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David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 17h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 2d
Alex Maw @xjmaw.bsky.social ⋅ 6m
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“STOP BEING PREDICTABLY WHOLESOME”
It’s too late! The sentiment is out there!
Predictable wholesomeness is predictable. You probably should’a seen it coming.
(Still adorable, though.)
She did, but it was already too late .
“… so I should be randomly and unexpectedly wholesome instead?”
Yeaaaahhhh, talking about that must be tricky.
But all the adorable sister bonding is too cute <3
Indeed it is. If only Sarah wasn’t such a tsundere.
Accurate picture
Tricky, exhausting, and it sounds like Sarah doesn’t have a great relationship with either of them. I’m worried even Hank – who I trust will generally handle this well – is going to have at least one moment where Joyce feels the need to soothe his worries at least a little, because this is such an alarmingly weird, terrible situation any reasonable parent (and quite a few unreasonable ones, I’m sure) would freak out a bit even when they’re trying to be supportive to the person who needs it and freak out with the less affected. Now, given Hank, I’m pretty sure he’d realize that and flip it back to her because her feelings are more important than his on the matter… But I’m not sure I could say the same thing about, oh I dunno, Linda, and the Clintons are complete unknowns. Even without that, it guarantees having an awkward conversation twice.
(Stacy and the Warners are a slightly different matter, since they’re pretty much all in the direct circle of impact – Stacy a bit less than Amber or the Warners, but still, HOLY FUCK HER EX KIDNAPPED THEIR DAUGHTER AND HER BEST FRIEND, AFTER PUTTING THE OTHER BEST FRIEND IN A COMA. Hits a bit differently than ‘that guy I tolerated for my daughter and her best friend’s sake died after trying to kidnap them again.’ The Siegals’ reaction is probably also some variation on ‘sweet fuck, we knew he was bad but this is a new level’ but their kid isn’t in a coma and thankfully, neither of them has ever had sex with Blaine O’Malley!)
(… That we know of, but like, to our knowledge Blaine is straight and Naomi is WAY too headstrong for him to target.)
Not disagreeing with you on any point, but I’d like to point out that Christians who want to force religion on others kidnapping a Jewish child might strike a bit of a nerve, depending on how much Naomi and Saul pay attention to and identify with the history of Christian persecution of Jews.
Obviously a forced conversion of an actual Jewish child wasn’t Ross’s actual goal when he grabbed Ethan, but it’s still the sort of thing which might (or might not) resonate with the Siegals.
There might also be a bit of resonance in a different direction, since Naomi at least has been less than supportive about Ethan being gay. Maybe she’ll see just a little of herself in Ross and be repulsed by that.
Probably not.
Even odds, She decides it’s all Ethan’s fault for being out of the closet. Cause why else would a group of reactionary conservatives target him and his friends?
It’s also not Ethan’s first experience being taken by an armed stranger, which … I’m not sure how that would affect his parents reaction, but it probably will. Reasonably, it should make them more solicitous of his feelings, but, well… I don’t know what to expect.
They eventually got over it in the Walkyverse, maybe there’s hope for them here too.
They’ve probably met Blaine before, so I think they’ll end up blaming him rather than Ross or Ethan. If Carol’s church decides to make trouble, though, I could see them bringing that up. Loudly.
damn you found familial bonds!!
She just told you not to say it.
“I asked you not to tell me that.”
“…WHILE I was telling you that!”
hahahahahahathesishiphassailed
long live the siship
It’s beautiful
yes, b.c it is the only ship that is both functional and matters
*Starship Joece orbits by overhead*
Priorities.
I mean, Sarah got to hit people with a bat yesterday, that makes up for a lot of things.
It’s like, even if I sleep badly and have a rough day at work, if there’s sushi for dinner then that day is a B+ regardless.
Hitting people with a bat is Sarah’s sushi.
What if Sarah doesn’t like sushi?
Then she can hit it with a bat.
Or would she enjoy hitting it that much more?
She can toss them at the person. and hit them and the sushi with one homerun swing.
Sisters!
