Heartwarming / Dumbing of Age

Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

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• At the end of Book One:
  • Dorothy tells Walky she needs to "watch the hell out of some cartoons." So Walky puts some on and that's exactly what they do, no further questions asked. He has no idea what's going on, but he's there for her.
  • When Sarah lies in the bunk with Joyce to keep watch on her as she sleeps off the drug, and confessing that she actually does care about her: Just... Daww.
• Amazi-Girl and Danny. Mario Kart.
• Why doesn't Walky want to date Billie? She's too much of a sister to him.
• The last page of Book Two is also pretty heartwarming.
• Danny talking about why he likes Amber. Even if he is just trying to help cover for her.
• Danny finds out about Amber's Secret Identity- and her asshole father- and doesn't bat an eye.
  Amber: You're still helping me? I kinda lied to you.
  Danny: You're still Amazi-Girl. You take care of the bad guys and I take care of you when you're done. Same as always.
• Sympathy via light physical contact: especially heart-warming in context since it comes soon after back to back Tear-Jerkers.
• This page in its entirety.
• This strip. (Warning: Semi-NSFW)
• Ruth and Billie's one-sided pillow talk
  Ruth: I forgive you for lying to me, by the way... not because I especially want to — I'm still angry — but I feel like forgiveness is something you desperately need right now. And maybe that's the one thing we've always had in common. *Kisses Billie*
• So you're just going to have to guess.
• Guys, she's in love.
  • "I'm not 'in love,' I'm not." Sure you aren't.
• Joyce accepting her friend for who she is, even when doing so is against everything she was taught and believed.
  Becky: Is that still really what you believe, that what I did was a mistake?
  Joyce: (Beat)
  Joyce: No.
  Joyce: H-How could I? Becky, you're my best friend. Pit you against anything else in my life, you will win every time.
  • For additional perspective, earlier in that same storyline Joyce was approached by the even more extreme fundamentalist Mary on whether or not lesbian acts were a sin. Joyce said yes. As an added bonus, Becky was present when she said that. In that moment, both from Becky's and our own perspective, she had a complete 180 on the matter because Becky meant that much to her. Warm fuzzies all around.
  • Joyce has really come a long way:
  Joyce: It's going to be full of partly naked ladies, so, uh, feel free to do some window shopping, I guess.
• Ethan moving to help the clearly terrified Joyce get back home, literally minutes after she ended their "relationship."
  • Joyce giving back his kindness by trying to help him accept what he is, even offering to accompany him to a "Coming Out" support group.
• When Becky finds out about what happened to Joyce at the party, she apologizes for kissing her out of nowhere. But Joyce reassures her that while she's not receptive to any more makeout attempts, she's never felt unsafe around Becky.
  Joyce: But hugs are fine.
  Becky: Hugs are still fine?
  Joyce: They will always be fine. I refuse to let that be a casualty of anything.
• Becky has been trying to make Dina feel comfortable.
• Everything so far of the Becky/Dina relationship is adorable and funny. But one of the comments of the latest strip is in its self a CMOH;
  Commenter: Normally I'd make a comment praising how cute the couple are together and maybe even sqee-ing to make a point, but here, I want to thank you. You've captured one of life's joys. You've not only put on display (perhaps better than you ever have before), not only the joy of being with someone you care about, but the sheer giddiness felt from the first kiss with someone you love. And here's the kicker, it feels simple. There's no alcoholic suicide pact, or "just for fun boyfriend", or even alter egos here, and while I think those are great writing that gives more depth to the characters, they niggle in the back of my mind whenever I see the relationship. Here though, you've created a scene so real that it made me forget about Toenail Dad or the fact that Becky shouldn't even be at the university. You've created the most human moment I've seen in any comic strip, and I want to thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.
• After her first kiss with Becky, Dina falls asleep the way she woke up, thinking about dinosaurs.
  Dina: Lapparentosaurus. Bothriospondylus. Cedarosaurus. Brontosaurus? Becky.
• While Becky and Dina smooching. is adorable on its own, what brings it here is Joyce's reaction: Just two days ago, while accepting of Becky's sexuality, Joyce could barely deal with it. Now, while she turns away to give them privacy, she smiles at her best friend and her girlfriend making out in front of her, just happy that Becky is happy.
  • The strip right after: Joyce brings up that Dina's parents might not be so accepting of her sexuality... reminding Dina to tell them in the first place she has a girlfriend. Their response is to give Dina 200 dollars to take Becky someplace nice.
• After Becky is saved, Dina takes a moment to thank Amber.
• Billie likes to play at being the Alpha Bitch and too cool for the rest of the cast, but asked point-blank if she really wants Joyce to revert the clingy, sunny, dork she'd been complaining about all semester, Billie doesn't hesitate for a second.
