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Early update for July 14, 2025 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-07-13 03:55:01
Edited:
2025-07-14 02:48:32
Imported:
2026-06

Content

too much tear gas, can't think straight

Files

Comments

Maybeeus

It was basically inevitable...

Quantum

I’ve never grabbed my phone so fuckin fast

Mariah

Finally

Sajuuk-Khar

Willis you sly dog, I see those tear gas clouds forming sakura patterns

Ria

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SICKOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Verteiron

Oh, dear. Hopefully no one punches a hole in their recovery room.

Megh

SICKOS ALWAYS WIN!

E

YES… HA HA HA… YES!

Jim Avery

Imagine me squinting at my watch to parse the image preview from this email update to get this comic five seconds sooner, because that's what happened

Sajuuk-Khar

also, god DAMMIT Joss No thoughts, only gay

Jay Bee

ITS HAPPENING

Doran McEowen

What a HELL of a way to end my break! Just in the nick of time, thank you for my life, Willis. Also Jocelyn is so happy for them!!! This is going to make a big beautiful mess but for now my queer little heart is FEASTING

Megh

Agreed Although I was expecting the kiss to be the last panel, not the 1st and 2nd and 5th

Andrea Andrew

-There’s nothing straight going on here. -Jocelyn here thinking: I knew it! -I hope these two have a happy life together.

Quantum

I’m glad they finally got it over with but I also have this pain in my chest thinking about how Joe of all people will react

Ria

July 14th 2025 will go down in history

HenryVolt

Processing... we were all prepared for the possibility of this outcome and yet I'm still taken off gaurd here.

KaylaZX

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

Giant Speck

NO HETEROSEXUAL EXPLANATION

Andrea Andrew

Wolverine: well, it’s about time.

E

Omg I just noticed Jocelyn

Jay Bee

I do like Joe and Walky tho so Im worried for those kids

Sajuuk-Khar

If Willis hadn’t made them kiss today I would have to conclude that they are the absolute sovereign of all edging, they are beyond mortals, mortal edging would be to Willis as a game or trifle

Harold

NEVER HAS BEEN

David M Willis

no idea how hard it was to find a corner of this comic to use as a preview image

Brendan T

Everyone is worried about Joe here and rightly so. Some folks may also be worried about Walky, which is fair. But hoo boy when Becky finds out Joyce is in fact also into girls but just wasn't into her? I feel like that's going to be kinda heartbreaking.

E

JUST GALS BEIN PALS

Sajuuk-Khar

This, man!!! All of this!!!!!!

MrShoggoth

Everyone’s gonna lose here

Johanne

YAYYYYYYYY

Elizabeth

So glad I checked as soon as I got the notification, OMG my gay little heart is so happy right now! Will there be messy things later on with current partners? Probably, sure, but for right now, in this moment, I don’t care. Living in the moment, the moment of them kissing, that is. 🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

David M Willis

also thank god about a month ago patreon started letting you crop your own preview instead of just showing you the middle third of the comic every damn time, jesus christ

Andrea Andrew

We all know how Walky will react.

KaylaZX

WE WON SICKOS

Sajuuk-Khar

Absolute hell, I imagine

Mariah

I can't wait for shane wagner to explain how joyce is still straight.

Grace Serenity

We don't know that he's not willing to share!

C

...Glorious magic in an otherwise dangerous moment. Love the kiss, now seriously, might want to get to safety.

Andrea Andrew

Amber, from inside Amazi-girl, is probably thinking: success!

Emily Lamont

The fact the silhouette of their embrace is kind of a heart 🥰

Quantum

Ahhh I don’t care about that guy

Moonrunes

I honestly wish we'd gotten that unused strip of Joe telling Dorothy to tell Joyce how she feels about her, because as nice as this neither Joyce or Dorothy have said anything to their current partners.

el

Jocelyne: "this is adorable! I knew something was up with you two!" "Hey, uh, we really should be going soon, though. ...you can make out more once we're behind the fence, I promise." "...guess you aren't gonna stop. Okay."

MrShoggoth

Well this is going to get ugly.

Dan Rabin

The panels keep getting narrower. Soon they will have to stand sideways to the fourth wall to avoid being squeezed to death, then sideways to one another, then...

Sajuuk-Khar

Walky is going to be fine, Walky will pratfall directly into Amber’s waiting sexual embrace Joe, I am praying for. We all must pray for his strength of heart and for the sacred ship Joecerothy.

Mariah

It has been a journey congrats my sicko comrads

Harold

"It was only a kiss, it was onl---" Oh, like FUCK it was.

Jay

Sajuuk-Khar

I know, man!! I know what you mean!!!

Maybeeus

All of the relationship paladins made a grave error in not assuming Joe is one of the biggest sickos of them all. You all have forgotten his roots and all the lesbian jokes with them.

Jay

He probably would he if told ahead of time...but yknow....straight up being cheated on

Sajuuk-Khar

Honestly nah, I think Becky will be over it And if she’s not over it she will channel that into being mad that Joyce kissed Dorothy while with Joe, calling it now

Grace Serenity

Joe and Walky could get together and it could still work!

GPanda

I honestly hope there are consequences for the cheating

Fart Captor

*loud gay boom of my head exploding*

razboy

now becky actually has a reason to hate dorothy

Harold

This is kind of reminding me of one of those old Big Red gum commercials ("Kiss a little longer...")

GPanda

Maybe that’s because there will be consequences

LupinThe8th

Amazi-Girl: "Okay, gotta keep ducking and weaving so the sniper can't get a shot, kick that guy with the tear gas, go for the knees of that other one with the club, then flip over the one by the..." Amber: "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...."

el

Is it *really* deserved hate?

Carly Dingman

oh my god the pink clouds of tear gas making it all dreamy and romantic

tifani

Joyce got fingered for the first time and kissed a girl in less than 24 hours. And in about 5 minutes she’s going to know what being tear gassed is like. She has had a DAY.

Jay

Im sorry? Was I not clear? Fuck. These. Two. You don't do this shit when you're literally both in a relationship, hard stop. You wanna fucking smooch each other go right the fuck ahead but have the common decency to dump your fucking partners first.

Gale Tazzin

WHAT?!?! GAY PEOPLE ARE REAL?!?!?!

yootie

Wishing he could love Dorothy like a lesbian too, into estrogen?

Buck Caldwell

They're cheaters now. They both realized it. And they figuratively shrugged their shoulders and went ahead anyway. I don't necessarily agree with Jay there, but that's why he hates them rn.

Megh

This such a messy way to start this relationship, from the cheating to trying to convince themselves it wasn't gonna happen, and then letting it happen at literally the WORST possible time, and well I've made no secret I'm pretty firmly on team SICKOS so I'm all about it It is a mess, it's gonna be mess, and that mess is gonna hurt me in the future when we get to the fallout of this...but right now I don't care! I don't know exactly where this ride is going but I'm ready to find out!

Gale Tazzin

congratulations to andrea andrew

Mariah

I think the theory was that joyce saw becky as a sister not that she was not into girls was true still its going to hurt anyway.

Sajuuk-Khar

I wish we’d gotten Joe telling Dorothy that she’s important to him because she’s important to Joyce! I worry that was fumbled! But the Process very well may prove me wrong.

Quantum

I mean yeah no shit, I’m just glad we got the will they won’t they over with so this can ACTUALLY be resolved.

Gale Tazzin

joeena needs to make her comeback

Fart Captor

Becky's got Dina, I'm pretty sure she'll be more upset that Joyce put herself in danger than having her taste in boney poindexters confirmed

Harold

@Andrea Andrew: Presumably Jay is reacting to the fact that both Dorothy and Joyce are dating other people. Believe me, the comments section on the main site tomorrow is going to be *filled* with comments like this. Except most of them won't soften the tone with the "lol," LOL. Sickos would be advised to nope the fuck out of the main site comments for a while.

GPanda

Poor one out for Toby 🥃😞

Jay

Especially when one of said partners has trauma literally rooted in cheating! AND THEY BOTH KNOW THAT.

C.T. Phipps

I fully believe Walky will just shrug it off. He's not invested in this. Joe will think Joyce was driven to this by his bad behavior.

