338

Step-father
Posted on May 20, 2018 by David M Willis

338 thoughts on “Step-father”

  1. Doctor_Who

    Don’t know what Blaine’s gonna do with 64 gigabytes of Avengers slashfic, but I suppose Faz may learn some new things about himself.

    1. Betty Anne

      I’m hoping it’s all explicit yaoi downloaded from scanlation sites; Amber’s smart enough to erase her tracks, and Blaine gets stuck with pirated content he can’t explain away fast enough.

    2. Ziggy

      Hey, there is more than Avengers slahfic, on that flash drive! There is plenty of Star Wars and DC slashfic on there too!

    3. abysswatcher1993

      Blaine: “AHA! MY DAUGHTER IS INTO GAY STUFF! I CAN ACCUSE HER OF BEING GAY AND SENT HER TO PRISON!”

      Yuri: “We aren’t in the 60s.”

    4. Doom Shepherd

      I don’t suppose Amber could have some kind of Stuxnet that activates when the wrong password is entered, and bricks whatever computer it is on.

      1. mister gray

        If that were true, when rapey mcraperson stole her phone she wouldn’t have had much worry about her phone. Though I think she wouldn’t.

        1. Annonymouse

          Well some time has passed and maybe, just maybe she has learned from that moment of uncertainty and added protection – mean mean nasty protection that would make black ice look like licorice ice-cream in comparison – [gets them on all the lists]

  2. AnvilPro

    Get a life nerd

  3. Keulen

    DAMN YOU WILLIS

    1. Vika

      AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

  4. Derek

    Blaine deserves a lot worse than a broken nose, I was hoping his arm or leg would be in a cast

    1. Keulen

      It looks like he’s wearing bandages underneath his shirt and jacket.

      1. Derek

        oh I didn’t notice those! good on Amber

      2. Lingo

        Also it looks like AG gave him a tracheotomy.
        (Kidding.)

    2. King Daniel

      I think those might be bandages under his shirt?

    3. Fart Captor

      I’m kinda low key annoyed at Danny for pulling Amber off of him right now

      Dude deserves to be in a coma

    4. Mollyscribbles

      Technically, we only have evidence of one limb being functional as of now.

    5. Needfuldoer

      He probably has a couple cracked and/or broken ribs. It’s been about a month since the beating; the flesh wounds should have mostly healed by now.

    6. abysswatcher1993

      Blaine will get something worse if he keeps stalking his daughter like a wannabe rapist/serial killer/KKK member.

      1. Annonymouse

        All it takes is just one little virus to get him on ALL the LISTs and be disappeared to git-mo.

  5. shadowcell

    this is an odd turn for the greatness of Faz to take

  6. Ragnarok

    Aaaand there goes most of Faz’s humanizing qualities in this timeline.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Yes, because cooperating with your abuser is grounds for rebuke.

      1. butts

        Yeah, my first instinct was to be mad at Faz as well, but he’s as much a victim here as Amber is.

        1. alice

          yeah i had about 10 seconds of hatred until i realized what would’ve probably happened if he had refused to. it’s possible he also intentionally took something he perceived to be a bare minimum to satisfy dad

        2. Coma

          Exactly my thoughts – which is also reflected in Blaine’s “That’s it?” – so he probably instructed Faz to not leave without anything worth his while.

          On the other hand, it also makes me question how sincere Faz’s words towards Amber were – but goes to show great humane character building, if one character can be honest about his feelings (enjoying Ambers company, or whatever exactly he said) but still trying to appease his ‘father’, if motivated by being scared of his abuse, or possibly just to live up to expectations (well, it’s very possibly a mix).

          Gosh, I really love these characters (even though I sometimes hate them).

        3. seregiel

          I’m personally hoping he intentionally took Dina’s thumb drive and it is completely full of dinosaurs.

      2. Yumi

        I don’t doubt Blaine is a terrible parent/person to all in his orbit, but this does make some of Faz’s more sympathetic moments questionable.

        1. HMH

          The thing is, I don’t think Faz is doing this out of fear. Given the kind of person his mother is, and the kind of people she surrounds herself with, the kid seems more to be desperate for someone to actually love him.

        2. Liliet

          it can also be both! just saying

      3. DailyBrad

        Particularly since we already know that Faz’s “smile” really isn’t indicative of actually being happy.

        Hell, we don’t even know yet if he’s cooperating or just took someone else’s and passed it off as Amber’s.

        1. Mr. Random

          He WAS in East Hall for a long time.

        2. Icalasari

          That’s a good point. Was he ever even IN Amber’s room?

        3. Kazumi

          Didn’t he first show up in Amber’s room?

        4. Screwball

          Yaaaay tags…
          Yeah, Faz 1st shows up in Amber’s room, but doesn’t seem to get close to Amber’s laptop or equipment. He tells Amber Blain doesn’t care about him not being in school. Faz was then dragged to a class by Amber. He COULD have swiped that USB off Amber, but openings didn’t seem to be in great supply. As others have pointed out, he did seem to behave in the other building…

        5. Jdorr

          An iteresting possibility is he somehow confessed to being sent to get something for blane during the in accounted for time in forest quad and some one there helped by giving him a fake

        6. bluewind

          Oh! That is a viable possibility. I hope you’re right.

        7. thejeff

          But that would likely be obvious when Blaine looked into it and would get him in even worse trouble than just not being able to find anything in the first place.

        8. Annonymouse

          Not necessarily if the data digitally exploded when he tried to open a file.
          Viruses. Viruses everywhere.

  7. C.T Phipps

    Blaine doesn’t realize his daughter is a dangerous vigilante and thinks there’s something to blackmail her mother with. Presumably to end his tuition payments.

    He is…a really stupid criminal.

    1. not someone else

      I… dunno, there is that whole court case with Ryan. Is that still going on? He might be planning on leaking something just to fuck with her.

    2. Jack

      Blaine is probably about to find out his daughter is a dangerous vigilante, though.

      1. Arianod

        Dunno. I mean, what are the chances that Amber would keep something actually incriminating inside a flashdrive? She’s rather -rightly- paranoid about her vigilante activities.

        1. Foxhack

          Didn’t she code her phone’s OS so it would hide her identity? No way she’s leaving any info about Amazi-Girl on a flash drive.

        2. Reltzik

          Except maybe the code for AmaziPhoneTrack 1.7.

        3. timemonkey

          But how careful is Amazi-Girl? She’s been doing things Amber can’t remember lately.

        4. NelC

          Amazi-Girl is basically Batman; would Batman leave anything incriminating on a flash-drive?

        5. Yet Another Laura H.

          Batman has done some INTENSELY stupid things in order to further cockamamie plot devices. It’s usually, but not always, screen Batman.

    3. motorfirebox

      Huh. It never occurred to me that Blaine didn’t know, from the fight. But he never actually does give any indication of recognition.

      1. Abbefaria

        Yeah you don’t blackmail batman cause he will come at you and tear down your world. In Amber’s case even if you manage to destroy what she has Blaine, get her kicked out of school…you’ll have taken away one if not the only stabilizing influences and anchors of a girl with deep anger issues and clear vigilante tendencies as her coping mechanism…do you really want to leave her nothing to lose…

        Tony Stark said it best “there is no version of this where you come out on top”.

        1. C.T Phipps

          “Listen, you want to blackmail my student, who goes out at night, beats up criminals (including you), as well as occasionally stabs them? Be my guest.”
          -Leslie doing her best Lucius Fox impression

        2. UniqueSnowflake2

          Only 4 stars out of 5 because Amber isn’t in Leslie’s class.

        3. C.T Phipps

          Dang, should have done the Computer Science teach. *snaps fingers*

  8. Dead Meme

    On three. One, two…

    Nope, I can’t wait that long. DAMN YOU WILLIS!

    1. Reltzik

      You do realize it took you longer to say “Nope, I can’t wait that long” than it would have to say “three”, right?

