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chicken fingers???

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MrShoggoth

Communication wins again!

Jey Siksa

Something's wrong, can't put my finger on it

Sajuuk-Khar

This is much, much better than I anticipated. A very light damnation, Willis.

Andrea Andrew

🎼There’s going to be a hard ache tonight I mean, A heartache tonight, I know🎼

Dahlia Rose

Okay but. Does it say something that she was fully willing to do it with Dorothy but here with Joe, her boyfriend she decides she doesn't. :)

Alexis Smith

This is amazing on every level.

Fart Captor

"Fingers… just like Dorothy has…"

Andrea Andrew

So she’s…just confused. It could just be the music. LOL

TobyTura

AWWWWW. yes i like this. i like this very much willis

Bagge

Do laundry together?

Andrea Andrew

It probably says something. We’ll find out what soon.

Harold

"Ladyfingers, if you will..."

Fart Captor

Maybe, but also even if she weren't so very, very repressed sexually, it's also her first time, so it's hardly surprising she isn't as ready as she thought to have a pee pee all up in her hoo hah

C

Well, communication is key, so that's good. Everyone should be comfortable in such moments.

voyager-ngc5195

Oh, oh no. This is between Joe's magic fingers and Dorothy's magic laundry machine, isn't it.

Aubrey Bryn

Yeah, when I processed that the music was playing in the last strip I had a feeling this would come to pass

TobyTura

this... its a big step from giving someone else a handjob to penetrative PIV sex lol.

TobyTura

i fear laundry machines do not actually do all that much for someone in real life

Dan Rabin

Visuals: a wonderful sequence of nearly-identical framings of the two of them, with their heads gradually turning toward one another as communication yields negotiated agreement. Willis has commented that sometimes borderless panels are just space-saving techniques, but in this case they do highlight the convergence that occupies the latter half of the strip. Emotions: I note that Joe doesn't probe for understanding of Joyce's hesitancy. He might do that in another situation, but as long as they both want sexual activity, the questions are how and what, not whether and why.

Gale Tazzin

joyce is allowed to take it slow, she literally had her first orgasm ever ten days ago

Crunchos cereal

I like the contrast with Liz. She was still going for the ’I’ll be soiled forever’ angle, whereas Joyce doesn’t feel like it. External versus internal viewpoint, I guess.

Crunchos cereal

Also now Willis not drawing the fingernails helps quite a bit…

wyatt

good stuff

Buck Caldwell

"Fully willing"? She got much further along with Joe than she had with Dorothy (granted, due to interruption), but nobody knows - possibly even Willis - if she would have gotten exactly this far with Dorothy and had the same second thoughts.

Ragtime

Can you not see them? Joyce's blue polish is quite striking. ~s

The Aphro Chick

Joyce Gets a Fingering: A Dumbing of Age Pornographique

Jasmijn Wellner

i just reread that story line. good stuff

Sajuuk-Khar

Also like I want people to remember no, Joyce is not “confused”, nor does she not want Joe as much as Dorothy, she’s traumatized re: dudes and sex with dudes thanks to local shitfucker Ryan, who is thankfully now hamburger in addition to all the Evangelical cult nonsense Dorothy does not have this baggage attached (Luckily*, Dorothy brought her own baggage!)

Andrea Andrew

Joe and Joyce have only been dating less than ten days?!

Megh

@Andrea Andrew: This comic moves insanely slow from our perspective. But from the characters' perspectives insanely fast

Acebender

Yay communication!

Morgan Byrd

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

Kelly (they-them)

You know, Joyce could still accidentally say Dorothy's name instead of Joe's. Just cuz it's handy-panky and not hanky panky doesn't mean that wouldn't still be devastating (I'm still just joking and not actually expecting this)

Ronokki

The entire cast (outside of those who have pre-college history) have known each other for less than half a year, the comic moves at glacial pace

Andrea Andrew

Crazy that Dorothy found out she’s in love with Joyce in ten days

Packy Anderson

I'm trying to decide if you're chanting "Chicken... Chicken... Chicken..." or "COCK! COCK! COCK!"

C

Amber's inner trash goblin would consider it a win.

Bagge

Yes, Joe is working on it

Fart Captor

It's really nice to see Joe now being so thoroughly good about consent, after years of people insisting he was even before taking his Do List down THIS is what it actually looks like to see your partner as a full human being with agency! He absolutely was not capable of this before badly needed personally growth that has happened since then

Taffy

I like this. She shuts down the sex, he agrees without condition, she offers something a little less all-in, he counters with his own offer, and we have a successful negotiation. A sexy, sexy negotiation.

Leon

Was right about Dorothy being on her mind. I'm really curious how their first conversation will go after this since Dorothy basically rejected the whole premise of their feelings.

