170

Nights
Posted on June 28, 2020 by David M Willis
The first June 2020 Patreon bonus strip is about Hank, 'cuz you voted for Hank! So here's some Hank!!!!  All patrons can check it out. Remember, you also can pledge up to read tomorrow's strip today, everyday!

170 thoughts on “Nights”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    goodest bodyguard

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Ruth’s line is almost as good as the bubblegum one.

      1. Van Jealous

        Might be require less effort for Ruth if she drags Billy over, points her at Joyce’s mother and has Billy “WHORF” on command.

        1. Van Jealous

          correction….please ignore “be” in my previous post. 🙂

    2. Gash

      Am i crazy or is the comic a little bit different from what it was yesterday?

  2. Chris

    Ruth also being the friend Joyce needs.

  3. Zor

    Remind me who she suplexed two days ago?

    1. Nono

      Billie, when they were ‘fighting’ in front of Billie’s posse.

    2. Ray Radlein

      Looks like maybe a couple of days have passed? So could be anyone

      1. King Daniel

        We’ve always been notified before in the case of multi-day timeskips; this is very likely the next day, if I had to wager.

    3. Chris

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/02-to-remind-you-of-my-love/grease/

      1. Lee

        Oh to have a tall, Canadian queer with red hair and glasses and Maple Leafs support supplex me….

        Oh, sorry eh, spot the gay for Ruth Nova Scotian… 🙂

        1. Radiance

          You’re so incredibly valid

        2. 3-I

          That is an extremely specific and yet totally understandable fetish.

        3. Juanoku

          The best type of fetish

        4. Roborat

          I was going to make a joke about you having a thing for red headed girls named Anne, but then I remembered she lived in PEI.

  4. ValdVin

    If Ruth is gonna join our Superhero team we’ll need a nickname.

    1. Bicycle Bill

      What’s wrong with the one she’s already got — ‘Ruthless’?  But if you insist….

      Let’s see — Ruth is Canadian, a hockey fan, and basically ready and willing to open a can of whoop-ass on just about anyone ….. she’s “The Enforcer”.

      1. Commander Clash

        Or the Rocket. Might not look like much, but light a fire under her and she explodes.

        1. Genie

          She wouldn’t accept that one – that’s a Montreal Canadiens association!

      2. Axel

        What about the ERADICATOR

        1. Axel

          can’t link but KITH reference

      3. ValdVin

        I like it. It already has a non-hockey connotation, but this is very suitable.

    2. Keulen

      The Suplexer?

    3. DSL

      How about a name that strikes terror into the stoutest of hearts: Canada Goose

      1. AutobotDen

        *hides in fear*

    4. Reltzik

      The Filleter.

      …. that’s someone who removes bones, right?

  5. auroki

    I know the feels of lack of suplexing too Ruth

  6. Sirksome

    I wouldn’t mind not seeing Carol ever again. I highly doubt this kidnapping event gave her any sort of epiphany about her views.

    1. DudeMyDadOwnsaDealership

      Thing is, is she going to cut Joyce’s funding for her to attend college because Joyce is done being a yes-woman, or continue with this vain attempt to make this about *her* and how there’s NO WAY she could’ve made a bad call EVER by draining her and her husband’s finances with the hotel?

      How good are people at her level of extremity (I only have ever been around people who were like her at a level that technically made them no different than anyone else) at accepting that something has happened to their family that will change things permanently?

      1. Regalli

        One of her children is no longer speaking to the rest of the family, and she has doubled down on being Like This. Also the phone call immediately after the car chase kidnapping involved her basically going ‘I refuse to say Ross was in the wrong for threatening a police shootout that would kill himself and possibly Becky because I would die for you, Joyce,’ in a way that clearly echoed how Ross had said it. He pointed that gun at Joyce.

        She’s threatened to cut funding for Joyce before, and/or keep her from returning to IU (since Joyce was home at the time.) I don’t think that’s changed, sadly.

        1. Eldritchy

          At this point Joyce might just decide to go Becky.