  9. butts

    god DAMN IT BLAINE

    drop dead you fucker

  10. Jude Deluca

    So… this idiot just doesn’t know when to quit, does he.

    1. JessWitt

      Not ‘til he’s been Black Knighted.

      https://tenor.com/view/monty-python-holy-grail-black-knight-ill-bite-your-legs-off-gif-4559278

  11. Opus the Poet

    OK that pretty much verifies the “picking Blaine from the hospital” theory. Dang, but there are a lot of dressings still after all this time.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Like a whole week.

      1. Lingo

        Over three weeks actually.

  12. SonsOfSauron

    Isn’t he like, 12 or 14, and having to survive under the same roof as Blaine?

    1. Yumi

      He’s 15, and yeah.

    2. Sam

      He is 15, almost 16, according to Word of Willis.

    3. Fart Captor

      Yeah. I’m willing to forgive Faz for the time being. Blaine is a piece of shit

    4. cbwroses

      He’s 16.
      And while Blaine is scum in multiple ways, there hasn’t been any confirmation that he’s abused either Yuri or Faz, so there might not be any “surviving” involved.

      Of course, I’m pretty sure he has abused them in one way or another, so this is probably a case of an abused victim going along with their abuser’s whims vs an entire family of scum.

      1. Pat

        Amber said so. Faz said so. And he’s doing it on-panel.

        What is required for confirmation?

        1. Fart Captor

          Even if we didn’t have it, know what kind of person Blaine is, that’s more than enough for now

      2. bryy

        He insists that Faz call him Step-Father. There’s indication that Blaine uses mental abuse on Faz.

        1. dralou

          Either that, ot the “stop calling me ‘father’, people might get the right idea and I don’t need more incriminating proof that I cheated on my wife with a barely legal girl”.

        2. Sunny

          That’s pretty much my take on it as well. It’s such a clear echo of Amber’s insistence, until she admitted her worries to Walky on the garbage roof.

        3. Zee

          You’re giving him way more credit than I am assuming she was legal

        4. dralou

          Let’s just say that I’ve grown in a place where pedophilia has been in the news for a very long time and I’ve been pretty much educated to see it as about the same level of horrible as murder.
          So… yes, I do give him this benefit of the doubt, because I already despise him and I don’t want to actually, physically, feel nauseous and frightened every time he appears.

        5. BBCC

          So, 16-18, then? Indiana’s age of consent is 16 and according to Amber, Yuri was a teenager when she was pregnant. That’s only range that covers ‘teenager’ but isn’t also statutory rape.

        6. dralou

          That would be my assumption, yes. The kind of age that even if it is legal, people look at the older partner and think “sicko”.

        7. Annonymouse

          it fails the AGE / 2 + 7 test so definite creep

        8. Nope

          Or “if people don’t think I’m this ones father then when if this wife runs off I can’t be pulled for more child support.”

        9. dralou

          … Fairly plausible too, coming from Blaine.

      3. Oberon

        I’ll offer up as a bit of peripheral evidence of being emotionally abusive, at least: “Step-father.” They guy is such scum that he can’t even allow his step-kid to call him “father” without correcting him, when most step-parents probably long for the day when their step-children accept them as a parent.

  13. Ronnie

    NO FAZ NO

  14. BigDogLittleCat

    Ohmyf¥ckinggodNOOOOOOOOO!

  15. Passchendaele

    BLAINE

    I WILL STAB YOU MYSELF

    YOU BASTARD

    1. BigDogLittleCat

      I’ll be your alibi.

      1. Passchendaele

        when I get my driver’s license, HE’S GONNA PAY.

        1. FacelessDeviant

          I’ll be your drivers license!

        2. Deanatay

          Act with integrity, Paasschendaele.

      2. Oberon

        I saw the whole thing! The innocent evening spent eating popcorn and watching Raiders of the Lost Arc, that is. Crimes? Well, we went through a _lot_ of popcorn…

    2. Some1

      Well he’s a fictional character, and fictional characters are merely facets of the creators mind, meaning that the closest you can get to stabbing Blaine is by stabbing certain neurons in Willis’ brain that makes up the character that is Blaine. But Willis isn’t the only one who has head of Blaine, you’d have to track down and kill anyone who has ever heard of him or seen him, which must be hundreds of thousands if not millions of people.

      Please do not do this.

      1. Yumi

        Or you just PUNCH THE FOURTH WALL really hard, and then it’s stabbing time.

        1. Passchendaele

          *punches through phone*

          did i get him

        2. Leorale

          Yep. You knocked the arms right off his glasses.

      2. Archivist

        What they said but I’m endorsing it.

        1. Some1

          You do realize that would include you right?

        2. 3-I

          IT’S WORTH IT

      3. Reltzik

        Look, there’s an alternative. Just blow up a panel with a good shot of Blaine’s mug, print it out in color, staple it to a fence post, and stab away.

        1. Passchendaele

          But what about the neighbors (assuming they don’t already think I’m weird)? 😛

        2. Reltzik

          They’ll still find it less off-putting than finding out you actually stabbed an actual person.

  16. Yumi

    Anyway, props to mrj for their comment speculating this reveal in yesterday’s comments.

  17. carl320

    Dammit. What a way to end a storyline. Well played, Willis.

  18. whatevsman the betrayed

    FAZ, I TRUSTED YOU

  19. TemporalShrew

    I hope the flash drive contains the sweet release of death for Blaine.

    1. Bathymetheus

      Black ice?

    2. King Daniel

      “The Sweet Release of Death”, of course, being the title of one of Amber’s guro slashfics.

      1. Shade

        In this case slashfic is literal.

        1. McBogue

          Amber does slashfic and slash nonfic. (see: Stabby McGashface)

    3. Mitsukara

      It’s just brownnote.wav.

  20. brasca1

    Looking past all the arguments that Faz is in an abusive relationship and has no choice there is the possibility he deliberately stole something worthless.

    Of course if this proves Amber is Amazi-Girl that makes him just as liable for damages.

    1. Reltzik

      Given that she’s his adult child now… how does he still have civil liability?

      1. thejeff

        It’s not uncommon for divorce settlements to include contributing to college costs.

        1. Reltzik

          Right, but that doesn’t cover paying court settlements for the kid’s A&B.

      2. feli

        I dunno about America and UK but in Germany you have to pay for your childrens education which includes College/University or first job training where they might not earn enough to survive otherwise.

        1. Reltzik

          In America, there’s typically no obligation to pay for anything a child does once they become an adult. While parents usually make some provision for their children going to college, there is no legal obligation to do so. Education prior to adulthood is compulsory, and usually paid by way of the public school system through property taxes on the community. (This is why the “don’t tax us” voting bloc has been disastrous for education in the U.S. And parents do end up shouldering a lot of the cost of school supplies and the like.) Private schools are paid for privately (usually out of pocket by the parents) except where local and state governments have implemented voucher programs, which is… a messy political issue, and let’s just leave it at that.

          But in the case of a divorce, both parents are viewed has having an obligation to continue to provide for the child, and child support payments are structured around that philosophy. This can cover college education as well.

        2. SeanR

          Don’t forget that New Jersey girl who defied her parents rules, moved out, THEN got a judge to agree with her and force them to pay for college.
          I never did hear how the rest of that turned out.
          I just looked it up, it got thrown out on appeals.

  21. Pablo360

    Yay, now it’s time to move on a storyline that will definitely have way fewer elements of abuse.

    *checks the next storyline’s title*

    DAMN YOU WILLIS

    1. Clif

      Okay, you made me laugh. Or maybe Willis made me laugh.

      Somebody made me laugh.

      Sitting there giggling for a solid minute counts as laughter, doesn’t it?

      1. vlademir1

        Yes it does. For the record, I’m laughing with you at that title.
        I kinda find myself wondering if this is going to be the climax of the Mike/Ethan interactions of the last few chapters, or just a glimpse of deep depravity… been reading some Slaanesh related content of late anyway, and Mike is not nearly that bad in any universe we’ve witnessed so far.

