign contracts that put restrictions on why they can be fired, but that requires being in the kind of industry where that’s normal.
Then again, if Dumbing of Age was a strip made by Randy Milholland, hell WOULD be real, and Blaine and Toedad would both be there, in a codependant relationship, making each other miserable.
Additionally, I don’t think it’s outing in this circumstance for a few reasons. It’s someone Joyce trusts and for good reason, and I also just don’t think Jocelyn is especially closeted at this current time. It is good for Joyce to at least give it thought, though, even if she’s being very Joyce about it and getting too anxious.
Eh, in general, I agree, but I feel like right now, no one around would either be paying attention to them or have enough context to really get anything out of that actionable.
…how much you trust the person you outed someone to has literally zero bearing on whether or not you’re outing them. Outing is purely the act of telling a third party that someone is queer. Whether Jocelyn is closeted matters. So does whether Joyce gave enough info for Leslie to reasonably make the inference. But whether Leslie is trustworthy has literally nothing to do with it. Further, outing Jocelyn is a problem because it takes Jocelyn’s judgement away from her, full stop. Just because Joyce’s judgement is good in this instance doesn’t mean she gets to make that decision on Jocelyn’s behalf.
But I want to be very clear here that telling Leslie that Jocelyn is trans, presuming that Jocelyn is closeted and Leslie doesn’t yet know, IS outing her, full stop, and how cool Leslie is doesn’t change that one iota, because that’s what outing someone IS.
OTOH, is it really outing someone when it’s just “I have a trans sister” to someone who doesn’t actually know your family at all? Who’s being outed?
A little mitigated, since they might run into her at the protest, but in general?
I agree. What Joyce did was outing. The way she did was very cute though. I think if a sibling outed me like that, my feelings would be mixed. Not only was it unintentional, but the subtext is that she accepted that Jocelyn was never her brother but instead a secret sister. My identity would feel safe with her, just not my secrets.
Is the condescending tone intentional? If so, is it necessary? You’re plenty welcome to disagree with me, but the “…” at the beginning like you’re just flabbergasted feels unwarranted, to be frank with you.
I’d say it’s… low stakes outing? If that makes sense?
Joyce implied that she has a trans sibling to someone that sibling has not come out to, and the understanding is that this trans sibling is more “in the closet” than “out” at the moment. That is, by definition, outing.
That said, she didn’t explicitly say she has a trans sibling. She did not indicate which sibling is trans. And she did not say it to a person who would be likely to have any social overlap with Joyce’s trans sibling. Also, Leslie is a relatively “safe” person to come to about queer issues.
In a binary of good and bad, this action was outing and thus bad. But in reality, with all the shades of gray, it’s relatively low risk.
Yeah, we’re pretty much like one or two rungs up from “casually mentioned having a trans sibling on reddit” or something. Like, is Leslie going to DO anything with this information? Could she, even if she wanted to? What is the actual possible damage here?
In theory, Leslie could track down Joyce’s parents and let them know, which would be bad. Obviously, she’s not going to do that. (Though Robin knows too and that’s far more of a wild card.)
I was gonna say I’m surprised Roz hasn’t shown up at this rally yet, but then I remembered this wasn’t a queer protest, just a war protest that all the gays are showing up at.
Yeah, Roz is straight. She’s pretty invested in queer civil rights, though.
I am more inclined to think Roz probably is present, just, actively not associating with Robin or Leslie, Robin for obvious reasons, and because she and Leslie aren’t super warm on one another, anyway.
This arc has been absolutely loaded with bisexuals in denial. The Bi-count is off the chart. Joyce, Dorothy, Billie… And now Robin the ORIGINAL disaster bisexual is back in action. (unless you count ruth and billie as the firsts) That’s not even counting the “possibly” bisexuals. There is a good chance every single named character in this arc with the exception of Leslie and Becky are bi.
Hank has the opportunity to do the funniest thing in the entire world right now.
I mean, you can, but she’s very clearly not? She DID out her sister by accident, and she’s right to realize she should try not to do that just for a quip, no matter how funny it is.
I was confused for a very long time. I thought “being a bit lezzo” was just a game. And I thought the fact that I’d rather have been a boy was because I wanted the freedom that males had so much more of way back then and, tbh, still do to some extent. Now I’m happy to realise I was actually always a normal bisexual ‘both-and’ (non-binary for the very binary), just confused before because people kept possibilities from me…
Wishing you were gay suggests some things. I’m not sure there are straight people who wish they were gay. Consider looking into CompHet and seeing if any of that rings true for you.
Typically after the end of a relationship that didn’t work out because of constant mindgames, incompatible interests, jealousy, etc. Nearly always when hanging out with The Guys / The Girls: “S/He was such a . Why can’t I find a like you who just wants to and doesn’t .
