Blathers
Posted on July 15, 2020 by David M Willis

120 thoughts on “Blathers”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    or they might not have even realised the connection, idk

    I think most of the parents I’ve known have been able to distinguish the actions of separate individuals, one set bc they’re the ones who raised the asshole (I say lovingly)

    well, time to give Blathers a scorpion and REALLY freak him out =D (not sure how he’s ok with the GREAT WHITE SHARK tho)

    1. Yumi

      Becky doesn’t have a great frame of reference for parents

      1. jeffepp

        Her father was probably the sort that believed in the whole “sins of the father” bit. Sort of like some other parent. Hmm… Anyhoo, the idea of parents who are accepting of people might be new.

      2. Hielario

        Also, I think she’s got some of the “raised by media” problems Joyce has.

    2. DarkoNeko

      I’m gonna assume it was an anicross reference then

    3. Khyrin

      (not sure how he’s ok with the GREAT WHITE SHARK tho)

      I mean, I doubt he put a mermaid purse on his desk and came back to a room swarming with great white sharks pups, especially after the Mantis Egg Sack incident, and the Mantis Egg Sack Incident likely would have never happened if he had.

      1. Ana Chronistic

        Ok but what about the Giant Isopod

        1. Regalli

          I’ve donated it to him! He is… not pleased with them.

          Also less than fond of horseshoe crabs, since they’re arthropods themselves.

        2. Ana Chronistic

          I mean, his initial impression is “YEAH A GIANT ISOPOD THANK YOU =D !!!”

  2. AntJ

    hi robin

    1. AntJ

      does the congresswoman in the closet make this a threesome? oh wait the floor is sufficiently chaste

      1. inqntrol

        3 is a crowd.

      2. Hornet

        WOW! That was a horror movie moment!
        I didn’t even notice the odd woman staring creepily from the closet until you mentioned her!
        And, mind you, this is less than half an hour after watching that “Top 10 Creepy Things in the Backgrounds of Horror Movies” thing on WatchMojo’s YouTube Channel!
        brrrrrrr!!
        I’m sufficiently creeped out, now!

        1. King Daniel

          heeeeere’s Robin!

      3. jeffepp

        Oh, she’s barely in the closet. Especially after it went on the news that she…

        Hm, what was that? Oh? OH!

        Never mind.

      4. Rah

        Consider the placement of that couch directly BLOCKING the closet she’s in. My bet is they know she’s there, and moved the couch to keep her in there

    2. OtterBoy1

      Wow I didn’t even notice her

      1. BBCC

        Me neither.

        1. DarkoNeko

          saame

    3. Dean

      She’s taking notes on lesbianing.

      1. AntJ

        from inside the closet

        1. clif

          I was wondering how she even got inside the closet without them noticing her. I then I realized that it’s Robin. She probably cut a hole in the wall between closets.

        2. Tan

          You’re assuming they aren’t aware she’s there.

        3. BarerMender

          Is that a closet? Or is that a pair of pocket doors leading to another room?

        4. thejeff

          It’s significantly creepier if it’s a closet. More just concern if she’s looking in from a hallway.

          I suppose I could go crawl through past shots of the apartment and see where they are.

        5. Jinx

          It’s opening the wrong way to be a pair of pocket doors. Each side would retract into the wall with the gap in the center. That looks like sliding closet doors. While there’s no requirement that a closet be on the other side, it would be weird to put sliding doors into another room or even a hallway.

        6. EvilMidnightLurker

          One of the bathrooms at our old house had a sliding door.

    4. Regalli

      Did not notice her until now.

      Oh, Robin. You sure are Trying, that’s for damn sure.

      1. Regalli

        (That said, I suspect your reaction to this is the same as Dina’s, and the rest of ours, in being ‘holy mother of God you need way more hugs and support than I can offer you if you internalized THAT one so casually.’)

    5. Needfuldoer

      Appropriate hiding spot for her, too.

    6. Deanatay

      Robin? I see Aide-lamp (not tagged, bTW), but not… OH THERE SHE IS

  3. Hornet

    The familial bond is a strong thing – sadly, even in times of trauma and abuse.