Mariah

me either walky has seemed checked out of this relationship joe I do feel bad for.

Smoochie

….In the vein of ‘you got to be the person my lifelong best friend and crush only dreamed of’, yes?

Sajuuk-Khar

Amber: YES! WALKY DONG SECURED! Now, how to engineer a throuple? AG, thoughts? AG: BUSY! PUNCHING! PIGS!! ALSO YOU ARE *TERRIBLE*!!!

Jay

As I said, give it a week for the mess to start and I'll be over this but in this moment all I can think of is the betrayal of trust they both committed 🤷‍♀️

Buck Caldwell

To be fair, Jay, a lot of kids (and remember, they are BOTH kids, regardless) won't realize this is happening, and that they *need* to "dump their fucking partners first", until after it's happened the first time. Give them a little breathing room - they're in a high-stress situation right now, and there are no mediating factors in sight that might have made them think about what was happening. The more important thing is how they react *after*, when they're no longer "in the moment".

Railway Series Book Club

joyce crosses the rubicon, dorothy instantly folds, and immediately after the lovebirds achieve post-kiss clarity, they go back in for seconds. immaculate. greatest comic strip to ever do it. i have more words to say but i need time to actually type them out. i love how jocelyne's panic and confusion seems to have been overridden with a combination "what the fuck is happening" and "aww, good for them". really funny she's just sitting there and letting this happen even though a minute earlier she was like "GIRL YOU GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE". she's so happy her little sister is doing gay shit!! (also willis you missed the first Y in Joyrothy in the filename lmao)

Sajuuk-Khar

Can we beat yesterday’s 200 Patreon comments, chat?

David M Willis

anyway i googled whether it's acceptable to use that word in canada (due to your payment currency) like it is in britain and apparently no, so, like, find some less gross words to use to talk about fictional cartoon women i guess

Smoochie

This is petty. … Continue. 👏🏽

Jay

Joe will 100% find a way to blame himself and even if he doesnt backslide he's probably going to get self destructive

Sajuuk-Khar

Friendship with Double date ended Throuple date is my new best friend

Mariah

Im just going to read the comments with popcorn also I am not going on the mainsite for a while....

Sajuuk-Khar

JOECEROTHY WILL SURVIVE The ship’s prow stands tall, we will weather the storm

Mariah

My current bet is 300

Laura

the pink tear gas looking like cherry blossoms is killing me. kiss kiss fall in love

Sajuuk-Khar

The sapphic radiation has melted her brain. RIP Joss.

Smoochie

I just want depressed villain arc Walky.

David M Willis

yeah i know and i uploaded it to the main site before noticing and that means i can't change the filename without deleting and restarting everything, also i'm learning right now that you guys can see the filenames on these

5099 5618 v2.0

If ever two people deserved their moment (God help them...)

GPanda

Yeah

Maybeeus

It will be obliterated.

Fart Captor

"Dang it, Dotty! I get wantin' to kiss Joyce real bad but ya gotta get her away from the danged cops first!"

5099 5618 v2.0

Other songs by the killers will likely also be quoted, going forwards

ATD

I've been wanting this for years. Going from "Great ship but Dororthy's probably straight" to "Oh wait maybe she isn't. Could it...?" to "I am convinced this is happening!" And it is GLORIOUS! But oh boy do I feel bad for Walky and Joe. I think Joe will be "fine" in the sense he doesn't believe he deserves to be jealous but that presents its own set of issues. Walky on the other hand... I sense a crash out incoming.

David M Willis

though now that it's happening tomorrow and not nine months out, i might feel less frightened about something going wrong if i tried deleting, renaming, and reuploading it now

Lia

WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim Mitchell

This is gonna hurt. But it isn’t a complete surprise. He knows there is an attraction there. But it going to hurt bad.

Lia

TOXIC YURI

Ria

Also, as much as I am aware of and agree that this will be particularly brutal for Joe, I do kinda wanna express some sympathy for Walky. Especially because like, Walky has such a hard time experiencing his emotions, and is still very much in the early stages of learning how to do that, so I fully expect this to rend him slowly 😭 That said it is just absolutely *brutal* that this is happening the same day that Joe so decisively affirmed to Rachel, his biggest hater, that he's not invested in her cruel outlook on the world and on him. Rly hoping that he doesn't fall into the self-loathing she seems to need to inflict on him 🫠

Megh

Oh we're easily gonna blow past 200, we're already half way there. We're looking at 300-400

Joe Belfeuil

Walky won't really care since he seemed to hesitate getting back together with Dorothy. Joe's reaction is harder to gauge. He partially caused this by pointing out that Dorothy was attracted to Joyce and that accelerated everything. He might also be totally okay with it because of his own past and he might be fine with letting Joyce figure out who she wants to be. Love is complicated.

Ed Marshall

EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee *deep breath* eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Rubia

I understood that Kitty/Piotr reference!

Jay

Dear god if there's actual consequences for joyce and dorothy i would be so happy. I don't think there's gonna be tho

Mariah

The best kind of yuri

CK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Ed Marshall

clearly to balance the scales we'll now be needing a Joe/Walky alt-patreon and/or canon ship as they help each other through this difficult time

Lazuli

omggggggg

David M Willis

(I realized too late the Y should be there or else it's a joe/dorothy ship name)

Astariel

YAY!!!! So happy right now! Even Jocelyne looks happy!

Mariah

I havent seen them I think they may have left for a while

Sajuuk-Khar

Incredibly hilarious outcome that I am not rooting for: Joe and Joyce break up, their friendship survives after a period of mourning, and Joe subsequently hooks up with Jocelyne

Ria

But like, Walky's hesitation comes from self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness. + I feel his nugget sense bonus strip is pretty nearly explicitly indicative that this is gonna fuck him up somewhat

Maude Reads Things

Love the use of the tear gas as a romantic background flowery border! It's a good choice. Now please please please get the fuck out before it reminds you both it is in fact tear gas.

C

Walky's either going to take it bad, or be the smuggest guy about having called it months ago.

Ragtime

To quote an awful parent "everyone should just get in a big fuck-pile."

Kyle

To think, it was only fifteen years ago that this story started with an Inaugural Poop.

Sajuuk-Khar

TO BE CLEAR: I do not want this, I am all about Joe/Joyce/Dorothy, but if my beautiful and beloved ship sinks then I hope whatever happens is funny, like that

Chloe

SCREAMING!!! WILLIIIIIIS!! DROP ANOTHER KISS SCENE AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!!!!

Jay

The tear gas is the consequences of their actions 🤣

Maude Reads Things

I think Joe would've been more open to polyamory or Joyce exploring if they'd talked about it first, but he has some deep issues with cheating that make me think that it won't be as simple as that.

Jay

Well now I'm rooting for this. Sleeping with your ex who cheated on you sister is like peak.

GPanda

Nah she’s still in the comments of some previous ones though I think they’ll be checking out because of this

Sajuuk-Khar

Rachel can fuck off into the Sun I do not want to hear from her again on my LIFE

Rubia

This is petty of me, I know, but for a long while there was someone who kept commenting here, replying to Andrea and others who expressed any hope or desire for this moment with a single monosyllabic "Nope." Well, now that we're here, I feel entitled to reply to that person: NEENER NEENER NEEN-ER!

Jess

Me and my wife screamed at this like it's the superbowl

Lia

AND IM ON MY WAY TO BELIEVINNNN 🗣️🗣️🗣️

Railway Series Book Club

yknow i'd down for this development. i'll be sad about no throuple but on the bright side, "Bestowing Womanhood With My Boner" would be an amazing slipshine title

Sajuuk-Khar

I did not like her in the Walkyverse, And in DoA I find I’m still averse! I do not like her freckled face I wish not to see her round the place! I do not like Rachel or ham I do not like them, Willis I Am.

Jess

This kind of whips actually

S

I love mess :’)

Sajuuk-Khar

If Walky crashes out, fine, that’s rough buddy, but like, this is something you kind of saw coming from the moment you banged Dorothy again. Like the writing was on the wall. You stared at it like the Biologist from Annihilation, it wrote itself into your brain. You knew, Walkster. You knew then.

