why is it not yet cuddles o'clock

Feared
Posted on February 1, 2026 by David M Willis

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Tags: dorothy, joyce

247 thoughts on “Feared”

  1. QueenofSodor

    dorothy’s incredibly cute in that pink hoodie, completely understandable joyce for to be demanding “bedtime” so suddenly

    1. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      Joyce: Dotty – I don’t mean “Let’s have lots of sexy funtimes” bedtime – I mean “I am so done with this day already I want it to be tomorrow”-type bedtime, okay?
      Dotty: Um….okay, that kinda makes sense.
      Joyce: So just…. come to bed and cuddle with me, okay? I need me some Dotty cuddles right now.

  2. NGPZ

    “SCREW THAT, MOM! I WANNA GO BOWLING!” 😤

  3. Grimey

    “Horny as the devil with her little witchy ways.” – Blu, ‘No Greater Love’

    1. Barf Ninjason

      Took me a minute to find that song, because apparently it’s not “witchy” – but I gotta say, witchy is definitely an improvement even apart from not having misogynist associations in that “horny with witchy ways” sounds like a sexy Stevie Nicks type girl or something; implies some sort of secret sex magic too. A+, would read comment again

  4. Astariel

    It’s bedtime, Dorothy. Just accept it.

    1. Jammy

      You know that if a dude said this in the comic, it would be way less cute, right? Marinate on that.

      1. Hoofendoofle

        It’s almost like context is important.

      2. Astariel

        She’s not a dude, and I don’t care.

  5. Sirksome

    Don’t trust bedtimes (thinly veiled excuses to fuck).

    1. dLileh

      Hahaha, I always thought it was an obvious open invitation to fuck…
      At least until you are old enough, that it’s actually “omg, I need to sleep now. Can we be finished with the day, pls!”

  6. jeffepp

    There WILL be Snu-Snu!

  7. mindbleach

    Oh shit, who taught her Top Voice?

    1. Laura

      “She has The Voice!”
      “The Weirding Way!”

      1. embe13

        HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

      2. Thing 2

        I have done “the voice” precisely twice in my life and both times it was obeyed. Once was to stop four 14yr old boys going after one very frightened 14 yr old boy. and the other was to get someone to help me when my mother fainted in the middle of the road.

        1. Miri

          I used a screech variant once on people, when my eldest, then just turned 3, upended a cup of boiling water over herself trying to sneak a chip off the tray at a café on a day out. I screamed for help, before stripping her tops off, and dousing her scalded arm in cold water by which time other people had mobilised and got me bottles of cold water from the fridge, etc. before the staff mobilised and got us a jug of tap water. We were luckily right next door to the St John’s Ambulance volunteers’ room as well, which I didn’t know, so somebody helped me get her and our stuff across to there. It was a bit of a shock, and we didn’t realise at the time the other arm had got a few smaller splashes, so the one that had been initially scalded worse and we cooled down rapidly healed really nicely and quickly, and the other one needed a bit of home care for a few days or so before healing up without leaving a mark on either.

          I also used it on a car (successfully) when my middle (then about 2) suddenly decided she was going to run away from me to go behind our car and would have run out in front of another moving car in a car park.

          I have also used it on the dog to stop her from running after ducks/geese into the pond near us, or chasing cats. It works on her too!

        2. keithcurtis

          I am married to a teacher. Teachers can use The Voice at will. It’s terrifying.

  8. IntangibleMatter

    Y’know what, at least you can always go to bed. You can’t always go to the laundry room.

  9. Dara

    four score and seven seconds ago, the abraham lincoln of making joyce cum was a useless lesbian?

  10. Mravac Kid

    It could be argued it’s *always* cuddles o’clock.

  11. Dot

    Oh my fucking gd she left the conversation with Joe behind literally so she could go fuck Dorothy

    Big Z, the cycle is collapsing in on itself, what do we do

    1. Nono

      Having a “empathetic” conversation with Dina gets her in the mood apparently?

    2. Sirksome

      Oh good. I’m not the only one feeling a bit of wtf at this.

      1. Lumino

        I don’t know WHAT Joe did to Joyce to deserve this level of disdain from her. God, every time she abuses him I hate her more. I can’t even find her sincerely sweet interactions enjoyable anymore because this garbage has just poisoned my perception of her.

        1. Lys

          Relationship conversations are hard, over the top romantic gestures and sex are easy. Like, has Joyce ever once had a serious conversation about a romantic relationship? The talk she keeps putting off with Joe would be her first of its kind! It’s understandable she’s avoiding it. It’s only been a couple of days, these things can get put off for weeks, months, years even.

        2. Allen Alberti

          after her weirdly successful success with Becky, I sincerely hope Dotty shuts her down here. I don’t want to hate joyce forever but she is getting there.

        3. eh, whatever

          There is no disdain. Most of the time she forgets he exist, and when she does think of him she’s afraid of the sheer complexity of the conversation and immediately changes the topic. The outcome is presently the same, but the motivation is completely different.

        4. SaffronComic

          I feel like at some point Dorothy is going to realize that Joyce hasn’t broken up with Joe yet and also is kind of on the fence about if she’s ever going to and it’s going to lead to drama

      2. RexLatro

        Definitely not the only one. Read the comic only to feel my eyes glaze over when I saw the two of them together.
        –
        It’s not even hate or annoyance or any sort of emotional response at this point, just apathy. They’re cutesy and encourage bad behaviours in one another, there’s just nothing of interest plot-wise or emotion-wise when I see them together now. And the worst part is we keep having far more interesting character moments get interrupted to see this too

        1. Needfuldoer

          I don’t know why, but the comic’s been edging drama since these two got together. We almost get a tense moment, then it’s immediately defused or handwaved. It’s like that GIF of a truck careening toward a pole that cuts away to the beginning of another camera angle just before the collision.

        2. RexLatro

          There’s definitely that sense of dramatic edging/blue-balling going on, it’s just been frustrating as “yesterday” in comic time happened all the way back in August. We have finally started to see moments with other characters feeling the impact and consequences of Joyce and Dorothy only to jump back to the two of them for these little moments. It’s like a one-two punch to the gut, especially when I want to see what happened with Becky, with Dina & Joe, Amber & Walky. All of them have these interesting story beats going on, but we jump back to more of…this. I can get that maybe some people enjoy this, but personally it just feels like too much of a focus on character’s I’ve grown too apathetic towards interrupting moments I’m much more emotionally invested in. Maybe it’s just my own personal bias making it feel worse than it is, but it still feels frustrating to a degree

      3. Adept

        It’s pretty gross.

        It weirds me out how committed Willis is to making Joyce utterly unlikeable.

        1. NGPZ

          atm im unironically more disappointed than angry

          Asma + BOWLING is something i would have LOVED to see 😭

        2. Lys

          They’re still meeting up for bowling! Dorothy is reminding Joyce that it’s too early to end the day, and also that they agreed to go bowling with Asma, but Joyce doesn’t want to go to bed to end the day, she just wants to have more sex with Dorothy.

    3. Icalasari

      Raidah is also supposed to meet them for bowling. So she’s about to screw three people, and only one will enjoy it

      1. Dot

        Asma, not Raidah.

        1. clif

          Asma specifically arranged for time off from work so she could go bowling with them and Alice and neither of them has asked Sal.

          Personally I blame Radah.

