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Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
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In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
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Dumbing of Age
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What do you do when the person you're in-love with is an anonymous romance novelist? Get your best friend to hire your worst enemy for help!
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Superpowered middle schoolers fight evil spirits in their rural hometown. Come for the jokes, stay for the cast, the creatures, and the mystery that ties them all together!
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Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
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Steffi thinks she can use her kiwi mech to become a superhero. This idea turns out to be very stupid.
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The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
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Lucy Marlowe, a magician's apprentice, competes against other apprentices for an important, magical, Goverment Job.
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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.
Demon's Mirror
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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!
Cassiopeia Quinn
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A cute, pantsless thief is pursued across the stars by a buttoned-up military officer in the spacey, laser-filled future.
Monsterkind
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Wallace Foster, a young, bright-eyed human social worker, has his entire world view rocked when he's suddenly relocated into a city primarily inhabited by monsters.
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Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
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There is no good reason to be awake between the hours of 4 and 5 in the morning. You can be up until 3 or wake up at 5. 4 is the no-man’s-land between the two.
You’re clearly not a programmer. There’s some code that compiles between 4AM and 5AM (i.e., near the end of a long coding session) that would totally fail to compile at any other time. In fact, if you read the code at any time except between 4 and 5 AM, you will become convinced that it can’t possibly work, except it does.
I have to wake up at 5 because morning commute is so traffic-plagued. Because of that, my bio clock adjusted itself to awaking half an hour or so earlier.
That’s sad (well, depending on whether you get to bed early or not). I hope you can return to sleep after waking up :/
I usually don’t get more than around 4-5 consecutive hours of sleep because of my cats (they love to wake me up, just for the heck of it), so I can kinda relate, though I definitely can get sleep after dealing with them for a bit.
Well, if you’re using Pokemon Ultra Moon, you have to get up at 5:00AM to evolve your own temp Rockruff to the new dusk form.
Unless you set your 3DS clock to the wrong time. But that way lies madness!
First time I ever played Civilization, I had close to no idea what I was doing, but I was already aware of the “nuclear Ghandi” meme. I chose to play as a random civilization…and I got Ghandi. And when I reached the Atomic Era, it turned out that some of the mines I had built in the past were built over uranium resources, precluding the need for me to make a builder unit and send them out to build a uranium mine.
I get up between 4 am and 4:30am for my morning shift. But I’m also the kind of person that needs two hours to wake up in the morning and get every preparation for the work-day done (including lunch). I’ve been called crazy by co-workers, but it works for me, for the time being.
Once winter hits Willis will have to draw the cast in winter gear for years and years and years of eternal winter without ever getting to Christmas (why does that sound familiar?).
But I must say, I look forward to the endless halloween.
I’m guessing not morning sickness. If it was morning sickness she’d be sleeping next to the toilet. Also, she’d be freaking out until she figured out what was going on.
The other options are possible, but I’d add depression / self-esteem-self-destruct from her struggles in school.
Walky did say at one point that if her birth control methods were any more secure, they’d have to simultaneously turn keys. So I think she’s probably doing more than just condoms combined with birth control. Probably spermicidal foam in there too.
But even just birth control and condoms (which is probably the least anyone medically able to use both ought to be doing in her situation) would reduce the rate to near-impossible.
Yeah, it’s probably a combination of that trauma with the depression and self-esteem issues Reitzik mentioned. It’s particularly sad that missing out on her running routine is exactly the wrong thing for her to do. Exercise isn’t a magic cure-all of course, but it is one of the best things for maintaining a level of both physical and mental health. Running is also an important part of Dorothy’s identity so not doing it will hurt her self-esteem that much more.
Of course it’s completely realistic that someone stressed almost to the point of breaking would see not running as an easy, almost cost-free sacrifice to make. This is a great indication that despite being so brilliant in other areas, Dorothy still has a lot to figure out just like everyone else.
I exercise every day for my mental and physical health, but when I’m feeling like crap (tired, dizzy, trouble processing stuff) it does the opposite of help. Take some time to rest, and try it again later or tomorrow.
Ffft that was my guess. She probably also remembers how far her room is from everyone else’s in the dorm, especially after her stint as the whiteboard dingdong bandit.