Lia

Dorothy in the middle of the protest: Im not sure anything can make this feel like home though Joyce: how 'bout a Quindecennial Smooch?

Sajuuk-Khar

Coincidence, Willis?! I THINK NOT. HEED THE DIVINE ORACLES (that you yourself created) (also jk obviously)

Sajuuk-Khar

Andrea are you partying, I hope you are partying, you deserve to

crufl

what if we kissed at the brutal police suppression of college students haha just kidding unless

Mariah

I took hope with the fact that the really nasty/homophobic anti dorothy/joyce shippers willis shut down personally.

Megh

I mean it could give her an excuse to be an ass towards Dotty, but honestly I think she'll have a bigger problem with Joyce. We've seen time and time again that she has trouble with people changing, and this is certainly a significant change for Joyce

Uniquitous

Well well and oh my.

Maybeeus

The thing is Joe's pretty much let his stance already be known. "I want you to be able to have everything you want." I'm pretty sure he read way more into the whole bar thing than either Joyce or Dorothy themselves did because he's a smart cookie. Also i feel personally, a lot of folks misread his whole thing on cheating a bit. I don't think it's just about cheating it's more about keeping a distance from women so he himself doesn't hurt them. I find it very hard to believe the whole "be honest with yourself" comment wasn't made being completely aware that if Dorothy did eventually confess to Joyce she might completely drop everything to be with her. But that's kinda the actual point of like, interest to me? Joe and Joyce are like two peas in a pod and i don't think what they have going is going to self destruct violently entirely but it's definitely going to be messy. I think another thing is that folks forget Joe was The First Sicko. Back in his sex pest days he would constantly make jokes about everyone being lesbians and probably made a few about Joyce and Dorothy that i missed. I feel like he is not only down for a polycule but also doing everything in his power to potentially make it happen without being a creep about it. I'm team Jorothy to the end i'm biased, but if i drop my biases i do genuinely think a Joe Joyce Dorothy polycule is the most practical. If Joyce really is Dorothy's knight in shining armor then she needs a dinkier bigger backup knight to help her out and Joe is perfect for the job. I do think that's their dynamic going forward. Walky has no stake in this i don't care about Walky's feelings he's been too mean to Joyce for too long and deserves to get clowned on also him and Dorothy really do not work well together ATM Walky does not need to deal with the pressure of dealing with a borderline suicidally depressed girlfriend who needs emotional support above all else when emotional support has always been his weakpoint. He can one day grow into the person Dorothy needs and i think he SHOULD work on that but that's an insane amount of responsibility to throw on his shoulders when he's been back together with her for only a few days and someone far more capable has stepped up to do the job for him. I've been thinking about this a lot sorry for the wall of text lmao

ATD

I mean, seeing it coming or not, it sucks to get cheated on. Add that on top of the fact that Walky and Joyce don't really like each other all that much AND Joyce winning the newspaper strip that he really wanted. I don't see him taking this well at all, even if he tries to play it off.

Grace Serenity

Walky will get himself some McNuggets and chips and get back with Amber. He'll be a'ight

Diego Garcia

David, did you have any background music in particular in mind when you drew this?

Rubia

@The Deliberate Myth Take my begrudging upvote. XD

Sajuuk-Khar

Maybeeus that wall of text is very good, no shame in it at all, and I co-sign every word of it except I’m biased towards the polycule, BUT FOR THOSE REASONS.

Maybeeus

My joke answer was that Joe and Walky get together out of spite and Danny has to watch as reality warps in new inconceivable ways seemingly specifically to fuck with himself specifically but you've cracked the formula. You've Discovered The Recipe.

Leander Tupper

You know the one problem? Joyce might have family watching the news, all things considered.

Megh

Every now and then my dumb brain goes "Why's Joyce's face all red?" and then when it reboots I remember, "Oh right the crazy bongo walked through tear gas just to get this kiss!"

Leander Tupper
>>180255374

I mean, there are other issues, but I kinda don't see Joe or Walky caring too much about being Poly

Sajuuk-Khar

Yeah like I think it’ll hurt him but ultimately he’s gonna be like “I’m so mad. I’m gonna go blow Amber’s back out so I won’t be so mad”

Lia

nah theyre just paid protesters

Fredrik A

I think Walky will make it seem like he just shrugs it off because he's not good with showing how he feels. But I think it will wreak him quite a bit.

The Deliberate Myth

Missed chance to rename the ship "Doyce"... Just sayin'... (jkjkjk)

Maybeeus

I don't hate Rachel but like, she is a very underused character who has never been given time to actually do anything or prove she can be an interesting character. The best she got was towards the end of shortpacked where she showed off how even when she's a "good guy" she's still kind of an asshole anti hero. In a more grounded setting like DoA she kinda loses the plot, her roles are filled by a still alive Ruth mostly who's a way more interesting and prominent character so her only real role is to have beef with people which doesn't tend to endear folks to her very much.

David M Willis

i was probably listening to a lot of paramore at the time, but i don't remember exactly, unlike with the loft bed scene sidenote: did you know "the only exception" is a song about the generational trauma of infidelity

voyager-ngc5195

Dumbing of Age Book 15: Even Sapphic Love Can Bloom On A Battlefield (But this is a College Campus, is My Country Actually Ok??)

Uniquitous

I could really just soak in that first panel for a while or two.

Jay

How fitting

AE Gonzalez

I’m sure that sidenote won’t come into play later. In emotionally devastating ways.

yootie

i LOVE the way the tear gas clouds frame this like cherry blossoms, its so ridiculously gay. im sure we will experience very severe Consequences for this series of decisions starting next panel but im so happy for them in this moment

AE Gonzalez

“It was only coping a feel.” “It was only a little fingering.” “Mrphh mrphh only mrphh mrph-lingus.”

Simon Magid

@Sajuuk-Khar: Lately I have been having odd thoughts about Rachel, wondering what might have made her so dead set against believing people can improve. And a creepy notion struck me: she might have been a survivor of an abusive relationship -- quite possibly involving her parents -- where the abuser kept promising that they had reformed and kept breaking their promise. It becomes very hard to believe in people changing after a while of that. And it could be even worse: Rachel refuses to believe that people can improve at all because if they actually could, it would make the betrayal she has experienced even worse. I am not saying this would justify her attitude, but I do feel this would serve to at least explain it and make it realistic as opposed to being mere general negativity. Of course this is just a wild-ass hypothesis and I am likely completely off base. Ah well.

ScrimpArt

JoeJoyce heads . . . It's over . . .

Simon Magid

Oh and I so absolutely love Jocelyn's expression in panel two. It is hope and joy and heartbreaking love of life all rolled into one. You are a great artist, Mr. Willis.

Megh

@The Deliberate Myth: unless??

Railway Series Book Club

Watching Joyce and Dorothy finally unearth and start comprehending their love for each other over the past few months has been a life-changing experience. Which isn’t hyperbolic in the slightest; my best friend and I actually got together last month because of them. She and I had been best friends for what feels like forever, been through a lot together, and during all that time I’d basically been for her what Dorothy’s been to Joyce. Like Dorothy, I’d been behaving more-than-platonically towards her without realizing it, because I didn’t ever think to examine why I was behaving that way. And like Joyce, she’d been (in hindsight, very obviously) carrying a torch for me the whole time. Once it clicked for me that we were like them, it led to a cascade of realizations re: why I was so willing to do so much gay shit with her despite “only seeing her as a friend.” Fun times. Thankfully because these storylines are more or less a perfect guide of what *not* to do when you’re a Dorothy and you’ve discovered you’re subconsciously pining for your Joyce, I was eventually able to tell her I loved her before I could do anything stupid like turn a genocide protest into the world’s most self-destructive attempt at sublimating my feelings! 

I love Dumbing of Age. My new girlfriend, my two other girlfriends, and our mutual friend group of weirdo tgirls love it too. All of us have been rooting for these two to get together since day one of our readership. No matter what happens between them after this point, I’ll never stop tuning in for more of their absurdly messy soap opera drama. Please don’t fuck it up!

pixarfan9510

Good thinking! Everyone knows they can’t arrest a lesbian/bisexual couple for the same crime!

The25th

I’m a relationship paladin and this is my religion!!!