Something tells me it’s not gonna be a wave for Joyce. Like it might be one small wave of comfort and then a shark jumps out the water and asks if Becky being gay was worth her father dying.
I have a feeling it will be super close to those exact words…. it might also end up with a divorce since the father isnt nearly as bad as her mother is.
Oh man. I can’t decide what’s better/worse* — Carol judging Becky sideways in conversation with Joyce or doing it to Becky’s face in EARSHOT of Joyce
OH OH OH — maybe Joyce is comforted by her family, realizes that Becky doesn’t have that anymore, asks her parents if she can come visit with them as well, and Carol drops something about this “all being her fault anyway”.
(*better and worse are interchangeable, because lbr, none of us would be reading this comic if we weren’t fully on board with being made sad.)
The sad part is the whole scheme really had nothing to do with Becky ultimately. She was actually just bait. So any point Carol could try to make toward that would be objectively false.
Sort of. Ross was all about kidnapping Becky.
To Becky’s face would be worse. Joyce would be horrified that her mother thought that, but saying it to Becky would infuriate her. Becky must be protected.
I think Joyce has figured out quite well that at least half her family is not safe for Becky.
Joyce might injure her hand again if that happens.
or rip into Carol with a “No, you God. Damned. FUCKING harridan.The kidnapping was all about another girl. Becky was tertiary to O’Malley’s plot. A piece of bait he used to gather Mister MacIntyre as a pawn. Mister MacIntyre was killed when he was no longer convenient. His blood is on YOUR hands because YOU bailed him out. YOU allowed him to be there.”
If she says all that, Sal will let her ride the motorcycle.
If she says all that, Sal will teach her how to drive her own motorcycle and possibly loan Joyce hers for the driving test.
Even half, of the family she’s in contact with. (Slightly more if we count John’s wife but she’s offscreen.) Jocelyne helped Becky break into her home and get necessary documentation, while Hank helped her with (IIRC) setting up a bank account and was otherwise helpful getting them back on campus and supportive of Becky.
Jordan’s the tiebreaker and continues to be a complete unknown. Maybe he does drag. Or sex work. Maybe he’s gay. (I suspect not trans because we have no indication Jocelyne’s in contact there, though that’s not evidence in itself.) Maybe he converted to Roman Catholicism, or Mormonism. Hell, maybe he converted to Islam or Judaism. (Or Messianic Judaism, which is really just Christians appropriating but the Browns aren’t gonna see it that way.) Maybe he’s a diehard furry. All of these are equally likely possibilities, and since we don’t know anything about Jordan, we have no idea how supportive he’ll be if and when he finds out about the Becky situation.
I suspect Jordan might be the “internet pornlord” section of self-insert.
Joyce was already unmasked as the Dindong bandit.
You cant take it from her
now, now, there’s conceptual space for both of them.
Jordan can be the Internet Pornlord, and Joyce can be the Hardcopy Pornlord. And then they can collaborate when Jordan handles the online distribution of the spicy Julia Grey books, and Joyce does the dead-tree anthologies of Jordan’s works.
NSFL- Not safe for Lesbian
This is without counting that while they (or the mom at least) hate on Becky being gay, they have a transgender person (Jocelyn) right in their own family. Which to a lot of these die hard religious types is even worse than a gay kid.
Homophobe shark du-du-dududu!
He said he had no problem dying for Becky, …so yeah, fait accompli.
Its reallly all going to end up with Joyce punching her mom
*resists the urge to play “We Are Family”…*
It’s not everyday you get to get kidnapped by an actual masked supervillain
Damn these familial bonds I’ve developed for this admittedly annoying but sweet girl.
Now how are Sarah/Joyce going to react when they find out Carol helped get Toe-dead out on bail?
Don’t they already know that?
I don’t think so? Maybe? I was under the impression she knew her church got him out, but didn’t know if Carol was involved.
I think Joyce suspected it after Carol called her on Hank’s phone.
Went back and looked. they know https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/approved-2/
Though it would be easy to forget since the biggest drama in that strip for me personally was Joyce’s toenail
Ah, well that clears that up. Thanks for finding that.
