264

Endgame
Posted on January 4, 2015 by David M Willis

264 thoughts on “Endgame”

  1. Solenoid

    You need a better plan. >=[

    1. Aischylos

      Joyce doesn’t need a better plan, damnit, she has the power of friendship!

      1. Rachel Roth

        You said it wrong. The power of Friend Ship!

        1. Portmanteaust

          Exactly, the power of a friend’s hip

        2. la6ue mous

          The power off riendsh IP? …Nah, I got nothing. I guess I’m not good at reverse portmanteaus as the Portmanteauist.
          Or is it portmantoast?

        3. F.

          portmanTAOist. there.

        4. Do Over

          Poor Man Too ~ist?

        5. Vree

          Yup, friend shi P. You know, Paula the Chinese medium who lives in our neighborhood. We can use her power to summon Becky’s great grandparents or something.

    2. Zan Thrax

      She needs *a* plan. What she has now is naive optimism.

      Although I do seem to recall at least one perfectly reasonable plan suggested in the comments here when Becky first told Joyce what’s actually going on. Are any of Joyce’s friends sufficiently reasonable to suggest the same thing?

    3. Eric

      Joyce does need a better plan, this is true. But on the other hand she is doing something that she believes is right. Not just because an ancient bronze age and often mistranslated (sometimes deliberately) book says so, or because someone else told her so, but because SHE thinks so. She has thought for herself, and has realized that standing up for your friends and accepting them as they are is more important than all the other crap.

      This is important for Joyce as she develops as a human being. I know Joyce is based on tthe author’s own journey from a similar place, I’m curious if he had a similar experience with a gay friend.

      At any rate though, Joyce has to figure out how to actually help Becky with more than just moral support. But that moral support was a necessary first step.

      I figure the most likely response is to get Becky enrolled and her own room et al, but how they’re gonna pay for it is the big problem.

  2. Cephalo the Pod

    No.
    Joyce is greatest character.

    1. Ryan

      Greater than Becky?

      1. tyersome

        By mass or by density?

        1. Vree

          butt fatness

      2. Lume

        Greater than Becky. A dude can’t excercise Perverse Sexual Lust on a lesbian.

        1. la6ue mous

          Yeah right. Voyeuristic fantasies aren’t a form of perverted sexual lust?

        2. Disloyal Subject

          Many of us have a hard time knowingly lusting after lesbians, probably because the lust is doomed to be one-sided.
          Not that I’d lust after Joyce either; she’d take it rather poorly.

        3. la6ue mous

          I’m saying plenty of dudes lust after lesbian/lesbian erotic headcanons, but yeah, point taken. It’s different to lust after someone if you actually know them or know a lot about them… unless it’s in a sexual setting, of course.

      3. timemonkey

        Becky is only average.

  3. Plasma Mongoose

    Will Sarah call the authorities again?

    1. nothri

      Oh. I didn’t even think about that one. I hope not…

      1. Dean

        Sarah didn’t call the authorities, she called her roommate’s father, because she genuinely believed it was the best way to help her (and to stop her from smoking a bunch of dope while Sarah was trying to study). This is a completely different case.

        1. T Campbell

          The key factor, I think, is how much initiative Becky shows in this situation. If she starts looking for a job or responds well to the sound advice Dorothy is likely to offer, then Sarah’s going to be a lot more at ease about the whole situation. If not– if Becky doesn’t demonstrate an ability to start succeeding on adult terms– then I can see the phrase “for her own good” starting to take root in Sarah’s mind.

          I don’t think Sarah fully GETS how oppressive Becky’s home life is, and how worth fleeing it was. What she knows is that Becky lied to her until there was no other choice, and Joyce trusts her but Joyce puts a lot of trust in most people, making Sarah even MORE suspicious to compensate.

          Sarah is probably aware that Joyce might never forgive her for doing something like blowing the whistle on Becky, and that is a deterrent. But she contemplated doing the same thing to Joyce directly, even with that deterrent in place.

        2. Ed

          Exactly. Informing Becky’s parents would mean that they would try to “fix” her (like one of those “pray away the gay” camps?), which would not help Becky at all. No, Sarah might not know that now, but I am sure it would come up in conversation with Becky and/or Joyce.

        3. NotPiffany

          I think Sarah’s probably heard of that “pray away the gay” nonsense. At the very least, she’s got to realize that the subculture that spawned Joyce is not a suitable place for Becky (or any other lesbian, or any other person, honestly), so I think she’s more likely to push Joyce and Becky into looking at women’s shelters and such for aid rather than ratting them out.

        4. GoSpeedRumpist

          It’s a different case, but it’s related. If it’s found out that she (Sarah) is complicit in breaking a rule, then it could threaten her scholastic future. Considering how determined she’s been all year to keep her head down and plow through school, a situation like this would probably seem threatening to her. Not to mention, right or not Joyce didn’t even ask Sarah if she was okay with getting another roommate, not to mention an unauthorized one. If Becky’s parents get involved, which they most likely will considering this is the only logical place Becky would go, then it’s only a matter of time til the school finds out.

        5. ahuh

          Important wrinkle to this: Word of god is that all characters are 18+ right? In that case, even if Becky’s parents find out about this she is a legal adult and mentally competent so there is exactly bupkes they can do to her besides cutting off funds. At that point trying to drag her back home or force her to undergo conversion therapy would probably constitute kidnapping or false imprisonment.

        6. David

          Uh, for such people there is no “age of consent”. Also, obviously Becky cannot be mentally competent when she likes women in a carnal way. So obviously she cannot be given the freedoms reserved to sane people until after she is cured. It is their parents’ duty not to unleash her unto the world while she is possessed with an unclean spirit.

          It would be a godless judge who would consider that kidnapping or false imprisonment rather than loving parenthood, and you can’t let the standards of the godless rule your life. That would be letting Jesus down who sacrificed himself to free us of sin, so we must honor him by not falling back to it.

          See how wrong you are? Well, who’d want to listen to you anyway if you have no respect for God.

        7. pumacatrun2

          Ew go away I bet you start argument on Youtube don’t you.

          I’m all for opinions, and if you personally believe that that it is a sin, that it is wrong, I respect that. But, don’t force your religious views on others.

          When will people understand that. I’m surprised somebody with your views is even reading this.

        8. StClair

          And someone else fails their save vs. sarcasm.

          I am 99% certain that everything David just said is not what they personally believe, but an example of the way people like Becky’s dad do. Must’ve been a pretty good one, ’cause you swallowed it whole!

        9. syd

          Ou est la “satire?”

        10. nothri

          The 1950s called. They want their mindset back.

        11. Solenoid

          Poe’s Law is in effect.

        12. tyersome

          I agree – I think people may be misreading Sarah.

          Note that:
          1) Sarah wasn’t consulted.
          2) Joyce is responding to Sarah trying to raise concerns about the situation in an overly emotional and a more than a little dogmatic manner. (You might even say she is barking at Sarah.)
          3) Sarah can’t understand how desperately Becky needs shelter if she isn’t informed — and unless Sarah’s been spying on them or there has been important information exchange we haven’t been shown then I don’t think she knows how really bad Becky going home would likely be.

          Granted, it would be great if Sarah starts asking why this is so important before taking any action, but if you are imposing on someone it’s courteous (and generally smart) to share your motivations for doing so NOT shutting them down when they raise concerns.

        13. TheLurkerAbove

          Another key factor is in whether Sarah’s studies actually get disrupted. With Dana it wasn’t the fact she was a pothead that bothered Sarah; it was the physical disruption that came with being a depressed pothead that did it.

          PS. I come from a place where a pound of weed gets you the death penalty, so maybe my views are a bit different that way. 😛

        14. Aolbain

          What can Beckys parents really do, beyond straight-out kidnappning her? She’s a legal adult and they don’t have any economical pressure to apply.

        15. GoSpeedRumpist

          I’m not saying they, themselves, would do anything, aside from perhaps, guilt tripping Becky and Joyce. But, by merely showing up looking for her, the school will find out and, as such, want Becky removed as it’s against their policy to have her there. Becky admitted that this is the only place she could’ve gone, so, if it’s taken away from her, she can only go back home, or rent an apartment (without a job or a car and, probably, not much money, mind you). It’s also possible that they’ll try to get to Becky through Joyce, feeding into her religious confliction. If they’re truly messed up, and, let’s face it, all the parents in this series are messed up, then they could appeal to Joyce’s parents to convince her. At that point, Joyce would be at the crossroads between her own personal morality, and everything she’s ever been told to believe in… so yeah, I feel like they could do a lot.