Wait, how does it ever advance past 0 if she has to change it manually? Does it like update the day automatically and she only has to reset it to 0? Wouldn’t even having the sign THERE prevent it from advancing beyond 0?
When the wheat pool I worked at many years ago was bought by Americans, they put one of those big “[X] days since our last accident!!” boards up outside the first aid room, which was not only right outside the main offices in the pool itself, but also right beside where the coffee truck came.
They figured it would be a great motivator for people to be extra safe. They may have promised us some treat or other if we made it to [90].
As I recall, they then dropped the promised reward to [30], and after several months just ditched the stupid thing altogether. I never saw it get past [04] myself, and eventually people just left it on the [01] since there was no point in changing it.
Ended up being more demotivating than inspirational, heh. Someone probably should have told them that, you know, “not being injured” was a greater motivation to us than “not wrecking the run”.
They also probably ought to have checked the first aid log book before deciding that this was a realistic idea, heh, especially since every first aid visit counted, even if it was to get dust rinsed out of the eyes.
Most places use lost work days, which has a precise OSHA meaning. Paper cuts don’t count. Eye dust would only count if you had to miss a day od work because of it. Though it is easy to need surgery after something as simple as climbing a ladder.
I’m tired just looking at Joyce. Of course, I flew across the country overnight without really getting any sleep on the plane, so that may be unrelated to Joyce.
Garlic….. so long as it’s FLAVORING the food rather than BEING food, sure. Lots of garlic flavor in a sauce is okay, but little itty bitty bits of minced garlic? NO.
Running water? Perfectly fine, so long as she doesn’t have to stand on a mass of para-sentient hair slime to get under it.
We know she can enjoy flavored foods. Couldn’t say whether she likes the flavor of garlic or not, but as long as it’s not identifiable as “garlic mixed in with other food”, but just “garlic flavored food”, I don’t think it would trigger her specific food issues.
Look on the bright side, Joyce! You now have the perfect excuse to collapse in a sleepy pile with Dotty! 33 steps is too faaaar to walk at 4:30 when there’s no reason to, it’s her fault so she needs to scooch over.
I try in vain to convince my spouse that before-7-AM is just as valid a position of the clock as any other time of the day and NOT some kind of surreal Neil-Gaiman-esque ghost-filled otherland.
She generally regards me being awake early as some sort of eldritch superpower which, while it might come in handy sometimes, just isn’t human.
But running can be fun! (Well, to me at least. I mostly run alone while listening to music, enjoying nature) And this comes from a person who didn’t enjoy any kind of sport about 5 years ago.
In the MORNING though – definitely a no-no for me – I can maaaybe do some sporty thing as early as 10am, but I prefer to do them in the late afternoon to evening.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Joyce has expert-level skills in lockpicking. Naturally, she literally cannot understand why her friends would want her to stay out if they’d locked their door. I mean… why should they?
When I lived in dorms, people routinely left their doors unlocked (Both during the day and night, whether or not they were in their rooms). Might have been specific to the culture at my campus, I’m not sure.
Though part of that would be that each dorm had a bathroom instead of each room (or set of rooms) having a half bath. So you had to leave your dorm room to use a toilet, etc, and people just don’t bother to lock the door when they leave for 45 seconds. But then that means they might not have their keys on them. So then, if they have a roommate, what if the roommate leaves while the other one is in the toilet? Do they lock the door, risking locking their roommate out, or just leave with it unlocked? Etc.
That said, while I think it is going to be *relatively* rare that someone sneaks into a persons dorm room in the middle of the night and attack them, this is just a few days after not-Ryan was going to try to attack her and Joyce… So… I don’t know.
Though could be her (or Sierra’s) way of trying to not be ruled by fear? I have significant anxiety issues that can be paired with a level of paranoia – I spent from as young as I can remember up till my mid twenties hating crossing streets as a pedestrian, because, as statistically unusual as it would be, I knew that any given driver could pretend to stop, and then pruposfully run me over! I knew this wasn’t rational, but it still sucked. And every time I was in any sort of public space, was afraid that there was going to be a mass shooting, I had to have an escape route planned for any venue/room/space I was in.
For awhile, I used not paying attention too much as to whether or not a door was locked as a way of reminding myself that my fears would go out of hand. Obviously I would not recommend this if your fears are statistically valid – which is why I don’t do this anymore, as it no longer makes sense. But when I was in an area where I was very safe from the physical world but the fear that ruled my mind was destroying me? It was an incredibly important part of regaining control.