  4. Julius Cooper

    More Animal Crossing! 😀

    1. Sirksome

      How do they have a Switch though? A month ago 3ds’ were still relevant! I swear if one of them breaks out a PS5 I will lose it! (I’m joking. I know DoA is always on the most recent year)

      1. DrWattson

        DoA has been running so long, it’s about to enter its third console generation. Don’t forget, back in “August” Sal bought a pre-owned DS.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Danny and Joe were playing on a Switch a couple years ago. They’ve probably only gotten easier to find in the COVID-free Dumbiverse, unlike in the real world.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-8/01-face-the-strange/doubleten/

  5. William Leonard Reese Jr.

    Oh thank the gods Becky realizes that she is actually having those thoughts and is confronting it in a roundabout way.

    Also Robin checking in on her is both kind of stalkerish and heartwarming. . . Stalkwarming? I’ll worshop it.

    1. Pablo360

      the term is “sitcom endearing”

      1. Rycan

        Also known as “being Robin DeSantos”

    2. Kyrik Michalowski

      I didn’t even notice Robin until I read your comment and did a double take at the comic.

  6. Kyrik Michalowski

    This is overall a good thing for Becky, spending some time with Dina and being able to talk to someone in person will help her process this. Although I would still recommend Becky going to some kind of therapy.

    Can she access student counselor’s yet or does she have to wait until her first class?

    1. Yumi

      Probably can’t access them yet, though based on my experiences with school counseling centers, I’d recommend she look into off-campus options anyway.

    2. Leorale

      Play therapy could be a really good fit for Becky.

  7. Sirksome

    Yeah but uh how far are you along on those fossils? Cause I’ve been playing since launch and I donate at least 5 fossils a day to that bird and keep getting copies! I only have like 3 left to finish Blathers! Give me a break here!

    1. Regalli

      The last handful are always a pain in the ass. If you have anyone to play with in a different town who can keep an eye out for the last dew, that usually helps, but once it gets down to five or so it’s a slog.

    2. Sam

      I was down to what I thought was one and discovered a second one I was missing and it upset me. Especially when I got that second one a second time the next day. I was glad when I finally completed it.

    3. Charles Spencer

      Would someone explain ‘fossil’ ‘blathers’ and the first panel to me?

      Thanks.

      1. Jinx

        Animal Crossing reference.

        1. Roborat

          Thank you, I am usually pretty aware of games, but I had no idea what everyone was talking about. But in my defense, I am avoiding Animal Crossing like the plague, as I don’t want to get drawn into that time sink, it has already claimed my daughter and sister.

  8. woobie

    yeah, no matter what they did, losing a parent or two will lie heavily on one’s mind.
    Especially if there is any way the your brain to figure out something one could’ve done differently.

  9. Reltzik

    That’s because you went with the long undercut, Becky. If you’d gone with a short butch cut your dad-hair wouldn’t be clogging your brain drain.

    ….

    That is too how this works! … in the context of the metaphor! …. from a certain point of view!

  10. Foxhack

    Sorry, but did anyone else just have a lot of problems reaching the site? It was abnormally slow for a moment and nothing but the header loaded for me. It’s still kinda hanging a bit.

    1. SalleighG

      The previous page is having a problem. That might possibly be my fault, as I accidentally left out the close of an HTML anchor. (I replied to my own comment and asked that it be deleted, but it might take a while for a moderator to notice)

      1. Needfuldoer

        Nah, it should automatically close HTML tags at the end of every comment. It would be easy for one comment to mess up the entire page if it didn’t.

        I have noticed some odd behavior recently, though. If I scroll to the bottom of the page, and keep scrolling down, the whole page lurches down and I see several comments from the bottom again. Sometimes the new ad space up top gets dup,icated when this happens, too.

    2. Sam

      I have been having a lot of lagging too and failures to load anything past the comic strip.

  11. abysswatcher1993

    This is a big contrast with Amber’s situation… Why is Linda not blaming Becky too? Becky’s dad wanted the same as Blaine, but for different reasons. This just shows Linda is a horrible person and Dina’s parents are good people.

