I don’t think Joyce thought this plan through. She’s unwilling to touch the floor with her bare feet, how’s she going to pull off sex? Dorothy is going to have to service her while completely suspending her in the air.
Rachel is usually correct but she’s also even less likable then Mary, because Mary is fun to hate and Rachel is just the kind of person you avoid talking to whenever possible.
Mary is easy to hate because she’s so frequently wrong that no one has to really consider what the things she sees and says about our faves means about them.
Also I feel like Mary, Rachel, and Roz all exist in some sort of political alignment graph where one of the axes is reilgious atheist but I don’t know what the other axis is or who the 4th person is
(Ross doesn’t count because a) he’s dead and b) his name starts with a ‘T’.)
ZombieKyrik
That makes sense, and honestly I agree. Raidah is my least favorite character, while Sal is my number 1 favorite character. Sarah is probably in the top 5 just out of spite for Raidah.
(With the exception of the janitor who broke into our dorm room on the exact day we finally started locking our door when we were gone, and stole my SLR camera and fucking-expensive-for-the-time HP-41CX calculator. Don’t feel sorry for him at all, and may he spend his life mucking out even more disgusting bathrooms and showers)
I TRIED having shower sex in college. Damn near broke my head after slipping. From that point on, my credo has been “showers are for bathing, not f*cking.”
And my college shower was INSIDE my dorm room where I had privacy. I can’t even comprehend sexytime in a communal shower, even if they’re sectioned off into separate stalls.
Oh hey, Rachel is being normal about something. I guess even a broken clock falls from the top of the Gateway Arch and shatters into a million pieces twice a day.
Rachel why do you exist? Do you just walk around looking for reasons to hate people, or are you gifted enough to hate anyone near you? Are you capable of hating anyone as easily as you breathe? It’s almost impressive.
I have to balance out the Rachel hate in the comments with my overflowing Rachel love. She’s awesome, haha. She isn’t the most likable character (arguably the least liked?) but she’s written really well. IMO she’s kind of a reverse of Raidah where she just dodges straddling the line of being a good person and a bad person. but manages to swing on the side of good. You know. Deep down inside.
I mean, insofar as we can categorize complex characters as “good” or “bad” anyway.
I think we’ve seen really interesting tidbits with Rachel that unfortunately have to wait their turn for lots and lots and lots of other characters’ stories, but I definitely want to know more.
…don’t fuck in communal showers, people. Just don’t. Even if you set aside the whole cleaning aspect to it, you do not have permission to force others that want to shower to either wait for you to finish or endure hearing you get each other off.
Seriously, fucking in public: Don’t do it. This should not be a complicated moral situation.
If its at an unusual time of day, that can be forgivable.
…but if you’re gonna fuck, don’t do it quick, come on, be courteous!
And no one’s *that* quiet. :D
We already know Joyce and Dotty have bad track records with having quiet sexy time when there’s someone else in the room. Sarah can surely attest to that.
I mean I’m pretty sure if I overheard someone having sex in the communal shower, I would simply leave rather than listening to them and being uncomfortable.
On the other hand, if someone’s fucking in the stall next to you, you get to subject them to your standup comedy routine while you’re listening to them get off, and they don’t get to complain about it.
Or you can just give unsolicited advice to them, like “Don’t be afraid to put the entire bar of soap in the pee hole.”
I’ve come to the conclusion that you are Chaotic Neutral, and I respect that. It’s easy to pretend to be Chaotic Neutral, but I think you legitimately fit that role.
I was in a club in college and one year over fall break we went on a group camping trip. The club was pretty large, maybe 30-40 people total–enough that I knew quite a few members, but definitely not everyone.
The campground we all stayed at was pretty big, but not so big that the couple who decided to have very loud sex one night were more than 10ft away from the tent closest to theirs (mine, shared with 2 friends).
We did the quiet-awkward-laughter thing for a bit, but after a certain point we did want to sleep, and they either didn’t know or didn’t care that everyone could hear them. I decided the direct approach would be best, and shouted something along the lines of, “Y’all, come on. It’s like 2am and our walls are nylon. Please shut the fuck up.”
