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Early update for July 24, 2025 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-07-23 03:55:01
Imported:
2026-06

Content

she has, she definitely absolutely has

Files

Comments

el

their identical expressions in the last panel... They're dreading what we've all been dreading, the Storm of the Beckysaurus...

Andrea Andrew

Wow. Good one, Joyce. Also, the haircut is coming soon.

orange slice

I DIDN’T EVEN THINK OF THIS

Jay

So...Joyce just straight up isn't thinking about how Joe will react? She seems so dismissive of him here

David Webb

As soon as Joyce/Dorothy became a live possibility, I started dreading how Becky would take it D:

Ria

Okay I'm officially becoming the #1 adherent of the church of feeling sorry for walky :((( imagine getting upstaged in terms of your getting cheated on by someone not dating either of the cheaters

Megh

I'm not dreading it, I'm looking forward to it! I am an absolute trash goblin tho

GPanda

Plot twist: everyone already knows don’t they

Kelly (they-them)

Becky surprises them both and says, "OH! Guess who the undisputed best friend is NOW! Friends are forever - in your face like Joyce's fuckin' cooter, Dotty!"

HenryVolt

Damn just damn...as far as Walky is concerned, it really feels like so many people just wants him to become a red pilled super villain over this like they keep saying like Incelerator. Fuck it if you want to go that far why not just pull a killing Joke and have someone strap Walky to a chair and force him to watch a video or a photo of Dorothy and Joyce together like he's James Gordon being tortured by the Joker. Try to convince him that the male loneliness epidemic is real or some dumb shit like that. As for Becky...just Damn.

Vivian

Not a lot of love lost for Joe right now, Joyce, huh

Fart Captor

Oh no these dorks are do the dumbest thing and lie to Becky, aren't they

Rabbit

This.

Jeremy AR

There was a car and Cliff and everything

Noelle Eve Palmer

joyce and joe's relationship has always felt pretty imbalanced to me in terms of who cares most about the relationship (joe's deeply invested to the point of fundamentally changing his direction in life, joyce likes him fine) but it's still frankly hilarious to me how nonchalant she is about telling him lol

C

So, judging by their reaction...Becky is going to take it the absolute best, thereby making them think things are good, then someone else takes it poorly.

Moonrunes

Joyce is reminding me a lot of how she acted with Jacob when she pretended to be his girlfriend. She acts so smug about going behind someone's partners backs and it just... I don't like it. It sucks. Joe being an afterthought sucks. Them caring more about what Becky will say over their actual partners SUCKS.

Fart Captor

?? Joe is literally the first person Joyce expresses concern about?

Dan Rabin

Matching frowns is the latest in couples fashion.

Megh

That's what I'm expecting, or at least a picture of them is rapidly spreading around campus. I'd be genuinely shocked if we found out there was zero pictures or video of them

Jay

"Concern" she don't look too concerned. Maybe it's just me not reading tone in text right but it feels a very "what about him he'll be fine" type of reply to me.

Noelle Eve Palmer

will also freely admit that I feel like a lot of joe's development has been "for" joyce and I hope their relationship shifts in a way that's more beneficial longterm to his growth

Smoochie

Willis naming a future storyline after a lyric from “Anti-Hero” and Joyce kinda nonchalant about all this until Becky is brought up has me feeling like Joyce’s ‘I’m cute and was sheltered’ immunity is going to run out soon.

Grace Serenity

She's known Becky since childhood. She's only known Joe since September.

Logibear

Strange hypothetical here. Maybe Joe and Joyce have already discussed this as a possiblity off screen? Or am I just huffing copium because I don't know how else this can come across well?

William Lewis

Moving forwards, using all my breath Making love to you was never second best I saw the world thrashing all around your face Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace

Harold

Those faces in panel 6! For some reason, they remind me of that scene in 30 ROCK with the HD camera that reveals what everyone "really" looks like, when Kenneth walks in front of it and the monitor shows him as a Muppet.

Moonrunes

The vast majority of this cast has only known each other since September.

Wednesday Sophia

megatwist: everyone decides that dorothy and joyce were basically already at this level already all the time, shrug it offaas normal

Moonrunes

Becky: "Like, alright? I'm not the one dating you goobers."

Smoochie

To be fair—I would be terrified of Becky too if I was them. They can account for the boyfriends with of sadness, frustration, silent treatment. Becky though? She may snap. Heh. Gingersnap. ANYWAY.

Wednesday Sophia

but fr, if Joyce full-on thinks this is a friendthing still, due to Billie's "its not even gay or a big thing to kiss and fuck your female friends a little" bit...............

Moonrunes

Hasn't that just been Dorothy and Joyce's relationship though? I think this actually gets pointed out in the comic recently, Dorothy has influenced Joyce a lot and Joyce almost puts Dorothy up on a altar.

Aviyara

Lot of good Joyce faces lately! We eat well this week!

Noelle Eve Palmer

(this is also why my ideal outcome for this is "disastrous, horrible polycule that lasts for a week before crumbling" especially bc I keep seeing people suggest polyamory as the easy fix in media and I *really* think it does a disservice to how difficult those can be)

Sajuuk-Khar

Dogg Joyce is coming off the incredible high of getting to snap Walky’s heart in half, let her breathe

The Deliberate Myth

It's almost like Willis knew about all these complications and was prepared to deal with them. Let's hope that they handle this as well as we want and as well as they can.