      2. Xain

        probably not unti
        l it threatens her grades which wont happen until midterms which at the current rate will happen earliest 3 years

    2. Kamino Neko

      Since it won’t actually help in this case, likely not.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        We hope…

        1. Kamino Neko

          Sarah isn’t some sort of rule-following robot.

          Cui bono? Who benefits? The principle is supposed to guide you to figuring out who did an act, but it’s also a good one for determining how many people will act, especially a cynic like Sarah.

          She won’t narc, because nobody benefits. Not Becky, not Joyce, not Sarah.

          The incident that got her branded as Narcy McNarcington III was to deal with a situation that was harming both her roommate and herself. Both of them benefited (even if only Sarah believes that right now).

          This situation is not analogous.

        2. la6ue mous

          I don’t think personally she’d do anything that benefited her but maligned innocents.
          Yeah, she’s a skeptic, but she isn’t a selfish person in the big picture.

        3. la6ue mous

          Honestly a bit surprised that some people think she’d act out of some moral sense with disregard for others’ well-being. She isn’t planning to cause major pain in someone else’s life just to please herself.

        4. Lennie

          You’re avatar made that post 100% more hilarious.

    3. liahansen

      oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

    4. Itama

      i think she might if becky start disrupting things and causes sarah to be at risk of dropping out again. that would take months of development though (which means, like, a decade of development.)

      1. Ed

        Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t see how Becky would really be disruptive of Sarah’s studying.

      2. Lume

        Ahh yes. Webcomic time.

    5. newllend

      What ? over something like this no way, thats unless she thinks being gay is threatening to your life.

      1. Stgerlachus

        The problem is not being gay, it’s having someone stay in the dorm illegally. Which could cause a lot of trouble for both Sarah and Joyce.

        However I do believe that once Sarah understands the position Becky is in she won’t act against here, not unless Becky would directly act in a way that hurts Joyce, which I don’t see happening.

    6. Ryan

      None of her dialogue seems to indicate that. She says “if you get found out”, which could imply a threat in some cases, but in this context it’s just reminding Joyce of the problem with her plan. Then she gets sarcastic about Joyce’s idealism and says “good luck with that”, both of which imply “Go ahead and try, I won’t stop you.”

    7. Kinoko

      Misanthropic as Sarah is, I think she would be against doing anything that gets Becky sent back to her mentally abusive dickhole of a father. Dana presumably has a supportive father who is grieving along with her, but Becky literally has nowhere else to go. Sarah just wants to get Joyce thinking long-term, and to realize this can’t be a permanent solution.

      1. tyersome

        I don’t think Sarah knows how bad Becky being sent home would be.

        1. Spencer

          Becky did tell Sarah that she was “caught being gay” and her dad
          pulled her out of school, so we know Sarah is aware of her situation
          and I’m pretty sure she’s smart enough to know what kind of life Becky
          would be returning to. Her primary concern is probably how this could
          affect her scholarships if she’s complicit in rule breaking.

        2. jadedcynic

          True; “I got caught bein’ gay and dad pulled me out of school an’ so I ran away…” doesn’t necessarily convey everything – like the incipient brainwashing camps and so forth.

        3. Stgerlachus

          It doesn’t convey it, but it does rather heavily imply it. Considering Sarah is a clever woman and with what she knows about Joyce I think she’ll figure it out.

        4. tyersome

          She may figure it out, but that doesn’t mean how she is responding right now is informed by that hypothetical future figuring out …

    8. SonicBlueRanger

      Only when Becky’s issues begin to inconvenience her.

  4. liahansen

    Sarah’s Joyce conversation faces are getting less angry and more distressed as time goes on

  5. John

    Stop with your being cynical and pragmatic, Sarah! We’re going to keep Becky for evers and evers!

    1. Kinoko

      She’ll be like a dorm puppy! They can shuffle her between rooms to keep from getting caught. 😛

  6. Gryph

    I don’t so much mind Sarah pointing out the flaws in Joyce’s logic. But it does bug me that she never seems to have a helpful suggestion to follow up wth that.

    1. Rivier

      No, I’m pretty much exactly there with you on that. Maybe she’ll come up with a solution off panel?

    2. Steven

      A lot of people are like that, willing to point out the flaws of a plan but don’t off any help. Plus I don’t really know what Sarah is expecting here, its barely been a few hours, what kind of rock solid life plan are you going to have in that amount of time.

      1. Rivier

        And they haven’t even had breakfast! How are you supposed to come up with a flawless plan right after waking up?

        1. Twilightomens

          But Joyce will never have breakfast, so there could never be a plan!

        2. Rivier

          But maybe that’s exactly her plan, to keep Becky as a roommate forever. Joyce, you’re brilliant!

        3. Barf Ninjason

          Good gravy, why would she pick breakfast to skip of all things? Skip dinner if you gotta skip something, dude. I know the whole “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” thing, but my angle is more that personally I wake up ravenous and don’t wanna do anything else until I’ve eaten something.

        4. Solenoid

          Is that ravenousness due, in part, to skipping dinner, by any chance?

        5. Barf Ninjason

          Nope, I don’t skip dinner, I’m just saying that’s what I’d skip if I had to.

          Then again, Joyce probably studies after dinner so maybe it’d be better to skip lunch?

          I guess, ultimately, my point is that Joyce should smoke some weed and eat a ton of food, that’s be a good storyline.

        6. Kinoko

          You digest food slower than is healthy if you eat right before sleeping. I’ve heard that if you’re going to skip a meal, dinner is generally the healthiest one to pass up. Though that probably isn’t true for everyone. Also, dinner is way too delicious to skip.

        7. Barf Ninjason

          Bah! It is the deliciousness of breakfast food that is unskippable! Although if for some lunatic reason one doesn’t like it, one could always eat dinner food at breakfast. Many’s the time I done made me some nachos for breakfast. An’ et ’em while I read up on m’ grammars.

        8. timemonkey

          I haven’t had breakfast in over a decade, it’s not that big a deal really.

        9. Dean

          I agree, any problem seems more insoluble on an empty stomach.

    3. Barf Ninjason

      Yeah, I’d be more sympathetic to her if she ever had anything actually constructive to say. But nope; confronted with Joyce pointing out that it’s the right thing to do, she offers no alternate plan but sneers at the impracticality of trying to do the right thing. Thumbs down, angry lady.

      1. Airyu

        I wonder what Sarah would do if she had a childhood friend who was in Becky’s situation.

        1. Masterofbones

          Say something sarcastic and punch someone.

      2. Gigafreak

        It’s not Sarah’s problem, though. It’s solely Joyce’s. Sarah’s pointing out that Joyce NEEDS to come up with a solution, a thought that evidently hadn’t occurred to Joyce. Which is a far bigger help than saying nothing, which you would prefer Sarah to do.

        1. Barf Ninjason

          I don’t think Joyce is that dumb; like she says, “I KNOW, okay?” She already knows what Sarah’s saying. Silence IS better than being patronizing or pushy, but what I think would be the right thing to do in this situation is to say something like “You should probably help her find somewhere else to live,” preferrably after more than like less than one day of the situation. That’s be a nicer way to say it, if nothing else.

        2. Barf Ninjason

          Actually, I realized that since you pointed out that it’s not really Sarah’s problem, I was letting it color my response: I think the minimum POLITE thing is what I said above, but the actual RIGHT thing would be something like “let’s ask around and see if we can find anyone who can think of somewhere for her to go!” or something like that. It’s not like it’s some ascetically altruistic thing to help out your friend’s friend with a problem. And Sarah’s not actually selfish, she’s just a little snot all the time.

        3. Shadlyn

          Joyce never gave Sarah a chance to offer suggestions. Look at Joyce’s face in panels 3 and 4; she’s snapping and/or yelling at Sarah for bringing the topic up and doing everything she can to shut the conversation down.