        2. Mart

          She’s threated to have Hank cut Joyce’s funding. Remember that he brings in the money, as a good Christian Wife(tm) Carol does not have the breadwinner job in the family.

          This threat may not have as sharp teeth as she thinks.

        3. He who hears Voices

          That threat might actually be the final nail in the coffin for their marriage.

      2. MegzHartie

        Carol doesn’t make the money for the family. Hank does. Carol was a stay-at-home mom who home schooled her kids. Even if Carol threatens to cut Joyce off, Hank would probably not follow through with it, especially with the way he seems to be viewing the whole situation.

  7. Joyous

    I don’t want anyone to label Sarah as mean ever again. She’s been through the same kidnapping as Joyce and is coming in on the clutch for Joyce while she’s collapsing. Maybe that’s how she copes, but it doesn’t change anything. Sarah is super kind.

    1. Jamie

      Just to argue the other side, it wasn’t remotely as personal for Sarah as it was for Joyce. But yeah, I agree. Sarah’s been good.

    2. He Who Abides

      I don’t think anyone thinks that Sarah is mean. Yeah, she’s an introvert, but we’ve seen too many examples of her caring to think she doesn’t.

      1. Regalli

        She’s an introvert who’s also grumpy and cynical (and afraid of letting her walls down because she’s been burned before, as shown in the ‘I didn’t know you liked Halloween!’ moment where she was thankful to Joyce pulling the Terrified Fundie Act,) but she also has a core of soft gooey marshmallow and love. With a jawbreaker inside THAT, for just in case anyone tries to threaten the people she does trust and care about.

        Sarah is very, very good. She is not always NICE,* but she is always good.

        * In the words of a Sondheim musical, ‘Nice is different than good.’ Distinct from a later line that’s not quite as relevant to this, ‘I’m not good/I’m not nice/I’m just right.’ I may not always care for Sondheim’s music because he’s never met a perfectly lovely three-minute song he couldn’t awkwardly stretch to six, but he does nail the themes and lyrics.

        1. missilentmurmur

          The softest people learn the fastest to hide

        2. Chris Phoenix

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbBh69Pa4PY

          “People who like Sondheim always dress in turquoise and white /
          Never ever miss a first night, memorize his shows!
          People who like Sondheim sit and seethe in impotent rage /
          Saying he’s ahead of his age, that’s why no one goes!

          Religiously they learn all those eternal and infernal internal rhymes…

        3. Miri

          Good summary! Part of the reason I love Sarah and Joyce’s dynamic is because they do understand and support each other, and genuinely value each other. Sarah finds it very hard to let people in, or to admit how much she cares, but Joyce’s genuine, unfailing kindness makes it safe for her to express her affection for Little Sister when it matters, and to be Big Sister.

    3. Kyrik Michalowski

      Sarah has always been kind, she tries to do the right thing even when it isn’t easy.

    4. Cholma

      Raidah’s the only one who thinks bad of Sarah.

      1. King Daniel

        Doesn’t much of the floor have a rather poor opinion of her? Could be misremembering, but I think there was something in The Whiteboard Dingdong Bandit about that.

        1. King Daniel

          Addendum to the above: I found what I was thinking of. It’s the hovertext to this strip (“it’s weird that Sarah has no friends”), where Amazi-Girl interrogates the others on her floor after following up on the names Sarah named to Amazi-Girl; “Billie’s never up to any good; I don’t trust her,” “Sal smokes and keeps bad company”, “Rachel’s too pretty to be a good person,” etc.

        2. Needfuldoer

          I think Sarah didn’t go out of her way to make friends, but Raidah did. When all the drama around Dana happened, Raidah’s influence ostracised Sarah from those circles.

        3. King Daniel

          Off the top of my head, Rachel, Carla, and Ruth are the only other students on their floor (besides Sarah herself obviously) who were already here the previous year? It can’t be all Raidah, as I don’t think she’s even on the floor this semester.

        4. thejeff

          I’m not even sure Raidah was on the floor last year. And none of those three have indicated any particular antipathy to Sarah or given any indication of knowing Raidah.

