this WAS this year's valentine's day strip but it got scooted back a month

Sustainable
Posted on March 12, 2026 by David M Willis

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Tags: dorothy, joyce

132 thoughts on “Sustainable”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “…Golden?”

    o_O

    “Sing it?”

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Hey hey, c’mon now, you can’t just put a song title in the first comment and not then play it on the Hacked Muzak.

    2. Rose By Any Other Name

      I’ve sung “Golden” to my partner before. And with her.
      That soundtrack was the default music in our car for the better part of a year, and I got pretty dang good at it, if I do say so myself.
      All that to say: Dorothy, ya got this!

      1. Olofa

        It can’t be the better part of a year! It was only released…[looks up release date]…damn.

      2. stePH

        Can you hit that highest note on the “like I’m born to be” line?

        (I imagine Mariah Carey listening to the song and saying “aw, you girls are so cute.” 😁)

  2. NGPZ

    LOL XD

    [insert correct opinions here, I got code to do]

    1. clif

      My opinion is that Joyce has given this a lot of thought.

    2. deliverything

      Oh, good idea — very efficient!
      [Insert incorrect opinions here, for balance and to give people something to argue against.]

      1. tim Rowledge

        [insert vigorous arguments against both sets of opinions]
        So There!

  3. Dot

    I wonder what Ruth is up to

    1. Pocky

      probably in the shower

    2. Elf grrl

      I wonder how Asma is doing

      1. Dot

        She is as far away from these white girls as possible inshallah

    3. Needfuldoer

      About 5′ 9″ and 73.5 femurs.

  4. Nono

    Maybe Joyce will get Dorothy to wear another Macaroni and cheese shirt. This time without Walky germs.

    1. Dot

      This scene does feel a little bit like reheated DoWa nachos

  5. Astariel

    Aww, that’s sweet, and I like that Dorothy is concerned about Joyce’s long-term health. Joyce also has a very cute pout in panel 1.

    It’s cute that Joyce still has the idea of taking a shower together on the brain from the other day, though I’m surprised someone with Joyce’s issues (which I share) would find the idea of getting sexy in a dorm shower remotely palatable.

    1. Cholma

      While wearing her Rutten brand shower shoes, of course!

      1. Astariel

        The shoes can only do so much. If you’ve got two people in one stall and you’re messing around, it puts in serious danger of touching the sides, or even falling down. The shoes can’t protect you from that.

        1. Steamweed

          Good point. Looking forward to them commissioning Carla for some seriously-much-more-durable shower equipment.

    2. Doopyboop

      I think with Joyce, despite her issues with dirty showers and getting hair and such on her feet, she’s so repressed and horny that even things that oughta normally bother her gets thrown out the window because YIPPEEEE SEX!!!

      1. Li

        The linked master post below of shower strips also shows Joyce trending towards thinking of showers as sexy spaces over time. 🙂

  6. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Recalling the shower scene in “Weird Science.”

    1. Grimey

      I love that movie.

      Mm. I think I love the theme song even more.

      1. Dara

        from my heart and from my hand
        why don’t people understand
        my confections
         
        weird baking

        1. stePH

          As Hannelore once astutely observed, “Baking is science for hungry people!”

  7. Taffy

    Neither of these useless queers has a fursona, so what are they even in the comic for at this point? Even Sal has one.

    1. NGPZ

      she does??? sauce??

      1. clif

        I’m telling you, that Captain Julia Grey is an animal!

        1. Dean

          Just ask President Doris!

        2. Astariel

          Well, humans are technically animals, so, yes.

      2. tim Rowledge

        Imagine Dina in a feather suit (because they had feathers of course)

  8. Stormtide Leviathan

    The saga of joyce and her relationship with showers continues

    https://www.tumblr.com/ardiebeaphotography/793852951531765760/the-shower-strips?source=share

    1. Quinn

      Fuck off! Sorry. The site requires you to sign up to see that page so it can FUCK OFF!

      1. Imp

        There are people without tumblr blogs in 2026? Wild.

        1. clif

          Social media killed the blogs, ergo there is no tumbler.

        2. mindbleach

          They deleted mine in 2018.

          Fuck ’em.

        3. StClair

          Tumblr was never my thing. I had a LiveJournal.