IOW, personality vs physicality. And yeah, as others have said, conflating that with sexuality is exactly as offensive as telling someone who’s 100% gay that they’re just “confused”.
I’m pretty sure they didn’t know about it until a day or two ago in-universe, and they went there to let Jocelyne know that Hank saw a picture of her at the protest.
1. It takes some time to put up that much fencing. If they have several dozen people, it can be done fast. If it’s a typical campus cop crew, it’s gonna take a while.
2. And, yeah, blocking them in and not letting them out is part of the probable plan. Cops ‘kettle’ protesters in that way, and then arrest them (often with beatings and various blunt-force trauma projectiles).
Sometimes, though that’s usually in a later stage of the protest. I’d guess at this point the strategy would be to control access so more people can’t get in, let the casuals leave, then clear out and arrest those who are trying to camp out. Once they’re doing that, they won’t want protesters to escape, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to thin the crowd down before.
I would likely also go to “wonder if someone’s trans” if someone made a comment like Joyce’s to me, but I would speculate on other options. DNA testing can bring out some family secrets (as I have personal experience with).
It’s nice of Joyce to take pains, but as a trans girl I really feel like it’s not nearly such a big deal as she imagines it to be. Still not entirely clear on why she’s even so concerned about Jocelyne right now?
Because for all she knows, her dad, who directly called her “your brother”, knows, and is on his way. Her dad who Jocelyn herself expressed concerns about, and who still was a part of the very fabric of existence that kidnapped her and a bunch of her friends. Joyce does not know how trans friendly her dad is, but as of this moment has every reason to believe he’s Guy Carol.
I don’t think every reason to believe, Joyce knows he’s cool on some things but doesn’t know if he’s cool on THIS specifically, and even if she thinks Joceylyn can take care of herself she still has important intel to share with her. She was initially gonna call/text but y’know, no phone at the protest.
I agree that Hank almost certainly is not going to be initially accepting of Jocelyne, but what I don’t understand is everyone’s conviction that he’s going to do something violent or unsafe. Not when he literally left his wife because she endangered his children?
From my perspective it seems like he’s going to be a dick to Jocelyne and she is probably prepared for that. Hell, there seem to be implications that she already came out to him, and he didn’t take it well. Nothing Joyce is trying to tell her is new, except that her dad knows she’s at the protest. And I would be very unpleasantly surprised if the first time we see Hank since the time skip, he’s suddenly joined the ranks of insane supervillain relatives.
My favorite storyline in this comic is still “That Perfect Girl” for its succinct expression of Carla’s character. I particularly like it because Mary had a reason to be mad at her, and a shred of sympathy; Carla was an asshole but would still never deserve that treatment. That storyline wouldn’t work without it. But it’s been ten years since then, and now it seems whenever Willis writes a bigot they forget they’re also human. I’m prepared to see Hank be transphobic, I just hope that he remains a multilayered character.
Som I know that gravitar’s repeat but I still always end up thinking two people with the same one are the same person and I was very confused why you were seconding your own opinion for a minute
My first conclusion if I didn’t knew the context would have been to assume that Joyce recently found out she had a sibling out of an extra-marital relationship.
That would have been most people’s conclusion just several years ago, me-think.
That being said, is it still Jocelyne’s wish to keep her transition a secret?
Robin and Leslie should go get stoned and play Puyo Pop Fever together. Joyce and Dorothy should do the same, but separately from Leslie and Robin, because it would be weird for all of them to do that together.
One time my friend was talking about his sister who I had only met once long before she transitioned. It took me a solid five minutes to realize they were talking about the same person.
There was literally a whole conversation where Becky was asking her about being bi, to which she answered about how liking girls was new. She followed THAT up by saying she was so horny she could do the entire cast of Thor Ragnarok.
So (at least to me) it’s clear that when she said “I’m not actually gay” to Ethan on family weekend, what she meant by that is that she liked men, but wasn’t gay because she wasn’t actually a man. Liking women is something new that happened as a result of HRT, and so now she considers herself bi.
Depends on how many bros are nearby. Idk I am like a 5 on the kinsey scale. 1 or 2 guys are hot but they are definitely rare enough I don’t think about it often. That didn’t stop dorm bros I was friends with from calling me half gay (respectfully it was always an in joke)
Oh no, you don’t understand. Trans women are ALWAYS gay. If they like guys, well, they’re biologically a man, so they are gay. If they like girls, well, they look like a woman, so they’re a lesbian.
Ha! I love Leslie. To be honest, as soon as we learned she was at the protest too, I felt a lot better, like I would if I was somewhere with my mom, ya know?
