661

Alive
Posted on November 16, 2015 by David M Willis
sinterestpromo11 Today on Slipshine: “Tales of Sinterest,” a 16-page Dumbing of Age sexytimes AHN!thology featuring:
  • Dorothy/Walky
  • Roz/Joe
  • Bryan/Sayid
  • Billie/Ruth
It's up now for all members! AHN!thology is trademarked by me, you can't have it.

661 thoughts on “Alive”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “oh yeah, with all that making you chase after me with a GUN after having the AUDACITY to LOVE WHO I WANNA LOVE”

    …

    “SHUT THE FUCK UP, SHITHEAD”

    1. Ana Chronistic

      ooo, speaking of destroying families, why did I have to let my Slipshine subscription run out =C

      1. Inkblot

        Becky: ∞

        Ross: -∞

      2. -Sentinel-

        same

      3. HeySo

        Seems like a rather awkward point to mention Slipshine at. 😛

    2. Viktoria

      You’re trying to reason with a fanatic. Don’t bother, you can’t win, and just trying just cements in his mind that he’s besieged by evil and needs to fight harder.

      1. John

        She’s being honest with him, it’s what she needs to do really. he can do whatever he is going to do, but her being honest gives her closure. She just opened her heart and he steps on it, this should make it easier for her to move on.

        1. Annie

          I honestly wish I had the guts to be that forthright with my mother. Even at age 32, I don’t think I’d be able to do it without being so angry that I wouldn’t be able to find the words.
          It’s easier to just walk away.

          I have mad respect for Becky right now.

        2. Dragon_Nataku

          It’s healthier to walk away.

          Putting yourself into situations like that is just handing control of your life over to them again, even if only temporarily. While making you incredibly angry may not be their goal it is still a state resulting specifically from interacting with them and therefore they are controlling your actions.

        3. Screwball

          Good, I can feel your anger Becky. He is defenseless. Take that cop’s weapon. Strike him down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!

          I think Star Wars may be influencing my posts…

        4. HeySo

          Healthier?
          Humans are controlled by regrets and thing such as low self-worth.

          So long as she things she’s to blame, or that she could have done something different, it’s going to haunt her.

          In a physically safe environment like this, it’s a good opportunity to try her best, and come to terms that it isn’t her fault.

          Of course, I’m only speaking with my own history with abuse in mind, ymmv.

        5. Annie

          Yeah, I have to agree.
          From experience, I can say that knowing that you’re physically safe and can quickly and easily get away, it can make it easier to say what it is you want to say.
          I think this is especially true for Becky since she doesn’t have any siblings or another parent that Ross can punish in her stead or use as leverage.

          For me personally, though, no matter what’s healthier, I am proud and envious of Becky for standing up to him while she has the chance. Even if Ross refuses to take the opportunity to listen to her.
          But a toxic, Narcissistic parent will almost *never* listen to his/her child if that child isn’t in 100% agreement with the parent. They can’t comprehend a child, even an adult child, having a mind of his/her own and making decisions for him/herself. Because of that it can make the parent descend in to a rage and blame the child for everything wrong that has ever happened to their family.

          That’s just how narcissistic parents are.

      2. Agemegos

        You do this sort of thing for yourself. You say what you have to say, not what the other person has to hear. You say it to cut off your own own potential regrets and doubts, to effect closure of your own issues.

        And it’s best not to try it on the basis that there is something that you need the other to say, except when you need to hear them explicitly refuse what you feel you have to offer — if anything.

    3. Cathy Garrett

      “Goodbye, father/Ross. I’ll probably see you at your trial, but we will not speak again. This is the last conversation we’ll ever have, and you ended it with a lie.”

      *quickly leaves before toedad can speak again*

      1. That guy

        Sad thing is that it’s not even a lie to him – just illustrates his warped worldview.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          I guess TECHNICALLY she destroyed their family by having the audacity to shatter the illusory façade he’d erected over top of her

          for dubious definitions of “family”

        2. Ana Chronistic

          and “our”

    4. Ostsol

      FINISH HIM! >:D

  2. cybik

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand he’s a complete jackass.

    1. Carmeops

      for a minute there we had hope for a change of heart, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it’s gone

      1. Screwball

        Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I seem to be able to set up 1 of those “Called it!” moments I’d love to finally do!

  3. Shadic

    Ah, Toedad keeps being a total twat.

    1. Mr k

      Don’t be mean. Becky likes twats, if you know what I mean.

      1. JonRich

        Who is your avatar, and where is it from?

        1. badmartialarts

          Looks like Accelerator.

          http://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Accelerator

        2. Grimm

          Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s Killua from Hunter X Hunter.

        3. Mr k

          Killua from Hunter X Hunter.

        4. JonRich

          Thanks!

        5. dmaxx

          Which in my book just make you 3x as awsome:-P

        6. Ana Chronistic

          quick reverse-GIS: https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:AMhZZiv3a0yfBZG60zaws0RHOJ1B6cYOWX35lvq-kr7Hg_13Hr8m3pkpGvBUFWMU3u5PVOoW8IMOSW8cWirI-SIEaCkzkLKEwn-XqwWGiXwxODAIEeR99XX0J4Nae50Rhmc9eTcc8p-FOmBWAncrMpY7uKfnK-nWRWjOx-7hfAvdWTC2tGCM1p7MhFb_1eAoQ5FD0ZsYv64n35CWsZzSXoD6pbW7d7chJTNDckTuzQaTRLPcEuZLh7qsB2OAODJ-OeibimvbSOcnxJlpr3LP_1dvqcWYSOioqE_1VW_1h-yem-0WLVrHRZJV8KX6wZQ_1A3dR1H_11iXROrNKTbIYq4DEo9KjeM1TsyTGG5zRYpjdojXy2ogZcq8ReqZEG2yby5PDtgDQsyA0_1ULWXZAdwZa0Gbyg8ixzs0xxypwH7cVij9rEt1pU3ev1TJIpdJg65TyvH4-gbMXYcT7t6CcAcRRbuxGgDjaG2AarDyZnTNfPd9D_1C8zpBBnVjs1tNFwWks4gRXCv_13BKBQ6Pyg6UX1U4zpcsmQGdhpbN9A4YN1ttvFk-YeugwoAR_1oUEBsQO05HiM4r0MnXc0a0oJIDFMf5PdzhjmpdGJtQ0secZflMxZ-MaQ9hZ9jaQL3V89Dz8_1SSSsD1BryuIhiM62OK14bNIj6RdM-KqTKkjwtpqPcOZ1nngrUP3M38JTv-U9_1Ubs_1k2QvyED7ClPS0vPhd-42SWBWUOmRv_1fuQh755jLM1JEtl04Y4tHyC8M4G6Z7eOsY1O2NYWWnkUwea4xi8dcpkdyh9jB8LfgBn4qGys3_1vZFHYJ6hTTRymHyyjk5jOMuWsTjpTQl4ZFe0lOkehi3_1M17tWlaX0fw0RzfIvDtuN1WsscLfv4QK0D3k50LOqMKGXksOsplqL-owgHCzUnVMIQinduLgSsUIc_1FZDLRePc1ACMe96P2hmuEMnf9sBe16-SKVvSSjTG4APL3AqoLWfpJNR95hn73tB0PFsPlNd-v7uB72skrRSWvk_1bcFAJtnMH1lqlzjlhigM1f9l2K-ItydLuoEgWUelHScEshOgwjq_1YBUEK6FKWC8EbrPsWm1R1ZeNFjUc-WTxtX6j5O2LE_1nzrMARO08UIx8x_1RiJs9aEmLRR8VVTNp7YnHkDWZN76wsACJmXPRGldo8DFUFvx6MFnArVnlysinLQCbIRN9fpCnLZJ-Dwt5OetX02FPD0xeXpOlK7wvknyLUr5TpEz5NqcsReWV5dYFP6bP496X1YifMUjwxHpkH9w78_1xHAcKlZ28qlZr9oGefYT3Yaa1wxFsPVojtMmJ21KEmazQ1OLGaZVRqomVJ00-jD5aN_1lCalw-01GeKr5gqu4MzKn5Aj9kTPeT55qofUx_1yIhiKTTKATEhfMDOkjUOUKwKepj-kq9OLveQPd6a9TTdz7aEVF0SkugOoFZbrn7ikoHfg1y24X-pFfcN5k5qe5uGGdDXgT7YJrM7Pi6WviGO9i8AuU6s4JcvHyETzupm1VLIQ4bg0FTOvHz_1ff-aB_1lyEIjMPkyqxAM8LUgvcqnOsDXo2R-OdgYqwTBHzm9UHX4NNUWX1yviBixJOUuZiATIv4UN8Y2kBaztXhhe9h&hl=en

          (I wonder if that will work… if not, GIS “Hunter X Hunter”)

        7. Ana Chronistic

          answer is no, ok

        8. JonRich

          Wait, you can REVERSE Google Image Search?!

        9. Foxhack

          Copy a URL into Google Image Search, and the site will search for similar images. It’s how I find out who makes the art that gets posted to tumblr and the like.

        10. Ana Chronistic

          go to Google > Images “tab” and literally drag and drop an image into the search bar… you don’t even need to download it! (click and drag, even from the browser window)

        11. Ana Chronistic

          I should add that works in Windows, not sure about Mac/Linux/etc. ’cause I haven’t had occasion to try (don’t use my laptop enough)

        12. Kelly

          It works in Linux, I just don’t use it because I am used to a tiling window manager. And never been much for click and drag file management in general…

        13. Opus the Poet

          For Chrome OS it’s built into the browser. Right click on an image and Image Search is one of the options in the little box, with save image, copy image, copy URL… I find it very handy.

        14. Sensei Le Roof

          For everyone else, there’s MasterCa… er, TinEye.

      2. Plasma Mongoose

        If you mean like how the British say twat, then yes, yes he is.

        1. espanolbot

          There’s more than one way?

        2. marianne

          Some of my Aussie friends seem to think it rhymes with “what” instead of “hat”.

        3. Androiddreams

          I swear in new zealand and the like “hat” rhymes with “jet”, could that be the same for “twat”?

        4. lol wut

          Wait, you say “twat” as rhyming with “hat”? I’ve always said it as rhyming with “bot”.

        5. Plasma Mongoose

          The British pronounce twat as twAt while Americans pronounce it as TwOt.

      3. jmcscore

        How about Toedad’s being a dick.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          Him being a dick is an understatement.

        2. Strangeshapes

          No, Toedad gets no names referencing genitalia; I know some wonderful twats and dicks attached to equally wonderful folks, and he does not deserve to associate with them.

        3. Cattus99

          In order not to insult dicks, twats, fools, idiots and other sundry folk, I will say that toedad is a giant turd squeezed out of Sauron’s scarred rectal orifice.

        4. Screwball

          …After a night cruising the curry-huts of India…

  4. Mr. Random

    …*sigh* C’mon man. Just…. accept your actions as being yours.

    1. Doctor_Who

      (Obi-Wan voice) “You have done that yourself!”

    2. James

      That would involve at least considering the possibility that he was wrong. It will therefore never happen.

      1. Cerberus

        Exactly. Admitting fault would be unmanly and a sin against God, so of course it will never happen. He’ll just stew and try and lash out against her in the ways he can until the day he dies or pretends to have a crisis of conscience in old age to play on her empathy once more.

      2. maarvarq

        Also, if Becky did destroy their family then it can’t have been much of one in the first place.

    3. feli

      People with severe mental issues tend to blame others for their faults. Not saying every one with mental health problem does but I’ve kinda been where Becky is in that last panel.

      1. Ranthog

        I’m fairly sure that is not how mental illnesses work. For instance, with major depression people tend to give internal attributions to negative things while non-depressed people tend to give external attributions to negative things that happen to them.

        So your rule is if anything flipped. People who are healthy from a mental health perspective are the ones who are blaming others for their problems.

        There has been nothing to indicate that Ross is mentally ill in any way. There is evidence that he is uncompromising and that he has a very fundamentalist view of the world. If one accepts that view point (in which Becky and Joyce were raised), then Ross’ statement is perfectly true.

        So it is consistent from the character’s POV. We may see that as blaming others, but that is because we strongly disagree with Ross’ view on gender roles in the family.

        1. Formerly Glenn

          You guys are both treating mental illness as a catch all term, but applying very specific attributes to it.

          Mental illness is just that. There’s plenty of room on both sides of the spectrum here. I could probably make a case for Toedad having narcisistic personallity disorder, which does qualify as a mental illness.

        2. Ranthog

          Actually, there is a reason why I chose a specific illness to show the prior rule doesn’t apply to. (My statements about attribution error are true about major depression.) The reason for it is that it is probably one of the most common illness.

          Well part of why I say that there is nothing to show Ross is that there isn’t enough to go on. Its an easy narrative to say he has a mental illness, and it falls into the false stereotype of the mentally ill (as a group at large) being violent and dangerous. It is a harder truth to consider that he, and the all too common actual real life parents like him have no mental illness.

        3. Kryss LaBryn

          Plus when we see someone being as much of a jerk as Toedad is being, we kind of want them to be fundamentally “broken” in some way, because, whether consciously or un-, if we can point to his terrible, uncaring behaviour as being caused by some kind of mental illness, then there’s no chance that we would ever act so awfully, because of course we would never get that awful illness.

          But if Ross is awful because he wants to keep his family together and is acting from what he perceives as a place of love and kindness, however misguided we see his viewpoint as being, then, in theory, any of us could also be just as awful, given the right motivations. Which of course nobody wants to think about themselves.

          So there’s a tendency to look for some mental illness being involved, because then it can be dismissed as something we don’t have to worry about doing ourselves.

        4. The Biggest Tom

          While I disagree with the idea that we “want him to be broken somehow” I do agree that Ross doesn’t seem to display any symptoms of any mental illness I’m aware of.

          Ross’ actions are perfectly sane, if not entirely rational. They’re born of desperation. You can see it in his expression! The man is alone and afraid and just because he’s lashing out we think there’s something fundamentally wrong with him, be it his mind or his faith.

        5. Cerberus

          This. We want all assholitude to be from mental illness, because then it’s separated from us and hides us from the worst reality of all, which is that most serial killers and abusers are born out of privilege and entitlement rather than a specific mental illness. A guy growing up thinking that he is owed sexual relationships with women is far more likely to grow up to be a predator than some bipolar kid just trying to figure out how to keep their brain from killing them. And more serial killers come from middle-class white Christian households than come from disorganized mental health programs.

          But as long as the fantasy is that all these mass shooters and abusers are just crazy, then it becomes just another excuse to bag on the schizophrenics and the DID sufferers rather than having to address the way systems of oppression can breed violent oppressors and the way general society can lend feelings of support and approval to those who want to hurt and murder.

          In this case, the reason Toedad is hurting so many is his feelings of superiority and control reinforced by societal messages of the “role” of the “man” in a household and his religious ideology and the message of hate it has spread about queer individuals and women. Not some undiagnosed mental illness.

        6. Mindlink

          “A guy growing up thinking that he is owed sexual relationships with women is far more likely to grow up to be a predator than some bipolar kid just trying to figure out how to keep their brain from killing them. ”

          Yes, of course, but guess what. They BOTH have a mental problem. If you grow up thinking stuff like that, then something went wrong during your mental development, which is the definition of a development disorder.