    5. RedCat

      Sarah was seldomly actually mean (although she definitely was mean at some points, after which she almost always noticed that she was and felt bad for it), just puts up a rough, grumpy exterior. But it’s been clear for a while that she is a really good person. Incredibly cynical, but kind nonetheless.

    6. Reaver

      Boy do I have news for you from the future

  8. Mra

    Does her mother know he is dead yet? Or just that he tried to kidnap Becky again.

    1. tim gueguen

      Unless she doesn’t consume secular news it seems pretty likely she knows something is up. She may not realise that Ross was killed by that helpful Blaine fellow.

    2. Sirksome

      I-I don’t think that matters at all. In fact it might make it worse. Worst case scenario, Carol thinks Ross sacrificed his life in some noble attempt to save them which is entirely NOT how that situation went down.

      1. Needfuldoer

        *Some noble attempt to save Becky. I wouldn’t be surprised if the kidnapping was just a means to that end for her.

    3. Lee

      I suspect so because it would have been on the news I imagine, but I also suspect she doesn’t know how it went down in a way that is going to go down like a stack of soggy waffles when she says something to Joyce…

    4. Norah

      I thought that was why they had come to town.

  9. Hornet

    A battle for the ages. I would genuinely like to see that.
    Who do YOU think would win?

    1. Rabisch

      Carol. She’s older, but with more experience. Also, she probably play dirt without problems.

    2. RedCat

      I think, Ruth. She would’ve von against Blaine if she hadn’t gone through withdrawal symptoms.

  10. butts

    billie can have some suplex. as a treat.

    1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      Is that what they’re calling it now?

  11. Stephen Bierce

    *plays the theme song to one of the WWE TV shows on the hacked Muzak*

  12. CMasta

    But Joyce, Carol just wants to apologize about her most recent of a bevy of mistakes! She’s definitely had a change of heart! /s

    1. BigDogLittleCat

      She meant well, you know. She never intended anyone to get hurt. She never *dreamed* that Ross would try to kidnap anyone! It just seemed like God was answering their prayers when that nice Blaine man offered to help.

      1. Eldritchy

        try to kidnap anyone AGAIN!

      2. 3-I

        Y’know, when they got him out on bail and he proceeded to do the same thing again but worse.

  13. Robbie

    It’s very helpful to have a comic mom i can feel free to hate because she’s fictional so I can avoid any thoughts about my rl parents

  14. TomHCinMI

    Reliable Ruthless!

  15. BBCC

    Sarah’s kicking ass in the big sistering department and Ruth’s kicking ass in the ‘Not letting shitty parents in’ department

    1. Opus the Poet

      She failed at that during Freshman Family Weekend, but to be fair she didn’t know which ones were which then.

      1. He Who Abides

        She was also going through withdrawal at that point, too.

      2. BBCC

        She was pretty good at getting Blaine out of there though (up to sending Billie after him when she could no longer chase him herself and, most likely, notifying Asma to get security.

        1. Regalli

          Yeah, I think she wasn’t able to keep track of the sheer volume of people coming in (and Amber appears to have warned Dina about Blaine, but not Ruth herself – though Ruth hadn’t really given her a reason to be trusted there,) but once she was aware of the issue there was suplexing and ‘Billie, I need to see Amber’s approved family members form.’

    2. He Who Abides

      I believe Ruth’ll be kicking ass in the ass-kicking department soon, too.

  16. showler

    Tall Ruth or short elevator?

    1. BBCC

      Ruth’s 5’10.

  17. Meagan

    What’s Joyce doing there on her laptop?

    1. showler

      Watching Dexter and Monkey Master again?

    2. DailyBrad

      Probably keeping distracted with Dexter and Monkey Master, or possibly messaging with Joe on there since she’s avoiding her phone, and she’s gone to Joe in the past when she’s had parent troubles.

      Might be the former, though, since maybe some figures are being announced or something. 😛 (Okay, so probably not, considering this is in a not-COVID timeline and also I can’t off hand recall any big cons in the Fall they’d announce that kinda thing at)

    3. Chris

      Reading slashfic.

