248

Scared
Posted on June 2, 2016 by David M Willis

248 thoughts on “Scared”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    better dial back the odometer just to be sure

    1. Doctor_Who

      And so this happens.

      1. Skorpeyon

        Exact same image that popped into my head.

      2. Walky_Talky

        Chicka chicka…….oh yeah!

        1. WolfLann

          You’re still here ?
          Go home the movie is over!

    2. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

      And mind-wipe John and Jocelyne!

      1. John

        Hey! No mind-wip-

        What was I talking about?

      2. Wolf_Pup81

        Mind wipe… sounds painful.

    3. SmilingNid

      They need a fluffed pillow. It’s fool proof.

      1. Achallenger

        stay still, guilt can only sense motion

      2. Sambo

        A FLUFFED PILLOW??? That’s EFFING foolproof!!

        I get the reference 😉

        1. SmilingNid

          Joyce also gets a comic book, it is relevant to her interests.

        2. Firedaws

          A fluffed pillow. That’s ingenious!

          (I also get the reference)

        3. SmilingNid

          So long as they avoid pick up games of Egyptian basketball they should be fine.

      3. DarkoNeko

        it’s floof-proof !

  2. DarkoNeko

    A sound plan.

  3. AnvilPro

    Lying solves all the problems!

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      Works for politicians.

      1. Rukduk

        First I laughed, then I cried, then I laughed again, then I cried again, and then I remembered I’m a Canadian citizen by decent and felt a small sense of relief from having a back up plan.

        1. inqntrol

          This is the thing I think when I hear Canada: http://memeguy.com/photos/thumbs/countries-with-no-enemies-189514.jpg

        2. inqntrol

          *think of

        3. Rukduk

          Sometimes it’s nice to be alone at tables. Other times you think “Why can’t everyone just get along and sit down at the table with me?”

        4. Disloyal Subject

          Other times no one will shut up and the table’s a mess so you fimd a tree or building to climb.

        5. DSL

          Then you realize they can’t or won’t just get along and you’re back to thinking it’s nice to sit alone at tables. Which, frankly, it is.

        6. void

          What about Switzerland?

        7. Rukduk

          Too busy hanging out with Lichenstein and Luxembourg maybe?

        8. Mkvenner

          You forgot Switzerland and New Zealand.

        9. Rukduk

          Sorry, but New Zeeland Mordor and Isengard.

  4. Dara

    SURE THAT’LL WORK #totallywillnotwork

    1. Lumino

      So… our entire plan is based on Joyce telling a convincing lie to an authority figure?

      1. Doctor_Who

        It’s her mom. I don’t care if Joyce is the bastard spawn of Captain Carrot and Piffany, she’s a teenager, she’s told at least one lie to her mom before.

        No one would survive to 18 if they couldn’t lie to their moms, and the human race would be extinct. It’s encoded in our DNA.

        1. timemonkey

          She did lie once, she said she hadn’t heard from becky.

        2. Mkvenner

          And Mike hailed Satan.

        3. Mkvenner

          #GNUSIRTERRYPRATCHETT

        4. Daibhid C

          My DNA must be faulty, because I couldn’t lie to my mum. I was (and am) a pretty terrible liar in general, but I don’t remember ever telling her a lie that she believed. (Unless you count mumbling “fine” when asked how I was doing, which worked one time in three if she was distracted.)

      2. John

        That wouldn’t be a convincing lie even without Joyce trying to sell it.

      3. sjmcc13

        One of these days it will work, one of these days.

  5. CommunistCanada

    Becky knows how to college. I should take notes.

    1. Doctor_Who

      I think that’s knowing how to high school. In college, no one cares if you stay out late and don’t eat your peas.

      1. Bagge

        Walky: “I’M LIVING THE DREAM!!!!”
        Dorothy: “Don’t stay out late and eat your peas. Also, have a lot of sex with me.”
        Walky: “I’M CONFUSED”
        Dorothy: “That’s normal when you are an adult”
        Walky: “NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

        1. Deanatay

          Walky: Living The Nightmare

  6. Wheelpath

    Joyce needs to stop with the guilt faces, they are way too cute.

  7. miados

    Oh just say partial truths. I decided to spend time with my brother. it was fun

    1. Rukduk

      This works perfectly.

    2. Spidergirl

      While that might work in a normal situation, I feel like Carol’s probably already on the warpath and isn’t gonna take any excuses.

      1. Needfuldoer

        All excuses will be countered with religion or emotional leverage.

    3. Israfel

      Partial truths saved my ass in highschool.

    4. Dean

      “Also, we ran some errands.”

      1. Rukduk

        “And tried to go to the beach, but that turned out to be closed.”

    5. Cerberus

      It’s the Jocelyne method!

      “Not actually gay”, “when things aren’t so hectic”.

  8. Kayla

    No one will suspect a thing.

    1. Doctor_Who

      No one will ever know!

      1. Mkvenner

        Context please.

        1. Opus the Poet

          Villain stealing a car in a Looney Toons movie, then saying “No one will ever know.”

        2. Doctor_Who

          If you have 9 minutes to spare, this is one of the best ways to spend it ever.

        3. Rukduk

          You have spoken quite truthfully. Also, is this before the actual Looney Tunes most of us know and love, because I can kind of see where they got some of the wackiness from.

        4. Doctor_Who

          It’s a pretty early one, yeah. Bugs and Daffy had made their debut by this point, but hadn’t really evolved into their final forms. This cartoon also made early use of Smear animation, to seems fast paced and spontaneous, and it shows.

