317

Basement
Posted on May 28, 2023 by David M Willis

317 thoughts on “Basement”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    come on, storage units are free/$1 for the first month!

    also just dropping the news like “hey, I put that old lamp on eBay and got $500 for it“

    1. Cattleprod

      That $1 first month would last through a few years of comics, barring time skips.

      1. UrsulaDavina

        Yeah but after the first month the price rises I pay 135 for a 10×20 outdoor they can be lower but I pretty sure Carol would make Joyce pay for the unit.

        1. Ana Chronistic

          I was thinking Carol w/o even having Joyce in the picture but I wouldn’t put it past Carol to foist the guilt of throwing out the drawings onto Joyce

    2. Bicycle Bill

      Biggest problem for Joyce, besides paying the monthly rent, is trying to get material back and forth to the storage unit.  The only person I’ve seen with a vehicle is Sal and her motorcycle.  There doesn’t even seen to be a bicycle between the rest of them.

      1. Sirksome

        Willis never established that one college friend everyone likes because they own a truck trope huh?

        1. GholaHalleck

          Carla has to drive Ultracar.

          This must be so.

          Also she’d be the most comedic person to have a van in which to cart things around with.

        2. morleuca

          Something tells me Ultracar doesn’t have a lot of cargo space. Trunk space yes. But room to put things? Not necessarily.

        3. jflb96

          A lot of that space is definitely taken up with moving parts, yeah

        4. Some Ed

          “No, you’re not putting that in *my* trunk.”

        5. Needfuldoer

          Carla doesn’t have “I drive a car” money, she has “I am driven in a car” money.

          The only student with a car we’ve seen is Sydney and their first-generation Prius. There’s also Asher and his motorcycle, but those aren’t known for their junk-hauling suitability.

          Maybe Joyce can call a ride share, or get a moving dolly.

        6. BadRoad

          Now I have the mental image of Sal and Asher driving their motorcycles in tandem, carrying a stretcher full of crates between them.

          They wouldn’t, and probably can’t, but it’s funny to imagine.

      2. Cholma

        Hmm. Haven’t we seen Danny riding a bicycle? Oh. That got stolen, didn’t it?

        1. GholaHalleck

          I want to make a Dottie joke so bad right now, but I’m drawing a blank.

          I have failed the comment section.

      3. drs

        Uber.

        1. HueSatLight

          Zoomr

      4. BarerMender

        Danny & Sal have bicycles. So does Meredith, the weed woman.

      5. Thag Simmons

        Vehicle ownership for first years seems limited, so her options are Sarah (no), Ruth (no), Carla (yes but you don’t want to ask her) and a bunch of incidental characters she’s not really friends with.

        1. HueSatLight

          Walky has a car available for the weekend.

      6. ktbear

        How did you miss Danny and Sal having bicycles?

        1. Bicycle Bill

          I didn’t … I figured those were rentals through Student Activities or whatever they call it at IU.

        2. TerribleTransit

          Danny buying Sal a bicycle was a significant plot point in their relationship

        3. Taffy

          Yeah, Danny grooming Sal with gifts was like, vital to the start of their dating-style relationship. He was super manipulative and possessive about it, too. I’m surprised it didn’t stick more.

        4. GreyICE

          wutface

          I’m thinking a few people here have had some bad relationships and are, um, slightly insanely paranoid…

        5. Taffy

          I’m only relaying the #discourse. Certain events in this comic stay stuck in my brain because partway through them and with no apparent cause, somebody will come up with the wildest fucking thing I’ve ever read and treat it like it’s been canon all along.

        6. Ana Chronistic

          a lot of people stick around bc the trauma in the comic resonates with their own lives, I wager

          like… *maybe shouldn’t give direct examples if only bc it would take me too much time for too little payout to find the relevant comics*

      7. Mark

        Take the bus. Yes, Bloomington has a bus system.

      8. thejeff

        But going back and forth to the storage unit isn’t really necessary – not once you’ve got your stuff there. It’s all stuff that was sitting in her mom’s house anyway. Nothing she was needing regularly.

    3. Amós Batista

      they saved me from losing all my things to my family. Nice investment

    4. Chris Phoenix

      Yeah, $1 for the first month plus the $30 fee to get an account with the company.

    5. Amelie Wikström

      And how many months could it be before she’s remarried and”evenly yoked” as the cult calls it with a new house with plenty of space for a few boxes? No, the main mission here is bothering Joyce, as has been suggested. Carol is the main character in her morality play, the idea her family may not want to talk to her makes no sense, so obviously she will take the slightest excuse to bother them because that’s what they’re there for.

      1. darkgloomie

        Pretty much, yeah. “I drove four hours ti get you these” and couldn’t, you know, call ahead and tell her you don’t have the space to store stuff anymore?

        (Also, ffs “to save these” lady cant stop guilt tripping for two seconds straight can she)

        1. Plaaaa

          The weird part is, the house was only 30 minutes away.

        2. Dr. T

          No, Joyce is from La Porte, which is near Chicago. 4 hours is about right, depending on the traffic.

        3. Rabid Rabbit

          To be fair, Joyce may have (quite rightly) not been answering her calls.

        4. Kimi

          Not to mention where in the world did she think Joyce would put these while in a college dorm room?

    6. Pylgrim

      I wager dumping this stuff on her is both a way to communicate to her the news AND subtly punish her for whatever blame she assigns to her for the divorce.

      1. TerribleTransit

        Not to punish her, I think. To win her favor, try to become the good parent, the ‘winner’ of the divorce. “*I* had to sell the house because of what your *father* did divorcing *me*, but *I* am out of the goodness of my heart trying my hardest to salvage this situation for you.”

        1. Needfuldoer

          I’m sure there’s a hint of “you helped set this sequence of events into motion and look where it got us, but I ‘forgive’ you anyway” in there too.

  2. Doctor_Who

    How many magic beans did she get?

  3. Reltzik

    …. now I’m wondering who got the dog in the divorce.

    1. Caro

      hoping its jocelyn

      1. Ana Chronistic

        who already has a cat who may not be amenable to a dog?

        unfortunately, it’s likely John but hopefully Hank

        1. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

          Why is it likely John? Doesn’t John travel a lot for extended amounts of time? And why would Hank or Carol be less likely than one of their kids?

          I’m hoping it’s Hank. I’m also hoping Hank is employed.

  4. shadowcell

    FOR A NICKEL

    …probably not actually

    1. Council

      Just channeling Mike through the grave, carry on

    2. Decidedly Orthogonal

      If she “sold” it to the church, it may as well be a nickel. Also, is the divorce even finalized? That’s crazy fast for one after an established marriage. And she likely doesn’t /didn’t have the right to sell it unilaterally if the divorce ain’t final.

      ?

      1. Jim

        THIS.