Also, in regards to being afraid of cars purposfully running into me? This past year where terrorists / other shitty people have discovered that cars are actually pretty effective weapons… Has just been like “This is what I worried about for 2 fucking decades, everyone thought I was ridiculous. Apparently not.” … But again, statistically unlikely that i would be in a place an attack was happening, even now that they are happening a bit more often.
As I recall, leaving the door unlocked (or just open) when hanging out in the dorm was commonplace, even if you weren’t in the room all the time. Leaving it unlocked when you left for class or whatever, or while sleeping was less so. Not that I went around trying doors or anything, but it’s what I noticed.
As someone who works for Starbucks and regularly gets up at 3:30am so I can be at work at 4:30am and be perky and sweet at 5am, and from then until 1:30pm…
My take home from that is that someone should give Joyce a job as barista so she can develop her natural talents of perky&sweet in a professional setting.
I mean, there is plenty of comedy gold right there. She can have a whole cast of coworkers and regulars like a sassy ex-goth boss with control issues and a neurotic space-heiress and a southern bongo with issues who runs a robot repair shop, a nerdy wanna-be librarian with a goofy sense of humor and they can live in a town full of hipsters and there can be little robots everywhere and… why does this sound familiar?
Is this the day when all of the energy that Joyce spends on her positive outlook, vim, vigour and pep runs out and she crashes? A day of tired-cranky!Joyce might actually be quite funny, especially if it reveals aspects to her that you normally don’t see!
If I’m right, I’m expecting Sal to tell her at some point: “This is the first time that I’ve ever really got you!”
It is pretty awesome. I’d heard about it last week, but just saw what they’d deduced about size and shape this morning.
And it’s leaving us so quickly. No chance to get a better look at it.
Given the relative simplicity of Willis’s character art (even his strongest partisan can’t claim that it’s even close to ‘photo-realistic’), I never cease to be surprised how pretty he can make his characters. Joyce in the first few panels today is a great example.
Photo-realism has its own problems. Read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics for surprising (to me at least, not an artist) thoughts on graphic abstraction and universality.
I think that Joyce is suffering from IPB (Irrepressibly Perky Burn-out. Basically, she has used up all her energy in trying to be nice, keen and friendly over the past several months, in universe. Now, she’s just tired and grumpy.
I can’t wait for her to snap at a few people (other than Walky, who she always snaps at). I can imagine Carla remarking that Joyce “finally seems to be normal”!
This does’nt seem to stalkery to me? Like, she would walk between her and Dorothy’s rooms multiple times a day most likely. That is normal. Counting steps can be a way to occupy the mind when the mind needs to be occupied (And given the trauma Joyce has had in the month or two since she started at university, she probably sometimes needs to occupy her mind!)
Furthermore, Dorothy is the one who essentially kept a spreadsheet on peoples feelings (With good intent! But also understandable that some people found it weird/creepy, I probably would both be the sort to make that list AND the sort who would find it creepy if I was on someone elses!)
Like, I don’t think Joyce knowing the number of steps between their rooms all that weird, let alone stalkerish/creepy. Not when A) Dorothy is her best friend; B) Dorothy would expect Joyce to be walking between their rooms on a regular basis; C) Number of steps not even really being personal info!
Joyce does do stalkerish stuff often enough. I just really don’t think that this is an example of that.
So um… not really a good way to say this and I’m really really sorry for those of you with anxiety* so…
I’m going into the ER tonight. Pretty sure it’s nothing too serious or life-threatening, but wanted to make sure I give a giant *appropriate gesture of support* to everyone nonetheless and give you a reminder of how much y’all mean to me.
I fully intend to be able to post a follow-up soon, so yeah.
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headband up = ᕕ(ʘםʘ)ᕗ
headband down = ღ(ƟɷƟღ)
The headband was keeping the pressure on her brain, removing it restored her to normal 4:30 settings.
I was hoping the titles would continue to be bowie lyrics, but alas…
Mika lyrics are still good
I’m surprised it’s from a Mika song. If so, that’s some incredible music reach from Willis.
And I was hoping that they would go back to Jonathan Coulton Lyrics.
“Could it be that you need me”
I love that song so freaking much.