  9. buddy

    joyce brown’s day off

  10. Mkvenner

    I get the feeling Hank is the reasonable one.

    1. Doctor_Who

      A sentence never spoken among the Venture Bros. fandom.

      1. Mkvenner

        oh my god! I just realized that Hank was the reasonable on in Venture Bros.

        1. miados

          and on king of the hill even if he was a bit of a stiff

        2. Harvey Janus

          I thought Dean was the reasonable one.

        3. Kinoko

          To begin with. Then Hank grew up into an interesting person and Dean inherited his father’s insecurities.

        4. Mkvenner

          I just realized I was actually thinking of Brock.

  11. Stephen R. Bierce

    *wants to play some Fresh Prince, but knows better than to do that*

    1. vlademir1

      What you wanna talk about that time he got picked up joyridin’ in his mom’s new Porche with a twelve year old runaway in the passenger seat?

      1. Stephen R. Bierce

        No, I wanna talk about the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team.

        1. Stephen R. Bierce

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW1-N717Ttc <- In case you think I'm kidding.

        2. vlademir1

          I’m familiar with it. I just only really roll through the comments once each day 😀 At least you didn’t wanna talk about fightin’ Mike Tyson.

    2. Needfuldoer

      How about some Fleetwood Mac?

  12. Pastafarian

    I see this is the part where the train wrecks. Oh boy.

    1. Disloyal Subject

      Hopefully THE TRUCK’s route doesn’t go through this town.

      1. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

        The truck?

        1. Geneseepaws

          Here’s one example:

        2. Geneseepaws

          hill, truck, turn,…miss

  13. Rycan

    One of these days, Joyce might actually be able to pull off a convincing lie.

    1. Spidergirl

      But that day is not today. Nor any day soon most likely.
      Actually, we may never see that day.

  14. Kris

    Literally physically the strongest. They couldn’t kick in that window frame for shit.

    1. JessWitt

      And punch down a 200-lb man, I’m assuming that’s Ross’ weight.

      1. Cerberus

        And punch into the air a 200 lb man. Joyce has got some power behind her when she needs it.

        1. Rukduk

          Given Ross’s height and build, I’d say that weight might be too conservative an estimate. Let’s assum he is 6’3″-6’4″ given how tall he appears in relation to other characters. Given his general bulk, I would put him closer to being in the 230-250 range, meaning Joyce is even stronger, as he indeed get nicked back about a yard when she hit him. The amount of force that entails being put in her punch, odds are she might even have cracked Ross’s skull. Give her a set of boxing gloves and she’d easily be a champ…once you got her mad enough. Point is, Joyce is insanely strong, though not yet outside normal bounds.

        2. Cerberus

          Adrenaline is a helluva drug.

        3. Rukduk

          “Rage is one hell of an anasthetic.” -Zaed Missani

        4. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          Carol never told Hank about her apparently unsuccessful participation in the SuperSoldier2 project.

        5. Wire Segal

          I think the Walkyverse joyce is leaking a little.

        6. Eric

          Rage strength isn’t normal. It’s why you don’t fuck around in a fight, if you’re gonna fight.

    2. Rukduk

      She could probably break her parents over her knee like Bane if she wanted too.

      1. Orion Fury

        You have my permission to not be bigots.

        1. Falcon

          I was wondering what would break first: Your faith….or your body!

        2. Kinoko

          Oh, you think belief is your ally?

  15. Doopyboop

    It’s sad when someone is scared to see their parents.

    1. Bagge

      🙁

    2. Cerberus

      It’s… a feeling I’m glad I don’t have to deal with. Still, I see it too much with my partners. Going home for them is never a happy occasion.

      1. Cerberus

        *deal with anymore

        1. Trina

          I’ve been reading from my phone and unable to post during the past week’s… events, but thank you for posting. Also your icon has made me like Roz way more than I already did. I’m sorry your partners still get this; one of mine does as well, and it’s a whole thing and.. I feel for anyone in this situation.

      2. Doopyboop

        I’m a little scared of my mom, though it’s because she has a temper. Just the other week she blew up at me because I didn’t want to apply for FedEx (They wanted me to lift 100 pounds/have prior experience. I have never had a job and I can barely lift 60 pounds.) and just the other day I had a stress dream about my mom yelling at me. This past year has been hard, I graduated college and can’t find a job, and my mom is frustrated/running low on cash. I’m sorry I can’t help financially but short of stripping/having sex for money there is NOTHING I can do except for apply for jobs that so far haven’t hired me.

    3. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

      It is. Nothing better than that moment as an adult when you realize you can remove the abusive family members from your life. That blood ties are bullshit in that situation and serve to do nothing more than leash you to people who would gladly hold you in front of a train to survive.

  16. Jay Eff

    BECKY: “We were here all day, you just didn’t see us!”
    JOYCE: “Y-yeah! And your car was here all day, too!”

  17. Tacos

    Yes Becky, that plan is totes gonna work.

    1. Bagge

      It might not be a GOOD plan, but it’s a very BECKY plan

      1. Spidergirl

        It’s also got shades of Becky trying to use wackiness to distract Joyce from her fear and sadness. Which is ALSO very Becky.

        1. Bagge

          Yes, in fact I think that is 98% of what she is doing. She doesn’t think that plan really would work (because, as Regalli noted, I’m sure she tried it at least once growing up), but she wacks it up to comfort Joyce.

          IIIIIIT’S BEEEECCCKY!

