Well, the recommended way to deal with stalkers IS to cut them off completely. No “being civil” or “let’s be friends”–that encourages them to think that, “Well, as long as I don’t do X, I get Y, with maybe a chance of reopening the possibility of Z down the road.”
So, yeah. It IS Danny’s fault she can’t take a hint. A little victim blaming, but in the sense of, “You were ignorant then. Now you know, it’s no longer an excuse.”
To be fair, Danny really could’ve tried harder to express that he was totally uninterested after their first comical showdown, but after that he was always focused on keeping everybody happy and only half-heartedly shoving her aside.
Unrequited love is something I think a lot of guys take advantage of for ego boosts (and I at least have been guilty of myself): if you know someone likes you, even if you don’t like them yourself, it’s great to bask in the feeling that you know somebody out there wants you. And that’s essentially what Ruth’s calling Danny out for. He could have kicked Joyce out of his life long ago if he really wanted her gone, but he subconsciously (or consciously) really just wants the validation that he’s great.
What if he does like her—just not that way. Wanting to be friends rather than wanting to be admired wouldn’t strike me as out of character for Danny.
“One can’t want to be friends with someone who one also thinks is annoying as hell.” you might reply. Though, Danny probably is annoyed by Joe a lot, too, but Joe’s his best friend, anyway.
Am I the only one who’s reminded of that one scene in NGE Episode 9 (Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!), where Hikari blames Shinji for making Asuka cry, when it was clearly Misato’s fault? Or am I just a stupid buttface?
looking back through, there interactions have been relatively friendly for about 3-5 strips, preceded by a long period of strips with no interaction between the two and before the period, Danny straight up hanging up on her as soon as he recognizes her on the phone. I say Ruth’s accusation is shaky, but Danny apparently is actually guilty of this, so *shrug*
Danny saying ‘aw we’re friends” is kinda the giveaway on his complicity. Yeah, he’s to blame.
Blame for her continued hanging around because he keeps extending a chance for her by his bs ‘aw, we’re friends’, routine.
No blame,however, for Joyce being a total dipshit.
Yeah, until Willis start posting Roomies again, I had completely forgotten about how Joyce was in the beginning. I hate Roomies Joyce with a fierce passion but absolutely love, love, love Joyce in Joyce & Walky.
I guess that’s the obvious solution, because there isn’t much he could do about the bad hair. And it’s not like bad hair is a distinguishing feature at this point in the art style evolution, anyway.
Still, I see it but… She’s kinda crazy. I really don’t think she got it till now…
Yeah, because it’s Danny’s fault she can’t take a hint.
Though admittedly, Ruth is right to a degree, he should have done his best to make sure this didn’t get any worse.
Well, the recommended way to deal with stalkers IS to cut them off completely. No “being civil” or “let’s be friends”–that encourages them to think that, “Well, as long as I don’t do X, I get Y, with maybe a chance of reopening the possibility of Z down the road.”
So, yeah. It IS Danny’s fault she can’t take a hint. A little victim blaming, but in the sense of, “You were ignorant then. Now you know, it’s no longer an excuse.”
i think it’s not that it’s his fault that she can’t take a hint. it is, however, his fault that he won’t take a stand and put his foot down.
that all said, ruth is technically doing him a favor via tough love.
To be fair, Danny really could’ve tried harder to express that he was totally uninterested after their first comical showdown, but after that he was always focused on keeping everybody happy and only half-heartedly shoving her aside.
Unrequited love is something I think a lot of guys take advantage of for ego boosts (and I at least have been guilty of myself): if you know someone likes you, even if you don’t like them yourself, it’s great to bask in the feeling that you know somebody out there wants you. And that’s essentially what Ruth’s calling Danny out for. He could have kicked Joyce out of his life long ago if he really wanted her gone, but he subconsciously (or consciously) really just wants the validation that he’s great.
What if he does like her—just not that way. Wanting to be friends rather than wanting to be admired wouldn’t strike me as out of character for Danny.
“One can’t want to be friends with someone who one also thinks is annoying as hell.” you might reply. Though, Danny probably is annoyed by Joe a lot, too, but Joe’s his best friend, anyway.
Am I the only one who’s reminded of that one scene in NGE Episode 9 (Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!), where Hikari blames Shinji for making Asuka cry, when it was clearly Misato’s fault? Or am I just a stupid buttface?
Aw, kernanator, you’re not stupid!
Aw, thank you!
…Wait.
I would’ve just said that the two are not mutually exclusive.
That scene bothers me – Hikari’s friendly to Asuka in general without really seeing her at fault for things where she is at fault.
looking back through, there interactions have been relatively friendly for about 3-5 strips, preceded by a long period of strips with no interaction between the two and before the period, Danny straight up hanging up on her as soon as he recognizes her on the phone. I say Ruth’s accusation is shaky, but Danny apparently is actually guilty of this, so *shrug*
Danny saying ‘aw we’re friends” is kinda the giveaway on his complicity. Yeah, he’s to blame.
Blame for her continued hanging around because he keeps extending a chance for her by his bs ‘aw, we’re friends’, routine.
No blame,however, for Joyce being a total dipshit.
This is reminding me of how much I absolutely hate Joyce in this verse. Which is odd because she’s my favorite in DoA.
Roomies Joyce the worst Joyce.
But thankfully, late It’sWalky!Joyce is neck-and-neck with DoA Joyce for the title of Best Joyce.
ALL THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!
Yeah, until Willis start posting Roomies again, I had completely forgotten about how Joyce was in the beginning. I hate Roomies Joyce with a fierce passion but absolutely love, love, love Joyce in Joyce & Walky.
It’s all Danny’s fault. He shouldn’t have been wearing that hoodie.
Stupid sexy hoodies.
Always flaunting their stuff without giving it up.
I guess that’s the obvious solution, because there isn’t much he could do about the bad hair. And it’s not like bad hair is a distinguishing feature at this point in the art style evolution, anyway.
Pretty amusing to see Danny getting yelled at both here and in the DoA comments for taking completely opposite approaches. Poor guy just can’t win.
wonk wonk
Ruth, you’re wrong, but you’re doing Danny a favor.
…letting Joyce get in the way of you both.
Show a little gratitude, Danny, Ruth finally fixed your Joyce problem!
I’m on the later end here, I actually like Joyce in Roomies.
I think she’s pretty fun in the more recent, retroactively included strips.
Originally posted:
February 15, 1999