    4. Regalli

      Could also be writing some nice cathartic Julia Gray, Airforce Pilot fic. (The panel of it we saw in the March 2020 Patreon bonus comic was awesomely bonkers, but also leaves a semi-plausible opening for sweet, meaty Angst.)

  18. Kyrik Michalowski

    Sarah, I sincerely doubt a pissy little bongo like Carol is going to muscle her way past anyone. Hank would probably manage to get past, if only hecause he’s nicer and Ruth might let him past.

    In other news, I’m losing blood rapidly so I should stop typing and fix that.

    1. Some1

      This comment is deeply worrying.

      1. Lee

        Galasso really drives home the severity of your reaction somehow.

    2. He Who Abides

      Holy fuck, I hope you get that dealt with.

    3. Lee

      I sincerely hope this is an Aunt Flo thing as opposed to a medical emergency because excellent though this comic is… priorities!!

    4. Mr. Random

      Bloody nose or are you checking DOA after a vicious knife fight?

    5. Yumi

      Yikes, hope it was just, like a sudden nose bleed or something!

    6. BBCC

      I’m assuming you mean in a non-emergency sense because otherwise….maybe fix that first next time, though we all enjoy hearing from you.

    7. BigDogLittleCat

      Yikes! I hope you are okay!

    8. Opus the Poet

      Yeah, you probably want to get that phone fixed or replaced. Phones that draw blood when you try to use them are doubleplus ungood.

      1. Lee

        Mine has some broken bits on the back that have essentially made the days of phones being in back pockets functionally impossible.

      2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        But is was free from Louis Cypher Electronics!

      3. Marsh Maryrose

        Except in Night Vale, where phones that only draw blood (and not your soul also) are the good kind.

    9. Regalli

      Bleeding is bad, please replenish your lost bodily fluids and nutrients at the earliest opportunity.

    10. DailyBrad

      Guessing Carol would Karen her way in.

      Also, please be safe.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Ruth is immune to Karening.

        1. Ryek Hvek

          Ruth suplexes Karens

    11. Matthew Evan Davis

      Hank also would be legitimately concerned about his daughter as opposed to his church.

  19. BloodPlum

    I mean, is there anything they can say except an apology because this Carol’s and her churches fault. They’re the reason this happened, they’re the reason everyone got hurt, and put into harms away.
    Again.
    They’re the reason Mike’s in a coma.
    They’re the reason Ross is dead.
    Blaine may or may not have done something like this anyway, but they helped to empower his actions.

    But they probably won’t own up to that fact. Or maybe more specifically, Carol won’t. Because it seems to me, she is completely unable to see how she is wrong in this.

  20. Mr. Random

    It’s like…. she feels too defeated to feel anger.

    1. Reltzik

      Resentment, maybe.

  21. Lee

    Having somehow managed to be peripheral to two kidnappings in a short life… I feel you, Joyce. I feel you.

    1. Lee

      I should clarify: one was similar to Toedad and Ruth (childhood friend) and resulted in criminal charges, the second was in high school for political gang kidnapping reasons and was a nerve wracking week of not knowing if a classmate was alive or not. Both survived, surprisingly well-adjusted for the events.

      1. Regalli

        Ugh, that is frightening. Glad both you and the people who were kidnapped are alright!

      2. Hazel

        Jesus. I’m glad you and the kidnapees are okay. That is some heavy stuff to experience, whether on the peripheral or in the thick of it.

  22. Alanari

    I kind of feel sorry for hank. AFAIK, he wasn’t involved in the bail thing, even tried to warn Joyce. Also, he has been reliable through the whole becky thing, and I think Joyce needs emotional support right now.
    And, hating to bring “reality” into this, but they discussed pulling her out of school once. Hank prevented that and this decision has led to his daughter being kidnapped. He might be on a “if I had agreed, nothing of that would have happened” guilt trip. It might be pretty important to talk to him right now.

    1. JetstreamGW

      See, thing is, they can’t really do that?