        2. Tacos

          That plan might’ve actually worked on Toedad. Given what we’ve seen of him, he’s a complete idiot and probably would buy that statement.

        3. No Name

          By her own count, she tried it at least forty times.

        4. Cerberus

          Becky tested, mother disapproved.

        5. Regalli

          I think it had a decent chance of working when Bonnie was alive, but once it was just Becky I suspect Toedad doubled down on keeping an eye on her.

        6. Disloyal Subject

          I kinda doubt it, honestly. I got the impression from his ‘I have been lax in my duties as ruler’ spiel and Becky’s general Beckiness that he retreated into grief and became a very hands-off parent for a while. I could be wrong, of course, and I could see him feeling he must not have been doing enough to control Becky if she ended up ‘choosing’ homosexuality even after his measures, but that’s not bow I read it up to now.

        7. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

          50 Shades of BeckydidImentionI’malesbian?

  18. Leorale

    I’m glad that Becky knows how strong Joyce is.

  19. John

    Aw, Walky got second billing on the “attractions of school” list. Told you guys Joyce actually does like him. Even if he is a jerkhole all the time.

    1. Bagge

      He’s Family (specifically the incredibly annoying little brother), something that rapidly becomes more and more valuable the more her old family sucks.

  20. Regalli

    Ouch, you two. (Ouch, thing I’m guessing now Becky might have tried before.) (Ouch, Becky realizing she had kind of gone through a degree of the ‘parents are not golden’ thought process before the very real risk of getting pulled out of college happened and that Joyce hasn’t and now there IS a risk.)

  21. drs

    Doesn’t Carol want to pull Joyce out of IU because heathen atheist corruption?

    1. Mkvenner

      Probably and gays.

      1. Orion Fury

        Here’s hoping she doesn’t find out about Carla. She may not even be able to process it.

        1. Disloyal Subject

          Here’s hoping we get to see her face if she does!

        2. Needfuldoer

          I hope it looks almost exactly like Joyce’s horrified reaction face.

        3. Kinoko

          That would be preferable as a stepping stone toward Jocelyn being able to come out to her family, IMO. These things tend to be easier to process the better frame of reference one already has.

        4. Mkvenner

          Well if Jocelyne is any indication the answer is no.

  22. Kernanator

    What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

    1. Smiling Cat

      Joyce’s mom has the county sheriff throw Joyce and Becky into jail for the night to teach them a lesson. The Sheriff does this because he’s a family friend, rather than through any pressing legal need.

      Afterwards, joyce’s mom delivers an ultimatum where either Becky goes to conversion camp, or Joyce gets pulled out of school. She applies peer pressure by posting this online for her church friends. So Joyce is literally met by an army of ill informed people begging her to submit to her mother’s will.

      Joyce refuses. For the first time, her father truly stands up to his wife. Joyce gets to see her family implode in front of her. Her and her father, and Jocelyn, who also takes this moment to take a stand, are completely ostracized from their entire community, and we find out that Hank has no actual means of supporting himself or his children without his wife.

      Some random kids get ahold of Becky’s story online and start spreading distorted versions about it. It becomes a gate, she gets death and rape threats from people who blame her for everything. The stress of this, combined with the unreasonable guilt she feels from watching her unrequited love’s life implode drives her to suicide.

      Joyce has to live with it.

      1. Paradox

        Your name and gravitar match so well but that post was an impressive display of pessimism.

        Just gonna take a moment to salute you, Cat.

      2. Needfuldoer

        “Some random kids get ahold of Becky’s story online and start spreading distorted versions about it. It becomes a gate, she gets death and rape threats from people who blame her for everything.”

        Sounds like the comments on days where Willis “feeds” those “baby” things instead of policing for morons.

      3. Commodore Jeep-Eep

        The only one I couldn’t see happening is the suicide of Becky.

        Attempted suicide, onna other hand…

      4. Austyn

        Willis DID say that nobody dies in-comic so Becky can’t die – HA.

        …

        I can’t refute anything else and Commodore Jeep-Eep makes a point….

        ….

        lalalalalala I can’t hear you

  23. caesaria82

    “You’re the strongest person I know”

    I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING.

    1. Bagge

      I AM in fact crying, so that was a valid observation.

      *trying to hug laptop, things get confusing*

      1. caesaria82

        I am also totally crying, I miiiiiiiight have been lying before :p

        I just hugged a stuffed toy dinosaur. Because I’m 34 years old and have a stuffed toy dinosaur….. NOTHING TO SEE HERE xD

        1. Bagge

          EVERYONE should have a stuffed dinosaur toy. The hard ones are rad and all but they are not very good at hugging.

        2. Opus the Poet

          I have a teddy bear the size of a 3 YO for when I need to hug something and the cats are not interested.

        3. Fairygothmama

          I have Cuddlemus Prime.

        4. Disloyal Subject

          I have a 2½ foot tall Mew. Also a Psyduck.

        5. Vampire Chipmunk

          I have a two foot Spiderman

  24. Idontcarenomore

    Yeah, that’s the way to go. Sure to work. Till Joyce opens her mouth, she can’t lie to her mother.
    Why does she have to go home?
    Why not go back to college and get a friend to follow them back, park the car a block from the house, climb in friends car and get their butts back to the dorm.

    1. Idontcarenomore

      Because yeah, Carole does want to pull her out of college. But, while she can cut the payments, I don’t think she can pull her out, Joyce is 18.
      Which means Joyce will have to figure out to pay her own way.

      1. Mkvenner

        But Hank does not want to pull her out of college.

