426

Totes
Posted on May 2, 2017 by David M Willis

426 thoughts on “Totes”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    Twins…ies…?

    /not sure if want

    1. Ana Chronistic

      why is General Organa watching me pee in the living room

      1. Steampunkette

        Why are you peeing in the living room is, I think, the more interesting question..?

        1. Doctor_Who

          Yeah, Ms. Organa’s expression suits that situation well, I think.

        2. John

          She’s just watching Robin pee.

          And because Robin has no manners whatsoever, of course.

        3. zoelogical

          robin is the cat that’s just forcefully moved into leslie’s home and she will pee where she likes

          i guess

          ew

      2. Chris

        Is that Bail Organa? Doesn’t he have beard stubble?

        1. Shiro

          No, Bail Organa was (iirc) a senator. They’re talking about General Leia Organa.

        2. Pablo360

          I think he did become a general in the revolution once the Senate dissolved (briefly, I might add), but yeah they’re 100% talking about Gen. Leia.

      3. Dave

        That poster is the Roadblock poster of DoA, she will make you wet yourself in fear when she rap threatens you

        Or in excitement, if you’re Leslie

        1. Lan

          Makes you pee like a cat in a litterbox set up in the corner of the room because it’s got so much raw power. Fear the mighty General Organa. Fear her raw power and might.

      4. Victor

        You haven’t seen much lesbian watersports porn, have you?

        1. Roborat

          Found a webcomic that heavily features that on slipshine, after I finished reading the Willis-porn. Ironically enough, I got engrossed in the story line and pretty much ignored the porn.

        2. Undrave

          I feel the same! A lot of Slipshine is like that though.

    2. Dana

      Twinsies, but not pladsies.

  2. Mr. Mendo

    I fully support Robin’s anti-pants agenda!

    1. Danni

      its an agenda that unites us all

    2. Shiro

      Perhaps in her own damn living room.

    3. Chris

      Finally! Others who agree with me!

    4. Bagge

      A vote for Robin is a vote for being your best self.

      Tell me truly – does your best self really wear pants?

      1. Danni

        my best self says ‘fuck pants’

      2. Mr. Mendo

        Pants are a cruel prison!

      3. Rukduk

        Yes. Because he has tried a kilt and it was annoying. And he finds tunics to be a bit itchy. Plus his knees are very, very ugly, and my true self doesn’t like looking at them. So it’s loose jeans and or sweat pants.

        1. Goblin Scribe

          Wear a skirt! They’re super comfortable. 🙂

        2. Rukduk

          Ok, they are pretty comfy but they don’t have pockets and I already have to carry a computer bag, I don’t have enough arm space for a purse.

        3. Bagge

          Prepare to gaze upon the perfection of clothing!
          https://www.modcloth.com/shop/pocket-skirts/intern-of-fate-midi-skirt/126867.html?cgid=pocket_skirts_271&dwvar_126867_color=TANMU#

        4. Danni

          POCKETS~!

        5. Rukduk

          Ok, that tears it, that is part of my bouncer uniform. Unfortunately the school I’ll be working at does have a dress code but eh, I’ve got a couple pairs of really comfy jeans for that. Plus, I mean who’s gonna find the 5’11” 250 lbs 4% body fat bouncer with a neck scar less intimidating because he’s wearing a skirt. Hmmm…maybe I should get Viking-style haircut…It’ll make me look like an angry buff Gaelic warrior without the irritation that comes with a kilt…

      4. BP

        Yes, but they’re yoga pants. My best self deserves to be comfy.

    5. Plasma Mongoose

      Pants are a patriarchal conspiracy.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        There’s no way pants could be a patriarchal conspiracy, and I’ll tell you why. Pants were invented by women so they wouldn’t have to look at the men’s knobbly little knees and hairy bear legs all day long. The men used to wear skirts while the women wore longer skirts and dresses, but they couldn’t just make the men wear the same thing.

        See, if they did that, they would have a harder time telling each other apart, making it harder to just grab the nearest guy at the end of the day and take him home to make chore-slaves, known in those days as “children”. Those nine months of pregnancy and four years of pampering, at least in those times, were seen as worth it, because the end result was a fresh young set of limbs to help toil in those gods-forsaken fields everyone insisted on constructing absolutely everywhere. Of course, the more kids they had, the more food they needed and the larger the fields needed to become, leading to the invention of animals so they could just have them do the hard parts.

        So, there you go. Pants were invented by women for aesthetic and practical purposes, largely for the sake of expanding the town’s labor force. As a bonus, women inventing pants led to the subsequent invention of animals, which I think we can all agree was a pretty great one.

        1. Roborat

          Brilliant, one internets for you.

    6. Deanatay

      I don’t know who Mr. Mendo is, but he speaks for us all!

      1. CoMa

        But….but….I LIKE pants – without them I would regularly be on the verge of freezing…

    7. zoomer296

      Pants are about restrictions, which goes against America’s values of freedom.

  3. BBCC

    Oh jeez, this will go great or badly.

    1. Freemage

      I think we have all the elements here of a spin-off series, featuring Becky and Robin, sitting on a couch, with Organa in the background, always looming. Panel 3 s indicative of roughly one quarter of the dialogue of every strip.

      1. Roborat

        “Leslie, where are my pants?”

        -insert canned studio laughter.

  4. fillerusername

    I don’t like that fucking glare Robin gives Leslie.

    1. fillerusername

      Becky I mean.

    2. Fart Captor

      I think the glare is because she’s just expecting Becky to be all critical an mean like Joyce was, not because she’s a lesbian.

      Not sure that’s much better though

      1. fillerusername

        It actually didn’t occur to me that the glare could have anything to do with Becky’s being gay because I honestly don’t think Robin gives a fuck about that I think the glare is because Robin sees Becky as a threat to Leslie’s couch/Robin being there which is all Robin really cares about. The glare is because Becky’s “in Robin’s way.”

        1. showler

          I’d say the glare is more because Leslie’s “prop” is coming to speak to her and she doesn’t know what she is going to say, but it is surely meant to manipulate her. What else are “prop” people for?

        2. Goblin Scribe

          Yeah, the glare seemed a pretty clear indication of wariness more than anything else. Robin is a cynical person. She think Becky is here to fuck her over.

        3. Pablo360

          phrasing

      2. Minder

        The glare is because Becky dared intrude on Robin’s playtime with Leslie being the unwelcome, perfect, and completely inextricable houseguest.

        1. fillerusername

          Yep she sees Becky as the intrusion. BECKY the actual invited house guest desperately in need.

        2. Chris

          You FOOLS Dare INTRUDE The MIGHTY LAIR of…

          GALASSO!!!

          Oops. Sorry ’bout that mistake…

          ROBIN!!!

  5. Danni

    robin, learn how to use a hammer…..

    1. Fart Captor

      Or maybe tape.

      And a hotel.

    2. Schpoonman

      I’m more horrified that she did that in Leslie’s house.

      1. Danni

        robin for sure has zero sense of personal space or boundaries

        1. Minder

          Water is wet. Fire is hot. Willis is drawing something right now that’ll make us all cry in a couple of months

        2. Roborat

          What is rules to live by, Alex.

      2. Alopex

        Leslie doesn’t even own a hammer or nails

  6. Doctor_Who

    Know that episode of Ren & Stimpy where Ren invites his cousin over, only to discover said cousin has the same personality as Stimpy, and his life is hell because there are TWO of them now?

    1. JetstreamGW

      He is Ollie. You are Sven.

  7. Kris

    They both talk like 90′ s cartoon characters! At least one of them hasn’t said “That is whack.” yet.

    1. AndieStardust

      totes is from the 90s? fo’rizzle is but it kinda made a comeback (at least in my area). whack didn’t really fade out but I hear it used by stoners a lot, dope being the counterpart to it. idk about def but I use dang, I can’t curse on campus, some chefs and professors are strict about it.
      last time I posted on here I got a response that felt condescending but I’m not too sure…I can’t understand tone online sometimes. I hope it doesn’t happen to this one either.

  8. C.T Phipps

    I really hope we can have Robin do something unforgivable soon. It’s like Kylo Ren. You watch him do a lot of evil things but it’s only when he kills his father that you know he’s irredeemable and we can finally move on to him being a terrifying villain. Besides, I’m all for some General Leslie shooting her in the head with a blaster like it’s Battlefront.

    1. JetstreamGW

      I’m preeeetty sure that’s not gonna happen. Robin’s tagonism, wiggly and screwed up though it may be, is traditionally pro.

      I mean, sure, Willis could change it. But I’m not convinced he’s planning to.

      1. C.T Phipps

        I dunno, Robin has been an antagonist in this story for quite a while. It’s just she’s completely immune to getting slapped in the face with a penis hand.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          If you’re gonna list a character’s powers and immunities, do try and stick to things that have actually been tried on those characters. Things like this are the reason I have to clean up so many wiki pages.

    2. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      Pretty much the only good direction for this storyline.

    3. Chris

      The only way any With is redeemable to me is if they have amnesia and they have a hero’s death like Captain Gregor (Episode 12, Season 5: Missing in Action)

      1. C.T Phipps

        At this point, this is basically Darkseid on Leslie’s couch.

        1. Chris

          More like Thanos

        2. Gesc

          So Robin has a helicopter?

        3. Kitsune

          I want my own Kitsunecopter, it would have nine blades.

      2. Chris

        Oops. Meant to say Sith

    4. Minder

      I hope she either does something unambiguously irredeemable or fucking stops being terrible immediately, because this shit with Robin’s hijinks stomping on other people’s emotional well-being is so fucking painful and personal to read that I need some form of narrative justice at the end of the tunnel.

      1. BP

        EXACTLY.

    5. Liliet

      I’m pretty sure that 1) Kylo’s evilness was perfectly established wHEN HE ORDERED A VILLAGE SLAUGHTERED AT THE VERY BEGINNING; 2) killing his dad was not actually an indication of irredeemability, not remotely as much as that first thing was.
      So, ya know…. there are Different Opinions.

      1. Emily

        If they try to shove a Kylo Ren redemption arc down my throat I will stage my own Rebellion against Disney.

  9. Mr D

    Somebody explain this week’s fuck zone?

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      I think it’s Marcie posing nude for a drawing class.

    2. Kris

      I haven’t seen it but context leads me to believe it’s Marcie posing naked for Malaya’s life drawing class.

    3. Beef

      Marcie found out Malaya was drawing a naked model in her “Life Drawing” class so Marcie locked the model in a closet and took her place in a sort of bold attempt to get Malaya’s attention. It’s explained better in the patreon bonus strips

      1. Schpoonman

        …Wait, really?

        1. BBCC

          Yeah, it is NOT Marcie’s finest moment. Much the same way trying to trick Dina into taking off her hat was not her finest moment. Much like Sal said – she’s going to get hurt, and at best embarrass herself and at worst be SUPER FUCKING SKEEVY if she doesn’t just spit it out and get it over with.

        2. BBCC

          *Much the same way trying to trick Dina into taking off her hat was not Becky’s finest moment.

        3. Deanatay

          Demonstrating that WTTFZ is still Dumbing Of Age. It’s about young people making terrible decisions, surviving, and occasionally learning from them.

      2. fillerusername

        Okay that’s super creepy.

        1. Danni

          marcie is really crossing a line….

        2. StClair

          yeah. :p

        3. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          Becky’s about to get predator’d.

        4. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          Fuck you, comment software.

      3. RacingTurtle

        Yeah, I think I’m just gonna choose to believe that the current patreon/slipshine story is just a dream sequence Marcie had.

      4. Delicious Taffy

        What a very strange decision to make. Marcie never struck me as the type to do something like that.

        1. BBCC

          Marcie strikes me as generally level headed, but also prone to escalate as she feels more and more desperate get an answer without, y’know, SPITTING IT OUT.

    4. Jhon

      So has anything been said about Daisy getting a slipshine?
      (asking for a friend)

  10. Fart Captor

    I knew it!

    …that Robin & Becky would hit it off, not that Robin wasn’t wearing pants under the gaypron. That I had not anticipated at all, though in retrospect I probably should’ve.

    1. zoelogical

      they speak each other’s language, yo

    2. Leorale

      Leslie’s crush is super dead, given how, in yesterday’s strip, she didn’t even sneak a glance downwards.
      Robin, stop trying to butt your way out of problems.

      1. Fart Captor

        If it isn’t dead, it’s still definitely buried. Probably gonna stay six feet under for the foreseeable future

        1. Gesc

          And come back for gay brains? I’m intrigued.

