To be fair Asma talked to Alice one time and has only ever seen her in passing. She has a better excuse to not know Alice’s name than people who have interacted with her do to not know hers.
Freemage
She could have asked Doyce for the name when suggesting her, and since she does know Sal, she’d likely have said, “No, the other one.”
No clue why the strip is being coy about the most obvious bait and switch of all time. We know it’s gonna be Sal. It would have been funnier just seeing them set this up.
Perhaps the joke is actually on us for assuming it will be Sal. Perhaps Joyce and Dorothy are so acutely empathic and aware of other’s desires they instantly knew from Asma’s vague description entirely who the person she was interested in. Perhaps we are wrong to overly scrutinize the Joyothy and we will all regret are harsh words and judgments. Maybe just maybe they are indeed good at this.
I know you’re joking but it kind of woukd be a good bit for them to totally nail reading Asma’s desires in the middle of their apology bowling game for being tactless douchebags at the genocide protest
All they had to do was understand WHY Asma was interested to know it couldn’t be Sal, it’s not impossible they got it right.
Dot
Joyce barely knows Alice and I don’t think Dororhy has ever met her; when they think “friend with the leather jacket and boots” it’s gonna mean Sal to them.
I think it’s less about the strip itself being coy and more about the characters needing to be for the plot to work. Even though it’s probably too late to ask alice here (and definitely to late to cancel on Sal), the reveal will still work better if it happens when Sal shows up than just talking about it.
Also there’s something to be said for the kinds of things that are obvious to daily commenters vs casual readers. I think this still falls on the “pretty obvious” side for both, but it’s not as simple as “yeah yeah we all figured this out already”.
It also works more being Sal, because then when Asma explains herself, she can inadvertently reval Alice as a gossip who knows WAY too much about them, hence the assumption they were closer friends. More drama potential there.
The trick is to really the ball *smoothly* just before it touches the lane, so it rolls down with only the tiniest of “blonks” as it begins its journey downrange.
That’s “release the ball” not “really the ball” (I thought someone said we could edit comments now; I don’t see an option for that) (also, the “Save my name, etc. doesn’t seem to work. I still have to fill in those fields each time)
The trick is to keep your arm straight and not let the weight of the ball make your arm cross your body. It’ll always go where you’re aiming that way. People who get nothing but gutter balls, that’s what they’re doing wrong
If you are letting go of the ball at any elevation above the knees you are going to break something and the employees will be right to kick you out when you do.
Joyce. Joyce, you catastrophic dumbass.
–
Go up there and SHOW HER HOW TO BOWL. How the HELL are you a rural romantic who has been to actual bowling alleys and you haven’t seen someone “teaching their girlfriend how to bowl” by standing right behind them and guiding them through the movements.
I think it’s less about the strip itself being coy and more about the characters needing to be for the plot to work. Even though it’s probably too late to ask alice here (and definitely to late to cancel on Sal), the reveal will still work better if it happens when Sal shows up than just talking about it.
Well the thing is, Joyce is gonna assume competence from Dorothy even when she says otherwise. So I think it makes sense that, up until this point, Joyce didn’t do that. But now that Dotty’s aptly demonstrated her complete lack of technique, *now* joyce absolutely should
Ok, replying can sometimes work for me. Just, when I post, it usually times out or gets “the page can’t be found”, so, no edit/delete for me.
Cholma
Yeah, I get the “timeout/page not found” error EVERY time. Then I just click the DoA HOME button at top to get back to the comic. Of course, I then have to click on the comments button to see them.
I think Joyce’s instructions were very clear. Dorothy was overcompensating and Jumps directly to intermediate techniques the first time she touched a bowling ball.
I chuckled a little at this strip. I enjoyed bowling when I was in school but I was never any good at it. You can read all the tutorials in the world about a game, but actually playing the game is different.