          “But as long as the fantasy is that all these mass shooters and abusers are just crazy, then it becomes just another excuse to bag on the schizophrenics and the DID sufferers rather than having to address the way systems of oppression can breed violent oppressors and the way general society can lend feelings of support and approval to those who want to hurt and murder.”

          I can’t follow your reasoning here, I tried, but I can’t. I would instead say that UNLESS we start labelling all these acts as a mental illness, we will keep on ignoring these as (he was just evil, we can’t don anything about evil) instead of adressing the issusess you mentioned, which very often leads to mental disorders. Mental illnesses are “easier” for the public to understand, and easier to actually do something about, and much easier to care about.
          In fact, NOT labelling them crazy even sends a signal that what they are doing is totally fine, actually, that they were “justified”.

        7. Cerberus

          Do they actually have a mental problem? Like, because of brain chemistry or communication between the regions of the brain? I mean, as far as the specific example of sexual predators, our society one hundred percent supports worldviews that look at women’s sexuality as a commodity, hear narratives that reinforce that men are “owed” a reward for meeting basic levels of human interaction, and are fed a steady diet of reinforcing narratives that say that predation and sexual assault are sexy or funny or just in the name of the game. Many times, it is sold as romantic or heroic.

          So if an individual listens to all of society telling them this, are they really mentally ill when they believe it? Or is the sickness societal, a social sickness that is typified by specific acts of violence by specific individuals as well as cultural narratives that support it?

          It doesn’t take sociopathy or narcissistic personality disorder or even a disordered way of thinking of how to treat the majority of individuals for an individual to reflect the way we demean minority group members. It does not take someone incapable of empathizing to think that X racial group or Y gender minority isn’t really the same as a full person. It does not require someone who is incapable of thinking of others to be capable of selfish abusive action.

          Toedad’s issue is not that he physically can’t empathize with Becky’s situation. Or that he’s only thinking of himself. His issue is he’s marinated himself in hate, in ways of thinking that view queer people as literal demons, as a sinister force that steals children and turns them away from Heaven itself and drowns them in temptation and sin simply to hurt people like him. The issue is that his reaction to seeing Becky’s pain is to think that she’ll thank him someday, that the best way to show love is to show force, and that his stance as a man and as a father depends on him not being “weak” as that is a violation of God’s chosen gender roles.

          Sometimes people with mental illnesses are violent, sometimes they even turn violent because of mental illnesses, but when we redact every action of violence into an easy mental illness throwaway, as if that is the end of the discussion, we fail routinely to deal with the reality of our situation.

          We see it in mass shootings. People blame mental illness, even though the mentally ill are more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators:
          http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/facts_violence.php

          And so the root causes of bigotry, of sexism, of entitlement, of white or male terrorism gets erased. And unaddressed. We never look at how bigotry and hate lead one to feel fully justified in hunting their own children like prey. Take a random citizen of this Dumbiverse hearing about this story, take the news channels and this becomes “mentally ill shooter goes on rampage, kidnaps daughter” and the core issues of homophobia, of sexism, of parental entitlement, of cloistered raising environments, of religious poison spewed from the pulpit get erased and allowed to fester and marinate the next Toedad willing to “move Heaven and Earth” to “get their child back from the demons of homosexuality”.

          And this matters to me not because I’m trying to erase the points where the mentally ill have been violent, but rather because this failure to ever look at root causes directly affects me and my health. I’m a teacher, but I’m also a trans woman and this Friday is Transgender Day of Remembrance. So my kids and I have created a memorial for that on my board listing all the names. I have two white boards that combine to cover a full wall. The memorial took 3/4 of the total boards and its not even a complete list of those who have been murdered as a hate crime in this last year for being trans. When we erase those acts of violence to “oh they must have been mentally ill” we continue to do nothing to stop those acts of violence and reduce their numbers because we do nothing to erase jokes that mock men who sleep with trans women or express attraction to trans women or societal views that see trans people, especially trans people of color as subhuman creatures. And that… more than narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathy, schizophrenia, anger control issues, or borderline personality disorder is what is most deadly.

        8. Kryss LaBryn

          Cerebus, I agree.

          From our perspective, Toedad is broken. But there doesn’t actually seem to be any actual mental thing going on with him; all that’s happened is that he has become a successful product of the system under which he was raised.

          Joyce had also become a success story as a young girl who loved Jesus and obeyed her parents and went to college to get a husband and as much of a teaching degree as it took to find one. She, when exposed to the greater world, was able to shift her viewpoint and see how aspects of it were actually harmful to people she cared about, and shed those aspects.

          Becky has been growing up in the same society but realized the harmful aspects of it a lot sooner due to her sexuality. Toedad, however, has had decades longer swimming in that Kool-aid. He’s not mentally ill (except in the slang sense of “He’s gotta be crazy to believe that!”); he has simply successfully absorbed the life lessons he was given.

          And that’s why this sort of thing is so dangerous. Because it doesn’t take an actual mental illness to think this way; all it takes is a constantly-reinforced upbringing that tells you that this is the correct way to think. And too much of our greater society, if not to the same extreme, still thinks this sort of thing, that women are property; that their lives are not their own and therefore their desires don’t matter; that people not fitting into that hetero-normative, cis-gendered mould either have something fundamentally broken within them or aren’t even fully human or else are just perverts who are making a deliberate, informed, and optional choice to do something disgusting, wrong, and immoral.

          We need to drain the Kool-aid out of the pool, and we can’t do that if we aren’t willing to acknowledge its presence.

        9. Mindlink

          To me, what you are doing IS disregarding the root cause of the problem.
          There is NOTHING easy about using the mental illness label, and it ENCOURAGES people to look further, it’s not a “throwaway”.
          The alternative, in peoples minds, is that the person is “evil”, and that there is no point in looking into their motivations because they are “evil”. If we give them courtesy of calling it for what is, an mental illness, there is VERY much to look into the root causes, and it will open up the debate instead of closing it like we do now.
          “Because it doesn’t take an actual mental illness to think this way; all it takes is a constantly-reinforced upbringing that tells you that this is the correct way to think. ”
          And that’s how you get a lot of mental illnesses.
          “It does not require someone who is incapable of thinking of others to be capable of selfish abusive action.”
          No, not the action itself, but if that person doesn’t IMMEDIATELY realize that the action was abusive and try to make up for it, then that person IS incapable of thinking of others.
          “So if an individual listens to all of society telling them this, are they really mentally ill when they believe it?”
          Yes
          “Or is the sickness societal”
          Also yes. As I’ve said, EVERYONE has some mental problems to a certain degree. Fortunately it’s not that bad as some would have it, certainly not 100 percent, or we wouldn’t even be having this debate.

        10. Rutee

          Good lord. What you’re basically saying is “Nope, it’s totally harder to not examine ourselves by imputing mental illness than it is through an outright label of evil”

          Also, christ on a stick, do you listen to yourself when you talk? You’re ultimately saying that anyone who screws up a social interaction is mentally ill. Most abusive people treat their perceived equals as, well, equals. It’s really not a matter of mental illness. It’s a matter of being a jackass.

          Your weird, idiosyncratic beliefs have literally nothing to do with how things are done. You’re seriously going to say someone’s mentally ill for believing what is completely normal in society? That’s literally the opposite of what mental health professionals or scientists would say, and for good god-damned reason. It may be a ‘mental problem’ if someone has a fucked up world view, but it isn’t a mental illness; the problem doesn’t stem from brain chemistry, wiring issues, or the like, but on bad information or a bad upbringing (but given waht Cerberus is referring to right now, ‘normal upbringing’ sadly does it). Bad information or a bad upbringing isn’t a fucking mental illness. Stop fucking pretending they’re the same thing.

        11. Agemegos

          Not going along on this one. I have an awful mental illness, but I am not an arsehole. I suffer, I do not inflict suffering on others. And I will not put up with people saying to me “a person who does something awful cannot be like me; he has to be like you.” Fuck that.

        12. Mindlink

          No, what you are doing is falling into the EQUALLY false and damaging dichotomy that NO mental illnesses are like that, while in actually, there’s quite a large percentage that work exactly like that.
          To go back to the specific thing mentioned by the OP, this is called “projection”, and is very much a thing in the DSVs, projecting your own problems onto others if you are not mentally strong enough to accept those qualities in yourself.
          “and it falls into the false stereotype of the mentally ill (as a group at large) being violent and dangerous. ”
          And it’s also false to overlook that a large percentage of the mentally ill ARE violent.
          There seems to be a trend today that only a few select mental illnesses are considered the only “right” and “true” illnesses, that sociopaths, narcissists, etc., all the “uncomfortable” ones, so to speak, are now suddenly “Oh, he’s just an asshole, that’s not a mental illness”. Which can be really frustrating for those that DO have those symptoms!
          Even autism, and especially Aspberger, have been the target for this, with people saying they are just assholes.
          I think there are couple of things we, as a humanity, need to be aware of:
          Firstly, MOST people have some form of mental illness, there are varying degrees of course, but “neuro-typical” is just that, typical.
          Secondly, MOST bad characteristics ARE the result of some sort of faulty wiring or development disorders. Very, very, very few people are assholes just because they want to be.

        13. Cerberus

          Except it’s easier to be an asshole when that is socially safer to be. I mean, look at how allies to minority communities are usually treated when they speak up about social ills. How they tend to be viewed as less than what they would be if they reinforced bigotry and how they’re presumed to be puppets or weaklings for said minority groups. See how they are sometimes threatened with doxing or violence for speaking up on issues. And very occasionally murdered as was the case with Paul Guihard and Viola Gregg Liuzzo.

          And it is even easier when most people don’t know the ways in which they are being assholes. See Joyce when she says something messed up without thinking, completely unaware that what she says is wrong or part of bigoted system of oppression. And most people don’t like to know how they’ve participated in enforcements of oppression or desire to radically change to stop.

          This is not a matter of people wanting to be good and kind but the brain chemistry isn’t letting them in much the same way as a depressed person’s brain chemistry won’t let them be happy. It’s people wanting things to be “normal” and wanting to be viewed as “normal” when what is “normal” is dark and twisted and harmful to others.

          And also, no, we’re not saying no mentally ill person has ever hurt someone specifically because of their mental illness. We’re just saying stopping at mental illness as “the” cause of things like this lets off the hook the systems that actually sustain and perpetuate them.

      2. Mr. Random

        The thing is, I don’t believe that Toedad is mentally sick. I think he just has a warped world view. One he won’t and maybe can’t reconcile with what’s been going on.

        1. Edupoet81

          I agree, I don’t think he’s necessarily mentally ill. While some mentally ill people do commit violent crimes, not everyone who commits a violent crime has a mental illness. Also, most people living with mental illness don’t ever commit violent crimes. It troubles me mental illness seems to enter the conversation most often when someone commits a violent crime, because it feeds the stigma. I live with mental health issues, and I’m not comfortable discussing that with too many people IRL. I’m afraid of how I’ll be judged, and I know that others with mental health issues aren’t comfortable discussing them for similar reasons.
          I recognize that many people who commit violent crimes have some sort of brain dysfunction. I just feel like said dysfunction shouldn’t be in the same category as the mental health issues of those of us who are not violent, not criminals, but just struggling to make it through each day, doing the best we can with the brains we have.
          Okay, I’m very tired today, and not certain that made sense. My words aren’t really working today.

    4. pendrake

      Ah but you forget…the Righteous blame all others but themselves, for they are never wrong.

      Thus why they are free from Responsibility and Culpability

      1. The Other Mike

        No, that would be the Self-Righteous. There’s a difference. (Although if someone refers to themselves as Righteous, they’re probably the other thing.)

        1. pendrake

          Exactly.

          The Righteous are never Self-Righteous, because they apply their righteousness to all others. Accordingly, all others must acknowledge the Righteous’ as being in the right in all their beliefs and actions.

          For the Righteous are never wrong.

  5. Durandal_1707

    Told you she was bringing sadness rather than a verbal smackdown.

    Of course, who knows what he’s going to provoke.

  6. Yotomoe

    Well you can’t have rebirith without destruction, amiright?

  7. Lia47

    fUCKIN DIPSHIT

  8. Doctor_Who

    Do you think the cops/doctors would notice/care if he had a few more injuries after she left?

    1. Mr k

      “Hey, somehow, he suddenly strangled himself. Bye!”

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        How do you strangle a guy with no neck?

        1. Lucretiel

          How do you kill that which has no life?

        2. JWLM

          You use a garotte with no width.

        3. JonRich

          You wrap a cord around his chin, then keep wrapping it one little bit lower each go-around until you hit his shoulders. Then pull it tight. One of the loops will constrict his windpipe; it has to be somewhere.

        4. ProfessorDetective

          Trial and Error.

        5. Plasma Mongoose

          The Scientific Method: That I can respect.

        6. Needfuldoer

          “What is the meaning of *gak* this ‘scientific method’?! God is the only *gurk* science we need! *gaa* [wheezing] I will RESTORE my windpipe…”

        7. Ellegos

          With both perseverance and determination.

        8. JWLM

          Acting with integrity and no regrets

        9. The Other Mike

          But we already tried hitting him with a truck, and it didn’t work.

        10. Leorale

          If Princess Leia can do it, Becky can find a way.

        11. StClair

          I was just thinking along these lines.

        12. fizzywafflezsuperstore

          If I have any internets to give (as you probably know, it’s kinda hard to keep track) I give to you the following:

          Seven I.

        13. 3-I

          If you knee him in the crotch hard enough, maybe you can make him choke on his own dislocated testes.

          Was… Was that too harsh? That may have been too harsh.

        14. Strangeshapes

          Nope, not too harsh.

        15. Jacknoir

          real answer: you strangle something with no neck by compressing it’s chest until the lungs can no longer expand.
          it’s a method favored by snakes and the police but I repeat myself.

      2. JonRich

        Seriously, though, I’ve been seeing your gravatar for weeks, Mr. K. Who is it and where is it from? I’m dying to know!

        1. NoHeart6265

          I’m fairly certain that’s Killua (I think that’s how you spell it) from Hunter X Hunter

        2. JonRich

          Thank you.

    2. Elizabeth

      I think the two cops on either side of him right now would notice. They were visible in yesterday’s strip.

      1. Mollyscribbles

        I think they mean the difference between ‘notice’ and ‘acknowledge’.

        1. JonRich

          ^This.

        2. James

          “He ran into my knife ten times.”

        3. Bicycle Bill

          “Some guys just can’t hold their arsenic.”

        4. RaeB

          He saw himself as Alice, and I saw him DEAD.

        5. RaeB

          alive*

        6. fallingwaters2

          “Not guilty.”
          …
          “OK, I am. I totally am.”

  9. door

    aw man you still do not see the depth of your fuck up!?

    1. Too Old To Be Cool

      He’s trying to use the classic ploy of those-who-can’t-accept-their-mistakes – the Guilt Trip.

  10. Luzahn

    Well, hopefully that reaction makes this easier on Becky instead of, y’know, the other one.

    1. Agemegos

      Yup.

  11. HelpIveFallen

    I didn’t think my sympathy could go negative.

    Congratulations, ToeDad.

  12. Bo Lindbergh

    “Repentance is for the weak!”

    1. David

      Repentence is for the wrong-doers. Ross did give his best shot.