  22. Kernanator

    God Blaine, you are just the worst. And I don’t just mean that in the “you are an awful human being” sense, but also in the “you are lacking in competence” sense. What, exactly, are you expecting to find on your daughter’s computer?

    1. King Daniel

      Evidence, perhaps, of her vigilantism. Which is illegal (hence why it’s been mentioned previously that the cops have an interest in finding Amazi-Girl, if I recall correctly).

      1. Oberon

        The cool thing about doing crimes while dressed up as someone else (aka Amazi-Girl) is that no one can ever positively identify that it was you at the scene of any crimes you may have committed. They can testify that someone in an Amazi-Girl costume did something that a court might find was criminal, but they can’t honestly testify that it was Amber that they saw.

        That’s why DNA evidence and other forensics are very key in many cases. And Amazi-Girl wears gloves. So probably no blood at the scene for her from scraped knuckles and the like. If her costume is ever found she might be able to use her fan fiction and the costume in a “It was for cosplay” defense.

  23. Victor Riley

    Well… whatever sympathy I had for Faz is completely gone. He’s now complicit in the abuse, as well.

    1. DailyBrad

      I am skeptical it’s going to be as cut and dry as that. Wouldn’t be remotely surprised if the flash drive was from the wing that Billie moved to, since while I’m sure Faz had opportunities, if he really wanted to fuck Amber over, he could have stayed there.

      I’m curious where those missing hours went.

      1. Mitsukara

        …he did get left alone with the supportive “McAwesomes” parallel folks, didn’t he?… some of whom are also likely to be Blaine’s kids…

        I too wonder where those missing hours went!

      2. Terry

        I would laugh so much if it turned out that he asked for help from Forest Quad people and they cooked up a flash drive just for him to give to Blaine.

    2. Fart Captor

      He’s a child who has AT LEAST one abusive parent, who we know to be a manipulative sack of dicks. The man pushed Amber into stabbing Sal, do you think he didn’t DEMAND this of Faz, or that it would’ve been safe for Faz to refuse?

      1. Oberon

        Heh… My odd brain read “manipulative sack of dicks” and started picturing prehensile penises holding flash drives. Penisi? The second got flagged by spell check, so it’s probably penises, even though that looks weird to me. But then the word ‘weird’ itself violates “I before E except when English sucks a lot,” so you takes what you language gives you and makes the best of it as you can.

    3. Zee

      Ah yes, because I’m sure coming back empty handed after an abusive figure sent him to get something on Amber would end just peachy for him

  24. DailyBrad

    I get if people blame Faz here, but even if there ends up being no “twist”, he is 15, and being twisted by both of his parents (one of whom pushes him away with the “step-father” as shown here.) That’s a shit situation to put a kid in.

    I’m more concerned about the “her friends” statement by Blaine than whatever would be on the thumbdrive, in any case.

  25. Fire_daws

    Faz has deduced that Amber has no friends, only people who exist in close proximity. Faz has also produced a chart stating how many of them are female and so will be willing to have non-forced sexual activity with Faz.

    1. Shade

      Also a general synopsis of the slashfic she has written about them. Faz has deduced as you can see on this pie chart 65% of the content is gay, 20% lesbian, 10% heterosexual and 5% tentacles.

      1. Oberon

        And using this Venn diagram Faz just created, we can plot the overlaps between all of the above. The purple section looks like it’s _lots_ of fun!

  26. Mr. Random

    He’s gonna read a lot of slash fic, isn’t he.

  27. Archivist

    It’s 200k of slashfic.

    1. Inahc

      that or her homework, which would be an inconvenience at worst.

      or if there *is* anything valuable on it, she’s smart enough to keep it encrypted, right?

      1. SeanR

        You know…I’ve been meaning to look into installing Keepass on my computer for a couple months now.
        Ah. Good intentions. I keep a list of passwords in a .txt file, which I then encrypt using the latest iteration of PGP, (now called GPG, for some reason.)
        I then unencrypt it when I need a password, then scrub the file using a secure delete utility…
        …except I need a password so FREQUENTLY, I’ve gotten…lax.
        For the last, good while. my passwords have only been protected by the login password of my account, and I KNOW I can get around that by simply mounting my HDD in another OS to read.

        NOT only THAT, but that password file doubles as a known plaintext for my PGP keys.

        That ends today. Time to install, and learn to use, Keepass.

        Here’s hoping it’s her homework or slashfic, and that he suicidally tries to make a legal case around her slashfic.
        I think it’s more likely it’s her tracker app, which, considering he’s already under a restraining order, could cause for some interesting fireworks.

        1. thejeff

          Honestly, while I do use a password manager, it’s mostly for convenience. I’m not keeping any serious secrets and if anyone is sufficiently interested as to break into my house, steal my computer and mount my drive elsewhere to get my passwords, more power to them.
          It’s not much past that to simply threaten me, which would also work quite well.
          The password manager lets me use more secure passwords online, which is where the threat lies for the average person anyway.

        2. thejeff

          Oh, and GPG is the GNU open source implementation of PGP and it’s been called that all along I think.

        3. SeanR

          Yeah, I know, but PGP used to be FOSS, then I went back for a updated copy and all I could find was GPG.

          I remember when there was a big presentation of printing out the source, binding it in books, carrying it out of the country, re-typing and re-compiling it overseas, but I thought the “international” version of PGP was called just that.

          Memory is flaky, sometimes, so I could easily be wrong.

        4. Oberon

          The thing that keeps me from using something like that is the fear that I’ll need to do an OS rebuild or something (and my last computer issue required exactly that), and the program will lose it’s key and I’ll be locked out of my password file…

  28. mrj

    Called it! (I wish I hadn’t. F*** you Blaine)

    1. Ako

      Mad props

  29. Brian

    …because Amber hasn’t been through enough already, apparently.

  30. Marsh Maryrose

    Wait wait wait

    How can the storyline be over when we haven’t seen a bunch of characters angsting in bed?

    1. Reltzik

      Only books have to end in beds, apparently.

      1. Needfuldoer

        I’m still waiting for one to end with a Waltons-style recap of all the characters talking about the day and saying goodnight, expressed through bunch of speech bubbles coming out of a wide exterior shot of Read Hall.

  31. Beachfox

    *inarticulate screaming*

  32. Jess

    What if the flash drive is just full of fanfics… It’s been proven that she writes them…

    1. SeanR

      Blaine tries to use the fact that they’re largely of men/men to build a case of her being incompetent to manage her own affairs.

  33. Tommy Fresh

    Wow this is literally the worst ever

  34. Delicious Taffy

    Why is Blaine E;R in Panel 2?

  35. lilyliv

    A couple months ago, I never imagined I would say this, but… #rescueFaz2k18

    (is that how people hashtag? Idk, the point is, he’s a kid in a shitty situation and therefore my sisterly instincts have been activated.)

  36. JessWitt

    Shoot, Blaine is going after Amber’s dormmates?! That’s low, but corresponds well to a dastard like him.

  37. kitty

    i am unable to read “yes father” without the delightful children’s voice damn u willis

  38. Yotomoe

    This comic is a bit heavy so have some NSFW
    https://imgur.com/a/dmeyN0k

    1. threePwny

      I approve

    2. Foxhack

      o_O

    3. Zee

      For a second I thought that was faz

  39. Mr. Random

    So, I just re-read the story, and I can’t find a good point where Faz would have had access to Amber’s room and computer in time to nab the drive.

    The only two plausible points I can see are when he first enters her room, if the flash drive was on her dresser, or during his trip to Forest Quad.

    And I assume that Amber locked her door since Faz showed up.

    So, I’m assuming that’s a fake.

    1. kitty

      what if it’s rose’s? i wonder what would be on it

      1. Some1

        Rose is secretly Wonderous-Girl!

    2. Keulen

      Considering how many rooms Faz ran through when Amber was chasing him, that flash drive could be any number of Amber’s floormates as well.