      Like, they could stop paying for it? But Joyce is an adult so…

    2. Hazel

      He’s a better parent than his wife but still thought/thinks his children shouldn’t be friends with atheist, approves of a lot of the more dodgy Christian stuff, etc.
      Right now he’s at a point where he seems to be changing for the better. He accepted Becky, he has listened to Joyce and tried to warn her about Toedad. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been an active part of why his kids are messed up.

      1. Regalli

        Yeah, Hank’s spent years being, at minimum, complicit in the Brown family issues. And we know he’s approved of or encouraged some of the fucked-up stuff. He does seem to be trying to improve for Joyce, but we also still don’t know how he’ll react to finding out he has another daughter. Jocelyne sure as hell didn’t CONSIDER him a possible ally until Joyce told her about the Becky stuff, and we know there was quite a bit of ‘encouraging proper gender roles’ there. I can see Hank trying to push some proper ‘father-son bonding’, for instance, that’s left her hesitant. (It’s pretty clear she’s thought about How To Get Necessary Documents For When She’s Disowned, at least enough to help Becky through it herself. And she’s not making those plans thinking Hank would smuggle them to her.)

      2. Alanari

        Yeah, but right now, Joyce just needs people who see Ross as the bad guy he was while still giving room to her grieving. He has handled previous Ross stuff okay, so right now, I think he’d do a good job.

        1. Regalli

          I think Hank would be useful there, but I think Joyce is also absolutely EXHAUSTED, emotionally, so she’s not quite up to having that talk. Especially since that talk will probably also involve his reactions to the kidnapping (because that’s a pretty natural thing to be concerned and freaked out about!) and that’s going to be its own exhausting conversation. She MIGHT be more receptive to Jocelyne if she showed up, I’m certain she’d try for Becky, but it’s something so big and painful and complicated that this seems as much a ‘I don’t want to deal with ANYONE I don’t have to’ as ‘not my parents, specifically.’ (Thus Jocelyne as a ‘maybe’. I’m not even entirely certain she’d be up to talk to Dorothy.)

  23. Slartibeast Button, BIA

    Ruth at the end is reminding me of the way I found that anger was a way to temporarily offset depression. But one with obvious drawbacks.

    1. Lee

      Mood™️. Sparring with my flat mate got me through the final years of university (not a euphemism, actual fights) but looking back it was probably a terrible coping mechanism for the both of us.

  24. JetstreamGW

    … I wonder what’s going on with midterms.

    Think they’re getting a break on that what with the horrifying felonious shit?

  25. Hazel

    Oh there’s zero way Carol could have a conversation with Joyce about this without it going something like:

    “I can’t believe he’s dead… he was just trying to do what’s right, you know that? Doing the right thing… is often complicated, and I’m sure you don’t understand yet but you will eventually will. He felt he had to take such measures to rescue his daughter from sin, and honestly, with the culture war these days, sometimes it really is war. I’m just sorry you got caught up in it, but really, you’ve been enabling Becky this whole time. Do you know you could have prevented his death? Do you kn–”

    (I black out from remembering similar conversations, turn into dust and fly away. 56 gold is left on the floor and you gain 100 exp. Level up!)

    1. Lee

      I was going to make a certain Skyrim meme joke but given what’s going on in the hospital elected to just alude to it.

    2. Miri

      How did gaining supernatural powers akin to Dracula’s go down?

  26. bryy

    I suspect that it’ll be Hank coming to say he divorced Carol, and that we won’t actually see Carol again until the end of the strip.

    1. PB

      One can only hope.

    2. Tarnagh

      In a way, I kind of hope not. Carol’s the type that would take Hank for every penny he’s got and she’d push for enough to guarantee that Hank doesn’t have enough left to continue funding Joyce’s tuition. Joyce could still work around that financial burden like most students do anyhow, but the point is that it’d be a pure spite move on Carol’s part.

  27. abysswatcher1993

    Ruth suplexing Carol would be a piece of art I would hang in my room, along with ScruffyDeer’s drawing of Haru Okumura suplexing Akechi Goro, and John Egbert punching Vriska Serket.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      Oh and also Sakura murdering Shinji.