        2. clif

          I have seen this edit function people speak of exactly once.

          *Raidah

    4. NGPZ

      I SWEAR, if they bail on Asma and BOWLING so they can just do the horizontal tango,

      this couple’s new name is gonna be *STUPID STINKY*
      cuz dat wat they ARE (D:<)

      1. Sirksome

        Did they even ask anyone to go with them? Asma’s expecting the cool friend with boots and leather jacket whoever that ends up being.

        1. Dot

          They have not talked to Sal or Alice on-panel

        2. yak

          would be hilarious if it was Billifer

      2. Freemage

        Nah, it’s only 3:30, plenty of time for boinking and then bowling (and probably more boinking afterwards).

    5. DiDi

      *screeches in horrific realization and rage*

      And here I was just gonna complain about her turning into a fucking rabbit. This makes it worse.

    6. Kyulen

      Joyce could’ve easily just told Joe she doesn’t want to be in a poly relationship with him, and then went back to her room to have sex with Dorothy. Instead of keeping his hopes up. Joe deserves so much better than this.

      1. John Campbell

        Has it ever possibly occurred to you that maybe she doesn’t want to tell him that?

        1. Heavensrun

          Or that she isn’t sure yet what she wants to tell him.

        2. DiDi

          Is that supposed to make her look better or…?

        3. Hybrid2

          Then she should properly brake up with him then, insted of keep cheating on him.
          He might see the newspaper first.

        4. John Campbell

          You people seriously need to start reading the actual comic instead of just making up your own words to go with the pictures so you can get mad at the comic you’ve invented inside your heads.

          .

          Joyce is not cheating on Joe. Even though their own relationship status is kind of in limbo, he has explicitly told her that he has no problem with her kissing or doing “other things” with Dorothy. If she needs his permission — which she doesn’t, because she has informed him that she’s with Dorothy now — she has it.

          .

          And more than that, he was actively working towards this end. He clocked the actual nature of Joyce’s feelings for Dorothy, and Dorothy’s for Joyce, before either of them were willing to admit it to themselves. He was aware of “laundry”, and probably actually thought that it consisted of more than it really did, and never even suggested that Joyce shouldn’t continue doing laundry with Dorothy. And he was the one who actually made Dorothy confront her sexuality, and aimed her directly at Joyce.

          .

          He loves Joyce and wants her to be happy, and since part of Joyce being happy is fucking Dorothy, he wants that for her.

          .

          And, seriously, Joe is the one who showed Joyce the fucking newspaper to begin with.

        5. thejeff

          Yes. If there’s any ethical consideration here beyond just leaving Joe on hold, it’s actually in not talking to Dorothy about this. And that’s only an issue if she hasn’t ruled Joe’s offer out.
          Dorothy is the only one who doesn’t know and hasn’t agreed to the actual situation

        6. clif

          Dorothy has implicitly and by implication agreed with Joyce breaking up Joe. I don’t think she needs to make it explicit.

      2. Heavensrun

        I could be wrong, but if she wanted sex, I don’t think she’d be in PJs.

        1. Dean

          She is in bed, ergo pyjamas.

      3. Victor Mortimer

        Let’s file that in “Things we absolutely DO NOT want to happen” while a poly relationship is still possible.

        1. Miroku2235

          Maybe I have higher standards than Joe, but I wouldn’t want to see him in a poly relationship with an established cheater, especially given his feelings towards his father’s antics in the past.

      4. eh, whatever

        could’ve easily just told Joe
         
        if
        1) that’s what she wanted, and
        2) she knew that’s what she wanted.
         
        You’re 2–5 steps ahead of her.

    7. Stormtide Leviathan

      I mean yeah? It was pretty clear from the get-go that if anything at all is still happening with Joe he’d be playing second fiddle. She literally explicitly broke up with him for dorothy. Maybe she ends up dating them both but right now she was pretty explicit about her priorities of definitely dotty, maybe joe.

      Also: There’d be no point in talking if she doesn’t have a definitive answer yet, and she probably doesn’t. I’ve certainly had people take longer to think over similarly important topics. Even in a completely tame situation, it could easily take a good few days to mull over, and this isn’t a tame situation. She’s also dealing with: new relationship, realizing she’s bi, being outed on the front cover of the newspaper, being in danger at a protest, getting her dorm raided by the police, a surprise visit from her dad and having to deal with coming out to *him*, her best friend being upset and breaking up with her. (And frankly, probably still processing the “my sister is trans” thing as well). Not to mention, since her relationship with Dotty is itself very new, it’s hard to say whether she wants to also have a relationship with Joe when she’s still feeling the dorothy relationship out. And if she doesn’t have an answer yet, there really isn’t much you could expect her to say to him except “i’m still thinking” which, she basically did last time she saw him by saying “hey i do want to talk soon but not yet”. It just seems like you’re reading this super uncharitably

      1. Dot

        She did not break up with him.

        1. Stormtide Leviathan

          She said she came to break up with him, he proposed an alternative, she’s yet to give a solid yes or no to that alternative. Whether they’re currently broken up is arguable, but also completely irrelevant to what I was saying because that initial statement of wanting to break up with him in order to be with dorothy (not to mention the conversation afterwards) made her priorities extremely clear and that’s what I was talking about

        2. Dandi_Andi

          She absolutely did and to say otherwise is absurd

        3. Dot

          I don’t think it’s all that absurd – she came in and said “i HAVE to break up with you,” but she never reached the point of “so we ARE broken up.” You can quibble about that, and I get the perspective that it should count as a proper breakup, but the way the conversation went, and the “eegh?” Joyce gave when Dorothy called Joe her ex-boyfriend, indicate to me that it’s meant to be read ambiguously.

        4. Lucretiel

          Guess I’m absurd then because they very clearly are in a limbo that is not broken up yet.

        5. Dandi_Andi

          @Lucretiel It is certainly an absurd thing to say, but let’s please be careful. This isn’t name calling. I’m addressing the statement, not the person.

        6. clif

          I await with interest an explanation of how a person making absurd staments is not being absurd.

      2. Bash

        I don’t have anything to add because you expressed my thoughts perfectly.

      3. Miroku2235

        Don’t forget, she’s also yet to mention to her current partner that she hasn’t 100% cut off romantic ties to her previous partner. Though that seems par for the course since she’s already an established cheater.

        1. Dot

          I do think this is probably the larger issue.

    8. Heavensrun

      For cryin’ out loud, maybe she hasn’t made a decision yet, you know. Maybe she needs to think about it. Maybe she even wants to talk to Dorothy about it before talking to him about it. Maybe the alt text isn’t a euphemism and she wants to cuddle because she’s trying to build up emotional energy to either ask her girlfriend for something a little unreasonable, or to reject somebody she likes and break his heart. Because doing that is actually *hard* and doing hard things is, y’know, hard, and she *already* had to try and patch up Becky and Dina as she runs around trying to process her incredibly sudden life change and the myriad ways in which it has had negative fallout.

      1. Gotthammer

        Maybe, but a good story would indicate a character having some sort of moral confusion by actually showing it on page, rather than leaving it up to guesswork.

        1. Holly

          Good stories can leave room for guesswork, and many of them do. There’s plenty of literature and discussion on the matter (for plays, too).