      2. Needfuldoer

        Leslie’s going to burn that blouse once she finally gets Robin out of her house.

        … Robin’s going to squat in a house she has no business occupying for the next 4 years, isn’t she.

    3. Cattleprod

      Finally getting to the important issues, like what is and isn’t rizzle and did Robin have shorts on.

      1. Leorale

        Is it rizzle or ain’t it rizzle: that is the question
        whether tis nobler in the media
        to bare the thighs and buttocks of outrageous figure,
        Or, take butts against a media shitstorm, and by a-pantsing, ‘end’ them

        1. Leorale

          …I got a little carried away. Butt jokes.

        2. Roborat

          Nicely done. I would give you teh internets, but I already gave it to Delicious Taffy.

    4. Bagge

      Yup. Kindred spirits, all right. If Science doesn’t work out for Becky she might consider a future in congress.

  11. zoelogical

    i dont understand why carrie fisher’s eyes are green

    i’m assuming that this poster is a rare misprint and therefore a future treasure

    1. David M Willis

      because they’re reflecting the green lines in the projecto map in front of her: http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Carrie-Fisher-Star-Wars-Force-Awakens-Movie-Poster.jpg

      1. zoelogical

        THANK YOU FOR GIVING US YOUR REFERENCE IT MAKES A LOT MORE SENSE NOW

  12. Yumi

    When I try to use slang and it gets away from me

  13. newllend(henryvolt)

    Um, So they speek in native tongue…cool I guess

  14. Luzahn

    FRIENDS?

    1. Kris

      Only if that somehow leads to Robin leaving Leslie’s apartment.

      1. Danni

        robin is ross in this situation

    2. Sporky

      I prefer Seinfeld

  15. Uncertainty Moth

    Of course “you” (the artist formerly known as “aide”) is the lamp in the corner. Why am I surprised.

    1. Reltzik

      THAT’S what it says. I was staring at it for something like 3 minutes trying to make it out.

  16. Shiro

    It totally escaped me til I started rereading Shortpacked that Robin did the same thing in that universe–forced her way into living with Amber. I guess it’s a universal constant?

    Also, she and Becky speak the same language!

    1. Cerberus

      Yup. I think this is the same action, different world context. Like in SP, the universe was comedic and a little mean, so her forcing her way into homes was just wacky hijinks. But in the real world, this is what those same actions are, terrifying, abusive, and breaking and entering.

    2. Minder

      That’s exactly why I’m so *shrug* whenever people mention how different and evil this universe’s version suddenly is compared to Shortpacked!

      Like, they haven’t changed. The Robin that existed for most of the Walkyverse doesn’t seem in any way different to me than this Robin, their personalities and behaviors and bad traits are………not a lot different. All that’s changed is perspective. You get older and realize that stuff that was funny and goofy and no big deal once upon a time are actually maybe something you need to step back and realize are kind of awful for people in ways you didn’t consider.

      1. fillerusername

        It’s also kind of like that episode of it’s always sunny where they show the difference an added laugh track can make to something that would otherwise be attempted murder. Gag a day versus slice of life drama. Context changes everything.

        1. StClair

          It was a certain Onion article that made the point, for me, that most of the things a typical protagonist in a romantic comedy gets up to are absolutely horrible and/or stalkery when taken out of that context.

          (but it’s okay, see, because it’s love and they’re meant to be together…)

      2. Killjoy

        Context matters.

  17. butts

    daaaaaaaaaaang

  18. Stephen Bierce

    My record collection is woefully devoid of the generation supported by the dialogue. If somebody else wants to hack the Muzak today I invite them to do so.

    1. Leorale

      Does it count as hacking if you’re invited to do so?

      All I’ve got is dumb news footage from that time Kelly-Anne Conway had her feet on the couch.

    2. Chris

      We just need some rap music. It has the least logical wording, and uses slang and made up words all the time

      1. Leorale

        I don’t think you listen to much rap.
        Also, all words are made up.

        1. Chris

          Fair point. Isn’t everything made up though?

        2. Leorale

          Pretty much! Whee, making stuff up, for everyone

    3. Needfuldoer

      Sorry, closest I’ve got is Valley Girl by Frank and Moon Zappa.

    4. Joe Covenant

      *Plays
      “Donald Whaur’s Yer Troosers?”
      on the Hacked Muzak

  19. Passchendaele

    Casual Friday /indeed/

    §-§ ¥_¥

    1. Passchendaele

      Oh god how did I miss the office sign. nailed in. XD

    2. John

      Robin’s Casual Friday starts on Wednesday, apparently.

      1. Passchendaele

        Pssht, every day is Casual Friday in Robin’s world. Before long she’ll be sitting in Congress wearing a dress and the world’s largest sombrero. 😛

  20. JessWitt

    Peace in the Middle East, homes!

  21. Loki

    Shake her hand, Robin.

    Come on. Won’t you shake a poor sinner’s hand?

    (I am doing a referencing thing here)
    (don’t me mad at me)

    1. Minder

      In all seriousness on that, though. She’ll talk empty chat of no consequence with this vulnerable girl who’s reaching out in peace and good faith, but Robin will not actually give her a smile, or touch her hand, or say anything to give the impression there’s a belief somewhere she’s a person and deserves the respect.

      1. timemonkey

        Nah, they’re probably going to become besties and that’ll get Robin to leave. She won’t realise she was wrong but she’ll leave.

        1. Minder

          Robin being besties with a person whose rights she cannot acknowledge would be a goddamn despicabole turn of events. Because not admitting she’s wrong, yet still pretending she TOTES LOVES Becky and they can get along over wackies? That’s disgusting and Joyce (and Leslie, and Roz) will not stand for it because what the hell.

        2. thejeff

          At this point, if it gets her out of the house, they’ll take it as a win.

          Until Robin starts stalking Becky instead, which brings me back to why bringing her here to meet the influential stalker was a horrible plan.

        3. Emily

          I’m pretty sure Joyce doesn’t really give a damn about getting Robin out she’s here pretty much exclusively to make sure nobody fucks with Becky.

    2. StClair

      yaaasssssss

      (Are you ready? ARE YOU REAAAADYYYYY?)

  22. John

    What does the note on the lamp say?

    1. Schpoonman

      “Aide” crossed out and replaced with “you”.

  23. boop

    panel 2

    is robin maybe possibly starting to feel guilty?

    or just showing a little of the strain of trying to overrun leslie whilst simultaneously avoiding all external reality?

    1. Leorale

      I read it as she’s getting messages from her freaked-out handlers, or she’s reading disapproving headlines on her phone. The media outside is Very Disappoint.

      1. Bagge

        Me too. The world outside Leslie’s apartment that she has done her best to forget is filtering through. At the same time as Robin sets up a make-believe office in the sofa, she loses the real one.

    2. Minder

      No, she’s starting to feel overwhelmed.

      She responds by characteristically doubling down on THIS IS HOW THINGS ARE NOW BECAUSE I SAY SO or at least that is strongly how I’m reading her body language.

  24. fillerusername

    Oh my god she nailed a sign to Leslie’s wall.

    1. zoelogical

      im amazed by how terribly she nailed it

      1. fillerusername

        I’m not. All she does is fuck shit up.

        1. zoelogical

          i mean i’m not shocked but i’m amazed. it takes skill to fuck up that badly

        2. fillerusername

          Yes she’s very gifted.

        3. StClair

          she’s very something.

        4. Reltzik

          Well she IS in Congress.

          *no rimshot*

      2. hof1991

        She nailed it so bad, its nearly cartoonish.

  25. Keulan

    Well this is either gonna go really well or really badly.

    1. zoelogical

      they’re gonna go off like firecrackers

    2. MatthewTheLucky

      Becky has experience in dealing with shitty anti-lgbt people and making them less shitty. I think she has a better shot at this than anyone but Mike.

      1. zoelogical

        who do you mean

        because if you mean Joyce, that was all on Joyce. she sure didn’t succeed with her old college, and she sure didn’t succeed with her dad

      2. Fart Captor

        Funny how Mike has a track record of utter failure in that regard but people keep saying these things. He’d be useful if they needed help dragging her outside, but there’s nothing he’d be able to do here that these ladies wouldn’t be more likely to succeed at.

        1. Minder

          I mean, Mike dragging her outside would actually help, because we’ve seen with Amber that he doesn’t put up with that shit longer than his tolerance allows.

          Honestly I wish Mike had a wider social circle and interactions with some of the legitimate dickbags in the cast because I know he’d be even more atrocious toward them than he is to his own friends, and that’s saying something.

          …Unfortunately Mike hates himself and everyone else and wants it to stay that way so his social circle’s limited to people that can forgive him like Ethan and Joyce, and the people they hang around with. Because like literally he would not drag Robin outside just to have her crawl back in, Mike tolerates bullshit as well as he tolerates joy and peace. He would save Leslie the agony of trying to be the unstoppable force that moves the immovable object (because Robin’s modus operandi is mind games, and………Mike knows a goddamn lot about law and legal procedure as well as being willing to punch people).

        2. thejeff

          Sure he does. It’s an easier read to think Mike stays with his crowd rather than going after the legitimate dickbags because his victims are easier targets.

        3. Minder

          If easy targets was all he cared about then he wouldn’t be wasting his time dismantling Transformers fans on the internet psychologically just to impress Ethan.

          I mean, like, don’t get me wrong, Ethan’s a pretty easy target, but if Mike didn’t have any ethics at all he’s had two years to say just one mean thing to, I dunno…Becky. The guy has boundaries and he does pull his punches based on context, if not far enough to stop him from being a really mean asshole and a bad friend.

        4. Fart Captor

          ..or he would give Robin ideas for ways to entrench herself further just for shits and giggles

        5. thejeff

          Yeah, that’s what I’d expect. This idea that Mike can be used to help is deeply entrenched, but we’ve seen no evidence of it. Some of his tricks have backfired in a useful way, but that’s about it.

        6. Minder

          Yeah, I’m not saying this with authority that should speak over what’s written and I wholly admit I can’t be certain of what Mike would do in any given situation. I’m conjecturing here based on my reading of his character so far. And that reading is not exactly generous despite my defending of Mike to a point, but it’s far less ominous and actively evil one than a lot of other readers view him.

          (Though the actual shit he does do that hurts situations / people isn’t excusable or something to write off, of course, even if his motives and principles and boundaries are things I will debate).

  26. Rei

    I’m irrationally angry at how Robin puts up that “Office” sign on the wall. Like aside from it being not horizontal, she probably damage the hell out of that wall by nailing that thing in. That’s an horrifying level of total disregard for Leslie’s space and property D:

    1. fillerusername

      Yep.

    2. Luzahn

      It exemplifies Robin perfectly.

    3. Greenygal

      It’s not even her property, it’s a rented apartment. Who’s the landlord going to hold liable for the damage? Not Robin!

      1. Temperaryobsessor

        You mean the person he let in without her permission? If anything Robin is his guest.

  27. Bagge

    GOOF-OFF!!!

  28. Minder

    And people are STILL defending Robin because of her sunny outlook and easy banter here, supposedly being “nice,” even when there is absolutely no way to read Robin’s actions thus far as anything but willfully selfish and self-absorbed to a staggeringly despicable degree.

    She and Becky are talking. Wow! Totes, yeah, fo’ rizzle! They speak a common tongue, it’s obviously friendly–and that’s why you forget the little detail where Robin told Becky earlier that she COULD have the couch if Becky really needed it. Right before Robin went ahead and took it back, because Robin doesn’t actually mean what she says. Robin doesn’t actually acknowledge Becky’s humanity or even give her the slightest modicum of respect or empathy. Robin scowls at the “lesbian” who’s coming in here and taking HER couch that Leslie is desperately trying to get Robin away from. Robin doesn’t make a friendly expression with eye contact at Becky. Robin doesn’t deign to touch Becky’s hand when the 18-year-old homeless, earnestly friendly lesbian tries to offer a handshake. Robin won’t smile at her so she smiles at the wall after she turns away. Robin won’t acknowledge that Becky exists. They can talk about pants and Senatorial hijinks. They are not talking about why Robin is still fucking sitting on that couch behind a sign she nailed to another woman’s wall.

    1. fillerusername

      The friendly banter also didn’t start until Becky showed she was impressed with Robin’s job.

    2. Leorale

      Who is defending Robin? I don’t see anyone claiming she’s nice; pretty sure everyone’s on the same page that selfish Robin is being super terrible.