While, yes, Don’t out people without their consent, there’s a difference between outing them to someone who might put them in danger, vs someone who’s proven to be a genuine trans ally (afaik Leslie is that). Should you out people? no. But the impact differs!
(i’m more worried about *Robin* standing right there, who’s too impulsive to not blurt that out to the wrong people.)
As someone with a trans sister and a trans girlfriend, I can weigh in on this, because I’ve had this exact conversation multiple times. Basically, by the time my sister came out to us she was already out in her personal life, so it didn’t really matter, though in spaces where it seems unsafe, she asked me not to mention the trans part. My girlfriend is only like, half out; she boymodes at work and sometimes in public, and when she’s boymoding, she asked that I don’t misgender her, but just, kinda equivocate on it and don’t address it directly, though she doens’t mind me telling like, friends and stuff. I’d say from the picture it’s unclear if she’s going stealth or not, but most importantly, she hasn’t had that conversation with Jocelyn yet. Maybe she cares, maybe she doesn’t, but ultimately she has to talk to her about it
I recommend you give it a try. The creator writes about what and where he knows the same way IU is a big deal in DofA. And the creator’s social media account is almost as full of Transformer posts as Willis’ is.
I was looking through some old boxes in my garage and came across a letter my father wrote to me my freshman year in college. He was counseling me about my reaction to going to a demonstration that devolved into a street riot and then subsequently seeing a Boston cop deliberately break the leg of someone who had run away from them and was then holed up in a brownstone’s doorway.
I know Hank is the “Good Parent” but how many Fundamentalist Christian Men end up cheating in their wives? My first thought would’ve probably be a surprise half- sister.
(But I get its Leslie and also the Joke setup of Dorothy assuring Joyce “it’s not that deep” with her comment only to be proven wrong)
Mary types are on both sides of the protests being referenced. A lot of pro palestinians just straight up bullied and harassed jews if not just… straight up throwing rocks at people’s heads? and it’s like hey the police are required to handle that as liability now. Without showing the whole “let’s gang up on a marginalized group of people because of ethnonationalists in another continent” bit, it seems like the police are showing up for no reason.
I… don’t even like police… and agree they got overzealous. It’s just. 0 nuance my side is good your side isn’t. As I said, there are mary types on both sides here.
Sure y’are
The “some of us” probably doesn’t include her lol
*checks tags*
It doesn’t include anyone in today’s comic.
I can’t believe you’d say that Dorothy is DEFINITELY as straight as they come.
It is true that she hasn’t as they come nearly as much as she ought to have in her various lesbian sexcapades. She really should have banged one out after Joyce left on her date, coulda saved everyone a lot of distress.
wait, dorothy was straight when she came?
No one’s ever orgasmed more hetero-ly.
(‘cept maybe robin)
10/10 avatar+comment combo
Statistically someone in the background is probably straight
Ha. You beat me to it.
I been thagomized!
makes sense she’d be in denial. if not hte arrogance/confidence enough to be like “yeah i’m not surprised i attract women” /willing to do threesomes “(it’s not gay if it’s in a three way” 8D)
I think she’s just deeply closeted, to the point where she can literally tell a woman she wants to go out and she doesn’t get it. In Walkyverse they were literally fucking and she still described herself as “straight (with an exception)” until she eventually relented to “undefinably queer”.
She’s a republican politician…
She was, yeah. Now she’s a… PoliSci professor? I think?
Which just basically means she’s between terms. That’s how these guys work. She lost the election and fell backwards into a cushy job that makes the university look more prestigious. But she likely hasn’t destroyed her reputation enough that she will have lost the voters for her district when the next election rolls around, and a good chunk of voters vote for the party, not for the person.
She’s destroyed her reputation and her connection to the party establishment enough she’d never make it through a primary now.
Or so I’d assume if she wasn’t Robin and didn’t have magical shenanigans powers.
Robin is just as Looney Tunes as Carla is. And people who vote for Republicans don’t give a damn about reputation as long as they’re saying the right things and are charismatic enough, and Robin’s got charisma like Cap’n Crunch’s got diabetes. If she doesn’t bounce back, I’d be shocked.
Then again, I’m mostly basing this off of her success in Shortpacked. She DID make war illegal, after all.
Republican primaries can be cutthroat and destroy anyone who crosses the party. She cost the establishment a seat they could have won and she did it by betraying them to support a lesbian. The establishment won’t take the chance she’ll do that again. And Republican primary voters will happily look past or celebrate shit we’d consider horrific, but they’re not going to overlook what she’s done.
If she somehow stumbled into the nomination, she might still win, but that realistically shouldn’t happen.
Barring Robin shenanigans of course. With whatever the DOA equivalent of Cadbury Egg cereal, anything’s possible, but that’s not “how these guys work”.