        1. Harvey Janus

          Hank also seems to be a bit spineless. He might be too non-confrontational to stop her.

        2. DSL

          Don’t rule out the structural integrity of Hank’s vertebral stack just yet.

  25. timemonkey

    You know a situation is bad when you’re wishing you were around Walky.

    1. Bagge

      “Walky – The better alternative”

      Hmmmm. That slogan might need some work.

      1. Austyn

        “Walky – Better than the rage of Carol”

        Nope, still not quite right.

        1. Orion Fury

          Walky – He’s not a self-righteous asshole?

        2. Leorale

          Walky: eh, any port in a storm
          Walky: at least he’s not worse
          Trump/Walky 2016: maybe Trump will become unable to serve, and then taco bell for everyone

        3. inqntrol

          Walky- the one who bothers you, but get to like him

  26. Bagge

    Better bring a rusty spoon to show you mean business.

  27. Achallenger

    this is fine

  28. Mkvenner

    I bet her have been arguing this whole time and didn’t notice they left.

    1. Tacos

      That’d probably be the best outcome but Rule of Drama says Carol will probably be waiting for them to walk through the door while she sits in a chair in the dark all menacingly silhouetted.

      1. Bagge

        Hank, meanwhile, has spent a day digging a shelter in the garden.

  29. 3-I

    Tactical Joycepionage Action

  30. Dara

    Actually the freakiest part of all of that is that she wants to be back in school with Walky.

    1. showler

      Walky is now simply a subset of Dorothy.

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Walky is someone she can win against in social conflicts. Carol is much more iffy that way.

  31. showler

    For extra fun, John has probably called his mother to tell her how “out of control” Joyce is and how he was unable to “help her” at all.

    1. Spidergirl

      Yep. This is not gonna be a fun day for anyone.

    2. Bagge

      “I did my very best, I tried to be reasonable, I practically begged her, but to no avail. I will pray for her tonight. Good bless, Jesus, communion waffle.”

      1. Cerberus

        “She was just so disrespectful. I don’t know what they’re teaching up at the schools these days, but she’s falling in with those trendy LGBBQers. And she yelled at me. And the Joshua insulted my car. Really you should just disown them all. Also, mom, thanks for the donation to the church. Really went to good use.”

        1. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

          Okay look, I’m prefacing this with “I get that intentionally mixing up letters is one of the ways that assholes put us down.” but honestly I would enjoy the fuck out of an LGBBQ, can we have one?

        2. DSL

          Why would you want to barbecue a piece of cheap consumer electronics?

        3. Slartibeast Button, BIA

          You can only come to the barbecue if our cleric’s Detection spells verify that you are in fact Lawful Good.

      2. Disloyal Subject

        Don’t Protestants shun the whole transubstantiated wafer thing?

        1. Khyrin

          While many Protestant sects do not believe in transubstantiation, and overlapping many still partake of bread and wine/grape juice as part of their rituals.

  32. Mandy

    Isn’t tomorrow Sunday though? Maybe she’ll be too distracted by church to make a whole big thing of it.

    1. Spidergirl

      Oh, no, no, no. Church is totally gonna add fuel to the fire.

      1. Bagge

        “Loooooooord, help us pray away the gaaaaaaaay…. um, also, please give Joyce strength to not hulksmash the steeple.”

        1. Bagge

          To be fair, Joyce MIGHT just draw dicks on everything. That would let them get away lightly.

        2. Leorale

          Being in church and making a whole big thing, these are definitely not mutually exclusive.

    2. Cerberus

      It’s going to be an epic shitshow that will make at least half of us want to burn down a fictional church like we were a black metal band.

      1. Regalli

        By the end of it I would not be surprised if Joyce comes home to the dorm, Mary’s still going berserk over Carla, and Joyce just tells her to shut the fuck up because they have had it up to HERE with people today, okay?!

        (And then Sarah worries even more, at least until Joyce wakes up the next day and is something resembling functional.)

        … Remind me of this post a year from now but honestly I might be a little disappointed if the weekend doesn’t end in one more indignity for Mary to suffer.

        1. Willoughby Chase

          And Becky has to find a place to live.

      2. Rukduk

        Wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last time, but it just might be the most intensive time for me.

      3. StClair

        Joyce may pull it down on herself, like Samson.

    3. Harvey Janus

      Unfortunately, that’s probably not much of a distraction for these fundies. And there’s not enough gunpowder and magical addictive mineral drug in DoA to make that place into Kirkwall.

    4. newllend(henryvolt)

      Have you actually been keeping track of what day it is in this Comic, you deserve a medal for that I don’t care what anybody says. Anyway yeah there are so many ways this can go down.

      Possibility # 1: Becky wants to go to church but nobody wants here there and Joyce rightfully is pissed off about it.

      Possibility# 2 They go to church and it turns into some huge intervention for Joyce and Becky for homosexuality and Joyce goes ape shit and they leave right then and there.

      Possibility #3 Becky doesn’t feel comfortable going to church in her home town knowing that people are going to pass judgment on her and then Carol calls her out on it and it just ends in a fight between Joyce and her.

      Yeah I guess the way I see it there’s no way this isn’t ending with some sort of confrontation, hell I’ll be surprised if the night doesn’t end badly.

      1. Showler

        Other possibility, Youth Pastor whatsisface turns out to be fairly decent and Carole is enraged by this.

      2. sjmcc13

        What about if the pastor is a certain someone’s father?

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/06-yesterday-was-thursday/ofcourse/

  33. newllend(henryvolt)

    Joyce, has faced worser problems than this so far and everytime she was at least brave enough to step up to the challenge and face it head on. I understand the fear but this should be nothing.