Also, my mispelling of Toe-dad is on point, if unintentionally so.
Holy crap, that felt like forever ago, but that was, what, yesterday or the day before in comic time?
I see that Sarah doesn’t want to be related to Carol.
Wait does that mean Sarah simply doesn’t want to talk to her parents or doesn’t want to talk to them about the event?
Yes.
To be fair, I don’t see being kidnapped by a masked murderer happening a lot to most college students.
My experience mostly revolved around all-nighters and being pressured to do pot while watching the Office.
I wish people would have offered me pot during college.
I’m kinda disappointed that I was never offered pot when I was in college.
There was some growing outside the cave of our instructor, the year he taught flint-knapping.
This was me to a T in…September 2016?
Though it wouldn’t have helped that I was also drunk when the guy pressured me.
the only people who ever put actual pressure on me to smoke weed* or drink were ‘adults,’ ie, my parents’ generation.
(*no one ever tried to push cigarettes on me, ever)
I got offered pot in college, but they never pressured me when I declined. Of course that might be partly due to the fact they couldn’t breath because they were laughing so hard after I smelled the stuff and couldn’t stop sneezing…
Also let’s just calm down on the whole “Super villain” label. Like that’s an insult to real super villains. Blaine was a crazy dad with a mask fetish. He didn’t even succeed in his first ever evil plan and was beaten very easily. Then he ran away and got beaten again.
He’s a Super-incompetent Villain.
He was a wannabee super villain.
….I mean, real supervillains don’t exist, even in this universe, so…
Im ready to live vicariously through Joyce telling off her mom, so we’re gonna get that, right?
I mean if not, she already got to tell off Becky’s dad so that was good too.
“Yesterday”? So it’s been over 24 hours since the kidnapping?
Yeah, story line ended and a new day started when we saw Mike in the hospital
So information on the Toe-dead probably has already circulated by now.
Most likely it’s been closer to 48 hours. If the worst thing Sarah had to deal with yesterday was dealing with her parents, that would imply the kidnapping (which was a lot worse) happened the day before that.
I think the idea was that talking to her parents was worse than the kidnapping.
I don’t get that impression at all. As Panel 2 shows, it’s not just the kidnapping Sarah went through, she also saw someone get murdered. The only grief she has with her parents is that since they are divorced, she had to deal with the fallout twice instead of all in one go, which would have been easier on her.
Ie. having parents to comfort her after something bad happens is a pro; doing it more than once is a con.
Putting that aside, other strips have had little cues it’s been a while. Ruth hasn’t suplexed anyone in two days because she’s been guarding the elevator. Mike’s parents were on a cruise—depending on where they were, just reaching them to explain what happened would have been tricky and taken time, let alone flying back.
That’s why Joyce asks “Was that the worst part of yesterday for you?”
Wouldn’t make any sense if yesterday wasn’t the kidnap day.
The kidnapping was basically over in the morning. Sarah and Joyce’s parents made it up during the day – though Joyce wouldn’t talk to them, as we saw in the going to bed strips that closed that storyline. Because of the cruise, Mike’s parents didn’t get back until today – early flight back from the first port and possible a chartered helicopter, per an alt-text.
…see, we’re looking at that line from two very opposite angles. I’m viewing the “Was that the worst part of yesterday for you?” line as the confirmation that yesterday wasn’t the kidnapping. So far as Bad (TM) scales go, it’s kinda really hard to top murder/kidnapping.
Hard, not impossible. Like don’t get me wrong, if this line was being pointed at someone who has really shitty parents, I’d 100% buy the parents being worse. But nothing Sarah or Joyce have said here implies she has a bad relationship with her parents.
I could be wrong, though. You and others are right that the kidnapping happened butt early in the morning, so there’s a lot of wiggle room.
Whereas I read her as only asking because of disbelief that she’s complaining about her parents given what else happened yesterday.
I’m having a hard time understanding how you come to that conclusion. Joyce says “was *that* the worst part of yesterday?” To me this implies that something happened yesterday that Joyce would think is worse than seeing her parents in waves. Do you agree with that interpretation? If so, what could the worse thing be besides the kidnapping?