      1. Regalli

        Cardcaptor or Haruno or the Street Fighter character? *Looks it up* Oh, you’re talking Fate characters, that makes WAY more sense than an eight-year-old murdering Shinji Ikari!

  28. Rabid Rabbit

    I assume the rest of the Patreon strip is a simple “And then they fucked.”

    1. Zee

      Missionary, through a hole in a sheet between them, like good Christians

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Damn, that sounds almost kinky…

  29. TrueVCU

    Like all warriors, Ruth can sense the Quickening

  30. Reltzik

    Unfortunately, Joyce, your parents most likely control your tuition. Carol thought she had SOME way of yanking you out of University, and it’s probably still at her disposal. As long as you’re on their dime, you will be forced to give them your time, regardless of whether they deserve it or whether you want to or whether you’re in a headspace to do so.

    On the bright side, the Bible is pretty pointed on the subject of the various ways that money is evil and so it’s not as if these evangelical types would ever use economic control as a way to manipulate, coerce, or control their own children.

    1. RedCat

      She is 18, though, she could look for a job to pay the tuition, since they can’t make her drop out.

      1. Regalli

        Hahahahahaha she COULD, but a job likely wouldn’t even pay for the TEXTBOOKS. Financial assistance if she can prove she’s been disowned, MAYBE, but that’s months of bureaucratic bullshit in itself. And as far as we know, Joyce doesn’t have her Social Security card or birth certificate or any other paperwork, which is its own level of hell but also means she couldn’t get a job.

        College is expensive as fuck and IU’s a Big 10.

        1. Zee

          As far as textbooks though, that’s why you download them online. Or stay in the class chats cuz someone’s going to send out a pdf eventually. I just finished my first year of college and haven’t paid for a single textbook. Find the pirating sites, kids. Don’t fund greedy publishing companies

        2. RedCat

          I dunno, I never went. :I Didn’t get to.

        3. Regalli

          I know this mainly because my mother’s in college administration in a position that has to think about this bullshit, so I’ve absorbed by osmosis, but it’s been a known thing for years. The college system in the US is… pretty much a colossal clusterfuck. Costs have ballooned since 1979 (partly from government programs being cut, partly because, for instance, the role of computers has added about eighty different things that need to be budgeted for and that budget is MASSIVE,) but wages generally speaking have not risen to match. The cost of classes alone – not including room and board, which is separate, or textbooks, likewise – amounts to something like 48 hours a week, on average. (And that number was from 2014.)

          It’s impossible for a student to pay for college courses on their oen and still have time to take them on minimum wage. Hell, judging off some quick googling it would take a lawyer an average of ten hours to work off a credit hour for a course. (Credit hours don’t translate to actual hours, it’s about three or four to a semester-long class, but that’s its own mess.) This is why a lot of students (and families, for that matter) take out loans, but then a lot of student loan outfits are seriously predatory, and add in the fact that a lot of students can’t actually get jobs even with the extremely expensive degree because the job market is itself a mess, and basically: Total clusterfuck. I laugh because the system is so fundamentally broken that it’s either that or sobbing. And that’s just ONE aspect of the shitshow that is the US economy.

  31. K. Ivan Ruppert

    …Can Ruth stop Joyce’s parents? I mean, it’s not like they’re on the security Blacklist like Blaine is. I mean, I’m pretty sure that the only thing Ruth can do is say “She doesn’t want to see visitors right now”. They have to start breaking rules to get ejected.

    1. Reltzik

      She can. Unlike most of the university grounds, the dorms are closed to the general public.

      But she can’t stop them from sidelining Joyce on her way to class.

    2. BBCC

      Ruth’s said her job description does actually include ejecting unwanted visitors bothering her charges. She used that to kick Joyce out of Amber’s room after she stabbed Ryan. Even if she can’t keep them from coming up the elevator, she can VERY FIRMLY eject them from Joyce’s room.