          It can be be balanced with pacing though and that’s the crux here – commenters are most likely to be daily readers, consuming at the slowest pace and impatient for more. Impatience is a frustration-based emotion. judgement is affected by ones emotion, enjoyment is affected if it cannot be turned into anticipation.

          But a huge portion of readers will read in binges, in bursts, in the printed comic form, in re-reads. And the pace/tolerance for mystery is going to feel quite different then, with impatient personality traits not having a chance to kick in.

        2. Gotthammer

          Maybe, but I’d still argue that it’s bad writing to have your primary method of interaction be the worst way to read your product.

          And I still think that having your main character’s motivation regarding their relationships be unclear and never actually discussed, when said relationships are now the crux of the story, a glaring omission.

      2. Allen Alberti

        She did not patch up Becky and Dina. she gave Dina bad, selfish advice, because she is a bad selfish person. She only cares about Dina’s feelings in that she selfishly doesn’t want to feel guilty about the breakup. I am trying to think back of a single thing she did for Joe out of love and i cannot name a single one.

        1. spriteless aunty

          The thank you bj for the blanket? This is getting into the serial cheating territory considering the timing. But it’s also evidence that Joyce would be happier poly. She would have to curb her instincts less, at least. She’s getting better at honesty but she’s still got a mess to figure out.

          I’m here ’cause I love the spicy frustratrama but I know it’s not everyeon’es cuppa tea. If complaining is cathartic than by all means continue, but if it’s not, a break from the comic may reduce the stress. Pacing on these short daily serials is hell.

    9. Fail Earnhardt

      Nothing gets Joyce hornier than suppressing guilt at all costs

      1. Throwatron

        just another log for the “product of her extremely weird upbringing” fire that is Joyce Brown

    10. Big Z

      I suppose I can give her partial credit for not doing anything to Joe’s weenus first, but I’m pretty sure that’s only because Dina was there.

    11. zee

      WHEN. THE FUCK. IS LATER????
      I dont care how long it takes for someone to figure out how they feel about such a complex idea irl, this plotline is making me feel like i am Tantalus starving and thirsty but forbidden from eating and drinking the food and water just within reach. And I didn’t even trick the gods into eating my own son out of pettiness so why the fuck am I being punished like that? Stop dangling a way more interesting prospect n my face before immediately cutting to something else

      1. Dot

        Yeah this is the rub for me. I think people are kind of misinterpreting what I’m saying here: I don’t think Joyce is doing some horrible harm to Joe (I do think her Dorothy-boinking antics do not make her look good on that front while the sword of Damocles continues to hang), and obviously it’s something any reasonable person would need to take some time to consider, but the possibility of messy polyamorous drama is just so much more interesting than this newlyweds shtick Joyce and Dorothy have going on, and I think it’s poor story construction to introduce the plot hook and then kick the can down the road, twice, with just a “we’ll talk about that later.” I think at minimum we could have gotten some focus on Joyce actually considering the possibility before running off to fuck Dorothy (maybe her dead-set insistence here could be reframed as a bit of guilt for considering “cheating on” Dorothy, as a callback to when Dorothy did the same thing to Walky? idk I’m just spitballing here). Point is: the drama dangling above me is far more entertaining than the fluff in front of me, and I just don’t have the patience to not be like “ok but can I have the drama now please?”

    12. Minivet

      “Left it behind”? She promised to talk later, in a way clearly communicating she wasn’t ready to talk yet. It is completely reasonable to give someone time for a heavy emotional conversation in uncharted relationship territory.

      And once again, they did break up, she announced she was doing this and then didn’t respond to his counterproposal, so they are broken up until further notice. So she has not been wronging him even a little since that point.

  12. Sirksome

    Look I’m really not trying to hate here. I think Joyce is maybe getting too much of that recently, but I do find it interesting that she’s once again brushed off that conversation with Joe and it turns out it was for no reason at all. She’s looking to get some afternoon delight. She could’ve talked to that dude and cut him loose. There was no more important agenda here. She just does not care about him.

    I don’t even think she really has any responsibility or obligation to talk to him. I just wish she’d say she won’t instead of what feels like purposefully giving him false hope. What am I supposed to think here?

    Joe. Please move on. She ain’t the one.

    1. Nubetrasnochada

      She’s procrastinating this conversation worse than me with the dishes, at least I have the nagging on the back of my head that I need to do that. She straight up doesn’t seem to care so long as he keeps out of sight…

    2. Theozilla

      Eh, if Joyce truly didn’t care for/was actively apathetic to Joe wouldn’t she easily be able to respond to his proposition with a simple dispassionate “no”?

      I think one could just as easily interpret Joyce’s active avoidance of the conversation as a symptom of Joyce subconsciously (and arguably even selfishly) not wanting to officially give-up/drop Joe yet, basically Joyce does want to have her cake and eat it too (in regard to having both Dorothy and Joe) but is avoiding/procrastinating on having to face the emotional discomfort of actually confronting the scenario until the last minute (or perhaps becomes tempted herself?).

      1. Dot

        This kind of just makes Joyce look worse

        1. Theozilla

          Oh I am not saying it doesn’t, but it could possibly be intentionally the point if Willis truly meant what they said that they wanted to do a cheating story-line with some truly unbecoming and realistically immaturely selfish young-adult behavior.

        2. Lys

          I find it very relatable! It’s hard to be honest with yourself about what you want, and it’s even harder to talk to other people about it. Much easier to just go with whatever impulse seizes you in the moment.

      2. Lys

        Yeah, that’s my read exactly. The conversation with Joe is an unpleasant prospect for Joyce because she would have to choose between letting Joe go, or trying to convince Dorothy to share, both of which would be difficult, so she keeps putting it off because that’s easier. Indeed, I think her insistence on having having bed-time with Dorothy right now is her trying to distract herself from Joe.

    3. Bash

      My understanding of their latest interaction was that she needed some time to think about it and sort out her own feelings. Joe seemed to understand that as well. There was no implication that she had to rush off to something urgent.

    4. eskimolos

      The thing is, she hasn’t said at any point that she was interested in the idea of polyamory, she’s never had to break up with someone she had properly dated or been physical with, this is massively difficult territory to navigate for more people, much less a neuro diverse nerd who had never had a physical relationship to end before this.

      I was initially going to post about how uncharacteristically irritated I got from Joyce leaving Joe hanging again to go seduce Dorothy, but honestly I’m re-evaluating again – Joe would be suffering either way. He is trying to be cool about it but he just isn’t ready to move on yet. Whether Joyce said No Poly We’re Done, he would still be hurting and still be struggling to accept that it was over.

      I’ve seen people get desperate for an ex to want to still be with them. I’ve been someone in that position too. I’ve said it before, but for a lot of people it takes either a new relationship or at least several months to fully accept the end of a relationship.

  13. Nubetrasnochada

    She’s procrastinating this conversation worse than me with the dishes, at least I have the nagging on the back of my head that I need to do that. She straight up doesn’t seem to care so long as he keeps out of sight…

  14. RassilonTDavros

    “What are we gonna do on the bed, Joyce?”

    1. Morhek

      The same thing we do every night. TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

      1. Cbwroses

        A perfect opportunity to call Dorothy “Pinky”.

        1. Throwatron

          i haven’t been normal since i learned that “pinky” is a colloquial term for a baby mouse, meaning that Brain literally just calls him “Babe” 24/7 for their entire relationship

        2. Throwatron

          “and they were cagemates?”

