Alice: So, Becky, you single?
Becky: It's...COMPLICATED. Sorta? But not really? It's kinda WHY we're HERE.
Alice: Oh no! What happened?
Becky: ...said I stopped believin' in God.
Alice: Aw, dude, was she Christian?
Becky: Nope. Staunch atheist.
Becky: THAT'S how badly I fumbled things.
85 thoughts on “It’s complicated”
IntangibleMatter
Becky oh my god I just want you to be able to get back together with your sweet dinosaur girlfriend you’re breaking my heart you deserve so much better
(though this is quite funny when you put it like that)
QueenofSodor
ALICE HONING IN ON BECKY’S RELATIONSHIP STATUS FIRST THING AFTER LEARNING SHE’S INTO GIRLS??? oh my god does alice/becky actually have a horse in this race
Thag Simmons
Alice already most eligible bachelorette of the DOA 2026 season, but lets see if we can get those suitor numbers up
anon
i mean asking if someone’s single after that last part seems like a natural flow of the convo too if not “i have the most wonderful girlfriend~” for girl talk about relationships lol
v
ITS WORSE (BETTER) THAN THAT. SHE’S BITING HER LOWER LIP AS SHE SAYS IT!!! GO ALICE GET IT GIRL!!!!!!
Mr D
It may be interest just as much as it may be her eternal desire for HOT GOSSIP
Leadsynth
Is Alice also a journalism major, like Billifer? Alice is soooo into asking pointed questions and making sharp inferences from the answers. She’d be a good interviewer.
DJTsurugi
the scene about to play out, Alice makes a move, Dina appears (because that is what she does, honestly she was just over there the whole time) Dina fights for her love, Dina wins, best ship is rocky but reaffirmed ~<3
KtBear
Well I guess that’s better than Alice succeeds and breaks Asma’s heart. Sorta. Maybe.
deliverything
And Asma gives Alice first aid for dinosaur bites, and in the process they hit it off because… um… reasons. This is a perfectly logical outcome and not just wishful thinking.
mindbleach
There is every possibility Alice is just making conversation, or seeking good gossip.
But we can ignore that because the alternatives are more fun for your brain.
Doctor_Who
My theory is she’s trying to get in a bit of flirting with everyone present. Casts a wide net, Alice.
Thag Simmons
I feel like Alice might be desperately trying to hook into literally any other girl hefore she fully passes into the Billingsworth Event Horizon
Rose By Any Other Name
… Thag, did you just imply that Jennifer’s vagina is so massive that it qualifies as a singularity?
Because I honestly can’t tell if that’s the most awesome description of a vagina I’ve ever heard or some of the meanest slut shaming I’ve ever heard. Or… somehow both? I feel very confused and conflicted right now.
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
now i’m just thinking about That Scene from dave made a maze
Thag Simmons
Not deliberately, no. I like “event horizon” as a metaphor for a point of no return generally, I’ve used it in a lot of contexts
TrueSurvivor
Oh I didn’t think you meant over all mass. However, I did think you were implying that that nothing can escape its pull, that its force is strong enough to crush subatomic particles, that though an outside observer would say you falling into it would last forever, it feels brief to you, and that it, perhaps, dissolves away all your information.
Rabid Rabbit
(Reply to Wack’d replying RoseByAnyOtherName)
Now I’m just thinking of That Scene from American Gods.
Needfuldoer
It’s a drama event horizon.
eh, whatever
…not the Russian meaning of “black hole”, Rose.
deliverything
Event Horizon? “Liberate tute me ex…” um… what’s the latin for Billifer?
Makkabee
“Billifer” IS Latin. It means “one who carries Bills.”
RassilonTDavros
“Giant dinosaur plushie bed. Home. At least it was before I fucked everything up.”
Bill Erak
Becky, I feel like you’re, uh, failing to answer in the spirit of the question girlie.
Then again, explaining the whole situation could take about, uh. 10 or so years?
RyanH
Becky should totally just hand Alice her phone and let her read the DoA archives to get caught up while everyone else sings karaoke
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
becky just hands alice a stack of dumbing of age perfect binding paperbacks
Yumi
Jennifer, reading the Billie and Ruth strips from over Alice’s shoulder: “Who took these pictures?”