      1. Minder

        There were plenty yesterday, and already there are comments cropping up about how it’s totally a good sign here or a signal of hope that Robin’s connecting with Becky here at last!

        When, no, she isn’t. That body language does not signal someone who is at all respectful of their conversation partner or willing to listen. Robin’s shell is stronger than ever and that just makes this worse.

        1. Leorale

          Ah. Yeah. Well, if anyone can eventually out-friendly the self-centered bigot, it’s Becky, but that is not a thing that works irl.

        2. Fart Captor

          There’s a lot more people who just want Robin to stop being shitty (or just be less shitty) than who actually deny that she’s currently very shitty. Though yeah there were some of those too :/

          And while it’s still very possible she’s just gonna end up blowing off whatever Becky says, I read her posture in the last panel as relaxed.

          It definitely looked guarded and closed off up until the last two, but I feel like there’s room for foolish hope that maybe she’ll be receptive. If not to being directly convinced of anything, at least to the possibility of liking Becky.

          Though that hope may well be completely dashed by tomorrow

        3. Minder

          That’s the sad thing, too, is that I still think even after all this that there’s a chance not unlikely that Robin may end up being started on the path to redemption sooner or later with this arc after all.

          It’s just, that’s conjecture based on things we are not seeing in the comic itself. It’s a conjecture based on Robin being a fundamentally “good” person at least portrayal-wise in her old incarnation, while most of the Walkyverse villains switched into DoA are old / forgotten but jackass characters repurposed like Ryan, unchanged vile people like Mary and Blaine, or by contrast murderers like Penny suddenly made nearly harmless in the new universe. Robin’s behavior hasn’t changed from most of her Walkyverse run but I think she has the potential to make the same growth and epiphany the other Robin did–we just, we don’t have a shred of evidence for it yet and so I cannot defend anything she’s done on the basis of what she might stop doing because of authorial direction.

          Willis sometimes writes characters at their worst as a bait-and-switch to preclude a moment that humanizes them, and I can see that happening with Robin. I can see it. It wouldn’t shock me and it might even be welcome if she well and truly owns what her history has wrought. But there is not a bit of that redeemable potential actually shown in anything Robin’s actually done in DoA. If she hadn’t been the protagonist of this whole universe’s last precursor I’d write her off as a monster and be done with it. She might not be.

          The thing is, we can’t know until she gives us something that shows she actually can genuinely show empathy and humanity to people if it inconveniences her. DoA Robin has gleefully done the opposite at every turn. If redemption, or even a gradual realization or epiphany or a crack in the facade is coming, it’s going to be coming out of nowhere. And Willis could write that. I’d believe it if it was done with the usual narrative diligence. It’s just not what he’s writing now and I feel people are seeing signs of humanity that aren’t there yet at all even if they someday may be.

        4. zoelogical

          i mean the enjoyable part of Robin was always how fruit-loops-to-the-wind she could be. her shenanigans were wacky, and intense, and hijinky. she’s charismatic and mesmerizing. you could totally buy her as an ex-agent superpowered by sugar. she’s high-energy, well-intentioned, and a total mess. she could literally power any plot contrivance imaginable just by falling into it. she could break the fourth wall and not break a sweat. she’s probably made out with lady deadpool once or twice, lbr

          the difference is that her becoming a politician is more solidified, and the consequences of her actions are more focused on. there’s less of them, but they’re more far-reaching. that cognitive dissonance can be really dismaying, i think, and frustrating, because the Robin we knew is not the Robin who is.

          idk it’s complicated because Willis was trying for a lot of different things all at the same time – intense emotional dynamics, but also playful shenanigans. and the tonal shift for that was really tough. and as he grew as a writer he added more real world things that his comic couldn’t really process or deal with. because figuring out your pacing sucks.

          and i feel like the pacing is pretty steady here, but like. the other half of it is waiting for character development to happen

        5. Minder

          She hasn’t changed at all, though.

          Her actions are the same. Her personality is the same. The difference is that the universe is no longer bending around to accommodate her wackiness for the inconsiderate intrusion that it is on other people’s lives. Because this is supposed to be a world like ours where, outside the comfort of finality in narrative justice granted with authorial intent…the universe will not bend over to let people get away with the stuff that’s funny on the internet but horribly abusive in real life. The playful shenanigans are Robin stomping all over Leslie with a smile because she’s preaching the narrative that this is what they both want. I grew up with someone whose playful side was the worst kind of disenfranchisement because anything they did could be directed as someone else’s fault. “The dog did it.” No admission of guilt, no apology, gleeful gloating that they have the last word because reason is not going to work and your voice doesn’t matter.

          Robin doesn’t have the less-trollish half of my dad, the angry mean one that was the threatening violent cloud always waiting if I fought too hard or got too upset on my own behalf. But the fear was never the worst. The worst was the rage because you cannot argue with a person who will say that up is down and Earth is flat before they will acknowledge that THEY did something to hurt your feelings. That is abuse. It’s infuriating. I don’t begrudge people for finding amusement in it on the outside if they haven’t been subjected to this personally, but there’s not an ambiguity here just because Robin’s wearing a smile while she ruins their lives.

          If she is going to change she will have to drop that smile and be serious for once in her life, because that’s what the consequences of her actions are. And that happening may be our best-case scenario.

        6. Cerberus

          *hugs* I’m sorry you went through that.

          And yeah, I agree strongly with this. Her wacky intrusion is being played exactly the same, but the universe isn’t wacky comedy land where that doesn’t have real and lasting consequences. And as such, she’s entering the same horror territory Mike has been. And it really hammers home how those actions may have been “wacky fun” in a comedy world with a mean streak, but in reality are cruel and awful and long-term harmful.

        7. Minder

          Thanks, Cerb. It feels petty at times for me to get hung up on “just” emotional abuse when I see what so many others are going through or have in their own lives, but. Part of it is that I get really upset when people treat this as not-serious because, well, yes it is and I don’t like Robin doing it to Leslie and Becky and knowing people are enjoying it for the comedy value without thinking too deeply about how the other characters are actually reacting.

        8. zoelogical

          I’m so sorry you went through that, that sounds so difficult. I can easily see how Robin could be triggering here. idk after a certain point all an abusive person needs to be abusive is to use your fear of them to their advantage. I’m really sorry if anything I’ve said here has triggered you further, and I’ll try to avoid it in future.

          with characters I guess I feel like the narrative feeds their interpretation – like, yes, how their actions would be in real-world is an important part of their context and an important perspective to take, but the context of the story itself and the role they’re intended to play in-story is also an important way to process their characterization. and there isn’t always an even way to manage that, which is why the reboot was necessary so that all of this could be streamlined and focused.

          …idk, my attachment to Robin has always been more in how engaging and charismatic she can be. which!! neither of those stop someone from being abusive!

          …shortpacked really was a world where everyone could be very awful to each other, and being awful was treated as part of being human, i think. which is to a degree true, but it’s not all that we can be.

        9. Minder

          @zoelogical Don’t worry, I’m not triggered by discussing this (it makes me angry / indignant sometimes, but not on a personal level–I just like getting worked up over meta analysis as it relates to real life). And I actually do like to talk about it! Your concern and empathy is greatly appreciated 🙂

          And yeah I do believe that context is really everything. I never liked Robin in Shortpacked!, but that was annoyance directed at the narrative and the universe bending over backward to give her kind of wacky disregard a free pass–I never legitimately believed she was horrible in-universe or some kind of monster, just irritating, because she was supposed to be the “good guy” when she irritated me considerably for reasons mentioned above. I knew why people liked her but it annoyed me that they did even while understanding there was narrative support for it, but what annoyed me more was her getting lot of love and pagetime over characters I was more compelled by and could empathize with & be entertained by.

          And I am not trying to attack you here or belittle your enjoyment of Robin in either universe, I promise. My only point was that context indeed makes a world and a universe of difference–exactly because the behavior itself hasn’t changed and I’ve seen that people are convinced it’s Robin herself that’s different. So defending the behavior or thinking that it’s mitigated by virtue of being intended as entertainment is a point I’ll argue against, because while that does indeed go down with many characters in the strip making morally questionable punchlines and get a pass I don’t think for a second that Robin’s meant to be one of them. We see Leslie’s and Joyce’s reactions to her. Robin is the one who is blinded by her own self-image.

        10. Rukduk

          Wow. I’m…really sorry Minder. That, well reminds me of my dad so…crappy dad solidarity hug? I wish I could say something more but, I’m not good with mixing emotions and words. I do want to apologize though if I’ve seemed like one of the people trying to defend Robin. It’s probably my own mixed feelings about my really crappy father getting in the way. Like…he was messed up but there was a reason that he was messed up (gambling addiction, his abusive father, undiagnosed bi-polar), so when I see someone else who’s messed up I just…feel like there has to be a reason. Not an excuse, a reason is never an excuse, but a cause. So, once again I want to apologize. And well offer whatever support or solidarity you might need.

        11. Minder

          @Rukduk Dangit I replied to this in another thread but LONG STORY SHORT YOU ARE GOOD EGG, GOOD CONVERSATION PARTNER, NO WORRIES

        12. zoelogical

          @Minder good to know!! 😀

          mmmmm getting annoyed by Robin is super legit, haha, no arguments there.

          I don’t think I feel like my enjoyment of her was belittled at all in what you were saying. it was just a little frustrating, because it felt like my understanding of Robin and her canon and what those things represented was so different from your understanding that there wasn’t a place where they could meet! and I do not want to be excusing abusive behavior – it’s just that right there was a place where assholery wasn’t that far removed from abusive behavior. and I mean maybe it never is, but…the constraints of the story kind of required certain assumptions, I think. idk those may not be assumptions borne out by reality, but…still the argument that’s being made, for what it’s worth? idk.

        13. Minder

          @Rukduk No worries at all, I do this type of debate for fun, even if I get worked up that’s part of the catharsis! You would be amazed at how much petty, petty joy I get for every point I win at being right (or eventually proven right) about a cartoon argument on the internet. Also it’s a good exercise in recognizing errors in my own thought processes and memory when other people bring up points I forgot or overlooked / messed up on.

          Tl;dr you haven’t done anything to hurt / offend me, &I appreciate the apology and solidarity and I extend the latter fully to you as well, because, y’know, dads. Mine’s got his Freudian excuses too, and at the very least he’s getting better and mellowed out with age. He does love me and at the very least he’s been willing to change certain patterns of behavior when he realized that love didn’t mean shit compared to allowing someone else to have opinions. He’s still an ass plenty of the time but he’s also far more mindful and willing to stop after seeing my at the stage where my depression from neurosis was bad enough I’d have been chill to just die. He doesn’t understand why any changes are necessary sometimes or even that he could be wrong, but that really scared him and if scaring him is what’s necessary to start to make him act the way what I want (/ need) for my own happiness, literally, then hurray! Our family has come full circle.

    3. Eyebrow

      All I can do is stare at them, hypnotized, and do my Joe imitation at them, pointing fingers inward and chanting “make out. Make out.”

  29. fillerusername

    Heh. Leslie’s lamp is rainbow colored, that’s cute.

    1. Dellaran

      $18.94 at Walmart

      (One of many examples, it’s a popular design)

  30. Romanticide

    Becky just was able to went through Robin first barriers, good, good.

    1. Minder

      What part of Robin’s barriers have been penetrated exactly in this exchange? Becky’s getting the same runaround as Leslie when she tries to engage with actual conversation.

      1. zoelogical

        the barrier of language. the first frontier, if not the last. understanding exactly what robin is saying is half the battle

        1. Minder

          Uh, no, Robin talks her way happily around anyone with a mouth and a point to make.

          But she doesn’t talk TO them. She doesn’t converse WITH them. She stays where she is and throws whatever combination of words together that will achieve the effect she wants without having to actually concede anything, including whether or not those words are genuine.

        2. zoelogical

          and getting that about Robin is understanding her language.

          idk look: we’ve established that Becky is really, really good at reading people from a lifetime of living with an abusive dad. it’s not an accident that she started out by complimenting Robin’s job and acting like a member of the youth Robin can actually bond with. among those things she is good at is de-escalation. and that’s what she’s done.

          idk i don’t one hundred percent know where Becky is going to go from here, but she’s putting forth a message that Robin knows how to read. i would not be surprised if her survival skills become very much of use here.