  5. Shorduie

    Oh I see, this is going to be sad. For Joyce, at least, cause like fuck Carol.

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      But that’s how Joyce ended up in this mess in the first place!

      1. Arillius

        Joyce ended up in this situation because her mother is a dangerous individual that will justify anything, including violence against her daughter, if it is for the ‘greater good of her soul’ and for no other reason.

        1. Falcon

          The joke appears to have flown over your head.

  6. Stephen Bierce

    *looks for the George Thorogood in the record collection*

    1. jeffepp

      Move it over
      Rock it on, Rover!

    2. UrsulaDavina

      Joyce may need one whiskey one scotch and one beer and drink it alone with nobody else beacude Carol is bad to the bone

  7. BarerMender

    “G 1 house” spelled out is “gone house.”

  8. RassilonTDavros

    Aaaaaaaaaand there’s the emotional manipulator we all know and hate. Only took, what, three strips for her to be awful? Not that that’s a new record for her, no.

    1. GholaHalleck

      “Look what YOU did Joyce. Fell BAD about what YOU did.”

      Sarah pops back into frame and says the only thing Joyce has done is a Maytag, and fist bumps the ghost of Mike.

    2. Angel

      well i can imagine joyce being attached to the childhood home she grew up in , but other than an immediate living situation being an issue after graduating, it might be better/easier to move on if the house is gone

    3. Decidedly Orthogonal

      Were we reading different comics? The emotional bullshit started in the first panel of her reappearance. Carol arrived unannounced, not for nice surprise but to ambush Joyce by dumping all of her belongings on her. The house was the important neglected information, but being deliberately fucking weird was right there in Carol’s reappearance: panel 1. Being vague and making people work to understand what is going on is just part of Carol’s abuse toolkit.

  9. NGPZ

    “Thinking of you”, yeah totally not emotional blackmail /s

    ???

    1. RassilonTDavros

      Yep. Yeeeee-up. Yip yip yip.

    2. Lumino

      That’s exactly what I thought. She couldn’t call Joyce and set this up? Let her know what was happening and make a plan? Nope! Just show up and guilt her intensely.

  10. Diane

    Sold the house for the church, I’m betting. Feels familiar.

    1. Jamie

      In fairness, living alone in a suburban house meant for 5+ people probably sucks.

      1. Taffy

        Good.

        1. NGPZ

          Yeah, callous conga bongo deserves that.

      2. Thag Simmons

        It really does. There’s a reason a lot of people on ghost hunting shows are empty nesters.

      3. Nono

        My parents had four kids. They’ve never REALLY lived alone since at least one of us have found a reason to keep living with them one way or another, so it’s been a revolving door of them at least having someone to bugger.

        We worry about the day when we all finally leave and they’ll have a big house to themselves (we’ve tried to persuade them to downsize to no avail).

        1. Arillius

          If they have a house downsizing is the stupidest thing they could do economically. Have them rent out to people. It gets others in the house and makes them a shit ton of passive income for their retirement. Really, anyone who can afford to sell property is very privileged.

        2. Rabid Rabbit

          …I’m assuming that “bugger” has a different meaning in your dialect. Or that autocorrect caught something else.

          It is of course possible that my assumption is a sign of appalling optimism about the human race on my part.

        3. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

          I share that optimism, so at least you’re not alone. I’m assuming they were going for a meaning more like “bother,” “badger,” or “buffalo.”

    2. Jason

      Iirc that is literally what Willis’ own mother did, sooo… it depends on how autobiographical Joyce’s current arc is. I’m guessing even if the logistics are different the emotions are drawn from experience.

      1. Diane

        Yeah, this is exactly what I was thinking.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Yuuuuuup.

          :/

    3. Amós Batista

      People or family giving their belongs to the church is a real thing, if you lived for so long.

    4. Dante

      Writing has a tendency to be like. 50% mining/exorcising your own pain experiences somewhat, at the very least. The rest is imagination, putting those little guys through #Situations, and the rollercoaster of “do i write gud tho”. But boy, it’s an important half.

      1. Amelie Wikström

        In my experience, everything the story is about and everything it means is 100% you. You can make up details like what “happens” or, sometimes you don’t have to.

  11. Jamie

    Yeah, just call Joe. Not for support. For manual labor.

    The real challenge is figuring out how to store this stuff now. Surely Joyce cannot afford to rent a storage space.

    1. Sirksome

      Really depends on how much she values certain things. I’ve found a lot of my old high school/teenage years stuff is pretty worthless. Outgrown clothes, crap from hobbies I no longer have, outdated gadgets that have been replaced. There’s a 50/50 chance Joyce wants most of her shit on the curb anyway..or sent to Goodwill.

      1. Leorale

        Absolutely true, but she’s gotta search through it and decide, which is an emotional/tedious/not-fun chore, and there seem to be oodles of boxes, and she’s probably very attached to that house, and she does not like changes, and five minutes ago she was expecting none of this and was on her way to class.

        1. Leorale

          …I find it interesting that the comments are largely focused on the practical problem of where to put the boxes!

          Joyce is trying to wrap her head around the emotional situation — her childhood home unexpectedly evaporating — and that’s the harder bit to deal with.

        2. Mark

          Joyce has had three seconds to absorb that. She hasn’t even begun the wrapping. Maybe tomorrow.

        3. PigmyWurm

          Frankly when faced with big emotional situations people will often focus on the practical, since those have clear answers that need to be solved as opposed to the more nebulous ones.

        4. Holly

          Yeah that was my first thought too – change is hard anyway without having any stronger reactions to it, relating to autism. This will be hard to process in many ways.

        5. Needfuldoer

          Hoarding everything forever is easier.

          Much easier.

          Until you find yourself surrounded by so much crap you’ve been procrastinating going through that actually going through it feels like an insurmountable task.

          Then you end up on one of those shows with Dr. Tolin and Matt Paxton.

      2. PigmyWurm

        Because Joyce is famously good at dealing with changes, and this is a situation where anyone would have difficulty. Even if most of it isn’t stuff she would really want sentimentality is real. I’ve helped family clear out a house before and there are some people who when asked “what do you want to keep?” the answer is honestly “everything.” Her feelings for her mom and family are understandably complicates but I could see her viewing these as items from when her family was together and happy (especially as she is really only just learning how much things have fallen apart).

        1. Mark

          Possibly “everything” is shorthand for “I don’t have a detailed idea of what’s here, and I need time to evaluate it, but you’re rushing me, so: don’t throw anything out.”

    2. Proxiehunter

      First thing I would do is get the bins up to the common room. Sort the contents into things she actually wants to keep, things to give away to people who might want them, and trash. I’m expecting the bins to have more of the last two groups than the first. Probably more of the third than the second.