      1. Reltzik

        Especially since he runs through Dorothy-Sierra’s room, and to run THROUGH it he would have had to also run through Amber-Dina’s room, and if he had just a few seconds of lead and if Dina wasn’t there he could have grabbed the flash drive unnoticed.

    3. Lingo

      My guess is that he did it right at the end of the day, while Amber was running around looking for him. Like, right before he popped up behind her in Joyce’s room.

    4. Reltzik

      Yet another possibility is when he slipped away from Joe, before Joyce lassoed him.

      1. thejeff

        Not likely, since Amber was in her room, looking at Twitter at the time, IIRC.
        I’m with Lingo there. Right at the end, when he came back to find Amber.

        1. Reltzik

          Napping, I think.

          I’m guessing he snagged it either during the running-around business or before Joyce nabbed him. After that he was no longer interested in getting back into Reed Hall. He’d gotten what he was there for and was free to do whatever the hell else.

    5. Needfuldoer

      He could have grabbed it during that class, while she was distracted.

    6. Dgr

      I wonder if he got onto her computer and it’s his

  40. Roger

    hi what the

    FUCK

  41. Tom T.

    Amazi-Girl may well have prepared decoy drives for times like these.

    1. C.T Phipps

      I wonder if Blaine will try and blackmail JoeDad to pay HIM instead, presuming he’s rich and successful.

      1. Beef

        Isn’t he? Amber’s mom mentioned him being well off at least

  42. newllend(henryvolt)

    …oh fuck, I forgot about Joe and his Dad!

  43. Synnerman

    Ugh, I feel sick. Can there be an exception to no one dying so Blaine can die?

    1. Reltzik

      He doesn’t need to die in order to be placed in a state of permanent excruciating unending pain.

    2. Deanatay

      “You’d be surprised what a person can live through.”

    3. Oberon

      There is a “no one dies” rule? I’d not heard of that. If there is, pity.

      1. King Daniel

        Willis instated that rule at the incarnation of Dumbing of Age because of the comic’s extremely-stretched-out timeframe (a single day in-comic takes months to play out), which would mean that the process of mourning/coping/coming-to-terms with a character death would push everything else away and occupy practically all of the comic for the foreseeable future.

        Heck, even Ryan only got nearly killed, and his family’s lawsuit against Amber has been hanging over her for the past year in real life (a timeframe, I will note, which has only been just over a week in-universe)

        1. King Daniel

          Also, it’s to contrast with the older Walkyverse, where characters in this universe tended to drop quite often – the deaths of Ruth and Dina are two of the most memorable, but the ultimate Walkyverse death count includes at least half of the characters on Joyce’s and Walky’s floors and most of the university staff we’ve met in the Dumbingverse.

        2. Oberon

          He killed off Dina??? The bastard! This is just one reason why I have never even peeked at any of the other story lines involving the same characters. The main reason being that I’d get them impossibly tangled up in my mind if I did read two (or more?) stories with the same exact characters but a completely different plot line.

  44. Ned

    Good job Shinji. I am almost proud of you.

    1. Some1

      Wait, are we talking EVA or Fate here, cause both sort of work depending on how you view the situation.

  45. Reltzik

    FAZ IS GREAT!

    ….. Huh. For some unknown and inexplicable reason the warm fuzzy feelings towards Faz that have slowly built up over this storyline are now draining away….

  46. bluewind

    Just to give everyone a bit if perspective. I’m am a survivor of child abuse. Lots of verbal. Some neglect from mother. Lots of manipulation and the like from both which really messed me up for a long time. She used me to con money out of people and despite how much she hurt me, she was still my mom and I loved her. I had also been conditioned to believe that I deserved no better. I not only hid what she did to me, I covered for her when people got suspicious. I got good at faking being happy and smiling all the time (even when I later became suicidal). I was nearly 19 when I got the strength to admit it was wrong and cut her out of my life.

    I was 31 before I was able to set boundaries and put my foot down with my dad because while dad was and is verbally abusive to me, he’s wonderful to everybody else and he is nice to me and helps out sometimes. It was emotional whiplash some days and being conditioned as I was I seen him as a good dad because I really could only compare him to my mother. My ex was terrible to me, but I couldn’t see it until later because that’s how I was always treated. My mamaw was the best person I ever had in my life, but I just assumed she was the exception. It took making two amazing friends for me to realize that not only was I not a worthless dumbass piece of shit with a voice that gave people migraines, but it was wrong of my dad to tell me that. Even though I started setting boundaries at 31, it took nearly a year for me to slowly build up to saying no and learn how to walk away. I’ll be 33 in a few months and I STILL have a hard time even catching mild insults (as compared to what my own metric of a bad one is) and when the thing I’m being blamed for is not actually my fault. I still have depression, anxiety, and OCD and I’m still overly hard on myself for minor mistakes and things outside my control (my dad convinced me that the stuff that happened to me was due to my terrible luck effecting anything and everything I was involved in the any degree). I even get really sick to my stomach if I have to tell a lie because it makes me picture all the innocent people my mother took money from.

    And yet, everybody loved my parents and can’t fathom them not being amazing to me. I’ve been called a liar by a few family members. In fact, until my two friends were able to back up things I said with things they had caught themselves here and there, I questioned my reality at times, wondering if I was crazy and imagining the abuse.

    So, if you’ve read all that and then look a Faz, are his actions so insane or impossible to forgive? Rather he took Amber’s real data or someone else’s, deals with physical abuse or “only” goes through verbal abuse and conditioning, or he is genuinely off putting and annoying or it’s an act, he’s still a kid in a bad situation who is probably going to hate himself enough when he gets older without our help.

    tl;dr: Verbal abuse can mess you up. I know from experience. So for now, direct your fury at Blaine and not the kid who has to live with him.

    1. Leorale

      Yes. Thank you for sharing.
      +100 not Faz’s fault.
      Keeping it real.

    2. Bagge

      Thanks for the perspektiv, and all the hugs.

      Yeah, if anything, this storyline has made me appreciate just how LITTLE Faz is messed up. Compared to the other people in the car he seems almost saintly nice and well adjusted.

      1. Pl0x

        Faz is great!

      2. thejeff

        Though given the hints at Yuri’s backstory, she may be in a similar situation, especially if Blaine is Faz’s father – teen parent, long term dependent abusive relationship.

        OTOH, this revelation does call into question pretty much every Faz said while he was on campus that made us more sympathetic to him. He was lying about why he was there. He didn’t come to Amber because she was the only one who was nice to him, but because he was sent. So is that line even true?

        1. rectilinearpropagation

          Probably? It wasn’t why he was there but if Blaine is even half as awful to Faz as he is to Amber then I absolutely believe he was telling the truth when he said he prefers being with Amber over being at home.

          “Always plant a lie inside the truth. It makes it easier to swallow.”

      3. bluewind

        Thanks and agreed. Also, lovely to see you hun ^_^

    3. kitty

      i sympathize. yuri yesterday reminds me of my parents in honesty. im 25 now but i have had to move back in and im afraid to disagree with them about anything. it always becomes about money and how much they have given up for me. it does not help my mother was basically a mail order bride.

      so… dear everyone say whatever you want about faz (i still thnk he’s gross because… you know) but his parents and this usb shit is NOT his fault.

      1. bluewind

        Totally agree and sympathize. And sorry for all your bullshit too. It’s hard to get it in our heads that our parents are supposed to take care of us and it’s not our responsibility to pay them back for having us. We kinda didn’t plan that part.

        My Dad nearly got a woman from Mexico, but I was fully supportive because she was an adult and he was going to do it specifically to help her get a green card. I know a few people who did it to send money back home, so I don’t judge. Plus, dad was always nice to everyone but me. Still, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t have gone to shit. I hope your mom finds her feet one day.

    4. JohnF

      I can relate to what you’re saying in so many ways. Being called a liar for saying how things were. Being told how lucky I was to have HIM for a stepfather, just after he beat me till I pissed myself.