Ragtime

Integrity......regrets.....

Heatth

Joyce cavalier attitude towards Joe, more than anything, convinced me there shouldn't be a polycule route involving him. Joe loves Joyce, he really does, but clearly Joyce just doesn't. Like, she obviously likes him, I doubt she was faking their whole relationship (and they were friends before), but I guess she thought it was a lot more casual? So she is ok with just dropping him, and probably figures he won't mind too much, given his reputation. For Joyce, Joe was a friend she have been having fun dating. For Joe, Joyce is Everything. That is such a strong unbalance I find hard to see it ever working again.

Sajuuk-Khar

This is incorrect?? I know she’s not as dramatic about her concern for Joe as Dotty is for Walky, but like, let her breathe Also you try imagining your greatest platonic enemy’s self-destruction and then snapping right back to sadness, it’s not easy!

The Deliberate Myth

Also... I love the design choice of that huge empty space above them in the last panel. It almost reads as a huge blank word balloon as they process this realization, and have no words for what to do.

Heatth

Yeah. I haven't quite internalized it, but it is true. It is really for the best they break up, though this way is particularly cruel for Joe.

Ria

Becky has shown that when it counts, she can keep her emotions in check and keep the best interests of her loved ones in mind. Walky has shown a remarkable propensity for generational crashing out – also, he's going the fuck through it rn!!!!!! Part of me keeps the flame lit at the hope that walky crashes out so hard he cracks his egg – but tbh all I can see in his immediate future is rage

Sajuuk-Khar

Becky is at the top of the stairs like DIO in Stardust Crusaders all ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ…ゴゴゴゴ…

Heatth

Dorothy pained face when thinking of Walky is a good contrast and showcase. She did actually love her boyfriend, at some point, and on some level still does.

Smoochie

I guess Dorothy and Joyce together means more or a balance than their current relationships—all things considered.

Lia

yesss finally someone acknowledges the REAL cheating

Mariah

Man even I am starting to feel bad for joe and Im not even a joe/joyce shipper

Lia

ive been waiting for this becky betrayal arc since like 2014

Smoochie

Joyce’s existence is Sal’s revenge on Walky for a childhood of being unable to compete with him.

Mariah

I really don't think so what happened at the protest was a declaration of true love and joyce would not be concerned about betraying joe if this was a friend thing.

Morgan Byrd

Oh no, the consequences of my actions [bisexual]

Fredrik A

I knew Joyce didn't like Walky but didn't realize how much she despise him. Taking that much joy in destroying another person feels ugly.

Mariah

maybe before but the crush on dorothies part has evened out they dynamic a lot.

Mohmi

If this Joyce knew there's a whole universe where she married Walky and had kids with him I think she'd burst into flames lmao.

Smoochie

Not necessarily red pilled or linking up with Incelerator—I can’t speak for any other fans of Walky as a character. Personally, I just want him to have a period of change. College changes us all—growth or otherwise. Sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better. We’ve seen changes in Sal, Joyce, Joe, Ethan, Sarah, Dorothy. I guess part of it is curiosity on what and how Walky will change.

NinjaZaku

I'd wager part of her negative feelings for him stems from "he doesn't deserve Dorothy" which, yeah is not healthy, but makes sense giving the current events.

Sajuuk-Khar

This is such a strange absolute to take from such a small detail and I’m just kind of confused by it. Like I think there’s an imbalance in the relationship but it’s also a new??? relationship???? like, this isn’t like Dotty and Walky who were together through most of last semester or even like the trajectory of the friendships they’ve had up to this point, it’s a bit of a mess. To get this absolute about little details is…I dunno. :/

Heatth

I think it is less about "destroying" Walky and more about taking Dorothy from him. And, really, aside from her jealously, she doesn't really dislike him. They bicker but they also hang out rather frequently. They are friends. Joyce is being shitty this strip, don't get be wrong, but I strongly suspect she will feel guilty once she actually sees Walky reacting negatively.

Mariah

Im surprised you came back given the whole cheating thing.

Sajuuk-Khar

I mean, sometimes you just hate people! Joyce just really hates that guy! (I think it’s very funny, sorry)

Mariah

Of the three I do expect becky to go full relationship paladin on them not even just for herself but because of the cheating becky has shown a real value in loyalty.

Noelle Eve Palmer

friggin' love how much joyce just despises walky. frenemy who hates you for real actually

Mariah

I thought it was going to be dorothy singing misery business to joe but turns out its joyce singing it to walky. For the record I don't she hates him but doesn't take him particularly seriously.

Sajuuk-Khar

If Joyce just didn’t give a shit about Joe she would not have agreed that the boyfriends need to be told first, nor named him after Dotty talked about Walky. Dorothy has dumped at least two men in her life, she loves Walky and has admitted that out loud, that is why she seems to care more. Joyce has had a gay beard before Joe, and that is it. This is a molehill.

Mariah

I find it interesting that I think walky thinks dorothy deserves better than him and joyce that joyce isn't even worth considering that dorothy was going to leave them all for some perfect prince. Its more you chose HER over me are you kidding?

Megh

Honestly, have a feeling this could spell the end of Joyce and Becky's friendship or at least they might not be on speaking terms for a week or so On the other hand I'm notoriously bad at predicting what'll happen in this comic so...