        3. Minder

          Becky is………not that great at reading people. At all. She admitted so herself, and while the main thing she gets wrong is from thinking with her lady parts instead of her head (around Dina and Joyce, especially) there are other things she misses easily and needs to have spelled out especially considering when something might be inappropriate or over-the-top for others even when it’s her own way of coping to make fun of it.

          Granted Becky has made leaps and bounds since she arrived on campus, but her real skill is not reading people at all but rather reacting to anything they throw at her–using the most ridiculous and exaggerated traits imaginable to cover whenever she’s been left lost or vulnerable in some way by the situation. She started out with the first thing that popped into her head, which was (preciously) the usual “I’m a lesbian!”

          Robin responded with a flat declaration of her position. Becky’s trying to make conversation, so she has to pretend to be interested, and that’s the polite-like thing to do when someone’s got a big fancy job, right? Robin speaks her language and deflects where Becky meant the conversation to go, and I’m not sure Becky realizes yet just what she’s dealing with but she’s handling it marvelously for what Robin gives her.

          Becky has good instincts but that doesn’t change that I’m pretty sure she just blurts out the first thing on her mind in reaction to what’s happening in front of her. Many times, in a situation where she knows she’s treading on ice, she does so in a way that paints her flatteringly. Other times it backfires spectacularly. She makes assumptions. She’s assuming, I think, that Robin is cool at least in some part because she likes girls, so doesn’t she have to be?

          But Robin doesn’t. Robin’s a dickbag. And Becky’s not too great at reading people off the top of her head but she’s very good at reacting with her heart. I think Robin is quite tactless enough to do something to step all over that heart and when that happens, all of this hypothetical inner good won’t matter a bit once Hurricane Joyce steps out of the kitchen with murder all over her face at the look on Becky’s face.

        4. Schpoonman

          New life aspiration: Convince a meteorologist to name a Hurricane “Joyce”.

        5. Needfuldoer

          Great news! (If you consider 10 or more named storms in the Atlantic to be great news, anyway.)

        6. Jhon

          There was a Hurricane Becky in 1966. Repeat performance in 1974.

        7. Cerberus

          I agree with a lot of this, though Becky may also end up putting Robin’s shtick off-balance. Like, Robin’s whole thing is exploiting people’s natural attempt to follow logical trails and have a good-faith conversation. And Becky is very willing to do that, but her wacky Becky armor also throws a lot of things in from left-field in ways that are not easily predictable, so it’s very possible for that to knock her off balance.

          This is about to be a very interesting and nerve-wracking verbal spar as Robin has such power to wound Becky with a careless statement or argument and Becky has the chance to shake Robin’s favorite verbal trick and derail it at points.

        8. Minder

          Ooh, you’re right. Becky’s already shown one DeSanto that an armor-piercing question at the right time can unhinge quite a bit of confidence when you’re not expecting it. Best of luck to Beckster.

        9. zoelogical

          idk like: if Becky’s anything like me, she’s really great in reading high-stress situations and figuring a way out that keeps everyone safe, but not so great in lower-stress situations and how to baseline-cope with them. for instance: her last arc with Dinah and trying to figure out how to get Dinah to take her hat off instead of just asking her. when you grow up with a logic of manipulation as the only way to get the things that you want, it changes how you think about things. and unfortunately that is pretty much precisely how Robin seems to think about things twenty-four/seven.

          I mean, a lot of this analysis depends on what Becky’s trying to get out of the conversation. Is she just trying to get a read on Robin? Is she going to try to persuade Robin to move out? Is she going to try to connect and see how she can bargain? I’m really not sure. But from this position, she can make a move on all of those things, and she can retreat to Joyce if she can make an excuse.

          idk, for me I have to look at this as a game of verbal chess. Because while Robin’s been shown to be verbally and emotionally abusive, she hasn’t gotten physical. Yet. and for both Joyce and Becky, their Christian education was heavily politicized, or at least that’s the impression I’ve gotten. I really don’t know if Robin can come up with anything either of them haven’t heard before.

          …I don’t know, now that I’m thinking about it I’m definitely kind of coming at this from a place of “there has to be a way out because if there wasn’t a way out then someone could just do this and you couldn’t stop them”, which is….possibly not the best place to analyze from…because, like, there’s not really a whole lot you can do to stop someone from being abusive. just try to protect yourself and move on.

        10. Minder

          I was gonna say something about how hearing Robin say bad stuff face to face might be harmful or whatever possibly but oh my god, can you even picture Robin vs. Becky in a chess match, I would bet money that neither of them have any concept of how to play and it’d devolve into roleplay checkers with monopoly house rules

        11. Minder

          Re: above, this is the best mental image ever, for clarification

        12. zoelogical

          lolol glad to be of service

          idk. my bar for that kind of thing is set super low so…it’s probably different from person to person

  31. Cody Connelly

    I hope this is leading to Becky utilizing her awesomeness to break through Robin’s incredibly thick exterior, letting her reach that little bit of humanity she hopefully still has inside.

    That way Robin will finally leave Leslie’s house, Leslie can be through with at least that part of the mess (she’ll still have to deal with people thinking she’s in a relationship with Robin, but at least she’ll have her house back, and Beck can have someone cool to stay.

    *Crosses fingers & hopes to all of the deities*

    1. StClair

      I think the “connection” will last exactly as long as it takes to get to any subject or action that Robin “don’t wanna”.
      There’s very little there but an id and a sense of entitlement to have it fulfilled.

      1. Minder

        Yeah, it’s so gross that without the aide and the cameras and the YouTube vids to pose for that Robin doesn’t even…like, pretend to reach out or express empathy to the girl who was in the news for being kidnapped at gunpoint who’s now vulnerable and homeless.

        ‘I licked all over the couch’ is the exact opposite of empathy when someone tells you that another, more needy person requires the couch.

        And then three panels later Robin goes right back to the couch having no intention of giving it up unless someone pitches a fit.

    2. fillerusername

      Becky shouldn’t have to charm Robin like a cute puppy to get treated like a human being by her. Just the fact that Robin didn’t get her ass off that couch the second she heard about Becky’s circumstances and had the nerve to GLARE at her like that makes me no longer give a fuck about whatever small crumb of decency she may have. I just want her to fuck off now.

  32. Commodore Jeep-Eep

    Becky’s about to get predator’d.

  33. Cerberus

    Comic Reactions:

    Panel 1: !

    Okay, yeah, this is getting worse and worse. Literally nailing up a sign that says office over the couch, settling in more and more, annexing this part of the house in service to her desperate need to avoid handling the reality of her actions and their consequences.

    Like, Robin is not going to leave this without a fight and there are so few options to make that happen. And it just keeps getting worse and I feel so bad for Leslie’s fraying nerves dealing with this hellscape.

    Panel 2: And Robin watches her career and her campaign go down the hole in real time, likely on twitter.

    And well… I don’t feel bad for her. Like, not just because she’s a conservative politician who ran on a platform of actively hurting the queer folks in her district and in the country. But also because there is no part of this that isn’t directly her fault. She’s the one who decided to press Leslie on things, to move things to a public bar, to keep flirting with Leslie, to call her back for that last near kiss, to break into her house and never leave.

    Like at any point in this she could have gotten ahead of this. And even now, there’s ways she could spin this and at least staunch the worst of the damage this is doing to her campaign.

    But she isn’t. And the reason she isn’t is cowardly. She doesn’t want to face the press because until that moment, this is all happening somewhere else where it isn’t here. Where she doesn’t have to confront the fact that she can’t honestly deny she doesn’t have feelings for Leslie. Where she’s protected by walls and a phone screen.

    And to protect that, she’s actively hurting Leslie and putting her in extreme distress. And it’s all so stupid, because every minute she stays trying to cling to this domestic fantasy, things get worse with both. Leslie becomes less and less likely to ever give her the time of day again and her political career gets more and more tanked.

    Like, I’m sorry this is so distressing for her, but she’s a big girl with multiple houses. It’s long past time she learned to deal with the consequences of her actions.

    1. Bagge

      Yup.

      Also, I’m more and more convinced that this is not just a series of escalating slip-ups. I think this is active carrier-suicide that she hasn’t admitted to herself yet.

      And there are ways to quit one’s job with much less collateral damage.

      1. Cerberus

        The worst part of this is she’s acting like this is as bad as it would be if say you or I torpedoed our careers. But politicians aren’t allowed to fail their way into actual trouble and there’s no end of cushy lobbying firms eager to pick up even the most disgraced former politician for way too much money just for access to their rolodex.

        Like, even if Robin nukes her career from orbit, she’ll be in a way better position than anyone and will have all the time she needs to get her head together while enjoying extreme wealth.

        1. Minder

          This. Poor, poor baby indeed.

    2. Danni

      robins acting like trump

      1. fillerusername

        Nah, Trump doesn’t read negative press about him.

        Trump doesn’t read.

        1. Minder

          That’s the best argument against Robin = Trump as an analogy I’ve seen to date

    3. Shiro

      …and it occurs to me, she apparently has access to a helicopter. Why not just land the copter behind the house, make a run for it, land copter at one of her OWN damn houses, problem solved?

      1. Cerberus

        That would be the better option.

        1. Danni

          that would involve robin being a decent person

      2. StClair

        but she’d have to leave. and she doesn’t want to.
        she doesn’t entirely understand why she wants to stay there WITH LESLIE and just blow everything else off, but she does, so she’s gonna do that. until she decides she wants something else.

        1. Cerberus

          I think you’re right and I think it’s the level to which she is willing to go to for whims that makes her the most terrifying. Like, that part of her character could be seen as charming in SP! but here, it’s just… well, I’m sure a lot of us have had that one friend or family member or boss who actively ruined the lives around them chasing after random whims they treated as the most important things ever.

          And it takes the discomfort SP Leslie felt at being subjected to Robin’s whims in happy wacky comedy land and ups it to eleven, where things become a frickin’ horror narrative of abuse.

    4. zoelogical

      …….i don’t think it’s a mistake that they started this out with Leslie and Robin watching Steven Universe (after robin drunkenly broke in, i guess) because that’s pretty much the home of screwed up lesbian dynamics

    5. Minder

      Isn’t that just the thing? Like, I don’t understand why people are even trying to downplay the culpability Robin has for her actions here. She’s not acting differently now than she did during the class visit that made Leslie stop and check her fantasy for the awful reality.

      I think Robin may yet be redeemed. But I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for her right now. When she is shown in a light that would make her sympathetic, I will stop seething about how inflexibly just terrible she has been and continues to be. But a sympathetic moment hasn’t happened yet and I’m not going to be looking into things that seem to fall into the same callous pattern that Robin thrives in.

      1. Jhon

        Redemption for Robin?
        I dunno.
        Is she on fire yet?

  34. Chris

    Come on Becky! If she is lesbian at the slightest, there is a way to get her out. *cough* NSFW *cough*

    1. Rukduk

      OH HELL NO!!!!

      1. Chris

        Ha! You guys are so easy to fake out! Of course I wouldn’t want that! I don’t even look at

        1. Chris

          At porn. Sorry, glitches my sentence into my website. Might not wanna view the website

        2. Minder

          point believed though take care to phrase it less defensively less time to avoid other people justly being pinged with red flags

        3. Minder

          also apologize maybe or simply admit you weren’t thinking at all cop to the mess instead of claiming you were faking people out, that is, uh, actually worse if you do actually not think that joke you made is a thing that should happen in a slipshine somewhere

    2. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      The fuck is your problem?

    3. Leorale

      No. Ew.
      Becky is a homeless teenager
      Just cause Robin is closeted-bi doesn’t mean she’s some kind of sex predator just waiting to happen.
      Becky should never have to use her body to get what she needs
      Ew

    4. fillerusername

      Gross.

    5. Danni

      what the hell, chris?

      1. Chris

        I’m just joshing you guys! Who would actually want that? *Willis stops drawing NSFW, erases*

        1. Leorale

          Willis wouldn’t draw something with that sheer level of Unfortunate Implications. We’re not just objecting because it doesn’t give us boners. I don’t know how to explain this to you.

        2. Leorale

          Suffice to say, some midnight jokes just don’t work. They can’t all be gems!

        3. Chris

          Wait? I typed this comment? Was I high or something?