      2. Li

        For the record, that’s not tumblr’s default. The user either chose to make their blog only viewable to logged in people or the post triggered tumblr’s (crappy) adults-only filter.
        .
        People who have their tumblrs set to logged-in-users-only probably have a good reason for it, too, like AO3 authors who have their stories set the same way. It’s not like Twitter, where Musk’s many attempts to torch the site I mean improve revenue included locking all threads behind such a mandate lol.

  9. John Campbell

    Okay, at this rate, Billie’s only got about a month left at the top of the F-bomb rankings.

    1. clif

      She’s certainly making progress, but I have faith in Jennifer.

  10. ZombieKyrik

    Huh, this is surprisingly welcome for me. I know Dorothy/Joyce is causing issues (both in the Dumbiverse and the comment section) but for right now Dorothy is back to helping Joyce with stuff. It’s very basic, but it still made me smile, and I’ve had a rough day so I’ll take all the smiles I can get.
    .
    I’m happy to see they’re happy at least; if they had a bad relationship after pissing off the comments then I was going to give up.

    1. Li

      Sorry about your rough day! May tomorrow be an improvement.

  11. darkoneko

    shower are even less soundproof than your room with Sarah just nearby, tho.

    1. nadamás

      I am sure the pissed off people di considering this a bad relationship.

      1. nadamás

        How the hell did this end up down here?

        1. clif

          It was unhappy with it’s previous position, so it slipped on down the page when you weren’t looking.

  12. Dave Van Domelen

    What if Joyce puts the pill in her mouth and uses her tongue to push it down Joyce’s throat?

    1. Taffy

      That’s called swallowing, Dave.

    2. Amós Batista

      that’s a weird kink, but go on

    3. clif

      Somehow I think there should be a Dorothy involved somewhere in the process. You know, to make it interesting.

    4. Arianod

      What if *Dorothy* uses her tongue…

  13. Quinn

    Does she mean showering together?

    1. clif

      Was this not clear?
      …
      I thought it was clear.

      1. deliverything

        I initially read it as Joyce saying that Dorothy smelled bad and should take an immediate shower if she’s going to be pressing her cheek against Joyce’s.
        In my defence, I’m aroace.

        1. Quinn

          Joyce is peculiar. I wouldn’t be shocked if she just enjoys showering and getting permission to shower more than twice a day could be something she could potentially find enjoyable.

      2. Gigafreak

        It’s not clear after the steam fogged it up

  14. Pocky

    Showering together is one of those things that kinda is fun for a bit, then you realize you don’t have the same tolerance for heat or whatever, and just go to saunas or hot springs like normal people.

    1. clif

      It’s probably not a long term thing, but then it doesn’t have to be.

      1. clif

        I mean it only takes one time for another spate of subscriptions to a certain other site.

  15. Joe Moose

    Oh sure, keep enticing her with lewd activities!
    “Who are you referring to?”
    Yes.

  16. brionl

    I’m with Dorothy on that, I can just swallow pills dry if I need to. Or you can just work up a mouthful of saliva.

    The last time I had trouble swallowing a pill, I was in the hospital and they were giving me one that I swear was the size of the last joint on my thumb. Tried the crushing it and mixing it apple sauce but it was way too horrible tasting. Finally settled on cutting it in half and chugging it down quick before the taste kicked in too much.

    1. David Welbourn

      I have to crunch all pills, even tiny aspirin, before I can swallow them. If I was given a pill the size of a thumb joint, I’d ask if it was a suppository, because I’m not swallowing a rock!

    2. Pinkie

      When my sister was in the hospital with leukemia, she let us smell her chemo pills, which were about that size and smelled terrible. Like concentrated weed stench with a touch of skunk and an aftertaste of burning rubber. (She’s fine now.)

      1. clif

        That sounds like it would cure anthing.
        .
        .
        .
        Unless of course it killed you first.

    3. Rose By Any Other Name

      When I was a kid, I taught myself to swallow pills dry by swallowing whole grapes (fairly small ones, obviously). Their texture was less upsetting, so it helped me get the action down. Once I got used to it, the same technique worked with pills. I still like to have a drink to make sure they make it to my stomach, and certain pills are more difficult than others, but what I learned with the grapes is still the core of how I do it.