          Second, “asking around” is a great idea; let’s be sure word of this gets back to Mary. I’m sure that she wouldn’t do anything to have a lesbian who is shacking up in the dorm illegally removed. Nope, nuh-uh. Let’s make this secret as open as possible.

          I’m not saying Sarah isn’t a pain sometimes, but she is 100% right here. She didn’t say Becky had to get out; she said a plan was needed..and Joyce made it explicit that she didn’t want to talk about it.

        4. Airyu

          To be fair, Joyce is under a tonne of stress right now, and Sarah knows this. Right or not, it’s really not the best way for Sarah to say things.

    4. Kryss LaBryn

      There aren’t always obvious solutions; but that doesn’t stop the problems from being there. And sometimes focusing too much on how to handle things short-term (what to wear, how to eat) distracts from what will soon become a far more pressing issue: No, Really, What Next?

      Joyce’s “solution” is only really sustainable for a few hours. Honestly, as soon as the school authorities decide she’s violating guest rules, she’s out. So, what then (as you noted)?

      Sarah may not have a suggestion for it (I don’t, particularly, beyond spending the day talking to administrators and seeing what the process to transfer in is and how quickly it can be done) but that doesn’t mean that Joyce and Becky don’t need to get SOME kind of a plan in place ASAP. Because sooner or later, someone (probably Mary) will notice Becky is being there more than she should, and will report her. But Joyce seems to be sticking her head in the sand and going “La la la I can’t hear you!”

      “HEY there is a huge issue rolling towards you that you seem to be completely ignoring” is at least more helpful than allowing Joyce to blithely play sleepover until the background problem knocks them flat with no preparations for it whatsoever.

    5. Gangler

      Yeah, without proposing some alternative or even a general goal they should be shooting for it kind of comes across like she’s suggesting they kick Becky out on her ass, which is pretty harsh even for Sarah.

  7. ditrysia

    I know Sarah’s being realistic and all, but she can be a bit of a jerk sometimes.
    I mean, a bit of help would be nice in this situation.

    1. Airyu

      I just wish she’d offer some help; then her jerkiness would at least be constructive.

      1. ditrysia

        Yeah exactly.

    2. fogel

      If it were a problem that could be solved with a baseball bat ….

    3. Norah

      Sarah hasn’t really had time to think about it yet though. She just found out Becky is staying at bedtime last night, and they’ve just waked up. She sees that Joyce isn’t even thinking long term, and that she (Joyce) needs to get out of that mindset. Once Joyce accepts that, they can brainstorm a solution.

      1. Norah

        Or is it woke up? Awakened?

        1. tyersome

          I’d go with awoken, personally … awakened or woken up work.

          “… they just woke up.” seems like it would do the job as well.

    4. Thomas64

      What kind of help is Sarah able to give, though?

      I don’t understand this complaint about Sarah at all. Consider this analogy: I park my car in a no-parking zone. As I get out of the car, a passerby tells me I can’t park there. How should I react: “thanks for letting me know,” or “dude, if you’re not going to tell me where I am allowed to park, just shut up already?”

      Pointing out a serious problem is helpful. The fact that it’s not the kind of help that lowers your anxiety level doesn’t change that.

      1. Ste Rose

        But that’s not analogous. If you parked your car in a no-parking zone because if you continued to drive you’d be endangering somebody, and if the passerby knows this, then the passerby is being unfair. Similarly, the only immediate alternative to letting Becky stay is kicking her out, which is the wrong thing to do, and Sarah – while not totally clued in – knows that.

        1. Thomas64

          Wow, you’re introducing a really different scenario there, which of course can lead to different conclusions.

          You’re still misrepresenting Sarah’s position, though, which is what my previous post was about. Sarah isn’t threatening to kick Becky out; she’s pointing out that it’s against the rules for Becky to live there. Now, that may sound like “annoyingly and unhelpfully pointing out the obvious,” but given how Joyce was talking, it seemed like a necessary thing to say.

          Joyce’s reaction, which is anger instead of an expression of worry, only confirms to me that Sarah really needed to speak up; Joyce was in denial of the looming problem, and she had to start thinking seriously about it.

        2. ditrysia

          That’s because Joyce is doing as best she can in a complicated situation, while Sarah is just complaining and not offering a better, alternative solution. Joyce does know it’s against the rules already but that’s all she can do for now, and pointing out that it can get her in trouble when she /knows/ this and chooses to risk it in sake of her friend is not helpful at all.
          If she’s so bothered by this arrangement she could try to think something else up instead of just being negative.

        3. Ste Rose

          It’s not a really different scenario though.
          Continuing to drive would endanger someone -> Becky has nowhere to go

          Parking in a no parking zone so that no one is endangered -> Letting Becky stay because she has no where to go
          (It should be noted that in both examples, it’s a short term solution out of necessity, because without a short term solution you don’t have time to find a long term solution)

          Parking in a no-parking zone being illegal -> Having guests being against the rules

          The passerby knowing that if you hadn’t parked then, someone would be at risk -> Sarah knowing that Becky has no where to go

          The condescending attitude of the passerby assuming the driver isn’t aware of the illegality as opposed to knowing but making the best of a bad situation -> The condescending attitude of Sarah assuming Joyce doesn’t know the rules about guests rather than that she does know the rules but is making the best of a bad situation.

        4. tyersome

          1) Sarah hasn’t said “You can’t park there, move it this minute.” she has said “You if you keep parking there it is going to become a problem.” — specifically, “Your friend can’t actually stay here forever.”

          2) Sarah doesn’t know that Becky has no where else to go, because Joyce is talking at her not with her. — I understand where Joyce is coming from and her instincts are good, but Sarah’s response is reasonable given what she knows about the situation.

        5. Gangler

          Sarah’s not stupid. A recently discovered homosexual needs a place to stay, she can fill in the blanks. She’s not sitting here with her thumb up her ass wondering “But why doesn’t Becky just stay in her own room?” like some voyeur from a future utopia who’s never heard of modern social ills before.

  8. zebrathinker

    Oh noooo Sarah please don’t do the thing

    1. Twilightomens

      Please don’t “pull a Sarah”, as it is referred to now.

      1. zebrathinker

        I have a feeling Sarah is about to pull quite the Sarah. 🙁

        1. ahuh

          I think “pulling a Sarah” in this context means telling Leslie or Dorothy about the situation, explaining that Joyce is too freaked out and worried about hurting Becky to really have a good idea what she should do, and having the four or five of them(Joyce, Becky, Sarah, and one or both of Leslie/Dorothy) sit down and lay out a “what are we going to do in the next two weeks to get Becky stable long-term housing, protection from her father, and some means of getting her life back on track”. This will probably mean immediately securing permission from Ruth for Becky to stay as a temporary guest for a few weeks(this shouldn’t be too hard) and then helping Becky secure a scholarship or work/study arrangement at IU or somewhere else that pays for room and board, followed by finding her a place she can stay if remaining in the dorm until the transfer arrangements work out becomes untenable.

        2. vmgx

          team “sarah is not a dick”

      2. Bill

        I don’t think Sarah is going to turn anyone in at this time — key phrase being “at this time”.  But if some sort of ‘endgame scenario’ isn’t forthcoming or some kind of legitimate arrangement isn’t at least explored, all bets are off.

        Now then, who is the other person who seems to be a holier-than-thou person who would take delight in throwing a monkey wrench into the works?  *THAT’S* the one I would worry about first.

        1. Repulsion

          Mary. If anyone’s going to fuck this whole thing up, it’s going to be Mary.

    2. GoSpeedRumpist

      Yeah, Zhu Li is the only one who’s allowed to do the thing.

      1. FlyingFish

        Drill down past some unfortunate surface beliefs that come with growing up in one of THOSE households, and Joyce really has the essentials of Jesus’s teachings down: love and care others, even when it’s difficult, even when those around you say it’s not worth it for “them” or “they” will corrupt you. Which is also what will ultimately wipe out those unfortunate (and incompatible) surface beliefs.

        1. FlyingFish

          And that was NOT supposed to be in reply to your comment. My bad.

  9. SUGauthor

    Is there any chance she can transfer here? I’m pretty sure there are scholarships for gay kids disowned by their parents.