          “oh my god, they were cagemates…”

        3. Cbwroses

          Ok. Did not know that. Learned something new.

  15. Jo_cubstar

    Oh Joyce, just tell her you want her. You don’t need to put on pj’s to have sex.

    1. Throwatron

      what’s the point of giving someone a present, if you don’t give them something to unwrap?

    2. anon

      should’ve dressed herself up as like a binder or so 8D; xD like those date everything gijinkas

  16. Quinn

    I’m not looking forward to Asma being disappointed.

    1. Freemage

      Pretty sure that’ll happen even if they do show up after sexytimes. After all, they still think Asma was talking about Sal, not Alice.

      1. Quinn

        Yeah, that’s what I meant. This strip just reminded me of the bowling date.

  17. apocryphascribe

    Honestly, I’m living for this continued confirmation that Joyce doesn’t actually care all that much about Joe right now. Makes sense, her one track mind is still riding the high of being gay for Dorothy and I suspect that high will last her a long time, probably for longer than it will for Dorothy herself. Which means it’s likely we’re soon getting some lopsided understandings and communication issues in the future between these two, which is something I’m excited to see shake out (if for no other reason than it would get me more invested).

    1. Fail Earnhardt

      Yeah even during the post-laundry conversation with Asma, it seemed like cracks were starting to show in Dorothy vs Joyce’s grasp of their situation. How long before even Dorothy gets tired of Joyce’s avoidance?

      1. apocryphascribe

        I don’t think Dorothy’s gonna get tired of Joyce’s avoidance, because it’s not affecting her! What I suspect Dorothy will grow weary of is Joyce’s lack of care for optics and aesthetics wrt how their relationship is received by other people. Of the two, Dorothy is the one who cares more about how she is perceived by others, and she carefully curates everything she can get her hands on to this end. In uncharitable words, she’s a control freak. Joyce is functionally the biggest element of chaos in her life right now, an element that was wonderful to be friends with, but dating requires a different set of tools and expectations. Things simply cannot remain the same because there will be new challenges for them moving forward, and I expect the very things they love about each other are also the things that will put them to the test at some indeterminate point further down the line.

  18. darkoneko

    Joyce : constantly horny

    1. Holly

      Is Joyce about to discover that partners’ libido levels fluctuate and often don’t match one another? If so, will she respond by snapping and sucking a bunch of Joes?

    2. anon

      gotta get in some female bonding time before handling (bowling) balls later 8D;

  19. AshleyMagica

    “Today’s one of my favorite strips” – David Willis

    I… I just… I can’t anymore. I’ve been more mixed than outright negative on the storyline so far, but this strip just… is awful. Joyce acting like a needy child to put off talking with Joe is one of your favorite strips, Willis? Okay.

    1. Gotthammer

      What makes it worse is that by mentioning the bowling we can tell this is either an inserted or edited strip. So time was taken to write and draw this rather than more of Dina and Joe’s conversation, more of Becky and Dorothy’s conversation, or anything of any substance.

      1. nadamás

        I rather they make what make them happy that anything else.

        1. Gotthammer

          I mean I’m glad if they’re happy, but that doesn’t make it good.

        2. nadamás

          Says you. It seems plenty good to me

        3. Gotthammer

          I mean, yes I did say – that’s how expressing opinions works. Gold star for you ⭐

        4. Throwatron

          for better or for worse the mfer has been giving us free daily comics to read for like, 25-30 years? god forbid they write what they wanna write when they wanna write it

      2. eh, whatever

        Where are you getting “instead” from? Don’t you think all that is simply postponed instead – by one whole day, shock horror?

      3. David M Willis

        This strip was always in the buffer, it’s not new. The only change is “had dinner” to “met up for bowling.”

        this is why doing “behind the scenes” comments sometimes bites you in the fucking ass — folks get just enough information and will apply it as charitably as they feel, which is often “not very”

        1. Taffy

          inb4 we get to the end of that original buffer and people start calling every strip afterward an “insert”

        2. Gotthammer

          I did acknowledge that it may just be an edit – but I still stand by my critique that as a reader I am frustrated by the lack of any meaningful discussion amongst the characters of the dramatic events within their tight-knit friend group.
          .
          Dina and Joe got half a strip before they were interrupted and it was left on an inscrutable note. Dorothy and Becky fixed things in a couple of strips. For the promise that this storyline would be for “sickos” there is nothing to bite into. Things are happening but we are not getting the conversations and character work of the last many years.
          .
          I would point out that nobody can even say for sure if Joyce is conflicted about Joe, nervous to talk to him, or just lacking in object permanence. Or how Joyce being fine with realising she’s bi and jumping into having sex happened in the space of a few hours and nobody seems to think it’s odd given she couldn’t even say the word penis a couple of months ago.
          .
          I’d love to see Joyce and Dorothy discuss their being newly out to themselves – or say Dorothy wanting to discuss it but Joyce avoiding the topic because she goes into her “don’t need to think about it because true love” mindset as she has previously. I, and I think most other critics, just want to see the interiority of the characters come back.
          .
          Having the big relationship blowup sickos striking down paladins plotline just turn out to be everyone shrugging and being fine after two to three strips and not people gossiping and venting but having to keep it on the DL because they don’t want to rock the boat (say, Sarah).
          .
          Or Danny reading Dorothy to filth for the cheating bi thing even if Joe doesn’t want him to because that’s his best friend! Sal tells them to get lost when they ask her to go bowling because she’s talked to Walky and realised oh shit he’s not okay and also her boyfriend is pissed at them.
          .
          Dina yells at Joyce for being up her own ass thinking her being selfish means accepting being Becky’s rebound while Becky realises Joyce is kind of a huge mess but now will Dina really believe she’s over Joyce or just saying what she thinks Dina wants to hear.
          .
          So that these plotlines don’t appear, end up being non-events (are the police murderous stormtroopers or bumbling idiots Jennifer can just walk past), or just fizzle out or happen off-screen (lunch with Hank) makes a strip like this, which I would say the vast majority of readers have taken as Joyce demanding sex again, frustrating because it doesn’t tell us anything new. Joyce and Dorothy are in love, we get it.
          .
          And I have no moral objection to this strip in a vacuum – it’s pretty cute (though I would say the intent of Joyce wanting stim-cuddling rather than wanting to fuck could use clarification), it’s just we’ve gotten a lot of cute and what else there is seems like its there out of obligation rather than any desire to actually tell that part of the story.

        3. thejeff

          Ah, that makes sense. I’d been a bit confused about the bowling plot, since it was obviously tied to the Asma insertions, but was also referred to in strips that didn’t make sense as inserts.
          Silly not to assume simple text changes

        4. Jenie

          Made an account just to say this: Some of us appreciate your behind the scenes commentary, Willis! It’s a great strip; Joyce is cute when she’s bossy.

    2. Nono

      Maybe they have foreseen the chaotic discussion this strip will produce, and that brings them joy.

      1. David M Willis

        it’s just a funny strip that i like

        1. Throwatron

          no, it can’t be that simple. this doesn’t match the headcanon that i made up for the motivations of a real person who literally exists.

  20. Kyulen

    I swear Joyce acts more like a spoiled immature child after getting together with Dorothy than she ever did before. I really do feel like getting together made both of them behave worse, as they enable each other’s worst impulses.