Ria

Oh totally I think it probably comes from somewhere similarly traumatic for her

ScrimpArt

That boy is not sharing shit he needs to find a new friend group!!!!!!

Railway Series Book Club

@The Deliberate Myth: i've never liked Doyce, it sounds kinda dumb, or like a Danny/Joyce shipname. Joyrothy may have a bit of clunk in order to disambiguate it from a Joe/Dorothy shipname, but it's the superior name combo imo. (of course both of them pale in comparison to the one true shipname, THEOCRACY!!!!1!)

Sebastian Gomez

... welp. It's time for me to join the war of Sickos vs. Relationship Paladins on the side of the Sickos. Poor Joe...

Ria

If I'm being so fucking for real I take the moral standing of all of these characters pretty unseriously, since they're all so very little baby first/second year undergrads – with obvious exceptions of predators/bigots etc

Sebastian Gomez

I used to you, an hour ago. Now I'm a Sicko... 😔

Megh

Holy crap there's twice as many comments here as the main site an hour after posting, that shit basically never happens... I wonder how many new members came in today

Jay

I was a day early for getting the panel i thought i was gonna get haha

Jay

I have full faith in willis to write this amazingly But at the same time god im so scared for the next 20+ pages

Duck BB

As someone who’s been following this series for a good couple years now and read most of David’s work from now it is genuinely a surprise to see this buildup after so long from their original incarnations being mortal enemies fighting over walky to becoming friends in the new Canon to be becoming what they are now apparently 😂 keep doing what you’re doing, and I cannot wait to see how this ends for everyone 🙂‍↕️

Railway Series Book Club

maybeeus you should never ever apologize for your walls of text, they're always bangers

Waifu Purplebutt

God damn it... Joyce, how could you do this to Joe - you *know* how much this sort of thing matters to him... Damn you Willis, and all you Sickos for encouraging this... I really hope this ends up with the polycule Chekov's Gun going off and Jorothyce becomes a thing

TobyTura

thank you friend ily (this is a friend i introduced this comic to :3)

Templeton

I've been reading this comic for years. This is the very first time that I truly, out loud, said "Oh DAMMIT Willis!" TBH, I was rooting for Joyce and Joe...will be interesting to see how he takes it.

TobyTura

@Mariah haha yeah i'm technically gonna be here til Aug 1st bc when you cancel your membership it does still finish out the month! but i will def be taking a hiatus... when i get too bummed abt a comic its time to take break lol

TobyTura

I KNEW IT WAS COMING but it still hurts. Thankfully non-canon ships do tend to hit more anyway so I can look forward to that

David M Willis

just two more comments until this is the most commented-on patreon post well, one now guess i'm thumbing the scale

David M Willis

keeping myself from repeating cover characters sequentially from book to book is really limiting me in book 15 though i'm leaning "i'm a trash goblin and i crave mess" welcome to the mess

shiftdruid

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

shiftdruid

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA *inhale* aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Megh

TBF Willis, you also commented a fair amount on the previously most commented strip, it evens out Also took that one the whole day to get that high, not two hours

SmartAlec105

Aw man, this is gonna destroy Joe :( Also, I'm definitely interested in how this will touch on the stereotype of bisexuals being cheaters.

ScrimpArt

twin we fucking lost im so mad

Albi

Deserved? No. But that's never stopped anyone!

Sajuuk-Khar

As captain of the SS Joecerothy: I didn’t hear no bell

Fart Captor

They're just spicy clouds I'm sure it'll be fine…

Daniel

Mainly because this is the culmination of everything that's happened since Dorothy and Joyce met... I am very happy. But damn, the immediate future past this moment is going to be dicey.

The Deliberate Myth

Oh, I think "Doyce" is a comically bad ship name. In my head it rhymes with "noice", which makes me think of obnoxious douchebags. My "suggestion" was pure sarcasm.

Ronokki

Naw this ruins the strip for me. Not them kissing (good for them and happy for all those waiting for it), but using a protest as the danger in the background for this to happen is gross to me. This protest was parallel to the Palestinian campus protests. The police violence that is being used is parallel to the real police violence that protesters had to endure. And these two characters aren't even involved in the protest and are only here to cause a culmination in the drama of their relationship? Big NO from me

TobyTura

I'm actually less upset abt joejoyce blowing up than I am about how its being blown up tbh. Cheating WHILE white womaning at a totally-not-palestine-related genocide protest is craaaazy. I gotta go lmao

TobyTura

(my jewish friend who introduced me to the comic is like 500x more upset than i am though. thankfully it does not have a patreon)

JB Robinson

I don't see how anyone could be mad at this? It's not like he's making light of anything, and it's obvious this is probably going to end poorly. Are we not supposed to be allowed to make stories that take place during real events? You might not want to know about the several dozen of fictional romance novels that take place during WW2 I guess

Mohmi

YES! HAHAHAHAHA YES!

Mariah

Or titanic or pearl harbor

Dahlia Rose

The fact that Joyce is the one who has initiated every single last bit of this today is just like the biggest deal ever. :D Our baby's come so far. <3

Maybeeus

I'm still waiting a bit to reserve full judgement to see how things end up actually playing out but ultimately yeah i do think i agree about the protest angle. I'll try to keep things short since i've typed myself half to death but maybe less words can mean a lot more than many. I think something like Gaza deserves front row attention and it doesn't deserve to be rewritten or painted over in any way. Countless people are suffering every day there due to the current genocidal occupation. If your story is going to feature it you NEED to focus on that you can't hold back or dance around the issue because the fact is there is a real life genocide occurring at this very moment over there. I like the silly sapphics webcomic a lot, it's an escape for all of us i think and i don't care about taking a moral stand on whether or not it's ethical for fictional characters to cheat but so much horrible shit is happening in Gaza that deserves respect and attention. I want the tone of my point to be understood too, i don't mean this in an insulting way but i do know it's a buzzkill but sometimes we need a buzzkill sometimes we need to be real about shit happening in the world and we need to be honest about it in hopes we can continue to grow and do better. I also don't want people to assume i'm frothing at the mouth with rage as i type this. There is just this feeling in the back of my gut that tells me that it's better to stand up and say something about the issue and offer my own two cents than pretend there isn't an issue. I think ultimately my point is i don't think the whole Bulmeria paint over even if it is a callback was a good idea at all. Using the protest as the backdrop for this very dramatic scene also doesn't do the story as many favors when it hasn't been very much about the protest and what it's about but more Joyce and Dorothy's teen drama. I feel like this chapter has definitely been very rough in regards to this stuff but i think honest criticism is always warranted. There's never too much to say about Gaza and Palestine and there is never such a thing as being too loud about it.

Starline Hodge

I feel bad for Joe 😩 (but Joyce has two hands? OT3 maybe? )

Ph

I think this makes Dorothy and Joyce look bad, and it makes many of the commenters here look bad, but it doesn't make Willis look bad unless it turns out to be handled poorly.

Maude Reads Things

You're right, he did say those things to Joyce and Dorothy but neither of those mean 'I'm going to be totally cool if you cheat on me together'. Yeah, Joe's issues used to manifest in him wanting to avoid hurting women but that doesn't mean he won't be hurt about being on the other end. I don't think that's something he's really considered. Maybe I'll be wrong and this will end in a polycule - Willis has hinted at that in the story (though he's also been liking comments about blowback from cheating which...) so who knows? I won't be disappointed if that happens for sure. I want them all to be happy and be friends so if that happens, yay.

Ronokki

It isn't about not being able to use real world events or even not being able to depict romance during them. It is all about framing and involvement. This is a story where they wander into a protest and make it about them as a way to create danger for the characters to increase the stakes of the moment that they kiss. If either of them was a setup as protester participating sincerely this critique is much softer, though I would still have some about how the sequence was handled, like Maybeeus' points above. Also, if you look at most good romances that take place during a war or disaster, you will notice that when the personal drama comes into contact with the world conflict, the personal tends to get overshadowed until they get to a place of relative safety. And not every story's use of these backdrops is equal. There is a difference between using conflicts and disasters to comment on the perseverance of the human spirit or how even in the darkest times love can bloom (or something similar) and using it as shorthand to "up the drama." This feels like the latter.