That got them to pause BRIEFLY before resuming only marginally quieter than before.
So we did the next most logical step to escalate things and pulled out their tent poles.
THAT finally got the message across.
Tl;dr: Don’t keep people awake with your mostly-public fucking unless you want your tent to collapse on top of you.
Ray Radlein
We did the opposite of this in college: The guy in the dorm room next to mine one year loved to greet the weekend by blasting Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits on his stereo on repeat.
Barely muffled by the thin walls of the former hotel, we’d be woken up by 🎶thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa UMMMNNG TO AMERICA🎶
My now-wife and I tried to retaliate by having loud sex, but you cannot defeat Neil Diamond that easily
I never realized just how red Rachel’s lips are.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed them before and probably would have assumed it was lipstick.
But after looking through the archives, every random strip that I could get a good look at her, including other shower scenes, had her with red lips.
And since I don’t think people routinely shower with lipstick on, I’m going to assume those are her natural lips.
Also, if people are gonna get so up in arms about the alleged grossness of these stalls, somebody could at least have the courtesy to share a cleaning solution for them. Personally, I recommend a basically even mix of isopropyl alcohol (strong as you can find, at least 70%), bleach, white vinegar, an oil-fucking cleaner like Dawn dish soap, and lemon juice (for flavor). Mix it in an appropriately sized container and then add an equal amount of boiling water. Pour that shit wherever the fuck, probably extra hard on the grosser bits, and let it soak for as long as you think it needs. If it cools off too much, you’ll be shaming your lineage, so make sure to scrub it with a sponge mop (or whatever cleaning tool makes you feel morally superior to sponge mop users) pretty soon after you’re done splashing it all over the place. Once all that done and settled, rinse it with more boiling water, coat the floor with ice cubes you got from somewhere, add either lemon juice or a pot of green tea, and then go in for a other boiling rinse. Repeat until either the shower is clean enough or you pass out, neither of which is my responsibility.
Please don’t do that; bleach + vinegar makes chlorine gas which is deadly, and doesn’t take much to fuck you up. Vinegar+Alcohol+Soap+Water makes for a powerful cleaner that won’t kill someone.
I hope the real IU cleans bathrooms more frequently than once a semester. I don’t recall my college’s schedule but it was at _least_ every two weeks because that’s when the bedrooms got cleaned (including sheet changes), and I suspect the common areas got rather more attention. I don’t recall any complaints about shower conditions.
56 thoughts on “Gross spots”
QueenofSodor
never change, joyce
–
i mean, you do actually need to change, but what’s wrong with you is incredibly funny, so it’s fine actually
mads_in_zero
“Oh Joyce, change in some ways whilst remaining true to your good points” doesn’t flow as well does it…
embe13
Joyce, grow in the way that is funniest, or at least pisses the most people off
—
rachel, leg sweeps are appropriate, and fun!
and mike approved!
Steamweed
“What else have they been saying we do? I need a checklist!”
Nono
You either die a virgin, or live long enough to nasty up the bathroom stalls yourself
Doctor_Who
I don’t think Joyce thought this plan through. She’s unwilling to touch the floor with her bare feet, how’s she going to pull off sex? Dorothy is going to have to service her while completely suspending her in the air.
jeffepp
They have shower shoes.
Joyce is just extra squicky.
QueenofSodor
she’s gonna put joyce on one of those car lifts they have in auto repair shops, and then start servicing her undercarriage
Slartibeast Button, BIA
So a waterproof sex swing?
Corey C.
There is a way to do it, but Dorothy would need freakish strength and hope that she doesn’t slip and accidentally Tombstone Piledrive Joyce.
Cbwroses
So she needs the strength and skills (and the perversion wouldn’t hurt) of an uninjured Amber.
IntangibleMatter
Rachel is usually correct but she’s also even less likable then Mary, because Mary is fun to hate and Rachel is just the kind of person you avoid talking to whenever possible.
Cassie
Mary is easy to hate because she’s so frequently wrong that no one has to really consider what the things she sees and says about our faves means about them.
