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Los Angeles Times @latimes.com ⋅ 3h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 5d
#powershipping
quelana @quelanaisgay.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
Brian Steinberg @bristei.bsky.social ⋅ 5h
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mccloud
Barb O. Saur 
⚧️
it’s gonna be JUST like that if my folks drag me back to church (that I introduced them to because I wanted to spend one more night sleeping over with my church-going best friend every time we had a sleepover so it’s really my own undoing)
((and I’d actually know like… 25% of the folks? MAYBE??? ’cause OLD PEOPLE?????))
*hugs*
I’m having flashbacks to my last leave block already
Wow Marcus, way to be a fuckboy
Desperate? Who’s desperate?? I’m not desperate, you’re desperate!
Screw you, Marcus !
calling someone who can’t be more than 13, at the oldest a fuckboy just seems so very very very wrong.
Calling anyone a fuckboy is very wrong in general.
Unless he’s some nazi homophobe piece of shit. In that case “fuckboy” is like a promotion.
Eh, he’s young. Usually at that age they’re just at the ignorant and grasping at whatever looks more “adult” according to the adults in their life stage* rather than the seasoned homophobe savvy to the ways of the secret homosexualist ninjas infiltrating our bedsheets.
*So basically, might yell the f-slur out a window but won’t know what it means.
The word “fuckboy” is actually kind of homophobic in and of itself.
Wait, what? I’m pretty sure that women are also capable of considering younger men disposable fucktoys. In fact that was the first thing I imagined upon reading the term.
Equal opportunity assholery, y’all!
See, and here I was just now wondering “fuckboy, eh? I wonder if that’s more like a version of cupid whose arrows incite only eros, or a satyromaniacal catamite?” Where your mind goes when reading material that’s open to interpretation is only limited by your imagination. And possibly, your vocabulary.
“Satyromaniacal”—I LOVE it. Sort of a satyriasis plus nymphomania rendering an equal-opportunity name for hypersexuality. Now I know what to call a really lascivious genderqueer individual.
For the record – and since I can’t reply to comments further down from my spot in this thread directly – “satyromania” is a legit term derived from Greek origins, yadda yadda, and is the male counterpart to nymphomania (which, iirc, historically is applied only to *women* existing symptoms of “unusually” frequent if not chronic and perhaps uninhibited sexual desires). By the by, “satyromania” is likely a fair application of the Greek root, satyr – as, if memory serves, satyrs were effectively sex-crazed dong-wielding hedonists who would probably bang anything with more than one leg.
Considering where this slur originates, we’ll have to disagree on that.
Huh, I’m actually curious about the origins. I know it had its origins in hip hop slang, but I’m pretty ignorant beyond that.
If I remember correctly, it also has roots in prison culture, i.e. being used to describe the inmates not strong enough to defend themselves from being raped.
http://jezebel.com/the-definition-of-fuckboy-is-not-what-bad-trend-pieces-1725157828
Damn if that article isn’t pretentious, FallingIvy. Words can, do, and should absolutely take on new meanings if those new meanings are being used by vast communities of people. A word, once used by a person, is not owned by that person.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t aware of the word’s Etymology, and that there can be issues of cultural appropriation, but the fact that the vaguely-defined “Fuckboy” was picked up by people outside of the Hip-Hop community and given a more specific meaning is hardly the act of whitewashing that the Jezebel article makes it out to be.
Wow, can’t get more original than the ‘let’s not make it about race’ response. It’s a word the black community came up with and got picked up and misused and now demonized by people outside the community but it’s not whitewashing. Ok
Except that the black community appropriated it from the gay community, initially in a very homophobic way, which kind of makes this whole “white people appropriated it” argument dramatically fall apart. So your outrage is a bit misplaced here Kayla. I’ve heard that the word “shade” similarly originated in the gay community, was picked up (or “appropriated”) by the black community, and now has some within said community claiming it’s theirs without understanding (or, perhaps, simply acknowledging) its true origins.
Y’all. Both fuckboy and shade originated in Black and Latinx queer communities. Stop assuming all queer people are white.
Kayla how can you acknowledge that a word was taken from the black community and demonized by white people making up lies but then say its not whitewashing……And Marianne…..huh???? Most gay culture sayings were taken from black women, and the ones that WERE originated in the gay community were by….you guessed it, black/latinx folk! The word shade dates back decades, its not new, and neither is fuckboy. White people gave it an entirely new definition. Fuckboy is the relatively more polite way of saying fuck(n word) and was used to describe a no good, bummy type of guy. Now people use it anytime they see a boy wearing a snapback and nike slides or some shit. Or a guy whos extremely and grossly misogynist. The words lost all spite! I laugh and cringe when I hear it now, its hardly a good insult anymore because it was flanderized by white people on the internet.
Jezebels wrong.
It was a term of endearment, or not so much, by Gay men.
especially in Daddy relationships. Very Similar to fuckbuddy also from gay men. See also, Fuckboi
It could imply intense affection in mostly physical poly relationship
( or dom-slave ). Or disrespect depending on context.
BUt its a compound of two common English words. Anything who thinks it must have a solo origin or meaning, is heavily deluded about the English.