Ben Wray

Daisy: "Zoom in! Enhance! Slow motion!"

voyager-ngc5195

I actually believe your consternation will be echoed by the comic. This is all very cutesy and wholesome which is how infatuation and crushes tend to be; but now that they've *very publicly* revealed themselves in an event that was absolutely not about them, their fledgling love is likely going to face a whole myriad of criticism. Let's be quite honest, neither of them are actually prepared for this, and it may actually going to take a massive amount of effort for them to keep what they've gained. Certainly I'm happy for them, but I can also foresee some wicked storm clouds on their horizon.

GPanda

🫶

GPanda

Given this is clear cut cheating I’m not in favour of ot3 anymore

NinjaZaku

Oh shit! Oh *SHIT!* I was expecting them to realize their feelings but I didn't think we'd get the kiss for a while!

NinjaZaku

Also, I love Jocelyne in the background. Her face just gives "lol nice"

Jeremy AR

I had to. I just had to! And it was fucking worth it. (Oh god the comments tomorrow are gonna something else)

Shane Wegner

I can see where you’re going with this. I can imagine someone like Asma, with deep personal connection to the cause, watching the (privileged, white girl) tourists show up and finding the protest a fun place to work out their sapphic repressions. Probably frustrating. Dorothy held up a sign (she didn’t write) for ten seconds then started kissing someone? Thank you for your deep personal connection to the plight of Bulmerian genocide victims, citizen. On the other side, neither of them planned this, they’ve both been though a lot this year, are young, there’s not exactly a wrong time to realize you care about someone and are attracted to them, and yes, the comic is named Dumbing of Age. Their helpfulness and connection to the protest is basically zero (maybe even negative, they’re getting in the way and people might have to invest resources to help them now), but as campus students they technically have as much right to be in Dunn Meadow as anyone else. Their ability to read the room is basically zero though.

P J Upton

…Damn you Willis

Ray Fay

I'm soooo worried a photo of this is gonna end up online and he'll see it before Joyce can talk to him.

Rob McBobson

I just hope that... (Wait. First of all, I wanna say that no matter how Willis chooses to proceed with the story, I'm gonna respect his creative decisions, 'kay? That being said:) I just hope the fact that this is cheating isn't gonna be treated lightly in the storyline. Some romance stories I've read, or read *about*, only pay brief lip service to the idea that cheating is inappropriate and don't treat it as a genuinely immoral thing, let alone one that needs to be sincerely atoned for in any way at all. And I'm not saying I need any atonement or regrets in *this scene*, I'm just saying that I hope the story treats this as, all in all, the wrong way for Joyce and Dorothy to handle their mutual attraction.

Ray Fay

Ngl, I originally thought this storyline would involve Dorothy making a pass at Jocelyne to try and cope with her Joyce feelings

Joey245

I am both very happy and very scared, good for them but oh no the boys are gonna be heartbroken

Acebender

[insert here the "oh my god it's happening, stay calm" moment from the office here]

Shane Wegner

What? No. Today proves she’s bi as can be, for Dorothy at least. (She’s also unethical at monogamy, fallout on that later.) I was never emotionally invested in Joyce being straight, I was invested in following the facts vs speculation. You can see my posts where my thesis was “She might be bi, but we don’t have enough concrete evidence yet, let me know when we do.” Today Joyce initiated a kiss with Dorothy, stopped, then they both kissed some more. Those are firsts, and saying “Yep, provably not straight now” easily makes sense. I’m used to being misunderstood, but casting me as some cartoon villain who will always demand Joyce is straight isn’t fair or reasonable. And that’s on you, not me.

Jeph Jacques

OMG JOYCE IS INTO GIRLS?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Shane Wegner

I’m with Fredrick. I think Walky does feel things, but he feels guilty over his parents’ unequal treatment of him and Sal, tries to pretend he’s just a happy go lucky garbage guy who doesn’t rock the boat or feel things deeply. He might also be pretty opened minded on poly stuff. But yeah I wonder how he’ll roll with Dorothy just picking him up and dumping him multiple times, if that’s what’s happening here. Maybe “hey, I am a person with feelings here too you know”.

Kazo

And Becky

Kazo

I am NOT looking forward to how insufferable the shippers will be, or how much the anti-shippers are gonna complain.

Jeremy AR

Hey we earned being insufferable thanks you very much

GPanda

Honestly if that’s the consequences of cheating for her then cool. Hate to sound harsh but she should have thought of that earlier

Morgan Byrd

It’s Willis, you know there will be consequences

GPanda

Honestly I hope she’s more pissed at the fact Joyce went and cheated then the fact that Joyce is into girls just not her

Jessie Wilson

I hope that... but remeber what a candle Becky STILL holds for Joyce... this ship, while I love it, is going to crush THREE, maybe FOUR hearts

Terra Bruder

I'm not crying you're crying

William Lewis

Hella way to bust down the gates of the Bastille, Joyce :)

Inquiring Raven

So, this is gonna be on national news, right? Their parents, their boyfriends, the people that crush on them, and every random dorm mate will all see this *before* they get out of the adrenaline moment and have any chance to think at all, right? It’s gonna be a glorious mess for months isn’t it? DAMN YOU WILLIS!

Inquiring Raven

Also, that composition: my god man, well done. Say what you want about the lead up and fallout, but there is no denying this is objectively a beautiful strip.

Girlycore

Probably for the best. Main site tomorrow is going to be Thunderdome.

Katrina Marie Paton

Hate to be that person, but not enough I'm gonna refrain from saying it. Joyce isn't into girls, she's into Dorothy.

Girlycore

It's gross to feel so entitled to someone's love that you resent the people who receive it. I hope Becky is stoked about it.

Ilana Feldman

Dorothy and Joyce were talking about how they needed to be treating Joe and Walky better last week. I definitely think this is getting addressed, and I'm not just saying that because I'm one of the relationship paladins (I actually want to see the polycule unfold).

Kazo

AT JOE AND BECKY'S EXPENSE?!

Ilana Feldman

The part in Joyce's bed was them realizing their feelings. Jocelyne is going "I am also in today's update" and it's goddamn hilarious

Ilana Feldman

Love is in the air? Nope! Tear gas.

Ilana Feldman

Wait, I feel the same way and I've been on team Relationship Paladins. ... Have I been a sicko the whole time?

Lyman Green

😁 seeing you trolling here Jeph made my day.

Lyman Green

Well. This is the culmination of years of shippers’ posts and mental efforts to influence Willis. I hope you’re happy! I feel bad for all of them, this is complicated for anyone at any age and for them being fairly young and still trying to work out so many aspects of early adulthood

Avian

Worse. An ATHEIST.

Andrea Andrew

Nobody influenced David. He’s said he planned this a while ago.

Andrea Andrew

Having some salt with your breakfast much, Green?

Ilana Feldman

Given how many characters were making jabs at Joyce/Dorothy a decade ago on-panel, I think Willis was actually influencing the shippers.

Lyman Green

I disagree wholeheartedly of course people have been influencing Willis. I mean, that doesn’t preclude also that he was planning it.

Lyman Green

Certainly, this is a long awaited moment and influence probably went in both directions!

The Deliberate Myth

No apologies required for something that had no malice and caused no harm, but much appreciation for a human connection and sympathies. It's all good.

Jay

I hope he drops her like a sack of potatoes 🙏 he deserves someone who respects him and his trauma.

Jay

I didnt even think of that 😬

Jay

I hope this ends with Joe cutting Joyce out

Gwen R

Thinking about everything else later, for now just being deliriously happy these two figured things out. Looking forward to some high res panels once this is properly on the site!

Rob McBobson

Hey, Willis, one question if you have time (but only if you do have the time): How much did the Patreon members increase during the last week or so? I don't need any specific numbers, but... was much more than usual?

David M Willis

47 new paid members, 39 free. 1 paid canceled, 3 free.

Railway Series Book Club

Look, we can deal with Joe later, and this is not actually about Becky in the slightest, so she can and should get over it!

Sky Starlight

Jocelyne's face is adorable here

Sky Starlight

Oh good, Willis answers lesbian prayers

Harold

Lyman, do you *actually* think Willis would change his plans for the comic because of what fans said they wanted to see, or are you just doing a bit because you don't personally care for what's happening?