      She can figure out what to do with the things in the first group later. The third group gets carted to the dumpster. The second group if she knows specific people who might want the item she contacts them. The rest she can ask Ruth for permission to leave in the common room for a while with a sign telling people to take what they want and after a week or two get the rest to a thrift shop. A local thrift shop might even do pickups.

    3. Angel

      well, the drawings can probably find a space rather than the full bins itself but maybe joyce can resell some old stuff if there’s any values

    4. Matthew Davis

      The Jewish boyfriend does not deserve exposure to Carol this early in the relationship. That’s like four different types of “what the hell” going on at once, and he’s not confident enough in himself and his being good for her not to let Carol get uner his skin.

      1. Matthew Davis

        That said, he absolutely should be around for the post-Carol sorting/schelepping/comforting.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Carol doesn’t have to know he’s the boyfriend yet.

    5. Segnosaur

      Well since everything that is being returned to Joyce fit in a car, it should fit in her dorm room. (Even if a good part of the area is just a big stack of boxes. It will be awkward to move around but it is doable.)

      1. Needfuldoer

        If the car she drove is the teal Chevy S10 Blazer / GMC Jimmy we saw before, there’s not an insubstantial amount of stuff there.

        It should still fit in the dorm, but Joyce and Sarah will probably have to pick a wall to stack them against.

    6. Roborat

      I suspect she will call dad and get him to store it.

  12. jeffepp

    She might have lead with that. I still don’t think this was a coincidence.

    1. BarerMender

      led

      1. Kitsuner

        Unless she’s packing heat

  13. Golden Yak

    I can’t
    believe
    it.

    1. Angel

      well, a divorcee selling the house after isn’t too unbelievable, i’m just surprised it was under her names and not the husband unless she did it under his nose/a partial reason for the divorce along with everything else

    2. Felgraf

      I can! Mostly because David’s mom sold the house at the pastor’s urging and gave all the money from the sale to the church because the church’s pastor wanted more money.

      1. Coco

        David? Which David?

        1. thejeff

          Willis

      2. Sirksome

        Man, eff that. My old church ran potlucks, bake sales, and auctions to help pay members rent or mortgages, medical bills, etc. What’s this shakedown bs? You wouldn’t catch me selling my house (if I owned one) to fatten the pastor’s pockets.

        1. Angel

          well, there was also that lawsuit rather than the church just randomly asking for more than usual suddenly

      3. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

        If I remember correctly, it was not just “the church’s pastor wanted more money.” It was “the church was closing because it was bankrupt.” So Willis’ mother sold their house to do everything she could to save the church… and the church was still bankrupt.

  14. DarkoNeko

    Well the bomb dropped and, well. Now that I remember, autobiography and all that.

    1. ahecht

      I keep seeing people reference that. Is there somewhere that Willis has talked about his parents selling his house to support their church?

      1. Hazel

        Twitter.

        1. Chris Phoenix

          I’m avoiding Twitter since Musk shilled for DeSantis. Musk gave many previous reasons to avoid Twitter, but that was kinda’ the last straw for me. Oh well.

        2. Needfuldoer

          This was years ago.

        3. Arillius

          Twitter has been censoring progressive voices asking for medicare for all for years. There have been loads of reason to avoid it even before the idea thief took over.

        4. Taffy

          Not only does Twitter censor progressive voices, the conservative side keeps blatantly lying and saying they’re the ones being silenced. It’s like putting their hand over their little brother’s mouth and claiming the opposite, with their parents looking right at them. And then the parents send a bomb to the little brother in the mail.

      2. Ray Radlein

        Not “parents,” per se — it was his mother specifically who sold the house and gave the money to her church

      3. Clif

        Not his parents. His mother.

        Assuming I didn’t read a “.” as a “,” as happened recently with the population of the earth.

        1. Taffy

          What’s this about the population? Do we secretly have 9.000.000.000 real people and the rest are digital/simulated? If that’s the case, I live with one of the Nine.

  15. Hmrc4evr

    Wow. Telling her during/after the fact is an ass move.

    I’d call her the B word, but 1) that’s already established and 2) I don’t want to offend any ladies in the comments.

    1. Yumi

      …No, no, I think you should go ahead and say it…

    2. Taffy

      bongo bongo bongo I don’t wanna leave the conga oh no no no no no~

      1. Cholma

        +1 Great use of the filter! ? Bingo, bango, Bungle, I don’t wanna leave the jungle . . . ?

        1. Hof1991

          Bingo, bango, bongo
          I don’t want to leave the Congo.

      2. woobie

        The Ookabollaconga say “please do”.

    3. Segnosaur

      In a way it is understandable… Joyce probably does not want to have any contact with her mother since the kidnapping.

      I am surprised that her father did not inform her of the sale (since they are on speaking terms), unless he was kept in the dark about the plans to sell the house too

  16. Sirksome

    I guess this technically makes Joyce homeless. She better make some post grad plans.

    1. RocketRelm

      Depends on the situation of her father, he might have enough to live somewhere. Though I don’t know what her moms current living arrangements are going to be, anyway.

      1. RassilonTDavros

        At a guess, I’d say Hank is probably living at Becky’s house and Carol is most likely living at the church.

        1. UrsulaDavina

          Wasn’t Becky trying to have the placed foreclosed so she could prove she was homeless which would have helped with tuition? but I guess Robin is fronting the cost by getting her a scholarship so maybe she sold to Hank for some extra cash.

        2. Rotunda

          Becky sold the house.

        3. Regalli

          Yeah, the foreclosure was her plan while Ross was alive but in jail – once he died, she inherited and was planning to sell. (It may or may not have finished that process over break, I don’t believe we’ve heard for sure, but I imagine the logistics that require Becky ARE done for now. Estate stuff just works slowly sometimes.)

    2. drs

      Fun fact: at least when I was there up to 2010, IU would kick undergrads out of the dorms over holidays. After all, everyone is from the Midwest and can just drive home for Thanksgiving, eh? I was never entirely clear on what international or other incapable students did, but I had some idea of them camping out in lounges where a limited number of staff could keep an eye on them.

      Coming from a college that had no problem letting you stay through Christmas, this was rather shocking to me.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Yeah I worked for student security in college and one of my least fun days was having to endlessly repeat “You can’t get in your dorm yet because the locksmith hasn’t gotten there to change the locks back yet. I don’t know when he’ll get there except it is supposed to be today. And no, security can’t come around and unlock it just for you or prop the door open or something.”

        1. Ray Radlein

          That sort of thing is why I would leave my bedroom window unlocked and then climb up the wall to get in and open the dorm up from the inside

        2. Plaaaa

          Grest idea, but my dorm room, before moving off campus was on the 14th floor of a 22 story tower.

      2. Yumi

        In my college, there were certain dorm buildings that were kept open over breaks, though most of them were closed. (This is for winter break– during Thanksgiving, I’m pretty sure they were all available, though on campus dining was extremely limited.)