Baqly

Thats kind of the why i feel if there is a polycule in the future, i cant imagine joe being on it, but walky can. The dynamic joyce and walky shared often times have been two sides of the same coin, kind of reflecting upon each other in the opposite direction. Now there is a change in their relationship, i imagine if anything walky would be wanting for a polycule to happen just for the fact that he is THERE to compete agaisnt joyce day one. Not neccesarily the best framing of a polycule but i really see it clearly.

Michael Schmidt

Not on speaking terms for a week? That would be like, 2 years our time, right?

Mariah

I think walky fits peoples stereotype of a incel and the fact that he has managed to have so many relationships bothers them. I certainly don't want him to become a supervillian. One woman doing something bad to you does not make all women terrible and I think walky has had enough positive experiences with women to not fall for that way of thinking.

Sajuuk-Khar

????? I’m even more confused by this. The…more successful polycule…would be the one that involves the two who just hate each other on sight and do not have issues they can resolve, they just fucking hate each other’s vibes? And whose attitude is markedly less, y’know, two rivals and more two rabid weasels? I’m biased, I admit, but I have a hard time with it! also I hate anything that puts Walky and Joyce in a relationship that’s even close to sexual or romantic again. Sorry. D:

GundamBradley

She did also basically give her blessing to Joe prior and likes him, so I don't imagine that helps matters.

GundamBradley

Joyce's Walky disdain is cute under other circumstances, but just kinda makes her look like a shithead in this context.

Sajuuk-Khar

This I absolutely am behind. I love the Joyce vs Walky hatred. Mooooore.

Mariah

Becky is still a christian and while she has changed from the strict fundy style christianty she still has certain values like how she wanted to marry dina before having sex. Adultery is a big sin in christianity and becky has already shown a hostility to joyce becoming athiest. I don't think its just like "oh your gay for someone thats not me" and more your becoming a bad person I don't recognize anymore.

Heatth

There is a difference between "not giving a shit" and "not worrying to much". Also, not terribly sure how your second paragraph supports your overall thesis. Dorothy has more experience dumping boyfriends than Joyce, so you would expect she be the one less concerned, but the opposite is the case. And, yeah, the fact she loves Walky is why she seems to care more. Because she does care more. I think this is what most people are reacting to? That Joyce doesn't care as much about Joe?

Noelle Eve Palmer

also, speaking as an ex-fundie bisexual early 20s gal myself, really interested to see if there's going to be a deeper exploration of how joyce feels about expressing her bisexuality! obv if it's skipped over or handwaved with a "joyce dealt with a lot of her issues involving queerness earlier through jocelyne and becky" that's chill, but in my experience it's a HUGE difference to go from "I love and support the queer people around me" to "*I* am the monster I've been warned about from age two"

Megh

@Michael Schmidt: Yeah okay a week would be a pretty long time given the pace of this comic, maybe just a few days. At the very least I feel like this will last longer than when they fought after Becky learned Joyce had become an atheist

meh

hoping for a round of becky popping in from off panel randomly yelling “i was right!” in a nice throw back to “hey everyone im a lesbian!”. excited coffee bender becky is fun.

5099 5618 v2.0

Ah yes. Consequences. Actions do tend to have them. Are they worth it? I still think they'll think so, in the long term. Regardless, here... we.... go.

Amós Batista

Sometimes, I read the last 10 pages, and always got that feeling of awe, again 🥰

5099 5618 v2.0

(Somewhere, someone starts playing "Time in a Bottle")

Amós Batista

Willis's a genius: he found plots for more 10 years

5099 5618 v2.0

I predict failure. Lots of failure. But then, that's what I remember about dating at this age: it was mostly failure, recovering from failure, and trying to make different and better mistakes each time.

Sajuuk-Khar

Why…would the person…who is *way more emotionally invested because it is a long-term and rocky relationship as established prior*…be MORE NONCHALANT…than the person who has been dating her first boyfriend for literally a week??????? what??? I admit that she doesn’t care *as much* about Joe as maybe Dorothy does about Walky but DOROTHY CARES ABOUT WALKY TOO MUCH, and simultaneously does NOT care about their relationship so much as she just doesn’t want to hurt him or push him away again

5099 5618 v2.0

@Logan Mathieson (/ShawshankRedemption .gif ) "Ohhhh, Andy..."

Sajuuk-Khar

Like everyone wants to dogpile on Joyce for not loving Joe enough like Dotty loves Walky, but Walky and Dorothy’s deal isn’t: good?? healthy???

meh

i want to watch joyce battle walky to schedule more dorthy time than he gets. and see dorthy and joe become exhausted friends watching those two morons.

5099 5618 v2.0

@If It Bleeds Yeah, I noticed she had a few similar looks in that 'line as in this one. It... suggests a few issues that may eventually need to be addressed, I agree.

Maude Reads Things

Becky might be upset for a while but this isn't actually about her and she'll realize and get over that. And uh yeah. Walky is 100% going to think Dorothy's been using him for their relationships. While I don't think Dorothy was the first relationship and she didn't MEAN to use him this time, and their relationship still thoroughly owns my ass, it does not look good. Joe....I think he'll be okay and might be able to reconcile with Joyce (maybe even poly) AFTER he has some time and space to lick his wounds.

5099 5618 v2.0

Regardless, next suggestion for the Joyce and Dorothy playlist: "Stupid" by Ashnikko (Mostly for the look Joyce had when thinking about Walky)

Morgan Byrd

I have this feeling that Becky’s going to get over it. She’s grown so much, and she had her own moment of “oh fuck I kissed a girl” god knows how many years ago.