    1. newllend

      Either that or she can sew somebody, ya that seems like a good plan.

      1. chantecler

        she can sew someone? but how will she give life to it afterwards? O_o
        is she secretly a sorceress/seamstress?

    2. Airyu

      Even if there are, Becky technically didn’t get disowned… she ran away. Her father is probably looking for her and wants to take her back and try to make her an “ex-gay”.

      1. F

        I believe I saw said all the characters are over 18. If true, there’s nothing her family can legally do to her.

    3. insomniac

      There might be, but I know someone firsthand whose parents’ income was factored into “expected contributions” to her tuition until she was 26, despite not speaking to them since before her fifteenth birthday.

      1. Betty Anne

        ^This. I’ve known more than one person – including myself – whose parents were factored in to our “expected contributions,” whether they had the means, willingness, or both to do so. I was also in college before the whole “stay on your parents’ insurance until you’re 26” thing, so I even had my own insurance and such, yet my parents’ income always had to be put on my financial aid paperwork. I had classmates who were straight up disowned who were required to put their parents’ income down. It’s bullshit, but it’s reality.

        1. Gangler

          In Ontario there’s a form parents can fill out if they don’t plan on assisting with their child’s education.

          The problem is that parents fill it out. Requires a parental signature. So parents still have the power to withhold their signature, and then we’re back to square one.

    4. Paul

      1) Transfering would require applying to the university and being accepted; that would take time.

      2) Scholarships rarely cover housing and food costs.

      1. Anomymous

        Scholarships wouldn’t help much anyway; tuition is a fart in a hurricane compared to on-campus housing and dining plans. When I was in college, it was actually cheaper to rent a one-bedroom apartment than live in a two-person dorm. I assume the costs have only gone up since then.

        Becky needs short-term housing most urgently. She hasn’t registered as a guest with the college yet, so if they do that “today” (comic-time) they should have a few days to figure out a plan without having to worry about the rules. She should look into local women’s or youth outreach centers as the next step.

        She needs her own food and clothing, and Joyce’s resources can’t support both of them, which means she needs to find a job. That will be next to impossible without a reliable means of getting in touch with her, but a cheap prepaid burn phone will solve that problem. Once she’s cashed her first check, she should go to Goodwill for some clothes and the cheapest grocery store in the area to stock up on food. Once she has steady income and some money in her pocket, she can think about moving up to a more permanent housing situation, like a rented-out room or someone looking for a housemate.

        Of couse I’m assuming she brought no cash at all, and she can’t draw from any resources she had at home (bank accounts, relatives, etc) because it would give her father a lead. If they can scrape together some spare change from Joyce’s social circle, she’ll have a head start.

    5. Halloween Jack

      http://glbt.indiana.edu/Scholarships%20and%20Financial%20Support.php

      I would expect that, in addition to whatever sort of financial support they could offer directly, there would also be a powerful network of students, faculty, staff, and local alumni that would be willing to offer some assistance, including an off-campus place to crash and possibly even a job. Becky’s situation is far from unique and anyone in the campus LGBT community who hadn’t gone through it themselves would probably have a certain amount of “there but for fortune” sentiment.

  10. Luzahn

    Oh, Joyce! *sitcom laughtrack*

    1. Airyu

      Oh, Sokka! *sitcom laughtrack*

  11. Renshear Blade

    It sucks when you do what’s best for everyone else just to lose yourself in the end…

  12. Bagge

    I like Joyce new catchphrase. It’s rare to find someone stand up for idealism these days.

    Joyce is right, you have to do what is right. Sarah is right, you need to be smart. KEEP TALKING – there are plenty of possibilities. You can always break the forth wall and check the comments section for ideas.

    1. Rachel Roth

      She’d have to break a time barrier first. Willis has already written up the resolution to this story arch. Months ago, no doubt.

      1. Kelly

        If you can break the 4th wall, time travel shouldn’t be a big issue.

        1. Rachel Roth

          Unless breaking the forth wall before time traveling can change your future, so that you don’t see what you saw that made you make the choices you made.

  13. Xain

    so someone found the title to the next bbook

    1. Thor

      What I was thinking exactly.

      1. khambatta

        Me three!

        1. jadedcynic

          All in favour?

          *raises hand*

        2. No Name

          Aye.

        3. vmgx

          Aye too

        4. Juliecat

          Aye aye

  14. JessWitt

    Shoot, alt text beat me to it.

    Also I was thinking of her endgame with Ethan.

  15. Mr. Mendo

    I wonder if Sarah will ever learn that the cynicism she clings to so dearly isn’t maturity, but just another form of childishness…

    1. Luzahn

      Her cynicism has never seemed all that childish to me, actually. I mean, the whole crusty-shell thing is childish, but the advice she gives and her position on certain issues is remarkably sound.

    2. timemonkey

      She’s more correct than most people are willing to admit.

      1. Gigafreak

        Indeed. Nobody liked Cassandra, either.

      2. StClair

        “Stop spoiling all my wonderful dreams with facts!”

    3. Stgerlachus

      I think she’s more weary than cynical, considering what happened to her last year it’s hardly a surprise she’s lost trust in the people around her. And while she might sound the same as she did when she first met Joyce she’s clearly acting in a protective manner, and I’m sure she’ll do so again. Of course that doesn’t mean that Joyce will like the solution Sarah will eventually come up with.

  16. Gram91

    That might be the greatest catchphrase ever.

  17. newllend

    Hey Joyce is hiding a lot of shit that will get her in trouble if she gets found out , could one more really hurt

    1. Barf Ninjason

      Huh? What else is she hiding?

      Oh, like how she thinks that if her parents find out that gig tried to rape her then they’d pull her out of school?

      Or more like how she has that guy tied up in a sewer on the edge of campus and occasionally feeds him pudding to keep him alive and also this hasn’t been shown in any comics yet it’s just implied?

      1. newllend

        And that person she killed that looks just like her…oh wait no that’s the other Joyce.

      2. Portmanteaust

        So that’s where Ruth put Faz

        1. Rachel Roth

          We EVER going to get a like button?

        2. Zan Thrax

          Maybe once Shortpacked ends, then dumbingofage can inherit the voting buttons from there?

  18. Sionyx

    Sarah’s one of the ones I’d expect to know about some of the options for Becky. There are people out there who help kids in Becky’s situation. While Joyce understandably doesn’t know about them, Sarah is in a better position to help out. Offer some solutions to your “little sister”, Sarah, don’t just expect her to know what to do all on her own.

  19. andromereida

    if joyce cant do it nobody can

  20. Historyman68

    Tip for writing Sarah: Joyce’s dialogue, but sarcastic!
    For writing Joyce: the opposite!

  21. Mary

    Really hoping the first class is gender studies.
    While others pointed out that it’s good Sarah is pointing out the flaws in Joyce’s logic, as others also said, it’d be nice if Sarah could offer solutions.

    1. John

      They’ve got math first. But after that is Gender Studies. I hope Becky follows Joyce around all day again, because I can’t imagine that getting her in the same room as Dorothy and Leslie could be a bad thing.

      1. Mary

        *nod nod*

  22. Swoop

    When’s the last time we saw Joyce angry? I remember her punching Joe, and I remember her cutting the rapist. She gets annoyed at Walky, but not like this. she seems pissed and it’s awesome.

  23. Kamino Neko

    ‘What you just said, exactly, but without being sarcastic’ is not just a good catch phrase, it’s a good summary of the Joyce/Sarah relationship.

    1. Clif

      In fact, it’s problem as a catch phrase is that it mostly works only with Sarah. Good job that Sarah is her room-mate, huh?

  24. Jennifer

    I hear that Carla doesn’t have a roommate. Becky could move in with her! Which would still be against the rules, but would at least get Becky out of Sarah’s room. And would also nicely balance room crowding in the dorm.

    1. ninja_jesus

      OH MY GOD THAT’S A GREAT IDEA except Carla doesn’t have a roommate for a reason. She most likely requested to have a room to herself given that she’s a trans woman.

    2. hof1991

      Also, single rooms usually have only one bed. Becky needs not only a place to sleep, but also a bed to sleep in. Sharing a dorm bed is very much a short term solution.