And just to be clear: She didn’t lose the race. She dropped out weeks before the election, throwing it to the Democrat. And this was after being kicked out of the party due to the Leslie scandal (and Becky’s tweets as her). Robin has well and truly burned all her bridges.
Very Straight? In this economy? I think you overestimate their chances, Robin.
Robin is a VERY STRAIGHT PERSON who occasionally bros out with other girls!
As one does!
By chance is that a reference to pixietricks comics?
*trix
Like if my name was Albuquerque Damazian Fedora Wilson.
Always take a left turn at Albuquerque.
And then maybe a right at La Jolla.
dumbing of age book 15: some of us are–…aww
dumbing of age book 15: NO MORE KILLING CHILDREN
* Dumbing of Age Book 15: ) MORE LLING ‘DREN
I will be taking my new “IT’S TRUMP’S FAULT” sign for its first outing today.
It got smiles and thumbs up. “I couldn’t agree more” said one citizen.
Book 15 title: Uh huh. Sure. Name five.
“Some of us are very straight…. unless there’s an opportunity to go bi…:
just walk on bi
“Wait on the corner…”
Robin tells it like it is. She’s a straight shooter
IU DIVEST FROM WEAPONS. No more straight shooting children.
I’m glad that Leslie realizes how bad things might get, and doesn’t want to see her students get hurt. Really shows the kind of person she is.
Also Robin you’re about as straight as a horseshoe. Agreed?
Agreed.
She’s more like one of those silly straws: completely ridiculous but somehow still gets the job done (politics, teaching, etc) despite outward appearances.
While taking more effort to get there, but at least the journey is entertaining.
Leslie has good queer-mom energy. Very caring of the younger queer generations.
I’m glad that Leslie realizes how bad things might get, and doesn’t want to see her students get hurt. Really shows the kind of person she is.
Also Robin you’re about as straight as a horseshoe. Agreed?
Agree to disagree.
Secret second family via evil dad is an equally valid option in this setting.
Sure but what does Faz have to do with this?
Wait is Faz is gay? Wait is Faz is woman??
Faz is too fazbulous to be constrained by labels.
Yep yep. Also a *secret* sister from back when one or more of your parents weren’t ready to raise her.
Or the sister was kept secret for some other reason.
They’re running in circles, they’re travelling in straight lines…
Whoa, somehow I double commented.
Did you though?
Could Leslie lose her job for this? I mean I doubt she would but passively believing she’s taking extra risk adds flavor. It’s spicy.
Given that I have in the past been fired for all of the following:
For not attending a Christmas party.
For not asking for a promotion.
For somehow offending someone at Kraft Cheese.
I have come to the conclusion that a person can be fired for basically anything.
I got fired from the one and only time I worked in retail for being a minute late. Which was because I had to walk there. It was in high school so whatever but I still remember.
To Rose: okay I gotta hear these stories
Depending on the state, yes, it’s true.
Unfortunately, in the US you can lose your job for almost anything. I think some of the few jobs where employers can’t easily just fire someone at will are union jobs.
And tenured professors, but Leslie isn’t one if I remember correctly.
There’s some weird laws surrounding whether or not professors who can be tenured can unionize, but I don’t fully understand them.
I believe a lot of folks sign contracts that put restrictions on why they can be fired, but that requires being in the kind of industry where that’s normal.
I don’t think she is, just 2 days ago she was saying she wasn’t a professor but Robin was.
Leslie is an adjunct or something like that.
Those often (basically always?) have time-limited contracts,nso don’t even *have* to be fired.
Leslie is an adjunct instructor. Not a full professor. Definitely no tenure. She’s likely a part-time contract worker in academia.
Yes, she could be fired. Indiana is a Right To Fire state (it’s euphemistically called “Right To Work”). And she is not tenured in any way.
Just an FYI:
Right to Work is the anti-union rules.
At-Will Employment is the fire-you-for-any-reason rules, and every state buy Montana is like that.
She’s almost certainly an adjunct, so, yes l.
Very yes.
Dumbing of Age: It’s Gay!
It’s also dot com!
Looking at the url… yep, checks out. If I was rich I’d buy dumbingofgay.com and gayingofage.com and point them back here.
There was supposed to be a reference to the Homestar Runner intro video here but the spam filter ate it.
DELORTED
DumbingOfAgeDotNet: It’s Dot Com!
Leslie is much like the comments, and I think that’s beautiful
How dare you Leslie is lovely snd never make me question my faith in Humanity!/j
I mean, I’d’ve bet you real money that Blaine and Toedad would’ve had something going on, but I guess that’s a ship that ain’t gonna sail.
Then again, if Dumbing of Age was a strip made by Randy Milholland, hell WOULD be real, and Blaine and Toedad would both be there, in a codependant relationship, making each other miserable.