        4. Minder

          For what it’s worth I am sorry for how many people jumped you for that clearly-a-joke post which you didn’t actually want to see happen despite the comment being in poor taste

        5. Minder

          That said, it’s easier to say “shit, my bad” than just express disbelief at a not-great thing you said like you don’t remember it

        6. Chris

          Shit, !y bad about that guys. Sorry I’m less serious and forgot how you would take this

        7. Minder

          it’s okay to admit you didn’t actually forget if what really happened is you just didn’t actually think consider it before.

          and I’m not saying that with sarcasm or passive-aggression despite the bluntness. learning is a thing that happens! see above, title of comic

    6. Smiling Cat

      Haha, sexual exploitation!

      1. Chris

        You, my good sir, deserve an upvote

  35. Grethelwvier

    I cannot appreciate Becky enough in this strip. Or any strip, tbh.

    1. Bagge

      Agreed.

      Becky is awesome, and given the risk for collateral damage of… whatever Robin think she is doing, brave as fudge.

  36. Victor Riley

    General Leia poster for the win!

  37. Rukduk

    Ok….the hell’s going on here? How are they…what the…huh? Is this how Robin is convinced to a) treat LGBT people with actual respect b) leave Leslie’s apartment or c) both? If so, then Becky will finally surpass Dina as my favorite character.

  38. ProfessorKickAss

    Why use tape when you can use nails, am I right?

  39. MatthewTheLucky

    Wait. She’s using her phone.
    THAT’S IT!
    Leslie, hide all your usb chargers!

    1. Bagge

      You found her kryptonite!

      1. inqntrol

        Robin will have to go buy another charger for her phone and when that happens Leslie can lock the door behind her, and close all the windows.Problem solved.

        1. Reltzik

          Put some of those child-proof outlet-plugs in the sockets!

  40. Cerberus

    Panel 3: Mm, maybe I’m misreading this, but this feels like such an intense deliberate looking down on Becky. Like Becky is openly being friendly (when she has literally no reason to be) and where Robin is openly fucking her over and she’s just coldly shutting her down and hammering home her high position over someone she knows is just a homeless kid.

    And if so, that’s really shitty. Also… I love Becky here. She’s just so earnest and well-intentioned. She doesn’t care that Robin is directly responsible for her road being way harder than it needs to be. She doesn’t care that Robin is being a complete ass. To her, this is her ministry and she was taught to be nice and approachable for that, so she is.

    And it’s not even disingenuous like a lot of ministry. Becky really does want to get along and be nice and reach through to Robin. She really is excited that her lesbianism is part of a larger community. And she really is impressed by Robin’s title and doesn’t even blink for the douchey way it was intended to shut her down.

    Like, Becky is way too good and pure for this world.

    Panel 4: Heh, this is probably the first time in a very long while that someone unironically has spoken to her fully understanding her various verbal communication tics and sharing a lot of them. A

    nd it’s clear that Becky’s earnestness and charm is cutting through that initial wall and getting her to relax. Whether or not that will do any good given how shitty Robin has been to Leslie remains to be seen. My head says nope. But who knows? Becky is definitely getting farther than most here.

    Panel 5: Ugh… like, I’m not a prude. I like my home underwear time as much as the next girl and I’m not above some sexy stripping for partners because it’s amusing as fuck when they get all attraction flustered. But… when you’re in someone else’s house. And especially in someone else’s house who really isn’t that fond of you and hasn’t given permission?

    Wear fucking pants.

    Also, hmm, Robin seems very relaxed here, but she’s been relaxed before and still rejected information and perspectives that are against what she’s already decided on before. Like, maybe Becky will pull off a miracle here, but I’m really not seeing her getting through that ingrained deliberate selfishness and willful ignoring of reality.

    1. C.T Phipps

      Just an endless parade of disrespect and annoying acts. It stopped being funny a long time ago and it would be actually good to have her as someone who is awful and irredeemable. At this point, really, Mary is more redeemable and that says something.

      1. fillerusername

        Mary at least believes she’s serving some kind of higher cosmic purpose with the terrible shit she does. Robin’s just terrible for the sake of serving Robin and doesn’t really seem to actually believe in anything but her own “awesomeness”.

        1. BP

          ^ What you said. Blast my slow internet!

        2. BP

          I may have misread this last night when I agreed. But yeah, I guess Mary believing God wants her to do terrible things COULD be seen that way. It doesn’t make her any more forgivable than Robin though. As a Christian myself, I’d say it makes her worse.

        3. fillerusername

          Oh yeah don’t get me wrong she’s a deeply terrible person but I guess it’s somehow less scary to me to know she’s motivated by an actual belief system rather than just willing to go along with whoever to get anything. It makes her less of a cypher I guess? Or it’s just worse to me that someone would be willing to align themselves with anyone or anything to stay ahead and they decide to pick the side that does most harm. Or rather it’s just more comforting (at least to me) to know with certainty where you stand with someone. Robin’s just this chaotic force of pure indifference that cannot be predicted. With Mary you can be like a + b will probably equal c but with Robin a + b could end up equaling c or it could end up equaling orange depending on Robin’s mood that day. And at least with Mary even if there’s so much to disagree with about her worldview and with her theology at least you know her world view is dictated primarily on her absolute belief that not being the way she is will lead to eternal damnation and she’s achieving some kind of moral purity. Robin doesn’t believe in ANYTHING but Robin. She’s doing what she does just cuz. That’s…disconcerting. To know there’s no real reason behind all the suffering she’s caused/causing.

        4. fillerusername

          I guess I’ll go for the easy comparison and say think of how Trump is scarier than Pence for so many reasons despite both being objectively obviously terrible human beings.

        5. Minder

          Agreed on Robin…

          …Though, I’d like to point out that Mary’s ACTUAL worldview is that ‘Mary is always right and it’s fine / should be fine for her to do whatever she wants to anyone else, because the eternal damnation thing applies to other people so she can freely treat them like garbage and enjoy it’

          Like Mary has a lot of the same willful self-denial that Robin does, actually. The difference is that Robin’s forced delusion is that she doesn’t have to be guilty for anything because she’s just awesomesauce and this is what everyone wants anyway! While Mary’s self-delusion is to maintain always the firm stance that every horrible (and potentially incriminating) thing she does is just part of God’s Perfect Plan so she is justified on his account.

        6. fillerusername

          I would agree except for the part where Robin could think that what she’s doing is what “everyone” wants. She knows it’s not what everyone wants. She knows there is a whole other side of the political spectrum that she could be aligning herself with that doesn’t actively work to hurt people. She just chose to align herself with the side that she knows does harm but she’s going to ignore all that because it’s inconvenient. So what’s worse everybody suffering because of Mary’s idea about God’s perfect plan or everybody suffering because of the republican party’s perfect plan? A political ideology that Robin does not even believe in? And I think that’s what I can’t let go of. That Robin is doing all this damage in support of a political party she doesn’t actually believe in and she had the option to go into politics and achieve all the same perks just with the party that will do less harm. If it means nothing to her at the end of the day why did she go with the side that destroys so many lives? And the answer seems to just be that was the side she thought she had a better chance of winning with and that’s…vile. And maybe it’s not really a question of who’s worse. Until she decides to make up for what she’s done she’s just as bad as Mary. She does even more harm from a systematic standpoint and she’s an adult (despite how she likes to talk). Just because she’s “wacky” and in a cuter package it doesn’t change that she’s just as horrible as Mary. At least right now.

        7. Minder

          @fillerusername No no no you’re right because like, that’s just it, Robin PRETENDING she’s doing what everyone wants–pretending so hard that she herself can just keep on believing it without caring about the fact that she knows it’s untrue–is exactly what you’re saying and I agree with you.

          And I think Robin’s actually worse than Mary, but as I’ve stated elsewhere I am judging based on what their actions result in, not whatever they choose to justify it if they even bother to try.

        8. Fart Captor

          Mary’s beliefs merely exist to justify treating people like garbage, which is already what she wants to do. Mary has not once shown the slightest reluctance or remorse about her actions.

          Even Ross appeared to feel angst about what he “had” to do. Mary doesn’t even pretend not to enjoy it.

        9. 3oranges

          Yeah, any claim to Mary having higher principles she’s only failing to apply well died when she asked Billie to let her “have” Carla.

        10. C.T Phipps

          Who is the more awful, the one who knows not the good or the one who does and does the opposite anyway?

        11. Minder

          The one who votes on Federal legislation.

        12. fillerusername

          Yes she definitely has a sadistic streak. And I guess my ultimate point isn’t who I see as being more capable of redemption in the end. That’s definitely Robin. It’s more who I find more objectively terrible as far as their motivations go and for me it’s just worse that there is nothing really motivating all the harm Robin causes outside of her own desire to get ahead. Like is it worse to get a sense of enjoyment out of hurting people you see as morally/spiritually inferior or is it worse to not be actively desiring anyone to get hurt but you know it will happen and you just don’t really care? We know that Robin does in fact have a small sense of shame but she ignores it to get what she wants. She knows what she does is wrong and she does it anyway and makes excuses for it. Mary believes completely that her actions are 100% justified. So is it worse to do a terrible thing because you believe it’s the right/deserved thing to do or is it worse to do a terrible thing because it’s what’s expected of you because of the role you assigned yourself?

        13. fillerusername

          All this being said I think if I could pick who got a redemption arc I’d pick Mary because I would love to see how the fuck Willis pulled that off. It may not be deserved but it would likely be one hell of a journey.

        14. Minder

          Shockingly Mary actually did have moments in the Walkyverse where she displayed behavior that made her conceivably not-incapable of being a real human with redeemable potential, instead of a depressingly more-real human that goddamn ruins everything she touches like ones we’ve gotta deal with here in the tire fire that’s reality

      2. BP

        I’m not so sure about that. Robin is immature and IGNORES that her actions have consequences, where Mary is well aware of what her actions will accomplish and is indeed proud of the horrible things she does. Robin’s forcible ignorance still isn’t much better than Mary’s active malice (in this scenario especialy it’s almost worse), but it seems to me that it means Robin is more capable of redemption than Mary because of it. You can fix ignorance. You can’t fix mean.

        1. Minder

          Well, yeah, Robin’s certainly not as EVIL as Mary in the sense of being capable of vile cruelty with glee.

          The problem is being willfully ignorant is not at all better, and nothing else really would be either, when you’re in a position to vote on national legislation. Mary’s driven one girl to a suicide attempt. Mary’s a monster. Robin’s voting for legislation that lets the Marys get away with this on a scale that is far more chilling to think about than one girl in a hall full of girls her own age.

        2. BP

          That’s certainly true, that Robin’s position of power makes it much more dangerous for her to be stupid and bigoted than Mary. I want to make it clear, I think what Robin is doing is awful and horrifying. Whether she’s capable of redemption doesn’t change that or make it something to gloss over later.

          Mainly why I WANT to see if she’s capable of redemption is because it takes a good writer to make a character this awful find their decent side realistically.

        3. Minder

          I think we’re in agreement then. I don’t think Robin in-universe has shown any sign at all of being ready to change or willing, but you’re right, even starting at zero the chances are already higher than Mary who’s just determined to be terrible forever because she’s better than everyone else! She’s better and holier, dammit!!

          I don’t WANT Robin to be redeemed but it is certainly an option I think could happen? Not based on anything DoA Robin has done because, she just is giving us nothing in terms of decent behavior. But even so I remember that this wacky Robin had potential to change for better in another universe where she was the good guy, and the actual main character, which is reason enough to merit an arc where she can change if Willis wanted to.

          I think that’d probably work out best for everyone in the strip and be a good resolution even while I am petty and want Robin to fuck off and hit a failurewall forever because I still haven’t gotten over my grudge against her Walkyverse self being my least favorite forever and spite is nice.

        4. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          I don’t want a redemption for a whole lotta reasons, because frankly, it would be fractally gross.

        5. C.T Phipps

          See, all the bigots need is the patience of those they abuse!

        6. Minder

          I don’t want one either, though my reasons are far far pettier than yours and I should probably feel bad about that

        7. thejeff

          @C.T.Phipps: I’m sure we’re going to get a redemption arc for Robin. Or at least a character growth arc.

          I’m equally sure that’s not going to be the point of it.

        8. 3oranges

          I think a redemption arc wouldn’t have to be gross. It just would have to come about through others rejecting what she has been like, and then her later atoning. You know, rather than anyone tolerating or enabling it, which would be the grossness C.T Phipps mentions.

          I like your name and avatar, by the way!

        9. Minder

          @3oranges It wouldn’t have to be gross, but it would have to be decidedly bleak and accepting of the fact that what Robin’s already done isn’t going away and that redemption is not the same thing as forgiveness and in fact means swallowing the bitter pill that nobody else has to forgive you and you can’t forget.