      1. Throwatron

        Yeah, my hatred of liquid medicine had me begging my mom to switch to pills as soon as possible, so the extra pressure of being demanding about having pills, kind of forced my hand, in terms of forcing myself to get good at swallowing them real fast.

    4. Olofa

      I read that dry-swallowing can cause acid reflux. If it does, trust me, it’s not worth it.

      1. geno

        Much better for you than a 2 liter of soda

  17. Shakes

    So Joyce got this particular inspiration from Ruth and Billie, right?

  18. Amós Batista

    Willis is enjoying to draw Joyce and Dorothy head-to-head.

    1. John Campbell

      Their heads are slowly melting together. Soon they will form a single beast, with one head and two backs.

      1. Needfuldoer

        So, the opposite of the Two-Headed Monster.

      2. Jon

        I thought they’d already formed the Beast With Two Backs. There was a Slipshine and everything!

      3. StClair

        Together (2025)

  19. Bryy

    Finally, Dorothy’s nightmares are over.

    1. clif

      Over. Just beginning. Something like that.

  20. Mr D phone posting

    Sparkling water could help with the texture issue just as well, right?

  21. Li

    Cuties.

    1. Dara

      …that’s an interesting question, I didn’t think about the role of carbonation in disguising pill texture but that’s a good observation.

  22. Benjamin Geiger

    I mean, I’m more with Joyce than Dorothy on this one. I don’t have to guzzle a 2-liter, but I absolutely have to have some liquid to take pills with. I take… let me count… 24 pills in the morning (5 prescriptions, 2 OTC meds, and the rest are supplements/vitamins/etc), and generally I wash them all down with a 16 ounce energy drink.

    My biggest trick is that I swish the pills around for a second before I swallow them, to coat them in liquid and prevent them from sticking to my mouth or throat.

    1. Nipo

      I avoid feeling the pills by first taking mouthful of liquid, then dropping the pill in the mouth and swallowing fast. It generally goes down better than doing it the other way around.
      Probably it’s the same trick than you do, just .. differently.

    2. Olofa

      Why for the love of god do they make pills that get sticky when they’re damp? [Charlie Brown aaugh]

      1. Throwatron

        cause it would cost an extra penny to lube ’em up for us. you can get the sugar-coated tylenol, for instance, but it costs twice as much for half as many pills. they take max profit extraction over user friendliness, every time.

        so, i say we should coat them in sugar, and then eat them

  23. HueSatLight

    She said she’d go to 500 mL of sprite, it’s not going to kill her before she progresses to a cup of tea or water or whatever. o, Dorothy probably subconciously needs Joyce to be in peril so she can rescue her.

    1. nadamás

      Or perphaps, just perphaps, she just had a similar reaction to everyone here who comment full of concern everytime the soda thing come up.

      1. HueSatLight

        leave me alone please.

        1. nadamás

          K

        2. Jon

          Or perhaps, just perhaps, she had a similar reaction to everyone here who comments concern whenever the soda thing comes up.
          .
          ‘Cause, I mean, whatever issues might be between you two, it’s still a valid point.

  24. IntangibleMatter

    Keep it Clean is a classic. I stumbled upon it years ago before even knowing about this comic, Absolutely loved it.

  25. dLileh

    xD both behaviours aren’t really healthy…
    Drinking 2L soda each day is a bad idea, but so is meddling with a partners personal habits… but I guess as long as they don’t overdue it, its alright.

  26. GUIGUI

    This might be a cope-out compromise, but are there some actual diet-soda equivalent that wouldn’t become an health-hazard being consumed in such large proportions?

    1. eskimolos

      While carbonation itself isn’t necessarily so toxic, it is typically made a reality with a massive quantity of sodium, and even diet sodas will typically be acidic, which isn’t terribly good for the gut, the intended bioavailability of the pill, and the teeth. There are patches, which I feel would probably be better for Joyce, though I’m not sure if they are recommended as an alternative to the combined oral contraceptive pill for managing endometriosis.

      It would be good to get used to taking pills in a healthy way, though, as many conditions throughout Joyce’s life may involve needing to take them with little suitable alternative.