      1. fallingwaters2

        heh

  13. MattR

    Looks like ToeDad stuck the landing again.

  14. Valis_KR3

    FUCK YOU TOE DAD.

    (storms off)

    (goes to bed.)

    (pulls covers over head.)

    (cries)

    1. Dragon_Nataku

      *sneaks a cookie under the covers, runs away*

      1. Valis_KR3

        nom

    2. Strangeshapes

      *Sneaks a flask of good whisky and a copy of “The Beak of the Finch” for joyous nonreligious reading under covers and tiptoes away.*

      1. Valis_KR3

        (sips)

        ZZZzzzzz

  15. Lia47

    Someone break some more of this man pls

    1. NoHeart6265

      They should call Mike over

      1. Viktoria

        Mike is the only one who might have a chance of getting through to him. Mike specializes in breaking hypocrisy and self-delusion, and he doesn’t care about fallout or retaliation. No one involved in this knows him except Amber, though, so I doubt he’ll be showing up.

        1. Dr. T

          Joyce knows Mike too.

        2. Clif

          Joyce knows Mike too well. Or at least too well to call him over.

        3. NoHeart6265

          You’re right, but I’m allowed my wishful thinking.

        4. GenericScreenName101

          You forget the #3 rule of Mike: He goes where he wants to go.
          #2 he is who he wants to be.
          #1 he did your mom for a nickel (it is still unclear who is the nickel richer though)

        5. Mr K

          I don’t think he can do Becky’s mom. Unless, eww.

        6. GenericScreenName101

          #4 do not underestimate Mike. It is best not to think of the possibilities.

        7. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          Mike being Mike, I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to retroactively fuck Becky’s mom for a nickel.

        8. John

          The reason Becky looks nothing like butthole dad is that Mike actually managed, through sheer force of spite, to travel back in time and knock up her mom.

        9. fizzywafflezsuperstore

          What about “Mike is whatever, whenever, whoever, and wherever you don’t want him to be. And he is always right, and he always wins.”

        10. Clif

          Until proven otherwise, Mike pays the nickel the first time and collects thereafter.

        11. Safgaftsa

          This wouldn’t be the first time that there was a sudden revelation of Mike’s presence.

        12. StClair

          Pity, as it would be glorious to behold.

        13. Wublub

          I’m imagining the scene in Shortpacked where he had the party hat and the confetti and the little noise maker, only at Toedad’s sentencing instead of a funeral.

        14. Kryss LaBryn

          Walky knows him as well. They’re roommates.

          Whether anyone will clue in that Mike might be who they need here, though, is another thing.

        15. GhostWriterL

          It’s a shame Mike is uninvolved and wouldn’t get involved in this, because it would be pretty epic to watch him poke a hole through Ross’ “God is on my side!” veneer, rip it in twain, and then proceed to shred it apart so badly that not even Ross’ tiny deluded mind can put it back together again in a way that serves his purposes of being a willfully blind and God obsessed asshat.

          Mike would essentially break everything down to “You’re a horrible person, you’re going to die alone, and the reason why nothing you did worked is because your God hates you for what you did to hurt your own kid”, and the last we’d hear of Ross is a brief news blurb about him running his car exhaust into his driver’s side window before taking a nap with the engine running.

        16. John

          Mike did actually offer to help. Joyce turned him down because she was, for some inexplicable reason, suspicious of his motives.

  16. Professor Fate

    Unrepentant to the end. What a stubborn ass. None are so blind as those who will not see reality. So long, Dad. Have a nice life.

    1. pendrake

      The Righteous have no need to repent, for they are never wrong; it is others who must repent and beg forgiveness of the Righteous.

  17. GenericScreenName101

    Fuck that guy thought Becky in an orange thought bubble

    1. GenericScreenName101

      Becky storms off in a fit of rage only to shortly return and say “at least I don’t look like a stubbed toe!”.

  18. chris73

    Yes! This is why I read this comic, no sappy, unrealistic, fairy-tale endings for anyone!

    1. Victor Riley

      I was hoping for the silent treatment from him. It’d be better than giving her the blame, because now there’s a good chance she’ll believe it, and start blaming herself.

      1. Dave

        Up until she revisits all that happened today in her head:
        -Getting threatened at gunpoint for going against his beliefs
        -Getting abducted against her will
        -Having all her friends be threatened or otherwise injured by this psycho
        I expect Becky’s answer to Ross to be one resounding and definitive: “No…YOU did.”

        1. Maxy

          Being in an abusive relationship is rarely about logic or rational analyzation of the facts. While Ross is obviously in the wrong here, it’s possible that after years of psychological abuse or even simply being taught wrong, that she takes his words to heart anyways. We don’t know enough of her history to be sure here.

        2. Cerberus

          That’s a sad reality of it. And the worst is that even if you intuitively understand it’s all bullshit, it has a nasty habit of sneaking into your subconscious so that it just seems intuitively true that you deserve less respect because of who you are… yeah, Becky’s gonna have a rough recovery, but it’s a recovery and that matters a metric butt load.

        3. Agemegos

          The person who is not in traction and restraints, and under a pile of cops gets to choose how the engagement ends.

        4. fogel

          How about Becky turns and walks out while Ross rages impotently? With or without an exit line that’s true to Becky? I love you dad. Ill pray for you dad. …

  19. Cattleprod

    The moral high ground keeps getting further away. Better keep digging!

    1. JessWitt

      Dig and then bury. It’s the only way.

  20. JessWitt

    No visits in prison for you, Mister!

  21. General Tekno

    I forget – was it established what the status of Becky’s mom is? As here it sounds like she’s either dead or had previously left.

    1. John

      She died last year.

    2. merbrat

      Died, last year. (poss cancer)

    3. Opus the Poet

      Willis said last year in his Tumblr that Becky’s mom died of breast cancer.

      1. DinaWho

        Did he say breast cancer? I remember him mentioning that she was dead, but I don’t remember him giving a cause of death and I’m not sure breast cancer isn’t a misattribution from Dana’s mother.

    4. Needfuldoer

      She died about a year before the events of the comic, but we haven’t been given any definitive specifics yet.

      Apparently we’ll get more backstory in the next few months.

  22. Cow

    RAGE

  23. Ross

    I can’t remember the last time I felt this much rage over a fictional character.

    1. JonRich

      Umbridge, maybe?

      1. Disloyal Subject

        It IS that same variety of cold-burning contemptuous rage. Not like the furious inferno I reserve for Darth Sidious.

        1. Slyfincleton

          more like Darth Hideous amiright?

        2. fizzywafflezsuperstore

          Um…

          He won then, Darth Sidious–I mean.

          You went to the Dark Side?

        3. Kelly

          Sidious? I can’t say I have really felt much of anything about him. I suppose that is just general SW apathy…

      2. Void

        Nobody is as bad as Umbridge.

      3. podian

        Umbridge, Joffrey, Darth Caedus, Borsk Fey’lya, Wilhuff Tarkin…

    2. cynthash

      Hans? I’m still pretty furious at Hans.

      1. Urukak

        Hans just makes me disappointed, because his plan totally could have gone off without a hitch if he had: a. not saved Elsa from the chandelier in the ice castle or b. not revealed to Anna that he was a colossal dick at the last minute.

        1. Clif

          His plan would have worked had Chewbacca been there to advise him.

        2. DSL

          But no, it had to be Hans … solo.

        3. ozaline

          Pretty sure he was trying to kill Elsa with the chandelier while making it look like he was trying to save her from the crossbow bolt.

          As for revealing his plan, that`s one of the classic blunders, besides if he tried the kiss it wouldn`t have worked anyway. And Anna still would have tried to save Elsa… so yeah.

      2. Wublub

        Hans’s villainy was too predictable for me to *really* hate him. I mean, he was completely awful, but I was more annoyed that he was too stupid to not, like… I don’t know, wait until Ana is actually dead before giving away his evil plan. Or wait more than one damn night before proposing to Ana, because seriously, how did he NOT think Elsa would have objections? Ana may have been naive and easily manipulated at that point, but did he really think nobody else would see through him, or at least be a little suspicious?

    3. Mr K

      Joffrey?

      1. yomi

        Meh, Joffrey get’s the “still a child”-bonus, so I’m more sad than angry about him. And there are so many older characters in ASoIaF to hate…

    4. TheGrammarLegionary

      “Eleanor & Park”, Rainbow Rowell. First literary villain in a long time to make me feel… what was that word again?

      RIGHT, fear.

    5. duckgalrox

      Dahlia fucking Hawthorne, AA: Trials and Tribulations.

      The saccharine murderess psychopath makes me want to stab her through the screen. Every. Time.

  24. Kiggy

    Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything else from him.

    Don’t expect pears from an elm tree (or something like that)

    1. Leorale

      Same here. Expected some incredibly hurtful BS that’s going to hang over her head for years. x.x Good luck, Becky.

  25. Mr. Mendo

    Dude! Quit while you’re behind!

    1. JonRich

      Love your comment.

      1. Mr. Mendo

        I try. ^_^

  26. Dr. T

    Yeah, f*** that guy. F*** him hard.

    1. Rabid Rabbit

      No thanks, I prefer to actually enjoy my coitus.

      1. Void

        Then pay MIKE to f*** him.

        1. Mollyscribbles

          dude, even Mike has standards.

          Pay Mike to set him on fire.

        2. Spencer

          Toedad is so ugly that he’d need to pay Mike a nickel to fuck him.

        3. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          It’d take a nickel for Mike to set him on fire.

    2. Wublub

      Not in a million years, and not *just* because I’m asexual.

  27. Triniking1234

    Wow. Before I read this, I was actually expecting some remorse from Ross.

    Damn.

    1. Clif

      Just curious, on what basis?

  28. kodykid168

    Nope, He’s still an ass. Almost dying usually gives people epiphanies, but not this guy! Still as stubborn as ever.

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      Not only is he still an ass, he is even more of an ass that before.

      1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

        I remember typing “than” there…

        Welp!
        That’s a misspelling!

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          If it’s any consolation, I remember reading “than”. 🙂

  29. Opus the Poet

    FVCK YOU Ross. You are a bongo and will be used as a bongo when you get to jail/prison, and I’m not using the masked word they gonna beat him like a drum.

  30. FuryOfFirestorm

    “You made me threaten you with a gun and kidnap you! It’s all your fault!”

  31. K. Ivan Ruppert

    I dunno. I have a hard time not feeling bad for Ross. Not because I think he’s in any way noble. He’s an asshole. I feel it’s tragic. He wants to do right, but he can only go about trying it in an incredibly fucked-up way. If he could just get past some shit, and that shit isn’t even necessarily “Religion” so much as an incredibly narrow and toxic version of religion, he could be a decent person. I dunno if we’ll ever see that.

    1. Mollyscribbles

      Maybe if he went through some intensive therapy in prison . . . haha no. at best he’ll turn into one of those prisoners who hands out Chick Tracts until the day he’s turned in for contraband after someone took a bunch and turned the staples into shivs.

      1. Cerberus

        I can also see him becoming a local cause celebre for the Fundie crowd.

        “Innocent family man who just wanted to reunite and rebuild his family hard-done by the courts and the gay agenda.” makes a great Focus on the Family headline even if it’s not actually true.

        Which will be fun for Joyce and Becky if that happens, because they’ll be in for a fun amount of death threats.

        1. James

          Depends on exactly how deeply batshit the rest of Becky and Joyce’s home community is. Firing a gun on campus mught be the line thatpfffff- who am I kidding, they’re in for some pretty nasty fallout from Joyce’s family, methinks.

        2. Dorje Sylas

          People tend to quickly gloss over details that don’t fit their narrative. After all Fox News writers make their living doing just that.

        3. Void

          We’ve seen joyce’s family. They are less toe-shaped and crazy than toe dad*. The worst reaction they would have is just criticising his methods. They will probably not support gayness, but they’ll probably think toe dad went too far.

          *I forgot his real name.

        4. Clif

          *Mud

      2. Agemegos

        Yup. He’s a big, violent guy no-one is going to fuck with, and he’s going to read his Bible and wallow in his martyrdom until he is old and grey.

  32. Mom

    Ugh, typical abusive response who’s goin to the slammer. Looks like he joins the same category as Abbey’so Dad in Bittersweet Candy Bowl.

  33. Idon'tcarenomore

    Nice to see that a life threatning incident that he caused, did not change him in the last bit.
    He is still a total and complete dick.

    WTG, blaming your total miserable life on your daughter, who sure as shit, deserves better than you.

    Poor Becky, she tried. I wish she had known better than go near him again.

    1. NoHeart6265

      I think she knew the jist of what he would say to her, but she wanted closure nonetheless. Sometimes people need one last look at what they’re walking away from, even if they know it won’t be pleasant.

      1. Cerberus

        Yeah, and sometimes you gotta let out what you need to say one last time even if it’s worthless. It’s a key component to taking your power a little back as you move on to nurse the PTSD you’ve inherited.

        He has this chance to hurt her, but luckily for her, this is probably the last chance he’ll ever get.

        1. NoHeart6265

          Thank god for that

        2. Agemegos

          Yep. You gotta say what you gotta say, and I admire Becky’s courage and resolution in effecting closure for herself though at the cost of short-term pain.

      2. fizzywafflezsuperstore

        More closure would be earned if she choked the fool out!

        Make him die…

  34. Palamdrone

    His body is the family.

    1. Chronos

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

  35. Brandon

    Even when shown sympathy, he responds with hate. What he is: is a lost man

  36. Noclevername

    “Look what you made me do!”

    The eternal battle cry of the emotionally incomplete.

    … and total fucking shitheads.

    1. Guairdean Beatha

      “You made me do it” is followed closely by “I only (slapped her, hit her, broke her nose, broke her arm, put her in the hospital) because I love her.” There seems to be some belief that the words “because I love her” explain, and justify, everything.

  37. whataname

    Its amazing how upside down the world is when you’re a toe.

    1. Disloyal Subject

      People are strange, when you’re a stranger.
      Lesbians seem wicked, when you’re a toe.

      1. 3-I

        When you’re a toe! Faces come out of the snow! When you’re toe!

  38. -Sentinel-

    …….who are Bryan and Sayid, again?

    1. Someone

      Brian is the guy at the LBGTQ meeting
      Sayid is the guy who lent amazi girl his skateboard

      1. -Sentinel-

        Ah, thanks. Well they’ve both got a “y” in the middle of their 5-letter names, so I’m sure they’re meant for each other.

        1. 3-I

          And they’re gonna bring those y chromosome traits together, knowhamsayin’?

      2. Someone

        Damn I cannot spell names

      3. Ash Ketchup

        Wait was Bryan the guy sporting Doug Funnie clothes?

    2. merbrat

      Sayid’s skateboard was deputized by Amazi-Girl. Was Bryan the guy hosting the meetup with his straight friend?

    3. Catullus

      Bryan ran the meetup for questioning individuals.

      Sayid had his skateboard commandeered by Amazi-Girl.

      1. Strangeshapes

        Is it bad that my head canon is hoping Sayid is at least bi? Because, dayum, those sleeves are so pretty.

      2. fogel

        “Deputized” … Sayid was cool.

    4. Kelly

      Bryan has been in the background a few times I think? And I think he was at that LGBTQA+/questioning event. As far as I recall Sayid has not shown up in the main comic so far.