  25. Mallow

    In my experience, residence halls typically don’t care about who’s in your room if you’re being quiet and not disrupting other people in their rooms. If Becky and Joyce stayed low-key about things, then they could likely get away with it. I had people stay in my room multiple times in college and no one ever noticed or cared.

    Then again, there are other parties here that could get involved.

    I never had a Mary in my residence hall.

    Joyce had better keep an eye out…

    1. Kas

      Came into the comments to say this very thing. I had a roommate who had her boyfriend living with her in our dorm room and the RA said she couldn’t do anything about it unless she caught him there after allowed opposite-sex visiting hours. And even then, my room mate would just be in trouble for that one case. I’d have to call the RA to the room several times before anything permanent would happen.

      Had a lot of cases with this with people I knew. And the RAs just didn’t care–likely because they were breaking the same rule, I’d guess.

      1. Kitty

        This varies drastically from school to school. At my friend’s college, I could only visit for a few days at a time and there couldn’t be more than three guests there overnight. You also couldn’t park in really any of the nearby parking lots except on the weekends. If you got caught, they risked being thrown out of student housing.

  26. shoeboxjeddy

    Sarah’s negativity becoming toxic. She’s not wrong that this is a tenuous situation, but she IS wrong about how cynical she became based on one bad situation from her first year.

    1. spw44

      Agreed. I had a bad first year of college too, but I sucked it up and changed my attitude and things got a lot better. Sarah isn’t just holding herself back, she’s bringing the people around her down as well.

      1. Stgerlachus

        Remember it’s only been a few weeks for Sarah, and I think she’s already changed quite a bit. I don’t exactly like Sarah but I do think she has reasons for being who she is and she tries her best with Joyce. I have confidence she’ll do everything she can to find a way to help Becky.

    2. timemonkey

      Sarah’s less negative now than she was to begin with. Just because you don’t like what she’s saying doesn’t make her toxic, it makes the situation sad

    3. Halloween Jack

      It’s a situation that has followed her to this year as well. Don’t underestimate the capability of college students to scapegoat someone; I was in a roughly analogous situation my sophomore year, because I roomed with someone that I’d been friends with my freshman year, and found out that living with him was an entirely different situation from just hanging around him, and other people on our floor still thought he was cool. (That changed a lot my junior year, when I moved off campus with a group of people from my floor that included this guy, and the other people–ironically including the #1 and #2 stoners from the floor–realized that I’d been right.) Many of these people are still technically teenagers, and are perfectly willing to displace all their fears and insecurities and resentments onto the designated floor buzzkill.

  27. Stephen Bierce

    “Nothing Short Of Right Is Right”
    http://www.greatadventures.8m.com/right1.gif

    1. Kryss LaBryn

      Aw, it won’t allow me to see it without an account; says the server doesn’t support remote hotlinking. 🙁

  28. Van jealous

    Just let her stay in Amber’s room! There should be plenty of room behind the door with Dina.

  29. ozaline

    Don’t worry, Sarah is 100% on Joyce’s side, and now on I’m quite sure on Becky’s as well. Sarah just want’s Joyce to know that the situation is not tenable, and they need to work to a long term solution… She expresses this through snark, because that is her way.

    Sarah is not the bad guy here.

    1. alicemacher

      Exactly. Joyce and Sarah are both right, just in different ways. Joyce is right about showing compassion for her friend who right this moment is short on other options. Sarah is right that at some point she and Becky will have to find other options.

  30. Rani

    Delenda Est Mary

    1. Aolbain

      Mary Delenda Est

      1. hof1991

        Ugh. Latin grammar Nazis. But in Latin you can deliberately play with word order to slightly change the meaning. Though I know one of those is a paraphrase of Cato, the other still conveys basically the same message. The powerful part is that the statement is an imperative about the future (Mary must be destroyed) while using est which is usually present tense. It is used to teach the subjunctive to first yr students. Plus you get to talk about Carthage.

        1. Aolbain

          Oh. I wasn’t trying to correct Rani. Just thought it would be a nice if we had both versions.

        2. No Name

          If we REALLY want to be technical, that should be “Maria Delenda Est”, with the emphasis on the i to make it the Latinized Hebrew rather than the original Etruscan, which puts it on the first a. (Trivia: the Etruscan “Marius” is one of the reasons why we have an Italian plumber named “Mario”)

  31. Lapin

    I love these two together. Sarah knows Joyce is right, and she’s going to give in because of it, but her logical side is telling her this is going to go down in flames. But she wants so badly to be persuaded into doing the right thing, and she misses having Joyce’s innocence.

    1. timemonkey

      No, Sarah is right. She doesn’t mind helping Becky short term but this is not a manageable situation for long. Becky is not supposed to be there and sooner or later someone is going to catch on. And even if they don’t they can’t afford Becky forever, people are expensive an she has no financial support.

  32. The Wizard

    All jokes aside, Sarah is right; being a college student I’ve been in multiple occasion where I’ve had “extra” staying with us when I was student housed. Some ended well while others almost got people kicked out, hell one of my old roommates who did it for a friend actually got locked up because of some stuff that happened while he was letting his friend stay there.

    Joyce really needs a game plan here, and she should really ask her friends for help on this one.

    1. Ray Radlein

      For what it’s worth, I once had a woman living with me in my dorm room for more than a year, across two different dorm rooms. But then, the second one was a single room, and the first one had private sleeping areas. And obviously neither of those rooms were at Indiana University.

  33. Jason

    Yeah, this right here is why I wonder what Willis means when he says Becky’s “here to stay.” Even if Becky somehow managed to enroll in IU, she wouldn’t be able to start until spring semester, which is like 15 years away in our world.

    1. Thor

      But she could get a job at Galasso’s while she waits and still hang with Joyce and the gang as required.

  34. Otera

    gotta say, I know people are getting mad at Sarah, but I think she’s just trying to keep Joyce looking at the big picture. After all, Sarah did “the right thing” her freshman year and it blew up in her face. She knows that there are other people living in the dorm with them who might not keep quiet (Mary for one. I can see Mary ratting Joyce out easily) I don’t think that Sarah really intends to do much about this, Becky’s been fairly unobtrusive as far as Sarah’s concerned….. The only issue Sarah’s really mentioned with Becky is related more to Sarah’s feelings for Joyce, rather than Becky. Sarah’s only issue was with the idea that Becky might hurt Joyce. Sarah seems to have started to feel like she’s Joyce’s big sister- often frustrated with her, but Sarah cares about Joyce and wants to try to help and protect her.

    I ~do~ hope that Becky’s able to find someplace nearby to stay though. my freshman roomie’s boyfriend essentially moved into our room. I didn’t mind him staying over at first, but after a month I got sick of it. after all, what the blazes was wrong with HIS room on HIS campus? why did he need to sleep in our room EVERY night? They never stayed at his school…….. perhaps it irritated me so much because he had somewhere else he could be (or perhaps it’s because the pair of them had no decency and I hated waking up to… their lack of decency)

  35. zmm

    Sarah your very grounded good to ask. Though maybe less sarcasm but considering your luck of having to deal with fallout only so far it’s reasonable.
    I really think that Becky needs to apply to the Uni for next semester and try to get some late s chool loans for herself. and if she’s under 18 then probably try the declare herself…. since going home isn’t an option she sees as valid.

  36. Kennerly

    This is life support. You keep the patient alive until she can live on her own.

    1. Don't Mind Me

      Precisely. It’s true that Joyce and Becky need a better long-term plan, but Sarah’s timing and especially her tone are way off.

    2. Kamino Neko

      That argument would hold a whole lot more water if Joyce gave any indication whatever that she was thinking about what to do next.

      1. Stgerlachus

        That’s pretty much the point Sarah is trying to make. She’s just forcing Joyce to come up with a real solution rather than a fairytale one.

        Now obviously that does make her the bad guy in the short term, but I feel it will work out in the long run.

      2. Marc in MN

        Well, considering she made the decision to let Becky stay with her less than 24 hours ago, we could probably cut her a little slack. It wouldn’t take long to realize that it’s something that can’t go on indefinitely.

        1. Gangler

          I mean, technically accurate, but “Less than 24 hours ago” still paints a picture where she’s had some time to work out some general goals here.