        The dorm I remember being open was one that specialized in international student housing anyway, but I think if you were in another dorm building, you’d have to temporarily move in there.

    3. Angel

      i’d imagine even if she didn’t move in with joe, becky would happily wanna live together with her unless she’d rather just stay with dina and have joyce more as a neighbor

    4. PigmyWurm

      Much sooner than graduation. It’s late winter. She has a few months until the end of Semester and most colleges kick everyone out over the summer. I think some will grant students permission to stay if they have a clear need to, but it’s not automatic and a lot of student services, like the dinning hall, will be closed down.

      Also, I would be worrying about her getting to graduation. Her mom just sold their house to give money to the church (presumably). Does the family still have the money for tuition or did Carol donate that too? It’s an instate public university so probably cheaper than many places she could go, but still a good amount of money.

    5. Segnosaur

      I don’t think Joyce would be “homeless” since she did have another parent she could move in with in an emergency.

      Plus, given the strained nature of the relationship between Joyce and her mother (helping get your daughter kidnapped will do that…) Joyce probably would not have lived in that house again anyways.

    6. Roborat

      Post Grad isn’t the immediate issue. What about summer break?

    7. Just_IDD

      heck with post grad plans, that is too far off. More like spring break and summer semester.

  17. Mehe

    Is Carol wearing a housecoat?

    1. tim gueguen

      Trench coat.

    2. Vanessa

      Lol looks like a bathrobe over a nighty to me! With bedroom slippers.

      1. Mark

        I thought it was supposed to be a scandalously slinky dress. That’s what everyone was saying a couple of days ago.

        1. Yumi

          Well, that’s what the poster you’re replying to was saying anyway….

  18. Suzi

    “I sold the house to help pay for the legal fees our church had to deal with after we started helping the two crazy people almost kill you sweeite” I imagine is the next line of this conversation.

    1. General Tekno

      Oh, yeah, DEFINITELY.

      Was waiting for this shoe to drop given autobiographical elements but yeah being able to tie it into his strip’s plot is a masterstroke.

  19. UrsulaDavina

    Obviously you didn’t think about it Carol and you’re mot saving them if you’re giving it to Joyce without any consideration on how she can store these, you just came here tried to lay a guilt trip on Joyce, Wjere the hell is she suppose to put these in her dorm room? Storage units after first month aren’t cheap at least for a college student with no income.

    About 75.00 to 300.00 on average depending on size and whether it’s indoor or outdoor.

    Again Carol you’re an asshole.

    1. tim gueguen

      The fact she wouldn’t try to foist them off on John or Jocelyne is interesting. After all either of them have more space for them than Joyce. In fact given what has been hinted about John’s church they’re probably paying for a large house for him to live in.

      1. Nono

        I mean, Jocelyne doesn’t have THAT much more space, she’s a writer.

      2. HueSatLight

        John is supposedly leaving for India by the end of January. (Unless he’s just pocketing the money)

      3. Thag Simmons

        I haven’t read the patreon comics, but Jocelyne always struck me as having a small apartment, probably shared with a few roommates.

      4. Masumi

        Well, a warning call to Jocelyne about possible impending mother might be in order.

        1. Spacey

          Wait didn’t see try to call Joyce? Didn’t Joyce ignore it?

      5. thejeff

        It’s Joyce’s stuff. It would be weird to foist it off on John or Jocelyne.

        Let Hank take care of it or keep it yourself for now depending on the living arrangements. Both of you will have more room than Joyce. Or put it in storage for her. And let her know, involve her in the process.

        That’s if we’re looking for practical solutions, rather than emotional manipulation. Which we’re not.

    2. Vanessa

      Yup, she’s just transferred all responsibility for all of Joyce’s worldly belongings to a college student who will now suddenly have to find a job and an apartment as soon as the semester is over. Even if she throws out all of her childhood keepsakes, book collection, out of season clothes, etc. Why can’t Carol just move that stuff in with all of her other stuff, unless she’s leaving the county. And where is Hank?

      1. CrazyJ

        She just has to find a job on campus over the summer. Covering summer housing would just be an expected perk if the college expects to get enough college students to stay and work minimum wage jobs for them.

        1. Beans

          unfortunately, they do not

        2. Taffy

          I always chuckle a little when I see “just” right next to “find a job”.

      2. Time Sage

        she has another parent who has his head on straight, he’s probably renting an apartment alreay if they split during winter break. At very least she can sleep on the couch for a bit

    3. Needfuldoer

      The cheapest units I can find within reasonable distance to the school are $60/mo for a 5×5.

  20. Switchchris

    There goes the one thing Joyce still had to fall back on. She now no longer has a Home she can go back to that she remembers. Her Faith is broken, her Mom is horrible and her parents divorced, and her childhood home is now gone. There isnt many more shoes that could drop at this point. I really hope Joyce snaps at her mom, or at the very least doesnt let her mom get to her anymore.

    1. AntJ

      and she doesn’t have a toenail, either

      1. Chris Phoenix

        By now it’s likely regrown. Toenails can regrow after falling off after injury – I had one that did, and grew back mostly normal.

        1. milu

          Ok but that was a hilarious comment nonetheless

    2. CJ

      I don’t think going back there was an option before, bc Carol lived there.
      But having no time to decide what to take from your past life/house on the one hand while being dumped with the stuff you already had put away into storage is… the passive aggressive shit move that we should have expected from Carol.

      1. thejeff

        Even if you’re not going back, having the childhood home sold can be traumatic.

  21. Vanessa

    Maybe she’s actually wearing a bath robe over a nightgown with slippers? No one else thinks this is weird? Recently divorced parents certainly can exhibit some shocking personality changes.

    1. miz

      they’re visibly not slippers, though. like, we can see that they’re just flats. and i’ve never seen a bathrobe with a collar/lapel like that. it looks like just a normal long coat. that MIGHT be a nightgown underneath, since we don’t see enough detail on it to tell either way, but the fact that joyce hasn’t reacted or commented at all on her mother’s appearance continues to suggest to me that it is, in fact….Just A Dress.

      1. miz

        yeah, in fact, looking back at the fullbody image we can clearly see that the coat has buttons. it’s definitely not a bathrobe. the pink dress still *could* be a nightgown but in that case i’d still have expected a reaction from joyce by now. like, she might be more concerned with carol being there at all, but she hasn’t so much as blinked at the outfit

        1. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

          The shoes still look like slippers to me. I do not think we can see enough detail to distinguish between slippers and flats.

          I do not see buttons on the coat. I DO see what looks like a rope belt. It absolutely looks like a bathrobe to me.

          Joyce has been dealing with a lot of things. I do not think she really has had time to ask why Carol is in nightclothes, and also perhaps Joyce would not consider that unusual. I will await future updates to draw conclusions.