Lyman Green

Harold: get a grip. First of all: I’m fine with it. Second of all, I don’t know why people object to the idea of influence. Third of all: what does it really matter? Wherever the idea came from is not really relevant, I guess, and I didn’t know people would react this way. Sheesh.

Josh Bacon

I think Joe’s going to take it the hardest. Becky is certainly going to have some feelings, and boy will they will be complicated. Walky might internalize it more. Perhaps not so outwardly apparent, as he plays it off nonchalantly. Even though he’s still hurt by it.

Harold

@Ben Wray: I was thinking about Daisy, and how (assuming someone from the paper is capturing this moment) she will absolutely lose her shit over this. Not just because Daisy, but also particularly because she *knows* both parties (her star reporter, and that girl who draws the insanely overplotted daily comic strip).

Megh

@Ilana Feldman: Every relationship paladin is just a sicko who hasn't earned their horns yet 😈

Jen

yup agreed. once again my favorite ship gets blown up in a terrible way 🥲

Ilana Feldman

Does this count people who went from a $1 to a $5 subscription? Asking for a friend of a friend.

Sajuuk-Khar

Becky can be sad into Dina’s vagina, if she must

Sajuuk-Khar

Joe: we love and pray for and he will make it, Joecerothy will sail, it was only a kiss lyrics, etc. Becky, Walky: THIS AIN’T ABOUT THEM

Sajuuk-Khar

Welcome aboard the Black P—er, the SS Joecerothy

Sajuuk-Khar

WE MADE 300 and STILL CLIMBING

Railway Series Book Club

i wouldn't take it personally; i think a lot of comment regulars (edit: myself included, not trying to throw anyone under the bus) have become a bit on-edge after being in the Paladin/Sicko trenches for months. tone is hard to read over the internet, and even harder to read when we've reached the pining's culmination and people are going nuts all 'round. we need like, a week of Steve Eating Cereal strips to bring ourselves back down a notch, lol.

Sajuuk-Khar

NEW RULE: Re: Joe: it WAS only a kiss, actually Re: everyone else: NOW THEY’RE GOING TO BED AND WALKY’S STOMACH CAN BE SICK IF HE WANTS IDC

Sajuuk-Khar

I AM THE BLIND BI PROPHET OF JOECEROTHY AND I SAY UNTO YOU THE POLYCULE IS REAL, HOLD FAST, MY PEOPLE

Mariah

The shippers put a gun to my head and said Draw gay kissing now! Seriously people don't understand how comics/animation works and how stuff if planned years in advance.

Jasmijn Wellner

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa yes!

C

Becky's got a loving girlfriend, I think she'll be fine in the grand scheme of things. Joe's the one I'm more concerned for of the two.

Railway Series Book Club

yknow i understand people being worried about the fallout this is going to have with Walky and Joe, but i think it's really funny to see people extend this same anxiety to Becky as if her crushing on Joyce in the past should at all be a relevant factor Joyce and Dorothy's minds as their love culminates here? like yeah, it'll likely re-open old wounds for her when she learns about it, but these two were never ever going to do the Ethan/Danny "let's not do this bc Amber's feelings" dance, so idk why anybody expected them to. the whole thing makes me think of that image of the earth exploding captioned with "This Will Affect The Trout Population I Think", which means i can't be mad about people bringing her up, because now i'm picturing Becky seeing pictures people may or may not be taking of Joyce and Dorothy right now and screaming "THIS WILL AFFECT THE TROUT POPULATION!!!", and that's hilarious.

tifani

I walk over to Jocelyne and hand her two copies of polysecure. “Give them to them when they come up for air.” (Works on two levels and as I realize this I demand a high five. I have a gas mask on btw).

Lyman Green

This makes the most sense. I had no idea I’d trigger so many people by suggesting you were influenced by years of fans and shippers. Sheesh.

tifani

Becky’s basically engaged to Dina. She’s going to be fine. Maybe a little bit of an ego hit but she’ll get over it fast. Honestly I’m not particularly worried about anybody here. I have never seen a better set up for polyamory in fiction and this is Dumbing of Age not some kind of edgy drama or rom com on tv. The most logical solution being set up is actually extremely plausible. I trust David completely. The only thing they all need to get on the same page about is that it’s a possibility and they’ve learned nothing in the last few months to dispute that. Dorothy/Joyce are canon. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. (But especially polyamory).

Maude Reads Things

I don't think I've seen anyone who expected them to not get together because of Becky so much as concerned for how it'll make her feel. That doesn't mean expecting them to act a certain way to accommodate how she'll feel. Becky will get over it, sooner or later.

tifani

The shippers have absolutely earned it just like I will have earned the absolute nightmare I will become if Danny/Ethan ever happen. I will become a NIGHTMARE btw. (Lights my daily candle for Danny/Asher/Sal/Ethan). “I deserve those,” I chant, “I DESERVE this.”

zee

I don't care personally but I can understand why itd be upsetting to people considering what a raw nerve it is right now. Two mad privileged white girls who haven't expressed any opinions on the issue before today, one of whom is a recovering "politeness over rights" lib, using the genocide of Muslim children as the backdrop of their romance. It's being written well imo and I don't personally think it's a big deal, but if someone is gonna be squicked out by that I don't blame them. I think it's Joyce and Dot being ignorant, not Willis

tifani

I don’t think anyone ever reacts to things in this comic the way people expect. Not to the degree they expect anyway Joyce reveals to Becky she’s an atheist they have a mac and cheese dinner about it. Walky goes back to Dorothy? Lucy hooks up with Jacob. Sarah loses Jacob to Lucy? Enter Tony.. This cast has proven themselves to be pretty resilient and maybe that’s just because Willis isn’t interested in writing months of hurt feelings of no one died (Ethan) or they’re not Billie/Ruth where being fully healed would be unrealistic. Too much happened. But I trust that no one is going to be destroyed by this and in the end it’s gonna be fine.

zee

@Jay Yeah that's just not gonna happen bro

Joey245

A very mature and reasonable take I can absolutely get behind. :) Thanks for the reassurance!

Maggie Willis

Ey yo I'm not taking the fall for this.

David M Willis

25 upgrades to See Tomorrow's Strip in the past week.

Mariah

yeah like joyce does not owe becky heterosexuality its like people are acting like she is "If I was gay I would date you" cheating on top of the normal cheating.

Rob McBobson

So the question is, do I stay up until the early morning to read the next strip as soon as it comes out, or do I get a good night's sleep... Decisions, decisions...

tifani

All this pearl clutching about cheating is kind of annoying tbh. Is it cool to do this before agreeing to an open relationship? No, it’s not. Is this go no contact blow up the relationship forever worthy? Fuck no and please consider the actual characters and not your own personal trauma. Joe is not oblivious to what has been happening between Dorothy and Joyce nor is he against forgiveness. He and Joyce have also been dating for about a week. They are well within the window where boundaries are being renegotiated. We just had a whole storyline where they were. Joe is also very obviously deeply in love with Joyce. He’s not just letting her go. And Joyce also obviously loves Joe too. She’s not going to just drop him to be with Dorothy. And Dorothy wouldn’t want her to considering she just got Walky back after actively working to get him from Lucy. Meanwhile Walky dates Lucy while still being obviously interested in Dorothy and Amber. Amber btw has also been shown to not be against polyamory. But ignoring all that none of these are mistakes that make you irredeemably ruined in their eyes forever. They’re not Rachel. If you really and truly think this is going to end with any of these couples being over forever well…you’re wrong. You just are.

Rob McBobson

If I may nitpick, I think that "He’s now just letting her go" has a typo.

Mariah

pearl clutching is a good word its why I called them the "morality police" but relationship paladins works too ironically it pushed me to the sickos side when I was neutral on joyce/dorothy. I can't stand people who reak of purity culture in the "if this character does a bad thing they are evil" mindset.

tifani

Dude who gives a fuck? Like. Seriously. Okay I went back and edited it. Hope it’s comprehensible now.

Alexandra Falk

I feel just the same way. Let them all figure it out without a prior enforcement of some sort of absolute value!