Dorothy, did those videos not explain to keep your arm straight, the fifth frame being a case in point (after the relaese it’s different)? Anyway, a possibly more hilarious way to fail would have been for her to slide too far. The oil makes it slippery.
altho even if alice did show up asma doesn’t seem like the type to openly flirt/make a move. other than billie we don’t know if alice dated anyone else .if not the cliche “i don’t like girls but she’s an exception” but who knows , maybe them being a couple would work out
People are like bowling is some difficult thing when literally all tou have to do is keep your arm straight 95% of people I’ve ever bowled with are terrible because none of them keep their arm straight. That’s it, that’s the one trick to be good at bowling.
I relate to Dorothy A LOT here unfortunately. I’m the kind of person that when I want to pick up something new, I spend a lot of time reading about it and then while actually trying to do it I’ll be going over all the stuff I read, fail miserably at it, and then give up on it. She’s better than me in that she’s at least still trying.
This strip is adorable. Dorothy is being super relatable while also like, repeatedly proving everything I was saying about eight months ago about her not being even as well-socialized as Joyce. I for one am enjoying the comedic tension around the mixup on who the girls invited. It would be fun if it was indeed a curveball and they didn’t invite Alice OR Sal but a third person, but it being Sal would be fine? Genuinely don’t understand the impatience some folks are expressing with any of this, so I can only imagine it’s spillover from frustration and dissatisfaction with other aspects of the strip right now.
.
Like, there was no reason to assume Joyce and Dorothy had forgotten to invite anybody, and there was and continues to be no reason to assume Willis had completely forgotten about Joe, but some commenters are gonna keep making these sorts of very unkind assumptions because on some level their suspension of disbelief has just been broken. They don’t trust the author to tell stories with any skill anymore, and they definitely don’t trust Dorothy or Joyce to be anything other than the worst at all times, so.
73 thoughts on “Roll the ball”
IntangibleMatter
I’ve been bowling only once, but I don’t think the balls are usually quite that bouncy.
NGPZ
oh believe me, them collisions can be quite elastic with enough force XD
GreyICE
I’ve seen it before…
They can be shockingly bouncy.
clif
It’s good for the flooring.
Pocky
I’ve seen people bounce them, then shortly the person who did it be kicked out of the bowling alley lol
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Have you ever seen that one Youtube video of a guy who bowled a bowling ball over-arm? xD
Doctor_Who
Just rent Kingpin and The Big Lebowski, that’s the only way to learn.
QueenofSodor
she’s so good at it
Sirksome
I’ve decided we’ve all judged Joyce and Dorothy too harshly. Trust Joyce and Dorothy.
clif
Don’t trust distrust.
Astariel
So they did get in touch with Sal/Alice, though we’re still being coy about who exactly it is.
Poor Dorothy. Her incompetence is very funny.
CrazyJ
The upcoming confusion could have been avoided if Asma simply learned Alice’s name, the very thing she’s chastised other people for not knowing.
Sirksome
To be fair Asma talked to Alice one time and has only ever seen her in passing. She has a better excuse to not know Alice’s name than people who have interacted with her do to not know hers.
Freemage
She could have asked Doyce for the name when suggesting her, and since she does know Sal, she’d likely have said, “No, the other one.”
Astariel
Oh, the irony! Hoist by her own petard.
It’s too bad Sal and Alice make no sense as a couple, because Salice would be an excellent ship name.
clif
Now the question is, is Sal bringing Danny. Who may have opinions to express.
Thag Simmons
I so badly want to know what Dorothy’s “how to be president” reading list was.
KM
If she’d read “Cabinet of Rivals” I feel she would have realized just how must politicking is needed.
Stormtide Leviathan
Probably any book a president’s ever written whether she likes them or not, at a minimum
Dave Van Domelen
Yeah, they really don’t like it when you bounce the ball. Almost as much as they dislike it when you bowl overhand.
Dara
Animal bowls overhand!
Big Z
Can confirm, bowling overhand with kiddie-weight balls will DEFINITELY get you thrown out of a bowling alley.
Ray Radlein
SHE’S A NATURAL
Leorale
a natural blonke
Dot
No clue why the strip is being coy about the most obvious bait and switch of all time. We know it’s gonna be Sal. It would have been funnier just seeing them set this up.