There is no good reason to be awake between the hours of 4 and 5 in the morning. You can be up until 3 or wake up at 5. 4 is the no-man’s-land between the two.
I would disagree, all the coolest stuff happens at 0400! ^_^
Nothing has ever happened between 4 and 5. That hour does not exist.
That’s when we at Starbucks are brewing coffee and setting up our machines. It’s the most peaceful time of our morning. Everything after 5am is Hell.
You’re clearly not a programmer. There’s some code that compiles between 4AM and 5AM (i.e., near the end of a long coding session) that would totally fail to compile at any other time. In fact, if you read the code at any time except between 4 and 5 AM, you will become convinced that it can’t possibly work, except it does.
In that it’s the coldest hour of the night, yes.
Like new meme posts.
I usually stay up until about 5:30 am and wake up at either 12:30 pm or 10:30 am depending on if I have work or not.
I firmly believe in outlawing all times before 8 am, except in case of all-nighters or emergencies.
Fffft I have to get up at 6:30 am for school. I’m so used to it I haven’t been able to sleep until 8 in literal years.
Well, then I’m no man!
I have to wake up at 5 because morning commute is so traffic-plagued. Because of that, my bio clock adjusted itself to awaking half an hour or so earlier.
I often wake up between 3am and 5am because my body refuses to give me more than 5 hours of sleep.
That’s sad (well, depending on whether you get to bed early or not). I hope you can return to sleep after waking up :/
I usually don’t get more than around 4-5 consecutive hours of sleep because of my cats (they love to wake me up, just for the heck of it), so I can kinda relate, though I definitely can get sleep after dealing with them for a bit.
I was up until 4 this morning.
You are correct though – I AM NO MAN.
https://xkcd.com/1704/
Well, if you’re using Pokemon Ultra Moon, you have to get up at 5:00AM to evolve your own temp Rockruff to the new dusk form.
Unless you set your 3DS clock to the wrong time. But that way lies madness!
I set my 3DS clock to the wrong time a long time ago…
If I stay up until four I can say good morning to my dad when he wakes up.
I used to do that. Fun to share a meal, even when one of you has cereal and the other has Chinese takeout.
I’ve found that there’s something incredible about sunrises when viewed from the proper side. Not so much when staying up late, though.
what do you mean there’s no good reason? if I take just one more turn I can conquer Gandhi before he nukes me.
First time I ever played Civilization, I had close to no idea what I was doing, but I was already aware of the “nuclear Ghandi” meme. I chose to play as a random civilization…and I got Ghandi. And when I reached the Atomic Era, it turned out that some of the mines I had built in the past were built over uranium resources, precluding the need for me to make a builder unit and send them out to build a uranium mine.
…you can probably guess what happened next.
You do not understand the pain of the barista
That’s why it’s traditionally the ideal hour to attack.
yeah, thats the time I often get up for work
lotsa service industry folks start at that time after all
I get up between 4 am and 4:30am for my morning shift. But I’m also the kind of person that needs two hours to wake up in the morning and get every preparation for the work-day done (including lunch). I’ve been called crazy by co-workers, but it works for me, for the time being.
Huh. Joyce just keeps revealing layers, doesn’t she? LOL
That sounds like a really elaborate after-ski striptease
Well, winter *is* coming!
Once winter hits Willis will have to draw the cast in winter gear for years and years and years of eternal winter without ever getting to Christmas (why does that sound familiar?).
But I must say, I look forward to the endless halloween.
that murder face….
Sarah is going to find herself wondering what Joyce started copying her morning expression!
Joyce is going to be konking out at 3 PM, people. Mark my words.
Also, how is she supposed to wipe sweat off her brow with the sweatband on her wrist if the sweatband on her head is in the way? Joyce you klutz.
Oh, is that what the wrist sweatbands are for! I’ve been wondering since, like, 1984.
I learned something today xD
Yay for fitness watches who tell you fitness things !
Such impressive flirting, Joyce.
Right? She even bought a new outfit to impress her girlfriend.
Once again Joyce makes the best faces ever.
Taking all bets, I’m going for morning sickness. Also possible: up all night cramming, family member death, and currently nekked in bed with Walky
Or just sick.
Technically we have no definitive proof that she woke up at all yesterday.