    1. Rabid Rabbit

      Becky never stabbed Sal. The personal connection’s not there.

      1. Rycan

        Bingo. Plus, as Becky pointed out, having a dangerously violent dad is no longer a concern with her. Amber, on the other hand, still has that hanging over her head. Unfortunately.

  12. SalleighG

    Hey, we can see both of Becky’s eyes clearly, multiple times, from different angles! Once could be singular choice of angles, but the several times together must have a significance!

    1. jeffepp

      Lisner-Dawn syndrome is known to temporarily clear up on occasion. Prescription Buzkutz(tm) may be a long term solution. Some side effects may occur. See our ad in Unicycle Repair Quarterly for details. Consult with your hair stylist, and use as directed.

  13. Endplanets

    The irony being that if Becky’s father was gay then Becky would have to worry about her other father attacking them.

    1. Axel

      I don’t get it

      1. Geneseepaws

        This comment teaches us that Bad Mothers are toxic. BUT, If there is a Bad Dad™️, he will try to kidnap you. Becky is now free from that, except if she had still yet another Dad – she’d still be vulnerable to attack Kidnapping.

        1. Axel

          thank

  14. Peter Lewerin

    Thoughts are powerful and hard to get rid of.

    Imagine being saved from danger by having one’s last shred of family ties taken away.

  15. Axel

    I feel like Dina’s parents (while they will have been married) are probably one of the few sets of parents in this strip decent enough to not blame Becky. We don’t know much about them so I could be 100x wrong but

    1. Axel

      *while they will have been worried

      1. Yumi

        I was very confused and wondering if you were suggesting Dina’s parents were shit people before they got married or something.

        1. Rycan

          Now there’s a dangerous delusion – believing that marrying a shitty person will magically make them a less shitty person.

        2. Axel

          But don’t worry! Having an baby will surely cure them 🙂

    2. Regalli

      The two concrete things we’ve seen of them were

      – Freshman Family Weekend, where the first impression (their impulse to be polite and socially proper) wasn’t great because it meant letting Blaine into the dorm, but apologized as soon as they saw him interact with Amber and realized they were missing some important context, and

      – Dina calling to tell them she had a girlfriend, which they responded to with ‘great, here’s some money to take her out on a date with.’

      Based off that Family Weekend interaction, I suspect they (like Dina) learned to be a bit more wary of parental figures who seem… off, regarding their children. We never saw anything suggesting they blamed Amber for Blaine’s presence whatsoever (because, you know, she’s not, Blaine’s terrible actions are not her responsibility and she was the clear victim in that situation even as she punched Blaine in the face,) and they’re clearly supportive of anyone who makes Dina happy.

      I expect they’ll be with the Keeners, Warners, and Hank in the ‘this was horrible but why would we blame you for the actions of someone who tried to hurt you?’ Camp. (I also expect/hope that Stacy, at least, will understand ‘Unfortunately, that does sound like my shitty ex’ and Becky had nothing to do with it. Ethan’s parents are terrible, but to their credit we’ve never seen them hold Blaine’s general awfulness against Amber. Naomi’s anger at Amber is purely that she couldn’t make Ethan straight! Which is not BETTER, or more rational, but given Stacy was willing to tell her new boyfriend Blaine was a mob stooge, Amber knew, and Ethan doesn’t say anything about that bit when Amber brings it up, I suspect both the Warners and Siegals knew already. So Naomi could very well live down to my lowest expectations, but she at least has a chance to be like ‘Oh, he kidnapped my kid and murdered someone alongside some Christian fundamentalist gun nut? Yeah, figures.’)

  16. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Does Becky have a shower drain hair clump phobia like Joyce?

    1. Regalli

      I think the hesitation there’s ‘is this the best metaphor I can come up with? Guess so’ rather than a phobia.

      But also shower hair clumps are not pleasant things, particularly not in dorms, Joyce is just… noticeably more neurotic about it than most.

  17. Ryek Hvek

    Don’t worry, Robin, Lampy is keeping an eye on them.