      1. Lord Stoneheart

        Amazi Girl commandeered his skateboard. I’m not sure if he was in more than two comics at most. I should probably check the tags.

    5. Sageress

      THAT WAS MY REACTION

    6. Nono

      I kept misreading the pairing as ‘Walky/Sayid’.

  39. Irune

    I kinda want Becky to chew him out but honestly you can’t tell this type of person anything. She could pour her heart out and bare her soul to this man but in the end he’s not really listening and will always place blame and hatred on her.
    It’s just not worth it.

    1. Cerberus

      Yup, this 100%. You can pour your heart out, you can spend hours crafting careful emails addressing pages of abuse and hurt and try and make a case for empathy and your own humanity. You can hand them resources to understand. You can promise to go slow and help acclimate them. And you can forgive the unforgiveable and it doesn’t change their bullshit.

      At the end you gotta walk out and never see them again.

      1. Bagge

        That is sad but true. And I think Becky handles it well because she says what SHE needs to say, and doesn’t seem to have that many illusions of any effect it will have on her butthole father.

        It still hurts a lot of course.

        1. Agemegos

          Exactly so.

      2. Spencer

        Ayup. I didn’t go through the same brand of abuse as Becky here, but the situation of trying to reason with an abuser who straight up will not listen, it’s just fucking brutal. It makes you feel so goddamn small.

        1. Cerberus

          The worst is the begging for your humanity, because after awhile, you start to believe you should have to beg for your humanity and that it would of course be difficult for people to treat people like you humanely.

        2. Spencer

          Heh, yep. My plan of action when I was a kid was to take away from my own life to try and fix my mother’s alcoholism. Don’t bring anyone over or make friends because they’ll get involved, don’t tell anyone because she’ll get hurt, ceaselessly support her or else she’ll do something and die. I never really realized and stopped, so much as I’ve just been completely burnt out for years and I’m kind of resigned myself to her drinking herself to death, and I fucking hate myself for allowing myself to think it. That line in panel 4? That’s pretty much my thought process with her.

          Honestly, Cerberus, I need to thank you. Your amazing posts have helped me be more open about my experiences and to stop being ashamed that they happened to me. That I don’t need to talk about living with an abusive parent in hushed whispers.

        3. Cerberus

          *Hugs*

          My… it’s complicated had the same upbringing as you. Finally pulling away from her alcoholic mother was the hardest thing for her to do but was so critical to her mental health.

  40. M-M

    Panel 2: hope that this might not go horribly wrong. Panel 6: confirmation that wrong is the only direction ToeDad can travel.

  41. LeslieBean4Shizzle

    New Slipshine! **skedaddle**

  42. Fran

    In the end of the day, its only about him. “Look at me”, fuck. He is the only one to validate that family… Well, bad news, Becky has a better family now, without you!

  43. Nena

    Dump a bedpan over his worthless head!

    1. fallingwaters2

      eeeeewwwwwwww
      do it

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Maybe remember the poor nurse who has to clean him up after before you do that. :/

        Just, like, dip your hand in and rub it right into that moustache there. Then go wash your perfectly washable hand.

        1. Dragon_Nataku

          What is wrong with you.

          This is a hospital. There are latex gloves literally everywhere. Put one on first.

          :op

        2. Kryss LaBryn

          Oh gods you’re right. I’m a terrible, terrible person.

          Of course put on a damned glove.

    2. Willoughby Chase

      Yes.

  44. Plasma Mongoose

    At least his reply makes it easier to see him in more black and whiter terms.

    1. Agemegos

      Yep. To effect closure, Becky has to cauterise the last strands of sympathy for a man who is never going to be capable of doing her any good. It’s going to hurt, but less than a lifetime of thinking that maybe he’s not a complete arsehole, of having parting words unsaid.

  45. evilmidnightlurker

    Oh for —

    GO GET AN INGROWN FACE AND DIE.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Here is why we still need an upvote system.

      1. NinjaNick

        Like Disqus.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          I’ll take WordPress over Disqus every time.

    2. NoHeart6265

      He already has an ingrown neck

  46. Larkle

    You stupid toe.

  47. Guairdean Beatha

    Guilt is one of the primary weapons of a true control freak. Fundie’s statement is proof that denial isn’t just a river in Spain.

    Yes, I know, but I’m betting Fundie doesn’t.

    1. JonRich

      You mean Egypt? The Nile “de Nile/denial” isn’t in Spain.

      1. Guairdean Beatha

        As I said, I know, but I’m betting Fundie doesn’t.

        1. JonRich

          Ah, I missed that.

    2. No Name

      Actually, The Nile is in the Bible; it’s the river Moses was sent down. So unless there’s a really bizarre sect of fundamentalism that for some reason believes Moses led the Jews out of Spain, and let’s be honest there might very well be, all fundies would know denial is in Egypt.

  48. Cathy Garrett

    Anyone else notice toedad’s mustache looks kinda like the Batsymbol?

    I wonder if I can get #Batstache to trend on Twitter.

    1. David M Willis

      Funny you should ask: https://twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/666035782243717120

    2. Lawzlo

      Da na na na- na na na na Toe-Dad!

      1. Noclevername

        …Now I have to imagine Becky as the Joker to his Bathole.

        Does that make Dina Harley Quinn?

    3. Knightsky

      I commented a few weeks back that his ‘stache was really a Batarang.

  49. Victor Riley

    F him. So hard. I hope he gets to ruminate on his BS in prison.

    Abusive to the end.

    1. Cerberus

      Fish gotta swim.
      Abusers gotta be absolute scum-sucking assholes to anyone they have the illusion of power over.

  50. JetstreamGW

    *eyes the ad for the porny comics*

    … Who are Bryan and Sayid? o.O

    Did I miss something? Have they been in the comic at all?

    1. JonRich

      They were at the questioning sexuality meeting.

      1. JetstreamGW

        Yeah I just found the comic with Bryan in it. Looks like Sayid has never said anything.

        1. Ash Ketchup

          Sayid was the guy who gave Amazi-girl his skateboard so she could pursue Toedad and Becky.

      2. Noclevername

        Looks like sexuality answered back.

    2. Palamdrone

      Background characters. I think one of them was near the fountain when Becky’s dad pulled out a gun. And they were at the gay Q and A meeting.

      1. Kamino Neko

        Bryan was at the meeting. Sayid didn’t exist at that point.

  51. Palamdrone

    Has Willis mentioned what happened to Becky’s mom?

    …is it what I suspect?

    1. Catullus

      Becky’s mom died about a year ago. It hasn’t been mentioned in-comic how, but I think Willis said somewhere that it was cancer.

      1. Palamdrone

        Oh, I was thinking it was suicide. Had she died of natural causes, I’d have thought Ross would believe she was in heaven and it was god’s will, but he said the devil took her away.

        1. Agemegos

          Yes, that’s how I recall it too.

      2. thebatman22

        Oh, man, what if Ross was one of those that didn’t believe in like real medicine and wouldn’t let her get treatment and tried to pray it away.

        1. Ash Ketchup

          I know a few devout Christians who believe cancer is one of the ways in which God keeps the population under control.

        2. Clif

          Death generally is needed to keep the population size under control given the whole fruitful and multiplying thing.

      3. Suchipi

        I wish more of that kind of information was in the comic itself. Every now and then there are things that we know because Willis said so at some point and the deus ex machina of it all gets old.

        1. Clif

          Everything we know about this comic world at all is because Willis says so. But if it isn’t in the story you’re perfectly free to consider it informed speculation. The writer is always free to change their mind until things are published. If Willis decides that the story really calls for a character to die then that can happen; hang the consequences. But on the other hand when the writer reveals something outside the story, arguing with them about it is perhaps not the thing. (not saying you’ve done that ).

        2. Amazi-Stool

          The author is a fan of “show, don’t tell”, so you can be sure if it is important, it will be shown in the comic. Sooner or later.

          However he sometimes only shows “breadcrumbs” and the correctcanon interpretation is given off-panel.

  52. dailybrad

    I can relate to Becky tremendously there. I hope this can be closure for her

  53. motorfirebox

    Some toes, you just can’t reach.

    1. Suchipi

      Heh.

    2. fallingwaters2

      No matter how much you extend.

      1. Strangeshapes

        Ok, so it’s been awhile since I went to the gym…no need to rub it in.

  54. Bagge

    But for the….

    ROSS DIN DJÄVLA SKITHÖG!!!! DITT HELVETES DJÄVLA AS TILL PATETISKA YNKRYGG. OM DU HAR MAGE ATT SKYLLA PÅ BECKY SÅ ÄR DU ETT ÄNNU STÖRRE KRÄK ÄN JAG TRODDE. DRA ÅT HELVETE DITT ÄCKLIGA RÖVHATTSKUKHUVUD!!!!!!!!

    FUDGE DIG ROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Cerberus

      I wish my swedish was better, because I caught enough to know there are some damn skippy insults in there.

      1. Tacos

        Oh it’s Swedish? I didn’t know. I just assumed Bagge was trying to summon Cthulhu to murder Toedad to death or something >.>U

        1. Bagge

          Swearing in Swedish is otherwise known to summon a flock of compsognathuses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAKyheQWPIM

        2. Deanatay

          Next up on DoA: Dina leans Swedish.

        3. Bagge

          I’ll bet you anything she knows those exact swears that Peter Stormare uses – and nothing else.

      2. Disloyal Subject

        I only knew two words of it, both thanks to Ginger’s Bread.
        I think I got the general idea, though.

        1. Clif

          I don’t know a word of Swedish and got the general idea. Unless it was a comment on the cuisine in which case I didn’t have a clue.

        2. Dragon_Nataku

          I knew “Ross” and “Becky”! ^<__<^;;

          Pretty sure "jag" is I/me but other than that I know nothing. whee~ I need to learn more languages.

    2. Cheshrin

      I don’t know exactly what you just said but I’m pretty sure the last line is “fuck you Ross” and that is a sentiment I can get behind.

      1. No Name

        No, it’s “Fudge you Ross”. Bagge never wants to engage in coitus with Ross Babies McIntyre, and for good reason.

    3. Opus the Poet

      Google Translate has no idea what RÖVHATTSKUKHUVUD!!!!!!!! means.

      1. Bagge

        It’s a…. concept that is not strictly anatomically plausible.

        There are some naughty bits involved.

      2. caesaria82

        lmao 4 years of Swedish (albeit ages ago) and all I get is ‘…. something about sick heads?’ xD

        1. Bagge

          Yeeeeees…. there is a KIND of head involved….

        2. caesaria82

          lmao you are kinda my favorite right now :3

          (I don’t even wanna know what it means, I’m sure it’s glorious and fits Ross, whatever it is xD)

        3. Opus the Poet

          Is this what is sometimes referred to as a recto-cranial impaction? 😀

      3. Znayx

        Yeah… What gives you the answer is splitting the word like so:
        “RÖV HAT TS KUK HUVUD!!!!!!!!”, althought the division of HATTS is uncertain. I think it’s probably “hatt” because that seems to be “hat” in swedish, but then you’ve got a lonely “s”. Hmmm. However, if it’s kind of like english, he might be aiming for “RÖV HATT’S KUK HUVUD!!!!!!!!”, note the apostrophe. ***** hat’s ***** *****. <– Like that, basically.

        1. Bagge

          A+

        2. Znayx

          I passed my Google Translate Exam – Swedish Swearing Edition! I’m so proud of myself!

          Now if only I could find a way to apply these skills in my computer science courses…

    4. Someone

      i get the feeling you dislike Ross

      1. Chronos

        You *know* a person’s pissed off if they start screaming in a different language…

        1. Bagge

          I might have been too subtle about my feelings to Ross this story ark…

          SATANS KNULLHÖG!!!

          (I was actually worried Ross wouldn’t piss me off enough that I could use that gag. Silly me, of course he took the chance to one-up his earlier asshole record for his last appearance.)

        2. Chronos

          Last appearance, we hope, anyway.

        3. Bagge

          I REALLY hope this was the last appearance. I’m running out of swears.

        4. Chronos

          There are plenty of other languages, though- all with creative swears. One of my favorite curses is from Serbian: “May your house be ‘Live from CNN!'” Apparently that one is derived from when the United States conducted airstrikes in the Yugoslav Wars in the early-mid 90s.

        5. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          I’d be swearing at him in Latin, but I don’t remember how to use the imperative form anymore. So I’ll leave the infinitive form of the appropriate word here: CEVEO ROSS.

    5. caesaria82

      I can do this!

      ROSS DU BESCHISSENER SCHEIß WICHSER SCHER DICH ZUM TEUFEL DU BIST DAS LETZE STÜCK SCHEIßE UND EIN ARSCH UND AHHHHH BITTE STERB UND LASS BECKY IHR LEBEN LEBEN DU DUMMER DRECKSACK.

      …. that was cathartic and a very good idea 😀

      1. Bagge

        When just one language is not enough to express our feelings about “daddy of the year”

        “Drecksack” might be my new favorite word 🙂

        1. caesaria82

          Global icon of hatred!

          I love that word too. It literally means sack of dirt and it’s so apt. High-five for our Germanic languages and their creative insults 😉

      2. inqntrol

        Magnificient-10/10, would curse too, but my language is too alien

        1. caesaria82

          Extra-terrestrial cursing might be interesting though! Might help the SETI people decypher some stuff 😉

        2. Opus the Poet

          well after that inspiration”

          Ross you stinking container of bio-hazards. Your existence is reviled on all the higher planes and dimensions. This is the only plane and dimension you are allowed to exist, and the duration of that existence is uncertain but will not be long. After you cease you will no longer be allowed to work off your karma because there would be too much suffering for one creature to endure required to wipe out the debt.

      3. Gamaran Sepudomyn

        ROSS DU BIST EIN SCHEISSBREIN. AUFHOREN DAMIT.

        1. caesaria82

          Idk what a Scheissbrein is, it’s definitely not a German word, but I like it anyway because it sounds like a very bad thing xD

    6. inqntrol

      Hmmm, in the first sentence did you say “Ross you goddamn shitbag!”?

      1. Bagge

        In essence, yes 🙂

        The literary translation is “Ross, you devilish pile of shit”. Swedish swearing has a tendency to invoke hell and the devil rather than God (I’m sure there are interesting cultural/historical/religious reasons for that if one starts digging). Also instead of “fuck” we tend to use synonyms for various bodyparts.

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          In Quebec no one really gives a damn about “fuck”, it’s a natural bodily function. But because the society is traditionally Catholic, the worst thing you can say is “Tabernac!” Which is French for Tabernacle, the highly ornate box sitting on the altar that holds the communion wafers, which you are not supposed to just go around mentioning.

          Quebec is a weird place.

    7. evilmidnightlurker

      I need to learn more of my ancestral Yiddish, and by “more” I mean “any.”

      1. Bagge

        In my experience, the best way of learning a new language is to find a bunch of teenagers and ask them to tell you some good phrases. When they are done giggling you will know ALL the profanity you could ever use.

        1. Tacos

          From what I know, the most important words to learn in any new language are all the profanities and, “Where is the bathroom?”

        2. Leorale

          I’m not sure there are teenagers who speak Yiddish anymore. However, it’s rich with terrifically specific insults, with varying levels of profanity. A couple clean ones:

          I forget how to say it, but the idea is, “May you be like a glittering chandelier, to hang by day, and to burn by night.”