    1. Lys

      I agree that Do-Jo make each other worse, but I love it, it’s one of the best parts of their relationship.

      1. Fail Earnhardt

        But is Willis’ heart dark enough to run with that idea and risk turning off the yuri faucet?

        (Yes, obviously)

  21. Warmth

    It seems she won’t be perfect or at least good enough anytime soon…

    1. yak

      she will, however, be aaaaaaallriiiight

  22. Dot

    Might be time to bring the containment thread back

    1. AMagicalDuck

      All that ever did was encourage people to post hate more

      1. Dot

        Ok? So what

        1. AMagicalDuck

          So you want the comments to generally be more unpleasant and toxic?

        2. Dot

          I want people to express whatever thoughts they have, whether they’re negative or positive. I hate this idea that the vibes should only ever be positive. If people have critiques, they should express them, even if they do so vitriolically. Like. Who cares?

        3. David M Willis

          i… i care if i have to moderate vitriol

          i care

        4. David M Willis

          did, like, something happen to you, Dot, in the past few weeks that changed “i just want to create a containment hatred area for the benefit of other readers” to “i’m going to threaten to post middle fingers every time joyce and dorothy show up and i think it’s great and cool if it gets vitriolic, i love that actually” because the vibes are very different now

        5. David M Willis

          like just the incredible psychic damage of “vitriolically? who cares”

        6. RexLatro

          @David M Willis – I won’t pretend to understand anyone’s thoughts here, but it could be a gesture of intense frustration at this particular point of the story? As someone who’s enjoyed your comic since the Shortpacked days and grew fond of characters like Joyce back in the Walkyverse and as well as a lot of this comic, seeing her and Dorothy has generated some strong emotional responses, both positive and negative (which if that’s what you’re wanting to do as an author to further your story, I can get but also don’t want to pretend to understand your mind either).
          –
          At this point however, I’d say it seems like a portion of the fanbase are stuck trying to find a niche for themselves here where if they post in this community there’s a feeling of being attacked or judged for having these opinions (not sure if this is how Dot feels in this case) that the thread insulates from, but like you said can also cause some festering and snowballing of negative sentiment. At the same time, it doesn’t feel like there are other spaces that one can go to vent these feelings with other like-minded fans (I’ve personally tried the Reddit, but that has its own issues and goes too far into the negativity in my mind). The only choice left is to really just not engage with the community, which sucks when its otherwise a product and story you’ve enjoyed and still enjoy moments of to this day, but at the same time I think anyone rational would also not want to dump more work and aggression towards you as a creator, God knows artists and creators on today’s internet deal with enough shit as it is

        7. Dot

          You know what, Mx. Willis, you’re right, and I apologize. I was flippant here in a way that I really shouldn’t have been, and I failed to account for the fact that you do have to moderate everything that gets posted here. I don’t want the discourse to be vitriolic, and in the past I’ve tried to make that clear in some of my responses to people I’ve felt have crossed the line, including in the containment thread.
          ~~
          I’ve been in a very difficult position in my life for the last month, but that’s no excuse. I was out of line here, and I apologize.

        8. David M Willis

          1) you’re the only one who calls me mx. willis and i super enjoy it, always get some gender euphoria

          2) I am sorry you have lost your job! My “what happened in the past few weeks” question was legitimate, and it sucks that my feeling that something happened was correct.

          3) on the other hand, i suppose it’s pretty neat that one can consistently present in such a magnanimous way that when the vibes are off, so to speak, that it’s noticeable as something different to even passing internet acquaintences, so i guess A+ for being Tangibly Good Person Typically, five stars

        9. NGPZ

          aaaawwwwweeeeee, this interaction really made my day, honestly, hope lives 🥹

          *plays “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War on hacked muzak*

        10. Dot

          I’ll accept those stars! I’m always happy to give a little gender euphoria where I can :) from my perspective, it’s really the least I can do, but I’m really glad that you appreciate it!
          ~~
          I am a little taken aback that the vibe shift, as it were, was perceptible to people who don’t know me all that personally, let alone a creative I respect and admire, but I’m glad you noticed enough to give me a (mild) chastising about it. I did need it! Thank you for your sympathies, by the way, they’re appreciated. I’m hoping to be back on my feet sooner than later, but in the meanwhile I really shouldn’t let it affect how I post here, especially when it contributes to your own stress level.
          ~~
          I do hope it’s known that while I may criticize some of your story decisions, I do really respect you as a creative, especially as someone who’s been able to make a career in traditional webcomics. That’s a feat! And I admire you sticking to your guns and telling the story that you want to tell, whatever criticisms I may have of it. I hope today is good to you and yours.

        11. StClair

          @RexLatro: And that’s exactly why I’ve mostly just… stopped, and am only posting this to offer some “you are not alone” support.

    2. QueenofSodor

      the containment threads were less “containment” and more “an open festering wound that didn’t ‘contain’ jack shit, because containment implies a level of compartmentalization, which is impossible in a comments section that lacks a ‘show more/hide replies’ function for threads, meaning there would always be an exposed block of people feedback-looping the worst-possible-faith readings of the comic on every goddamn strip because god fucking forbid two queer women live their lives without prioritizing the feelings of men”
      —
      i’d be quite happy if they never came back.

      1. Dot

        The creator of the containment thread (me) is a whole dyke so I’d appreciate you casting fewer aspersions on my support of queer women, thanks.

        1. QueenofSodor

          i’m also a dyke. you’re ignoring my point here, which is that the threads weren’t any good at their stated goal because they were not meaningfully ignorable for anybody trying to actually engage with the comments section. they were essentially picture frames for tar pits; not containing but instead proudly displaying.

        2. nadamás

          And let’s nor forget that it was demonstrably detrimental to Willis mental health. It stopped for good reasons.

        3. QueenofSodor

          @nadamás: i mean i’m pretty sure the reason the threads stopped was because dot was publishing them earlier and earlier to such a ridiculous degree that it was the *first comment* on a strip. which, again, makes the whole thing difficult to ignore (and therefore defeats its own stated objective) when the steward for the project is rushing to make it the first thing you see when you scroll down to the comment box!

        4. Nyzer

          Even Dot expressed surprise that the thread was at the top that day. And before that moment, there had literally never been a single case of anyone delivering an expectation that the containment thread should wait some arbitrary amount of time to be posted. Even if anyone had, the fact that the comic’s post time was as much as 20 minutes off the hour it was generally supposed to post at was likely not helping her time it accordingly.

          Plus the whole point of it was to CONTAIN hater statements. Waiting 12 hours or whatever would have completely defeated the point.

          And yes, I realize the frustration that it brought to Willis. But I don’t think there is a good, easy solution to the issue. Let the hater comments spread everywhere again? Try to insist that no hater comments can be posted, and pretend that there’s no blurriness at all between criticism and hate that would make it hard to moderate this new rule?

          Collapsible threads or a moderation team to handle this so Willis doesn’t have to do so themself would have been best, if you ask me.