        10. fillerusername

          Oh yeah I definitely see Robin changing before Mary ever does because again Mary does what she does out of actual belief while Robin is merely serving a convenient role and when it’s no longer convenient for her she’ll adapt to survive.

        11. Minder

          Mary doesn’t actually believe in anything besides being better than anyone else. Like, it hardly makes a difference in the end in terms of consequences, but what you’re thinking of is Ross who earnestly does believe that the horrible horrible shit he’s doing has justification in getting his daughter to heaven at any cost. Hypocrisy matters, I guess, and in less extreme examples than Ross I usually prefer characters that are honest about the shit they profess to believe, but there’s a point at which honestly your beliefs are wrong and that’s that, so either you need to change or you need to have something done to you that will make you no longer able to hurt other people with your actions. Meant or not.

    2. Goblin Scribe

      Robin’s not actually directly responsible for anything. She’s supported the shitty legislation (up until now—it’s getting murkier now), but she’s never had the opportunity to vote for or against it.

      The lack of sympathy people have for a closeted lesbian congresswoman trying to run in a district that doesn’t want her to exist is still really frustrating me. Yeah, Robin is super flawed and irresponsible and selfish and kinda cowardly, but, um, *POINTS AT WEBCOMIC TITLE*

      When Amber tried to beat up Sal, we all frowned and hoped she’d make it past that stage in her life. When Robin was similarly shitty, everyone just decided they hated her. And that’s even though it’s very obvious that Robin is under an enormous amount of stress and pressure. Look at her in those first two panels! She’s making terrible choices, and being forced, like Dorothy, to confront them (by a woman she sort of has a crush on, no less)!

      Also, she’s not really being a huge jerk to Becky here. She doesn’t TRUST her. Robin thinks Becky is here as a political device, and she can’t tell how “fo’ realz” Becky is just yet.

      1. Minder

        She VOTED for that legislation. Robin VOTED for it. That’s not just ‘supporting it’ and for fuck’s sake, supporting it alone is enough to make Robin a bad person because she’s been called on it enough times to fucking own it or live with her cognitive dissonance and not care about who gets hurt by the policies she’s elected to vote on. No one is forcing Robin to do anything. Robin is forcing herself on others. ROBIN IS GLARING AT BECKY FOR NEEDING THE COUCH, WHICH ROBIN COULD GIVE UP AT ANY TIME BECAUSE ROBIN HAS TWO HOUSES, WHILE BECKY’S GOT THE CLOTHES ON HER FUCKING BACK AND ROBIN DOES NOT CARE.

        Pressure and anxiety and new developments do not mean you get to not care. Robin never cared and she’s not starting now faced with a person victimized by her politics and it’s disgusting. Amber realized her mistakes and moved on. Robin. Has. Done. Nothing. To warrant any kind of defense on the basis that she’s ‘only’ acting like this because she’s feeling pressured.

        Making terrible choices is a “mistake” when you realize you’ve done something wrong. Has Robin ever admitted, ever, that she’s wrong? Has she grown in any way? No. Not yet. If she does then that will be the first time.

        She’s not a lesbian and for heaven’s sake being closeted doesn’t give you the right to ruin other people’s lives and then close your eyes and ears when they tell you how much they’re suffering on your account and you need to stop. Amber is growing. Robin is digging in her heels. I’ll give her sympathy when she damn well earns it but don’t defend her actions because character aside those actions are fucking terrible and Robin knows it.

        1. BBCC

          Also, on another note entirely – PLENTY of people hated Amber for stalking and harassing Sal and her friends.

        2. Minder

          Ah, right. I wasn’t in DoA mode then and now I’m sadly mourning all the Hated Character Defender™ / Defended Character Destroyer™ rounds that came with the good ol’ storylines. My attention is fleeting like the wind.

        3. Emily

          I’m still super iffy on Amber for that but she actually has like redemptive characteristics as a human being whereas Robin has so far demonstrated that she is basically incapable of caring about anything but herself.

        4. Killjoy

          At least there’s something in Amber’s character that makes all that behavior make some sort of sense from an outside perspective, and it’s never occupied this toxic blurred space between wacky-hijinks-comedy and stalker-horror that the Robin arc has wormed into.

        5. Lailah

          As the one who was loudest, I did not _hate_ her. But I did not want people to forget that she was, in fact, stalking and harrassing Sal for no legitimate reason, and was enforcing racist structures to do so. There was very little Amber hate.

          As far as the OP though, like. No, Robin is very much responsible. She has directly and intentionally both acted to bring about heterosexist agendas, and manipulates and foments the attitude underlying that heterosexist agenda. She very much works – actively works – to make mass heterosexism happen. And she knows it. To continue the metaphor, Amber enforced racist structures – and pretty actively – but the second she was faced with the actual consequences of her actions (a trump rally chanting for the blood of a black woman in obviously racist ways) – she backed off. She stopped and had a /complete/ about-face. Had Amber gone on to attempt further violence, knowing the consequences of her actions, I suspect there would, in fact, be a great deal of amber hate.

        6. Killjoy

          Please, explain to us how Amber was “enforcing racist structures”.

          This should be entertaining.

        7. Cerberus

          Well, I mean, a lot of her initial antagonism of Sal fit into racist narratives, including discounting the positive good Sal was doing, treating her as forever tainted by being a formal “criminal”, wishing for her to have negative police attention in the future, assuming it was inevitable that she’d commit another crime, etc…

          And yeah, confronting that directly by essentially having a Trump rally back her shook up that in a major way because it was very much not an intentional bigotry.

        8. Lailah

          White person positioning themselves to disproportionately enforce the law on a WoC, nakedly doing so to mask a personal vendetta – an enforcement of the law not carried out before or after. Disproportionately using violence on people of color is nakedly racism. Saying it’s a good thing that Sal’s life is in danger wrt the Police because she’s a black girl with a record is nakedly racist – with the added bonus that Amber should literally have, at best, a marginally shorter record than Sal. But only one genuinely fears the police (Even though only one of them is a violent vigilante). Declaring nemesis on a black woman who you have already gotten both personal and impersonal vengeance on is going to further cement that the correct response to black people is hostility – especially when there is no justification to use to continue your nemesis.

          I mean, you could have just read my commentary then rather than bothering me now. And this little nominal skepticism is cute and all. But yeah, it’s ‘entertaining’ for honkey mcstraighterson to act like racism is some novel idea, alright. That people unintentionally propping up racist horse shit is some novel idea that needs to be defended.

        9. Li

          “This should be entertaining”

          Killjoy, I hope you know that this comment was both rude and provocative. You should be incredibly grateful for the civility of the responses you’ve gotten so far, because you did absolutely nothing to earn it.

        10. David M Willis

          Like, for real, I kind of feel like the racial undertones of Amazi-Girl’s treatment of Sal was, y’know, kind of the FOCUS of her story NOT TOO GODDAMN LONG AGO, so being so fucking smug about how the very idea of even acknowledging such a thing is laughable just makes Killjoy look like a shitty idiot.

        11. zoelogical

          also like there’s the entire real racist history of nonfictional vigilantes in the US

        12. rectilinearpropagation

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/alert/

          Was this seriously too *subtle* for you?

        13. BBCC

          Oh no, Lailah, I wasn’t talking about you. Tbh the people I’m talking about were waaaay jerkier and now that I think back on it, may have been trolls (Not referring to you, either, Emily!) especially since they only popped up when Amber or AG was actively having panic attacks.

        14. Minder

          @Lailah Yeah I am with you on all of the above with Amber and also want to make a note that rereading my own comment, Amber “moving on” is a terrible way to phrase things and that what I respect about her is that she’s trying to move on and make amends without ever ever ever (ever…) forgetting what she did do, as she tries to act with more respect to Sal and Sal’s humanity from herself and others

        15. Cerberus

          This. She may and probably will future redeem herself at some point, but it’s definitely not yet and her actions have been monstrous and probably the most actively harmful for the queer folks in the strip. Like, politics matter. A lot. And having someone campaign on anti-queer hate, stirring that up, normalizing it? That’s what empowers shit like Toedad’s or Ethan’s mom’s actions.

          And having someone vote for hateful legislation and block positive legislation creates scenarios like the legalized discrimination and other institutional inequalities. And so when she redeems herself (somehow) it’ll have to be in a fairly major way that reflects and acknowledges that previous harm and that’s something she’s always eeled away from when called out on it.

        16. C.T Phipps

          On a pure storytelling level, I actually want Robin to be irredeemable and awful simply because it’s a demonstrable change from the other universes. Robin shouldn’t get a pass because she was a protagonist in another universe.

    3. Minder

      I think Robin’s body language speaks every bit as loudly as her words.

      She begrudges Becky for having the audacity to “intrude” on her little home invasion fantasy with a real and dire problem that would require Robin to sacrifice something on her part. Robin said words begrudgingly that conveyed that Becky could have the couch and then Robin went back to the couch. In no pants. Her new office.

      Becky isn’t part of her new routine and Robin (who is going around half-naked in the home of a person who has not allowed her there) doesn’t even have the decency to touch her hand because that’s acknowledging she’s people. And Robin relaxing might be good, but…it feels like deflecting. The eye contact breaks. The conversation topic seizes on something silly. The cute millennial slang used ironically gets thrown around in lieu of addressing the part of the conversation that was “I’m a lesbian!”

      I don’t think Becky’s made any more progress here than getting Robin to re-fasten her happy mask on that she wears when stepping on people. Playing nice with Becky is easy and routine and lets her ignore that this girl might be here to take away Robin’s couch and Robin is just fine with casual talk. I’m not sure Robin “opening up” is a good thing because Becky’s the one who ought to be keeping up walls to protect herself now and bless her heart, she still isn’t. Robin at her most relaxed is Robin at her most cheerfully callous. Joyce is going to walk in on this and one way or another, Robin will get called out and Robin will not be able to look Becky in the eye then either.

      I am so anxious Joyce is going to attempt to make good on her promise to Walky that she had one wrist left to punch anyone that hurts Becky.

      1. Rukduk

        Yeah, this is kinda why I hope maybe, just maybe Becky can make some head way. Because if Becky gets hurt I have no doubt in my mind that Joyce will put Robin in the hospital. And the only reason, at this point, that I have any objection to that is because a) Becky will get hurt and b) Robin is definitely petty enough to try pressing charges against Joyce for assault and then a big legal case will happen.

        1. Minder

          I think the point of Leslie bringing them here in this storyline is that Leslie’s got enough sense despite all that’s happened to intervene before Joyce breaks her other wrist–for Joyce’s sake avoiding the conseqences, because got knows Robin’d deserve a punch in the face if she hurt Becky.

          And maybe hearing that sentiment from Leslie (“I didn’t stop her to protect you. Never you.”) will be what finally shatters the fantasy because at that point Leslie will be in protective teacher mode and that’s a state of mind where any vulnerability to Robin’s mind games and bullshit disappears in the face of concern for her students. (I work with kids. This is…a thing that happens, lol).

          Regardless of Joyce’s involvement I think Becky and Joyce being here and exposed to whatever the hell Robin’s going to say to demean them because that’s what it takes to get Leslie to finally make this stop and drag Robin to the cameras herself if she has to.

          Anyway, all conjecture. PURE CONJECTURE! God it’d be great to see that punch happen though

        2. Rukduk

          Yeah. I’m only a substitute teacher but I’m going to be full time at the same school next year, and I’d already take a bullet for my kids. And Leslie strikes me as the kind of teacher who’d do the same.

      2. thejeff

        Just as a side note: Becky does have all her walls up for protection. Happy, wacky Becky is her armor. That’s easy to forget because it comes down so rarely.

        Nobody likes a Debby Downer, after all.

        1. Cerberus

          True, very true. She’s fully armored going into this. Friendly, approachable, empathetic? Yes. But definitely wearing her wacky armor.

        2. Minder

          You’re right. I guess I knew that but overlooked it because I was scared Robin’s bullshit would be one of the things that might cut through the wacky out of sheer shock value, but it’s definitely up and running.

    4. TemporalShrew

      I don’t think it’s necessarily that Robin is being intentionally obnoxious here (she seems to do that fine without trying). More than anything she just seems to be attempting to be as uninvolved in this discussion as possible.