          For extra Jewiness, there’s also “Lign in drerd un bakn beygl!”, which means, “May you lie in the ground and bake bagels” (as in, burn in hell, baking bagels that you never get to eat. Jews never quite adopted the Christian idea of hell, but I guess we must’ve tried it out).

          Delicious vocab: http://www.oychicago.com/blog.aspx?id=8318&blogid=142

        3. Leorale

          oh my goodness I just googled ‘Yiddish curses’ and these are amazing.
          http://yiddishradioproject.org/exhibits/stutchkoff/curses.php3
          (My faves are 27 and 31.)

        4. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          I’m partial to 34.

        5. evilmidnightlurker

          The only one I can kind of remember offhand is something like “You should grow upside down in the ground like a turnip.”

        6. Leorale

          Oh! I know that one: “May you grow like an onion, with your head in the ground.” Quite appropriate for a Toe.

        7. Bagge

          That is awesome!

        8. Opus the Poet

          When I was a military brat living overseas the first thing we learned after “Where is the bathroom/toilet?” was a list of common swears so we would know when we had “overly annoyed” one of the locals.

        9. merbrat

          Stationed in UK, with jaunts to Germany, we worked on a German Helicopter base. The pilots all spoke english, but not the crew. I passed by a couple guy playing pinball, and in this flurry of German, I hear “…bullsheet” One word, very fast. One of the local jokes: “What’s the longest American word?” “Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!” Yup.

    8. Agemegos

      What have the Swiss got to do with it?

      1. Clif

        (insert neutrally joke here) Also they have a cool sounding language to express invicative in.

    9. Gecko

      Kärnfullt uttryckt. Sammanfattar väl vad jag kände också. Jepp.
      Det här var verkligen en slutlig bekräftelse av att Ross egentligen inte bryr sig ett dugg om Becky – bara om sin egen familjefantasi. Och att Becky inte spelar “sin roll” i den längre.

      1. Bagge

        Tack, jag har velat slänga in lite svenska svordomar ett tag :). Jupp. Det är uppenbart för henne också att han aldrig kommer att acceptera den dotter han har istallet för den han fantiserar om. Och ändå konfronterar hon honom en sista gång. Becky är awesome!

    10. fallingwaters2

      私たちはまだこのたわごとの対象としているなんて信じられません！どこか他のあなたの愚かさを取り、あなたの恐ろしい、恐ろしい人！

  55. Cerberus

    This type of moment is the roughest. Spilling your heart out to a family member you want to see you as you. Trying to show how much you care about them. Even after they’ve been awful. Even after they’ve hurt those closest to you. When you try and show that pain and also show that care for their feelings and their “struggles” and them just taking advantage of that to twist the knife in deeper.

    It’s why people like Becky don’t really get true closure. They just get cutting the toxic person out of their life. They don’t get to have a family of birth, just the families of choice they carve out later. And they get the scars of trying to reach out and having that thrown right back in their face.

    Becky shows in this moment, her morality and strength. She can’t bear to see anyone hurt in any of this and has the personality to martyr (we saw that in how she sacrificed herself for Joyce and how she put herself at risk to prevent her dad from getting his suicide by cops and to try and jerk the wheel away from her dad when he was trying to kill Amber). But she’s still her and while she’s still a person who wants the family she was promised growing up, she’s shown plenty of times this arc that she will never compromise that which is most central to her being.

    She cares about him, but she recognizes what he is and how he has severed anything that could ever exist between them. And the worst part is that moment where she calls herself broken for caring about his safety and well-being and for being more sad than angry, because yes, that is how that whole thing feels. A complex mess of emotions and you just feel wrong no matter how you feel (either ungrateful for being angry or like a chump for feeling sad). And it shows that she still internalizes that hate and hurt she has been taking in repeatedly.

    It’s all very… human.

    1. Fran

      Im speechless… This hits so close to me, thank you

      1. Cerberus

        I’m sorry that it does. It hits close to home for me too. *Hugs*

    2. Bagge

      Becky is awesome, and what she is doing here is both very brave and very mature. She aims for closure, for both of them. She gives him the chance to end on a…. not a high note, but at least in recognition of something that could have been.

      Ross, of course, is the opposite of awesome. He takes this moment not to comfort or encourage or even in a last ditch effort to save her soul (it would be horrible and hurtful, but if he said something in the line “it is not to late for you to find Jesus, go back to our church, not for me but for you” it would still show a genuine commitment to what he claims to believe in), but to direct blame and to hurt Becky one last time. In the end of the day his pride turned out to be more important than Becky’s soul, even in his own twisted world view.

      Godspeed Becky, may you never have to see this asshole again.

      1. Cerberus

        Of course his pride was what mattered most. Even if she was to “find Jesus”, renounce her queerness and live in utter misery with a man and 14.8 children, it wouldn’t be because of him. It wouldn’t be because HE fixed his family with manly intent.

        By not breaking like she was supposed to, she robbed him of his pride at being a rock who enforces morality. And the fact at the end of this, he has been humiliated and beaten by a group of women, including at least 2 queer women, is the icing on the cake.

        He only knows how to threaten and wound and destroy what safety and hope Becky has. But as the policeman at the door said, she really doesn’t have to put up with that ever again for the rest of her life.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          I honestly believed he cared more about his daughter, or at least his twisted ideal of what she should be, than his pride.
          It’s sad to be proven wrong.

    3. NoHeart6265

      I’ll be honest. Over the past weeks (or has it been months now?) your comments have become favorites of mine. It’s all in the comic but I appreciate that you’ve given insight into all of this, that you’ve given validity to this comic and the reality that it reflects, because honestly it’s hard to imagine this as reality for me.

      1. Cerberus

        I honestly wish it wasn’t, because then no one would ever have had to have gone through what I and too many other queerfolk go through.

        But thank you.

      2. Marie

        Yes, if I don’t have the time to read through the comments, I’ve been ctrl+f ing Cerberus

    4. Dr. T

      I can tell that you might have gone through an experience similar to Becky’s. That is heartbreaking. I have a child that is transgendered and my wife and I have done everything we could to avoid anything like that ever happening to him, precisely because I don’t want him to ever experience that kind of pain. I wish I could have done the same for you.

      1. Cerberus

        I know I’ve ended up sharing a good chunk of my personal story simply because this whole thread from the beginning of Becky’s story has hit really really home, but the happy coda to my tale is that I was able to get out and that I had some people in my life including a part of my family that wasn’t much around growing up who’ve stepped up and shown me what actual genuine support looks like.

        I may have lost my family of origin, a job, and a good relationship, but I gained another family connection of chosen family, found a better job I can be out at, and have formed new connections and maybe even excavating something out of the relationship that imploded. And I’ve even been given a chance to help and aid other trans and queer kids, especially those whose parents don’t know how to fully support their kids and that means a lot to me.

        It can get better, but it takes luck and I’ve been luckier than most in that respect. I think Becky will have that luck on her side as well. She has support and wonderful protective chosen family. She’ll have her scars, certainly, but I really do think she’ll land on her feet.

        1. Leorale

          <3

        2. Bagge

          I’m happy that you got out of your situation ahead and that you could built something good from it. I’m also glad that Becky’s story has been a positive experience for you.

          Thanks so much for sharing, and for reminding us that, unfortunately, this kind of situations is not always fiction. There are real life ToeDads but more importantly there are real life Beckys, just as awesome and in just the same need for support form real life Joyces, Dinas and Sarahs.

          Thanks for good discussions… and we still have the entire aftermath to deal with.

        3. Regalli

          *Internet hugs*

    5. pendrake

      Speaking as a former Social Worker…

      Well said.

  56. Mkvenner

    Says arse hole who fired off a gun in public.

  57. nothri

    “Oh, hey Dad, your brace is looking a little crooked there….here, lemme just ADJUST! THAT! FOR! YOU!”

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      “Just a leetle bit to the riiiight…

      Aaannnd…

      Bammo! His head’s been snapped off!

      I’ll add it to my collection!”

  58. NinjaNick

    Becky, forget about your Butthole dad and just give him a goodbye slap in the face. You have your new family with Joyce and Dina.

    1. JWLM

      It isn’t that easy.

      I deal with a lot of trans kids whose parents have rejected them, just for being. They never really get closure; a new family of choice is a huge step away from the gap that rejection leaves, but it’s not the same as acceptance and the warmth their childhood family should have given them.

      1. Cerberus

        There’s a lot of this. Family of choice is nice. But it isn’t the same stability that a really good, really supportive family of origin can supply (consistency to childhood, a safety net if things go bad, a place to return to if everything goes wrong). And that sacrifice of closure means just suturing up the wounds as best you can and just building something up from scratch. The scars of rejection run deep and you can grow to be mostly functional, but there’s a lot of walking wounded to it as well.

        1. Rutee

          ….sigh. knew it was coming, but….

        2. Rutee

          I apologize, that was supposed to be about the comic as a whole. Though I’m glad things ultimately ended up going well for you.

        3. Marie

          I love the idea of a family of choice, but (not only because of my parents/blood relatives) I have a nigh impossible time opening up to people, let alone trusting them to be a stable family. The closest thing I have are my husband and my next best friend (who I’ve known since we were very small), but she lives far away so she’s more like a ‘cousin’ than a new-immediate family. My husband and I talk to each other about being family a lot, but that’s just one person.

      2. Cerberus

        Also thank you so much for your support and aid to our community.

  59. Tacos

    Alright Becky, you’ve said your peace, now you can go because this bastard clearly is never gonna change.

    As for Toedad: GO FUCK YOURSELF.

    1. Cerberus

      Yeah, at the end, you have to walk away from all that represents and rebuild what smoldering remains of your life you have left. And try not to care about the mythology that bitter asshole constructs to justify their douchebaggery.

      Yeah, uh huh, Becky broke up the family and not you for rejecting her, threatening all her friends, and committing multiple felonies to try and drag her to an abuse camp. Sure, whatever, go to sleep, hopefully with slightly inadequate painkillers.

      1. Regalli

        And may his lawyer be female and honestly just there to prove the legal system works and giving the defendant representation even when he’s a guilty piece of shit.

        (And you just KNOW he’s not gonna accept a plea bargain.)

  60. Ash Ketchup

    Pretty sure ‘ol Ross is just talking to Invisible Satan.

    1. Palamdrone

      Which coincidentally is right behind where ever Becky is standing.

  61. Cheshrin

    OH FOR FUCKS SAKE.

  62. Noclevername

    We could officially change his fan name from ToeDad to DoucheDad. That could be a thing.

    1. Cerberus

      Heh, I actually used that one for a bit for my own terrible dad. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be fitting for ToeDouche…

    2. Chronos

      I feel like that would be a grave insult to douches everywhere. I like to think “ToeDad” is a unique insult that specifically fits him and only him.

    3. NinjaNick

      Butthole Dad is a decent alternative. Even his mouth looks like one.

      1. Chronos

        I’m afraid to ask what his mustache would be in this context.

        1. Deanatay

          Butt Taco? 🙂

  63. Chronos

    I’m not angry at Toedad, surprising as that is.

    I’m just… disappointed. For whatever reason now lost to me, I thought he could come out with something decent for once.

    *sigh*

    That shows what I know.

    1. Dr. T

      I bet you were hoping that since his motivations were supposed to be based on religion that he might try to emulate being a good and holy person. He’s not. He’s a POS who would be abusive in any manner and religion is simply a useful weapon for him towards those purposes.

      1. Chronos

        “Huh. I tried my best to stop you and failed utterly. Maybe I was wrong. Prove me wrong and live your life the way you see fit. I wish you good luck.”

        As best as I can put into words, *that* is what I had hoped. I can’t really see myself doing anything remotely close to what Toedad has done to Becky, but assuming I had and failed so completely, I think I’d want them to prove me wrong and succeed at whatever it is I failed to stop them from doing.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          I wasn’t really expecting that, but I thought, with force no longer possible, he could at least beg for her to go back home and let the church try to change her.
          This is probably better for her in the long run, but I had faith there was goodness at his core motivating his lunacy.

        2. Kryss LaBryn

          “Huh. I thought God had my back, but if he actually did, then you wouldn’t have been able to stop me. I did everything in my power and I know the Devil is not stronger than God and I failed and you succeeded, so maybe God IS behind you after all.”

          Except, nope, that will never ever happen anywhere ever.

  64. Matt

    Well if your going to be that way a fine fuck you too then.

  65. Tarnagh

    aaaaaand suddenly, I realize: Yes, it is possible to hate this bastard even more than I already did.

  66. detective boomwolf

    Darnit Ross. That was your last shot, your last shot at going down with something good. It may not have been much, it may not have been able to make people forgive you for your oh so special brand of insanity. But it would’ve made you gone down with something. Now? Now you’re gonna go down as “that guy”.

  67. Rob

    I AM GOING TO RIP THAT PATHETIC MUSTACHE OFF HIS DISGUSTING FACE IF THAT MAN DOES NOT SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT THE FUCK NOW I AM SO MAD

  68. newllend(henryvolt)

    Well I guess when your back is against the wall the only thing to do is blame your only daughter for almost being killed because of your own actions and not blame yourself.

  69. Carms

    I really like the walky and Dorothy thumbnail. They look so chill with each other.

  70. DT

    I hope he gets an epic telling off next comic.

    1. NinjaNick

      How about a spray of mace in his eyes and a “Go to Hell” from Becky?

      1. fogel

        That’s not Becky

    2. Lapin

      How about the nurses “forgetting” to keep him in the rotation for painkillers? Which is bad and wrong, but also very, very understandable.

      1. tim guegue

        Unfortunately I suspect someone dealing with him, either cops or medical personnel, will be sympathetic to him, seeing Becky as an ungrateful, disobedient child.

  71. caesaria82

    Becky, you strong beautiful unicorn. I’m so glad you exist.

    1. Someone

      Thats why she likes Joyce so much (Virgin)

  72. phildog

    Just when you think Wilis can’t organically make this look this guy look like even more of an asshole, he does it.

    1. Kryss LaBryn

      Hey, it’s not like he’s parked in the handicapped space or anything. 😉

  73. Lorien Inksong

    Wow… that tiny tiny touch of sympathy I had for Toe Dad (I can feel a sliver of empathy for bad people) just died in an inferno. Poor Becky, I’m glad she’s getting out of this.

  74. brumagem

    Oh Ross, bless your heart. You were the one who did that, you vile louse.

  75. inqntrol

    “You’ve destroyed our family.”
    ….God damnit Ross, are you deaf or something?! Please just lock him away.

  76. Sionyx

    …Whelp, can’t say we didn’t see this coming. Glad Becky was able to say what she needed to say and that Ross heard it, even if it didn’t sink in for the most part. He knows she’s glad he’s alive and showed a softer expression for it…that may be all Becky gets.

  77. FLUFFYWOLF

    “you’ve destroyed our family”
    ..aaaand like that you’ve lost me.

    1. caesaria82

      He didn’t lose you earlier, like maybe when he BROUGHT A GUN TO GET HIS DAUGHTER BACK AND FIRED IT IN A PUBLIC PLACE?

      1. Disloyal Subject

        At least then he was trying to help his daughter, if only by “fixing” her.
        This was just… pointless spite.