Dahlia Rose

Unrelated to this strip, Willis, when will surveys go out for magnet tiers of book 15? I still haven't gotten one. I messaged on kickstarter but you never responded.

Alexandra Falk

IT'S HAPPENING! REALLY BAD PLACE FOR IT! HOPE SOMEONE HAS A BOTTLE OF WATER!

Maybeeus

I think how Becky reacts is going to be interesting for sure but like, The chapter where she officially joined the cast literally started with Joyce pining over Dorothy and making a comment about how she ships BillieXWalky because of the childhood friendship into romance angle only to be served the same situation on a silver platter and find it's a bit grosser than she had made it up to be in her own head. I think the fact is that Becky is not entitled to special treatment because she had a crush on Joyce and if she decided to have a huge temper tantrum about Joyce coming out because of that it would be kind of a dick move. I wouldn't put it past her considering her history of being very possessive over Joyce and her and Dorothy have pretty much been a ticking timebomb waiting to be set off by this exact moment. She's pretty much at a crossroad between helping out her lifelong best friend with coming out of the closet or totally throwing her under the bus because of personal grievances and self entitlement. With that said i do really want Becky to pry into this a bit as to WHY Joyce doesn't return those feelings. It's probably something stupid and simple like the fact she's a slob or that she's just not her type. I need to see her have that very serious discussion about her awful taste in bony pointdexters and also maybe bring up the fact that back in Anderson she was mashing faces with her own suspiciously similar bony pointdexter.

David M Willis

Historically, they go out when I receive the books and am ready to begin shipping them, which is in the fall. As of last year, ALL surveys have to go out at the same time, regardless of tier, so I guess if that's the same, they go out when I get all the magnets produced and am ready to send out magnets to the Digital Plus tiers. So... later. I've got about half of them produced currently. But absolutely zero people have surveys as of now. So you're not missing one.

Dahlia Rose

Okay thank you. :) One question, can I spend part of my bonus pledge on a past year magnet? I was gonna get a this year magnet with it but decided I didn't want that one and I wanted an additional past year instead. :)

Rob McBobson

If I was rude then I apologize; I PROMISE I was just trying to help out, but it's hard to get the right tone across in text on the Internet

David M Willis

Sure, mention it in the blank space for extra stuff.

tifani

Honestly in my experience in a post the size of mine a typo is an expected risk and I’ll usually sniff it out myself on a reread so correction isn’t really necessary. But it’s fine, I’m not actually upset.

Ph

I read this as intentional on Willis's part, considering Asma's appearance and comments a few strips earlier, and I would be very surprised if this were not addressed directly in the upcoming part of the story.

Ilana Feldman

This development is actually good for Becky. She's recently been dealing with thoughts along the lines of "what if someday I stop finding women attractive", but now she absolutely has to out-lesbian Dorothy.

Christy Aponte-Blizzard

Her biggest ship just sailed irl I’d have the same expression on my face 😂

Ignolian Thorne

This strip is wonderful. Seeing these two together fills my heart with joy :3 It feels like the pay-off to both of their story arcs starting from the beginning of the comic, or more specifically, Strip #6: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/01-move-in-day/forget/ . Both Joyce and Dorothy have come full circle on who they used to be; with the last panel of 'Forget' being the first appearance of Dorothy, literally walking in on Joyce's story, and being the one who Joyce lets' change her; and for Dorothy, going from someone that broke up with her boyfriend because he kept following her out of love, and she was too focused on her future, now becoming exactly like him, pining for someone she 'can't have', having thrown away everything she was aspiring for back then to finally have what she wants now. The parallels are fun, and incredible, and I can't believe that 'Forget' was back in 2010, and that Willis has had this comic made for like, a year in advance, so things like the police riots being topical in the present day just lining up is mind blowing. Now, I've seen people getting mad about the fact that these two are in relationships with other people, and how much of a betrayal that is... first off, they're fictional characters and this story has a year's worth of strips to come that have already been drawn, so that'll be addressed in time, so calm thy tits Relationship Paladins. Secondly, all of these characters are constantly bouncing around into different relationships. Because College is the kind of place for doing that sort of thing and finding yourself. Is it funny that Joyce has had the most amount of partners in the comic out of any other character? Yes! Extremely hilarious. Because she herself hasn't known what she wanted. And after 15 years of comic strips, she's finally found what she wants, and who she wants to be, and be with. As for Joe and Walky themselves, well, Walky will be more fine in the end, I think, out of the two. Yeah, he'll be angrier when he finds out, but him getting back together with Dorothy was never really a sure thing. They were cute at one point, but Walky and Dorothy are a bad match, as he can't ever seem to meet Dorothy halfway. Their relationship ends up being toxic due to Dorothy basically having to act like his mother, and all Walky can do to offer support is sex and jokes, since he doesn't like addressing emotional baggage. If anything, Walky is a much better match with Amber, because Amber doesn't actually want someone to deal with her baggage, and the two are able to just vibe with one another. That relationship imploded because Walky was unable to handle Mike's death, and he reacted in a bad way that drove him and Amber apart, but we've seen since then that that relationship is healing, with Amber agreeing to his stupid plan to sit in for Lucy with his parents, and the fallout of that. The two are also both massive superhero dorks, and I could see Amazi-Girl and Nightguy being a great super duo now that costumed villains have started showing up. As for Joe though... I think we're about to see a relapse. He tried his best, worked to shape up and be a better person for Joyce, and she ended up choosing Dorothy over him. And to some degree, I think he knew early on that this might happen, with him addressing it with Dorothy earlier, so I think he'll be more accepting of the situation than Walky... but he's not gonna be the same after this. This will either be the excuse he needs to go back to 'the list', and get into a bunch of messy one-night stands, or he'll go cold turkey for a while, not wanting any sort of relationship after Joyce. Either scenario opens him up to more interaction and a possible relationship with Rachel. And I know, that might seem like it's coming out of nowhere, but Joe's had a whole series of strips where he has to deal with Rachel's biases, which will be interesting for her to deal with later, given she dressed down Joe for being 'disloyal', but in truth, Joe's never been disloyal or cheated on anyone, because he's never been in a proper relationship before Joyce, just merely slept around. So now Rachel is likely going to have to deal with the fact that Joe isn't, and hasn't ever been the Disloyal one, which she seems to value given her dialogue, and I can see that possibly leading to a relationship in the end. Doesn't really help that they ended up in a relationship in the Shortpacked Universe as well, and sometimes these two universes line up in hilarious ways (Joyce and Walky don't have a time travelling son for Dorothy to pine over, so she just pines over both of them instead lol). All in all, I'm excited to see the fallout of this, and I'm hoping that this relationship between Joyce and Dorothy lasts, because it really is sweet and wholesome, and opens so many doors to so many different potential storylines. How is Becky going to deal with this, having had a former crush on Joyce, and being 'rivals' with Dorothy? What will the fallout with Walky and Joe actually look like? How will Joyce's parents react upon seeing this on the news, since this is likely gonna be seen by EVERYONE? How will DOROTHY'S parents react?! Will this incident lead to the return of Ruth's horrible grandfather? How will Amazi-Girl get away from the police, and will she be a wanted vigilante now for assaulting the police? Will Soggies actually rule?! Find out maybe some of these questions in the year + of unreleased comic strips of DUMBING OF AGE!!! XD

Railway Series Book Club

I'd love to see both of these talks finally happen. My suspicion has always been that Joyce's romantic disinterest in Becky basically just boils down to "I've sisterzoned you for the entire time I've known you so it would be really weird for me if we were together that way." I think in a timeline where Joyce and Becky weren't joined to the hip as kids, she'd probably be more receptive to her advances. (I've been thinking about this a lot re: their Walkyverse counterparts, lol) ...I find it very interesting that Joyce has been so quick to sisterzone so many of her close female friends, and yet I don't believe she's ever mentioned putting Dorothy into that category. Hmm, wonder if that has anything to do with the strip this comment is under. (Closest I can think of is when she would describe her friend group as "like family", which would logically capture her under that umbrella, but AFAIK she's never said Dorothy You Are Like A Sister To Me, so like...)

EnterTheHero

“Uh-oh.” “…oh, well.”