Well, She’s not in Joyce’s room anymore…
Oh, she woke up yesterday. There was a garden hose.
But yes, we haven’t actually seen her since then/
God I hope it’s not morning sickness; Walky is one of those people who shouldn’t be allowed to breed.
D: why would you say that
I agree but mostly because the comment section is going to be filled with pro-lifers and pro-choice people going at it for days…
Walky did at some point say that if Dorothy were any more thorough regarding contraception, they’d each have to turn a key at the same time.
So probably not an unplanned pregnancy. Even odds on a cold or a nervous breakdown.
I’m guessing not morning sickness. If it was morning sickness she’d be sleeping next to the toilet. Also, she’d be freaking out until she figured out what was going on.
The other options are possible, but I’d add depression / self-esteem-self-destruct from her struggles in school.
Walky did say at one point that if her birth control methods were any more secure, they’d have to simultaneously turn keys. So I think she’s probably doing more than just condoms combined with birth control. Probably spermicidal foam in there too.
But even just birth control and condoms (which is probably the least anyone medically able to use both ought to be doing in her situation) would reduce the rate to near-impossible.
Might have doubled up on condoms too. Vaginal condoms are a thing.
I’d guess that it’s period cramps, myself. Those can really lay a gal low.
Am I the only one that remembers that Dorothy is still dealing with the trauma from seeing a guy get eviscerated in front of her?
Yeah, it’s probably a combination of that trauma with the depression and self-esteem issues Reitzik mentioned. It’s particularly sad that missing out on her running routine is exactly the wrong thing for her to do. Exercise isn’t a magic cure-all of course, but it is one of the best things for maintaining a level of both physical and mental health. Running is also an important part of Dorothy’s identity so not doing it will hurt her self-esteem that much more.
Of course it’s completely realistic that someone stressed almost to the point of breaking would see not running as an easy, almost cost-free sacrifice to make. This is a great indication that despite being so brilliant in other areas, Dorothy still has a lot to figure out just like everyone else.
I exercise every day for my mental and physical health, but when I’m feeling like crap (tired, dizzy, trouble processing stuff) it does the opposite of help. Take some time to rest, and try it again later or tomorrow.
Willis has said outright that he’s not going to make anyone pregnant, including Dorothy.
Debilitating period pain was actually my first thought
Oh my goshness, Joyce looks adorable like that.
Poor thing’s day went from Olivia Newton John to Oblivion Newton John
*Round of applause.*
How many times did Joyce walk between their rooms to figure that out?
Just once if she was precise.
Ffft that was my guess. She probably also remembers how far her room is from everyone else’s in the dorm, especially after her stint as the whiteboard dingdong bandit.
It has been |1̲̅1̲̅| days since I thought about the phrase “whiteboard dingdong bandit”.
*reaches up, changes sign*
It has been |0̲̅| days since I thought about the phrase “whiteboard dingdong bandit”.
Wait, how does it ever advance past 0 if she has to change it manually? Does it like update the day automatically and she only has to reset it to 0? Wouldn’t even having the sign THERE prevent it from advancing beyond 0?
… so… many… questions…
When the wheat pool I worked at many years ago was bought by Americans, they put one of those big “[X] days since our last accident!!” boards up outside the first aid room, which was not only right outside the main offices in the pool itself, but also right beside where the coffee truck came.
They figured it would be a great motivator for people to be extra safe. They may have promised us some treat or other if we made it to [90].
As I recall, they then dropped the promised reward to [30], and after several months just ditched the stupid thing altogether. I never saw it get past [04] myself, and eventually people just left it on the [01] since there was no point in changing it.
Ended up being more demotivating than inspirational, heh. Someone probably should have told them that, you know, “not being injured” was a greater motivation to us than “not wrecking the run”.
They also probably ought to have checked the first aid log book before deciding that this was a realistic idea, heh, especially since every first aid visit counted, even if it was to get dust rinsed out of the eyes.
Do you have any idea how dusty wheat pools are?
Most places use lost work days, which has a precise OSHA meaning. Paper cuts don’t count. Eye dust would only count if you had to miss a day od work because of it. Though it is easy to need surgery after something as simple as climbing a ladder.
Wheat pool? Safety concerns?
Have I got a movie for you! From 1909, D. W. Griffith’s
A Corner in Wheat.