Avian

Fair and loving, all consensual with no pressure, he listens to her THEN responds, the mood is never dropped significantly and comes back without issue. What wonders we get from good communication and trust between partners :D

Astariel

Interesting. I was really expecting them to go through with it, and I thought that if they didn't it would be due to one or the other having some kind of panic attack or something. I'm very glad to be wrong about that, and the good communication between them is very sweet. I'm am curious as to why Joyce changed her mind after apparently being so set on it right up through two strips ago. I suspect it has less to do with Dorothy, and more to do with this just being a very big step for her. I hope she doesn't end up beating herself up about it in the aftermath.

Leon

Joyce feeling the need to "get this over with" to complete the transition into adulthood in her mind but not being able to go through with it despite expressed enthusiasm. She already admittedly accelerated through some stages in their relationship. In some sense, would you say some of her behavior is performative? That interpretation has some credibility at first thought.

Jeremy AR

We love communication and respect for consent in this house!

Jeremy AR

Wish it didn't cause so many arguments.

Astariel

That seems likely. She clearly does want to have sex to some degree, but I think she wants to have had sex more than she wants to have it.

Shane Wegner

As someone almost certainly on the spectrum who took his sweet time losing the ol V card, ASD spectrum could be part of it too. Sex(PIV) has a lot of societal expectations and even overstimulation that can all provide some pretty tall walls to relaxing and enjoying (especially) for spectrumy folks. Hanging out on the edge of those walls via hand stuff with someone you like a lot is a great compromise, and I’m glad Joyce and Joe are aware enough to realize it.

Shane Wegner

I agree growth has occurred. But can’t agree this the first time he’s ever cared about consent or agency. He stopped immediately without hesitancy or complaint when Sarah’s sister decided last minute she wasn’t into it and said No. Full human with agency there. Taking her at her word that she was into it before that was also accepting her agency to say Yes. He went along with Malaya’s agency to say Yes, and Roz, etc etc. I can’t think of him ever pressuring anyone on consent issues. And as I remember it, he didn’t post his Do list such that he could choose to take it down even if desired. Wasn’t it stolen from his computer and disseminated without his knowledge or consent, by a fellow student? It’s like photocopying someone’s diary without their permission, a major privacy and consent violation. It wasn’t Joe’s idea for the world to see that list.

Dan Rabin

Details: the shadow on the ceiling is the shadow of Joyce's head, which shows light around the edges, the source of illumination being the laptop computer. As Joyce turns her head, the shadow changes.

Sajuuk-Khar

FC: you are 100% on the money. This is Joe proving his character growth wasn’t all words and nebulous feelings, it is why I root for him (and for my silly DorJoJo ship of dreams), and it is very much a thing of Joe NOW, not Joe PRIOR.

Avian

Yeah, Joe was skeevy about a LOT of things but consent was not one of them. Now, the objectification and general dehumanization of women as a source of conquest and bragging rights? He was a god damn MASTER at that. Interestingly I wouldn't classify him as a misogynist, not exactly. He did respect women's agency, just not them as equal peers in myriad ways. His newish friendship with Dina is a big sign of change for that. Before that women were a separate species that could be banged but not socialized with.

Harold

@Leon: I'm sure Dorothy *is* on her mind (especially with the music playing), but Joyce has a *lot* of things running through her mind right now.

Harold

Yeah, I'm with Shane Wegner and Aeryn Monet here (not that Fart Captor and Sajuuk-Khar aren't 100% on the money with most of what they write as well). I mean, the reason people have always insisted that Joe was good on consent is because... he's always been good on consent. Joe was a deeply problematic character for a long time, but if he had had issues involving consent, Willis would never have laid so much groundwork for his eventual emergence as a believable partner for Joyce.

Harold

@Andrea Andrew: Yep. Joe confessed his feelings to Joyce ("You're my anxiety") one week ago last Tuesday. Exactly one day before Dorothy and Joyce wax-on-wax-offed.

Leon

I'm aware. What's also interesting is what she was initially stressing about before the date (the load taken off by Dorothy) isn't much of a factor in why she got cold feet; it's a question of desire to do the act itself. I do believe some part of her displayed enthusiasm is performative - she considers sex to be one of the last remaining big obstacles to "real" adulthood and an upcoming part of the "new and improved super cool Joyce" after major life changes. It goes without saying "old Joyce" is still present like her initial reaction to Amazi-Girl on the roof just showcased, which has been troubling her a bit. An acceleration to get to that point in her first real relationship before she's mentally ready could be the major thing. It's not like Joe is in a rush but Joyce has been vocally building up the eventual coitus for at least two to three days. I get the feeling part of it is fulfilling a role for the sake of this new identity and ideas she's carried around for years about relationships/adulthood (something like: https://www.dumbingofage.com/malfunction/). Gay intrusive thoughts just adds another layer to this.

Taffy

Negotiasex, it's the only one with flow

Diego Garcia

What was the point of that Amazi-Girl interruption

Taffy

@wegner The list was a website/RSS feed (idk the difference) he constantly shared with people. It was not remotely private.