          She made this decision late last night. She decided to let Becky stay, went to bed for the night, got up this morning and now we’re having this conversation.

          Joyce is still figuring out very immediate conundrums. Woke up this morning and had to work out whether she could eat breakfast without Becky going hungry.

        2. Amazistool

          She wasted a lot of time researching if homosexuality is mentioned in the bible, not exactly pressing needs.

        3. Gangler

          How much time exactly? We saw exactly one panel of Joyce running a google search. So fucking sue her, she had time to google but didn’t have time to figure out how to house a homeless gay youth on a long term basis.

        4. StClair

          To Joyce, I’d argue it was a genuinely pressing need.

          (No one ever said the girl had a particularly healthy sense of… anything. Basic morality, perhaps. Which is what keeps getting her in trouble with what she’s been taught.)

        5. Kitty

          Also by the way she’s talking, she doesn’t seem to have considered that Becky can’t stay with them long-term. She pretty clearly intends on caring for Becky for at least a while which, while sweet, is precisely what Sarah is concerned about because that’s not something they can really do.

        6. Kamino Neko

          Her first act after waking up is to find some way to rectify her faith and her love of Becky. Which is a good thing, something she needed to do.

          But to go back to the ‘life support’ metaphor, it is writing up her discharge papers instead of preparing for the lifesaving surgery. She’s skipped a very important step.

      3. Kryss LaBryn

        Oh, she totally is. And what she’s thinking, as she explicitly stated, is that Becky could potentially just stay there forever, if Joyce skips breakfasts.

        Which isn’t exactly something to inspire confidence that she’s actually rationally planning next steps and trying to come up with a realistic, workable plan. At this point her “planning” is on the same level as “She followed me home can I keep her?”

        So, good on Sarah for trying to keep her on track, because if the worst comes to the worst, they may only have hours to plan something out before it all hits the fan…

  37. Lord Geovanni

    i smell a catch phrase or at least a running gag

  38. StrawGirl

    Sarah’s sentiments are what I expressed that one day that comments were all messed up on the website. :S Cohabitation is a pretty serious offense at a school because they are supposed to get paid for people using their residences. They have these spaces for a reason, and they have to be paid for, just like most facilities. She’s screwing the school a few thousand dollars, and universities don’t take kindly to that.

    My undergraduate university has check-ins at the front desk of every dorm. (This is due to people coming in and murdering people. You stay with all of your checked-in guests at all times. So your guests can’t check themselves out–it’s always possible that they killed the person who checked them in.) You have to be at least 18 to be checked in, and you have to give the clerk your school ID or some other form of legal identification. If someone is staying in the dorm for more than 3 days in a row, they get suspicious and start asking questions. I’m not sure what the ramifications are, but I can only imagine that they’re pretty serious.

    It’s mostly to prevent hobos/homeless people from living from dorm room to dorm room. So, yes, most residency-related rules for dormitories are in place specifically because of people like Becky who have nowhere to go.

    Isn’t the real world cheerful?

    1. Kitty

      I understand the part about wanting to keep homeless individuals out of the dorms, but I’m concerned that preventing murder is something your dorms have a policy in place for.

      1. Kryss LaBryn

        Especially when the reason is given as a present tense–something that is occurring that they are trying to prevent–rather than, say, the future indefinite…

        1. StrawGirl

          Good point! The university is one of the most haunted schools in the state in the most haunted city in said state. We ended up on one of those ghost-hunting shows–they only investigated three of the many haunted buildings.

          (An aside: One building they checked out that had high readings was the one where a girl hung herself on the pipes in the basement. That building is now used for financial stuff and various other school business, including the testing and counseling center. They have taken many precautions for working to prevent suicide since then.)

          There have been ax murders (in the dorm where we now host some high-school students studying on campus) and other such murders. I wouldn’t even say that the school is in that bad of an area (outside of the stuff across the train tracks). It’s just, like, a thing that has happened in the past. There have honestly been way more accidental deaths than murders. Like the guy who was high on mushrooms and jumped out of the 20-something-th floor of a building because he thought he could fly. (The windows barely open now because of this.)

          The only issue that occurred in my undergrad was an incident in which there was thought to be a hostage situation at one of our small satellite campuses. In reality, a couple of fraternities had gotten into it the night before, and it started up again the next afternoon. Main campus and that campus went into lockdown mode (I was in my history class, so we watched Gladiator, because we were a full three miles from everything that was happening, and no one believed that a hostage situation would continue all the way up a giant hill that is literally a mile from top to bottom. We were in one of the buildings at the top of campus. It was also made of concrete), and we all received text updates, one of which rumoring that someone had gotten shot.

          The fight moved from the satellite campus to the area widely considered to be the “ghetto” of main campus, and police showed up. There had been no hostages, and no one had gotten shot. There weren’t even guns involved. The only injury was a wounded arm of a suspect who resisted the police. Everyone agreed that the situation was really, really racist.

          But nobody’s died in years. Most of the murders occurred in the 1970s.

          There are a ton of ways to prevent them, including the implementation of these little stands that have a blue light and a “call police” button. The police are super-friendly and will even walk/drive people home if they don’t feel comfortable walking alone.

          The systems we have in place are really great, and all faculty are given all the information they could need in case a crisis occurs.

          I definitely could have worded my original post better, but yes, we do have lots of measures in place in order to prevent people from getting murdered. They take all of it very seriously, the point that it could get annoying. Does your guest need to go pee and happen to be of a different gender from you? Have fun standing outside their bathroom and waiting for them? The RAs and hall directors remember their residents and start asking questions if a person they don’t recognize is standing around by themselves. They also have a photo list (at the check-in desk) of people who are no longer allowed to come into the building.

          Again, it’s really not that bad of an area; we just have a lot of measures in place to deal with something that the school takes very seriously.

  39. Idon'tcarenomore

    Sarah is right in this instance, 100%. She wasn’t asked how she felt about it, and she wasn’t told how bad Becky has been/will be treated at home.
    Joyce is painting herself into a corner and she does know this, but can’t let herself back down.

    And yeah, Sarah would likely give Joyce advice, if Joyce asked for it: as is Sarah is trying to make Joyce realize all the ramifications of what she is undertaking helping her friend.

    Sarah won’t ‘narc’ on Becky unless it comes down to her/and or Joyce getting bounced out of school if this shit hits the fan….and little ol’ shoveler Mary would love to see it happen.

    And sorry for all of you softies in here, but yeah, I’m on Sarah’s side the whole way here: I would not get kicked out of school because my roommate was hiding her best friend in the dorm room.
    I would try to help her all I could, but if she didn’t get a job and a room mate off campus while applying for grants to enroll…she would be history.

  40. Bill

    “She followed me home can I keep her?”
    Quick Joyce; check and see what the policy is on pets.

    1. Bill

      Or service animals.

      1. tyersome

        I’m not exactly sure what you’re suggesting … but I’m not sure that Joyce wants any service from Becky (lip or otherwise).

        1. Bill

          Think of critters that assist their owner — usually we’re talking ‘seeing eye’ dogs here, but there are there animals that have been trained to assist those with poor hearing (a ‘signal dog’) or other disabilities.

          Then there are ‘therapy animals’ — animals meant to assist the user with mental or emotional problems.  Again, dogs are the most common, but there are documented cases of goats, pot-bellied pigs, cats, and ever miniature horses as ‘therapy animals’.

        2. Ed

          Heh, “therapy human”?

        3. Gamaran Sepudomyn

          I’d say “thinking-brain human”.

  41. Fancymancer

    For the love of Cheese someone get Leslie in here already.

    1. Amazistool

      Gravatar is great for that comment!

  42. ninja_jesus

    Oh my god everyone, I have an idea.

    Billie’s unofficially moved in with Ruth, right?

    So then that means Billie’s bed is free.

    And who dorms with Billie?

    Sal.

    Becky and Sal for new roommates.

    1. Lordess of Madness

      Oh shoot

    2. Kas

      The mechanics of this Could work out, now that you mention it, considering Sal and Billie share a bathroom with Joyce and Sarah. Hmm. I don’t think Sal would care (especially if she got the full story) and same with Billie. The real question comes down to how Ruth reacts, because it’s doubtful she wouldn’t find out.