    1. Dara

      You’ve never had someone else in control of your life.

      They pull college funding, she’s fucked. For at least a year, anyway.

  34. Teddae

    Joyce’s expression is proof right there that she’s growing so much… i’m proud of her

  35. Bagge

    “You and me, together”

    Again – this is why Becky bummed a ride, to be able to be by Joyce’s side during this confrontation

    1. Cerberus

      Yup, to be there for her in this crisis. And to be there side by side, having her back when it all went tits up.

  36. Mav

    If i remember from previous strips, Joyce’s mother has the “stronger” personality of her two parents. It strikes me as interesting that if it is a genuinely traditional Christian (Fundamentalist, yes?) household, wouldn’t her father’s opinion outrank everyone else’s, including her oldest brother should he decide on something? Sort of like her mother claiming all her children must do what she says, she is in charge, but she’s kinda just saying that to get what she wants. I guess it’s another aspect of how “non-traditional” Joyce’s family actually is.

    1. Austyn

      It seems like in a lot of the traditional Christian households I’ve seen that the wives are more strict followers of the religions than the husbands.

      1. Cerberus

        This. Also, women in that sect are tasked with “ensuring moral order” in the household and are told that if they don’t make sure everything is 1000% God-approved, then all their children will become gay and their husband will cheat on them and beat them and it’ll be all their fault for their weakness of faith.

        So, a common dynamic is the hyper-churchy mother, with the dad who makes a lot of noise and bother about “having to go to Church” but enjoying the fruits the rest of the time of having his romantic partner do 100% of the housework and child rearing and “moral enforcement” while he fucks off doing whatever.

        Zero effort patriarchy.

        1. Kinoko

          Yeah, I’ve seen this in super-conservatively Christian families. Basically, the wives are led to believe that their moral obligation is to be a “good mother”, as specifically an narrowly outlined by their church, and they put 100% of their energies into that, whether their children like it or not.

          As well as encouraging an overbearing personality, I’ve seen instances where this encourages women to have as many children as they are physically capable of until they can longer reproduce without miscarrying, at which point some start fostering and adopting more kids on top of that because fucking quiverfull movement, ugh.

        2. Kinoko

          (That’s not to detract from the fact that miscarriage happens to many hopeful parents, even first-time ones. I’ve simply seen a disturbing trend where women in conservatively religious households pop out babies nonstop until they physically can’t anymore.)

        3. SundaesChild

          And what’s REALLY messed up about that dynamic is that usually, women are to be “seen and not heard” at churches themselves. They must always defer to men, regardless of the respective levels of intelligence or education (or “spiritual growth”). So, yes, many are overbearing mothers, because it’s the one area in which they can assert some level of authority.

        4. Cerberus

          Yup.

    2. EvolutionistX

      Reality is often complicated, and mothers tend to exercise a lot of control over child-rearing.

  37. kkiten

    Her dad seems pretty nice. Idk if he’s nice enough to go against his wife to protect these girls but like, he seems pretty cool with Becky being gay and Joyce punching the fuck out out of toedad.

    1. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

      I’m not sure that you get to count as “nice” if you don’t protect your own child from your own spouse.

      1. NOS

        With that said, sometimes the best protection is avoiding escalation.

  38. AgentKeen

    I think John having lunch with you probably ruined that cover story.

  39. Whammy

    To be completely honest, half expecting the next strip to show that the reason no cops came to them breaking into Becky’s house is cause Joyce’s mom called them about the stolen care, probably implying that the “lesbian heathen” or whatever had somehow coerced Joyce away or something.

    …

    Point is, I have a low opinion of Joyce’s mom and feel she’ll be quite aware her daughter and “the lesbian” have been missing all day along with the car. And also quite certain a certain bongo brother probably tipped her off too.

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      At this point after what this comic have thrown at us that is kind of what I would expect especially since there has been at least zero repercussions so far for the stolen car but honestly when I expect a certain situation to go down bad it ends up being a lot worse.

      1. thejeff

        I honestly don’t expect tonight to be that bad. No huge blowups, no big deal about the car – just a bit more of the usual side attacks on Becky, like we say Friday night. Probably a “You should have called to let us know.”
        It’s going to be church tomorrow that’s hell. That’s where the full on intervention is going to be.

        1. BenRG

          I’m expecting tonight to be the emotional abuse and manipulation segment. Carol is going to have a collection of Adult Authority Figures present that she knows both Joyce and Becky respect and will attempt to browbeat them into accepting her point of view because (a) “I would die for you, Joyce” and (b) the community, their godly, righteous community, expects it and surely that must be a good thing.

  40. Overseas

    Sorry to interrupt the banter of the Willis-versed. but one thing is nagging me: Was breaking in really the only way to get those documents? (Why doesn’t she have a key? Why can’t she just write to the authorities to ask for duplicates? Is there no official person to counsel her in this situation?) – I’m a foreigner, I really don’t get it. Thanks for your help!

    1. Kinoko

      It wasn’t the only way, but it was the least complicated way. Becky’s currently homeless and unemployed. She needs her social security number as quickly as possible so that she can apply for a job and for school and to get herself back on her feet.

      Getting the documents via the proper authorities could take a long time. Obtaining permission to enter the house that is technically her father’s could take a long time. Any official counseling would probably put her through some broken (and slow) system, and also most likely land her in therapy, which would help her a lot in the long run, but not immediately.
      Basically, the American government is really shitty at helping people who can’t help themselves, and in such situations, if friends and/or family don’t step up, the person can find themselves in medical or financial danger.
      Joyce is currently helping Becky, but illegally, so Becky needs to help herself as quickly as possible.