I’m tired just looking at Joyce. Of course, I flew across the country overnight without really getting any sleep on the plane, so that may be unrelated to Joyce.
*mentally pictures that video of the blokes in pink “jogging” to A-ha’s “Take On Me”*
“Ugh, fine, scoot over.”
“wait, what?”
*content sigh as Joyce snuggles close to Dorothy*
*Beat panel with Joyce eyes drifting downwards*
*Joyce jumps out of bed*: WALKY!!!
A sunrise is a nice way to end a day…
>This is the way that we love
Opening with Joyce and Dorothy? I like it!
Yeah, I’m definitely just getting up when I’m awake at that time…. Ha… haha…
She went up for YOUUUUU, Dorothy. FOR YOUUUUUU!!!!
Morning starts at 6:00 am. Maaaybe 5:30.
Ah, so dawn must be happening for Joyce’s morning person powers to activate.
What, is Joyce some kind of reverse-vampire?
She runs towards crosses.
Only if they’re sans serif
…but what about garlic? Running water? Silver?
Garlic….. so long as it’s FLAVORING the food rather than BEING food, sure. Lots of garlic flavor in a sauce is okay, but little itty bitty bits of minced garlic? NO.
Running water? Perfectly fine, so long as she doesn’t have to stand on a mass of para-sentient hair slime to get under it.
Silver… hasn’t come up yet?
I don’t really see Joyce enjoying garlic mixed with other food. I’d be surprised if she enjoyed garlic at all.
We know she can enjoy flavored foods. Couldn’t say whether she likes the flavor of garlic or not, but as long as it’s not identifiable as “garlic mixed in with other food”, but just “garlic flavored food”, I don’t think it would trigger her specific food issues.
4:30AM? That’s about the time I go to sleep.
Yep, me too. And get up around 1200.
I wish, it’s generally the time I’m just out of bed and behind my computer, so I can be awake enough to be at work by six.
Look on the bright side, Joyce! You now have the perfect excuse to collapse in a sleepy pile with Dotty! 33 steps is too faaaar to walk at 4:30 when there’s no reason to, it’s her fault so she needs to scooch over.
MORNING CUDDLES
Exactly! 33(plus) steps, back to a bed that is no longer cozy and warm?
I seriously don’t get people who wake up early just because and people who run… and the combination of the two is completely alien people to me.
I try in vain to convince my spouse that before-7-AM is just as valid a position of the clock as any other time of the day and NOT some kind of surreal Neil-Gaiman-esque ghost-filled otherland.
She generally regards me being awake early as some sort of eldritch superpower which, while it might come in handy sometimes, just isn’t human.
….. wait, you want her to be excited about pre-7-AM, and you’re NOT presenting it as some kind of surreal Neil-Gaiman-esque ghost-filled otherland?
MISSED OPPORTUNITY.
…I have been doing this all wrong.
“You might get eaten by ghost.”
“AWESOME, set the clock.”
We geeks have the worst survival instinct, don’t we?
But running can be fun! (Well, to me at least. I mostly run alone while listening to music, enjoying nature) And this comes from a person who didn’t enjoy any kind of sport about 5 years ago.
In the MORNING though – definitely a no-no for me – I can maaaybe do some sporty thing as early as 10am, but I prefer to do them in the late afternoon to evening.
It’s 80s Joyce!
At least she ain’t 90s Joyce. Otherwise she’d have many unnecessary pockets and leg straps.
I really can’t see Joyce as being much of a BloodGunn fan
They’re called pouches.
if she were nineties joyce i’m pretty sure she’d be wearing an orange sweater
Are you sure it wouldn’t mostly be a black-and-white line art sweater?
At least she wouldn’t be drawn to Liefieldian proportions.
Do these people not lock their doors at night or what.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Joyce has expert-level skills in lockpicking. Naturally, she literally cannot understand why her friends would want her to stay out if they’d locked their door. I mean… why should they?
Yeah, Joyce had a boundary problem. I wouldn’t be shocked.
When I lived in dorms, people routinely left their doors unlocked (Both during the day and night, whether or not they were in their rooms). Might have been specific to the culture at my campus, I’m not sure.