      1. thejeff

        Yeah, the key thing is to start decreasing the amount you need. 2 liters is obviously way overkill for any physical effect on getting the pill down.

        Dorothy probably would have been better off here telling Joyce how she usually takes pills – with a glass of water or whatever, than saying she could dry swallow them if needed.

  27. Thomas

    Neither is bartering sexual favors for your partner doing basic selfcare. Imagine she had to cajole Walky into eating healthy food this way. A disturbingly unattractive dynamic.

    1. Stormtide Leviathan

      I would frankly be shocked if that isn’t something dorothy tried. The only reason I can see it not happening is that walky very possibly prizes nuggets more than sex

      1. Throwatron

        He DEFINITELY prioritizes nuggets over sex. A true man of culture.

        1. clif

          Ah, but which culture.

  28. Mild Lee Interested

    Well I guess now we know what the next Slipshine will be

  29. Anna

    Wait, this was the Valentine’s strip? I’m so used to the tradition of Valentine’s strips being bad news for the couple in them that now I’m not sure whether there’s some hidden “Joyce & Dorothy are about to fight” subtext in this one that I’m just somehow missing.

    1. furubatsu

      Best I could ascribe to this strip being trouble for the Jorothy Ship is that while Joyce does absolutely love Dorothy’s micromanaging of her life, she has expressed some chafing/frustrations with it once or twice, this morning still being hot of off the heels of Dorothy’s PSTD Sleep Walking episode about Joyce constantly being in danger could forshadow that Dorothy’s about to get a whole lore more overbearing with Joyce now that they’re dating.

  30. yak

    Ahh, remembering the time I heard people taking a shower together in the dorms.

    It was super awkward and made me feel like I was intruding in my own bathroom, please don’t do that.

  31. tif

    Just asking doesn’t work so moving onto emotional manipulation (“I’m just worried about your health”) to the next thing Joyce will not say no to which is sex. They have been a couple for about two days and the sequence of events has gone: Get Joyce a leather jacket so she has to borrow Sal’s less. Get Joyce to replace sprite with water. It’s like she has an ongoing list of all the tiny little things about Joyce she wanted to tweak and now that she finally can she is and Joyce is resisting but then ultimately giving in because she has no self control when it comes to Dorothy. Yeah these all seem like benign changes but these are all going to add up. Dorothy has admitted she is a control freak. She has admitted she likes molding Joyce. Joyce has admitted she will do whatever to keep Dorothy and has ongoing identity issues over being a cult and being autistic. All of this is a red flag.

    1. Dot

      I would agree that Dorothy’s habit of molding her partners to suit her preferences is generally a bad one but I can’t bring myself to complain in this case because having to swallow two liters of soda every single day is genuinely horrible for Joyce’s health and a habit she needs to be crowbarred off of, no matter the cost.

      1. tif

        Already said that asking Joyce if she would be open to drink less sprite would have been the right move. Joyce already said she was open to that. My objection is to her suggesting water. And to be fair I’m not really talking about this as a health concern my thing is taking something that we know Joyce loves and trying to tweak it. My problem is all these tiny little alterations she keeps making. One at a time not a big deal but over time it adds up and my concern is that these two one with a history of controlling behavior and one with a history of an undefined sense of self due to growing up in a cult have the recipe for creating something potentially unhealthy in isolation. Which is why ai would very much like for another element to be introduced to keep this from happening. Nip this shit in the bud so it doesn’t become toxic down the line.

        1. Dot

          I mean I would describe Joyce’s 2L sprite habit as less “something she loves” and more “a destructive neurosis she’s better off weaning from”

    2. Bill Erak

      Dorothy: Does things that are unequivocally good for Joyce while nudging her away from her stubborn attitude with rather common couple things.
      ­
      Weirdos: “Actually, she’s EVIL and MANIPULATIVE and she will DESTROY JOYCE”

      1. tif

        Yeah totally fair to call somebody a weirdo for pointing out red flags. I’m talking about an established pattern of behavior we have repeatedly seen over time not this specific moment in a vacuum and I think anyone willing to actually do the work of a beyond surface level reading would pretty easily get that. But hey don’t strain yourself. Also never called her evil or said anything about “destroying” Joyce. I would beg you to make an effort but I did also say don’t strain yourself. So what the fuck ever.