      And I’m guessing Ross never let her have a key, just like her never let her have a cell phone. 🙁

      1. Cerberus

        This. Getting your documents without any of your documents is a long and expensive nightmare that can take literal years, because there’s no easy method of proving to the various non-communicative agencies that you are who you say you are.

        And she doesn’t have a key because Toedad viewed her as property and that having even the slightest amount of autonomy would lead to her inherent corruption away from the path of God. It’s also the same reason she had no idea what her documents even were, where they were stored, or even what they looked like.

        Because in the sect of Christianity that Toedad belonged to, women are the property of the father to be given to a husband when approved and their job will be to be a proper housewife, taking care of the house and homeschooling their children.

        To Toedad, this was interpreted even further as, clearly my daughter does not need even the tiniest amount of her documents or freedom, because she will not be working outside the home like a “degenerate” and freedom is just an opportunity to be corrupted by an inherently sinful world. So, no learning to drive a car, because what need would she have for that when her place was the home? No cell phone, because that could be used to communicate with unapproved boys. No keys, because, why would she ever need them when I’m the only means by which she can get home from college (and during earlier schooling, that was all at home, so why would she be leaving the house without being chaperoned by her mother or him). No most forms of media, because that could instill ungodly ideas that could keep her from the Kingdom of Heaven.

        Basically, he viewed his job as to “keep her pure” by limiting and controlling every aspect of her interactions with the world because in that sect you’re born pure and good and then corrupted by the sinful world you live in as you grow up. So the best method to keep someone “pure and good” is to deny them any agency or meaningful interaction with the world at large, because freedom’s just another word for sinful defiance. Especially for women. Because in that sect, women are inherently more prone to wickedness because of the legacy of Eve’s sin.

        1. sjmcc13

          “Because in that sect, women are inherently more prone to wickedness because of the legacy of Eve’s sin.”

          I REALLY hate that logic. from that story there are several morals and lessons that could be learn’t, and they insist on going with the one that Occam’s razor says is dead wrong.

          Eve was the younger of the 2, so we have a “the young are naive and can be mislead” lesson which is true, and something valuable.

          If the story is to be accepted, it requires that Eve had no experience with deception, meaning there is a lesson about needing to protect those who have not learnt how to protect themselves from the lies of others, and teach them how to protect themselves.

          There is also the whole do not fall for the silver tongue saying something too good to be true. Which many of them need to learn, as how many victims of scams fall for it due to reacting to how the person feels, instead of thinking about what is actually said and asking themselves it this sounds right/reasonable. But that is a lesson many sects (like the prosperity gospel) do not want to teach their followers how to detect snake oil salesmen, as then the would stop donating to the mega churches who are more about their own profits then spirituality.

          There are allot of lesson in that story that peopel should be learnign, but they keep focusing on the wrong one and ignoring the ones that actually matter.

  41. Reltzik

    (Title text)

    Nothing to lose…

    1. John

      Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.

  42. Cerberus

    Comic Analysis:

    Panel 1: And… the thing Joyce has been avoiding having to deal with all day rears its ugly head. If they wanted to pull her out before… yeah, this next day is not going to be fun by any stretch of the imagination. Cause now she’s defied them and openly broke rules, took the car without permission, and worst in the eyes of her mother, went off with a lesbian for a whole day being “corrupted by the feminisms” and whatnot.

    Add to that John ranting and raving about her “disrespect” and we’ve got a recipe for one hell of a molotov cocktail of awful.

    Panel 2: I love the callback on this. Literally the first thing Becky did this morning when waking up was asking Joyce if she was okay:
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/replaced/

    And she’s had to dance around Joyce stonewalling that question all day. But here, she asks again, and Joyce is calmed down and ready to talk (thanks Jocelyne! You are magical!). And she has a Dorothy moment (no, not that one, the one with the little doggy), wanting to go back to her real home back at college.

    And that says a lot because so far in comic, she’s always viewed La Porte as her true home, the place she belonged at more. But now, she realizes that her and this place have drifted apart. That she can’t be the person who can thrive here, who can retain her mother’s conditional love, who can be “pure” for her ideas of Jesus.

    Her home is back at college with people who genuinely love her and support her and don’t treat her PTSD and traumas as signs of corruption and who don’t treat “supporting a lesbian” as a worse crime than “trying to murder him up some children”. And I think she will end up back there, by Hank’s hand if no one else’s. But who knows if this weekend her mom will get wound up enough to make a power play on her future for the sake of her “salvation”.

    Panel 3: Holy shit is this huge!

    Joyce has been terrified of saying what’s going on, bottling it in instead. But here, fueled by the connection of the Triforce of Sisterhood, she’s actually letting Becky in, letting her share in the concern and let her help like she’s been suffering to try and do.

    And it makes me hope that they’ll get through this relatively okay, if not a bit emotionally battered, because at least Joyce is sharing some of what she’s freaking out about and that might be the piece needed to get these two martyrs to stop believing that the other needs them to suffer in silence and secret to “protect the other”.

    And that first line… “scared of what she’ll do to…” Yeah, that’s the awfulness of Carol. That what she’ll do is violence. Oh, not physical violence, but emotional violence. Tearing people up, making them scared, keeping them terrorized and on the back foot.

    Joyce usually fights when in danger, freezes when triggered, but here we see flight. And she flees when she feels trapped and scared and hurt and alone.