RassilonTDavros
Depending on how you count, it’d either take a) 11 years, 8 months, and 23 days, or b) 15 years, 10 months, and 14 days.
Eiim
I don’t know that it’s all that complicated. Becky made it clear that she still had feelings for Joyce, and given that Dina was already worried about being Becky’s rebound, she ended it there rather than drag it out into an even more uncomfortable situation.
Wryte
I’m still riding my reading that it’s not that Becky still had feelings for Joyce, it’s that Joyce having her gay awakening for Dorothy after NOT having it for Becky set off Becky’s deep-seated anxiety about being Not Enough for any of the people in her life. She wasn’t enough for her mom to stay alive, she wasn’t enough for her ex-roommate to stand beside, she wasn’t enough for her dad to accept, and she wasn’t enough for her church to support.
Joyce being straight let her loophole her way out feeling like Joyce’s rejection was another instance of herself not being enough for someone, which is also part of why she’s so resistant to the idea of sexuality being fluid and changable. Joyce turning out to be gay after all not only closed that loophole, but felt like absolute proof that Becky wasn’t enough because if she was, Joyce would have had her awakening for HER.
cain
I think this is a good read, but I also think Becky doesn’t understand her own emotions well enough to articulate that. She’s very avoidant of her feelings.
Moonracer191
I think this is right. And it doesn’t help that Joyce is getting everything she can’t have for herself. Joyce’s got to go to the good college from the start and Becky had to work and bargain for it. Her mom is alive if a bongo, her dad is relatively chill with her being queer and atheist. She has a bunch of friends that aren’t Becky. She gets a girlfriend and Becky loses hers. If there’s a god then there’s a reason why Joyce gets everything and Becky has to struggle over and over again for the things everyone else takes for granted. When Joyce was “straight” there was a reason things worked out the way they did. Maybe its straight privilege or maybe its god playing favorites but one way or the other it makes sense. If Joyce is queer too then its all just dumb luck. Or something inherently broken about Becky herself.
Poppakatt
Okay, this is an excellent observation. It made so much of Becky’s past behavior make even more sense.
Well done.
thejeff
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of this. I’d have to go back and reread to be sure how much is textual.
One bit I do remember that I think plays into it is that right before Becky’s full crash out, she was basically throwing herself between Hank and Joyce to give Joyce a chance to get away and Hank just accepted Joyce being queer.
Hank accepted his daughter, but Becky’s dad couldn’t accept her. Just one more proof that she’s the problem.
ClaudeLemieux
I love this karaoke plotline. “Buncha Horny Sapphics” should be the title of the next book.
Jon
It’d also be a great name for an all-women band.
Morleuca
Or an all cishet male band. I dig the blatant irony
Leaf
With a band name like that, they’re destined to end up as a lesbian polycule who “it really was intended to be ironic we swear” and the grungler who barely even notices anything has changed about his bandmates.
embe13
how’d you feel igniting the Bell Centre?
Cholma
Well, sure, when you put it THAT way, Becky! Yikes. We need someone to get B & D back together ASAP! (Is Jaime McJack from Girls With Slingshots available?)
Amós Batista
Drama, the Forbidden Fruit of Knowledge for Alice.
TrueSurvivor
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (and, more importantly, all that hot goss).”
Foxtastic
I am extremely here for any type of pairing between Becky and Alice, whether it be platonic or romantic
–
obviously losing becky/dina would be heartbreaking, but realistically it is a possibility and I think I’m becoming more okay with it
M!a
Aww Bex. 🥺
redcaela
The panel 1 smile that launched a thousand shippers.
QueenofSodor
hey i’ve already been flying this flag, i’m just happy to not be alone on these choppy waters anymore
redcaela
A true connoisseur! I do want more foregrounded Alice…
Astariel
Poor Becky. She’s having trouble keeping the happy clown mask on.
ClaudeLemieux
I am 100% behind Becky/Alice makeouts. I think it’s best if Becky and Dina move forward separately. Dina is always going to have insecurities around Joyce. Alice can be the new hottie Becky meets as she’s truly getting over Joyce.