Morgan Byrd

They smooched in a roooundabout

Sajuuk-Khar

Walky was the rock Dorothy clung to, and the clinging hasn’t been good for either of them

Sajuuk-Khar

Mariah: yeah, I think you’re spot on. Becky’s motivation is going to be that while she’s all for forgiving, Sin is Sin.

Morgan Byrd

My first thought was oh fuck that’s it isn’t it. My second thought was naaah Dorothy is smarter than that. My third thought was lol no it’s absolutely that

Calder Johnson

Personally, I think there were a lot of good and mutually supportive aspects to Dorothy/Walky, despite everything - so agree to disagree. Regardless...Yeah, this strip is really not a great look for Joyce. Dorothy -She's working through a cataclysmic level of changes, still worried about other people's feelings, trying to run damage control. These are all reactions that are very in character for her and I empathize with. Absolutely in her corner. Joyce - her first reaction to Dorothy's distress over telling their boyfriends isn't concern for Joe, it's smug glee over destroying Walky. And yeah, that's not exactly anything other than being pretty garbage in the moment. And sure, being garbage can make for a great joke and a lot of highly entertaining drama...but it's still garbage at the end of the day. A lot of other readers have reminded me that we saw shades of this in the situation with Jacob, and it definitely doesn't put Joyce in a good light. It's looking more and more to me that Joe's dodging a bullet on this one.

Calder Johnson

I mean, I definitely feel it can be all three. It can be understandable, make for a funny joke, and also be a really ugly character beat at the same time.

Sajuuk-Khar

Please re-read your statement because you are ignoring the most important part: Dorothy and Walky *were* good and mutually supportive. They *were*. Past tense. They have not been good or mutually supportive since they began having sex again. The restoration of that level of intimacy has been incredibly, obviously bad. The mutual support and the goodness are *g o n e*.

Sajuuk-Khar

That goddamn meme lmao I both love and hate it

Sajuuk-Khar

Like to me, a bunch of people are going “wow Joyce you’re so normal and not catastrophizing about how this is going to go, what’s wrong with you”

Grace Serenity

I don't see how they'll be able to keep it a secret, ESPECIALLY if they tell Walky

Calder Johnson

I feel you. I was a fan of their relationship prior to this...but even really early on in this arc I started to think 'oh, no... Joe needs to find the escape hatch pronto.' And I'm glad that Willis blew everything up rather than treat us to another five years of awkward suffering. Something, something...the heart wants what the heart wants...something, something...it's possible to do everything right and still lose...etc. I hope this is the (painful) start of Joe realizing the changes he's made and are still making are for himself. Ironically, I have a feeling (based on the gym scene) that Sarah of all people may be the one who keeps him from spiraling out. We'll see!

Sajuuk-Khar

Have we considered that Joyce thought things would work out with Jacob, and maybe she thinks things will also work out with Joe? and she isn’t her new and still very much on the verge of a nervous breakdown, PTSD-ridden girlfriend, so she’s not jumping to the worst-case scenario???

Maude Reads Things

Not this go around, that's for sure. I think her relationship with Walky was the last time she was really carefree and happy so she wanted that back but unfortunately for her (AND MORE IMPORTANT ME XD) she didn't find that this time.

GPanda

Yeah. Like their frenemy stuff is funny at times but this just makes her look cruel. Joe kinda coming off as an afterthought doesn’t help either

Sajuuk-Khar

Oh yeah I 100% agree! The first round of Dotty/Walky was very good! And it would’ve been nice if that happened again (I married the person who I started dating again, but in much better circumstances than D/W) but…no. :(

Crunchos cereal

I think Joyce is finally going to learn her actions have consequences and can hurt people, even if they are for love. I would like her to experience happiness, as for everybody else, but she seems to think she can do whatever. See for example the Jacob (not Jason!) thing, which was pretty bad and soured their relationship, apparently for good. Also while I would like these two to be together, Joyce seems to be very horny for the D, too (see Jacob (not Jason!) and Joe, for example), even though she seems to have reservations. I hope she gets that, too. Edited, had written Jason when I mean Jacob.

Calder Johnson

Cool. I'll pass on re-reading my statement since I like, just wrote it and pretty clearly remember what I wrote. The two of them started having sex again, what, a matter of days ago in the middle of Dorothy crashing out over all her many dawning revelations. As opposed to previously having (by college freshman standards) a fairly happy and certainly loving relationship. It is completely sensible that, even if that is definitely not what is happening now, there's still that history there and it contextualizes Dorothy's concern. And look, there is a clear contrast in how these two characters are reacting vis-a-vis their boyfriends. And sure, we can say, oh but they've only been dating a week. But they've been close friends for a lot longer. And it was just yesterday that Joyce was noting how the Paramore song reminded her of Joe, etc, etc. I don't think that Joyce harbors any intentional disregard of Joe, personally I just suspect that we're seeing the most extreme manifestion to date of one of her character traits - that she feels things so damn hard that it blows out all other thoughts than The Feeling (and she's like, Mega-Horny). And that's understandable, but absolutely not healthy for Joe.

GPanda

Do you mean Jacob?