    But now that she’s sharing, she doesn’t have to be alone in her head anymore.

    Panel 4: Becky’s speech here is all sorts of heartwarming and shows the beautiful care they have for each other (outside of and separate to Becky’s crush on her). Becky means every word of this. That she’s got her back. That she’ll face her mother together. That Joyce is the strongest person she knows (minus her own minimization of herself).

    They have such an amazingly strong friendship and with this connection, with getting as many of her documents as she could, with the new sister in Jocelyne, this trip may even be worth it for her despite all the bullshit she’s dealt with and the hurt she’s absorbed.

    And it’s amazing that she’s doing it without going into her usual wacky it up… wait, Joyce’s head is drooping and looking sad, it’s only a matter of ti-

    Panel 5: And there it is.

    But again, this is also something she needs, a little bit of goofiness, considering things are getting tense and serious. The clown makeup has its uses beyond covering up her real emotions.

    1. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

      In addition to being afraid of things that Carol actually might do (i.e. being a HORRIBLE person) Joyce has also just seen first-hand that Faith!(tm) makes parents murderous towards their children and that “love” is not enough to stop them from doing truly awful things.

      Any safety she previously felt in assuming her mother wanted the best for her must have just evaporated through her new knowledge.

      1. Cerberus

        Yup, especially as she’s seen her mother openly praising and speaking well of said gun-toting Toedad and so is not at all reassured that if she felt similarly desperate to save her soul, that is not as remote a possibility as it must have seemed two weeks ago.

    2. Kerian

      “Triforce of Sisterhood.” That’s beautiful.

    3. Bagge

      I’m a bit misty eyed…

      Becky’s and Joyce’s friendship is just BEAUTIFUL, and just as you say, this is the moment when Joyce finally let Becky in and share her fears.

      Panel 2 – Joyce got her answer.
      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/03-answers-in-hennessy/unobjectionable-2/

      Panel 4 – This is all kinds of adorable and Becky means every word. Another layer of it is “I have been leaning on you all this time. I need you to stay strong, if you fall apart I will FREAK OUT!!!!”. No wonder the Becky-grin snaps back in the next panel.

      And they can joke together.

  43. Some1

    End of strip

    Hank: The truth is Joyce…I am not you father. I am a federal agent disguised as your father! I know must get in touch with my college at I.U.

    Joyce: who’s that

    Hank: you would know her as Dorothy Keener.

    Joyce: Dorothy is a secret agent!

    Hank: not just an agent…she’s secretly the president!

    Joyce: is anyone else involved!?

    Hank: A girl named Mary is part of our gay/transgender rights sector. Her main job is to act like a dick to LGTB kids to assess their self confidence and ability to stand up for themselves.

    Joyce: and Ross!?

    Hank: oh, no he’s just an asshole.

    1. inqntrol

      Hank: And Blaine is purely a sociopath.
      Joyce: Who’s Blaine?
      Hank…Forget what I just said.

    2. Tan

      So you’re saying it’s all a test and to trust in a higher plan?

      *pulls Some1’s mask off, and lo, it was Toedad all along!*

      1. Some1

        That’s mean Tan 🙁

  44. Pedantic Peanut

    So my insane bet for the next comic :

    Joyce and and Becky get home and find Joyce’s parents in the midst of separating . . .

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      That’s one my bets too and a nother one is that this escalates physically some how. Either it will be between Joyce and her mom or their parents because I’m expecting the Mother to blame the Father for there children recent changes.

  45. BenRG

    It’s the saddest, most terribly wrong thing in the world: A child so afraid of her mother that she’s scared to go home. The one person that Joyce ought to be able to rely on for unconditional support and it comes to this.

    WRT Hank: I suspect that his usual role is peacemaker and compromise-broker. I expect him to drive himself to the edge on Sunday with trying to find a fudged form of words to satisfy everyone and embitter no-one. However, I don’t think that this will be possible thist time.

    1. Disloyal Subject

      It’s sad and terribly wrong.
      It’s also nowhere near as uncommon as it should be.

      1. StClair

        I realize again and again how lucky I have been whenever I talk to one of my friends, who is something of a magnet for messed-up kids (on account of being a helpful, reasonable adult) and endless font of horrible stories from same.

        1. StClair

          … many of which end in some variation of “so wait, you’re saying [awful abusive parenting experience] is not normal? That doesn’t happen to most people?”

        2. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

          ^ This is a moment that happens to all abused kids. Hell, before I realised that kind of stuff wasn’t normal me and the other abused kids used to sit around and joke and compare notes on how hard we’d been beaten and for what minor offenses.

          It just felt so normal. When I met my best friend (at the time and still now almost 20yrs later) I remember sitting in her living room and thinking her parents were creepy. They just…cared. They were so kind and soft-spoken. I’ve only ever heard her mother yell–and that was at the television during hockey games. It was one of many little eye-openers.

        3. Cerberus

          Everything above.

          I mean, if the family you grew up with treated this shit as normal, then it must have been, right? Like, maybe other families had different quirks and stuff, but it’s not like those incidents of badness were completely out of left field, right?

          And it can be somewhat disorienting to realize, oh, those things I was dismissing as minor little stuff, weren’t so minor after all.

        4. Jaybz

          Little bit of personal stuff

          I’ve been realizing this a lot lately with my parents. “You mean most mom’s don’t inspect your legs for leg hair? Most parents don’t threaten not to take you to work because your hair is greasy? Most parents don’t tell you that you have to wait until x event to be allowed to cut your hair?”