Now Its widely used used on Tinder by heavily promiscuous Heterosexuals to other slutty heterosexuals, to mean “Man that i do not like” . YMMV. ( my use of the word slutty isnt pejorarive )
( esp TO Kayla below )
The ridiculous hand-wringing that its a black only term because it was popularized in a rap song , is only so much much whiteguilt. I think straight white liberals ought to focus on police violence, or terrorism and incitment against LGBT people , instead of playing slang-police. I probably first heard fuckboy before you were born. YMMV
Fuckboy has been used for literal decades so how old are you. And, again, there are gay folk of color……so……like
See my comment above but in the black community (where it has been used for those literal decades) it meant a guy who aint shit, a scrub. Everyone can keep claiming when and where the word was first used but we sure as hell know it wasnt in a prison. The words been bastardized by (straight) white people to mean,as you said, “guy you just dont like”. I dont deny that it had a different meaning in the gay community, but lbr here if we’re talking about origin.
Also known as a buster.
Calling people names is typically regarded as wrong. That’s never stopped us before.
I’m pretty confused by people arguing over/caring over the etymology of such a meaningless- and generally negative- word, as above.
Who cares who did what with it? It’s a poorly considered, crudely constructed, negatively-spirited word that doesn’t convey a unique meaning, and thus is worthless to use in the first place.
I mean, not like hip hop needs more abusive-minded, empty insults to spam their lyrics with.
ergo, I assert the word is created by, and continues to be propagated by intellectually limited individuals. As such, no re-appropriation took place, since it’s still used by the same core community :’P
yikes…..so anyway
a love interest for roz little sister, and by love interest I mean fellow cereal enthusiast.
You mean a fellow pancereal.
Lol, my first time hearing that word was toward a certain dude in a KH 2.8 demo video
That might not even be Marcus, that could be someones kid
Are we sure Marcus isn’t the offspring of Danny? I’m sensing Wilcox genes.
(My comment was totally gonna be “Fuckin’ Marcus, man”, but the alt text had to ruin it.)
Probably just the same barber.
Lack of haircare diversity can ruin the style of an entire community, you know.
He’s eerily reminding me of a tiny Ryan.
You’re not the only one.
Thankfully Joyce is not the kind of person who lets herself be stomped forever.
In many ways she is one of the strongest characters in DoA.
I’m pretty sure Carla could eat her for lunch and then skate away backwards with two fingers upraised.
Given that he appears to be around 10, that would mean Danny had him when he was 8. Let’s not go there.
You can’t tell now, but danny was all about the Thug Life as a kid.
We hate Marcus….already!
Damn right. Stick a fork in a power outlet, Marcus.
So Joyce just said “Screw you.”
To a child.
In a church.
I am not seeing good things coming in the next comic.
I’m hoping for over the top cursing, like the “bullshit” scene in The Return of Captain Invincible.
Well they’re in the right place for the gospel choir for the following song “We Need a Hero.”
The zigzaggy tail of the speech bubble indicates she was mumbling, so probably not.
Joyce may have been mumbling, but Becky was almost certainly not. Bad things are likely coming indeed.
The looks she and Becky seemed to be getting in the first panel aren’t comforting, either.
Alternate (to silence) dialogue for those two:
“Oh my gosh, it’s Princess Peach!”
“Really!? …Hey, do you think she likes all moustachioed men, or…?”
historical Jesus shows up, it gets weird but, in an awesome way.
Yesterday Willis shared a comic strip of Jesus and a personified Science about to get into a fight.
After seeing that, I’d had the idea that in the Walkyverse, Galasso made a clone of Science–made up of equal parts Madame Curie, Lise Meitner, Jane Goodall, Ada Lovelace and Sally Ride.
Wait. I though Dana was personified Science.
I mean. In my church the kids teased each other. The youth pastor teased everyone, especially the kids. “Screw you” might at least raise some eyebrows, especially depending on tone and context and how close insulter and insultee were, and it would maybe result in a private scolding, but no one would just explode.
And “no one cares about you, Marcus”? Shit, we said stuff like that to each other all the time. Teasing is often part of being a family.
I’m not saying that there aren’t churches where Joyce and Becky would get in trouble for something like this, but my church was still pretty conservative, but mostly laid-back. I feel like people here are pretty quick to say “Oh no, this is going to be a problem” when it could just as easily not be. There’s a lot we don’t know about Joyce’s church.
Sure just ignore the people that have been gone for like a month now Marcus.
You know how Joyce just dismissed a lot of the people as old? Guess who fits into that category for Marcus?
Marcus apologists are the worst!!!
They need to check their Marcus privilege.
Yup, Joyce just learned a lesson about growing up today.
Don’t?
Don’t grow up? Or don’t grow old? We need less Peter/Pan syndrome and more silliness and humour. I’m sick and tired of being told that I’m sick and tired.
was the older guy in the first panel checking out becky? or is that just me seeing things?
Probably not used to seeing interesting hair.
That or everyone had heard about the little incident with Toedad.
Maybe it was a double take because he’s never seen her in a dress before.
He’s a writer for Vogue. Red hair with a pink dress?
Plausible theory is plausible.
The guy with the mustache? He’s either checking her out or shocked by her haircut. Probably both.
You’re all wrong. He’s clearly appreciating her arm freckles.