        1. tif

          God I’ve been here for exactly two seconds and I already hate it here.

  32. Rimwalker55

    Next time, Garbage Roof!

  33. thumb

    Guys, no. Not the communal showers, please.

    1. Bill Erak

      Hey, if Ruth and Jennifer could do it, why not them

  34. Doopyboop

    There’s too many people mentioning dry swallowing pills to respond to each one so I’ll just make a comment here; please don’t dry swallow pills. Unless there’s like, specific instructions for the pills that say you need to dry swallow, please don’t do that. It’s very bad for your throat, it can cause irritation, if the pill gets stuck somewhere it can burn through your throat. I sympathize, I’m shit at taking pills myself, but please do not dry swallow.

    1. eh, whatever

      …must be very special acid pills to be capable of burning through your throat. Or base I guess. Not denying they exist, but most pills aren’t remotely like that.

      1. Doopyboop

        My original response got deleted, I’m not sure why, might be my internet, but uh to summarize look up pill esophagitis. It isn’t that the pills are “super acidic”, it is that the esophagus is a very easy to irritate tissue made of soft mucus membrane and a condensed capsule of chemicals sitting on that kind of membrane is very bad for it, yes.

        1. Li

          It helps that you literally said “if they get STUCK”. Idk, reading is hard these days.
          .
          (Sympathy for you, Doopyboop, your comment was very understandable as it was.)

      2. nadamás

        Bassically everytime i tried just dry swallowing my pills i ended up dealing with pain in my throat the whole day. It’s just a matter of comfort.

  35. Bill Erak

    I usually do it with a bit of water, but I do always first accumulate a lot of saliva in my mouth and coat the pill with it before swallowing it because otherwise it feels like it’s stuck in my throat even though it never is.

  36. Odo

    Could Joyce have an voyeurism/exhibitionism kink? She keeps choosing amorous encounters where other people are nearby.

    1. Rosicrucian

      Joyce has terminal romcom brain, and a not so secret fanfic habit.

  37. Yotomoe

    I dunno how else to put this but requiring sexual favors to do basic human upkeep is actually way more embarrassing if it Isn’t a kink.

    1. Yotomoe

      And dont get me wrong I get that some things are much harder for others. Some people have textural issues or addictions like smoking or plain old executive function issues. But having to essentially be bribed into taking care of yourself just doesnt feel as romantic as the narrative wants me to feel it is.

      1. Rosicrucian

        I’m not sure it’s specifically being portrayed as romantic here so much as this is every bit as much Dorothy’s neuroses on display as it is Joyce’s.

      2. Li

        I don’t think we are meant to be taking this as anything but a bit of fun they’re having? I don’t think the sexy bribe is actually needed to get Joyce to take care of herself or vice versa. I think the idea is:
        .
        “Okay, I’m obviously going to work on doing this thing regardless, but what if we made it fun by agreeing that I get little treats.”

        1. Yotomoe

          I would find that more convincing if Joyce had suggested it or showed any willingness to do it prior to Dorothy’s proposition. Sure I can read her constant “Fuck Off”s as her being a silly willy but that is me being purposely charitable. Theres a lotta ways to convey that Joyce is willing to make this change herself without coercion and I feel like at best it is implicit and at worse it is nonexistent.

        2. Li

          I don’t think that’s the intended reading, but it’s fair enough. 🙂

        3. thejeff

          She did talk about maybe dropping down to a 16oz bottle yesterday so there was at least a hint of willingness to change.

  38. Ian Clark

    I think it was Sarah who predicted that eventually Joyce would snap and fuck half the campus.

    Turns out she was right in magnitude, but all that fuckin’ is concentrated into one person. Dorothy should probably invest in a case of Gatorade.

    1. Throwatron

      IIRC it was Ruth.

      1. Ian Clark

        That also sounds right.

        1. Ian Clark

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/comic/therepressions/
          This was the one I was thinking of, but it turns out it was Jacob saying it to Sarah, and I remembered it the other way around.

  39. Yumi

    I just got prescribed a medication today that I’m specifically not supposed to take with more than 4 oz of water. I take pills with a sip of water, so that should be fine for me; just thinking how 2 liters of anything can apparently be too much for some pills, even if it’s just water.

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