• Hank Brown's reaction to seeing Becky again. All of it. It's not perfect, and there will probably still be issues that come up, but considering the nightmare that Becky's actual father turned out to be, it is so good to see that at least one member of Becky's second family still cares about her.
  • Furthermore, Hank voices his own displeasure with Ross, admitting to Joyce that he only spent time with him because of Becky and Bonnie, and was still sorely tempted to hit Ross over some of the stuff he said - to the point of admitting that he fully approved of Joyce knocking him out.
    Joyce: Yeah, well, [Ross] was an asshole.
    Hank: Heh, damn right he was.
• Joyce's father is proving quite reliable for these when it comes to his daughter, as this particular strip is basically an extended So Proud of You statement.
  Hank: ...it took me a while after you'd taken your mother and me to task at the fountain, to realize. You were me. That was me, doing what I thought was right, no quarters given.
• The In-Universe outpouring of support that Becky's been getting - not just from Joyce, but even Joe, Billie, and Sal are committed to trying to help her out.
  • Even outside Joyce's immediate circle of friends, we see other girls on the floor such as Agatha and Mandy working together to keep Becky from being discovered by Ruth.
• Carla, who is transgender and one of only a few characters who grew up with two loving parents, tells of how they made her a toy of her favorite cartoon character from scratch after learning that officially-licensed toys were never made.
• Hank telling Becky her mother would be proud of who she's become (though Becky's response makes it a tearjerker as well).
• In the sort of demented way only Robin can provide, there's what she and Leslie start doing after Leslie finds her sleeping on (not in) her bed. After getting past the severe sexual tension, they sit down to watch Steven Universe. They're even holding hands.
• When the first cracks with Joyce's brother John start showing, and he suggests lunch be "family only" (i.e., leave Becky out), Joyce makes something clear:
  Becky is family. She is my family. If you want to get lunch, you will understand this.
• Sarah wanted to put up Halloween decorations but hates the idea of people knowing she likes Halloween. Joyce agrees to fake outrage at the Halloween decorations so Sarah can pretend she's doing it to get a rise out of Joyce.
  Sarah: But you don't actually have a problem with Halloween.
  Joyce: But nobody else knows that. And it certainly sounds like me, doesn't it?
  Sarah: [has a "Eureka!" Moment]
• Even after Becky has moved out from Leslie's place, they are able to have a bonding moment.
• Faz telling Amber that she gives him hope that he won't turn out like Blaine.
• Amber making a conscious decision to open up and let people into her life, culminating in most of the main cast joining her on Garbage Roof at the end of Year Ten. Even more adorably, everyone's understanding when this proves overwhelming and she needs to slink off to stare at her phone.
• After all of her hard work, Becky's made it into college for real. And Dina is still her girlfriend.
• Even if Billie has ulterior motives for it, it's still kinda sweet that she tries to help Ruth move on from her by setting her up for a date with Daisy.
• Sal comes back to school without her motorcycle after finding out over winter break that she was only allowed to have it on campus because her mother made arrangements with the dean. She is suspicious when Danny suddenly presents her with a new bicycle, out of experience with her mother's brand of emotional manipulation, but accepts it anyway. At the end of the chapter, she returns the favor by giving Danny a new hat.
• Mixed heavily with Tear Jerker, but Amber finally admitting to Mike's hallucination that she misses him and breaking down.
• But maybe not everyone wants adorable.
• When Danny calls Sal his girlfriend for the first time she has a brief moment of doubt because she's never been called that before and she's afraid she's not going to be a good one. Danny reassures her that she doesn't need to be. He just likes to hang out with her.
  Sal:...do ah still get flowers?
  Danny: If you're the kind of person that enjoys getting flowers, then sure.
  Sal: Distressin'ly reportin' that ah am.
• "Joyce? You're my anxiety."
  • Joyce would then put the picture he drew at her bedside.
• Joyce's answer to Joe telling her he just loves how he feels when she smiles at him.
• Ethan smiles for the first time since Mike's death when Booster, realizing that Ethan's hurting because he's the only one mourning the real Mike, while the others are mourning a shallow image of him, asks Ethan to tell them about Mike.
• Joyce and Joe finally having a heart-to-heart about Joe's confession and Joyce's thoughts on it. Even if Joyce had to climb a tree to do it.
  Joe: You're not afraid of me.
  Joyce: You're not a mistake.
• Dina tells Joe he's her friend, in her own sweet way.
  Dina: No longer obligatory [goodbye]. It will be pleasant to see you informally, Joe.
• Joyce telling Dorothy that she loves her for who she is and that nothing can take it away from her. In return Dorothy tells Joyce that she no longer wants to be President, with Joyce again saying that even that doesn't change her love for her.

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