Railway Series Book Club

i assume you mean Jacob and not Jason here, right? i don't think she's ever been horny for Jason's D, lol and tbf, Joyce's big take-away from that whole ordeal was definitely that her actions have consequences beyond the vague suggestion of biblical sin. so it's not like Joyce is unware of this or anything, just that... finally getting to kiss Dorothy was more worth it to her than never ever hurting Joe's feelings. which, y'know, typing out that sentence has made me feel more bad for Joe than any Paladin's argument has ever managed, lol.

Calder Johnson

Imagine cheating on your new boyfriend and your first thought being goblin-levels of glee about how much your new girlfriend's boyfriend is going to get wrekt lol I mean, it's funny, but Joe (for that matter anyone) probably deserves a better relationship than what's displayed with a split second mention between ecstasy over Walky's downfall and existential terror over Becky's reaction.

Bagge

Let's look at the silver lining here - Becky totally gets to tell them 'told you!'

Calder Johnson

For sure! The relationship-policing can get weird, for a fictional story about deranged and horny college freshmen... The kind of bleak and sad tinge this whole arc has been colored with for me is...well, we spent all this time watching Joe and Joyce's relationship develop, watching them both grow, and in the end it comes down to "Sorry, kid. She was always going to leave you for Dorothy. This was doomed from the start." There's no denying that's a very, very real thing that happens, but yeah...makes me feel a bit bleak.

Waifu Purplebutt

Dorothy's disregard of how fucked up what they're doing not only to Walky but especially Joe is unbelievably fucked up. Like, "you're a shitty person"-level fucked up.

Sam G

Yeah. It feels callous. It's especially weird considering that Dorothy's reacting more normally, realising the consequences while Joyce just... doesn't seem to give af? I dunno

Maude Reads Things

I don't think Dorothy IS disregarding how much this is gonna suck. She has anxiety ridden faces this whole strip and is really struggling with telling Walky because she DOES know how much this is going to hurt him. She's more worried about how upset Becky will be than Joe in this instance but I also don't think she truly understands the depths of Joe's feelings for Joyce or how deeply this will hurt him (she's still most familiar with horny creep Joe).

MrShoggoth

Which lyric? I’m not familiar with the song so I’ve missed it

Atari

To be honest, I’m not really concerned about how Walky will handle this. The initial response will be devastating, but the seeds of Dorothy, unintentionally, using and abandoning him have been planted for quite some time now. Even Walky picked up on this immediately after they got back together. Walky still has a lot of growing to do, and he probably needs to be single for awhile so he can reflect on that, so I’m sure in the long run he’ll recover from this having learned a valuable lesson about relationships and self-worth. Joe? This is most likely going to destroy him. I think it’s safe to say that Joe’s past behaviors, his previous inability to be sincere with women and treat them as more than objects, were rooted in the emotional turmoil of watching his dad commit routine adultery. With that in mind, I cannot fathom the amount of pain he’ll feel when he finds out that the only woman he’s ever been vulnerable with, who seems to be his first real love, is actively cheating on him.

GPanda

Don’t you mean Joyce

William Lewis

Speaking as someone who had a couple of college era relationships explode horribly both by my own dammed fault and by each of our faults, I think people give Joe too little credit for the growth he's gone through these past few weeks/months of toon time. Hurt? Yes. Fugging painfully. But it's not going to be the end of his world and he will be a better person for it just as he's already a better person for having admitted his liking of Joyce at the drawing class. This is still not the same as a years long bigamous relationship or the like, these are two people who have finally figured out who they should be (and much of that is very much together) and we're about to crack the eggs for the brunch omelets. I honestly think everyone is going to be better off in the long run for this.

Atari

TL;DR I think Walky is somewhat prepared for the fallout in terms of both his own character motivations and foreshadowed narrative moments. Vice versa, I think the fallout has the potential to set Joe up for any manner of character developments.

Sajuuk-Khar

Willis, I regret to inform you that per main site comments you’re going to need to start a new poll and the categories are “actually we’re not relationship paladins and calling us that makes us really mad” and “infidelity apologists”

William Lewis

Heh, sounds like the arguments I get into on Bluesky with Tankies who think I am not pure enough in my Leftist credentials 🤣

Jesse

Not sure why that would “destroy him”, a lot of straight guys would find it hot.

Sajuuk-Khar

Things I have literally had said to me: “if you’re not trying to justify cheating then obviously whatever overgeneralizing is happening doesn’t apply to you.” Because the people who say “it won’t apply to you you’re one of the Good Ones” are the heroes, right??? “If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear”? Heroic, not ominous! Not a fascist mantra at all!

MrShoggoth

I’m a straight guy and I assure you, finding out my partner was cheating and going to dump me over it would destroy me. Doesn’t matter who it was with.

Jesse

Who said anyone’s getting dumped?

Fart Captor

Yes, which is part of why lying to Becky would be very foolish

Sajuuk-Khar

They’re not in favor of witch hunts, please don’t put words in their mouth, they just think that there’s a lot of witches around here doing Satan’s work and something has got to be done about them

Waifu Purplebutt

@BBCC Fair enough about her thoughts and knowledge on Joe's feelings for Joyce, though I'd think by now she'd know more about it considering his change in behavior that she's no doubt observed @GPanda Joyce seems to be avoiding thoughts right now partially because horny brain and partially because traumatic experience just happened

William Lewis

Yup. Been there, seen that, thrown lots of buckets of water.