      Becky: Says something about herself
      Robin: Responds with deadpan statement of her job
      Both: Follow up with uninspired colloquialisms, followed immediately by a joke about pants

      Robin probably thought Becky’s first statement was some kind of “trap” to get her to discuss the issue and responded warily and automatically with a stock political response. Kind of wondering where this goes next. Either they’re going to keep talking fluff until interrupted, or Becky’s going to attempt to actually dig into this stuff.

    5. Rukduk

      Perhaps I’m also misreading the comic, but I think panels four and five are Robin actually being relieved that someone she’s met face to face doesn’t actually hate her. Her face in panel two is one of worry. I read panel three as distrust (although I could very well be wrong). But the instant that Becky says “Totes” instead of (justifiably I would add) attacking her verbally Robin relaxes. In what is an incredibly ironic twist Becky is making Robin feel safe. So maybe, just maybe, if there’s any chance of getting Robin out of Leslie’s house (with pants on) Becky is the one to do it. And that’s…kinda weird. Because Robin’s the antagonistic party who has supported legislation to hurt LGBT people, to make them “unsafe”, that would have hurt Becky incredibly if it passed, and yet it’s Becky, member of the targeted, who’s making Robin feel safe in those last two panels as her life crumbles. Becky has no obligation to do this, shouldn’t really be doing this, because Robin should be crashing and burning at one of her own places, but Becky’s still willing, enthusiastic even, to be doing this. Like, this is a Sainthood moment for Becky right here in my opinion.

      1. Minder

        I don’t think distrust is necessarily what Robin’s conveying by glaring at Becky in Panel 3. That’s a look of “oh, it’s you, stupid inconveniently homeless COUCH-STEALER” and I’m definitely glad Becky de-escalated that but Robin putting on her Fellow Kids persona isn’t…necessarily a sign of relief for anything that Robin can slip behind something else in her arsenal to avoid the problem.

        Robin doesn’t have any reason to feel safe around Becky. She’s turning up the deafness button same as she did in the kitchen, just in a more targeted way to an audience she can deal with.

        1. Rukduk

          You’re…probably right Minder. I’m just hoping against hope, because the only options of what will happen next that are left do to much harm to characters I like and care about.

        2. Minder

          Yeah, exactly 🙁 Like tbh Robin’s my least favorite for like, I don’t know the exact year I started Shortpacked! but probably nearly a decade now? I don’t want her to be sympathetic even though I’d be willing to accept it the way I finally began to care about and love Billie after years of finding her The Worst also. So it’s like, petty desire to see a character I dislike robbed of any redeeming qualities people could argue for them, but dear god it is weighed against how Joyce and Becky have been through so much…

        3. thejeff

          It’s interesting that while some are still hopeful for DoA Robin because they liked SP! Robin (and especially SP! Robin & Leslie), others are even more against her because they never liked the SP! version.

        4. Killjoy

          I was OK with the SP version, she fit her context.

          I hate the DoA version.

        5. Emily

          Yeah, I’ve always disliked her it just moved from discomfited dislike to unadulterated hatred because here she doesn’t have the excuse of existing in a setting that revolves around its gross sense of humour.

        6. Cerberus

          Yeah, that’s definitely what that glare feels like. Just open resentment and disrespect for Becky being inconvenient for the fantasy.

  41. Fart Captor

    I’m hopeful Becky will have some effect on her, if only because I like it when she succeeds at stuff, but at this point if Becky just ends up distracting her so Joyce and Leslie can tie her up and throw her to the press, I’d be okay with that too.

    1. Minder

      I’m not hopeful, but it would be a blessedly welcome turn of events from the ghastly ‘development’ we’ve gotten from Robin thus far.

  42. chromacandi

    I hearby declare this:adorbs.

    1. Bagge

      Thus it is written.

      1. BP

        Praise be to Willis.

    2. Minder

      I think some people back in the kitchen would not agree with you. I do as well.

      though I won’t go as far as to say YOU DEFINITELY CANNOT find enjoyment in a moment that has Bad Implications in it because tbh I do that all the time I am just so resigned and anxious Becky’s going to hit a brick wall here from what we’ve seen

  43. Reltzik

    This rule is optional for: Senators Murkowski, Feinstein, Harris, Hirono, Duckworth, Ernst, Collins, Warrin, Stabenow, Klobuchar, Franken, McCaskill, Blunt, Fischer, Cortez Masto, Shaheen, Hassan, Gillibrand, Heitkamp, Graham, Cruz, Murray, Cantwell, Moore Capito, and Baldwin.

    At least Becky’s not assuming that women in formal attire MUST wear skirts and are allowed to wear pants? I mean, obviously, that’s something she’s cool with in her own life and that even Toedad was fine with, but still… it reflects… SOME progress among fundies… a while back?

    (For those of you who will inevitably ask, one is a comedian and would make it funny, spreading joy and laughter to the world. The other three are not remotely comedians and like to destroy joy and laughter in the world, and that would make it even funnier.)

    1. BenRG

      I dunno… A lot of female senators seem to wear pantsuits from what what little I’ve seen! 😉

      1. Reltzik

        Like I said. Optional.

  44. Power Stranger

    oh god they both talk like this

    we’re in the 1000 years of pain, the end times are here

    1. Reltzik

      THIS is why I think Becky should do Robin’s PR.

      ….. it’s a horrible, terrible idea destined to go down in flames, but at least it would take the English language down with it.

      …. because the spectacle, that’s why.

  45. Architex

    So Robin’s been chillin at Leslie’s, in her underwear?

    1. NickG

      Probably Leslie’s underwear, given the rate at which she’s appropriating everything else in the apartment.

  46. Smiling Cat

    Where in we continue to discover that Robin doesn’t realize she doesn’t live in a zany sitcom universe where your hijinks have serious consequences.

  47. BenRG

    Someone could have said that Becky needed to talk to Robin because ‘she talks her language’. What no-one could ever have anticipated was that this as literally true.

    I suspect that the news reports don’t look good, do they Robin? Hiding away has not made them get any better. I strongly suspect that a new strategy may be called for.

    1. Killjoy

      The fact that anyone, anywhere, actually speaks in this manner, only had to the horror.

      1. Killjoy

        Add, not had… what the hell, browser… time to go check that setting again.

  48. Sunny

    They’re bonding! This is awesome.

    1. Andy

      Inasmuch as Robin can bond with anyone.

      1. Sunny

        Well, Becky got Robin to go from “Begone, Couch-invader!” to smiling and chatting in the space of 3 panels. Next up they’ll share some muffins that were saved from Leslie’s wrath. Then they’ll get to talking and Becky will cause Robin to have some important insight, and everyone will watch Steven Universe and eat some more muffins.

        I wish I had muffins.

    2. Fart Captor

      It’s nice how they found common ground in their mutual support of public radio :V

  49. Lulu88

    So indeed Willis will go with “The Fosters” here with Becky becoming adoptive daughter for Robin and Leslie insane relationship?

    1. Minder

      considering how robin treats her younger sisters I would be horrified at the prospect of her DoA version having kids under any circumstances

    2. Killjoy

      That would be horrible.

  50. Anowan

    Okay I know there’s ALWAYS a lot packed in these strips but this time even I picked stuff up, without the help of a detailed commentary by Cerberus. Yay !

    Panel 1 and 2, Congresswoman DeSanto is likely looking at news about herself. (Or realizing that her aide changed the password to her Twitter account so that her phone can’t access it anymore and that she really should have activated that security thing with the phone number.)

    Panel 3, Becky doing what she’s always eager to do : acting as a pure source of distraction and fun. (“No one wants to be with someone who’s homeless, without a future, AND a bummer, am I right?”, she said not comprehending that no friend would abandon her if she dared to let her guard down and process her sadness).

    Not only that, but another illustration of the oooold debate : “Hey, I’m a minority discriminated against and that has had huge impacts, both positive and negative, on the life I live today. I just can’t not mention it!” / “Hello, you snowflake, I’m a very serious person and I do not define myself by who I want to cuddle : I define myself by the very important job I may lose at any moment. That makes so much more sense and does not put me at risk of an existential crisis!”
    And then,

    Panel 3 and 4, they start to communicate in a common language which is baffling to the readers. (Weeeeeell, I THINK that is the joke. I’m not united-statesian. I’m not even a native english-speaker.) They found a common ground in sillyness! Will serious matters be discussed? We may never know.

    Panel 5 : And down with the mask of seriousness she displayed two panels before. I don’t know who or what is the real Robin, but this is the closest I know : the one who doesn’t care. This may be good news. It is terrible to say it so, but if someone can talk the sociopath out of the apartment, it may be Becky.

    Damn my conclusion is problematic.

    1. Minder

      I don’t think the seriousness was the mask though, is the thing. Joking about pants and being all “totes” and “for rizzle” with her Fellow Kids is something Robin does when she’s in politician mode. The anxiety and the scowling at seeing the homeless girl who “dared” to exist and intrude on her little bubble world? Those faces were actually Robin being Robin.

      1. madock345

        I really don’t agree with that. Every time she’s been serious and composed like that before it’s been dropped almost immediately. That’s her “serious politician” face. Robin has always been huge goofball at heart, I don’t think that’s changed.

        1. Minder

          This is what Robin letting down her personas and opening up to someone actually looks like.

          What Robin’s doing in today’s strip? That is not connection. That’s Robin taking the first distraction she can away from the reason that Becky is here and trying to talk to her.

          Is Robin comfortable with Becky by the last panel? Sure. But Robin’s only ever uncomfortable when the truth threatens to chip at the image she’s built of being benign and friendly and relatable. Robin’s comfortable so long as she has no audience to witness the moment she’s caught in the web of truth that her politics let innocent people suffer because of pandering.

        2. Minder

          Robin can play at serious, but she’s not playing in Panel 3. Playing for Robin or putting on an act would mean crossing her arms in a huff or playing perfect houseguest who can’t be bothered to talk to anyone while she’s busy with work and totally belonging on Leslie’s couch.

          That fear and realization looking at the phone is real because it’s reality threatening to break her fantasy where everything’s safe. That glare is genuine resentment for a girl who’s threatening to take away the couch and the fantasy without any regard for the reason Becky needs the couch in the first place.

          “Def totes” is stuff Robin says in front of a young audience. Go check the strips where she visits the class both times. She talks informally to her own people but she doesn’t talk in teenage affectations. That’s a mask. I really cannot see it being anything more than a mask.

        3. Fart Captor

          “Def totes” is natural Robin imo. If you go back to where we see her at the rally practicing her speech, it looks like NOT talking like that requires practice and effort

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/dispel/

          Unless she’s trying to impress Roz and her aide for some reason, it seems natural

        4. Minder

          Fair ‘nough. It still feels like a put-on and I guess I could argue that she might have just been practicing for her audience (the rally was at the university, so a lot of students……might have been present? I’ll have to recheck the crowd scenes.) But maybe she just talks that way on her own.

        5. Cerberus

          I think you might be right on your Panel 2 and 3 analyses. Like avoidance strategies don’t actually change the reality around a person and Becky does pose the largest threat to breaking apart her carefully constructed fantasy yet.

  51. OnyxIdol

    What is that weird twirly mustache thing on the left poster?

    1. OnyxIdol

      I mean, it’s not even a mustache as it goes into their nostril.

    2. BenRG

      Willis has just got a very weird way of drawing Daisy Ridley’s cheekbones.

    3. David M Willis

      well if you take like 3 seconds to google the movie poster

      1. OnyxIdol

        Oooh it’s a strand of hair. I feel a bit silly now.

    4. Killjoy

      From a different angle in an earlier strip, I thought it might be a poster from one of the Dune adaptations… and that it was that nose thing on the still-suits.

    5. hellsing

      It’s a lock of hair! It looks a bit weird because it’s not connected to the rest of her hair (as far as we can see).

  52. DarkoNeko

    fo’ rizzles

  53. HMRC4EVR

    I think what we’re seeing here is the setup for Perfect Strangers: a Generation 2

  54. JessWitt

    How do you do, my fellow congresspeeps?

  55. BenRG

    FWIW, I’m really hoping that either Becky or Joyce ask Robin why she’s in Leslie’s apartment. I have a strong feeling that Robin doesn’t even have a solid answer to that in her own mind but I’m pretty sure that ‘hiding from an avalanche that I caused on a drunken whim and I don’t know how to handle’ probably sounds close to it.

    1. thejeff

      And I’m pretty sure that “because I want to be here with Leslie, even if I don’t quite know why (or at least am not willing to admit to myself why)” is closer.