Pocky
Becky I don’t think that was what did it lol
BarerMender
I wonder if Willis broke up B&D because that pairing had reached a dead end, plot-wise.
Pocky
I guess the writer’s block on happy romances is in levels of copping out. Like; I dunno if Becky would sacrifice their relationship to the devil save Joyce yet lol
redcaela
I guess it’s something along those lines, but specifically because Becky was not really growing as a person after a point. She was too comfortable.
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
okay so this is my personal, like, non-moderator non-binding theory of The End of Lizbiangelion. i don’t have knowledge further ahead than like two days and i do not speak for the author on the content of the comic. my views are not the views of my employer.
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i think becky and dina have kinda hit an unfortunate rhythm. becky is a huge pile of neuroses and needs constant reassurance. becky’s worried being sad will drive people away? dina reassures her it’s okay to be sad around her. becky’s worried that being broke is a barrier to being a good girlfriend? dina reassures her she does not want material things. becky’s worried about doing a bad job at her first paid gig? dina follows her around all day to help out. becky’s worried dina’s not attracted to her? dina reassures her. becky’s worried being sexual together can’t happen at becky’s own pace? dina reassures her. becky worries she might drift away from being into girls? dina mascs up.
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and then, like, dina’s concerned she’s becky’s consolation prize, and becky doesn’t reassure her. instead becky’s like “if you’re gonna dump me just do it already,” and dina’s in the position of both being the hurt party and needing to put becky back together again. it makes total sense to me that this is a line in the sand!
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now, to clarify–this isn’t becky’s fault, and none of this makes becky a bad person. she’s got a ton of abandonment trauma, her parents never taught how to process her emotions, and life keeps punching her in the gut over and over. and all that on top of being eighteen, which inherently kinda makes you kind of a dipshit. title of comic, yadda yadda. that becky didn’t immediately turn around and give dina what she needs is completely understandable and i, as a reader, do not begrudge her that. but i absolutely understand why dina would.
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i’d also like to clarify that i’m not trying to say dina’s never gotten anything out of this relationship. she benefitted from coaxing out becky’s sexuality as much as becky did. becky has made huge efforts to understand her and be patient with her in ways few other people in her life are. dina has fun with becky, and there’s a lot of things about becky dina likes! which i have to imagine makes this whole thing hurt even more–dina right now is in a position where she thinks this person who she loves and admires sees her as a placeholder. the version of becky she needs in this scenario, the one who would tell her that they’re the bestest, hottest, cutest couple in the world, destined for marriage and the terror of evangelicals everywhere–that version of becky is nowhere to be seen when dina needs her most. and dina, who values actual tangible evidence over magical thinking, is probably looking for evidence that version of becky will return and is coming up with nothing.
BarerMender
Wow. I could never have achieved that analysis. Nice work.
Wack'd (Mod, Click Name for Rules)
i fully, sincerely believe that everyone has this in them. but thank you.
Bash
Rephrasing this in light of the new rules: Becky asking Dina to “just dump her already” is completely understandable considering her history. But it was also very unfortunate. I know she loves Dina a lot and could spend all day listing her good qualities. I hope she’s able to recognize that Dina needs that reassurance.
NGPZ
as much as I may not always agree with you, one thing is certain, yes, YES, Dina really deserves better TT~TT
as someone who heavily relates to her as a struggling barely white-passing autistic asian woman, really really looking forward to seeing her focus on self love for a while and really taking this opportunity to shine all on her own TT‿TT <3
Zaxares
Yeah. I don’t think anybody thinks that Becky doesn’t love Dina. The real issue is that Becky (possibly? She might have had an epiphany in the last few days) still loves Joyce MORE than Dina. Dina’s discomfort was from the discovery that Becky was willing to abandon her faith in Christianity over the discovery that Joyce, her first true love, was lesbian/bi all along, just not for her, but she wasn’t willing to give it up for Dina.