Smoochie

“I’m the problem, it’s me”. Now this lyric could certainly relate to a few different characters, but another part of the song makes me think it has to do with Joyce and everyone’s opinion changing of her. “Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby And I'm a monster on the hill Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city Pierced through the heart, but never killed.”

The Deliberate Myth

Maybe I am giving Joyce too much credit here. I don't think her look is supposed to be anything more than a playful throwaway joke for Dorothy. Bad timing? Sure. But i hardly think it deserves more than that. And I definitely don't think Walky has ANY bearing on why she wanted this to happen. She would have fallen for Dotty regardless.

meh

shit. as much as i want to see the poly turned dumpster fire turned fuckpile tuned flaming landfill. as these fool make all the bad poly choices for our amusement. dorthy crushing walky at this stage provides an opportunity for walky to go full emo. and i'd buy that magnet.

Seth Aaron Hershman has they/she pronouns

walky has undergone insane amounts of growth. his relationship with sal has changed radically, he's much better at dealing with the emotions of his friends and loved ones, he's become capable of acknowledging his own flaws. honestly i don't think the walky we saw at the beginning of the comic would've been capable of investing enough in a relationship for this to bother him. he couldn't even admit her liked girls, let alone acknowledge his own need for companionship

etherealDesign

sly evil joyce and her c:< face is the absolute best i love her. she really has wanted this even before she knew what she wanted or why.

Matt McKenzie

Calling it now: someone videoed their epic kiss and posted it online and now they’re going viral. Everyone already knows.

etherealDesign

gotta agree - i like joe a lot as a character, but within the last week of toon time he was immediately receptive to the one and only advance anyone made on him, which was sarah fake-coming onto him to prove a point. he's obviously headed in the right direction but doesnt feel to me like hes there yet. that doesnt make it okay to simply Cheat On Him First by any means, but i do think their relationship was doomed no matter what bc of the combo of joe's sexuality / the fact that joyce obviously doesnt love him like she loves dorothy. better to end it now.

William Lewis

I do think the most important thing is that Joyce really does need to fully understand that how ever much she likes Joe - and she obviously does - she really is in Love with Dorothy and yes, getting it straight (heh) now is best. Now what the Author thinks is best ... THAT remains to be seen! 😈

etherealDesign

showing callous disregard for others' feelings / not thinking things through at first before some later reckoning is a pretty consistent character trait. this is on brand, as is how horrible she'll feel about it later

Siberian Rabbit

Looking at how blasé Joyce was thinking about Joe and how she panicked instantly when Becky was brought up I'm starting to really buy into my own conspiracy theory that he already knows, also considering that he was the one that started that convo with Dorothy, the cut to black when he and Joyce tried having sex so we didn't see any pillow talk, and the fact that he's brother with the evil mastermind behind the currently transpiring mayhem.

Siberian Rabbit

This might just be wishful thinking and/or giving too much credit to Amber, but Joyce has been a bit off lately.

Uniquitous

My hope is that he's strong enough not to lose all the progress he's made, but the temptation to fall back into old habits will be hard. I think that having had something substantive (hard to say "real" when it ends in cheating) he won't want to go back to empty flings. * the above re: Joe, hopefully obviously. Walky... well, could give it another go with Amber?

Harold

I can't help finding it hilariously ironic that I spent time yesterday clarifying my speculations about how Dorothy might approach Joe (her new girlfriend's current boyfriend) from a place of earnest concern rather than mean-spirited gloating, and now here's Joyce openly fantasizing about approaching *her* new girlfriend's current boyfriend *squarely* from a place of mean-spirited gloating. I mean, I admit I laughed at panels 3-4. They're funny, and very much on-brand for the current iteration of Joyce and Walky (TM). And as much as anyone else here, I'd rather laugh with the sickos than cry with the saints. But, Joyce. This is Not A Good Look for you right now. Please, please get this shit out of your system before you actually *see* Walky.

Jasmijn Wellner

Let's be real, Walky knows Dotty would dump him for Joyce in a heartbeat

zee

Joyce seems very unconcerned about Joe and it is fascinating. I'm not calling her cold or anything, it's making me wonder if they discussed it off screen last night or this morning. That'd honestly be a very funny twist after the whole morality war in the comments, and pretty believable for those two imo. And a funny twist of the knife for dot, re what Danny said to her earlier

zee

Joyce is so built around radical empathy that i dont think she could remember Joes existence here and not freak out unless she somehow knew it wouldn't hurt him

Wednesday Sophia

predictions: 1) they lie to becky, before learning everyone saw their kiss on social media. Becky is hurt more by the lie than the kiss 2) re:bfs, Joyce proposes polycule. Walky, already feeling weird abt his place with Dorothy says no fuck off (amber: 👀) Joe hides his hurt as being "hypocritical" and says yes. Dorothy agrees also, but her friction with Joe remains 3) Joyce & Dorothy become to the public the faces of the protest (and further fuck it up) 4) Leslie loses her mind. The Dean loses his mind. Booster loses their mind. Joyce and Dorothy's parents all lose their m

Corronchilejano

My prediction: their kiss made its way online and everyone already knows.