I’m guessing they do get arrested, and both of Joyce’s parents show up to bail her out.
Hank might show up to bail them out, but somehow I doubt Carol will.
Carol showing up just to say she’s not going to bail them out is somewhat upstaged by Hank actually bailing them out.
I want to see this happen for the sake of the story.
kindaThat would be a a very Carol thing to do – just to teach her disobedient children a lesson. Now, if only someone would teach Carol a lesson.
“It’s gay” is always the best first guess. If that guess is wrong it’s already on thin ice
As Elijah NSAF said today, “I shouldn’t have assumed the straightness!”
Hilarious.
Additionally, I don’t think it’s outing in this circumstance for a few reasons. It’s someone Joyce trusts and for good reason, and I also just don’t think Jocelyn is especially closeted at this current time. It is good for Joyce to at least give it thought, though, even if she’s being very Joyce about it and getting too anxious.
Regardless of one’s closet status it’s probably not cool to out someone unless you’re in a very liberal place or in a private setting.
Leslie might be cool but someone eavesdropping might not. And Joyce doesn’t exactly fully trust Robin either.
Eh, in general, I agree, but I feel like right now, no one around would either be paying attention to them or have enough context to really get anything out of that actionable.
…how much you trust the person you outed someone to has literally zero bearing on whether or not you’re outing them. Outing is purely the act of telling a third party that someone is queer. Whether Jocelyn is closeted matters. So does whether Joyce gave enough info for Leslie to reasonably make the inference. But whether Leslie is trustworthy has literally nothing to do with it. Further, outing Jocelyn is a problem because it takes Jocelyn’s judgement away from her, full stop. Just because Joyce’s judgement is good in this instance doesn’t mean she gets to make that decision on Jocelyn’s behalf.
But I want to be very clear here that telling Leslie that Jocelyn is trans, presuming that Jocelyn is closeted and Leslie doesn’t yet know, IS outing her, full stop, and how cool Leslie is doesn’t change that one iota, because that’s what outing someone IS.
OTOH, is it really outing someone when it’s just “I have a trans sister” to someone who doesn’t actually know your family at all? Who’s being outed?
A little mitigated, since they might run into her at the protest, but in general?
I agree. What Joyce did was outing. The way she did was very cute though. I think if a sibling outed me like that, my feelings would be mixed. Not only was it unintentional, but the subtext is that she accepted that Jocelyn was never her brother but instead a secret sister. My identity would feel safe with her, just not my secrets.
Is the condescending tone intentional? If so, is it necessary? You’re plenty welcome to disagree with me, but the “…” at the beginning like you’re just flabbergasted feels unwarranted, to be frank with you.
I’d say it’s… low stakes outing? If that makes sense?
Joyce implied that she has a trans sibling to someone that sibling has not come out to, and the understanding is that this trans sibling is more “in the closet” than “out” at the moment. That is, by definition, outing.
That said, she didn’t explicitly say she has a trans sibling. She did not indicate which sibling is trans. And she did not say it to a person who would be likely to have any social overlap with Joyce’s trans sibling. Also, Leslie is a relatively “safe” person to come to about queer issues.
In a binary of good and bad, this action was outing and thus bad. But in reality, with all the shades of gray, it’s relatively low risk.
Yeah, we’re pretty much like one or two rungs up from “casually mentioned having a trans sibling on reddit” or something. Like, is Leslie going to DO anything with this information? Could she, even if she wanted to? What is the actual possible damage here?
That was basically my thought process too.
In theory, Leslie could track down Joyce’s parents and let them know, which would be bad. Obviously, she’s not going to do that. (Though Robin knows too and that’s far more of a wild card.)
Whoops
I was gonna say I’m surprised Roz hasn’t shown up at this rally yet, but then I remembered this wasn’t a queer protest, just a war protest that all the gays are showing up at.
Is Roz queer?
Pretty sure Roz is straight.
Yeah, Roz is straight. She’s pretty invested in queer civil rights, though.
I am more inclined to think Roz probably is present, just, actively not associating with Robin or Leslie, Robin for obvious reasons, and because she and Leslie aren’t super warm on one another, anyway.
She’s pretty invested in being the leftiest, so she’s likely around (or was/will be).
Unless this protest is too centrist for her.
More seriously, she’s mostly invested in sex-positive feminist stuff, I think. With queer rights an obvious follow on from that.
So Roz is who Robin is referring to. Now the strip makes sense.
it wouldn’t surprise me if roz didn’t show up just because of robin too
Wouldn’t be too surprised if she showed up though.