        1. Lapin

          He brought a gun to a public place, fired it, threatened suicide by the police, thus enabling him to abduct Becky by using her love for him and her love for Joyce and general empathy towards other human beings. He was threatening other human beings with actual physical harm and/or death, and did physically assault Dina, and again forcibly abduct Becky.

          Pointless spite is the least of his sins.

        2. Disloyal Subject

          I don’t disagree. Well, aside from the ‘physically assault Dina’ part – he threw her off after she attacked him, but she was pretty damned justified in doing so considering, among other things, all the rifle-brandishing – but all that seemed to be out of love for Becky, filtered through a hopelessly misguided worldview. His display of emotion at the fountain made me believe that for a while.
          Maybe he really did care, but now he’s given up. Maybe it was just about his wounded pride all along.

          It doesn’t really matter either way. Becky can be rid of him now.

        3. Lapin

          He brandished a rifle in a public place, and fired a shot. He scared so many people in that moment. He didn’t give a fuck. He /brought/ a rifle with the intention of forcibly abducting his adult daughter because she defied him after he removed her from her university for daring to act on her romantic feelings.

          Ross loved his ideal. When Becky wasn’t what she was supposed to be, he abused her, threatened her, frightened her, all to the point she ran away from him, and then upped the ante on his physical and emotional abuse until she buckled to save people.

          Ross never loved Becky. Ross loved an ideal.

        4. Regalli

          YES, very much this. This kind of parent only has a very strict guide for what their child “should” be in their mind, and anything that deviates from that must be fixed. They’re the ones that say “autism stole my child” despite their child always being autistic and probably being a pretty decent kid, because they don’t measure up to that ideal. They’re the ones who pressure the kid into sports or law school or whatever because this is what their child is supposed to do, the ones that avoid getting help because suck it up you should be able to manage it on your own. The best these parents can do is wake up and realize that they didn’t make a doll or a miniature them, they made a human being and they need to get over themselves and their expectations.

          The worst they do is this, or other abuse to try and “fix” their child back into the mold they’d set aside at birth that never actually fit.

        5. NelC

          You know the straw that broke the camel’s back? The rest of the straw was also a burden, it was just that last straw that directly caused the damage.

          To say that this event is the one that lost Fluffywolf’s sympathy says nothing about approval or acceptance for anything that went before. Yes, that other stuff was bad. If you lost your last drop of sympathy before the last frame of this comic, well, that’s you. Yay you?

    2. Lapin

      He assaulted a person (Dina), threatened imminent harm with a weapon, and forcibly abducted a person.

      And this is where you draw the line?

      1. Clif

        Why no. Sticking his head out the window of a speeding car he’s driving and his daughter is riding in so that he can try to shoot someone on the roof is where I draw the line.

      2. Dragon_Nataku

        Not that I’m defending Toedad (really, I just want him, Blaine, and Ryan to die in a fire, preferably NOT from smoke inhalation), but I think what Disloyal Subject and the others are saying is that previously Toedad had said he was doing this to “save” Becky from hell or whatever, because he loves her. They’re focusing on the love behind the actions rather than the actions themselves.

        Now that he’s acting like this though the belief that he was doing these things (admittedly truly terrible awful stupid things) out of love has been completely dashed. At least if he had been doing it out of love there may have been some teeny-tiny small miniscule shred of redeemable quality in him, but now it’s clear that there’s nothing at all good in him and he was just a horrible person all along.

  78. izumi ryu

    He may be technically right. It was destroyed when she turned her back on him, disrespected him and disobeyed him by leaving him the first time, but if that’s all it took to destroy a family, then the family needed to be destroyed.

    Becky had the strength to do right by herself, even if she had to destroy her family to do it. That’s admirable in itself.

    Funny thing about toxic environments, they’re really easy to burn down.

    1. Cerberus

      I really love that last line, like really love it. Thank you.

      1. izumi ryu

        It was a thought. The way I saw it, Becky did destroy her family. Saying Ross did gives Ross way too much credit. He did something even dumber. He tried to rebuild using the same faulty schematics.

      2. izumi ryu

        I don’t have real life stories to share with people like this. Just the stories I put my characters through (the kid on my gravatar especially has been and will go through some similar drama). It’s still hard to say whether I have the right to comment on things like these except in cases of trying to look at the larger picture.

      3. Bagge

        That’s really empowering.

        1. izumi ryu

          It’s more effective to turn words intended for shame and disparagement into a source of pride and power. It tends to tick off those trying to bring you down.

    2. evilmidnightlurker

      That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.

      1. Agemegos

        Hear! Hear!

    3. Cephalo the Pod

      …maybe I’m being too pedantic here, and I don’t know of you’re making an actual chemistry reference with that last line, but I don’t think toxicity is proportional to flammability.

  79. Megatron

    That was unnecessarily cruel.

    1. inqntrol

      I bet that you liked it M. “nudge nudge”

      1. Tacos

        I think even Megs has his limits in this regard.

    2. Agemegos

      It’s going to be nothing compared to Becky’s reply.

  80. Rabid Rabbit

    And suddenly, I’m sort of tempted to actually get a Slipshine subscription, simply out of curiosity to find out whether Roz is actually any good in bed, as I think it would be hilarious if she wasn’t.

    1. Cerberus

      Eh, Roz has got a lot of good in this incarnation (strong political beliefs and does genuine activism for the causes she supports, good awareness on a lot of issues relating to gender and sexuality, and a better belief in consent than Joe). She’s just also young and full-of-herself and hasn’t realized that all her reading up doesn’t actually mean she knows everything about how the world works. If the world doesn’t break her and she learns to more fully listen to others, she’ll grow out of her annoying side and become a great activist.

      And let’s not forget that sharing a room with Mary probably does fowl things for one’s empathy in general.

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        Oh, it’s not that I find her annoying. (Well, a little, yes.) It’s just that the idea of someone being this obsessed with sex but not actually good at it tickels my fancy.

        1. Cerberus

          … Okay, yeah, I can see that.

      2. Agemegos

        Roz it one of those idealists who is a great champion of Humanity but callous to actual people.

        1. Spencer

          Roz can be a butthole but I wouldn’t say she’s callous.

          She’s opinionated and more than a little self righteous, but when she intuited that something had happened to Joyce at the party she tried to get her some help.

    2. David

      Oh, Roz. I thought you said “Ross” and thought what the Willis.

      1. tim guegue

        He’d make a pretty boring sex comic character. I suspect he’s the kind of guy who thinks of sex in the same way as women in his circle are supposed to, as a chore to be done to produce babies and nothing else.

        1. Cerberus

          Or as the woman’s role to the man, to keep him from straying off the path of righteousness into the seas of temptation (yes, this is a real view in that community, yes, it is absolutely horrifying). Either way, expect a lot of one-sided missionary.

  81. Lone Wolf

    Yeah, figured that it would turn out like this. I was hoping it wouldn’t, but as they say, “Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.”

    1. Belle

      That is a terribly depressing sentiment. ._.

  82. TimeLoss

    Ross: Horrible human being till the end.

  83. 0kami

    You were given one last chance at some meager salvaging of your character, Toehole, and you screwed it up!

  84. Robert

    Nice save Ross…way to stick that landing.

  85. Kernanator

    For a moment I thought that Toedad might, if not see the error of his ways, at least acknowledge his own culpability in this whole mess, if only in the “I shouldn’t have let go of the wheel of a moving vehicle” sense. But no, he lays all of the blame squarely at Becky’s feet, reaffirming that he is the Worst Dad.

    1. Bagge

      Blaine from next room: “Dude, you are one shitty father.”

      1. Leorale

        Hah!

      2. AutobotDen

        I really wish we had an upvote ability.

      3. tim guegue

        The scary thought comes to mind that Blaine is the kind of guy who has no problem with lesbians, as long as it’s in the context of porn. Actual lesbians in the flesh, not so much.

        1. Regalli

          Oh, I can so see that.

          Blaine would probably also tell him where he went wrong was firing the gun and bringing it PUBLIC, because that’s the kind of glib, narcissistic creepstain he is.

  86. Arianod

    Hm. No, dude; I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her who did it. But never mind.

    1. fogel

      Well put.

  87. Julian

    There is a bitter sort of peace in knowing, beyond question, there was nothing to save; no possible win. In knowing you only failed because it was impossible.
    But it can be awfully hard to see that through the pain.

    1. Agemegos

      Yes, well put. Becky is playing a shitty hand, and this isn’t going to end up good. But I think she playing it well. Better to know that there was not possible win than to think “if only”.

    2. Dara

      Yeah, this. Thanks, ToeDad, for making it clear there is not one goddamn shred of effort worth putting into you. Otherwise she might’ve kept trying, and that would’ve led nowhere good.

    3. fogel

      She’s a good person and doing everything she could to reach him.

      1. fogel

        She wants a real family very much and I think she’s someone who’d be good at it. We probably won’t see it happen in the year of DoA, but right now I’d like to see Becky in 20-30-40 years more than anyone else in the cast because I think she’ll find it (cause I want that).

  88. Buttlerman

    Every time this guy seems to be showing the shred of tolerance, acceptance and redemption it goes back to ‘you destroyed the family’ I guess his hate is more then his love….

    1. Gordon

      He doesn’t really love Becky. Maybe he did at some point, but nothing he has done here was out of love. She is nothing more than a possession to him. A status symbol. A box to be checked for his Proper Christian score sheet. “Obedient Christian Daughter to bear a Good Christian Man several Obedient Christian Children, preferably Boys.”

      1. Leorale

        I kinda feel like like ownership is more Blaine’s major M.O.; the ToeHole does share a whole lot of it, but it’s secondary, it’s more there because that’s how he thinks families work. Ross loves his own righteousness, and he loves the illusory (straight, compliant, motherly, his-brand-of-Christian) daughter and the life he thought he had. He feels (falsely, obv) like the real Becky violently destroyed the idealized Becky, his happy family, and himself (pride, honour, health, etc), by stubbornly insisting on her own continued existence. The thing is, his idealized family never existed. He’s lashing out at his real daughter for killing the illusory one. What’s she supposed to do, apologize for existing? No. He has nothing, now. Perhaps someday he’ll realize that he never did.

        1. evilmidnightlurker

          I get the feeling that Blaine is… more pathological about it.

          He isn’t going to be able to stop. He’ll keep coming back no matter what. They throw him in jail, his every thought will be turned to getting his sentence overturned or outright escaping so he can get back to that college and exert his inherent, absolute, undeniable right to exert whatever control he pleases over his daughter.

          Meanwhile, Toedad has probably given up — sort of the right move, even though for horrible idiotic reasons.

        2. evilmidnightlurker

          ^change one of those “exerts” to “exercise.” Or something.

        3. Leorale

          That would make sense, since Ross wanted control/power for his idealized family’s sake, but he hasn’t got hope of that anymore, whereas Blaine wants power/control for it’s own sake.

        4. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          I’m not optimistic about toedad being permanently broken. I think that comment a while back that Becky will be watching possible parole dates with dread for her and her partner(s) lives for the rest of his life is fairly accurate.

  89. Aaron Tate

    Every time he opens his mouth I just want to hurt him more.

  90. Kaunisenkeli

    Just turn a walk out the door, Becky. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Live a happy life and let him rot.

    1. Kaunisenkeli

      Turn AND walk out the door… bloody typos.

    2. Cerberus

      Part of me wishes this was the other universe, so that Becky could pull an Ultra-car with the triple middle finger:
      http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1831

      1. TheGrammarLegionary

        I feel as though this is relevant to your interests:
        http://9gag.com/gag/adpAD4M/triple-bird

      2. nightsbridge

        Thoughts on the other universe Becky makes, me sick . . . Because she still lived with her toe-parent, and when I think on it I can only build abominable scenarios for why she did not immediately leave at first chance.

  91. Whittier

    This is a hard read because it’s so true to life. I have seen this happen to so many people so many times. So. Many. Times. And yet it keeps happening, this hate that dares call itself love.

    1. Cerberus

      *Hugs*

    2. Opus the Poet

      There are reasons why my church had a recovering Christians group for many years, and people like Ross MacKintire (sp?) are a big part of that

  92. Shiro

    “I don’t miss you, I miss the person I thought you were.”

    1. Cerberus

      Oof, this. All the this. Realizing that the person you thought you cared about for years never even existed and was just one revelation from being proven a fantasy is the most awfulest thing.

      1. Disloyal Subject

        Normally I’d denounce the double intensifier, but it seems fittingly extreme here.

        1. Clif

          Disloyal Subject Most Unfairest to Utmost Doublest Intensifiers

      2. Regalli

        Very much so. Poor Becky.

  93. Emma

    This makes me realize how…how easy I had it with my religious family. They just told me I had lost my path and that Jesus could save me, and they constantly send me religious pamphlets and suggestions for TV pastors to watch…but never did they suggest I was ruining the family. I had it so so very easy that it shocks me. I just hope Becky can leave this feeling like she didn’t have to sacrifice any self worth, and that his barbs don’t cut too deep.

  94. WingedBeast

    No. She didn’t. What happened was your image of your family, this perfect image of what a family has to be… it didn’t match the reality you got. Reality destroyed that image of a family.

    You may, some day, have a chance at gaining her forgiveness for saying that… for so much of what you’ve done. But, it will always be that image of a perfect family that destroyed your family, because you chose not to love the one you had if it didn’t match.

    1. Gecko

      That was beautifully worded, and nailed something I was feeling about this strip (and Ross all this arc, really) that I didn’t know how to express.

      …I kind of hope he might come to some insight and at least work for Becky’s forgiveness, but at the same time, I know too well how people can hold on to those images. (It might make for a better, if sadder, story if he never does.) I’m just so happy Becky broke out of the “perfect picture” and can hang on to reality even if he won’t recognize it as such.

  95. WikiDreamer

    I dunno what’s worse: The fact that I’ve got a dad who’s fairly similar (though nowhere near as ballsy crazy to pull a ToeDad stunt) and I wish neither the best or worst for him (I honestly just do NOT care anymore what becomes of him) or the fact that I’d NEVER have the guts to face him like Becky did just now. That’s….that’s just wow. Nothing but love and respect for her. Hope she can transfer over to IU with no issues.

    1. Regalli

      Hey, it’s your crappy parent and your right to have the feelings towards him you do. It happens and honestly not caring is probably a pretty good brainspace to have given all the options.

  96. NF

    Minus that level of attempted control by him, that’s my relationship with my father. Yep, this comic hits me right in the feels.

  97. James

    So what I’m mostly getting from this aside an ever-growing well of contempt for Toedad is that the late Mrs. MacIntyre must’ve been a freaking SAINT for Becky to have turned out this way. She sure as shit didn’t get the level of maturity displayed here from Ross.

  98. Paul

    So, how long before Joyce gets yanked out of university?

    I mean, we already knew that Becky was without resources and winging it, and even before this had nothing to lose family-wise. But Joyce is counting on her parents to pay her way, and these events will confirm their worst fears about what goes on at secular schools. Plus, she isn’t willing to cut herself off completely yet.

    1. Bagge

      I REALLY don’t think they would be able to pull Joyce out of college. Not after this.

      But there will be a confrontation coming up. It will be hurtful and it will be epic.