MrShoggoth

I really hope you’re right

zee

Yeah I'm convinced they already had this conversation and she basically got blanket permission or something like that. I can't buy Joyce being callous toward Joe and his feelings, especially considering a couple days ago she thought masturbating was cheating. Her behavior all day is giving "I've been given permission to do what I want and I'm gonna take full advantage of that"

Ilana Feldman

I enjoy Joyce being petty towards Walky and recognize that her bubbling-under-the-surface distress about Joe is pretty visible in a few pages, but I do wish it was even more obvious. Like, we have very front-and-center reactions to her regarding Becky and Walky, but all her distress about Joe that I'm picking up is, relatively speaking, in the background. Unless I'm misreading the situation with those two. Anyway, feels like this page is indicating that Becky is only going to be upset about the cheating, not the lesbianism.

zee

Ehhh, raidah was a bad guy in her eyes and she basically saw herself and Jacob as romcom protagonists. You could say the same here if you want to but I don't think she sees herself and Dorothy as Sinbad and Sinbad's best friend's wife idr her name. And she learned a lot from that situation. It's different enough that I wouldn't compare

zee

Oh she's gonna get crucified tomorrow

zee

Do people seriously still think like this or did a troll actually fork over five bucks?

Railway Series Book Club

i feel like the two having had an actual talk about this off-panel would be kinda deflating and kinda feel like Joyce is yanking Dorothy's chain a little by not leading with that? my thought is that Joyce remembers Joe's previous playing into The Bit back when it was just a Bit, and with that in mind she's hopeful that asking forgiveness from him over this will be easy.

zee

Hasn't this whole comic been Joyce learning actions (and associated beliefs) have consequences?

zee

Welp. I know how I'm gonna be wasting time at work today

Railway Series Book Club

(also unrelated but i typed the words "Joyce is yanking Dorothy's chain" and had evil thoughts. somebody needs to write fanfic where joyce collars dorothy like right now)

Railway Series Book Club

yeah the main site is gonna go full Paladin Rage against Joyce when this runs, better avoid that comment section like the plague

Harold

@Ilana Feldman: I think Becky's going to be upset about the cheating, but as many have speculated, she's also going to be upset about the idea that "Joyce is bi after all - just not for *me* ." Yes, Becky's in a committed and loving relationship now, but this is still going to sting mightily, especially given the way she's been freaking out over fluidity lately.

Seth Aaron Hershman has they/she pronouns

Hi! Rather than venting your spleens at each other, why not vent your spleens at this survey I made to find out how people feel about all this cheating stuff https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1d3Yrix8mWrfJOvaVB0KQ5Sm3r3QVtOp3-lufbm_KMHE EDIT: i didn't put questions about the palestine stuff on there because i just do not care to hear from people who think it was a good idea. that opinion isn't interesting to me and i don't want a pile of answers from folks who think it was okay. the cheating stuff, y'know, i don't really have any skin in the game. it's for funsies. i don't feel very funsies about the palestine stuff. i say this because i got a pile of answers about how bad the palestine stuff was and i'm like. i'm there with you! you don't gotta yell at me about it! so y'know please stop doing that thank you

Ilana Feldman

I have seen that theory and am not convinced. I think that based on how she handles Joyce/Dorothy in previous appearances, she already figured that out.

Mariah

I vote for purity police relationship paladins was too nice for them tbh. I have no issue with being called a "infidelity apologist" though sicko does not exactly imply any moral purity anyway. other names I thought of Heroes of the Hayes Code Self Rightous hypocrites Cultural Calvenists Purity Culture Club The Worst of Tumblr I will add to this if I think of any more.

Mariah

"its very easy not to cheat" why are you mad Im punching you in the face you asked for it.

Railway Series Book Club

link's broken, spleen's gonna hafta go unvented (edit: yippee! spleen vented)

zee

Ha. That's fair but I can just see Joyce not thinking to bring it up, too caught up in the moment. I just think it'd be weird for Joyce to freak out over Becky but not Joe, when she was talking just that morning about his cheating parent trauma. Unless, she knew he was okay with it

Ilana Feldman

Try again @QueenOfSodor, I refreshed and it was fixed

zee

Ooooh i cannot wait to see the data on this. Oh are you gonna do a comparison of the results form the Patreon vs the main site? Bc id be mad curious to see that. I love this idea

Harold

Willis is nothing if not a master of misdirection, though - there were multiple strips prior to "The Faith-Off" that could have been interpreted as "Becky's already figured out that Joyce is an atheist now, and is just actively messing with her," and that turned out to be definitively *not* the case.

Railway Series Book Club

I think it makes sense for Joyce to have that reaction re: Becky and not re: Joe, she's probably had "okay what the fuck do i say to joe" radiating in the background of her mind all afternoon, and hadn't actually yet considered "oh yeah, becky's whole unrequited-pining-for-me thing, that might generate some friction"

The Deliberate Myth

Oh, agreed. I'm well aware that what I think about the situation has little connection to what will actually happen.

zee

Yeah that's a fair reading too

Jay

I literally dont read any of her expressions as legitimate worry about Joe

Sajuuk-Khar

I am chaining myself to the mast like Odysseus ISTG, like, I cannot interact tonight with that shit

Sajuuk-Khar

Also yeah as much as I am all about Joyce’s venomous rabid weasel hate for Walky I do admit like, my schadenfreude reserves would run out quick if she actually followed through on this lmao

Seth Aaron Hershman has they/she pronouns

unfortunately i didn't give myself a way to tabulate that! i think what i'm gonna do is let this be, like, a draft, and launch the "real" version with critiques accounted for tomorrow EDIT: on second thought i don't wanna make anyone fill this out twice and i think the data i've bene getting is fine

Shane Wegner

“Maybe I’d be madder if hanging out with Dina wasn’t so awesome.”

tifani

I think the person who’s going to handle this the worst is going to be Walky. Dorothy has been playing some weird games with him lately. Look at it from his perspective: While he was with Lucy Dorothy pursued him pretty aggressively. Now after they’ve been back together for less than a week she cheats on him with Joyce.