Also I feel like Mary, Rachel, and Roz all exist in some sort of political alignment graph where one of the axes is reilgious atheist but I don’t know what the other axis is or who the 4th person is
Astariel
Ah, Rachel, my second-least favorite character whose name starts with ‘R,’ looking particularly mean today.
Believe me, the shower stalls would be plenty nasty even if no one ever had sex in them.
Steamweed
Hey, now, those shower stalls get a good cleaning _every_ year. Whether they need it or not!
ZombieKyrik
Who is the first?
Taffy
Rarla
Astariel
Raidah.
(Ross doesn’t count because a) he’s dead and b) his name starts with a ‘T’.)
ZombieKyrik
That makes sense, and honestly I agree. Raidah is my least favorite character, while Sal is my number 1 favorite character. Sarah is probably in the top 5 just out of spite for Raidah.
clif
Robbin?
clif
Robin?
Sirksome
I continue to feel bad for this campus’ janitorial staff.
Ray Radlein
Every campus’ janitorial staff
(With the exception of the janitor who broke into our dorm room on the exact day we finally started locking our door when we were gone, and stole my SLR camera and fucking-expensive-for-the-time HP-41CX calculator. Don’t feel sorry for him at all, and may he spend his life mucking out even more disgusting bathrooms and showers)
Corey C.
I TRIED having shower sex in college. Damn near broke my head after slipping. From that point on, my credo has been “showers are for bathing, not f*cking.”
And my college shower was INSIDE my dorm room where I had privacy. I can’t even comprehend sexytime in a communal shower, even if they’re sectioned off into separate stalls.
Taffy
Oh hey, Rachel is being normal about something. I guess even a broken clock falls from the top of the Gateway Arch and shatters into a million pieces twice a day.
darkoneko
yiiiiiikes
Dot
Hrn
Pocky
She’s slowly assimilating into college life.
Elf grrl
Think this is the first time I’ve been delighted to see this Rachel
ZombieKyrik
Rachel why do you exist? Do you just walk around looking for reasons to hate people, or are you gifted enough to hate anyone near you? Are you capable of hating anyone as easily as you breathe? It’s almost impressive.
Slartibeast Button, BIA
She is necessary to Bring Balance to The Force.
Wendy
I have to balance out the Rachel hate in the comments with my overflowing Rachel love. She’s awesome, haha. She isn’t the most likable character (arguably the least liked?) but she’s written really well. IMO she’s kind of a reverse of Raidah where she just dodges straddling the line of being a good person and a bad person. but manages to swing on the side of good. You know. Deep down inside.
I mean, insofar as we can categorize complex characters as “good” or “bad” anyway.
Hazel
I do love a character filled with disdain and fed up with the other character’s shit.
Li
I think we’ve seen really interesting tidbits with Rachel that unfortunately have to wait their turn for lots and lots and lots of other characters’ stories, but I definitely want to know more.
Hazel
Someone needs to spritz these two horny teens with water.
…wait, no, that’s what they want!
Wraithy2773
…don’t fuck in communal showers, people. Just don’t. Even if you set aside the whole cleaning aspect to it, you do not have permission to force others that want to shower to either wait for you to finish or endure hearing you get each other off.
Seriously, fucking in public: Don’t do it. This should not be a complicated moral situation.
drs
What if you’re quick and quiet, or no one’s waiting?
Wraithy2773
If its at an unusual time of day, that can be forgivable.
…but if you’re gonna fuck, don’t do it quick, come on, be courteous!
And no one’s *that* quiet. :D
Corey C.
We already know Joyce and Dotty have bad track records with having quiet sexy time when there’s someone else in the room. Sarah can surely attest to that.
Li
I mean I’m pretty sure if I overheard someone having sex in the communal shower, I would simply leave rather than listening to them and being uncomfortable.
Taffy
On the other hand, if someone’s fucking in the stall next to you, you get to subject them to your standup comedy routine while you’re listening to them get off, and they don’t get to complain about it.
Or you can just give unsolicited advice to them, like “Don’t be afraid to put the entire bar of soap in the pee hole.”
ZombieKyrik
I’ve come to the conclusion that you are Chaotic Neutral, and I respect that. It’s easy to pretend to be Chaotic Neutral, but I think you legitimately fit that role.
clif
Truly words to live by.