Though part of that would be that each dorm had a bathroom instead of each room (or set of rooms) having a half bath. So you had to leave your dorm room to use a toilet, etc, and people just don’t bother to lock the door when they leave for 45 seconds. But then that means they might not have their keys on them. So then, if they have a roommate, what if the roommate leaves while the other one is in the toilet? Do they lock the door, risking locking their roommate out, or just leave with it unlocked? Etc.
That said, while I think it is going to be *relatively* rare that someone sneaks into a persons dorm room in the middle of the night and attack them, this is just a few days after not-Ryan was going to try to attack her and Joyce… So… I don’t know.
Though could be her (or Sierra’s) way of trying to not be ruled by fear? I have significant anxiety issues that can be paired with a level of paranoia – I spent from as young as I can remember up till my mid twenties hating crossing streets as a pedestrian, because, as statistically unusual as it would be, I knew that any given driver could pretend to stop, and then pruposfully run me over! I knew this wasn’t rational, but it still sucked. And every time I was in any sort of public space, was afraid that there was going to be a mass shooting, I had to have an escape route planned for any venue/room/space I was in.
For awhile, I used not paying attention too much as to whether or not a door was locked as a way of reminding myself that my fears would go out of hand. Obviously I would not recommend this if your fears are statistically valid – which is why I don’t do this anymore, as it no longer makes sense. But when I was in an area where I was very safe from the physical world but the fear that ruled my mind was destroying me? It was an incredibly important part of regaining control.
Also, in regards to being afraid of cars purposfully running into me? This past year where terrorists / other shitty people have discovered that cars are actually pretty effective weapons… Has just been like “This is what I worried about for 2 fucking decades, everyone thought I was ridiculous. Apparently not.” … But again, statistically unlikely that i would be in a place an attack was happening, even now that they are happening a bit more often.
As I recall, leaving the door unlocked (or just open) when hanging out in the dorm was commonplace, even if you weren’t in the room all the time. Leaving it unlocked when you left for class or whatever, or while sleeping was less so. Not that I went around trying doors or anything, but it’s what I noticed.
where did Joyce get $300 for sporting stuff
(ok I’m exaggerating, but mildly, it really feels like highway robbery to pay $40 for a pair of shorts)
Thrift store? Freecycle? Hand-me-downs from Jocelyne?
Maybe not that last one; she’s not out to her family yet.
My guess is Amazon. Off-brand stuff is surprisingly cheap.
4:30am.
Is she human?
Or is she dancer?
Her sign is vital.
Her hands are cold.
She is on her knees waiting for the answer
Will Joyce’s system be alright if she dreams of Jacob tonight?
SHE’S A WITCH
Did she turn you into a newt?
Yes…. but I got better.
A frog is a better newt … you’re a frog?
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Which is that it’s 4:30 am.
Wow it really is a new chapter. That last one seemed short.
I’ve always related to Dorothy and it’s uncanny that this is happening to her now as well.
Went from 100 to 0 real quick……..
As someone who works for Starbucks and regularly gets up at 3:30am so I can be at work at 4:30am and be perky and sweet at 5am, and from then until 1:30pm…
STFU Joyce, and go back to bed.
My take home from that is that someone should give Joyce a job as barista so she can develop her natural talents of perky&sweet in a professional setting.
I mean, there is plenty of comedy gold right there. She can have a whole cast of coworkers and regulars like a sassy ex-goth boss with control issues and a neurotic space-heiress and a southern bongo with issues who runs a robot repair shop, a nerdy wanna-be librarian with a goofy sense of humor and they can live in a town full of hipsters and there can be little robots everywhere and… why does this sound familiar?
Well, didn’t Joyce already appear a time or two in QC? And “Coffeeright Theft” in Shortpacked!?
…uh, I mean, this definitely sounds familiar and I would be intrigued to discover more.
I think you might be on to something here. Someone should take this premise and create a webcomic based on it, would be a huge hit.
ehhh. I find that conclusion… questionable.
Content, I am not with that declaration.
You know who I feel worst for in this exchange? Sierra.
Oh right she exists.
Hopefully she’s currently in one of her girlfriends’ rooms.
She had to leave.
Pretty sure Pablo’s implication is she had to come.
Bravo. Have an internet. Use it wisely (or post videos of cats or whatever)
Yay, my own Internet. I promise to take good care of it and never allow Net Neutrality to be under attack on it!
Aren’t “using it wisely” and “post videos of cats” pretty much the same thing?