      And not being able to set boundaries until quite late in life – I know how that is.

      Trying to reconcile the “public face” of the family, whilst home life was a continual state of terror. Being used, abused, blamed and scapegoated. Being manipulated into deeds that are then used as blackmail against you.

      Stay strong. I’ve found that by cutting ties – and I have near no contact with any relatives anymore – I ring my half-sister twice a year, just to find out if HE’S dead yet so i can go and defile his grave – I’m a lot happier, and I can start to discover who I was meant to be, not what others tried to make me into.

      1. bluewind

        You rock John. Don’t let anybody tell you any different. As for me, I might be going at a turtle’s pace, but I am still moving forward and something is better than nothing. 🙂

  47. brionl

    So, for this Story, it’s End of Line?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXlYnzm_L8Y

  48. BBCC

    I was mad at Faz last night when I first saw this (Patreon) but honestly, I was far far angrier at Blaine (and, possibly, Yuri, if her nastiness isn’t a result of Blaine’s abuse and/or lying). Just – fuck him. Fuck him right in the ear.

  49. OnyxIdol

    *lightning cracks* *evil laughter*

  50. tim gueguen

    Unfortunately for Captain Evil here it will turn out to be several gigs of Mary’s manga style Ronald Reagan biography. Or several gigs of Mike’s masturbation videos.

    1. Mitsukara

      Or several gigs of Amber’s yaoi crossover fanfiction, all in .txt format.

      1. tim gueguen

        He’ll really like the one where Batman and Dean Winchester team up to do in the evil Wayne and defeat his son Zaz.

  51. NinjaNick

    The dark overlord is back.

    1. Bast

      Toehead/Toedad is worse, Blaine has yet to show up with a shotgun, though with that said, I really look forward to Amazi’s reaction when she realizes what has happened. (Another Blain beat down i suspect)

      1. Mitsukara

        Blaine schemes and concocts plans that, while awful, make some kind of sense. Toedad is an idiot, so he doesn’t get to be an overlord. If he and Blaine met, he’d probably wind up doing Blaine’s bidding, not vice versa.

      2. the final pam

        Please don’t compare abuse and imply that one is better/worse than the other. They’re both bad.

        1. Mitsukara

          I didn’t say either was better, obviously they’re both awful as I said. But I think there is still a point to considering the way their behavior works and the scope of their actions, because if you’re going to have enemies, it’s better to understand them so that they have fewer means of surprising you (and thus you take away some of their effective power to commit future abuse).

          So what I meant was that the dynamic is such that Toedad, being easily confused and shown to make extremely shortsighted bad plans, while he may do something far more dangerous and abrupt (like bringing a gun to a school), he’s not going to be coming up with complicated, “overlord” style plans (also, he’s probably going to be in the hospital and then jail for the rest of his life anyway, and he may or may not have permanent spine damage).

          Blaine, on the other hand, has longer-term ambitions of future horrible abuse, and is trying to pull something complicated by gathering information and abusing details about Amber. While not as immediate or extreme as a gun at a school, it’s a longer term problem that could get at least as ugly. And it is more similar to what could be considered the ‘overlord’ archetype of evil, rather than thuggish evil such as Toedad.

          I’m not talking ethical superiority- both men have none. I’m talking about what their tactics and strategy imply about the ongoing dangers they present.

        2. Bast

          Like a friend of mine once said “The problem with plans is that they fall apart”.
          So on a threat level Toedad is far higher up there, Blaine keeps making complicated plans that bit him in the ass.

          Amazi girl kicking his ass proves Blaine is to stupid to create good plans,
          Blaines plan had 4 steps.
          1: Find a friend of Ambers.
          2: Get friend to trust Blaine.
          3: Get friend to give up sensitive information.
          4: Use information against Amber.

          Blaine failed halfway trough step 2, and the plan is hardly that complicated, and now Blaine is trying to use his step-son to gather useful intel, this will only end with Blaine getting his ass kicked, and I suspect prison time.

  52. JohnF

    Having been raised by a psychopathic bastard, I’m crying for Faz now. You think Faz has any choice? I didn’t, even when older than when Faz is. Damn you Willis. Why do you have to capture the darkest parts of humanity? Have you recovered from your exposure to whatever evil bastard you’ve encountered? Triggered….

    1. BBCC

      All the appropriate gestures of support. For you and anybody else seeing their parents in Blaine.

  53. Siyajkak

    Faz: “Mother, are we the baddies?”

    1. Bagge

      “Yes my son. The worst.”

  54. PB

    All together in harmony now, and remember: sforzando! And a one, two, three, four:

    ?FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!?

  55. Bagge

    NOPE!

    NOPE, NOPE NOPE!

    1. Inahc

      indeed. :/ I’m.. not really looking forward to where this goes. wherever it goes. I much prefer the wacky-shenanigans parts of the comic right now. (especially since my brain is trying to be like Amber’s this week. what the hell.)

  56. Bast

    Skeptical, but more information is required before ANY judgement can be cast.

    1. BBCC

      Except on Blaine. FUCK that guy.

      1. Bast

        Well duh, Blaine, is a proven bastard who deserves pain. (Inflicted by Cenobites by my preference (Do not google “Cenobite” while eating!!!))

        It’s Faz I’m holding back judgement on, because it has in the past looked like he cares about Amber.

  57. Aprion

    Now would be an excellent time for an 18 wheeler to smash straight through that car and crush it like a tin can.

    1. Bast

      We don’t yet know what Faz has planned here, so before wishing death upon him we should wait and see what he’s up to.
      Also we do have some idea of what Blaine would do to Faz, if Faz dosn’t do as he’s told.

      Don’t be so quick to judge.

      1. Mitsukara

        Maybe just the back seat, then? (A precision wreck. The out-of-control 18 wheeler goes so fast it simply saws the car in half, like a stick of butter.)

    2. Ray Radlein

      ACT WITH INTEGRITY, 18-wheeler! NO REGRETS!

  58. Aegon01

    It’s interesting that Blaine also insists on the “Step” designation the same way Amber does/did.

  59. Bagge

    …Wow.

    I spent this entire storyline thinking Faz would be a parallell to Becky, on the run from horrible parents and in need of shelter.

    I was wrong.

    But he IS what some of us feared Becky would be before she showed the cards and told Joyce about unlocked doors and horrible dads. An agent sent out to snoop. A connection to the life Joyce/Amber has drifted away from but the agent her/him-self has not managed to distance himself from. He serves the function of the bad people – but he is also their victim and their hostage.

    There are also strong parallels to Howard, with Ruth and Amber in the same position.

    Dads. Why does it always have to be dads?

    1. BBCC

      Eh, just wait until the Walkertons find out about either Jason or Walky failing. Then I’m sure it’ll be moms.

      Well, okay, Charles sucks too, but Linda’s more blatant in her suckiness.

      1. Mitsukara

        Joyce’s mom isn’t really making a great impression either.

        1. BBCC

          There’s a few moms who could stand to stop moming – Linda, Naomi, Carol, Sharon are the ones who come to mind immediately and tbh, three of ’em have husbands that could stand to quit dading.

    2. SeanR

      You’re forgetting Joyce’s parents.
      Her mom will come around…eventually.

  60. Ainara

    I hope it’s actually Faz’s flash drive, and it’s full of a collection of his best graphs

    1. Bagge

      The Faz points up

  61. tirachokko

    My first reaction was to feel immensely sad for Faz (he’s being used and abused and that paired with his desire to be with people he likes and who are marginally kind to him, like Amber, just makes for a really sad situation) but I’m a tad confused at why people hate him so much in the comments. It doesn’t really seem as if he’s got a choice, and sure, maybe all those times before when he went to go bug Amber were times he was sent to spy, but honest to god it seems like he really does prefer being with her and with good reason. It’d be great if he could defect to the side he spies on, but it’s a pipe dream for now.