        2. miz

          no, we haven’t seen it close up in the comic yet: I’m referring to the fullbody image of her outfit that willis posted on twitter where those details are clearly visible: https://twitter.com/damnyouwillis/status/1661777969952485380

  22. Sirksome

    So much for that generational wealth. What are the odds Carol’s cashing out and moving to Florida? That’s a surprisingly common play for middle class white folk.

    1. NGPZ

      Dammit lets hope the site doesn’t eat any more of my replies.

      1. NGPZ

        and wow that wasn’t meant to be a reply.

        but still, Florida… *shudders* gonna Bugs Bunny that shit away NOPE

    2. Grimey

      Please don’t remind me. My state has become a beacon for religiously obsessive lot in the last near decade. They’ve turned Florida insane…More insane than it was but at least then it was manageable.

    3. RassilonTDavros

      She’s probably liquidating the house to pay for the church’s legal debts, what with Linda vowing to “sue them off the map” for their involvement in the kidnapping.

      (not really relevant, but even art from just under three years ago looks noticeably different from Willis’ current style! noses have gotten pointier.)

      1. Sirksome

        I think I actually prefer my option over bailing out that church. It deserves to be dissolved. That’s one thing Linda had right. That organization is dangerous. Footing the bail for Ross was a huge mistake that directly resulted in loss of life. You can’t pray that away.

        1. Regalli

          If it helps, “house was sold to try and save church (based off Willis’s childhood home’s selling IIRC)” and “church goes under anyway” are not mutually exclusive! I believe that was in fact what happened in reality, but may be misremembering from the last time Willis brought this event up.

          I don’t disagree that Linda is right on precisely one count and it was the church being dangerous.

        2. Sajuuk-Khar

          I, too, am hopeful that Linda succeeds at this one thing she is correct about, and then proceeds to fall ass over quietly racist passive-aggressive teakettle in her other endeavors until she fixes her heart. Or perishes.

    4. thejeff

      Probably not. More emotional damage possible if she stays close by.

  23. Warcodered

    Doesn’t she have adult out of college kids who probably have a house she could pawn this stuff on?

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      I don’t think so. John lives in India, Jordan is estranged for reason never explained, Jocelyne is a starving artist in an apartment somewhere (and almost certainly doesn’t want Carol coming there), and Joyce lives in a dorm.

    2. Angel

      surely there must be an area for colleges to have students to store stuff other than their room. Tho given how ‘organized’ dorothy is i’m sure she’d probably help joyce sort things out

      1. eh, whatever

        surely

        Why?

        1. Angel

          i just meant that i can imagine more college students having a ton of their own stuff/hoarding as opposed to being fully minimalist/organized. money aside, i’d think amber/ethan would have a decent collection of all their transformer/other fandom toys

      2. Sajuuk-Khar

        That’s a very funny idea that isn’t even remotely true.

      3. Arillius

        We have someone who lived a very privileged life, or not very much of it, here. Surely blank is never true.

        1. asmodai27

          Or simply in a country where it exists, and seems so natural that it’s hard to imagine US colleges not doing it, with the kind of money they are charging their students…

        2. Taffy

          I hear there’s a lot of stuff like that. Things Americans will say that sound perfectly normal to them, and then their friends from elsewhere will be like “WTF, we tie those ourselves in the store because they trust us not to eat them”.

  24. Bicycle Bill

    “I’ve sold the house.”

    Next line – “…and donated the money to the church.”

  25. elfroyalty

    y’know carol, this probably would’ve been a lot better to bring up like 2 weeks ago when she was staying with you for winter break, don’t ya think?

    1. AntJ

      Joyce stayed with Becky for winter break

    2. RassilonTDavros

      Joyce actually “spent the entire Winter Break at Becky’s place,” so she probably didn’t see Carol much if at all. I’d go so far as to say she probably actively avoided her.

      1. Archieve

        Probably why Carol waited until after the house was sold to tell Joyce, now when Joyce asks why she’s only hearing about this now Carol can play the “you wouldn’t contact me” card to elicit guilt.

      2. Needfuldoer

        “Becky’s place” at the time being the apartment Robin rented to establish residency in the district where she was a US Representative.

  26. Alongcameaspider

    Now the question is where will Joyce store it, she’ll likely have to reach out to another family member to store it for her

    So place your bets, will she ask her dad, Jocelyne, or try to reach out to Jordan for help dealing with this?

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      I’ve always wondered about the two sets of grandparents, Joyce’s and Becky’s, and any aunts, uncles, or cousins. Are they all dead, all estranged, or does DYW ignore them because he has TDM characters to keep track of already?

      1. RassilonTDavros

        “Are we dealing with generations of only childs marrying other only childs, with grandparent suicide pacts?”

        1. RassilonTDavros

          In all seriousness, my headcanon is that the rest of Becky’s extended family, if any of them are alive at all, are either a) just as fundamentalist as Ross was and therefore unwilling to help or b) were cut off from Ross’s life so thoroughly, likely for ideological reasons, that they don’t even know Becky exists.

        2. Hoboturtle

          Y’know that comic makes me realize that Hush could’ve easily had been a cousin of Bruce Wayne and that would’ve improved his story

      2. thejeff

        Only reference I remember tells us about an aunt and a granddad with memory problems.

        Nothing about Becky’s extended family. Seems like they had to be off the table for some reason or she could have turned to them when homeless.

    2. Vanessa

      Oooh, fingers crossed this is a way to get Joyce’s sister back into the story.

      1. Thag Simmons

        This arc’s placement does make it seem like a successor to the freshman family weekend arc that introduced Joss, so it seems possible.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Maybe even her estranged brother!

        Not John, though. We know he’ll be on Team Carol.

  27. Taffy

    It’d be pretty funny if Carol just unrelatedly crashed her car on the interstate. Just an epic prank really.

    1. JBento

      Ah, classic Carol!

      1. Sajuuk-Khar

        Some people might not be able to pull off a horrific accident that only destroys their car and leaves everyone else involved only minorly injured to a laugh track, but Carol is a master of comedy.

        1. Taffy

          Even the Muppets are in awe of her skill and comedic timing. And her ability to fly.

    2. Needfuldoer

      That would require integrity though.

  28. Otl1973

    Assuming there was a divorce, she may not have had a choice about selling the house. If there was still a mortgage, she would likely be on the hook for half of it – and probably pay Hank at least partial value if she was occupying the house and he wasn’t. If it was paid off, she’d probably have to give Hank half the value. Either way, selling the house would be a likely outcome of the need to divide property. And while this impacts Joyce, it’s not like this would have been done to spite her, or even that she would have figured into it – that’s just how divorces work out.

    1. Regalli

      Yeah, the theory about it being for the church is based off a thing Willis has publicly said happened to THEIR childhood home while in college, but it really doesn’t NEED to be the case for the house to sell. The divorce is enough and selling would be totally normal.