I’m gonna think that he was eyeing Joyce.
You mean the girl whose father was a member of the church before she “got” him sent to prison? I think he’s eyeballing her, but not necessarily in an attracted way.
Oh dear. I just realized exactly how intense this arc is about to get…
The sermon is going to be about Becky, isn’t it?
It’s been heading that way for awhile, but it could be a fake – out to pave the way for something more subtle and horrific.
If it is, I gleefully anticipate Becky barely restraining Joyce from physically assaulting a man of the cloth, and then reminding the congregation that Jesus wasn’t a huge fan of people who throw stones. Even fathers.
Constant stares are not uncommon for the out queer, especially those who are not “straight-passing”. It’s probably “what is that hair” at best and “what is she doing here” or “is that who I think it is” at worse. I’m saving worst for a patented Willis Surprise.
He might be wondering if she’ll corrupt him with her ‘lesbian wiles’.
Or, “that’s the ungrateful daughter who landed Ross in jail because she likes to sin with other women in ways that I’ve never explored on the internet, nope, nope, nope”.
They were just… doing research… so they can better spot a homosexualist in the wild and condemn her. Yeah, that’s the stuff.
It’s the perfect plan!
In the wild? But something something “no other animal” something something “reproduction”! Unless you meant the wild mess of godlessness that passes for universities and major cities nowadays? That MUST be it! We need a strong family values candidate! De Santo 20**!
Of course it means in human cultures, since obviously only human cultures have homosexuals. No amount of photoshopped supposed nature videos could possibly indicate otherwise. Not even supposedly ancient cellulose movies from before video editing was that sophisticated. Because obviously it was, or they weren’t that ancient. Do I need sarcasm tags, or does everyone realize that all the preceding statements were clearly sarcastic?
I am imagining that “Homosexualist” is an Anthropologist studying
Non-conforming sexualities— Going to dive bars and cruising areas, hiding in the bushes with binoculars and a notebook.
Eat a dick Marcus.
Marcus you are unimpressive and everyone hates you.
Sorry, Joyce, that’s the pastor’s job!
on the one hand it was inevitable but on the other hand why
Those 2 guys in the first panel seem surprised to see Joyce and Becky. They probably know about the”little incident” involving Ross.
How old is Marcus?
he looks like hes 8 or 9
In reality he’s 52 and his daughter is expecting her first child.
he does have sideburns….
Sideburns never lie. 52 he is.
I’d say about 10-12.
Old enough to be told he’s fucking up.
Of course Joyce’s church is a Larger Church.
Surely not every kid in the homeschooling group went to college?
In my brief experience with religious homeschooling communities (cousins who lived far away from us, so my exposure was limited), the ability to produce college grads was pretty prized. It adds legitimacy to be able to say “I homeschooled my children because it’s better for their education, not because I want to tighten my hold over their minds and keep them from meeting people who might disagree.”
Plus, for suburban white middle class religious homeschooling types… or at least in the particular area I grew up, it was also about a type of classist and racist superiority. About showing that your kids were more educated and thus more worthy than the “filthy” rural kids or the “inner city youth” (euphemism intended by them).
It was also expected by this same crowd that the student would spend their entire education fighting to the death against anyone who actually tried to educate them, because the important thing was the certificate for the status, not to actually grow as a person and forget their duty to their race (again, pretty specific to the flavor of awful I grew up with).
I can neither confirm nor deny a racist component. Like I said, I wasn’t really around it, plus I tend to be oblivious to most of the more subtle racism, but I sure wouldn’t rule it out.
I think they all went to BYU, so resistance wasn’t that necessary.
Oh, the racist component is (probably) just unique to the particular flavor of awful I grew up with. I think the status component and the class thing is a bit more prevalent overall.
Interesting fact, homeschooling is sharply rising in Black communities in the US because of the euro-centric and often flat out racist public school curriculum.
Makes sense. I mean, homeschooling’s public face tends to be the awful religious flavor of it, but it’s also been a popular means of providing non-shitty education (for those whose families can support it) for marginalized kids.
I know a few homeschooling circles up my way that are heavy on gender non-conforming and queer kids because they were getting bullied in public schools.
My transgendered son is homeschooled for that reason.
…that doesn’t necessarily sound better than the religious guys though.
I mean, the US and most nations in the American continents _were_ founded by European powers, and there is some value in learning your own history. Furthermore, a lot of history is invariably going to be European-centric because Europe was sort of a big deal from the 1700th century onwards, and no place of the world could really ignore its influence. If you are avoiding European-centric history for the sake of not being European centric, you’re invariably going to lose a big part of the picture.
There’s a huge distance between “euro-centric and often flat out racist public school curriculum” and “avoiding European-centric history”.
Cool. Not being a US citizen, I can’t say I have experienced its school curriculum first hand. Genuinely racist public school curriculum does sounds like something that wouldn’t fly too well in black areas though.
Don’t US schools have some sort of procedure for firing obviously racist teachers?
Sure. It’s handled by the racist administration and racist school board.
You see the problem.
It’s generally not that blatant. In the curriculum, it’s a matter of emphasis and omission. Slanting things rather than outright racist jargon.
Outside the curriculum, it’s things like discipling minority kids more harshly.