  18. Juanoku

    All of them need therapy
    Most of them long before the kidnapping

  19. BBCC

    Awww, Becky, hon.

    At least you have an awesome Dino girlfriend by your side.

  20. BenRG

    Becky, for what it’s worth? I don’t think that this is the sort of thing that you’ll be getting over quickly. I don’t think that it is the sort of thing that it’s possible to really fully get over. So, you don’t have to put up a facade; no-one expects it of you. Just… let it all out, okay?

    Meanwhile, is anyone else having the site freeze whilst loading on Firefox and being slow even on Chrome? I think that Hiveworks may have glitched dowmthing or that there is a bad ad provider or something!

  21. mrnoidea

    Ok, I know it’s late at night, but I gotta ask: who feels like they’ve gone crazy in recent months, years, etc.? Just, in general?

    1. BenRG

      Not me, honestly. I think that the world has always been more than a little crazy; it’s just that it keeps getting more and more extreme and obvious. Some kind of ‘feedback’ effect from the media, I think.

    2. Miri

      I think a lot of people are feeling that way with the pandemic, isolation, health concerns, and food and job security etc? And I think there have been enough people experiencing external outsize stressors before that…

    3. Geneseepaws

      If it is any comfort whatsoever this time, -except for the virus thing-, the current social upheavals remind me of the “People Vs Government” dissonance that society had in the 1970s. Social reform, civil rights, Government paranoia, Good cops + bad cops, oh! Hey! Deja Vu! Been there – done that.

    4. Leorale

      It’s definitely going around. There are a ton of new stressors, and many people have less access to their coping skills. Why, what’s up?

    5. BigDogLittleCat

      I for one am on the verge of hyperventilating.

  22. OniLink

    Ah yes, my favorite comic character: Animal Crossing.

    Really wish the game would give a slight bias towards fossils you haven’t found yet cause getting the last few is so tedious.

    1. BenRG

      Standard JRPG random item scam: Keep people playing by making the last few collectables nearly impossible to get. Not every dev has Gamefreak’s guts in actually making it impossible to complete the collectable list without buying another game, playing it and then trading between them.

      1. Sam

        Part of the experience was supposed to be having friends or siblings that get the other game. They rely on this less now.

  23. Romanticide

    Considering how Becky’s mom suicide was covered I think we can all guess how Becky can take this kind of conclusions about parents considering the ones she knew most as reference.

  24. Dracke

    Is she finally allowing herself to feel?

  25. Needfuldoer

    Eventually, Becky’s gonna have to take the drain apart and clear the hair clumps and soap scum that are stopping it up. It’s gross and nobody wants to do it, but it’s the only way to get the water flowing properly so the bathroom doesn’t smell like stagnant ass anymore.

  26. FacelessDeviant

    Best install a filter in your mind drain or that will get clogged up with hair and other unspeakable things.

    And cleaning that is… a journey into a hellscape birthed out of the minds of Hieronymus Bosch and H.R. Giger. Especially if you have long hair.

  27. Miri

    Thank goodness Dina is excellently placed to be a calm, quiet, non-judgemental, loving ear. Becky really needs to talk to somebody and while I can’t imagine Dina having any more clue what to say to make it better than anybody else (most likely because sometimes there literally isn’t any way to make things easier for a loved one other than being there and loving them) she is very unlikely to say anything to make this worse…

  28. Azhrei Vep

    Okay. I’m officially confused. Where did they get a fossil? And where is it? And who’s blathering about it?

    1. BenRG

      They’re references to the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Fossils are one of the collectables you can get in the game world and Blathers is an anthro-owl who runs the island’s museum who will explain what the fossil is and put it on display for you.

      1. Charles Spencer

        Thanks all to pieces!

      2. BigDogLittleCat

        Thank you. I had no idea what that was.

  29. BenRG

    This is where Robin finally gets a clue for the winning theme of her campaign: Make the IU campus a safe place to be so that girls like Amber and Sal won’t have to be traumatised by having to fight rape gangs and mobsters at night. To Robin it will make sense.