    3. Kryss LaBryn

      That’s–that’s brilliant.

  43. Lordess of Madness

    This… could get weird. And very, very interesting!

  44. Kaunisenkeli

    Joyce, I really hope you don’t find that there is subtle wisdom in a lot of sarcasm the hard way. Becky’s been through enough lately, and I doubt you’re prepared for the consequences either.

    I’m willing to bet Ass-Queen Mary is going to come into play in this situation soon.

    1. ninja_jesus

      I feel like Billie’s situation and Joyce’s situation are going to collide somehow with Mary at the crux of both. Would it be a cruel, cruel coincidence if Mary’s parents somehow knew Becky’s parents?

  45. Volkai

    I really think “What You Said Exactly But Without Being Sarcastic” should be book 5’s title.

    1. vmgx

      yesssssssssssss

  46. Marc in MN

    Sarah is basically saying what I thought the very instant that Joyce decided to let Becky stay: “It’s against the rules.” But hey, I’m almost 40 and realistic…not an 18-19 year old who still thinks that everything should work out if we just do “what is right.” You should absolutely try to do what is right whenever possible, but don’t be surprised when it doesn’t work out the way you want each time.

    If the college finds out about this arrangement, there may be people who express their sympathies about Becky’s situation, but they would NOT let someone who hasn’t been accepted to the school and isn’t paying to be there stay indefinitely. She would likely have to find someplace else that same day.

    With that being said, I think the old “college me” would have waited at least a few days before pointing out reality to my roommate. Considering that Joyce made this decision only a few hours ago, expecting her to have it all figured out already is a bit much…

    I don’t think Sarah will personally rat out Joyce. However, unless Joyce plans on keeping Becky hidden away in her room (which seems unlikely since she just sent her down to the showers during peak shower time) it’s not going to take long for people to start asking, “Why is that Becky chick still here?”

  47. Spencer

    For everyone thinking Sarah is being too cynical, remember what happened the last time she tried to do the right thing for her roommate, and look how well that worked.

  48. Crispybro

    Hovering over the image doesn’t give show the funny comments he puts in them anymore. Thank god Inspect Element fixes that!

  49. Gangler

    It seems a little bit much to be sitting there talking about how the world works, as if any of her petty bullshit measures up to “Homeless gay young adult woman”.

    You don’t get to be the fucking world weary sage today, Sarah. Sit the fuck down.

    1. timemonkey

      She completely right, a positive attitude and being a good person won’t save Becky and unless Joyce figures out something long term Becky’s out on her ass.

      1. Gangler

        Yeah, sure. And does her vast wisdom about the world’s workings provide anything helpful on that subject, or is she just engaging in some self-congratulatory doomsaying right now?

        1. Gangler

          “Ooh la la, look at me. I know about how harsh the world is because my former friends don’t like me anymore”.

        2. Spencer

          Sarah’s cynicism can be occasionally grating, but it’s not like she actually enjoys it or looks forward to being proven right at how horrible things can actually be. She’s pretty obviously a miserable person when it comes to a lot of things, and being a ‘bongoy, misanthropic killjoy” is probably how she deals with it.

        3. Gangler

          Yeah, sure, and on a normal day I’d be sympathetic to the crushing weight of her shattered trust in the generalized other, and her chosen coping methods.

          But have some perspective. If her experienced betrayals are a raindrop, we’re swimming in a pool now. She’s still going on about how nobody else understands what it is to be wet. Not the day for it.

        4. timemonkey

          Except she’s never claimed to have experienced worse than anyone else.

        5. Gangler

          It’s heavily implicit when you start talking about “How the world works” that your experiences with “the real world” are noteworthy, that you know better than the other relevant parties to the conversation.

          That’s simply not the case today. While she could conduct herself as a sage when talking about stuff like whether or not strangers could be trusted at parties, we’re dealing with the intersection of homelessness and homosexuality today and she’s still snobbishly talking about how the world works in broad general statements.

          Because of her experience with her former roommate she feels she is the resident authority on the unjust nature of reality itself, even while the topic at hand so completely dwarfs anything she’s ever dealt with.

        6. Gangler

          Really, there’s literally no other reason to do that.

          Joyce said she was trying to do the right thing.

          Sarah responded by ebbing philosophical about whether or not the universe rewards righteousness.

          The only reason to turn it into such a large-scale all encompassing matter is to make yourself sound grandiose.

          Normally you’d say something like “Okay, right thing, but there are practical concerns that we need to address too”, continuing to talk about the subject at hand instead of making absolute statements about about the value of goodness in an uncaring universe.

        7. Gangler

          Like Joyce is talking about the here and now and Sarah’s started a debate about deontological vs consequentislist ethics, just because smaller scale conversations don’t let her talk like she alone knows how the world works.

          What, are we gonna solve the case of the nature of morality in the universe before we deal with the homeless gay youth who’s staying with us? Is that how we’re doing it?

          No, of course not. She doesn’t really want to talk about that. She just wants to brag about how she knows about it and you don’t.

        8. Gangler

          “How the world works” is how highschool teachers talk when they want to remind students that they’re dipshit teenagers.

          “You know in the real world you’re not gonna be able to get away with that. I have seen the world, so I am wise. My experiences are valid and true, while all of yours only pertain to this sham practice unworld you live in.”

        9. StClair

          You wanna try combining some of those comments, rather than spewing out your personal reactions/issues all stream-of-consciousness?

          (Nerve, plainly struck.)

        10. StClair

          Take some time to think and/or breathe, while you’re at it.

        11. laila

          Well, maybe if she’s had more than ten minutes before bed and five on the other side to think of something, she will do? If she hasn’t, though, that’s no reflection on her. This situation is absolutely not of Sarah’s making and was dumped on her without warning while she was getting into her PJs. It is really not her responsibility to then lie awake wondering how to solve it.

          Like it or not Sarah is completely right – and she is, for that matter, considerably more clued-in as to how the world works than Joyce or Becky, both of whom are sheltered homeschooled Fundie kids. (Yes, Becky’s dealing with a very nasty dose of reality indeed, but this doesn’t change the part where she was massively sheltered for her entire life less, say, the past two weeks.) No matter how justified Joyce’s reasons for wanting Becky to stay with them are, she cannot stay in her best friend’s dorm room long-term. Becky may be out of all other options, but the harsh truth of the matter is that staying with Joyce long-term isn’t a realistic option either, and she needs to find one instead of pretending this is it just because it’d be really nice if it was.

          Someone has to think about this situation logically since Joyce clearly isn’t. The sum total of the thought she’s put into resolving matters are working out how much she has on her meal plan and whether the Bible actually condemns homosexuality as roundly as she’s been told it does. These are both nice, helpful things to do! The problem is they aren’t an actual solution and go no way to actually resolving matters. As far as Sarah knows Joyce could have heard about Becky’s situation hours before she did – yet all her attempts to help are, while sweet, about as long-term realistic as a kid trying to hide a contraband rabbit in their closet’s would be. Someone needs to be the dose of cold water here.

          Let’s not forget that this is Sarah’s room too, and she’s also paying for it. However unreasonable you may think she’s being (and she really, really isn’t), she has a perfect right to have at least some say in what happens in it.

        12. Kryss LaBryn

          That’s a good point, actually; Joyce apparently got up early and has been busy on the computer trying to research ways to help Becky, things like how IU handles transfers, local women’s shelters, things like that–except oh no wait, she hasn’t; she’s been researching loopholes in the Bible to justify her feelings towards her friend despite being raised to believe that her friend will be condemned to Hell.

          So, yes, hypocritical; but also a massive waste of research time! Come on, Joyce! You’ve got a young woman crashing with you because her school kicked her out and she’s run away from her Fundie father, who will try to reprogram her, and the most pressing issue you could see to look into when you couldn’t sleep is “hey maybe the Bible isn’t actually against homosexuality after all! That would be great because then I could keep loving my friend and hanging out with her as I want to without having to feel guilty about not trying to save her by trying to make her not be gay! :D”

          At that point, knowing that Becky’s been kicked out of school for being gay and that she doesn’t seem to have any alternatives to crashing with them, and to then get up to find Joyce gleefully researching, not practical help, but justifications for what she already knows is the right thing to do, then I’m afraid Sarah is absolutely, 100% correct in bluntly stating that the situation cannot, actually, become the long-term status quo. Because I really don’t think anything less would even get through to Joyce, even if it were in Sarah’s nature (and first thing in the morning, I might add, and before coffee) to pussy-foot around the issue.