          My parents told me constantly and still tell me that when I get out into the world I’ll find it’s expectations are not that different from theirs, and that I just don’t want to follow anyone’s rules. I’m still nervous about going out into the world because I don’t always know what’s real. What my friends tell me or what my parents tell me. But I want to get out and see.

        5. ischemgeek

          Yep. I am a decade out of my folks’ place and I still have times where I tell a “funny story” from my childhood and people are horrified and I am sitting there going, “…wait, you mean that’s not normal?”

          And then ppl ask me how I can joke about something like that and it gets awkward and heavy.

          But yeah – part of why I have such a soft spot for both Carla and Becky. Their gallows humor game is on point – and Willis really gets the “if I take the piss out of it, I don’t have to process it!” side of that sort of behavior.

        6. Cerberus

          SO much this. I love Carla and Becky’s gallows humor, because it reminds me a lot of a lot of my friends and me and our method of coping with the various fucked up things. And yeah, I feel you on “odd” stories of youth and then going “oh, that was fucked up to experience, wasn’t it”. Like, I’m so used to my friends’ horror stories that it took me a while to realize that it wasn’t really a minor thing the time my dad punched me in the face when I was 14. Not to mention all the times I’ve made jokes about the year and a half of awfulness only to have the person look at me with pure horror and I have to go, oh right, that was something I have a right to feel awful about.

        7. ischemgeek

          Yeah. “What? Like your parents never threatened to throw you out for sass!”

          “They didn’t. Ever. But especially not before I even hit puberty. What the hell is wrong with your parents?!”

          Erm. Not that I ever had that exchange verbatim before or anything.

        8. Dara

          Yeah, I learned a while ago not to tell those stories. People freak out, and if you keep it up, don’t want to be friends anymore.

        9. Spencer

          Ayup. Part of how I coped with living with my abuser when I was younger was telling myself that this was just my cross to bear, and occasionally having to sit in the car with her as she drove me around drunk or searching the woods outside our house for her when she wandered off was just a thing I had to do. Screams were how we communicated. Repressing the events of the previous night and pretending everything was fine the next day was just something to do.

          It took me a long time to admit to myself that it was a completely fucked up situation that I, fundamentally, did not deserve. Then my asshole brain decided to start sending the message that I knew everything was wrong and it was my fault for being weak and cowardly and not seeking outside help.

  46. MrSpkr

    Oh, Joyce; didn’t anyone ever tell “you you can never go back home again”?

    1. Willoughby Chase

      You get told it, but everyone has to learn.

    2. AUnicornNoOneAskedFor

      Ugh I remember when that became real to me. It’s one of those things that just sounds so esoteric and self-indulgent until one day you go home and find everything and everyone just so much smaller than you. And in my case more hateful than I thought they were!

      You can never go home, but usually you can go somewhere better and more real.

      1. Cerberus

        All of this. Just… all of this.

      2. Willoughby Chase

        I’m in the process of selling my childhood home.

        I slept in it one night when the house had been cleared, and all that was left were the bright shadows where their beds and chairs had been.

        It was a bad night.

        Hopefully the house will soon be gone and all that will be left will be my mother in a home, gradually declining with dementia.

        It’s depressing to see a once vital sparky person retreat into her own world, trashing dear memories.

        I thought I’d left home, but I find I’m leaving it again to become an orphan in the world.

        1. Austyn

          I feel you. My parents’ has been weird to live in since I’ve come home from uni (for the break) after my mom passed. Especially since we’re trying to move houses, which we’ve never done before.

  47. SundaesChild

    Avoidance! It’s not just for old high school classmates anymore!

  48. Arianod

    You now things are bad when Joyce’s smile begins to disintegrate.

  49. M-M

    So, the Brown patents haven’t been blowing up Joyce’s phone? How odd.

  50. Jack

    You admitted you like being around Walky, Joyce – no takebacks!

    1. BenRG

      Maybe it’s me but being considered a more positive person to be around than Carol Brown is not exactly a ringing endorsement! 😉

      1. JBento

        You CAN set a lower bar, but it involves shovels.

        1. John

          Or rifles.

        2. Dara

          I like you.

  51. Nlips

    Guess we’ll find out how strong Joyce really is…

    Of all people to stand up to, your own mother is the worst — especially when she’s convinced all she’s doing is loving and helping you.

    If Joyce’s mom threatens pulling her from the school, will Joyce have the strength to say NO, she’s going anyway, and will take out whatever loans and financial aid are required? Will she ask for HER documents?

    Will she somehow find a way to exert her own authority WITHOUT burning bridges and alienating her entire family? Remember “access to resources.” It does make life a LOT easier.

    1. Cerberus

      I suspect she’s going to try the Jocelyne method and that’s gonna hit her hard because of all the awful she’s going to be having to absorb doing that.

  52. ischemgeek

    Ah, Joyce. You are discovering that home was never safe, you just didn’t know what safe felt like until you experienced it. Suddenly going back under the hanging sword doesn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.

  53. Lulu

    Maybe, maybe they could ask for help from a lesbian who comes from conservative chrisitian family and more or less is a working adult and also a teacher?

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      pffff where would they find one of those

  54. Kitkat

    I really like seeing just the two of them, even though the circumstances aren’t ideal. Sometimes I forget that they’ve known each other for years and years, even if there have been changes in their relationship. I think this strip reminded me of that.

  55. Jackson

    Joyce, don’t do the second option, that is the less strong option

Leave a Reply to Achallenger 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.