    However, I do think that the picture on the front of the college newsheet of Sal and Amber in full costume and the headline (created by Dorothy) “It’s Not a Comic-Book Anymore!” will probably haunt them for life! XD

    1. thejeff

      That’s not a winning campaign for a Republican representative.

      1. BenRG

        No, I agree. However, ever since Becky appointed herself Robin’s chief of staff, she’s been sliding leftwards into being the Independent candidate.

        1. thejeff

          Which is also not a winning strategy for an established Rep who spent her first term queer-bashing. She loses the Republican base, goes too far left for the middle crowd and the Democratic voters won’t trust her enough to switch.

          Her likely winning strategy is a more direct sympathy vote over the whole kidnapping thing.

        2. SalleighG

          Becky did not appoint herself. She hacked Robin’s phone and posted campaign messages, and Robin figured out who it was and hired Becky because Robin’s popularity was going up as a result of Becky’s messages. Plus Robin had just fired her previous campaign manager.

  30. Rabisch

    Robin….What are you doing??? Is she worried about Becky’s mental state or is she some sort of sick person who loves peeking at young couples?

    1. BenRG

      She’s worried about Becky and she’s sort of hopng that she’ll open up to Dina. Having appointed herself Becky’s sorta-mom figure, she’s listening in because she thinks she has a need to know.

      1. Rabisch

        I hope you’re right.

  31. ego

    zero people thought panel 4 worthy of comment?

    1. Leorale

      It looks like a beat, in which Dina is taking in information. Dina looks kinda perturbed. (Probably either remembering getting attacked twice, and/or considering what it could be like for her parents to hate Becky.) She may say something about this, or she may just listen.
      Why, what would you comment?

      1. ego

        shoot, i was thinking dina’s expression was indicating that she had indeed had a conversation with her parents about becky’s… baggage.

        it would be a delightfully DYW kind of sucker punch right when becky’s shit looks finally settled, is all i’m sayin’

        1. Leorale

          Oh! Yeah, that would be a sucker punch.

  32. Thomas O.

    I just got Animal Crossing last week, so I actually get the references here!

  33. TemperaryObsessor

    God reading the comment section I realized that more than one parent is on the blame the victim train. Joyce and Sal’s mom. Frankly one is too many.
    I initially found it weird that Becky thought any sane parent would hate her for having a bad father. Wanting their daughter to stay away so as not to get caught up in it I can see.

  34. Delicious Taffy

    Oh hey, we’re back to the wlw power couple. I don’t know how many people here play Final Fantasy XIV, let alone play on the Leviathan server, but this seems like a good enough excuse for a gay wedding open invitation.

    My girlfriend and I are having an in-game wedding at 12am CST on 7/22 (so, midnight next Wednesday), and everyone is invited! You need the invitation scroll to get in, so we’ve been handing them out like candy, along with a bunch of cool party favors.

    The only restrictions on getting an invite are that your home server is Leviathan and you’re not on a free account. Those are Square’s rules, not mine. If you want to contact me in-game, I’m usually on after 10pm under the same name I use here.

    1. JBento

      Congratulations!

  35. Dr. T

    I mean, when my mom died my mind kept circling back to that thought for some time. It is natural.

  36. Sunny

    NOW HUG!

  37. thumb

    Ah, the old “I’m not trying to keep talking about my terrible recent trauma, but it keep seeming super relevant for some reason. Hope I’m not being a bummer.” mental conundrum. Yes, we know it well.

  38. Vulcanodon

    It really didn’t seem to hit her at first. Having been physically injured before, I can relate. The mind or body puts that shit on delay until you have time to deal with it.

  39. Opus the Poet

    Robin needs to come out of the closet. Becky may want access to a different set of clothes before she goes out.

    And she needs to come out of the other closet, too.

  40. Opus the Poet

    Cue Toe Dead leading the zombie apocalypse.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Zombie Toedead breaks in, grabs Becky around the waist with one arm, and carries her like a bundle of firewood as he shambles toward the conversion facility.

  41. clif

    in a rap musical number, “Give us your Blaines.”

  42. Bagge

    Poor Becky 🙁 Not being sure if she dares to allow herself to grieve over her dead dad is pretty high on the suck-list.

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