Thag Simmons
Plotline was added in reshoots and the schedule for Sal’s actor was tight.
Sirksome
Perhaps the joke is actually on us for assuming it will be Sal. Perhaps Joyce and Dorothy are so acutely empathic and aware of other’s desires they instantly knew from Asma’s vague description entirely who the person she was interested in. Perhaps we are wrong to overly scrutinize the Joyothy and we will all regret are harsh words and judgments. Maybe just maybe they are indeed good at this.
Dot
I know you’re joking but it kind of woukd be a good bit for them to totally nail reading Asma’s desires in the middle of their apology bowling game for being tactless douchebags at the genocide protest
KtBear
All they had to do was understand WHY Asma was interested to know it couldn’t be Sal, it’s not impossible they got it right.
Dot
Joyce barely knows Alice and I don’t think Dororhy has ever met her; when they think “friend with the leather jacket and boots” it’s gonna mean Sal to them.
Stormtide Leviathan
I think it’s less about the strip itself being coy and more about the characters needing to be for the plot to work. Even though it’s probably too late to ask alice here (and definitely to late to cancel on Sal), the reveal will still work better if it happens when Sal shows up than just talking about it.
Also there’s something to be said for the kinds of things that are obvious to daily commenters vs casual readers. I think this still falls on the “pretty obvious” side for both, but it’s not as simple as “yeah yeah we all figured this out already”.
Holly
It also works more being Sal, because then when Asma explains herself, she can inadvertently reval Alice as a gossip who knows WAY too much about them, hence the assumption they were closer friends. More drama potential there.
Alongcameaspider
I’m half expecting it to not be Sal either at this point but I’m not sure who else would fit the description
Carla maybe?
Cholma
The trick is to really the ball *smoothly* just before it touches the lane, so it rolls down with only the tiniest of “blonks” as it begins its journey downrange.
Cholma
That’s “release the ball” not “really the ball” (I thought someone said we could edit comments now; I don’t see an option for that) (also, the “Save my name, etc. doesn’t seem to work. I still have to fill in those fields each time)
Slartibeast Button, BIA
I only seem to get the edit button when posting doesn’t send me to an error page. The error page is most of time.
I don’t think anyone has gotten their info remembered.
Edit: I didn’t get the error page this time, and thus can make this edit.
clif
It varies, but my information is being remembered tonight. Or at least it was until this one.
Veronica
The trick is to keep your arm straight and not let the weight of the ball make your arm cross your body. It’ll always go where you’re aiming that way. People who get nothing but gutter balls, that’s what they’re doing wrong
NGPZ
*plays “Red Ball Main Theme” on hacked muzak*
time to party like it’s 2008 homies B)
Dwampre Scorrigank
I’m guessing that drumbeat is roughly what Dorothy’s ball sounds like bouncing across the room
Armadillo
If you are letting go of the ball at any elevation above the knees you are going to break something and the employees will be right to kick you out when you do.
Leorale
There would be no reason to emphasize all this if there wasn’t a miscommunication.
I guess it could be a surprise third person, but Sal is the only “jacket and boots friend” I can think of for Joyce and Dorothy.
Cbwroses
The twist is it will be Malaya
clif
I can’t search to find if Jennifer has ever worn a jacket and boots.
anon
im sure she has but not a leahter one
Big Z
Joyce. Joyce, you catastrophic dumbass.
–
Go up there and SHOW HER HOW TO BOWL. How the HELL are you a rural romantic who has been to actual bowling alleys and you haven’t seen someone “teaching their girlfriend how to bowl” by standing right behind them and guiding them through the movements.
Stormtide Leviathan
I think it’s less about the strip itself being coy and more about the characters needing to be for the plot to work. Even though it’s probably too late to ask alice here (and definitely to late to cancel on Sal), the reveal will still work better if it happens when Sal shows up than just talking about it.