The kidnapping did happen at butts o’clock AM, so it could be like, 36 hours.
Been thinking, and now I’m sure, that this isn’t day after kidnapping talks but an undisclosed amount of time after kidnapping. With Joyce’s parents have been holed up a few days, and the way Sarah’s talking, her parents came down yesterday, and she had to deal with that separately, unlike what Joyce gets to deal with, there’s been a few days between these events.
Yeah, that’s my thoughts too. This strip and a couple past ones make me think it’s been at least two days. Makes me wonder what other parents have shown up in offscreen land, and which ones are still incoming and/or already hanging around.
The fact that Ruth was standing guard at the elevator doors suggests that she’s been ejecting unwelcome visitors quite regularly. Media as well as family. So, that supports the ‘a few days later’ theory too.
Willis always says when there’s a time skip bc otherwise it’s confusing. Pretty sure it’s just the next day
You expect consistency from Willis. There’s your downfall. If there’s anything that can cause more questions or confusion, Willis will do it IE: WHERE’S MIKE. If this was truly next “day” as in, after everyone takes their power nap: Why does Amber have different clothes on at the hospital? Where was Ethan at? Where was the display of Sarah’s visit when Joyce and Dorothy ambushed her at the alternative feeding grounds (I forgot the name where they got sushi). There’s been a time skip of a small amount, and I figure the amount of days is being hidden for plot reasons.
Bold of you to assume next ‘day’ is after everyone slept and not the actual next day.
The base assumption is that it is the next calendar day. The kidnappings occurred early Wednesday morning, were resolved fairly early in the day. Most of the rest of the day was offstage dealing with fallout and it’s now Thursday.
I don’t think anyone has said it’s the same day as the kidnapping but later in the afternoon after people napped.
Assuming this is happening at the same time as Amber’s visit to Mike, there’s been enough time for the Warners’ cruise to get to port, and then for them to fly from whatever port that was to Indiana. I’m guessing it’s been at least 24 hours, and possibly 48. It could even be a day or two longer, depending on whether they were able to chart their flight while they were still on the ship.
Oh right, people get traumatized after kidnappings and seeing murders. This is just the beginning of years of coping with pain, folks. Damn you, Willis!
Or just seeing dead people, witnessing the demise not required for the trauma but it does sometimes make it worse if it was especially violent like getting hit in the head with a hammer.
The physicality of it is probably less than if it had been magical, like Avada Kedavra. Cause magic is scarier?
It may be very hard to deny those words’ power.
Aww…though one of your parents wasn’t responsible for helping free the now late nut job, having the stones to call and insist what she did was “the right thing”, and has shown a less than healthy mindset that everyone in her family seems aware of…and is anchored in the religion Joyce is trying her best to cling to as reality pummels away at her.
Still give Sarah full marks for trying to be wholesome and not cynical cause Joyce needs a “sisterly” voice to reassure her that things will be alright.
Not going to be a super pleasant meeting though for Joyce, chances are we’ll see Angry Joyce least one more time before this over.
all i’m getting from this strip is that we missed out on seeing Sarah’s parents, and to that i say “DAMN YO-”
well, you know how it goes
I was thinking the same thing. Everyone else gets to have their parents appear on panel, why not Sarah?
Narrator: Joyce will say “I love you, Big sis”
Yep. And Sarah knows what’s coming after that smile in panel five.
Sarah being resigned-but-grumpy to recieving signs of affection is never not funny.
Case in point
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/fault-2/
Touché.
That strip is so enjoyed and recognized one of the regulars made their neat grav from it.
Joyce and Sarah’s relationship has become so very, very sweet. They’ve done so much to save the other and I think that they’ll continue to go even further.
We all love you, Big Sis.
Sweet Sarah!♡♡♡
I’m super confused, what else could have been the worst part of yesterday?
D’aww Sarah, we know you like being the big sister no matter how sullen you appear.
shake fist
I’m gonna cross the hell out of my fingers that this divorce storyline also involves Jocelyn coming out to Joyce so Joyce can (after some struggle) realize she already has a sister she can say that too.