Smoochie

@ATD: Joyce becomes for Walky what Walky was for Sal in their childhood. The golden child who gets everything and can do no wrong (from a certain perspective).

Dan Rabin

I'm not so worried about Joe relapsing. Even before getting together with Joyce, the mere fact of his attraction to her was changing him. He thought he could divert with Liz, and that didn't work for him. Joe now has skills he could use in other relationships should things come to an end with Joyce. He has been attentive to her needs from her point of view. We just saw him being nice and helpful to Sarah without trying to bed her. On the immediate consequences of the protest-situated events, I am neither speculating nor trying to quash the speculations of others.

Amós Batista

Glad I've bought Patreon OOOOOOHHHHH

Mariah

360 comments wow Im guessing we will make it to 400+ by the next update possibly more.

Mariah

never going back

Mariah

I love how everyone is saying Team Paladin and Team Sickos like its a gang war everyone is aware of lol.

Jeremy AR

Just so you know "Ahhh the shippers force the cretors to make this Canon" is a frequent talking by homophobes any time a queer pairing happens so that might explain why people reacted badly to your comment.

Jeremy AR

Especially at Joe's and Becky's expenses!

Harold

@QueenOfSodor: "Dorothy, you are like a sister to me, but like in that one folder of Amber's fanfiction that needs a special password"

Maude Reads Things

Cheating can totally be 'go no contact blow up the relationship forever' worthy, but in this case I don't think it will be, mostly because forever is a very long time (especially in a story) and none of the characters involved are particularly grudge holding. Joe has some serious issues with cheating that might very well mean he breaks up with Joyce and they might or might not get back together, possibly in a polycule, in the future depending what happens from there. In the immediate future I think he'll be hurt and it'll feed his self loathing. I'm not sure how Walky will feel about it but he also has issues about feeling good enough for Dorothy so at the very least it'll cause a big wrinkle. Just because they do something wrong that I think might hurt others and will probably at least temporarily harm your relationships with them doesn't mean I think they're irredeemably evil.

GPanda

True but I think this is the first case of cheating in this comic (for the mains at least unless I’m forgetting someone) and so Like I at least want the bare minimum of consequences for Joyce and Dorothy like calling out and/or dumping because if Joes first thought is “it’s cool poly” I’d find this storyline for lack of a better term flat. This isn’t me being a relationship paladin this is me wanting characters to at least have consequences and calling out is the bare minimum

Girlycore

I'm staying up because I want to read the main site comments when this comes out. I'll admit it, I love the drama in the comments as much as the drama in the comic.

Girlycore

PRAISE BE TO THE POLYCULE-THAT-WAS-FORETOLD

Girlycore

I would never have asked this question, because I wouldn't have thought about it, but thank you for asking because the info is actually really interesting!! HI NEW PEOPLE! 💕

Heatth

I've seem "Jorothy" as a tag on tumblr, so it still works.

Heatth

I think "worrying" about her reaction is a bit silly, but I can see why folks are looking forward to see Becky's reaction to all of this. It is basically a conversation that is inevitable to happen now, Becky will have to come to terms with the fact that her rejection wasn't really because Joyce was straight, but because she just wasn't interested in Becky in particular. And that is interesting, I do want to see what comes of that. If it was earlier in the plot I would expect it being a major sad feelings moment for Becky, a confirmation of all her jealously regarding Dorothy. Now though? With her relationship with Dina more solidified and comfortable, I wouldn't be surprised if that is not a catalyst for her to truly move on.

Ronokki

I don't have the same faith in it being handled well because I have a problem with how it has been handled thus far. I have been involved in political action in the past (do more support work now because of bad knees), and when I see these scenes being used this way, I don't see the writing of someone who really gets it. I don't think the intent is to belittle these protests, but intent and execution are two different things. Also, works of fiction are just that, fiction. And no action of the character isn't a decision made by the author. Willis decided to include the protest and use it as a culmination of Joyce and Dorothy's feelings for each other. I don't expect this strip about college students, that focuses on their relationships, will spend too much time on what is wrong here beyond some lip service, especially with all the interpersonal drama it will cause.

Mariah

Im on the fence about it on the one hand Im sure there will celebration on the other people there have said some nasty things about joyce dorothy and becky for no reason and im not looking forward to the "you did this!" at joyce/dorothy shippers.

Albi

400 COMMENTS LET'S GOOOOOO

Ilana Feldman

I like to go to bed early and spend 20 or so minutes in the morning reading the fallout.

Mariah

i predicted 400 last night cant believe i was right

David M Willis

(on your eventual survey that is, in case that wasn't entirely clear)

Maggie Willis

Thank god we finally made it. Not sure I would have survived seeing it happen in slow motion, one night at a time!! You are all stronger than I am. ❤️

C

Man, I can't wait to see what comes next...and the website reaction is going to be something.

Prognostic Hannya

Can we get a hi-res version of the comic? I want to make one of the kisses my phone background.

David M Willis

joyce has said she's fine with spice, it's just the color and texture that bothers her

David M Willis

deleted and reuploaded the comic, so the comic's filename will be joyrothy, but it'll have a new title and url

Jeremy AR

We might need to clean it afterwards.

David M Willis

there's a tumblr post opining about how i've been able to edge this for so long, and now i feel sad that i'm ending it coulda been a legend

David M Willis

I'm sure there'll be some hi-res on tumblr tomorrow! and probably on some of my other socials there's a request for such in my tumblr ask inbox already

David M Willis

actually, i've just attached the TIF file to the post above, so that'll also be available

Vivian

Ugh, I just want to live in this moment forever but in 90 minutes something else is going to happen

Megh

Hey ya never know, next strip could just be even more smoochie time

Vivian

A four panel strip of the seasons changing around then while they're just standing there making out for a year

5099 5618 v2.0

Song suggestions for the (now under construction?) Dorothy/Joyce playlist: "Clarity" and "Stay the Night" by Zedd

MrShoggoth

“Heroes” by David Bowie. Nothing else will match this part of the comic, I guarantee you.

Andrea Andrew

🎼Here, Running my hands through her hair Both of us thinking that love never dies Watching her eyes And hoping I’m always there🎼

Leon

I like this.

Amós Batista

Yeah, I was thinking of Dorothy declaring to Joyce, but, since last storyline, I was caught by surprise

Morgan Byrd

Okay it's up, I'm going over to the main site to watch the dumpster fire

Acebender

it's already going strong

Anna D

sadly the attachment isn't actually available for me

Tony Collett

If I had a $5 bill for every Patreon monthly charge I paid this moment back, I'd have two $5 bills. Which isn't a lot of money, granted;`but dammit the moment I've paid for has finally happened. And I'm still subscribing. So there!

Mariah

I have seen at least one comment saying joyce and dorothy deserve to be harmed because of this its going to be a lot.

Fart Captor

Shane you're doing the thing people are teasing you about AS you argue you don't do the thing people tease you about. Your insistence that there is only NOW proof that Joyce is bi is heteronormative to the point of being downright silly, especially coupled with your arguing that it's everyone who saw the very heavy handed evidence before this who are wrong and basing their claims on nothing Joyce has shown attraction to women NUMEROUS times before ever kissing one! And not just Dorothy (though of course most obviously Dorothy)

Harold

OK, as I write this the comment count is at 420! Let's stop the comments right now so as not to ruin--- oh, blast it!

Mariah

RIP No Homo shane 20??-2025

5099 5618 v2.0

For much later: "Line of Sight" and "It's Only", by ODESZA

Suzanne

I’ve been waiting for this for so long and it was so worth it.

Kelly (they-them)

I love that in this scenario, you approach wearing a gas mask and instead of giving Jocelyne another gas mask, you give her 2 books

Harold

@Ignolian Thorne: Just coming back here to say that "calm thy tits Relationship Paladins" may be the funniest phrase anyone's ever posted in this forum

Amós Batista

I knew it: my Magick worked well. Suck that, atheists!

Amós Batista

haha, It would be more funny if Willis ALSO subscribes Jeph

Amós Batista

Why Patreon sucks so much in navigate old comments. I'm looking for her hahah

Amós Batista

Andrea. ANDREA! We won! We finally won!!