Well the thing is, Joyce is gonna assume competence from Dorothy even when she says otherwise. So I think it makes sense that, up until this point, Joyce didn’t do that. But now that Dotty’s aptly demonstrated her complete lack of technique, *now* joyce absolutely should
Stormtide Leviathan
Oh shit. For some reason this copied a comment I said somewhere else, and I didn’t notice until it’s too late to delete it.
Leorale
Oops, was meant as a reply, and now I can’t edit/delete it. Oh wellz.
Leorale
Huh, is replying not working for me? It says I’m replying.
Leorale
Ok, replying can sometimes work for me. Just, when I post, it usually times out or gets “the page can’t be found”, so, no edit/delete for me.
Cholma
Yeah, I get the “timeout/page not found” error EVERY time. Then I just click the DoA HOME button at top to get back to the comic. Of course, I then have to click on the comments button to see them.
Tessea
I think Joyce’s instructions were very clear. Dorothy was overcompensating and Jumps directly to intermediate techniques the first time she touched a bowling ball.
Kyulen
I chuckled a little at this strip. I enjoyed bowling when I was in school but I was never any good at it. You can read all the tutorials in the world about a game, but actually playing the game is different.
tim gueguen
Now, if they were playing Canadian 5 pin bowling this might not have happened, because the balls are smaller and lighter.
Lanz
Countdown to Asking the staff to deploy the bumpers
NGPZ
it’s 2026 in strip, they can probably do it themselves with a button push XD
Syl
(wii sports crowd) AWWW
darkoneko
wow so you let the person who doesn’t know how to do it go first so she can’t view any proper example, that’s super shitty, Joyce
Taffy
Oh, call your mom.
NGPZ
Mr. Electric, send her to the principal’s office and have her EXPELLED!!!!
Skewbrow
Dorothy, did those videos not explain to keep your arm straight, the fifth frame being a case in point (after the relaese it’s different)? Anyway, a possibly more hilarious way to fail would have been for her to slide too far. The oil makes it slippery.
anon
i’m sure theres some comedic situation where someone who’s never done it before knocked it down in the first try or readin g the theory did help
BorkBorkBork
“Friend with jacket and boots” indeed.
Who Asma expects to see: Alice.
Who Willis wants us to expect: Sal.
Who Joyce and Dorothy actually invited: Billie.
Who will actually show up: Carla, like the MOTHERFUCKING GODDESS SHE IS.
anon
imagine if dina somehow showed up like, “Asma expected you guys to invite alice, she seems interested in her”
anon
imagine if she ended up hitting someone lol
altho even if alice did show up asma doesn’t seem like the type to openly flirt/make a move. other than billie we don’t know if alice dated anyone else .if not the cliche “i don’t like girls but she’s an exception” but who knows , maybe them being a couple would work out
Veronica
People are like bowling is some difficult thing when literally all tou have to do is keep your arm straight 95% of people I’ve ever bowled with are terrible because none of them keep their arm straight. That’s it, that’s the one trick to be good at bowling.
shanunu
I relate to Dorothy A LOT here unfortunately. I’m the kind of person that when I want to pick up something new, I spend a lot of time reading about it and then while actually trying to do it I’ll be going over all the stuff I read, fail miserably at it, and then give up on it. She’s better than me in that she’s at least still trying.
Li
This strip is adorable. Dorothy is being super relatable while also like, repeatedly proving everything I was saying about eight months ago about her not being even as well-socialized as Joyce. I for one am enjoying the comedic tension around the mixup on who the girls invited. It would be fun if it was indeed a curveball and they didn’t invite Alice OR Sal but a third person, but it being Sal would be fine? Genuinely don’t understand the impatience some folks are expressing with any of this, so I can only imagine it’s spillover from frustration and dissatisfaction with other aspects of the strip right now.
.
Like, there was no reason to assume Joyce and Dorothy had forgotten to invite anybody, and there was and continues to be no reason to assume Willis had completely forgotten about Joe, but some commenters are gonna keep making these sorts of very unkind assumptions because on some level their suspension of disbelief has just been broken. They don’t trust the author to tell stories with any skill anymore, and they definitely don’t trust Dorothy or Joyce to be anything other than the worst at all times, so.
Li