Shane Wegner

Observations/Thoughts- 1- Joyce has been having a lot of new life experiences and self realizations at a high speed lately. 2- Joyce has not yet mastered the art of factoring in a supposedly significant other into her choices before making them. 2b- This skill is a necessary prerequisite for participating in ethical monogamy or polygamy. 3- I can dimly envision a saintly Joe response being something like “I wish you had considered our relationship and communicated with me beforehand, but I also understand why, in the heat of the moment, you forgot to. Where do we want to go from here?” 4- Depending on how Joe takes it, Joyce’s hasty actions may have dried up her source of Quality Wall Smooshings. Trade offs.

Harold

@Queen of Sodor: You know what else might generate some friction? [evil thoughts]

Megh

Hope you're planning on posting this to the next strip or two so people have plenty of opportunities to fill it out. Looking forward to the results!

Logibear

They've both been going to great lengths to show growth through strong communication with each other since the timeskip, like I can't think of any situation between the two of them where they miscommunicated or hid anything from each other. I too am huffing the copium!

zee

@logan Stick that shit straight in my veins

Brian Danger Hicks

I suspect they're both underestimating how much this is going to hurt Joe just because their knowledge of how he was is clouding their view of how he's changed. But with Becky they had explicitly reassured her that this exact thing wasn't happening and was never going to happen.

Rob McBobson

My spleen has been duly vented! I look forward to seeing the results. (Eh, how will you be sharing them? You will be sharing them, right, ole pal?)

tifani

I think Joyce is just not fully thinking about Joe right at this moment because she’s still in that post hook up daze. The second she actually sees him is when the reality of what she’s done is going to hit.

tifani

I think Joyce cannot let herself fully think about Joe in this moment. But the second she has to see him and tell him and she can visibly see that she has hurt him that’s when she will react.

Grace Serenity

Dorothy may not be as heavy as Joe, but I bet she can smoosh Joyce against the wall nearly as well!

Kyle

Just once, I'd like to feel how Joyce looks in panel 4.

Maybeeus

No more running away to Bulmeria... Or running off to join a paramilitary organization for that matter either.

Ph

When did they tell Becky that?

Maybeeus

I've come to the realization that like 90% of my posts are just walkyverse references and i think this bit's run it's course. Honestly i've run out of material, i could predict the future plot but everyone's kinda covered their bases. At this point i'm just kindly holding my hands together with a smile knowing that these two are without a doubt heading upstairs to consummate their marriage and probably make things even messier doing so.

Kelly (they-them)

And he only got with Lucy romantically at Dorothy's suggestion in the first place

Shane Wegner

I estimate it would feel bonier. The Diet Coke of wall smooshings!

least_rectangles

I hate this I hate that I hate this I should be happy that two girls who clearly love each other are hooking up, but the blase reaction from Dorothy and the borderline sociopathic glee from Joyce makes this arc feel like a nightmare I was hoping that they'd end up in a polycule, but now even that ending is tainted. Those only work out if you treat your partners and metamours with respect, if not kindness. I see none of that here. And don't anyone give me the "hurr it's not calling smarting of age silly" YEAH AND ITS NOT CALLED PHINEAS-GAGE-TIER-PERSONALITY-SHIFT-OF-AGE EITHER, SHUT UP

GPanda

Exactly and like walky and joe are part of their friend group so they are also cheating on their FRIENDS. And characters in this strip have been treated harsher for less. The way this storyline plays out is definitely going to make or break the comic for me because the only way this storyline works is if Joyce and Dorothy aren’t let off the hook and Willis is prepared to put them through the ringer

least_rectangles

I don't wanna quit this comic fam, i have my gripes with Willis as a writer but at least they have a work ethic and deliver me entertainment for a pittance

least_rectangles

Like if I want to watch 2 messy white lesbians be absolute trash to everyone around them, I'll just pick up oitnb again

etherealDesign

In what way is dorothy's reaction blase? She's already upset at the idea of breaking up with walky and knows she's in the wrong. In what way is joyce's response sociopathic? She's a deeply repressed girl and walky has spent 15 years/several months shitting on her feelings for dorothy at every opportunity. Taking a second to be amused by the turnaround isn't the same as not ultimately caring that she's done the wrong thing and hurt people. It's pretty core to her character that she'll act on impulse and people will get offended/hurt by her actions before she realizes what she's done and tries to make it right, so don't you think that's the same thing that's happening here? More to the point, she was raised in a culture that basically doesnt believe a weak small woman could ever really hurt a big powerful man like joe (and to a much lesser degree, walky) and it definitely has not sunk in yet just how far-reaching the consequences of her actions are. Knee-jerk reactions often aren't the same as who people really are, and that's certainly been the case for joyce from the start of the comic until now.

least_rectangles

I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated. I've more often than not been the one picking up the pieces after impulse control failures like these two chucklefucks and this whole storyline that I've been invested in seems wasted now. It's fucking Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones all over again.

tifani

Yeah I don’t think so. Them wanting to be together but also not wanting to have to dump their boyfriends is going to be their next joint realization.