Yeah, there’s a bit of a difference between including important bits of European history that directly affected America and solely focusing on European history in a way that presumes that the sole people of merit of inclusion were white and actively demonizing people outside of that.
Like, my history classes when growing up straight up didn’t cover any form of Asian history, outside of mentioning that Alexander stretched his empire into India. They didn’t mention middle Eastern history beyond a footnote that they were the “bad guys” of the Crusades and “the Crusades weren’t as bad as everyone says” with no additional context and a brief mention of the Persians as the “bad guys” of the wars with Greece and to set up a Greece gets revenge narrative when they covered Alexander.
There was no African history beyond the Egyptians and the Egyptians were heavily whitewashed and presented as “practically European” whose pyramids “pointed towards Heaven” (this pissed me off as a kid, because I was a dumb shit who was blind to the gross amounts of whitewashing that was occurring, but I was a major mythology buff and so that sneaky little bit of bullshit just set me off). And were treated as more the intro story to the Greeks. Colonialism got a brief mention, but was mostly left blank and when it came time to talk about the horrors of the Triangle trade and the Slave trade, it was blamed on West African tribes selling themselves with this weird erasure of the actions of white Europeans.
The only pre-colonial Americas talk was a single set of classes about how awesome friends the “Indians” at Plymouth were to the Pilgrims and then stuff happened and we don’t need to think too much about it. And a section on how savage and evil the Aztecs and Incans were (they were treated as essentially part of a unified whole and as the representatives of all Native populations if they were allowed to govern themselves, thus, proving the inherent need for white European populations to “civilize” them) and treated the marauding Conquistadors as essentially heroes fighting back against “the savage races”.
And that’s just the racist shit in my World History classes. U.S. History managed to be even worse in places. It took a lot of self-study after high school reading up on all the history that got erased for me (I still don’t feel it’s strong enough and so keep on seeking well-researched non-racist stuff out when I can) and a lot of my fellow classmates didn’t even bother.
It’s more common in nonreligious homeschooling. Also what do mean by “college”?
I don’t know? What do you mean by “college?”
Sorry, I had thought that response was to me. Now it appears I was mistaken.
But what about “collage“?
Believe it or not, but collages are actually a sore subject for me.
ditto.
Religious education institution that gives out degrees that are only accept within that particular religions sphere of influence but are only treated as decretive wall hangers by the rest of society. Think along the lines of Bob Jones University.
I think Rosie was speaking in general terms then. Any post high/homeschool learning center. Though it does seem like most of them went the religious college route.
I’m sure this can vary wildly by educational institution and place of employment, but there are a multitude of religious post-secondary educational institutions that are accredited by their respective regional accrediting bodies (such as WASC), the same bodies that provide the highest level of accreditation for schools such as the University of California and Cal State system, Stanford, Pepperdine, etc.
Additionally, the “worth” of a given degree, and even whether or not its particular form of accreditation is important, also varies by employer and field. While it’s nearly impossible to get into many professional fields such as nursing, law, medicine (doctor-ing), and in many respects, teaching, without regionally-accredited degrees (or at least “the right” national accreditation), I’ve personally known people with completely unaccredited Bible college degrees, who were able to use their degrees to get jobs with the military, aerospace, or government – jobs that required, essentially, “any degree,” simply because the bureaucracy mandated anyone employed at that level have a degree.
As a teacher and guidance counselor (whose unaccredited, Bible college degree-bearing friends went on to make two or three times as much in their government jobs), I try to educate my high school students (and their parents) on the issues of accreditation, cautioning them strongly against entirely unaccredited schools, and encouraging them to research carefully any non-regionally-accredited school. Sometimes the right national accreditation is all you need to go into your field of choice, but never trust the college itself to be completely honest with you about how widely-accepted their program is. Anything less than regional accreditation will have SOME limitations, in one form or another.
I think anything simpler than that is gross generalization at best, and elitism at (probably not quite) worst.
For what it’s worth (in case I utterly misinterpreted the context of this thread), I’ve also known quite a few homeschool grads who attended various UC schools here in California. California has excellent pathways for students with non-traditional educations to be eligible to apply to the various state schools in particular, and many of the private ones as well. CA seems to be fairly homeschool friendly in general, although I don’t know the reasons why.
he couldnt hear!
Willis, you forgot to tag Slenderman’s cameo in the last panel.
How nice that he goes to Joyce’s church! I’m glad he’s getting out and participating in his community.
Little do they know Marcus joined the military only to suffer a tragic accident during basic that rendered him both blind in his left eye and deaf.
Or possibly it was an accident involving recreating something seen on Youtube.
he watched too much L.A. beast
Probably that one. The ratio of irresponsible firearm use channels to responsible firearm use channels is depressing.
is the ratio worse than 10 to 1?
its more around 7 to 3.
so around 50/50
I can’t help but notice that the Church-goers in the first panel are staring like they’ve seen the ghost of Christmas past. I imagine they know what happened to Becky. The question is are they going to be sympathetic like Joyce and her dad, or are they merely shocked that lesbians don’t burst into flame inside a Church? Hoping for the former, fearing the latter, expecting a mix (just like Joyce’s family). Joyce may be in for a shock that sometimes even a Church community doesn’t always agree and can even get caught up in drama (I know my old Church was, before we joined a Quaker meeting).