..
I swear I’m going to start compiling a book on The Delivered Wisdom of Taffy.
SunflowerBanjo
I was in a club in college and one year over fall break we went on a group camping trip. The club was pretty large, maybe 30-40 people total–enough that I knew quite a few members, but definitely not everyone.
The campground we all stayed at was pretty big, but not so big that the couple who decided to have very loud sex one night were more than 10ft away from the tent closest to theirs (mine, shared with 2 friends).
We did the quiet-awkward-laughter thing for a bit, but after a certain point we did want to sleep, and they either didn’t know or didn’t care that everyone could hear them. I decided the direct approach would be best, and shouted something along the lines of, “Y’all, come on. It’s like 2am and our walls are nylon. Please shut the fuck up.”
That got them to pause BRIEFLY before resuming only marginally quieter than before.
So we did the next most logical step to escalate things and pulled out their tent poles.
THAT finally got the message across.
Tl;dr: Don’t keep people awake with your mostly-public fucking unless you want your tent to collapse on top of you.
Ray Radlein
We did the opposite of this in college: The guy in the dorm room next to mine one year loved to greet the weekend by blasting Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits on his stereo on repeat.
Barely muffled by the thin walls of the former hotel, we’d be woken up by 🎶thumpa thumpa thumpa thumpa UMMMNNG TO AMERICA🎶
My now-wife and I tried to retaliate by having loud sex, but you cannot defeat Neil Diamond that easily
Owlmirror
Rachel = Sam the Eagle
Joyce = Alice Cooper
([Sex] Freaks : 1 — Civilization : 0 )
Li
I giggled.
Cbwroses
I never realized just how red Rachel’s lips are.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed them before and probably would have assumed it was lipstick.
But after looking through the archives, every random strip that I could get a good look at her, including other shower scenes, had her with red lips.
And since I don’t think people routinely shower with lipstick on, I’m going to assume those are her natural lips.
Side note: it’s ironic that I stumbled upon this strip ( https://www.dumbingofage.com/comic/endupgay/ )considering today’s strip.
Bill Erak
Rachel: Trying to be a hater
Doyce: “Based and redpilled”
Taffy
Also, if people are gonna get so up in arms about the alleged grossness of these stalls, somebody could at least have the courtesy to share a cleaning solution for them. Personally, I recommend a basically even mix of isopropyl alcohol (strong as you can find, at least 70%), bleach, white vinegar, an oil-fucking cleaner like Dawn dish soap, and lemon juice (for flavor). Mix it in an appropriately sized container and then add an equal amount of boiling water. Pour that shit wherever the fuck, probably extra hard on the grosser bits, and let it soak for as long as you think it needs. If it cools off too much, you’ll be shaming your lineage, so make sure to scrub it with a sponge mop (or whatever cleaning tool makes you feel morally superior to sponge mop users) pretty soon after you’re done splashing it all over the place. Once all that done and settled, rinse it with more boiling water, coat the floor with ice cubes you got from somewhere, add either lemon juice or a pot of green tea, and then go in for a other boiling rinse. Repeat until either the shower is clean enough or you pass out, neither of which is my responsibility.
ZombieKyrik
Please don’t do that; bleach + vinegar makes chlorine gas which is deadly, and doesn’t take much to fuck you up. Vinegar+Alcohol+Soap+Water makes for a powerful cleaner that won’t kill someone.
RassilonTDavros
Dumbing of Age Book 16: This Is the First Time the Joke Everyone Always Made About Us Is Actually Gonna Be True!
anon
lol poor rachell, i’m surprised joyce isn’t self conscious about being heard versus finding a time where they’d be alone
DiDi
Ah… I remember one of the things I disliked about dorm life…
How nostalgic.
Ruby/AGV
Something something self fulfilling prophecy
drs
I hope the real IU cleans bathrooms more frequently than once a semester. I don’t recall my college’s schedule but it was at _least_ every two weeks because that’s when the bedrooms got cleaned (including sheet changes), and I suspect the common areas got rather more attention. I don’t recall any complaints about shower conditions.
September 13/14, 2025 - Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, Table F2
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