This arc has been absolutely loaded with bisexuals in denial. The Bi-count is off the chart. Joyce, Dorothy, Billie… And now Robin the ORIGINAL disaster bisexual is back in action. (unless you count ruth and billie as the firsts) That’s not even counting the “possibly” bisexuals. There is a good chance every single named character in this arc with the exception of Leslie and Becky are bi.
Hank has the opportunity to do the funniest thing in the entire world right now.
Probably not Joe and Sarah, no.
Probably yes Joe and Sarah! Anything’s possible in a Sickos World!!!
The world could not handle a Joe/Ethan pairing.
Joe is definitely bi, and I say this with my unimpeachable source of “I want it very badly” so you know it’s 100% true.
unless joe suddenly finds malaya unattractive he’s into at least two genders
It’s almost as if Willis planned this for pride month.
“Some of us are very straight” and then there’s you, Robin
Robin. Are the straight’s in the room with us?
They sure are holding each other a lot for two strictly platonic besties with boyfriends. Great way to not get separated but also pretty gay of them.
Some of us but not you Robin.
i mean, wouldn’t put it past some ppl in teh college to find out they have secret siblings but hopefully joyce/dorothy can find and talk to jocelyne
Cue this panel from Young Avengers. You know the one, Robin.
https://images.app.goo.gl/p7hErm4dw3rmw3rU9
Robin’s hanging out on whatever the sapphic equivalent of r/egg_irl is, apparently.
Joyce, allow me to offer you some advice my gf often gives:
you can worry too much about these things
I mean, you can, but she’s very clearly not? She DID out her sister by accident, and she’s right to realize she should try not to do that just for a quip, no matter how funny it is.
There’s no such thing as straight people, Mario!
There is, but we’re very rare.
I wonder if it’s bad taste to tell straight people they’re just confused and they’ll realize they’re normal bisexuals one day.
I was confused for a very long time. I thought “being a bit lezzo” was just a game. And I thought the fact that I’d rather have been a boy was because I wanted the freedom that males had so much more of way back then and, tbh, still do to some extent. Now I’m happy to realise I was actually always a normal bisexual ‘both-and’ (non-binary for the very binary), just confused before because people kept possibilities from me…
It’s rude. I’m a straight male who has wished I were bi or gay for decades. Dudes just aren’t on my radar.
I hope one day you find your unicorn guy then. If only just to dream lol. You never know.
Wishing you were gay suggests some things. I’m not sure there are straight people who wish they were gay. Consider looking into CompHet and seeing if any of that rings true for you.
I’m not sure it’s very usual for straight people to wish they aren’t straight. I mean, I guess it can happen, but… can I ask why you’ve wished that?
Typically after the end of a relationship that didn’t work out because of constant mindgames, incompatible interests, jealousy, etc. Nearly always when hanging out with The Guys / The Girls: “S/He was such a . Why can’t I find a like you who just wants to and doesn’t .
IOW, personality vs physicality. And yeah, as others have said, conflating that with sexuality is exactly as offensive as telling someone who’s 100% gay that they’re just “confused”.
Trans folk do it for ya?
I find gender variation the sexiest of all…
It is rude to say it. Unless you throw in a “bless your heart” somewhere in there.
There’s units of us. UNITS!!!
YES, hovertext! Perfectly ironic, perfectly apt.
So neither Dorothy or Joyce wanted to be part of the protest? That’s disappointing.
They just been informed like a day ago that it was a thing and many stuff other happened that occupied their minds. Not reason to be disappointed
I’m pretty sure they didn’t know about it until a day or two ago in-universe, and they went there to let Jocelyne know that Hank saw a picture of her at the protest.
I’m not the slightest bit convinced that Robin is “very straight”.
Are the straight people in the room with us now, Robin?
Is the fence only blocking part of the protest area? Because if it’s around the whole area, they’re not gonna be able to get out.
That doesn’t make any sense.
Aren’t they supposed to wait for a curfew to be declared, so that fencing them in past dusk gives the cops grounds to arrest them?
I wouldn’t put it past cops to fence them in before curfew is declared, they like shooting fish in a barrel.
1. It takes some time to put up that much fencing. If they have several dozen people, it can be done fast. If it’s a typical campus cop crew, it’s gonna take a while.
2. And, yeah, blocking them in and not letting them out is part of the probable plan. Cops ‘kettle’ protesters in that way, and then arrest them (often with beatings and various blunt-force trauma projectiles).
Sometimes, though that’s usually in a later stage of the protest. I’d guess at this point the strategy would be to control access so more people can’t get in, let the casuals leave, then clear out and arrest those who are trying to camp out. Once they’re doing that, they won’t want protesters to escape, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to thin the crowd down before.
I would likely also go to “wonder if someone’s trans” if someone made a comment like Joyce’s to me, but I would speculate on other options. DNA testing can bring out some family secrets (as I have personal experience with).