        5. Dot

          Actually the reason I stopped was:
          ___
          A. The story finally, mercifully, pivoted away from focusing exclusively on these two for a while
          B. I lost my job and that meant I had bigger immediate priorities than commenting here
          ___
          That’s really it. I did take little breaks here and there but the main reasons the thread stopped was because of those factors. Had nothing to do with how early I was or wasn’t posting them – which frankly didn’t matter anyway. Either way, the solution to not liking the containment thread was always just to scroll past it, and I will never accept that as some insurmountable or unreasonable hurdle.
          ___
          I will concede that collapsible threads would make things much more manageable, and the way comments nest in the new format would probably make the thread ugly and unweildy on mobile.

        6. Doopyboop

          Bottom line here is I think making vast assumptions on the part of each other is wrong. I understand the frustration about Joyce and Dorothy and how Joe’s feelings are sometimes centered as being above their own. However, that doesn’t mean every person who ever expresses concern for Joe’s character in this scenario hates women and just loves men so so much. Queer people can have their own criticisms for this storyline and pairing because we aren’t all a monolith and everybody has their own experiences they bring to the table. We do all of us a disservice by making negative assumptions even if it’s out of frustration. For example, I don’t think Dot commented “earlier and earlier” out of any malice and in fact the timer for the strips going up began to be later and later so I’m sure it’s just a matter of “Dot loaded up the website at 12:15, made her comment”.

        7. Yotomoe

          @DoopyBoop
          You kinda nailed it. I don’t comment much anymore but the reason why I felt the need to comment so much is how often people tried to paint this as a “Wow you hate that these two women love each other because of a MAN” and it’s like…I care about these “characters”. So it made me feel like I constantly had to defend my stance because people seemed incapable of understanding why anyone for any other reason would dislike the events of this storyline. And I guess I have an issue with people making assumptions without understanding my point of view which makes me want to explain my point of view explicitly so that the right thing is being discussed. It feels like a genuine breakdown in communication that makes you want to fix/clear it up. If the first thing you jump to is “These people are mad about queer women in favor of men” I geeet it but also I feel like that’s sorta where a lot of the combative animosity comes from. Nobody likes to be accused of a bigotry they don’t have.

        8. NGPZ

          I mean on top of everything else imma just be really sad if the bowling doesnt happen
          i love bowling, i miss bowling, bowling is cool, i might even make a DoA bowling game one day
          TT~TT

      2. Shepsquared

        Whereas your hate for other commentors is normal and fine, and definitely doesn’t encourage anything negative. No one who thinks well of the strip has ever randomly insulted anyone else in a reply outside of the hater thread, or randomly posted their hate for other readers as a base comment. Everything wrong with the comments came from the hater thread.

      3. Bash

        I understand that you can’t literally hide them, but you can scroll past and look for the next thread. I find the negative comments to be a bit much sometimes, so I found it helpful.

        1. Throwatron

          wanted to find a place to say this, but with the new layout I can basically only reply to comment threads that are less than 2 replies long, which is really frustrating, ’cause I frequently chime in late.

          I support not going back to having a containment thread purely because Willis does not want to deal with that, but the argument that it being ANYWHERE on the page makes it UNIGNORABLE is, frankly, ridiculous and impossible to take seriously. If the first nested comment is “this is the hater containment thread,” and you are one of the people who does not vibe with the existence of that thread, you do not have to interact with that thread. Period. Full stop. Once you recognize what thread it is, you can scroll to the next thread. This was never a real issue. The only issue was some peoples’ self-control, and other peoples’ spite, for mass-reporting it.

          FWIW I think that the time since it has stopped, the overall vibe of the room has gotten WORSE, and I think that mostly has to do not with the people who were frequently in the hater containment thread, and has a lot more to do with the folks who were consistent upset at the hater containment thread and its regular posters. Nobody reacted well to its existence, we should accept that it’s gone forever; and yet, for weeks after, people are still taking regular pot shots at the mere concept of anybody who found the thread useful or fun, as if they won some kind of meaningful campaign for the tone or the vibe of the comments…

          No, the vibes are still fucking rancid. It’s just a different group of people who are currently making it rancid, as a response to their subjective experience that a different group was previously making it rancid. The vibes have been consistently rancid for months now. And, hell, the real vibes of real life are fucking rancid, right now…which might be a reason why the strip itself has been so consistently twee for a few months? Maybe the reason so much fluff is being written, is because art tends to run as a counter of the tone of the times it is made in?

          I just tire of people taking constant pot shots at each other, like any of our damn opinions in the comments section of a slice of life serial has any real weight or importance. We are all, collectively, being ridiculous. Engage with the people you wanna engage with, in the threads you wanna engage in, and don’t treat 10-20 idle minutes of our limited time on Earth every day fighting a psychic war against groups of people we believe are enjoying a fucking comic wrong, or criticizing it too harshly.

          We. Are. All. Acting. Absurd. At this point we should accept it’s pretty much beyond the point that it hasn’t been collectively caused, and collectively escalated. Yeah sure I bet if you got a thousand angels on a thousand abacuses, we could find out which poster is the biggest asshole, and which is the most charitable and saintly one, with the best opinions. But we’re literally people reading a comic strip. All we can really do, is start not engaging with commentary that we don’t wanna engage with, and accept that some people like to communicate differently about art than other people like to communicate about art.

        2. Throwatron

          the end of my last comment was worded clunkily and has a typo that I can’t edit because the interface does not like me; if you substitute “are” for “aren’t,” then it should actually scan and make sense as the message I intended to convey, if imperfectly.

      4. Nyzer

        The fact that you’re equating people’s responses to Joyce and Dorothy cheating on their current partners and treating them undeservedly poorly upon breaking up with them as “people demanding queer women to care about the feelings of men” says far more about your disrespect for male partners than the containment thread did about the haters’ disrespect for queer women.

        It also looks way more like you having a chip on your shoulder than anything else when the person making the thread is a queer woman herself, as has been said already.

        I don’t doubt that you’ve dealt with some shitty men in your life, but you’re being unreasonable here.

      5. Miroku2235

        So you’d prefer the vitriol spread out amongst the comments as had previously been the norm?

        1. Taffy

          The funniest part of this dipshit discourse is that it treats The Vitriol™ as some kind of malevolent fundamental force of reality, with The Hater Containment Thread™ as an ancient artifact crafted by powerful heroic mages in an age long past, the only thing that can stop The Vitriol™ from sweeping over the kingdom.

        2. Dot

          No no hold on I like being described as a powerful mystic

    3. Yumi

      I found the hater containment thread useful and saw that it did contribute as intended. (Ie, fewer people replying to those enjoying the comic with “no, this sucks”– less yucking people’s yums, to bring in a trite phrase.)
      —
      It was also easier to scroll past than to have it pop up unexpectedly. However, adjustment to the new layout might make it more difficult to follow where threads start and end, and multiple replies will get all narrow and long.

    4. SaffronComic

      The “containment thread” is Reddit, or tumblr, or somewhere else.

      People are allowed to really not like this storyline, and the discussion thread doesn’t have to be a total hugbox, but if someone really really hates this storyline maybe they don’t need to say it in Willis’ living room.

      1. NGPZ

        yeah like, even if it jerks some folks knees, i gotta say it:
        the comments section isn’t social media, or rather you shouldn’t realistically expect it to FUNCTION like all that

        Willis keeps this place around really for one purpose only, and that’s for others to have an easy way to let him know whether or not he’s unintentionally done something tonedeaf — something he says he’s especially liable for as an ex-fundie white dude. If he were any other webcomic author he would have bit the bullet and burned this place to the ground.

        granted, he’s also aware of the, erm, *problematic* dynamics that tend to go on around here from time to time — hence him adding the report comment feature, to take care of the very worst of it WITHOUT having to constantly babysit this place

        TL;DR in the end of the day we can’t really treat the comments like the center of the universe, and for many reasons this is actually a good thing

        1. shepsquared

          So there’s no point to the comments thread existing, because if something tonedeaf does happen again it’ll never be undone and only addressed after the fact?