    1. Some1

      Anger is easy, and people tend to lean on shortsighted judgement, especially when it won’t really hurt anyone.

    2. CJ

      Considering his visit was a set-up from the get-go, I doubt we can trust anything he said.
      People hate him for his thoroughly inappropriate way of dealing with his awakening sexual feelings and his ignoring of boundaries. And those who read shortpack have a carry-over hate from lots of stuff he did there.

      Considering his parent figures, there’s a lot of reasons to feel sorry for him. If he’s 15, short of anyone killing Blaine (and probably his mom, too) he hasn’t much of a chance to get out of the situation for at least 3 years.
      Right now, it looks like he still will do anything Blaine asks, no matter how shitty. This makes him really, really dangerous. Especially for Amber, who feels sorry for him and doesn’t realize she should distrust not only his behavior towards women, but anything he does.

  62. BenRG

    You know, if Blaine had any sense, he would have picked up on that ‘father’ and ‘step-father’ thing. Faz wants that connection with him. Repeatedly and off-handedly rejecting it only makes it more likely that, eventually, the boy will rebel.

    Meanwhile, I wonder if Blaine understands technology at all? Something tells me he has no idea just how much there could be on that flash drive!

    1. Zee

      Oh there is a simple solution to teen rebellion. FISTS

  63. Zathras10

    Blaine needs a good fridging.

    No, not the trope about a character who exists in the story only to be killed to spur character growth in the protagonist. No, the one where an actual fridge falls on him, preferable from enough height to carry some real crunch to it.

    1. Sunny

      Why not the traditional grand piano?

      1. Chronos

        That would be an insult to the piano.

      2. CJ

        The people hit by pianos got resurrected, fridges are more permanent.

  64. ADLegend21

    kill him.

    Do it, please!

  65. Minim

    If Faz was told to nab something from Amber’s room…

    …then maybe that memory stick is actually *Dina’s*.

    Faz could have taken it deliberately (for plausible deniability purposes?) or could have just seen it lying around in the room and grabbed it without thinking of whose it was.

    Even if it is Amber’s, she’s shown enough technological savviness that it is unlikely she’d leave incriminating evidence on her USB – or at least have the sense to encrypt it. Right?

    1. Clif

      Mumble mumble Smarting of Age mumble mumble.

    2. Deanatay

      *Faz is waiting patiently in Amber’s room near the end of the day. Dina enters*
      Dina: Oh! It is YOU.
      Faz: Ah, you are the girl who tied me up on my last visit! Faz found that quite erotic.
      Dina: The shipping label I covered your mouth with should have shipped you to Mongolia, where many well-preserved dinosaur skeletons have been discovered.
      Faz: Oh, I got out of that. The Great Faz has many unexpected skills.
      Dina: Indeed you do. *steps up to Faz, wraps her arms around his waist* Perhaps I should… reconsider my previous… visceral rejection of you.
      Faz: *trembling and stammering* I… you… T-The Great Faz is t-totally not freaked out by your attentions, a-a-as it is simply what he deserves!!
      *Faz moves to kiss her. Dina abruptly steps away and motions toward the door*
      Dina: My roommate is looking for you in Joyce’s room. You should go and meet her there.
      Faz: But you… I… *ahem* *straightens himself* Yes, I did promise Amber I would be good today. Goodbye for now, Future Bride of Faz!
      *Dina watches him leave, then visibly shudders*
      *Looks down at Amber’s USB drive in her hand*
      Dina: Enjoy 20GB of carefully curated dinosaur facts, you larcenous dataraptor. *shudders again* I shall now require SEVERAL showers! *grabs shower caddy* I wonder if that ‘brain bleach’ Amber mutters about sometimes is real, and can be acquired in bulk…

      1. Minim

        That. Was. Brilliant. *thumbs up*

  66. Eldritch Gentleman

    Okay… can we call Alexander Anderson to nail this guy to a wall with his bayonettes for stealing his ominous look?

    1. Danni

      father anderson kinda nailed himself

      1. Eldritch Gentleman

        Then let’s pray for the Second Coming!

  67. Danni

    theft is a felony, right?

    1. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

      Yes, but being a gofer/fixer/whatever of organized crime is a bigger one. If he’s smart, whatever he’s planning will have to be settled under the table out of court. I can’t picture this guy showing enough restraint when things stop going his way to listen to his lawyer, which probably wouldn’t be one of his mob’s lawyers due to being too low on the latter for such involvement. He isn’t like Ruth’s Grandad…..Is he?

      1. TemperaryObsessor

        Settling things under the table is most likely also illegal.

    2. Fart Captor

      Petty theft isn’t, and a single flash drive definitely wouldn’t qualify as any more than that

      1. Council

        If it was an empty flash drive, quite so.

        A flash drive that could Possibly be filled with sensitive personal information, and was stolen for the express purpose of gaining it at that? Different story altogether.

  68. Nope

    Oof, this makes Amber’s repeated “STEP-brother” corrections harsher in hindsight. I doubt she knows how it might seem tho.

  69. Mr.Morningstar

    oh come on Faz

  70. Barf Ninjason

    “…this is just 800 pages about Merlin fucking Galahad.”

  71. Iain

    This feels like a villainous move you see in a bad TV show. Not like how the rest of DoA has been.

  72. Jago

    I was worried this might happen.

  73. CianM1301

    We were rooting for you, Faz! we were all rooting for you!

    1. Zee

      I’mma put it simply to avoid repeating what was said before: look back on Blain’s history. It was likely either this or faz (the 15 year old kid) gets beaten into the dirt, or something else equally horrible

      1. CianM1301

        Yeah, I posted this before I read the earlier comments. My bad.

  74. kilgaen

    OH GODDAMN YOU TO HELL, WILLIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!

  75. FacelessDeviant

    “Let me get this straight, you think that your daughter is secretly a vigilante, who spends her nights beating criminals to a pulp with her bare hands, who even beat you and gave you that bandage, who even stabbed someone… and your plan is to blackmail this person?

    Good luck.

    1. Eldritch Gentleman

      Funnily enough he might be setting himself up for a run-in with Joker-Amber rather than Amazi Girl

  76. Callid13

    Well, I can’t say that I’m very surprised. I didn’t exactly expect *this*, but I did suspect that Faz would do something that takes him right back into the antagonist-camp.
    Now, there are some details here that could absolve him, such as deliberately not revealing much info on “Amber’s friends” or deliberately having selected a more-or-less harmless USB-drive, but it certainly isn’t looking good.

    1. Some1

      Or, you know, the likelihood of being beaten if he didn’t comply.

  77. Tarnagh

    Plot twist: The flash drive installs a keylogger on Blaine’s computer and alerts Amber that it’s been activated. Blaine gets her worst fanfic (because she wouldn’t keep the good stuff on a flash drive) and Amber can now track HIM.

    I like this version better than what I can sort of see coming.

    1. Some1

      but the worst fanfiction is the best fanfiction!

  78. QueerCat

    Wait…like there is no point I can think of where he could have actually gotten that from Amber…unless I’m wrong. Also Faz talking in first person last comic may have gotten to me but likke I have hopes. People escaping abusive patterns is super important to me as a person in my own existence and like I hope Amber…and Faz grow out of it tho Amber is harder since like me she is creting a self fulfilling prophecy for herself which is what I did for years…but I dunno. Her and faz being portrayed well as this comic goes on means a lot to me as someone who finally escaped the pattern of extreme abuse/crime

    1. SeanR

      Unfortunately, there are several points where Faz is just there. He had plenty of opportunity to snag anything pocketable before he made his presence known to his sister.

  79. Emily

    Calling it now that drive is just like 64 gigs of slash fic.

  80. Polaris

    “Step-father” ?
    So, technically, Amber and Faz aren’t blood relatives here ?