Irony: In comedic terms, Leslie is the straight woman of this duo.
HUH.
Always has been.
Toxic Yuri Status: I’m going to keep it at SUGILITE
It’s nice of Joyce to take pains, but as a trans girl I really feel like it’s not nearly such a big deal as she imagines it to be. Still not entirely clear on why she’s even so concerned about Jocelyne right now?
I feel Joyce’s caution is warranted given her lesbian friend was almost kidnapped and programmed.
Twice.
There is no safe space as far as she knows.
Because for all she knows, her dad, who directly called her “your brother”, knows, and is on his way. Her dad who Jocelyn herself expressed concerns about, and who still was a part of the very fabric of existence that kidnapped her and a bunch of her friends. Joyce does not know how trans friendly her dad is, but as of this moment has every reason to believe he’s Guy Carol.
I don’t think every reason to believe, Joyce knows he’s cool on some things but doesn’t know if he’s cool on THIS specifically, and even if she thinks Joceylyn can take care of herself she still has important intel to share with her. She was initially gonna call/text but y’know, no phone at the protest.
Yeah, it’s probably a lot easier to deal with having that discussion with dad if you can prepare for it, vs. being surprised at a rally.
I agree that Hank almost certainly is not going to be initially accepting of Jocelyne, but what I don’t understand is everyone’s conviction that he’s going to do something violent or unsafe. Not when he literally left his wife because she endangered his children?
From my perspective it seems like he’s going to be a dick to Jocelyne and she is probably prepared for that. Hell, there seem to be implications that she already came out to him, and he didn’t take it well. Nothing Joyce is trying to tell her is new, except that her dad knows she’s at the protest. And I would be very unpleasantly surprised if the first time we see Hank since the time skip, he’s suddenly joined the ranks of insane supervillain relatives.
My favorite storyline in this comic is still “That Perfect Girl” for its succinct expression of Carla’s character. I particularly like it because Mary had a reason to be mad at her, and a shred of sympathy; Carla was an asshole but would still never deserve that treatment. That storyline wouldn’t work without it. But it’s been ten years since then, and now it seems whenever Willis writes a bigot they forget they’re also human. I’m prepared to see Hank be transphobic, I just hope that he remains a multilayered character.
He’s most likely not.
But that’s not the point.
That seems like an extreme interpretation of Hank’s text. I think Joyce is leaping to conclusions.
Yes. It’s like she’s traumatized or something.
As another trans girl, I second this.
Som I know that gravitar’s repeat but I still always end up thinking two people with the same one are the same person and I was very confused why you were seconding your own opinion for a minute
As another cis guy, I second this
Also I hate that you can’t edit comments I swear those typos added themselves in later because I did not remember typing them
Clearly Joyce just found out about her dad’s secret second family
Dorothy: Leslie doesn’t have the information to make that leap.
Leslie: Robin, hold my beer.
Robin: You brought beer?! FUCK YEAH!
*proceeds to drink the beer
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be held against you in the court of Leslie (and Robin).”
Sign15: Have to Put Snarky Reparté [sic] on Lockdown*Don’t* speak for yourself, Robin.
just hush, Robin. Or I’m calling Batman.
My first conclusion if I didn’t knew the context would have been to assume that Joyce recently found out she had a sibling out of an extra-marital relationship.
That would have been most people’s conclusion just several years ago, me-think.
That being said, is it still Jocelyne’s wish to keep her transition a secret?
methinks = it thinks to me = it seems to me
I don’t remember writing “me-think”
Wait, test: IMO
Either way Joyce is (trying) to do the right thing, which is not outing Jocelyn until she knows for sure that Jocelyn is okay being outed.
wrong brackets oops
Robin and Leslie should go get stoned and play Puyo Pop Fever together. Joyce and Dorothy should do the same, but separately from Leslie and Robin, because it would be weird for all of them to do that together.
Hand-holding continues.
As it should. *sage-nods*
One time my friend was talking about his sister who I had only met once long before she transitioned. It took me a solid five minutes to realize they were talking about the same person.
It’s pride month, but sadly this demonstration arc is boring me to tears.
In an incredible twist of irony, Jocelyne is actually not gay.
Eh, bi’s close enough.
Is she? (genuine question)
She said that pre-transition she never found women appealing, but that it’s been changing now. That suggests she may be at least a little bi now.
Thanks.
There was literally a whole conversation where Becky was asking her about being bi, to which she answered about how liking girls was new. She followed THAT up by saying she was so horny she could do the entire cast of Thor Ragnarok.
So (at least to me) it’s clear that when she said “I’m not actually gay” to Ethan on family weekend, what she meant by that is that she liked men, but wasn’t gay because she wasn’t actually a man. Liking women is something new that happened as a result of HRT, and so now she considers herself bi.