      Doesn’t make Joyce any more emotionally prepared for it, though.

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      It has only been a couple of months since Hank and Carol started having martial issues, right? Having some experience with divorce intersecting home ownership, I can’t see this having happened so quickly unless the house was solely in her name.

      I don’t know anything about Indiana law, but in Texas it took a minimum of two months from filing papers to a final divorce decree, assuming there wasn’t a lot of legal conflict. I assume it would be *possible* to sell a jointly owned house *if* Carol and Hank could remain rational and civil enough to agree about all the details of the sale. Which strikes me as unlikely.

      1. drs

        I saw 60 day waiting period for Indiana.

  29. Mollyscribbles

    Finding the phrasing odd. Does “I’ve sold the house” mean she got it in the divorce, or is Hank getting half the proceeds?

    1. Rotunda

      It means she got the house in the divorce settlement.

      1. Mr. Random

        It means she sold the house (a shared assest) before the divorce settlement and is moving the proceeds into a personal account.

        I’ve had family members divorce before, this is a thing that can happen.

        1. Mark

          Surprising that this can happen. Was the buyer’s title insurance company asleep? Or have I missed an important detail?

        2. Mr. Random

          In my family, the angrier party drained the entire shared bank account into personal accounts before things were frozen.
          I’m thinking that Carol’s done this before anything is frozen in a more extreme version of events. Plus add in that the community surrounding them might not have the most prudent advice around divorce then I’m guessing this has a good chance to slip through.

      2. Otl1973

        It seems unlikely that she would have gotten the house free and clear unless there were commensurate marital assets that Hank got. Indiana isn’t a community property state, but there would still be an “equitable” split, which the principal breadwinner would apparently (generall) gist the bigger share. I don’t know if employment was ever discussed in the comic. it seems unlikely Carol would get any special treatment since she couldn’t really accuse him of financial (or other) improprieties, and he could potentially accuse her of those. But as noted above, while it feels a lot of time has passed, in-universe they might well not have gotten as far as properly division in a divorce proceeding yet, so it isn’t clear if this would have been a forced sale or just one they agreed to between them.

        1. DailyBrad

          It’s possible Hank basically gave her the house, possibly to not have to figure out alimony payments, etc. Isn’t he a dentist or something like that? I genuinely do not recall for sure.

        2. Angel

          i wouldn’t expect an older ‘traditional ‘Christian couple to have a prenup written up, unless you automatically get /some/ rights when you first file for marriage even if you don’t get a specific contract written out pre-divorce

        3. Needfuldoer

          He is a dentist.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/dozen/

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      As I’ve said above, I don’t buy any of this happening so quickly. My theory is that the house was solely in Carol’s name because she inherited it or bought it with inherited money, or something.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Watsonian answer: Hank was already fed up with Carol in the aftermath of Toedead and the Blaine’s kidnapping plot. Their divorce was probably already in motion during the time skip.

        Doylist answer: Fast-tracking the divorce keeps the story moving.

    3. Kazuma Taichi

      It certainly carries the connotation that they’re in the process of splitting up. Knowing Carol, she 100% would’ve said “we’ve sold…” if the marriage was even mildly stable

      1. thejeff

        But we knew that. There’s definitely a divorce happening, though we don’t know exactly what stage it’s at.

  30. The Jighole Man

    “the next two are heavy”
    are you referring to the boxes, or the next 2 strips?

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Embrace the power of “and”!

    2. Angel

      “Yes”

    3. Kazuma Taichi

      as the great Mia Agraviador once said: porque no los dos?

  31. AGV

    Is it me or does it sound like she’s the only one that got a say on this? Pretty sure that the decision was made unilaterally

    1. Needfuldoer

      Either their divorce got finalized fast, or Hank just agreed and signed the title (maybe in a “fine, whatever, just get this over with” kind of way).

  32. Mr. Random

    Next two revelations or bins?

    1. Amós Batista

      Ohh, the force is strong with this one!

      1. Mr. Random

        ….she’s moving across the country too? Isn’t she?

        1. Amós Batista

          I don’t know, I’m expecting some sark secret, Like Jordan situation.
          How did you get this theory?

        2. Mr. Random

          The two parents are divorcing.
          Which in religious communities leads to a stigma.
          After selling the house, she’ll likely want to get a place quickly.
          It can’t be close or she’d just rent a storage unit until she got a place.
          She was talking to Joyce wistfully like she was saying goodbye before saying goodbye.

          A bunch if things really.
          Might not be correct, but it feels like Carol’s… on her way out.

  33. Archieve

    If she was indeed thinking of the emotional effect springing the news on Joyce would have then that’s even worse then if she hadn’t thought things through because now there’s a malicious streak in addition to the usual a-hole holier then thou thought process.

  34. HueSatLight

    I’ve rented a storage unit a time or two, and I have a recurring fear that I forgot to get my stuff out of it. It’s like the “oops, forgot I was enrolled in a class for months” nightmare, but it happens while I’m awake like right now.

    Anyways, the ones that are like big closets are relatively cheap. I hope I didn’t leave my chest in one.

    1. Needfuldoer

      I hope that’s the solution; Hank pays the $50/mo or whatever it costs for Joyce to get a self-storage unit. Otherwise there’s nothing she can do with the bins except pile them up in her dorm.

      Joyce comes back from class to find Sarah has built herself a mini-office using the bins as the walls.

  35. Amós Batista

    “darling, I love you . You glasses are beautiful, you know to pick colors.
    But I just drove for 4 hours and I’ll throw your things away if you don’t pick them right now.
    Also, you’re homeless, are you reading your Bible? Good bye God bless you.”

    1. Angel

      considering they all fit in her car she could just keep them there lol but other than some ‘important’ documents secretly hidden/snuck in i imagine most of them don’t have anything too valuable, sentiment aside

      1. Needfuldoer

        It’s probably just everything from Joyce’s room that she didn’t already take with her to college.

        She just had to come out swinging with the love-bombing, then followed it up with some passive-aggression and thinly veiled threats.

  36. Now

    OH this is about the time the author’s mom sold the house, wow, congratulations on sublimating it with your art, this is going to be an incredible arc everyone

    (Seriously I was afraid that next part would be hard to read because my own mother played the “you’re dead to me and I can’t stand to look at your things so I mailed some of them, enjoy bringing back a huge 15kgs package from the Post Office to your apartment by foot”, but this is so deeply personal to Willis that I have to come here daily to see it all unwrap as it happens.)

    1. Amós Batista

      Sorry about that situation.