Fart Captor

(1/3) PEOPLE YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A SEX PEST TO BE BAD ABOUT CONSENT! IT'S THE BARE MINIMUM. NOR IS INSISTING YOU'RE GOOD ABOUT CONSENT EVIDENCE THAT YOU ACTUALLY ARE GOOD AT IT He used to proposition women for sex before even introducing himself! Repeatedly! PUBLISHING THE DO LIST ITSELF was not just disrespectful, but a way of sexualizing women and offering them up to other men without their permission or even knowledge! Few if any of them would have agreed to be on that list, even anonymously. He did stuff like that because he did not respect the sexual agency of those women enough to override his desire to perform horny masculinity. He even admitted that he was actively refusing to relate to women like people because of his hangups!

zee

I don't think old Joe was the type to pressure a girl past a no once she was already in his bed, because that's one of the Big No Nos of consent that he was probably taught and internalized. Like, you can't keep going (sexually) after a no, you can't do it if she's drunk or crying. But he never respected a girl's no when it came before that point. He didn't take no for an answer when flirting and I don't think he considered that a consent situation. I do partly blame it on how consent is taught, more emphasis on "if she says no, you're a rapist", less on communication, body language, pressure before the "no", not explicitly sexual consent. He's definitely grown and you can see it, if old Joe and Joyce were dating I think he'd stop at her no here, but he would have been laying the pressure on thick (probably without realizing) before hand

Fart Captor

(2/3) Since that moment with Joyce after the list got leaked, however, on top of him apologizing and halting updates (since yeah, deleting it from where he'd posted it would not have un-leaked it), he also hasn't propositioned a woman on sight like he used to. We haven't seen women have to argue with him or threaten him with violence to get him to leave them alone, and in fact we've seen him actively make sure he was welcome, which is an especially good move given that most of the women on campus probably know about him being the Do List Guy. We've seen him have NORMAL, respectful, human interactions with women where he's treated them as people, and he's even got female friends now! Sarah can tolerate talking to him! These are things that required him to stop being bad at consent! They required him to start FULLY respecting women's agency and see them fully as people! Even if what we're seeing with him and Joyce is exactly how he was with previous sexual partners (and if he was this good about proactively seeking consent for specific acts, I will eat my hat, followed by my entire head) that would get him a C in Consent. A passing grade, not the gold star he insisted he deserved because rape culture in this country is so pervasive that the bar is a goddamn tripping hazard

Fart Captor

(3/3) When I talk about how shitty Joe was in the past, I'm NOT saying he used to be a monster. Yes, I think he was a sexist pig and an asshole was noticeably worse than the average male college freshman when it came to his treatment of women and handling of consent and respecting women's agency. But more notably HE WAS NEVER AS "GOOD AT CONSENT" AS HE THOUGHT HE WAS. He understood he wasn't perfect, but he was fully unaware/willfully in denial of the harm – by his own admission – shitty attitude & behavior towards women was causing Consent is more than just stopping a sex act when told "no", or even seeking affirmative consent beforehand. It's about more than just people you're trying to have sex with. You can't be "good at consent" if you are unwilling to relate to half of the population as full human beings, or don't FULLY respect their right to agency about not just their body, but their space and their authority to decide when they're done talking to you without you ignoring them repeatedly (as with Rachel) or needing to enforce that decision with threats of violence (as with Sarah) Now he's finally gotten not just as "good at consent" as he (and numerous commenters) claimed himself to be, but he's GREATLY surpassed that, and I'm proud of him! I've really enjoyed his arc over the years! Both the place he started from and his journey to get here have felt very real and satisfying! He's gone from a character who – if I knew him in real life – I would have either Sarah's or Dorothy's relationship with him, to someone who I could genuinely be friends with

Fart Captor

(4/3) tl;dr: I just really wish I could get people to understand that Joe's past failures are correctly categorized as failures "at consent", i.e.: failure to ~*FULLY*~ respect the agency/personhood of other people, even if he did not ~*FULLY*~ ignore anyone's agency either

Acebender

I said "yay communication" but it's been hours and now I'm wondering if that communication will extend to what happened with Dorothy earlier.

Acebender

comedic relief? a breather from the main story?

Leon

Reaffirmation of Joyce's fundie upbringing still laying underneath her consciousness in regards to (open) sexuality despite her new attitude and beliefs, having Amazi-Girl talk to Joe for the first time (?), comic relief, and adding anticipation to the hanky-panky. Probably.

Harold

@Leon: Everything you suggested, plus: A reminder about the ongoing protest in Dunn Meadow (in which Jocelyne is a participant), which promises to loom large in these next two weekend storylines.

Dahlia Rose

I had a dream last night where in the next page Joyce found Dorothy sitting on a bench outside somewhere. And Dorothy assumes she and Joe went all the way, but Joyce says they didn't and they sit together and Joyce rests her head of Dorothy's shoulder which causes Dorothy to blush before reaching over to take Joyce's hand.

Harold

@Fart Captor: Please consider your wish granted, at least for one commenter.

Berry

I really like them together 😭😭😭

tifani

They don’t have to jump straight to penis in vagina sex. Honestly this is likelier to get Joyce off more than that would have anyway. Next step is asking her thoughts on tongues.

Harold

Speaking in them?