Yeah, I’m expecting a mix. Maybe some quiet queer voices given her a subtle thumbs up out of sight or a few publicly willing to offer a hug, but many more just reacting with a slight hostility or coldness and a few going the full Carol on her.
I’m holding out a long-shot hope for a surreptitious “i’m proud of you” in the bathroom from a fellow young queer christian girl.
I’m wondering just how long Carol’s had to prime the grapevine. She had hours while Joyce was driving up from Bloomington, and then almost the entirety of Saturday unsupervised…
But since this is Willis, the local Mary-analog will be listening from one of the stalls.
Actually, their church switched to Mary-digital a few years ago. Better Mary-quality.
I think the simple majority’s reaction will be along the lines of “live and let live” regarding Becky being a lesbian.
I think the simple majority’s reaction will be along the lines of “I’ve got no opinion, I’ve got no dog in this fight, I’m not here, I don’t want to say anything all, please Lord just let this go away without me having to open my mouth.”
Of course, that’s why no one will notice them and register that they’re the majority. And after a bit they’ll start resenting Becky slightly for being the “cause” of that awkwardness.
That does seem a likely majority opinion. I worry a lot about the small loud minority as that’s the group most likely to ruin Joyce and Becky’s day.
They are later ripped apart by rabid wild dogs in a freak prayer accident.
“And if I speak falsely, may the lord strike me down with light-”
The last words of a pastor in the middle of the sermon, before being struck by lighting while still inside. He survived, but was stricken with amnesia.
“The coroner’s verdict of heart failure did not fully account for the charred condition of his remains.”
That sounds like the most realistic outcome. But a Willis story can have more twists than a pretzel factory run by M. Night Shyamalan.
I can’t help but notice Joyce and Becky’s body language in the first panel. Both hands knotted into fists, elbows bent, hunched over. They are scared but up for a fight. Both full of adrenaline. Fight or flight.
This doesn’t end well.
Oh, man, that first panel. Like, I don’t know if Becky’s got the same hypervigilance PTSD effect that I’ve got, but those constant stares are some of the things that make my back tense up like nothing else. And always ensure that a place feels unwelcome as Hell.
And in my experience, at least, the lookey-loos can turn on ya if you’re not careful. So far those faces look more surprised than angry, but I wouldn’t doubt there’s at least one or two of the faces she’ll be bumpin’ into today will share let’s just say Carol’s sympathies for the moral activities of Toedad.
And it’s also one of the more exhausting things about being publicly out. Because anyone of the rubberneckers can be the one to shout something or try some petty shit.
And given that we’re not even through the second pair of doors and Becky’s already got the Stepford rictus grin mask out and is upping the wacky, I imagine her internal dialogue is just constant unending terrified screaming and racing second-thoughts about the decision to tag along.
Who the fuck is Marcus? Ah, it don’t matter, he seems like a little shit…
anyone named marcus is never to be trusted! for example, avengers #200
My father’s name is Marcus. >:(
oh, damn, oops
It’s all right.
well that just prove his point!
Look, I didn’t want to do it (okay I did) but when you leave yourself open like that you simply give me no choice.
Why did I say “his point” magicallady is clearly a girl!
Her name is magical LADY!
its okay!
im a translady
Older example. Rome. 44 B.C. Ides of March. Theater being used as the temporary seat of government while the Senate House is being rebuilt.
Et tu, Marcus?
Eh, his full name was Marcus Junius Brutus, Romans just generally called people by their clan or family name, since they only had 14-18 first names.
Out, out, damned Marcus!
Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor.
Who decided to make his son Commodus emperor instead of doing what the rest of the Five Good Emperors had done and adopted someone else as an heir. And we all know how that turned out.
I can’t wait to see how many people here actually will hate Marcus, despite the fact that he is clearly a child.
*Hides secret plans to destroy Marcus*
No. That would be wrong. No one would ever do that. *pushes single plan that is still in view back behind my table with my foot*
*nervously sweats while whistling nonchalantly*
Those are all way to complicated.
And they don’t punish those directly responsible, ie. his parents, in the place where it really matters to them, ie. the wallet.
New plan! Let’s send the little brat to IU.
You monster!
Local resident Cerberus was arrested today after her brutal homicide of 11-year old Marcus.
And now A brief statement from one of the last people to see Marcus alive
Joyce: this is just such a massive tragedy!
And I would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!
If ever there was a time for Dumbing of Triangle…
Maybe you just don’t understand. He IGNORED Joyce! She’s the main character and heart of this webcomic. Everyone loves Joyce even with her flaws and formerly narrow view of the world! Even Sal likes Joyce. Too cool for school Sal with her, criminal background, motorcycle, cigarettes, and premarital hanky panky, one of the last people you’d expect to tolerate a niave fundy. And Marcus. Flash in the pan, one panel Marcus thinks he can ignore her. Being a child doesn’t mean he’s not old enough to be a jerk!
Exactly. Joyce is perfect and can do no wrong. Everyone must love her, for they do. Why, even windows bow down to her importance.
Yes!
Clearly, Marcus must be in next month’s bonus strip.