  23. Thing 2

    Today’s palette is blues thru purples to pinks, symbolically gay, symbolically girly, for they are in agreement, yes, but it appears that Joyce has thrown off the shackles of social expectation, and Dorothy just wants to. Joyce made the opening move on Dorothy, Joyce is leading the way, but only by a hair’s breadth.
    Meanwhile, the dorm room is obdurately natural, neutral green, conforming with the other dorm rooms, be normal, be the same, comply.

    1. nadamás

      I am imagining this with like a snobby french art critic accent and it’s amazing.

      1. Thing 2

        Must practice accent…

  24. Taffy

    She’s peeing in her Jays?

    1. CianM1301

      I hope not, those shoes can get expensive…

  25. AMagicalDuck

    This is a very good one

  26. nadamás

    Let’s start saying stuff: Who here plays the binding of Isaac? I been on a binge with it lately.

    1. DiDi

      Too much of a sore loser and scaredy pants to give that one a try. I keep starting videos of others playing it but I never quite get through.

      I think I’ll try again. It has been a while.

      1. nadamás

        Oh you will lose a LOT and it’s going to suck but it is about about trying againa and getting better each time. And there are plenty of guides online that can help you.

    2. NGPZ

      I LOOOOOOOVE the Binding of Isaac

      speaking as someone who played the heck HELL out of the original!!! >:D

  27. Bill Erak

    Joyce running at full speed yelling “I AM SEX” at the top of her lungs

  28. Anon

    should come up with a diff code name/euphemism versus her just saying ‘hanky panky’ lol

  29. Trying my best

    The drawing Joe gave Joyce when he confessed to her is still up on her wall…

    1. Fail Earnhardt

      Not as diabolical as using the weighted blanket he bought her to spoon with Dorothy but damn JOE GET UP

    2. Allen Alberti

      damn, i didn’t even notice that. :( That gets me in the feels.

    3. David M Willis

      That is her drawing of Julia Gray.

      1. Trying my best

        Well, that will teach me to comment at like 4am. My apologies for misremembering, thank you for correcting me!

  30. Fail Earnhardt

    Yeah but how much chaos have we actually gotten? Most of the cast is either too emotionally distant from the situation or too inoculated to Joyce’s antics to really give a shit. If anything, it seems like the lack of pushback is what’s going to push Dina (and maybe Walky) over the edge.

    1. Nyzer

      Yep. Everyone around the gals except Raidah has accepted their behavior with perfect grace and understanding. Becky struggled with it but still managed without blowing any bad feelings THEIR way. And Raidah then teamed up with them to help them get Robin and Leslie out of jail, so… the mess we’ve gotten is the equivalent of someone dumping their half empty laundry basket on a pristine floor in a pristine room and going “Hah, good luck with THAT!” And it wasn’t even dirty laundry.

      1. Nono

        There’s Sarah, but she’s a bit too apathetic to push too hard. But she did push back.

  31. Shakes

    Joyce… Is selfish?

    1. Rimwalker55

      Selfish? No. Supposedly she gives as good as she gets.

  32. Shepsquared

    At best Joyce is consciously avoiding thinking about Joe by running straight to Dorothy. Not to talk to her about anything but for sex. And considering how much time we’ve spent on these two for this one in universe day, why wouldn’t someone assume the worst?

  33. Rimwalker55

    lingerie would have been better bait. Such a noob. :-)

  34. thumb

    Wait… is Joyce the Walky (classic) in this relationship?

    1. Throwatron

      Always has been.

  35. ResRam

    Ohhh, Joyce still has much to learn about how to ask for sexytimes clearly but nicely.
    I get it, that can be quite hard.
    Especially when erotic wants/needs are hardwired taboos.
    But pissed/threatening “orders” voice …. NOT optimal under any circumstance.
    Least of all when angling for hankypanky.
    Somebody should teach her the longing look, the lingering hug, the throaty sigh, the questing nibble.

  36. Rimwalker55

    [Thing2] That’s a good comment. I too read the comic for the story Mr. Willis wrote. Has he ever ended a story contrary to my hopes? Yep. Plenty times. But his stories are good, and the “people” feel real enough to care about, so still I read even without the ceremonial arm twisting.

    One thing might be good for the comment section is to have an automatic tag on replies saying who you’re responding to.

  37. David M Willis

    “Read before posting” page has a new #11:

    11) Also don’t post comments specifically to start shit with other commenters. Even/especially if you’re doing it because you think it’ll defend me or whatever. It doesn’t! It just creates more mess! It’s not helping!

    tl;dr: no passive-aggressive snipes at other commenters

    1. nadamás

      Sorry to had contributed to it, tho i did less to defend you and more because i get genuinely annoyed with many people here. I try to stay away from discourse in the future.

    2. Mr D

      Mayhaps this could be added as the first comment on tomorrow’s strip?

      1. Throwatron

        it’s a good idea

    3. NGPZ

      …. OMG it really has come to that now 👀
      i mean, having to make this an explicit rule because that shit became so common, smh

    4. Kyulen

      I feel like this is a rule we’ve needed for a while. The comments have gotten way too toxic the last several months.

  38. DashWallkick

    Physical touch stim go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

    1. David M Willis

      see, dashwallkick gets it

  39. Hannah

    I hope Willis is ok, it must be really tough for them to have so many negative comments after every strip with these two in :(

    1. Elf grrl

      (Imo) Willis will be fine. Remember he got the most patreon subs in a long time the moment the Dorothy/Joyce ship sailed. He even openly bragged about it on his socials. As someone whose been reading DOA since the beginning, its weird seeing how he can’t handle constructive criticism on his own comic, but will gleefully slander another comic on his socials (not saying chickadee lane is innocent and undeserving of criticism). A vocal group of readers are not fans of this storyline. It happens. Best he can do is roll with what he’s written and enjoy his own characters.

      1. Hannah

        I could be wrong but doesn’t Willis use gender neutral pronouns?

        1. Dot

          He/they pronouns per social media.

  40. Jay

    So this is the incredibly important business Joyce has to attend to that involves ignoring all the people she claims to care about 🩵

    Getting railed again.

    1. Jerna

      Honestly, wouldn’t say no to getting railed as well, so I can understand her.

    2. Yotomoe

      To be fair, there’s a lot of prior engagements I would absolutely set aside to getting railed again.
      Paying my bills.
      Going to work on time.
      Turning off the stove.
      Pretty high priority for me.

    3. thejeff

      This time around she didn’t say anything about “incredibly important business”.

      This seems to me more like a “It’s been a hard day and I’m not ready to deal with hard conversation with my maybe ex so I’m retreating to seek some comfort.”

    4. Mewzard

      Joyce absolutely had to delay that conversation with Joe for a particular reason:

      She really does need to talk with Dorothy about it before committing to anything involving a potential poly romance (a lack of communication between all parties involved is why things became a mess in the first place, so I hope she learned from that).