      1. James

        Well, if they’re the ones paying her tuition and can’t be swayed by argument… then yeah, they could if they decided to. Or at least force her to have to come up with tuition/housing herself.

        1. Bagge

          Yup, if they were willing to go all the way and actually pull funding for their youngest child.

          Unless Joyce back down of course and leaves Becky and all her friends to go home to a background she now know to be toxic for her best friend. How likely is THAT given all we have seen of her?

          So yeah, I think there will be a clash, but I REALLY don’t think her parents will go through with it. Not in the face of a determined Joyce.

        2. Leorale

          Joyce’s parents are wacky, but I get the impression that they’re more ‘lovingly passive-aggressive prayer sessions’ and less ‘shoot at their children at a school’. (If I was Joyce, I’d want to find out exactly where along that spectrum they are.)

          Joyce also has the major advantage of older siblings who softened her parents up. (They keep referring to one of them as kinda the less-compliant-but-they-still-love-him brother.) There is probably some significant precedent for argument that doesn’t exist in Becky’s family.

        3. Leorale

          er, I meant to say, “less ‘destroy their child’s future’.” (Guess I got distracted by all the shooting.)

        4. Agemegos

          I’m afraid that they might have rather regressive ideas about what might comprise a suitable future for a girl.

        5. Leorale

          That’s a good point. But still, college is the chosen method for finding the future, godly man she’s going to marry, right? Getting her M.R.S. on the way to her B.A.

        6. Leorale

          They might present other, safer ways to snag a husband, and then be surprised that Joyce’s priorities have changed.

        7. fogel

          If Joyce’s sister reveals herself it would take a lot of their parents focus off of Joyce. 😉 At leadt, I bet Jocelyn (rt name?) Will be supporting Joyce and Becky, who she might know, too, if its crunch time in Browns-ville

    2. Lasenna

      I don’t know. I think considering what happened because of Becky’s Dad they may see that this time the fault is on the side of the ultra-devout members of THEIR religion and accept that Joyce made the right call protecting her friend from her psycho father. After seeing this it would make more sense being fearful of the extreme, radical Christian influences (that Ross became) if Joyce was put into a religious school.

      1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

        And maybe hogs will launch from my backside. Especially given that alarming looking preview panel I saw on the tumblr.

    3. BenRG

      I’m not sure that they will ‘yank Joyce from university’. However, I do think that they’ll want to bring her home for a while, just to reassure themselves that she’s okay.

      A lot will depend on exactly how they react to Ross’s actions. They probably don’t have the full picture yet. If, when they do they are furious and focus entirely on making sure he is okay, then fine. If, however, they start to berate Joyce for not co-operating with him and telling him where Becky was but rather leading the cavalry charge to save Becky from him, then things are going to get… problematic for her and very quickly.

    4. altalemur

      i’ve so far gotten the impression that Joyce’s parents are the kind of born-again Christian that happen after a very wild (drugs and rock’n’roll) youth. in my experience, people who’ve done stupid and “sinful” things in their youth (or closeted gay) are the loudest and most conservative Christians. in the case of the born-again Christians in my family, their college-age days involved a lot of drugs, anonymous sex, and pre-marital pregnancy. meanwhile every Christian in the generation before that in my family was very much the quiet, “good neighbor” kind of Christian that doesn’t try to force their belief on others.

      1. Spencer

        IIRC that was basically their backstory in the Walkyverse.

        I miss when they were just kinky weirdos.

    5. anna

      >So, how long before Joyce gets yanked out of university?

      At whatever point Willis decides to end the comic.

  99. Tyg3r

    Wooooow… I can’t even… just, wow.

  100. Carms

    good call on certain controlled comments willis. Carve out a corner of the internet that’s less shitty than the rest of the world.

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      “All people are jerks… at least some times.

      However, if you sift out their jerkiness, all people are wonderful,
      We must then, with this knowledge, bring out the best in us all.”

      -Me

      1. fallingwaters2

        I am clapping so hard right now.
        This. So much this.

  101. Heavensrun

    Hey, can we get Joyce back in here? There hsve not been sufficient punchings.

  102. Just Me

    You unrepentant SOB….you don’t deserve to have a daughter, much less a family.

    Just say goodbye and walk away Becky.

    1. Lapin

      (Sounds of Joye slapping Toedad repeatedly)
      Nurse: You hear anything?
      Cop: Nope.

  103. David

    “You need to work on that story before trying to sell it to the judge. Right now, not even Jesus will be able to buy it.”

  104. Smiling Cat

    Next comic, Toedad blames his wife’s cancer on Becky’s “sinning”.

    Becky’s facade breaks. She spends the night in tears.

    We all die a little inside.

    1. Lapin

      I know you’re joking, but her father is an American Evangelical, and he really could make the connection that God punished his wife with cancer because of Becky being a lesbian.

      1. Smiling Cat

        I’m not entirely joking. That was my honest first guess about the next strip.

        1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          Throwing a few chips into the internet pot on this bet.
          🙁

  105. Lasenna

    Wow this guy can and never will be redeemed.

    1. Smiling Cat

      He has a Job complex. Everything getting thrown at him just makes him push back harder, because obviously the problem can’t be with him.

  106. buckybone

    That’s not a family…if the only way to hold it together is through violence (physical, psychological, financial, etc), then it’s not a family.

  107. Alexx

    Way to go dad. Nice. Just…nice.

  108. oysteinthenoisy

    When Becky leaves the room it is time for ToeDad to have an horrific falling out of bed accident.

  109. deathnote12

    What a dick dont bring him back kill him off or something….

  110. BenRG

    That’s funny, Ross. I don’t remember Becky making violent threats against you, using force and threats to coerce compliance or waving around guns. You were the one whose only obvious emotion from the start was rage. If your family has been destroyed, its because you couldn’t act like a father, only a schoolyard bully.

    You’ve said your piece Becky; unfortunately, his hate-filled heart is closed to any better instincts. There’s nothing more that you can do or say that could reach him.

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      “Schoolyard bully” should be taken as a compliment from one so low as The Toe.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      “You’ve said your piece Becky; unfortunately, his hate-filled heart is closed to any better instincts.  There’s nothing more that you can do or say that could reach him.”
      At least not at this time.  But maybe sometime in the future.
      Never say “Never”.

      1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

        There comes a point where one must cut their losses.

  111. Bagge

    For whatever reason I felt a strong need to read this strip again

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/strength-2/

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      That strip makes me feel like the world is a grand place to be.

  112. io

    I wonder if this scene is based on a personal experience of Willis’s. Or that of a relative.

    1. Smiling Cat

      Dear god I hope not.

    2. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      I frankly consider it a given that you’re right. This entire storyline has the air of demons being brought out into the air.

  113. Bagge

    Becky: [Opens her heart, mature and heartfelt reaching out]
    ToeDad: [Emotional abuse, guilt tripping, not my fault]
    Fandom: WHAT THE FU…
    Willis: Here, have some awesome people having awesome sex.
    Fandom: I’M SO CONFUSED RIGHT NOW

    1. fizzywafflezsuperstore

      One time, my mom decided to show us a movie called “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

      We then all got Klondike bars.

      I feel mass deja vu.

    2. inqntrol

      THE POWER OF THE SLIPSHINE COMPELS YOU!

    3. Cathy Garrett

      But, where’s the Becky/Dina cathartic post-near-death-experience sex?

      Too soon?

    4. Spencer

      It was pretty awkward opening this page in class, lemme tell you.

      1. fogel

        🙂

  114. KSClaw

    Take a good long look in the mirror… then repeat those words, jackass.

  115. The Phantom's Belch

    I really want to punch him in the nards with a stainless steel spork and say, “no, you did that, you heartless, bigoted piece of shit.”

    But that’d ruin a good spork….

    1. fogel

      You could autoclave it

  116. Dirtysailor

    Here is my heart….AAAAAND you just stomped on it.

    Nice.

  117. Silamy

    But… what does she DO? She’s free of him, yes. She never has to see him again, yes. But beyond that… she has no life skills (or very few -she was being trained to become a homemaker). She has minimal education -and that exclusively religious. She was never exposed to … anything about the world most people live in. Where can she go? Back home, to the community Toedad raised her in -where there are presumably plenty of people who think he was in the right -in his intents, at least, if not necessarily his actions? Back to the school he pulled her out of where she’s in trouble with the administration? Illegally keep staying with Joyce, or Dina, and get whomever she’s living with expelled once someone with authority finds out? Has she ever MET anyone not in one of those three communities? Let’s say she gets a job -she doesn’t even know her SSN -how’s she supposed to set up a bank account? Get paid? Does she know anything about how to budget, or was she taught that handling money is a man’s job? And the strain this is INVARIABLY going to put on her relationship with Dina… this is heartbreaking no matter HOW you look at it, and I’m kinda very worried about her.

    1. Amias

      I’m also very concerned. Her current situation is by no means going to be permanent, because it can’t be. She could conceivably find out her SSN – we haven’t heard from her mom, it’s possible she’ll be more supportive in light of what happened with dear ol’ dad – and get a low-end job somewhere, but we all know that’s not enough money to live on. Maybe she’ll transfer to this school and get some student loans, but that’s not permanent either.

      1. Trina

        Mom died of cancer, so she probably won’t be of much help there.

        1. GreyLurker

          are certain about that. I mean “Satan took your mother from me” isn’t really something you say about a loved one who died of illness. Maybe mom being dead is just what dad told her. Maybe mom said screw this and ran to find a life but couldn’t get away with Becky

        2. segnosaur

          Pretty sure her mom is dead.

          In the comics where Toedad is talking with Dina, he uses the phrase “Since her mother passed last year”. At that point he would have had no reason to lie (at least none we can think of) so its a pretty safe assumption he was telling the truth.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/pokeman/

        3. GreyLurker

          Wouldn’t be the first time a jilted jerk-husband convinced himself of a lie to protect his manliness. What if mom left him for an Atheist, or an African-american or a woman. If you want to reject reality you tell yourself the lie over and over and over until you believe it.

          If she was alive, well TV News does love crazy gunmen stories. She would hear about this.

          Would be great if Becky could discover there is a progressive family out there for her.

          In the meantime she still has Dina

        4. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          Left for a woman….

          welllllllllll I could very well see that happening. Hoo boyo…

        5. Noclevername

          Satan is Ross’ catch-all for blaming everything wrong in his life on, to absolve himself of all responsibility. Satan, and Becky. Anyone but Ross.

    2. Leorale

      This is what social workers are for! There may be a terribly underfunded program to help her out. Somewhere. Dr. Leslie Bean will know!

    3. spriteless

      Can I be practical for a minute? If she has any gov’t issued photo ID and remembers her birthday that’s enough to get Indiana to mail you a new birth certificate (some money on a credit card). That plus said ID (plus more money) is enough to get a new social security card.

      Or, unless he changed his locks she could get into the house and find them. Road trip home over the weekend. Or Joyce could ask her parents to help her do that. Because love thy neighbor.

      1. Gordon

        Even if he did change the locks, unless the house and everything he owns is paid off, by the time he gets out of prison, he won’t own any of it. And Becky is still his next of kin, which gives her some leeway on getting in and out of the house, even if it requires a police presence.

        I sincerely doubt Toedad thought ahead and disowned/disinherited her, as he seemed utterly convinced he was going to Save her. This scenario never occurred to him.

    4. Amanduh

      I suspect Becky will be offered support. If the police department is halfway competent, they will put her in touch with whatever domestic violence/crime victim support groups they know of. And once her story hits the news, there will likely be GLBT groups reaching out to offer help with temporary shelter, job coaching, navigating paperwork, etc.

      It’s also possible that Joyce’s family might take Becky in for a while. After all, when Joyce stood up to her parents and told them she was going to remain friends with an atheist, they backed off. They’ve known Becky her whole life, and Becky is now alone in the world with no protector after the man who was supposed to protect her threatened her with a gun. That could trump the upset they’ll feel over Becky coming out.

      1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

        Don’t bet on Joyce’s folks being civilized. Have you seen that panel from the 24th? Lightning can’t keep dancing about; eventually it will strike home.

    5. fogel

      Becky’s smart and resilient and determined and NOT a shrinking Violet. Somehow she knew or very quickly learned to use Joyce and Dina’s smart phones. She was hovering up Dina’s book about Dinosaurs & things Dina was teaching here. She organized Joyces. Shes friendly and will be a great ‘people person’ once she can turn her violume down from 11 when appropriate. Shes loving & she’s kind. Look at how she doesn’t want dad to suffer, how she kept Joyce from hurting him more, which was maybe good for Joyce as much as dad and look at her relationship with Dina, what they’ve done for each other. Becky will do well.

      1. fogel

        Hoovering, not hovering, ie, she seems to have aptitude and interest in book learning.

  118. Amias

    Yep. Becky destroyed the family. You had absolutely no fault in it. None whatsoever.

    Assbag.

  119. AutobotDen

    Toedad, go eat a bag of dicks.

  120. Bicycle Bill

    There are none so blind as those who will not see.
    Goodbye for now, ToeDad.

  121. read all over

    Said the stubbed toe-dad.

  122. neeks

    Well TECHNICALLY he has a point, in the sense that those who allow themselves personal growth tend to grow apart from those who don’t, just because of their respective personal inertias.

    But creating distance between yourself and a toxic relationship isn’t the worst thing you can do for yourself, even though it hurts to acknowledge the toxicity for what it is.

    Becky’s just amputated the Toe from her family, basically, but like with most amputations and -ectomies, it will take her some time to learn how to go on without it(/him), and accept that she’s BETTER OFF without it(/him).

    Man, what a jerkass tho

  123. dethtoll

    This is kind of kicking my ass because I had a love/hate relationship with my dad. He wasn’t the best father growing up, certainly better than Toe Dad here though; it took me a long time to reach the point where his bullshit didn’t bother me, just make me roll my eyes. But I still loved that big ape, for all his many, many faults. I just had to bury him on Friday and I wasn’t done arguing with him yet. :/

    1. Willoughby Chase

      Buried mine last Friday as well, so I know the feels.

    2. altalemur

      my condolences, to both of you.

  124. Zaxares

    *sigh* You had one chance to make amends, Ross. Now you’ve gone and thrown it all away.

  125. DarkoNeko

    Oh you DENSE motherfucker.

  126. Jake'm

    If there’s one thing the guy has, it’s consistency.

  127. David

    Stub you! Stub you to heel!

  128. CianM1301

    Well Becky, at least you tried to reconcile with him. It’s not your fault he has no redeeming factors.

  129. Josh Spicer

    And one final fuck this.

  130. Jeff Dee

    I don’t know if anyone pointed that out but… Bat-Moustache?

  131. Les

    Yep still a total dickhead

  132. Spencer

    Yup, that’s way too familiar to me.

    And I think what really works about this strip is that it’s super blunt, with Becky just spilling out every conflicting emotion in a handful of word bubbles. No dramatic pauses or chopped up phrases; just an entire stream of conscious for three panels on how she’s feeling and what she wants.

  133. Abel Undercity

    Can we bring Joyce in to punch him again?

  134. Crumplepunch

    Opportunities are like toes.

    Sometimes you have to punch them in their stupid toe face.

    1. podian

      http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Metaphorgotten

  135. Amake

    That which can be destroyed by the truth, should.