I reserve judgement until he opens his mouth.
technically he has, marcus’ teeth are showing
I figure “fuckin’ marcus” can be the new “dammit malaya.”
(…assuming the hate for Malaya is just a joke / callback to how unlikeable she was in A Certain Other Comic?)
“Dammit Malaya” is more to do with Sal’s reaction to Malaya, and the fact that those words were uttered- if I recall correctly twice in the same strip!
She’s not done anything to endear herself to the readers though. She’s been pretty unlikeable so far, being antagonistic to Sal (who definitely encouraged that behaviour) and Lucy (who was just friendly). In fact the only person she’s been other than unfriendly towards is Marcie- and she’s hardly affectionate or nice to her, just not negative.
yeah, that.
Well my supposition is that most of the “hate” is sarcastic, since most likely he’s a kid ignoring people who fall into the category adult, like kids do, and i think most people see that. I think Willis’ hover text really primed people to go overboard though
At the end of reading this, I said “Fuckin’ Marcus”. Then I hovered the cursor over the comic, and the alt-text popped up.
Is this the beginning of my psychic awakening?
Sorry odds are against that.
Fuckin’ sceptics. Always wading in, ruining perfectly good magical thinking with their “logic” and “rationalism” like the killjoys they are. Even fuckin’ Marcus wouldn’t do that!
Joyce, Becky…Marcus died last month.
So that kid was a ghost? A clone? Another kid named Marcus?
I was thinking ghost
Both.
In the church my family used to visit, one of the priests went away, lost his faith and came back dressed in a mauve suit with a high collar. It was the late sixties and things were groovy elsewhere.
He sat there in his suit, looking around, whilst the rest of us prayed or did whatever.
I suspect I began to lose whatever faith I had – which wasn’t much as I was too interested in the music – at the same time.
that’s not supposed to be there …
Literally or metaphoricly?
But he doesn’t know it either. Despite the fact that he’s been chatting with a Bruce Willis with hair look-a-like.
Moustache Dude looks like he could be Joseph Farrah, the right wing creep behind World Net Daily.
My name is Marcus. D: I feel personally attacked. Damn you Willis.
Be nice to the old people Joyce, we could use it.
Also, this is where Joyce learns the painful lesson that to the youth group, she’s no longer the “cool older sister” type but rather just another “old”.
SCREW YOU TEN YEAR OLD MARCUS
The worst part is that in two years Marcus is going to be uncomfortably hot-looking, except for his premature attempts to grow facial hair.
In two years, it’ll be what, October?
October 1875. The time discrepancy will have grown to the point the comic’s timeline is going backwards, at which point we’ll be seeing the previous incarnation of Marcus, a hot old-timey Saloon owner with an awesome hat.
And suspenders! Very spiffy suspenders.
all those who like marcus, say yay, all those who dont, nay
>neighs<
*moo*
you played the game wrong, go away
I don’t…I don’t get this strip.
You know how in horror movies how they linger over the fodder characters having small petty moments while slowly building up the background music?
I thought that was nature shows.
Right. But there’s really nothing going on here. Not even a funny joke at the end.
(No, I don’t find a spontaneous “Screw you, Marcus” funny.)
Fair point.
Expressing massive amounts of hatred for a small child for doing something as irrelevantly minor as ignoring the main characters is an easy way to derive humour.
#whatisthisthingyoucallfun
how long before marcus shows up as a scrappy on the tv tropes page?
I think we need at least two more comics with him being shoved down our throats for that classification.
As the recipient/subject of numerous vituperative comment posts/phone calls/letters-to-the-editor, I’ve always found the use of the phrase “shoved down our throats,” when used to describe an opinion/concept/message that could be easily avoided by not “consuming” the medium in which said o/c/m is presented, to be highly amusing.
I’ll leave this here: The Scrappy
While he did get tagged (so there will be subsequent appearances), I can’t imagine him doing enough to become that reviled.
DAMMIT EVERYONE! STOP HATING ON MARCUS!
It’s not cool to bully a kid like that, especially if it’s just because he has a hearing disorder.
…
He’s an 8-12 yr old boy running somewhere, of COURSE he has a hearing disorder.
Would all the kids in Joyce’s homeschool group had been her and Becky’s grade level? I’m surprised there aren’t any 17 or 16 year olds she’s semi-close that would be around
A kid ignored the main characters while running around…KILL HIM
There needs to be the new storyline “Running with Marcus,” where we see the world through his point of view.
Feel bad for those that suffer from moving sickness.
My name is Marcus. A man running from his past. Never able to stop, never sleeping in the same place twice.
If I ever stop, they will find me.
So he’s Jason’s Borne’s kid?
As long as that doesn’t make him the American version of James Bond, Jr.
(never mind the fact that JBJ was an American cartoon)
Nor was he a direct descendant of Fleming’s Bond.
…fuck it, I’m through with trying to remember that atrocity.
And was a nephew. I think I only ever saw it for the gadgets. Which may of been the same reason I watched the Pierce Brosnan ones.
You’re dead to us, Marcus!
Also, I detect a look of distaste from the guy in the first panel, that bodes ill.
Marcus could be autistic.
He could also be a kid.