      She’s not at the moment…which is kind of frustrating. I suppose she’s dragging her feet because she knows it’s going to be an awkward conversation, especially after she ripped the bandaid off of Dorothy’s prior romantic scenario.

      But yeah, also, this isn’t the important business. Talking to Dina was the important business. Hence why she mentioned the important business and then immediately talked to Dina. It was the reason she was there in the first place (of course, I think Dorothy’s talk with Becky was far more effective, but that’s neither here nor there).

  41. Bunivasal

    Dorothy, Joyce needs to be absolutely Kermit the Frogged right now

    1. Leadsynth

      The unresolved “will they/won’t they” WAS kind of classic Kermit/Miss Piggy

  42. Mewzard

    “…Bowling first Jjoyce, then we can enjoy ‘Bedtime’.”
    “…Aww, fiiiine.”

  43. bliss

    Well a good orgasm is a religious experience and since Joyce has chucked
    religion for orgasms it is understandable that she wants more.

  44. Zamperla

    Man these two are cute. They’re cute good goofuses.

  45. BlackScarabFilmZ

    This is just what my girlfriend does when I get home from work. She also had verbatim said the alt text

  46. Dot

    I posted it earlier in reply to Mx. Willis, but I wanna have it here for the record that I apologize for my conduct and temperament last night, and for the last few weeks. I’ve been in a very hard place for the last month or so due to losing my job and not having a ton of luck finding a new one (the job market is tough right now y’all – I have a stellar resume and I’m barely getting nibbles). I’ve been on edge basically all the time and I allowed that to put me in a more testy and vitriolic mood than I like to be in this space. It was unbecoming of me and I feel embarrassed about it. Thanks for the wakeup call, Mx. Willis, and sorry again.

    1. Laura

      Hi Dot, I hope things are looking up!
      I don’t know if you saw it, because I posted it at the end of the night right as the new comic was going up (or perhaps even a bit after) but the day you posted about losing your job, I posted a number of legal-services temp agencies that my friends and I had worked for. Hiring paralegals and legal secretaries. (The other list of resources I had posted earlier was decidedly unhelpful for legal work!)
      I can’t seem to find it now, but if you want it, I can keep looking for it.
      Best of luck to you!

      1. Dot

        I’m pretty sure that it got nuked in the site refresh, sadly. Just when I was looking to dip into it as well.

        1. NGPZ

          IIRC it’s still on archive.org??? StClair linked the archived versions even! ^^

        2. Laura

          Huh. My comment is not posting for some reason. I found it and tried to repost it.

        3. Laura

          Thank you for the pointer to the archive, NGPZ.

          Dot, I found it. Here it is:

          Just for legal work, though, these are the hiring agencies that my friends and I have worked for and recommend:

          tempositions.com

          oncallcounsel.com/legal-jobs

          kellyservices.com

          roberthalf.com/us/en/find-jobs

          workforgood.org/candidates/about-us

          Best of luck to you!

        4. Laura

          This was the original comment that preceded it:

          I am so sorry to hear about the job, Dot. I hope you can get unemployment insurance benefits or severance or some such, for a little while at least. Sending hopes to you.

          … I don’t know whether you might happen to be in the States or not, but if you are, these are my favorite resources for finding ways to get employed and/or get by. (I’m sorry… I’m a nosy busybody who thinks in list form and compulsively speaks in lists of hyperlinks.)

          careeronestop.org

          idealist.org

          governmentjobs.com

          usajobs.gov

          apprenticeship.gov

          dol.gov/general/topic/unemployment-insurance

          usa.gov/benefit-finder

          needhelppayingbills.com

          findhelp.org

          211.org

          …Hope this is at least a little helpful and not TOO annoying…

          Laura

        5. Laura

          Last one. Just for finding support in getting by:

          healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health-wellness/social-health/resource-directory/resource-directory

  47. Adept

    For the love of Darwin, learn to suggest sex like an adult Joyce >.<

    Also is she trying to quiet any nagging awareness via hedonism, or is she just so horny that it’s blocking any critical thought?

    1. Dot

      She’s playing around with innuendos, and getting frustrated when her partner won’t take the hint. That’s a pretty normal adult experience.

      1. Jammy

        At 3:30 in the afternoon when they already have plans with a group of people?

        1. Dot

          Well yes, having sex at inopportune times because you’re just that horny is also a normal adult experience. I’ve had sex in a stairwell as a result of similar circumstances.

  48. moondog

    Comments section proving once again the “everybody is 12” theory. Grow up you puritan losers

    1. StClair

      I did grow up. Discovering sex and wanting to do it all the time is very much a young-people thing. Now that I’m in my 50s, I have other interests.

      1. moondog

        Sure thing buddy 🙄 weird way to reply to a random comment

  49. ElderlyMarxist

    v cute but asma is within her rights to blast an airhorn at your door if this means you skip bowling

    1. Dot

      Or show up to bowling smelling of sex lol

  50. Astariel

    I just want to say in response to all the vitriol that I’m sorry so many people are not enjoying Joyrothy, but I love them. I think Willis is doing a wonderful job with them and every time we get a strip like this where they’re together it gives me a moment of happiness in a dark time which I am very grateful for. I hope we continue to see a lot of them in the future.

  51. Leadsynth

    C’mon Joyce, if you want to seduce Dorothy you should be wearing the leather jacket (and only the leather jacket)

  52. Cameron Stone

    I feel like people complaining about the people complaining about Joyce don’t seem to understand why the comment section is the way it is now. Anyone whose been keeping up with the comic know this all began with Joyce getting together with Dorothy at the protest. Without even getting into the fumbling of Willis’ ham-fisted Israel/Palestine stand in (which has also contributed to the tenor of the comments) most of this originates from Willis, by their own admission, cutting Joe and Joyce’s relationship short so he could fast-track getting her with Dorothy. And yeah, maybe they were just dating for only 12 days in the comic, but it was years for readers, do people expect them not to get invested in that? Like at this point I don’t think they expect them to get back together, just for SOME kind of resolution to a storyline they felt got cut short and with no payoff to it.

    1. Throwatron

      The comments section has become a thousand strawpersons shadowboxing near one another, convinced they are the best at defending the field, except the field is growing increasingly barren, as they leave crop circles and dead wheat, everywhere they tread in its defense

    2. Jay

      Literally this for me.

      At this point I don’t even care if this ends with Joe like deciding to go to another college and him leaving the comic forever if it just means we get some hecking resolution to this plot thread that’s been dangling for like 6 months now

    3. yak

      I want to complain about the people complaining about the people complaining about the people complaining about joyce, but I lost track of what that means

  53. SartorialDragon

    Joyce, it’s allowed to have sex without pretending it’s bedtime.

    Source: i used to think i need “being in bed“ as an excuse. I figured out sex is valid at most times. (not in all situations, but at most times of your daily routine)

  54. Cmd1095

    So am I the only one slightly thrown by the word peejays actually being spelt out? I don’t think I’ve ever once in my life seen it written as anything but PJs as an acronym for pajamas. And my autistic brain is just seeing it written like a word and finding it super weird.

    Not that it’s a bad thing mind you. Just a random detail my brain snagged on.

    1. Dot

      This seems like it’s a Willis quirk because they’ve spelled it like that before.

  55. yak

    shid wait this is against the rules now. my bad.

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