    1. spriteless

      omg this is the first time I’ve seen that meme outside of rationality blogs and harry potter fanfiction. I kind of feel happy again seeing that goodness without lies attached can spread too.

  136. EgalitarianamI

    Now we just need some crappy moms to balance this out. One cannot argue with a fundamentalist they tend to never give ground more so when they are wrong.

    1. Randee

      I think Ethan’s mom falls into the “crappy mom” category.

      1. Spencer

        Mrs. Walkerton is also more outwardly a jackass than her husband.

    2. No Name

      On the male side we have Blaine O’Malley’s blatant emotional abuse and Ross Babies McIntyre’s serious case of the Fundies. On the female side we have Linda Walkerton’s blatant parental favoritism and Naomi Siegal’s severe homophobia. throw in the Wilcoxen’s neglectful parenting and the Browns’ not-quite-as-severe-as-Ross fundamentalism and I’d say we’re gender balanced.

  137. nooB

    No. You did.

  138. nanogames

    Yeah! Rip and tear!

  139. fallingwaters2

    WHAT THE FUCK

  140. RahDream

    Feelings and blablabla….

    HOLY SHIYAT HE’S GOT THE BATMAN LOGO AS A MUSTACHE

  141. altalemur

    this is more or less why i don’t try to confront any family members who have hurt me. it’s never about sweet justice. no matter how obviously wrong they were to do the hurting, they will never admit any wrong doing and turn it around. i could come up with the best confrontation dialogue in my head, but they would never follow it. poor Becky is going to probably internalize that, though.

    on a side note, it’s funny that when it comes to protecting his family, it’s all toedad’s responsibility. but when it comes to claiming responsibility for the family falling apart, it’s 100% Becky’s fault. logically you can’t have it both ways. if you are the all-powerful father figure who is completely in charge of the family, you have to take responsibility for when that family comes to harm.

    1. BenRG

      Actually, he claimed that he IS taking responsibility for his failures (‘being too soft’ in his world-view). He’s going to fix that by being harsh and merciless with Becky until she’s beaten and broken into the shape he wants her to be in.

  142. Jesse

    I’d like this guy to be perforated with a power drill.

  143. podian

    PUNCH HIM AGAIN

  144. timemonkey

    Pretty much what I expected.

  145. Guairdean Beatha

    Why does he go from remorseful to angry whenever Becky mentions her Mom? Does he believe that her mother’s death is God’s punishment for Becky’s “sinful ways”?

    1. David

      Well, she died of breast cancer I think. And Becky was probably the last to touch her breasts, assuming she was not bottle-fed entirely.

      1. Emma

        Wait were they ‘sex only for procreation’ people? Because I bet Ross was the last one.

        1. David

          Of course they were. Otherwise there’d be no problem with Becky’s tendencies towards being non-procreative with other women. The Old Testament forbids male-male sex (lying with a man as with a women) and woman-animal sex. And Paul (and more so John Paul II) objects to concupiscence which would certainly cover non-procreative sex as its purest expression.

          So lesbians are more a victim to the New rather than the Old Testament, and mainly because of the same rules that would allow Ross to have fun while having sex with his wife.

          Now Paul also would have had a few choice words for killing people whose habits you don’t like. So it’s not clear which parts of Archchristian morals are convenient enough for Ross to make his own and which aren’t.

        2. Guairdean Beatha

          People edit the Bible far too often, but in Fundie’s case there’s one edit that might have helped this situation. Matthew 27:5, speaking of Judas, says “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Luke 10:37 says “…Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” Cherry picking those phrases could have saved everyone a lot of trouble.

  146. Lan Mikoto

    This man is going to be a prison bongo. Not because of his fucked up roots or his faith. But because he had the audacity to injure minors, say his own innocent daughter “destroyed” their family, and because the newest inmates always get the harshest treatments depending on their crime. My mom used to work at the women’s prison here in Kentucky as a nurse and the only thing that kept her safe was the fact she didn’t commit any crimes. She’d have to tend to the women who’d been horribly beaten for beating children. Ross is fucking DEAD in a men’s institution.

  147. JasonAW3

    Talk about someone with a severe case of Cranial / Rectal Inversion!

  148. Wublub

    I knew it was too much to hope for him to be a little bit nice, but still…
    Fuck you, Toedad.

  149. HumboldtRobin

    Unless he has a “falling off his ass on the road to Damascus” moment I don’t think Ross will ever realize hw much of the awful in his life is a direct result of HIS actions, not the fault of others.

  150. Kheldan

    I hate what religion does to people, what it’s done to this world, and I would give anything to have that one broken thing about our DNA fixed, that people don’t need the crutch of a ‘god’ in order to feel OK about their place in the Universe — but of course it’s just wishful thinking. Even if I could wave a magic wand and erase the entire concept of ‘gods’ from human existence, something else would take it’s place as an excuse to be assholes about things they want to be assholes about.

    ..and no, I’m not talking about just this storyline. I’m talking about the bigger one, playing out in the real world, too.

    Come on, Hoo-mans, EVOLVE already..

    1. Ross

      Speaking from the perspective of someone who doesn’t believe in a god, I don’t think I can quite agree with you. I think in general, it comes down to whether your beliefs cause you to screw over someone else. If not, I don’t care what you believe. If you look at the world, and you see God, and it makes your life better to live by that faith or conviction, I really don’t begrudge you that, even though that’s not what I think, and I don’t think that’s evil.

      1. Kheldan

        Ross, let me be clear about this: I don’t really care whether someone believes in god/gods/flying spaghetti monster, with one caveat, that being so long as someone else isn’t trying to force their beliefs on me, either actively, passively, or *ahem* aggressively/violently. I’ve got friends that are various flavors of Christian, some that are various flavor of pagan, some that are non-denominational but believe in something, and some that believe this life is all you get and there’s nothing before or after it. It’s all good. Your average, everyday Islamic type wants the same things everyone else wants: To live in peace, be left alone to enjoy their lives in whatever manner they want to enjoy it in, and they have no interest in making anyone live any way other than how they want to live, either.

    2. Noclevername

      As you point out, it would not make a real difference. Religion just lets them give a theme to their dickery.

      If God clearly saying “Thou shall not kill”, literally carved in stone, hasn’t made any difference to the crusaders/jihadists/zealots etc., then certainly any other set of rules would just be conveniently ignored.

      1. Rutee

        Well, that rule was specifically about killing the in-group when it was written, so there’s literally no reason for it to affect their actions as a commandment.

        I mean, they shouldn’t do it, but as a generalized human rule, that doesn’t come from the bible.

  151. Lulu

    First read the page, come anger, then the Slipshine news…

    I don’t know how to feel, being angrily aroused is a new feeling for me.

    1. HumboldtRobin

      The slipshine is a great little story.

  152. gkheyf

    You know, I’m starting to think that the raised-eyebrow teary thing that his face does sometimes isn’t genuine emotion, but rather an allergic reaction to the sadness of others which makes him angry

    1. TlalocW

      The only reason he raises his eyebrows is so he can furrow them from a greater distance adding more impact to his angry face.

  153. Eric Hansen

    Oh good. I’m glad his exit is going to be on unambiguously douchey terms.

  154. Gecko

    Oh you didn’t
    You did
    Ross, you had a chance. You had a chance to actually connect with your daughter and you didn’t even see it whoosh past your sorry head.
    As sad as that is, I appreciate that he acts like this. There are people who will never see that they are in the wrong, and for some of us,they’re unfortunately in our family. Even when they don’t go to the extremes that Ross did, they can’t be reasoned with; appeal to logic or compassion won’t work. At some point… You just have to cut them out of your life or they’ll keep wrecking it.
    It’s cathartic for me to see Becky go through that process.

  155. Gamaran Sepudomyn

    Ross shows that, yes, a god could create a person so self-righteous even they couldn’t change its mind.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      In Ross we see an even more rare specimen — a person so self-righteous that even the god itself could not change that person’s mind.

      1. Noclevername

        I think that was the “they” GS was referring to.

        1. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          Yup.

        2. Bicycle Bill

          Sorry; at one time I was close to the same point of self-denial about my drinking that I was reading it as Ross being unable to change, even when all the facts are staring him in the face.

  156. Paul1963

    Fuck you, Ross. Fuck you right in the ear.

  157. Benjy

    ross u giant shit

  158. Björn

    He might be feeling some amount of instictive remorse deep inside. But his pride won’t let him show it, partly because it would also force him to painfully reevaluate so many things he holds true. And so he tries to put the blame on someone else.

    It actually sounds like he blames Becky for her mother’s death also.

    1. Spencer

      Well, he blames Satan, at least.

      He’s a good Christian man who ardently follows God’s word; why would bad things happen to him if not for the phenomenal cosmic powers of darkness?

  159. Regalli

    Oh, Becky. I get that feeling. And I just want to hug you forever for that because awww, Becky.

  160. Just Me

    Ross: Look at me, you destroyed our family
    Becky: No, you did that all on your own. Don’t blame me, don’t blame Mom, don’t blame God or Satan; you only have yourself to blame.

    1. NinjaNick

      “You destroyed your own family, Ross! Good riddance and go to Hell.”

  161. Griffinguy24

    Blaine and Ross will be starring in their own Roomies spinoff

    1. Spencer

      Legion of Evil Dads! Starring Blaine, Ross, Mr. Wilcox, and Mr. Walkerton wondering why he got an invite.

      Mr. Billingsworth is a member too but he never shows up for meetings.

      1. Dragon_Nataku

        Ethan’s mum becomes the token female.

  162. HiiroArana79

    I kinda want Ross to go to prison an find Allah, and actually become a peaceful person.

  163. TheGrimHeaper

    Now now everyone, let’s not be too hard on him… The blow to the head has clearly messed up his noggin. He’s saying “you” instead of “I”… such a sad case of mixed up vocabulary… I know it’s not widely practiced any more, but perhaps all he needs to sort this error out is a jolt of electricity through what little is left of his brain.

  164. BassBone

    Ross, what a fucking asshole you are.

  165. Sir Robin

    Put a pillow over his face! Now is your chance!

    1. Noclevername

      As satisfying as that would be, Becky doesn’t need to become a killer because of him. He’s already gotten too much of his evil on her.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      Ross is under guard with one officer outside the door and two guards inside the room (and just outside the panel), unless they also courteously stepped outside to give Becky and Ross some privacy. Whichever way it is, it’s not exactly the best setup for doing something like that if one hopes to get away with it.

  166. Chaucer59

    I’ve seen this play out too many times in real life. That’s exactly what every intolerant asshole parent always says. Kudos, Willis: right on the mark.

  167. Saru

    He didn’t need any humanity, nope. A one dimensional trope is all he deserves! (Is this your response to Gunnerkrigg Court dad drama?)

    1. Rutee

      If you think this isn’t part of the human experience, you’re lucky af.

    2. Eric

      Perhaps you’ve missed current events (since the beginning of time) but hateful stupid people are very much a part of the world.

      Toedad thinks he is in the right, that he was protecting what was left of his family. He has his reasons, some of them quite sad, and if he wasn’t such an insufferable douche we might have sympathy for him. But because he is such an utter prick, we don’t have any for him.

  168. Willoughby Chase

    Fuck off Toedad you loathesome git

  169. KingOfGreyfell

    This, friends, is what we call the Moral Event Horizon.

    1. Noclevername

      Beyond this threshold from which no thought can escape, the weight of his own shitty worldview causes him to fall into his own asshole forming a singularity of hate.

  170. Eric

    Nice… Still blaming her for everything. Well, she can walk away and leave the asshole to his fate, she tried.

  171. quietlythundering

    Well fuck you too, Ross.

  172. anna

    I never reconciled with my mother before she died, and I feel no remorse, for this reason precisely: What, so she could have one last chance to tell me that I’m a piece of shit on her way out?

    Thank you, Willis, for telling the story right.

  173. Tenn

    If Becky — or someone, anyone — doesn’t explain to him, in great detail and without a trace of indoor voice, how fucking wrong he is about fucking everything, and how fucking brainless and evil and full of fermented donkey shit he is, I will be a bit disappointed.

  174. OtakuPatriot

    …y’know, in case you needed YET ANOTHER reason to hate this guy. Thanks, Willis! =D

  175. maycroft

    AW C’mon!!!!!

  176. halcyon1234

    And all members are up for “Tales of Sintrest”

  177. Thomas O.

    I’m guessing at some point Becky will be saying “FUCK YOU” to him.

  178. li

    I came here first thing this morning, and the comic broke my heart. (then I said something argumentative to some random person, which, frankly I’m glad both our comments seem to be gone. It wasn’t the time or place, I was just agitated.)

    Lots of personal stuff going on that makes this resonate a lot more than I expected it to. I was lucky — my mom’s always been very understanding of my non-straightness. But something that’s going on right now is taking her away from me, so I feel almost like I can understand the loss Becky’s experiencing in the last panel.

    Also, just generally kind of an emotional wreck right now.

    So I’m gonna say again: thank you, Mr. Willis, for Becky. For Becky and Dina especially. It’s been kind of a wild year or so, with more and more representation springing up in more and more diverse mediums, for younger people too… and I’ve been thinking a lot about how different my adolescence would’ve been with access to this, and how happy I am for young LGBTQIA kids, today and tomorrow and in a hopefully brighter future. Because even as an adult all of this is so important.

  179. Bicycle Bill

    Becky says, “I want Mom back”, like it’s a possibility.  Otherwise, wouldn’t she have said “I wish Mom were still alive”?   So forgive me for asking, especially if this has been asked and answered already, but has it ever been determined whether Mom is deceased or merely out of the picture for one reason or another?

    1. HeySo

      “I want X back” is the common way to speak about the dead. People tend to avoid referencing the fact directly.

      Which isn’t to say your premise is faulty [though I seem to recall toedad stating she’d gone to heaven, at one point] but that the ‘wouldn’t she have said’ part isn’t at all supportive of that premise. :X

      I dunno- in any case, I’ve heard both phrases used commonly for the matter.

  180. DSL

    Prediction, to be tested publicly in about three hours: Ross blames Becky (some way, some how, not in a way necessarily testable by logic) for Mrs. McIntyre’s death.

  181. Ryan

    I wonder if he’s in pain.

    I hope he’s in pain.

    1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      Can I give him pain?

  182. wakeangel2001

    typical practice of blaming everyone else for your life problems

  183. Synthetic Phylum

    I’m so happy that my redneck family was fine with my bisexuality. They got all the shocks out of their system when my dad came out as gay!

  184. cmd1095

    Well fuck this guy, really, this was your one chance to redeem yourself at least a little toedad. Even after all the stuff you did, Becky still came to see you and open herself up to you, and that was your response?

    Becky might be glad you aren’t dead, but I sure as hell am not.

  185. a snow ʍousɐ

    No, you did that yourself.

  186. AnvilPro

    Hooray! Conflict Resolved! Conflict Resolved!

  187. Megatron

    I don’t normally endorse fleshlings having fusion cannons…

  188. Lee

    On some level, deep within his toe jam brain, I think part of him knows that isn’t true. He’s trying to hurt her, but can’t look at her when he says it, because his subconscious knows that the blame is his.

    Or I’m overthinking it, and he pure bastard coated bastard, with a rich bastard filling.

  189. flareonflare

    still want him to fucking die, i want all his organs to fail so he dies in pain

    alone

    fuck him 6 ways to hell

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