Existing as a child… the one trespass I cannot forgive…
But yeah, seriously, for all the kidding around everyone is doing, the reality is that he’s just a kid and Joyce and Becky are nervous and maybe only now realizing that this is their firstish sermon not hanging out with the cool youth pastor and the rest of the kids but fully being with the olds and main pastor.
And that none of their old support network of friends is here to get their back.
I agree. I also tend to twitch on knee jerked classifications of Autism and OCD. Apologies if that was not your intent, Mkvenner.
You know, first I thought about doing a comment referencing the alt-text. Then I thought about doing one based off of the M.Bison quote that’s filtered out. Then I debated on doing one wonder what the sign said in the first panel. Now, I’m just not seeing a Stepfordy smile going on there.
I’m pretty sure the sign says “Sunday Services 8:00 10:30”
Mr/Mrs Buffalo, how to put this, I think you, like most people, may miss the hidden joke in probably half my comments.
I’m a bit curious if anyone besides Joyce’s family and a choice few on campus actually know the full story. They probably heard the news that Ross was the shooter and was arrested, but it may not have been reported why he did it. They may be keeping that out of the news. If no one knows yet, then people at the church may just be surprised by Becky’s haircut. Unless Ross blabbed about Becky’s “transgressions” at her old campus, and insisted he needed to lead her on the right path again. Hopefully some of them will be glad to see Becky, and say that what he did was wrong. No “but he cared and that’s what matters.” Just that he was wrong. Period.
That’s…an interesting point. The comment section has been acting like Ross’s motives were know to all there, but I don’t remember it being stated anywhere it was known to them. Perhaps it was implied, or I could have just forgotten it. Facts can blur over time.
I feel like Carol let slip that the motivation was known to a wider group…
Ah yes, here:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/sweetie/
Which suggests that if the reasons didn’t make the news, they did at least make the church gossip circle.
I’d say it was a safe bet that Ross let everyone in his church in on the whole “Becky ran away because she has been infected with the demonic gay” story. After all, Carol was calling around looking for Becky too and she knew his motivation for the kidnapping, whether it was on the news or not.
Though at that point she did kinda think he went too far. Assuming if Carol knows the motives, then the Pastor knows as well. Themed sermon on the event seems likely, in general, not even in fictional world terms.
And since when did not knowing all the facts, or even any of the facts, ever stop a gossip circle?
Now I am imagining people who have a grossly distorted version from the rumor mill, which says that Becky had been kidnapped against her will by them. Her dad tried to rescue her but was thwarted by their schemes and lies.
And now Joyce has rescued her! A heroine!
Yay! Now we can start the recovery. To make sure that Becky wasn’t affected by any of them lesbians’ wiles, we need a tribute. Lock ’em in a closet and set the timer.
That was the day Joyce realized…she was an NPC in a Japanese RPG.
“I like swords!”
“Welcome to Corneria!”
I like shorts! They’re comfy and easy to wear!
“It is dangerous to go alone. Take this.”
The Wizard lives inside! The Wizard knows many secrets!
But aren’t we all?
Fuck that shit.
…and I just got an idea for a new game.
Yea Becky, Marcus probably doesnt care about both of you much either.
Mainly cause he is (or at least, seems to be) a kid and a million things are competing for his attention right now.
Screw you Joyce! I have a dollar, and they have donuts!
Huh, the few times someone managed to get me to church the donuts were free.
My church, they were given for a small donation. Like a quarter or so.
Then that’s not even a donation at that point. Just a business transaction.
…One I’d probably participate in cuz donuts for a quarter, yo.
Donuts for a quarter are no competition for free gay pizza..
To be fair nothing could compete with free gay pizza. That is just setting the bar way too high for anyone to live up to.
What about free gay pizza (and subs)?
Wait, if Marcus is so much younger than Joyce and Becky, how do they know him at all?
Its entirely possible that Joyce and Becky babysat him at some point.
It’s pretty standard for teens/young adults to know a lot of kids in a church, especially someone like Joyce who has probably volunteered in this kids’ ministry and/or babysat regularly (judging by the fact she’s studying education).
Tomorrow, Marcus comes back and apologizes for blowing Joyce off — but his excuse was that “I heard there was gonna be a lesbian at services today and I wanted to make sure I saw it!”
“But I must have got there too late…”
“… ‘cos all I saw was Becky’s awesome new haircut!”
“The lesbian exhibit is my favorite one at the zoo! Lesbians are way cooler than tigers. Did you know that it’s the FEMALE lesbians who do all the hunting, while the male-
Oh shoot, that’s LIONS. Golly, is MY face red. What’s a lesbian?”
PLEASE can this not end in the entire church all praying for Becky to be “cured”
If it does, it’ll end with Joyce becoming truly Christlike…. in that she’ll overturn tables and beat people until they get out of the church.
Joyce is the good-aligned Barbarian, after all.
Love that reference. The man was raised a carpenter, you think he’d have more respect for things like that. Now that they’d be broke, people would have to go buy new ones. Wait a second…
It’ll end with Becky and Joyce fleeing the building and Hank looking for them. Maybe after something overt, maybe after Carol stages a public intervention, maybe just after the stares and whispers get to be too much. Thanks Carol for ruining the place that Joyce (but not Becky) thought was the safest place on earth. Joyce will not be understanding about this.