    1. Anowan

      Or he’s lying about his fatherhood with a Shitty Person Justification (TM) like “He’d be upset about it so let’s keep him in the dark” which actually means “To be honest Yuri I want to be able to get out of this relationship whenever without having to pay yet another alimony”

      1. Sunny

        If Yuri will let him, that is. She seemed pretty stone cold in the previous strip. It’s possible they have a relationship built not quite on respect, but on the knowledge that they can mutually destroy each other if one of them tries to break up. She might have a sperm sample of Blaine’s and a paternity test locked away in a bank somewhere. Sarah said Yuri seems nice and normal, but Ruth’s grandfather also seems nice and normal in public.
        That would also fit with Faz saying Amber is nicest to him, she’s literally the only one in his family who cares about him as a person. It’s quite possible that Blaine and Yuri care whether he’s useful, whether he causes problems for them, whether he costs money unnecessarily, but don’t care about him, what he wants, how he feels.

    2. Arioch

      I think the “step-father” is because if anything else is ever admitted then Blaine is also guilty of statutory rape. Remember that Amber said Yuri is about 25 tops. Presuming she is being facetious, there is still a good chance she’s only 27 or 28. If Faz is 15, that makes her 13 at most when he was born and Blaine a pedophile on top of everything else.

      1. thejeff

        Actually Sarah said that, which is relevant only in that Amber would be more likely to know her actual age.

        But yes, that’s a good reason to keep it that way. He’s likely not legally acknowledged as the father, even if he is. It is also of course, another lever to use against Faz. Keep denying him the acknowledgement he wants.

      2. SeanR

        Actually…
        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/stepdad/
        I think he may be 13, almost 14.

        Using the 28 number, that’d put her at…14. Maybe 13 when he was conceived.

        Any younger is unlikely.

        1. thejeff

          He’s 15. Almost 16. That strip is a bit confusing, but the intent is that he’s legal now under the Romeo and Juliet law, but if she finds that too gross, he’ll reach the normal age of consent (16) in two weeks.

      3. 4shizzle

        How sure are we that Yuri is 25? Sarah’s evidence, seeing someone in a car, at night, in the rain, and making a definite guess on age? Does Amber have definitive knowledge? A Japanese friend (conveniently also named Yuri), easily looks well more than 10 years younger than she is.

  81. Zaxares

    Anyone else notice that Blaine seems to be just as disgusted by his relationship to Faz as Amber is? Wonder how Amber would feel if she found that out.

    1. Coma

      Yeah, kinda…but it’s not really the same in my opinion.
      I mean, Amber is not disgusted by Faz per se (well – maybe by his basical sexual harassment of anyone female around him), but by everything he implicates – he could be the sign that Blaine cheated on her mother with a teenager, his behaviour shows that he has clearly not been taught correct values (or he has been completely left alone in his development, plus Blaine’s not the role model you’d never want anyone to have as a male person of reference for human behaviour), and he is a constant reminder of Blaine, thus her past, as he’s part of his second family…

      Wheres Blaine probably just sees him as a tool, and probably doesn’t care for him much, which is why he insists on saying “step-father”.
      So I’d personally differentiate between the…motives (in lack of a better word) of disgust between those two. Amber is disgusted by her relationship to Faz because of Blaine – Blaine is disgusted by him probably because he’s not capable of seeing him (or maybe anyone else) as anything else, besides tools.

      At least that’s my thoughts on the matter. As for Amber – she’d probably feel bad about it, as I believe she does feel bad for treating Faz like she does…

      1. Zee

        Also because of the fact that it would mean she’s leaving her brother, flesh and blood, with blaine

      2. Fart Captor

        Exactly. Amber and Blaine’s reasons for emphasizing that they’re not blood relatives are completely opposite. Blaine’s the only one disgusted by Faz

        1. Eldritch Gentleman

          Which most likely wouldn’t matter to Amber. She’d just see another similarity with Blaine and would get hammered even deeper into her self-loathing.

  82. Anowan

    So hum how do I say this, when I was a child my divorced mom and dad made me regularly steal things from each other like music CDs or papers or weed and hum I wasn’t in a position to refuse then and hum Faz isn’t in a position to refuse now and OK you’re all very disappointed just like I was very disappointed in myself when I understood just how fucked up that was but hum I’m uncomfortable seeing you lash on Faz that’s all I’m going now.

    1. Coma

      So sorry to read what you had to go through 🙁

      If it is of any consolation, many comments also point out that Faz probably didn’t have much choice in the matter (though I don’t want to say “read them all” because there might be something making you uncomfortable too), so…

      Anyways, again, sorry for what you had to do – I hope everything is better now

    2. Liliet

      yeah my first reaction was “oh shit… Faz wasn’t getting away from them after all… they sent him there”
      poor kid 😡

  83. Mike Conner

    Man, and I was starting to like this Faz a little bit. Got to wonder tho, how much of this is Faz being Faz, and how much is it a kid trying to gain parental approval? I know how that can be, especially when it’s a step father.

    1. Liliet

      oh it’s definitely that second one
      he did not do this on his own initiative, and in fact did less than was expected of him (“that’s it?”) and he did enjoy making new friends in the process? he’s a kid

  84. Vulcanodon

    There’s at least one scenario where this turns out badly for Blaine. Amber certainly has skillz. If she had enough foresight, that jump drive will give her remote access to his laptop.

  85. Nenja

    oh FUCK this is baaad.

  86. hof1991

    No, Amber does not keep dummy flash drives around for people to steal. She’s exhausted as it is. If Faz says it’s hers, then it’s likely hers. Chekhov ‘s flash drive. Either the contents or Amber’s friends will provide a path into Amber’s life for Blaine. But not for a week or two, maximizing the feeling of impending doom.

    Blaine is a nightmare figure and isn’t going away.

  87. Dev

    well this just made my stomach roll super hard

    guh

  88. Pacce

    oh no. a dad.
    dun dun dun?

  89. Vika

    Next Storyline: “Blaine has an unexplained heart attack and his life insurance pays for Faz’s tuition”

    ooh it sounds fun!

    1. tim gueguen

      Does it end with Yuri cackling “Mwahaha?”

      1. abysswatcher1993

        Nah. It will end with Yuri losing right over Faz’s life and be sent to a prison for abusive moms. Without Blaine’s “job” she is doomed to be a social scavenger.

  90. Al Schroeder

    The return of the candidate for “worst father of the year”, the other two being Darth Vader and Darkseid. Why isn’t he in jail, again?

    1. Liliaeth

      hmmm, I’d say Thanos outbeats Darth Vader easily on that one.

    2. BenRG

      I don’t think that anyone has actually accused him of a crime in any way actionable by the authorities.

      1. thejeff

        In fact, I don’t think we’ve actually seen him commit a crime in anyway actionable. His abuse seems mostly emotional, which is at best a lot harder to prosecute.

        1. Reltzik

          He DID kidnap Danny, but that didn’t get reported.

        2. thejeff

          Kidnap is a strong word. Danny went with him willingly. Blaine did grab him during the confrontation with Amazi-Girl though.

        3. Reltzik

          “Lured away under false pretenses and then physically barred from leaving” counts as kidnapping.

    3. Reltzik

      He compares favorably to the Turpins.

  91. Cmd1095

    god damn it Faz you’d almost made it to being somewhat human, damn it

    1. Zee

      Yes yes dehumanize the child for following his abusers orders, probably to avoid getting his face beat in
      Seriously people, think about the situation for a second

  92. ValdVin

    Damn you Willis.

    Faz was just seeming redeemable, now this reveal.

    1. Zatar

      He’s a child with an abusive parent.

  93. PapayaPunkPixie

    This better end with a good ol fashioned punk beatdown on the curb courtesy of the DoA crew

  94. Pat Myers

    Imagine if Blaine was this focused on finding a job.

    1. Ainara

      He’ll have you know he’s currently busy getting his Ph.D in Evil!

  95. Josh Spicer

    I don’t think his nose is broken enough.

    Maybe once it becomes part of his cheekbones and forehead we should be fine.