      1. Now

        It’s okay now, was a pain at the time – I even had the privilege of venting to this commentary section about the whole situation in 2017. My parental trauma is less intense than the one that Willis went through, my mother is an atheist and didn’t have faith to back her up, she’s just a deeply individualistic… individual.
        I’m fighting back for my right to continuity and meaning in my own life story right now! (Which is a really pompous way to say that now that I’m in my thirties, I’m asserting myself as The Adult in the relationship and asking her to take on the mantle of The Old Woman so she can be an okay-tier grandma to her future grandkids; I trust that she can achieve that, and I’m trying to salvage things that way.)

    2. DailyBrad

      Going to be honest, for half a moment I thought you were being sarcastic in the first paragraph, so yeah, I am glad that’s not the case.

      1. Now

        Haha sorry I came off that way, I’m not a native english speaker

        1. DailyBrad

          Oh, no, you were fine, I have just seen people be strangely hostile like that before, so that was me jumping to conclusions.

  37. Suet

    4 bins? Guess Joyce really was a budding artist… to unknown results.

    Sarah, come back! But if she won’t, who else would? The fairy godparents?!?

    1. Angel

      i’d assume some are probably also old clothes and stuffed animals as opposed to all drawings, otherwise some could fit in a folder/binder/be folded up and in something smaller than bins

    2. Nono

      At least four. She just said the next two were heavy, not that the next two were the rest of them.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Probably books and DVDs.

        (Pro hoarding tip: banker’s boxes and the boxes that reams of paper come in are perfect for storing those. Big plastic bins get heavy fast.)

        1. Nono

          Oh boy, Hymmel the Humming Hymnal!

  38. Hazel

    I hope Joe happens along (maybe clued in by one of the others, who witnessed Carol’s arrival). At least then, Joyce will have help transporting all of the boxes to her dorm room. Instead of sitting down on the pavement, in the snow, and crying.

    I hope she does the crying, too. That usually helps. It’s just better to do indoors (with Joe).

    1. Net-Zero Joeyce Shipper (no engine, slowly following the current)

      fingers crossed!

    2. Mark

      Stage them into the lobby. No snow there. Then ferry them up to the floor. Hold the clean-up-throw-out session after class.

      I have no advice for the crying.

  39. Sajuuk-Khar

    God, Carol, your chin is so fucked up. Like everything else about you.

    1. Angel

      i mean personality aside, one should avoid insulting based on looks, given that there are probably perfectly nice, sane ppl with ‘fucked up chins’

      1. Taffy

        It’s fine, she fucked it up herself, for attention.

  40. Angel

    I mean, saving money/excuse to bother Joyce aside, storage units are a thing lol

    1. UnDrewsual

      She just sold the house and gave the money to the church. She has a daughter in a major university. She likely doesn’t have a job or, if she does, one that doesn’t pay much. Even if she’s getting alimony, I don’t think she has just tons of spare cash at the moment. Also, this is probably trying to make her daughter feel guilty. “See what YOUR FRIEND BECKY made me do!”

  41. Taffy

    I forget if Carol has a job or not. I’m assuming not, since she’s a Good Christian Wife®️, so maybe selling the house is how she plans on living until she finds another dick to mooch off of.

    1. milu

      Ok so Carol super sucks etc. But stay-at-home mom is a job. it just doesn’t come with a paycheck.

      1. Calibus

        Facts. Carol likely sold her place to survive. Maybe got a small apartment, and applied to work through the church. I would think that church community got gutted too with the faith subscribed crime that ran rampant through there.

        1. Needfuldoer

          IRL after Willis’s parents divorced, his mom sold the house and gave the money to her church (which was in financial trouble).

          He’s mentioned it on Twitter a few times, but thanks to the transient nature of social media I’m having a hard time finding it…

          Best I can do right now is this DoA, which is set at the house in question:
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/home-sweet-home/

        2. Big Z

          The fact that you think that a member committing doctrine-related crimes (like “trying to rescue their wayward daughter from the evil lesbian liberal university indoctrination”) would gut the average evangelical community strikes me as hilariously optimistic.

          It’s FAR more likely that this is Willis being autobiographical, as described in the other response. These types of churches are KNOWN for doubling down (which they mistake for “steadfast certainty in their faith”).

        3. UnDrewsual

          She didn’t sell it to survive. The church bailed out Toedad who then kidnapped several students and was involved with conspiracy to commit murder. This likely put the church in a bad financial state (not that they think they did anything wrong or contributed to the situation in any way)

          Now, you have Carol, who is now divorced. This would be a mark of shame and suspicion in that kind of church. She likely has very few friends and those she does have a church members who now look at her differently. Wondering just what she was getting up to that would lead God to punish her like this.

          Now she has a house big enough for a family but is single and living alone. She could see selling it and giving the church the money as “redeeming” herself in the eyes of the church & its members (though she wouldn’t call it that consciously). The leaders of the church may also have subtly encouraged her to do it. Sort of “Hm, the church has a debt of $X. Man, you could almost buy a house for that!”

        4. Mark

          It still sounds weird to me that the church (business entity) would peel off money from its operating budget for something like this, even if the leaders thought it was right. My church is not exactly impoverished, but we had to take up a special offering to get the heat fixed. Churches spend what they take in, if it isn’t already spent.

          Much more likely that when Linda went to sue the Fourth Street Church of Whatever, her lawyer found that that entity was not involved in the bailment or even known to the bondsman, and that “the church” in this instance means the members, directly and severally.

          Executive summary: if The Church is in financial straits, it probably has nothing to do with Ross’ bail.

      2. Taffy

        Of course that’s a job, and it’s one I respect a lot despite never encountering a mom who could afford to do it. It’s just not one that generates money, like you said. She’s gonna need one that does, or she’s gonna need to find someone to stay with. I may have phrased that second part in a really mean-spirited way, but it’s friggin’ Carol, fuck ‘er.

        1. Sajuuk-Khar

          I’m wondering if she’s now staying with Pastor(?) Beardo, the guy who was at the center of bailing Ross out until Blaine came in and offered his gangster expertise. She seems like she could probably even justify having an affair with that guy before the divorce (“your faith was never strong enough, Hank.”)

        2. Taffy

          Based on what we know about her, it seems within the realm of reason.

    2. thejeff

      And that’s a really gross way to put that.

      But yes, she probably doesn’t have a paying job. Which is what alimony is for.

      1. Taffy

        I’m not sure what’s gross about how I phrased my comment. That’s what I assume she did, because she’s a nasty zealot and I figure they’re always doing something normal for a really fucked-up reason.

        1. milu

          it’s gross because it’s a thing that mysoginists will say about women in general (or those in their life in particular). we all hate Carol, but sexism is a thing and we live in a society, yknow.

        2. Taffy

          Oh yeah, when you put it that way, I think I get it now. I apologise for the misogynistic remark, y’all.

  42. Felian

    ah yes “i’m thinking of you” but i’m not thinking of giving you a heads up that i’m gonna drop a carload of boxes at your house like, today.

    1. HueSatLight

      “Thinking of you, but not in a good way”

    2. UnDrewsual

      That’s just her reflexively jumping to the guilt card.