Maybe Becky should have gotten a dye job on the previous day…
Pink hair with a pink dress?
I like it!
If she had, Carol would have made her wear a bonnet.
I believe grey is currently a fashionable colour. They could’ve gone as twins
Old folks, ‘mIright, Marcus? Forgetting the joy of running like maniacs in the church. You do you, Marcus, don’t listen to them.
Totes! Sorry Joyce, but now you’re the olds sitting on the sidelines shaking your head sadly at the “kids today”.
Having a kid can do that to you as well.
“I’m gonna carve a swastika into your forehead so everyone will know you were a NAZI during the war, Marcus!”
Not even 300 comments and we’ve already reached the GLEH?
Becky enjoys tossing that word around.
Right, forgot about that. I guess that cmic reached it before a single comment went up. That’s gotta be some kind of record.
Meh, it’s nothing personal, Joyce. You’re an older person who is neither offering a treat or angry with him; that makes you irrelevant! This is especially the case if he’s seen a friend.If he , then his priopriority is to get over to play with them now!
So, yeah, congratulations, Joyce and Becky! You’re now perceived as adults and therefore are permanently excluded from your former younger peers’ circle!
It’s actually nice to see them have a problem that is NOT caused by parental awefulness.
I know! It’s a strong contrast to all the life and death “grow up fast” stuff they’ve had to deal with. But also a reminder that though they’ve gone through a lot, they are still 18 year olds slowly coming to terms with the fact that they are adults.
Replace “older person” with “human” and that’s about the mindset of my cat.
I love the contrast between their facial expressions in Panel 3:
Becky’s like “Yep, this is part of my normal life now and I have made peace with it.
Whereas Joyce is still only realizing the full extent of the hypocrisy of the people she grew up with, whom she probably still remembers as once considering “the most moral and Christ-like people in the world”.
We’re about to see another Break the Cutie moment for Joyce soon. Again.
At this point my vision for the entirety of DoA is just a boot stomping on the cutie forever.
Yes exactly what I was thinking.
break the cutie
I have no idea why Joyce is not listed in that trope yet!
She is, but from her appearances in Roomies! and It’s Walky!
It’s just a kid too busy running somewhere to be polite with people twice his age.
tell that to joyce!
That’s the joke.
I’ve been back to church before. Not atypical. Sure, if Marcus was just standing there, he’d probably say at least hey or whatever. (If you were close, might even give you a hug.) But he was running. He’s got something else entirely on his mind and isn’t going to stop.
Though I do wonder if we’re going to get a bunch of these, building up to the point that no one will talk to them. Start innocuous like this one, and build.
I’m guessing you’re probably right: it’ll build up to the point that no one will talk to them. Then Joyce gets her mind broken when Tristan shows up… and refuses to talk to her.
Though my experience was that when the God Squad decided to stop talking to me that was when things got fun. I enjoyed the hell out of making fun of their pathetic attempts to shun me. I doubt Joyce will see it that way, though.
I can’t wait until the sermon starts and the preacher starts blurting out awful nonsense about gays and atheists.
“Screw you, church” next.
I don’t have the patience to lookthrough all the comments, but has anybody made a joke about Marcus loaing a hand in the future? Also his smile? Perhaps even a switch from white clothes to black? (Seriosly, look at that hair! Who kidnapped young Mark Hamill into the DoA universe, and which reality is missing it’s Joker?)
P.S. Could you bring me a copy of Star Wars from his original timeline? I’ve always wondered if I just hate Luke Skywalker, or if maybe Mark Hamill is only really good at evil/wasn’t good at all then.
*look through
*losing a hand
I also apparently don’t have the patience required to not need an edit button today.
Just getting old, man. Gets to us all.
That’s a small part of it, but it was mostly that I’d been awake for nearly 24 hours with only like four hours of sleep before that.
Joyce and Becky may be trying to ignore the looks they are getting, but they are clenching their fists. Even wacky Marcus can’t relieve the tension. This is so not going to end well.
I think I can see where this is going and it is not going to be pretty.
I’m willing to give Marcus a pass for now, because he’s a kid, and half the kids out there today can’t see something standing right in front of them if it’s not what they’re bee-lining for.
The adults in the first panel, on the other hand…fuck you. Take a picture, it’ll last longer. D:
Is it really wrong of me I’d like to think the church would actually include at least SOME PEOPLE and not a small minority either who would be angry to the point of shouting at pointing a gun at a young woman on a campus?
Oh God, I really hope Joyce’s minister isn’t the father of her attacker.
That was a horrifying thought. Though I believe if that’s the case, she’d of already known him. Perhaps they have a guest Minister.
Maybe they’ve gotten a new minister in the past couple weeks?
You know, theres no proof that Tristan doesn’t have a brother…
Plot Twist: Joyce & Becky were with the Ghost of Christmas Future the whole time and nobody could see them.
The adults seem to be either shocked or outraged that Becky showed up.
I’m genuinely stunned. I’ve met some fundamentalist curches in my time and even belonged to one but you’d think SOME would be concerned about a school shooting.
Does Marcus look a little like the almost-rapist guy to anyone else?
YES. I’m glad someone else noticed D:
Not until mentioned it.