This is not a fault of Becky’s. Love is complicated and, this is just personally speaking, but I believe that if you love someone, truly deeply love them, then you will ALWAYS love them no matter what happens, no matter what they do to you. And I think that this is the case with Becky and Joyce; come what may, there will always be a part of Becky’s heart that is given over to Joyce, and nothing will ever change that.
But for Dina, she may be the type of person who cannot stand the thought of being someone’s second choice, or of knowing that there is always someone else your partner loves in addition to you. And again, this is not a fault of Dina’s. It is just the way she is, and nobody has the right to tell her that she has to just “grin and bear it” even if it makes her uncomfortable. Dina is well within her right to break things off with Becky because it is not something she is comfortable with as part of their relationship.
Sajuuk-Khar
It’s a minor nitpick but I do think it’s important to note that Dina did not, to my memory, ask Becky to give up her faith—she was explicitly neutral in the whole Faith-Off fight, I think, despite her stated atheism, and her challenges to divinity were genuinely playful.
THAT BEING SAID, I agree that the crux of the matter was being a second choice, being unable to inspire that kind of massive feeling in the woman she loves. It’s not Becky’s fault, but she did note, Dina feels everything almost more than she does, she just rarely shows it, and that hurt like the dickens, I’m sure, which brings us to the Hurt Spiral we’ve been in for these two.
thejeff
I don’t really know what Dina’s thinking here, but as Sajuuk-Khar says, Dina never asked Becky to give up her faith. It’s also not so much that Becky “was willing to abandon her faith” as her faith came crashing down. Just one more thing on the pile of trauma that Becky deals with that finally broke her faith.
Dina wouldn’t have wanted to be the cause of that.
Personally, I think it plays more into her abandonment issues than Dina actually being her second choice. “I’m the problem. It’s me.”
Pocky
no; you kinda nailed the issues there, Becky has been worried about being a “good girlfriend”. Ironically the most important thing to do prove it to Dina (who has been on her side all along), she fumbles it in a moment of depression. Granted; I do think that Becky’s mental state then and there wasn’t exactly the best for a big ultimatum question of her relationship. Dina is rarely openly hurt emotionally; and this time it was a pretty obvious cry for validation from Becky, and again she fumbled it wallowing in her crush having fallen for another. My big issue with breaking up Dina and Becky permanently from this is that it doesn’t seem like a good learning experience for Becky, nor does it do much for Dina, who is also just stuck in her feelings about the whole thing. At the very least I do hope they can patch things up to me amicable lol
thejeff
Not really fair to expect anything else, given how badly Becky was crashing out at the time.
One of the reasons I’ll really dislike it, if this turns out to be a permanent break up. It didn’t have to happen.
Bryy
She knows. She just wants drama.
anon
is she biting her lip in the first panel? even with an interest in a past flame like billiefer maybe if she does do a hookup to ‘get it outta her system’ she might move on from billie to a real relationship even if she cares about her
C.T. Phipps
I’m curious: is Becky’s refutation of God meant to be real or was that a thing said in anger? Willis can write his characters however he wants but I wasn’t sure if he just didn’t want to keep up with Becky’s theopositivity given the comics subject matter (I’m probably way overthinking it).
cain
I think Becky was sincere in that moment, but I think she’s probably feeling deeply conflicted about it for a lot of reasons. Her outward answer probaby appears clearer than the internal turmoil.
Barf Ninjason
“Staunch atheist” is one of those phrases where the adjective is so heavily associated with the noun even though it could be applied to other positions or beliefs. I mean, there’s “staunch defender” and such but if it’s a religious belief being referenced, I feel like 90% of the time if someone’s being called “staunch” they’re an atheist. It’s similar to, though not nearly as bad, as “self-proclaimed anarchist” – now THAT’s a weird one. You never see media references to like, “self-proclaimed Republican” or something. Apparently it’s the only political position that you need to clarify that people are describing themselves as having.
CT Phipps
As an anarchist, it took me decades to realize no one was going to say I wasn’t one and I could just claim the label myself.
Barf Ninjason
Hm, so maybe that annoying phrasing does some good after all
Rowen Morland
Ur self proclaimed atheist unless God tells you they don’t exist and vouches for you with everyone else.
Yumi