      That led to the avalanche and she’s definitely hiding from that as well.

  56. Zaxares

    Soooo… Anybody else suddenly shipping Becky and Robin?

    1. thejeff

      No. Ewww. Ewww. Ewww.

      A tiny bit worried that Robin will shift her creepy, stalkery attentions to Becky, but that’s not the same thing. (Don’t really think Willis would go there, but it was one of the list of reasons bringing them here was a bad plan.)

    2. Killjoy

      Why would we do that?

    3. Vulcanodon

      Oh, HELL no.

    4. JBento

      I ship Becky with Dina, and Robin to Abu Dhabi, so, in a sense, yes?

    5. Emily

      Everything about this makes me nauseous. For one thing Robin is a grown ass woman for another she’s a garbage human being with no redeeming qualities who doesn’t even view Becky as a person.

    6. Rukduk

      I repeat from higher above in the comments OH HELL NO!!!

    7. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      As I have said in response to this ship above: The fuck is your problem…

      On the other hand…. Robin is about entitled enough to be a cradle-robbing creeper filthbag.

    8. Minder

      Eh, abstract shipping is fine, so long as we can all acknowledge that it’s fucked-up for obvious reasons & should not actually be canon ever because That’s Terrible

  57. Liliet

    I genuinely think Robin is enough of a genuine goofball that Becky can, in fact, actually connect with her.

    I’m not sure how much good it will do, given that Leslie kind of connected with her before too, but hey… hopefully Robin can be defeated with shenanigans?

  58. abb3w

    So, how long until Trey Hollingsworth’s staff start snickering?

  59. Killjoy

    Robin… go away. From Leslie, from the strip, from everywhere. There’s nothing funny, humanizing, or redeeming to be found in your behavior or character.

    And take Roz with you.

    1. Schpoonman

      Roz doesn’t actively seek to hurt people around her. She can be shitty, but can Robin take Mary instead?

    2. Minder

      She’s taken Roz far enough from where Roz needs to be, thanks. I hope you are not implying that one is somehow as bad as the other.

    3. boop

      nooo Roz is swinging wildly and hitting people on her own side but she is also doing some stuff to help people who need i

      i have faith that she can grow and change for the better, even if clumsily and painfully

  60. Guairdean Beatha

    I wonder how long it’ll be before Robin realizes that Becky is her political salvation. Robin use Becky to show how sympathetic she is to the plight of gay youth. Of course, once the publicity dies down she’ll forget Becky exists and move on to someone or something else, but for a while Becky will have a strong protector. After a few talk show interviews and a ghost-written book, Becky might even find a little financial security.

    1. Fart Captor

      Robin would first have to recognize and be willing to admit that being seen as sympathetic to that plight would help her image, which in turn would require here actually BE sympathetic to that plight, and she’s not even there yet. Recognizing the humanity of an LGBT person other than the one she’s crushing on (and basically stalking) would be a step in the right direction we might actually see in the near future, but I doubt we’ll see much more than that for some time. She’s got a lot of garbage to sift through

      And Becky already has an assortment of far better protectors in Leslie, Joyce, and Hank.

      1. thejeff

        It would also have to actually be something that would help her politically. Being “sympathetic to the polite of gay youth” doesn’t win you Republican votes anymore than being suspected of being gay yourself does.

        Political salvation would be more like revealing that she was just pretending in order to bust the lesbian teacher who was infecting her students with the GAY.
        Not that I actually think even Robin would stoop that low. Despite everything.

        1. JBento

          To be fair, it’d get her more Republican votes than being sympathetic to the impolite of gay youth, y’know, the ones that get uppity and want to have rights and shit.

          (if other people didn’t have autocorrect/autocomplete on, many fewer comments would make me go *snerk*)

        2. Guairdean Beatha

          It doesn’t win fundamentalist votes, but it can sway some “on the fence” votes from those sympathetic to the cause. It all depends on when and where you put out the information, and how you spin the speeches when you’re facing the masses.

        3. JBento

          If you’re “sympathetic to the cause”, you’re not “on the fence” because you’re not voting Republican anyway.

  61. ValdVin

    “Hi, I’m Becky! I’m a lesbian!”

    Is this Becky’s most subdued introduction of herself as a lesbian, ever?

    1. JessWitt

      Yes indeed. No nuking of closets involved.

      Becky’s gradually toning herself down to eventually make business cards.

  62. Andy

    Robin is Chaotic Neutral-shading-to-Evil. Totally self-obsessed, focused on attention, and tends to think in terms of plots and schemes and shenanigans.

    Becky is Chaotic Good. Much less self-obsessed, much more considerate of people around them, and really determined to do the right thing. She also thinks in terms of plots and schemes and shenanigans.

    Leslie, for all that she broke from her family, I think may come closer to Neutral or Lawful Good. She wants to do right, but she thinks in terms of norms and rules (not necessarily Biblical rules, more feminist rules) and learning. This may be part of why she hasn’t been able to crack Robin’s self-absorption.

    But Becky, who understands Robin’s verbal tics, who speaks the same language, who thinks in terms of schemes and shenanigans, may be able to outwit Robin, and either persuade or flat-out trick her into getting the hell out of Leslie’s space.

    If so… good luck and godspeed, Becky.

    1. Emily

      Robin is textbook Chaotic Evil. She cares only about her own whims with zero regard for what rules or people she breaks in her pursuit of them.

      1. Andy

        Outwardly, yes. I get the feeling from other bits – “clawing at the corners of my conscience” – that she’s looking for a better way around this, and didn’t get one from her home environment or from Congress.

        1. Emily

          You don’t have to be completely devoid of conscience to be evil you just have to be perfectly willing to disregard it the moment it gets in the way of what you want which Robin has shown herself to be more than happy to do.

  63. wakeangel2001

    they speak the same language ^_^

  64. Schpoonman

    What the hell is with people suddenly suggesting an intimate relationship of any sort between Robin and Becky?

    1. sjmcc13

      Y-chromosomes???

    2. boop

      “two physically attractive people are in close physical proximity, having a conversation, and the appear to have at least ONE thing in common (lingo)! plus they would be totally (emotion or behavior(wacky)) together! i must ship noooow”

      i might be exaggerating there. i’m grey ace/aro. shipping can be fun for me, but a lot of the time i don’t get the attraction. bluuuuuh.

      on the other hand, sometimes you can ship a partnership because you think it would tell an interesting story despite knowing full well it’d be a horrible thing to wish on non-fictional characters. i guess i could see that as a reason to ship Rocky

      1. NickG

        You gave it a name, never give evil things a name; it gives them power.

        1. Jhon

          “This is what they fear. This is the name they have given it. We will take that name. We will become that fear.”

    3. ValdVin

      No idea on your question.

      Just wanted to tell you your angry!Joyce avatar is perfect for your comment.

  65. AlexanderHammil

    The amount of slack Robin gets cut in these comments versus the amount of hate Roz inspires is just the saddest damn thing.

    1. Minder

      You. You’re my favorite.

    2. JBento

      Ooooh, ooooh, ooooh *raises hand*, I can explain that. It’s because Roz sometimes is angry, while Robin is “wacky.” Basically, plenty of people are one of the characters in THIS strip: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/03-when-god-closes-the-door/prevented/

      I’ll let you guess which one.

      1. AlexanderHammil

        Roz has also yet to be actually wrong about anything, barring some issues around tone… and notably the two times the strip has cracked down on her it’s been because she’s called out Leslie’s willingness to let toxic behavior slide. The lesson plan that Leslie gave her works equally well as a criticism of both Roz AND Leslie, is what I’m saying, and yet only one of them has actually tried to stand up to Robin so far.

        1. Minder

          Erm, Leslie’s tried quite hard to stand up to Robin, actually, Robin just kept manipulating Leslie’s human inclinations to both fall back in awe in the face of reality-denial in all its glory, and to allow her desire to find empathetic traits in others to open her up to further abuse for every instance she mistakenly acts as Robin wanted in good faith

    3. Commodore Jeep-Eep

      Especially as Roz is one of Robin’s long time victims and has actually acted to protect others from her fuckery.

    4. Temperaryobsessor

      I’m guessing a combination of a few factors.
      People are still attached to the Robin from the other universe.
      Robin’s actions are already treated as evil by the comic.
      Roz can have a holier than though attitude towards people we like.
      Weirdly peoples have more time liking Robin than Roz. Who in this universe seems to spend half her screen time ribbing or antagonizing the main characters.

      1. Minder

        and so “clearly [main character] is the one who’s right because [they’re] not shouting”

  66. Ragingagnostic

    George Carlin had definite and strong opinions about Caucasians appropriating African American slang colloquialisms and I have to say I agree with him here. I’m cringing AND grinding my teeth at the same time.

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Good ol’ George!

  67. Smooti

    And then Robin and Leslie got married and adopted Becky, the end.

    1. Valerie

      And Robin became a stay-at-home mom so she could like not ruin people’s lives with her policies anymore, the end.

      1. JBento

        So, she’d only be ruining Leslie’s and Becky’s life? What’s wrong with you stalking- and abuse-enabling people?

        1. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          LesBin Shippers are fucking 50 shades of grey gross.

        2. Minder

          I am like 96% certain that @Valerie was being facetious you guys chill out

        3. JBento

          That’s why I’m only using 4% of my disbelief. ;p

        4. Commodore Jeep-Eep

          I seen too many unironic versions.

        5. SgtWadeyWilson

          How ’bout: and then Becky and Robin’s common ground allowed for Leslie to talk some sense into Robin. Robin, did some soul searching for a year, didn’t like what she found, and tried to fix some of the shitty things she’d helped keep alive. After about five years and a few succesful campaigns for change, Robin decided to see about getting into teaching future politicians not to be like she was. After about a decade of that, Leslie finds herself wondering where that hot politician she had to get rid of went, when she sees that she might’ve changed, she decides to set up a guest lecture anonymously to be sure. Three weeks after that, could they date?

        6. Minder

          that sounds so boring I’d rather read the slashfic

        7. SgtWadeyWilson

          Well, yeah, me too, but somebody has too make the setting for why the slashfic comments isn’t just an icky mess of “No, why would anyone even try to be with Robin?”

          They have potential to be adorable together, but even SP Robin needed a bit of a redemption arc, and DoA Robin needs a F***in’ trilogy to fix… all of that.

          Plus, there’s room for wacky fun in Robin’s redemption trilogy… I assume. Just don’t ask me for any, because I’m more concerned with the big picture of how I could see her redemption arc as being enough redemption.

        8. Minder

          I mean I’m not talking about where the comic is actually going because if people actually want this to be canon–like, canon for this universe, with this audience, and not a silly self-indulgent post on Tumblr or something in a fandom arena–then they can just kindly fuck off with that.

          I kinda want Robin to not get redeemed but honestly at the end of the day, the only think I am dead-set dreading might happen is another long-winded rehash of every single problem being solved one at a time and us having to sit through it for the sake of Robin earning her sympathetic status at the end of the comic because, I love Willis’ stuff but, reading that shit once was slow torture when she had to get back with Leslie again in Shortpacked!

  68. Smiling Cat

    My prediction is that Robin will suddenly bust out compassion and empathy to the surprise of everyone.

    Then Leslie finds out that the muffins are not only properly prepared, but delicious, suggesting that Robin has even more hidden depths.

    She decides to let Robin stay. They bond, become closer.

    All so it can end in tears later. Because Robin is still Robin.

    1. Minder

      Mm, one out of four ain’t great but we can both agree at least that Robin IS still Robin.

      1. Smiling Cat

        I didn’t say the hidden depths wouldn’t all be terrible. 😛

  69. shammers

    Aw becky is too pure for this world

  70. Pearl

    ……..i love this. i am so happy.

    i see becky reaching out to robin to build up some sort of rapport/communication exactly the way ive been calling for weeks and shes doing such a good job and im so proud of her

    1. Minder

      Ehhhh. Not feeling it. Robin’s not giving me the feeling that the effort is reciprocal, not that it was on Becky to change the bigot’s mind to begin with.

      1. Pearl

        Nobody’s talking about “changing a bigot’s mind”, we’re talking about integrating someone into a community who is in some ways reluctant to get involved with that community. Becky is doing a great job and I love her.

        1. Fart Captor

          That someone happens to be a bigot. Yes, she’s part of the very community she’s bigoted towards, but I really don’t think that gives her a pass on that.

  71. John Madden

    Nothing more painful to read than politicians acting what they are not.

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