That’s what our benevolent AI overlord wants anyways.
Actually, Sierra I could see bounding out of her bed to hug Joyce because… well… because she’s Sierra!
That early, Sierra might be something completely different.
Is this the day when all of the energy that Joyce spends on her positive outlook, vim, vigour and pep runs out and she crashes? A day of tired-cranky!Joyce might actually be quite funny, especially if it reveals aspects to her that you normally don’t see!
If I’m right, I’m expecting Sal to tell her at some point: “This is the first time that I’ve ever really got you!”
That would actually be really funny. Not scared or traumatized or enraged or anything, just tired. The other’s reaction will be priceless.
Becky will give her one glance and be all “Yep, seen it before. Nope, you are on your own. See you tomorrow, Joyce.”
Somewhat off-topic, but I just found out about ʻOumuamua and it may be because it’s past 2 AM, but I am amazed right now.
It is pretty awesome. I’d heard about it last week, but just saw what they’d deduced about size and shape this morning.
And it’s leaving us so quickly. No chance to get a better look at it.
according to wikipedia, it’s not completely unreachable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua#Potential_space_mission
but from a quick skim of the paper, it sounds like it would take at least a decade or two.
The headband was the only thing holding the exhaustion at bay
Given the relative simplicity of Willis’s character art (even his strongest partisan can’t claim that it’s even close to ‘photo-realistic’), I never cease to be surprised how pretty he can make his characters. Joyce in the first few panels today is a great example.
and then the last panel is when she turns into a gorgon.
Photo-realism has its own problems. Read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics for surprising (to me at least, not an artist) thoughts on graphic abstraction and universality.
wonder whats going on
I think that Joyce is suffering from IPB (Irrepressibly Perky Burn-out. Basically, she has used up all her energy in trying to be nice, keen and friendly over the past several months, in universe. Now, she’s just tired and grumpy.
I can’t wait for her to snap at a few people (other than Walky, who she always snaps at). I can imagine Carla remarking that Joyce “finally seems to be normal”!
I believe they meant Dorothy, though I like your deduction
Looks like Dorothy is removing running from her time-budget to crank up the studying… It might bite her severely in the butt, stopping exercising
“I already knew”…?
Stalker? Who’s a stalker? No stalkers here, no sirree!
Nobody here but us chickens!
This does’nt seem to stalkery to me? Like, she would walk between her and Dorothy’s rooms multiple times a day most likely. That is normal. Counting steps can be a way to occupy the mind when the mind needs to be occupied (And given the trauma Joyce has had in the month or two since she started at university, she probably sometimes needs to occupy her mind!)
Furthermore, Dorothy is the one who essentially kept a spreadsheet on peoples feelings (With good intent! But also understandable that some people found it weird/creepy, I probably would both be the sort to make that list AND the sort who would find it creepy if I was on someone elses!)
Like, I don’t think Joyce knowing the number of steps between their rooms all that weird, let alone stalkerish/creepy. Not when A) Dorothy is her best friend; B) Dorothy would expect Joyce to be walking between their rooms on a regular basis; C) Number of steps not even really being personal info!
Joyce does do stalkerish stuff often enough. I just really don’t think that this is an example of that.
That’s some magical headband. The moment she takes it off her sleep-deprived self appears with a vengeance.
There’s a really dumb Dorian gray adaption for a jogging magazine in there somewhere.
Well, Dorothy’s a drug addict and crashing due to her criminal ways. There’s no other way to explain her not wanting to go jogging at five am.
Walky was particularly…energetic the night before?
Wink wink, nudge, nudge, you picked up, whats being put down?
So um… not really a good way to say this and I’m really really sorry for those of you with anxiety* so…
I’m going into the ER tonight. Pretty sure it’s nothing too serious or life-threatening, but wanted to make sure I give a giant *appropriate gesture of support* to everyone nonetheless and give you a reminder of how much y’all mean to me.
I fully intend to be able to post a follow-up soon, so yeah.
*Seriously, I think I’m going to be okay.
See you soon!
You probably won’t see this til after, but I hope it’s nothing serious. Thank for being here and most importantly, take care of yourself.
Seconded.
*hugs* good luck?
you are awesome and stuff.
You rock! Talk to you soon. We just now there will be some awesome Dorothy strips down the line.