  43. Taffy

    And another thing, you don’t just pull this sort of stunt on people, period. Much less your change-averse kid with the freshly undiagnosed braintism who’s got a history of YIIKing out over much smaller problems. Starting to think Carol might not be a very good person.

    1. Calibus

      Carol doesn’t even know Joyce had these issues. She was surprised by her glasses showing proof she cared more about the spirituality over her actual health and needs.

      Carol is a failure of a mother because she selfishly superimposes herself onto her children. Not because she dumps problems on them. Every Mother dumps problems on their kids randomly and without warning.

      So don’t just assume she knew any of the changes with her daughter in the time she wasn’t there to be with her through these changes over the month.

      1. Needfuldoer

        It’s not like Joyce was eager to talk with her, either.

      2. UnDrewsual

        I don’t think Carol would care if she found out about Joyce’s possible autism. She probably doesn’t think it’s a real thing or that if it is Joyce would just be saying it for attention.

        1. Jodka

          Growing up in a fundy community/cult, anything like autism, depression, schizophrenia, anything thing that makes you neuro-divergent, or really any thing that made you different, was seen as evil spirits possessing you.

          I had to start wearing glasses in second grade, and remember asking the pastor of my church to pray over me to fix my eyes. I thought god was mad at me when I still couldn’t see without glasses.

        2. Taffy

          Just a really healthy way to raise a kid, innit.

      3. Taffy

        I didn’t assume any of the things you said.

    2. GreyLurker

      To be fair I don’t think Joyce was taking her calls

  44. Spacey

    Now we know what Jocelyn was trying to contact Joyce about.

    1. RowenMorland

      How many in universe hours ago was that?

      1. Spacey

        I think it was a few days.

        1. Needfuldoer

          It was right at the end of the chapter “Sister, Christian”, which was 8 chapters ago or about a week DoA time.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/scanner/

        2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Thanks, I’d missed that. Now I wonder what is happening to the other kids’ stuff.

        3. Needfuldoer

          John probably took his years ago.

          Jocelyne’s apartment is probably full of bins now too.

          Jordan’s stuff probably all went to Goodwill.

  45. Katherine

    On one hand, imagine dropping everything on your kid who’s away at college. On the other hand I would have wanted my stuff to be saved rather than dumped in this situation.

    1. Jodka

      Agreed, knowing you don’t have a home to go back to is one thing, but I’d feel at least somewhat better knowing my stuff was saved.

  46. vulcanodon

    Knowing this part is autobiographical, @damnyouwillis I’m so sorry…

    1. Needfuldoer

      Same. 🙁

  47. Dave

    Wow, there’s awful, then there’s whatever this is

  48. Josh Spicer

    Oh yeah this is a “drop everything in your hand and force your mother to explain herself whilst desperately holding her shoulders to keep her in place” situation.

  49. wakeangel2001

    her parents divorced right? Maybe she can’t afford the house on her own or it has too many painful memories of her failure

    1. Needfuldoer

      Or she gave the proceeds to the church so they can afford a renovation pay off debt they took on for bailing out Toedead.

      1. UnDrewsual

        Considering what Willis has mentioned about his own mom selling her house and giving the money to the church, this is almost certainly the reason. Willing to bet that the church leaders somewhat-subtly encouraged her to do it, too. After all, she’s the one who is (in her and their mind) sinfully divorced and this is a way to “redeem” herself.

  50. Owlmirror

    The fact that Joyce says “You’re the one with a house” seems like strong evidence that she knew that the house was (probably) solely Carol’s, whether by inheritance, or by prior-to-now agreement with Hank as part of the divorce settlement process.

    I mean, she didn’t say “…half a house” or even “…who will get the house (in the divorce)”. Joyce would presumably know if the house was being argued over between her parents, and seems to honestly think, until Carol says otherwise, that Carol owns it and will continue owning it, quite possibly in the clear (no mortgage).

    /closereading

    1. Hinoron

      Women get the house by default in divorce, which still heavily favour the woman even though the era when they were unemployable dependents is long past. Even if one of the primary reasons for divorce is the wife helping set a gun-wielding maniac who threatened their daughter loose on the streets to threaten her again.

      That said, owning a large house and keeping it are two different things. This house used to house a family of… what, seven? We can presume it was pretty big. If we inlcude Joyce in college, all but the youngest child have moved out (and I’m willing to assume the non-binary writer jumped at the chance to live with his father). The 4 bedroom house I grew up in cost over $6000/y in property taxes alone, and that doesn’t get into the maintenance costs (in both time and money) to manage two large lawns and a lot of trees. Some years after the divorce, Mom sold the big house and moved into a smaller one.

      I’ll say this for Joyce: While this is probably going to be a shocker, and kick out a few more of the already shaky legs holding up the table of her childhood, this is still a better way to find out than my own mother’s “I’m selling this house; you have 3 months to find a new place to live… AND a better job that can actually afford you a place to live in the current housing market.” “BuhWHAT???”

      1. Yumi

        Uh, I assume by “the non-binary writer,” you’re referring to Jocelyne? She’s a trans woman, and she’s Joyce’s older sister who is already moved out of the family home.

        1. Hinoron

          If we’re playing “who’s the most respectful to an entirely fictional character”, then my response is to let Jocelyne label themselves before you presume to, nor drag them out of the closet until they’re ready to come. They’re publicly presenting as male for the time being.

          On the other hand, I might well have gotten the age order wrong. (I also can’t remember which J-name that brother is.) He gives a very young impression, so I assumed he was the baby of the family, and planning to stay in the closet at least until he was out from his parents’ (especially his mother’s) watchful eye and house. My memory isn’t great on small details anymore. Getting old sucks.

      2. tunasammich

        This is not even remotely true

      3. milu

        “Women get the house by default in divorce, which still heavily favour the woman even though the era when they were unemployable dependents is long past.”

        yeah, citation needed.

  51. HueSatLight

    Women don’t get the house by default in divorce. Jocelyn isn’t non-binary, and she lives on her own.

    1. HueSatLight

      (meant to be reply to post above it)

    2. NGPZ

      huh has the comments section been acting weird for you too?

      my replies keep getting eaten up for some reason

      1. Taffy

        Maybe if you’d stop covering your comments in barbecue sauce and setting them in front of the fan that’s pointed directly toward the walking cottage of Comments Yaga, they’d get eaten less.

      2. HueSatLight

        Are you supposed to click “reply” and “cancel reply” on a bunch of random posts first? because that’s what I’ve been doing.

  52. Acher4

    WOW, I hate her for years, but her condescending words in panel 2 just, make me furious!

  53. thumb

    So
    I’m thinking this part is also autobiographical.

  54. Melissa IN MO

    OMG, her parents are getting a divorce!!!!!!

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