          No. Dammit, Joyce, what you’re doing is super hypocritical; but way, way worse than that is that none of that Bible bullshit matters right now.. Get Becky safe, get her somewhere she can stay and be safe and be fed and stuff, and then spend all the time you like trying to twist your indoctrinated religious views around to match up with your real-world experiences.

          Then, have at ‘er. Now, it SO doesn’t matter.

    2. Kitty

      I think you’re taking what Sarah is saying a little too personally. She’s not trying to start a philosophical debate, she’s pointing out to Joyce (who doesn’t have the best long-term planning skills) that something needs to be done. I don’t think she actually expected Joyce to have a full plan yet, I think she was more asking if she’d even started thinking of what to do, and obviously she hadn’t. Joyce is trying to do what’s right, and that’s commendable, but Sarah is correct: the “right” thing to do isn’t always practical or viable.
      And I’m speaking as someone who has been a gay kid facing the possibility of being homeless. I’m also speaking as someone who has had someone come to her house in the middle of the night because of her shitty home life. It’s hard, but someone has to think of the consequences and what to do long-term.

      1. Gangler

        Yes, of course something needs to be done. That can be communicated as simply as “Something needs to be done”.

        What’s communicated by a “The world works this way” statement is that she’s so worldly she knows all about the subject at hand and wants to lord it over you. Conveniently not using her worldly wisdom to do anything other than state the obvious.

        I can appreciate that somebody has to think of what to do in the long term. Joyce hasn’t figured out the long term yet. Sarah hasn’t figured out the long term yet. So why is it that Sarah’s still talking like she’s got the entire world figured out?

        1. Kryss LaBryn

          Because Joyce is talking like, so long as her intentions are good, then doing the right thing will always end well; and Sarah really, really knows that that isn’t the case.

          So, yeah, in that regard she’s got waaaay more experience than the little first-year home-schooled Fundy, regardless of if her heart is in the right place or not.

  50. OnyxIdol

    I’m with Sarah. However, instead of stomping away angrily in the last panel she should’ve offered some advice as to what to actually do.

    1. laila

      First thing in the morning, for someone else’s problem? Which she only became aware of five minutes before bed? If Sarah could do that she wouldn’t need to bother with college at all, since she’s clearly a magical Advice Wizard and direct-line descendant of the Oracle of Delphi.

      1. Gangler

        Joyce is in the same situation, first thing in the morning dealing with somebody else’s problem that was only introduced to her late last night, and yet Sarah seems to feel Joyce should have the end game worked out by now.

        1. Gangler

          Sarah at least has the luxury of not being preoccupied with immediate problems like how the heck Becky is gonna eat or what Becky’s gonna wear.

        2. timemonkey

          She doesn’t need an endgame already figured out, she needs to acknowledge this is a temporary set up and start thinking about the long term.

        3. Cheryl

          Hexidecimal talks about endgame…….!!!!!

        4. Gangler

          “So Joyce, seriously, what’s your endgame here?” was literally her opener.

          Then when Joyce started rattling off the parts of the plan she’d figured out so far, Sarah reiterated

          “No, your end game”, just in case you might have misconstrued and thought she wasn’t asking for an end game from Joyce.

          I don’t know how you could possibly read this conversation and say Sarah was not asking Joyce for an end game.

        5. timemonkey

          She verified that Joyce had no endgame in mind while asserting that she needs one in place.

        6. Gangler

          Yes. Exactly.

          If she can expect an endgame from Joyce first thing in the morning for somebody else’s problem that Joyce only became aware of the night before, then that’s hardly any excuse for Sarah.

          Joyce isn’t the oracle of Delphi either.

        7. timemonkey

          No, but she’s the one who made it their problem. Sarah would be perfectly justified in ignoring Becky completely and waiting until things blew up in Joyce’s unprepared face. Instead she’s pushing and asking the hard questions and forcing Joyce to think.

        8. Kryss LaBryn

          Yeah, but Joyce didn’t just also roll out of bed, either. She’s spent, what, probably at least an hour banging away on the computer, looking stuff up? If you go to bed having just been informed that, hey, here’s your roommate’s best friend and she’s gonna stay with us a while because she just got kicked out of her school for being gay and has run away from home–yeah, that’s a huge load for anyone to deal with right before bed, and first thing in the morning that’s still a huge load to deal with.

          So if you’ve (probably) been vaguely aware that your roommate has been doing computer things for the past while (or at least, get up to find her already up, dressed, fully awake, and researching things online), then finding out that what she’s been looking into so diligently was whether or not her religion actually said being gay was bad–Dude, Joyce, so what IS your ACTUAL PLAN here? Because I don’t think being able to point to Leviticus 3:11 (or whatever, I’m honestly just pulling numbers out of my ass) and say, “No, it’s okay, ends up everyone trying to understand what it says about unnatural acts for the past up-to-two-millennia is wrong, so problem solved! :D” is actually going to help one whit when the university comes knocking on their door for Becky violating their overnight guest rules. Or worse, probably, her dad, assuming Sarah knows about him.

          Joyce is obviously trying very, very hard to make those rose-coloured glasses fit, dammit; so Sarah’s perfectly correct in bluntly pointing out that no, she needs to focus her efforts over here instead.

          And then stomping away for like at least three goddamned cups of coffee before she has to deal with any more of this shit.

  51. mcj

    My college dorm has taken in, over the years, a number of friends-of-students and students-who-had-to-withdraw because they had nowhere else to go. There’s always someone sleeping on our common room couch who shouldn’t technically be allowed to sleep there. There’s always someone staying at a friend-of-a-friend’s off-campus apartment and living entirely off of their friends’ board points. And they are disproportionately LGBT; frequently trans kids. Its a shitty arrangement but in the short-term Joyce is 100% right. You do it because its the right thing to do right now. Sometimes you even get RAs who are willing to look the other way until the visitor figures out where to go next. I’m real emotional about this storyline, Willis.

  52. andromereida

    I agree that sarah needs o be cold water here. And unfortunately this is no time for Joyce to think about her fragile christian shell which ideally would repel all things unpleasant. But this also makes me wonder about SARAHS family life. what was it like? Im assuming that this is the reason that Sarah puts on her crusty shell, maybe she has nobody that she can go to?

  53. Crumplepunch

    Sarah.

    Sarah.

    Don’t storm off, you didn’t put your pants on yet.

  54. Tenn

    I am loving these characters.

    That is all.

  55. Pears

    Sarah’s totally going to report them. The Dana thing again.

  56. takashid

    consult Dorothy! she’s sensible and level headed, and could come up with some good suggestions.

  57. showler

    I could see Sarah returning to the dorm at the end of the day with a stack of research on bursaries/scholarships, emergency housing options and even a “help wanted” notice from Galasso’s.

    I can picture Becky working at Galasso’s, sharing an apartment with Conquest (sort of “Two Broke Girls” with better writing), but that would keep her too separate from the main cast. I hope David was able to work out a way to have her attend school.

    1. Adam Black

      I predict she stays in the dorm a month atleast,
      which could be 5 years our time .

      Our world could end before Becky gets kicked out /not worried

  58. Allykins

    I’m pretty sure that everyone on here is waiting for Joyce to explode

  59. Bobsled3000

    I ship Becky and Sarah!

  60. Adam Black

    I think Nobody commented that this comic ( and dorm ) has an antogonist,
    A hateful judgmental christian who’s already foreshadowed to be against F-F hanky-panky.

    If Ruth knows about Becky staying here, she can use it against Ruth too.

    HA! I see what Willis is doing…
    I predict a showdown between Joyce and Mary.
    Mary is going to do something to harm Becky, and all the assembled hordes of Sarah, Amazi-girl , and Dorothy are going to to be needed to prevent Joyce from righteous retribution .

    1. Kryss LaBryn

      And with any luck, they’ll fail.

Leave a Reply to Kinoko Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.