  96. Joe Moose

    Alright, someone please refresh my memory: Who is this guy and why is he this evil?

    1. Jude Deluca

      He’s Amber’s abusive father Blaine, and she just recently put him in the hospital after he held Danny hostage.

      1. Joe Moose

        I don’t think I have seen these strips, but then I started reading after Dina shipped Becky’s dad on another bus…

  97. przxqgl

    your RSS feed has given up, apparently… the last comic i received by RSS was wednesday. this is now sunday. is that an emergency?

    1. Inahc

      the comic feed is still working for me; the comments feed is the one I have trouble with – but lately it works on my computer, just not my android devices, so I guess that’s my rss app being weirdly broken.

  98. Hari

    Blaine is a disgusting creep.

  99. abysswatcher1993

    THAT FUCKING CREEP AND HIS EVIL FAMILY DESERVE A BEATING OF THEIR LIVES! I wish I could break Blaine’s legs with a baseball bat, shave all of Yuri’s hair and paint a dick in her bald head, and send Faz to live with Deadpool to have a better authority figure.

  100. abysswatcher1993

    Also, Blaine shouldn’t mess with Amber’s friends: Joyce beat down a rapist and an homophobic Christian terrorist, Sarah beat down a rapist and punches really hard, Sal is a badass with a bike that can beat anyone, Ethan and Joe are more muscular than Blaine, Danny is Amber’s damsel in distress, Ruth is Ruth, Walky is Amber’s garbage roof buddy, Dorothy is a jr. reporter that can expose Blaine, etc.

    1. 3oranges

      Danny also spit on Blaine. I’m sure he could do it again, if he had to.

  101. chris73

    I thought yesterdays strip was going to lead to a slipshine between Yuri and Blaine but I’m glad the strip is getting back to some major drama, teenage relationship issues are all well and good but every now and then you need a real bad guy to throw a spanner in the works

  102. TrekNoid

    Wait… Blaine said ‘Step-father’… Which means he’s not actually Faz’s father? Amber and Faz aren’t related? Is this new info, or did I miss this somewhere?

    1. Mitsukara

      I thought he meant that he was divorced from Faz’s mother here, or had never married her to begin with, so he’s referring to the legality of it (and also knows that Faz desperately wants a father to look up to, so it’s an abuse tactic to mess with his head. Poor Faz).

      But maybe I also missed something? Is Blaine Faz’s biological father?

    2. Kannen

      As far as I know, it hasn’t been confirmed one way or the other. Willis had stated wayyy earlier that Amber was the only biological child of Blaine, but said recently that he had completely forgotten about that statement and it wasn’t necessarily true anymore.

      As for Blaine telling Faz to call him step-father… well, it could simply be the truth and they are not related by blood (and consequently, neither are Faz and Amber). But it could also be that admitting to being the biological father of Faz would also be admitting to having had an affair with then under-aged girl (statutory rape) and knocking her up. Which is obviously something he wouldn’t want to bring up.

      And/or, as stated above, it could also be an abuse tactic to hurt Faz, who seems to really yearn acceptance and love

  103. Kannen

    Well, this is bad.

    I’m not that concerned about the flash drive. If it’s Amber’s I wouldn’t expect Amber to leave anything too incriminating just lying around, or at the very least it would probably be encrypted. Chances are good that it just has slashfics written by Amber. So hopefully Blaine enjoys reading about Batman and Superman getting it on 😛 And, as others have pointed out above, there is a slight possibility that the flash drive could actually be from the other dorm (either stolen from there or Faz could have actually asked for it, we still don’t know what exactly happened during the time Faz was there). When Faz first visited Amber’s room he didn’t seem to be in a position to take anything near the computer. Though he might have had a chance to steal it it from Amber’s room, when Amber was out looking for him, if Dina wasn’t in their room at the time.

    What I’m more concerned about is Blaine’s question about Amber’s friends. Seems that he’s still trying to get to Amber by using (possibly harming) her friends. He already knows about Danny but the one I’m most concerned about is Joyce. Of all the people Faz met today, Joyce probably left the strongest impression on him and she was the one who said that she considered Amber part of her family within the earshot of Faz. And after Ryan and Toe-Dad she really doesn’t deserve to have to deal with Blaine (not that anyone else deserves that either).

    Faz on the other hand seems to genuinely like Joyce, so I don’t know if he’s going to bring that up. But then again I also think that he wasn’t actually lying when he said that he liked Amber, even if he may be acting against her on his (step)-father’s orders. When it became clear that he was working for Blaine, my first reaction was a brief flash of anger, but it was very quickly replaced by sadness and feeling bad for him. Faz is most definitely also the victim here. He’s a kid (15) living in an abusive family, and had he not agreed to do this task (or “failed” to acquire anything), he would have paid for it by being at least verbally abused if not physically. I’m not sure that he would fully realize the potentially dangerous consequences of telling Blaine about Amber’s friends, especially if his mind is warped by Blaine and if he feels like he has to try and impress him. I mean, the poor kid seems to be starving for love and acceptance from someone.

    So yeah, waiting where this is going and being scared 🙁

    1. Addfire

      I agree with everything written here, especially that last paragraph on Faz. His whole ‘Faz the Great’ approach feels like the actions of someone who desperately wants attention, and if he is living in a home with Blaine, who has made Amber… not mentally healthy… then it’s basically a miracle that his weird sex facade is the worst of it.

  104. Oberon

    Is it wrong of me to feel a burning hatred for a fictional character? Actually, for two. Faz I can _maybe_ forgive, since he is young and just might be doing what he is doing under duress from his two parent figures. And yeah, I know the mom is his birth parent, but sending him in to steal things from his step-sister isn’t what a real parent would do.

  105. Larkle

    Huh. Both Blaine and Amber have a tendency to correct the familial term to “step”. I’m sure Amber would hate that they both do that.

  106. Romanticide

    I honestly hope Blaine encounters all the yaoi fanart all sorted into lovingly ordered folders and he scours over ALL trying to find something incriminating hiding on the folders.
    And wondering how many stuff of transformers kiss players can be there.

    On the other hand…. why do I feel it would be less money and effort just to finish paying her tuition?

  107. JoeCovenant

    I’m wondering if (I don’t think I saw anything like this above…)

    Faz has ‘Fazed’ this and will unwittingly screw this up.
    “Tell us about her new friends”
    True, that could mean the people he was’stuck with’… but he spent next to no time with any of them…
    He actually spent a LOT of time with the ‘new kids’ from the other Halls.

    Faz tells Blaine all about the ‘mirror hall’ kids.
    Blaine goes after them.
    BILLIE kicks his arse (Ruth helps).

    (possible??)

  108. Acebender

    What the what

  109. Baes

    I wonder if we’ll get a confrontation between Blaine and Joe’s dad at somepoint.

  110. Ragingagnostic

    I’m drawing a blank on Blaine. What was the confrontation between him and Amazi-Girl that resulted in his injuries?

  111. Elsendor

    gOD DAMMIT

  112. WikiDreamer

    Why? WHY?! You made me have feels for Faz. FUDGING FAZ! And now, NOW you pull THIS CRAP?!
    *in Timmy Turner’s Dad voice*
    Damn you Willis!!!! >.</

  113. Tealjoy Grove

    WHAT IS THIS FAMILY’S DAMAGE? That’s some super-villian shit right there…

    1. stoodmuffin

      I WAS GOING TO SAY

  114. stoodmuffin

    Literally Willis are you pulling some evil league super team bullshit? Is Toe Dad going to come back? Or is this just having “reoccuring villains…”

    Oh fuck.

    RYAN.

    RYAN.

    NO BLAINE CAN’T HAVE ACCESS TO THAT SHIT. NO.

    WILLIS. NO. WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

  115. All-Purpose Guru

    I love how Blaine judges the flash drive based on its physical size. Ancient motherfucker. Hopefully he isn’t intelligent enough to actually DO something with it.

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