Relevant link: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-15/02-the-one-where-jocelyne-returns/hrt/
Oh, yeah, that’s the strip.
Depends on how many bros are nearby. Idk I am like a 5 on the kinsey scale. 1 or 2 guys are hot but they are definitely rare enough I don’t think about it often. That didn’t stop dorm bros I was friends with from calling me half gay (respectfully it was always an in joke)
Oh no, you don’t understand. Trans women are ALWAYS gay. If they like guys, well, they’re biologically a man, so they are gay. If they like girls, well, they look like a woman, so they’re a lesbian.
I wonder if these two realise that the cops might actually use violence and won’t care that they’re just here to talk to a family member
This. And they have a lot of trauma from violence already.
Mary’s gonna get arrested and it’s gonna be hilarious.
Very straight. ALL the straight. Platonic ideal of straight.
Do you really want to use “us” there, Robin?
Ronin’s strait…?
Robin’s strait…?
Straight as an arrow
>insert video of an arrow bending back and forth as it flies through the air
She’s just as straight as Jennifer.
Ha! I love Leslie. To be honest, as soon as we learned she was at the protest too, I felt a lot better, like I would if I was somewhere with my mom, ya know?
While, yes, Don’t out people without their consent, there’s a difference between outing them to someone who might put them in danger, vs someone who’s proven to be a genuine trans ally (afaik Leslie is that). Should you out people? no. But the impact differs!
(i’m more worried about *Robin* standing right there, who’s too impulsive to not blurt that out to the wrong people.)
But also, neither Leslie nor Robin know who Jocelyne is.
Is “I have a trans sister” always outing?
As someone with a trans sister and a trans girlfriend, I can weigh in on this, because I’ve had this exact conversation multiple times. Basically, by the time my sister came out to us she was already out in her personal life, so it didn’t really matter, though in spaces where it seems unsafe, she asked me not to mention the trans part. My girlfriend is only like, half out; she boymodes at work and sometimes in public, and when she’s boymoding, she asked that I don’t misgender her, but just, kinda equivocate on it and don’t address it directly, though she doens’t mind me telling like, friends and stuff. I’d say from the picture it’s unclear if she’s going stealth or not, but most importantly, she hasn’t had that conversation with Jocelyn yet. Maybe she cares, maybe she doesn’t, but ultimately she has to talk to her about it
Why are everyone’s ears gray? Frostbite??
Feels like shading, sun being to the left and a bit to the back
“some” yes, but no one here.
I love it when two of my favorite webcomics sync up like this.
I have never seen this comic, but sincce you like both Dumbing of Age and Leftover Soup based on your icon I am instantly intruiged. Lol
I recommend you give it a try. The creator writes about what and where he knows the same way IU is a big deal in DofA. And the creator’s social media account is almost as full of Transformer posts as Willis’ is.
You convince me to check it out just with that
I can’t promise you’ll love it, but it’s a lot of fun for some of us.
Ughm, now I have to read it, too.
Robin you are literally trying to convince a woman to date you.
I was looking through some old boxes in my garage and came across a letter my father wrote to me my freshman year in college. He was counseling me about my reaction to going to a demonstration that devolved into a street riot and then subsequently seeing a Boston cop deliberately break the leg of someone who had run away from them and was then holed up in a brownstone’s doorway.
Good for you?
That is awful. Good of your dad to write; hope he was supportive
We should kiss, so we definitely know I’m straight, and then move in together so we can keep checking I’m straight.
Robin, 3 days from now, as Leslie and Anna help her unload a 3-person bed from the U-Haul: “Hey, just so you know, I’m totes straight.”
Honestly, this is provbably one of the best names so far for book 15
I know Hank is the “Good Parent” but how many Fundamentalist Christian Men end up cheating in their wives? My first thought would’ve probably be a surprise half- sister.
(But I get its Leslie and also the Joke setup of Dorothy assuring Joyce “it’s not that deep” with her comment only to be proven wrong)
“Some of us are very straight” refers to Roz and/or Riley, I take it?
I gotta be more clever by… one tenth!
( its not working )
Things are gonna get out of control in about 4 strips.
Mary types are on both sides of the protests being referenced. A lot of pro palestinians just straight up bullied and harassed jews if not just… straight up throwing rocks at people’s heads? and it’s like hey the police are required to handle that as liability now. Without showing the whole “let’s gang up on a marginalized group of people because of ethnonationalists in another continent” bit, it seems like the police are showing up for no reason.
I… don’t even like police… and agree they got overzealous. It’s just. 0 nuance my side is good your side isn’t. As I said, there are mary types on both sides here.