      1. Axel

        this, AND their building is probably being super careful rn, ie extra security, telling students not to let anyone they don’t know in, etc, because even if they’re not lying about being someone’s parents it is currently very evident that that is not a good reason to be allowed in

    3. Sam

      Considering what happened with Ryan right outside the dorms and the kidnappings that occurred right outside the damn dorms and the guy that showed up with a gun on campus, I’m pretty sure Ruth is allowed to eject any suspicious person she wants, especially if they come in without a student guiding them, as that could be any damn person and the last thing they need is more incidents.

  32. Bagge

    awwwwww. They are very protective of their Joyce, aren’t they?

    Frankly, if Carol dares to show herself, I think Ruth would be the soft option. There is also Dina, and Becky and Dorothy afoot.

    1. RedCat

      Dorothy is a terribly nice person, even to people who are rude to her, but I she is smart enough to say exactly the things that Joyce’s mother might not want to hear, but needs to. And those are probably gonna make her feel less that good. Well, if she listens, since Dorothy’s an atheist and all that. IDK

    2. Reltzik

      So, we’ve got in reverse order Dorothy (the atheist), Becky (who used to be such a nice girl until she devoted herself to Satan in exchange for sexual perversion), and Dina (also a Satanic pervert, and quite likely standing in the way of saving Becky).

      Exactly which one of these wouldn’t be like waving a red flag to a bull?

      My big concern is that MARY might find a way to ingratiate herself to Carol. … well, one of many big concerns.

      1. Regalli

        Dina’s also a paleontologist who believes in *scare chord* EVOLUTION and *bigger scare chord* THE IDEA THAT THE EARTH IS MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD. She’s the purest of evils.

        That said, I don’t think there’s a single non-Mary person in the hall who’s heard about what happened in enough detail to know ‘it was her best friend’s dad that kidnapped her and got murdered’ and WOULDN’T side with Joyce. But it’s a dorm full of Satanic perverts and Mormons, so previous issue applies.

        1. King Daniel

          Even Mary sided against Ryan after the Incident On The Stairs, it’s possible that even she might not look too fondly on Joyce’s church.

        2. thejeff

          Even fundies are (theoretically) against rape. Mary’s hard on their side about homosexuals. She might decry the actual kidnapping, but in the same kind of terms Carol and the church did.

  33. Puckish Rogue

    So Ruth learned wrestling rather than (my original pick) Judo, thats pretty cool of her

  34. Rabisch

    Joyce is really serious here. I can’t wait to see her reaction when she discovers that her mother was an accomplice (a sort of, but still an accomplice) of the whole plan behind Ross’ liberation and the kidnapping.

    1. RedCat

      I think she knows that, her Dad told her that her mother and some people from their church wanted to bail Ross out, right?

  35. RedCat

    I hope Joyce’s mother feels really bad right now.

    1. Needfuldoer

      I’ll bet she feels bad that Ross failed in his mission. After all, NoBoDy ElSe gOT hUrT, RiGHt?

  36. Koms

    Having known an awful mom, I doubt Carol has had any epiphany. I’m siding with those who are saying that she will justify Ross’s actions. Even if she does put her daughter above her bigotry this time, she doesn’t change fundamentally. She’ll go back to being a bigot. People like her don’t turn to the good side. They stay bad.

    1. Eldritchy

      You know, this whole thing might be the beginning of a catalytic reaction. Joyce will want nothing to do with her, Jocelyne (was that her name?) might decide to side with Joyce and out herself and Hank might decide he isn’t sure about their relationship anymore. Would be quite an avalanche to drop on her beliefs.

      1. Benwhoski

        I’m wondering if Joyce’s break with her Mom will be the catalyst for us finding out what Jordan’s been up to all of this time.

        1. Eldritchy

          Possible. He might have seen the news about Toedad and kidnapping and might want to check up on his sibling.

        2. Regalli

          Since Mike’s fall, there was an addition to Patreon Bonus Strip voting that goes ‘don’t vote for someone who’s clearly being held in reserve.’ (In Mike’s case it was specifically ‘I’m just going to flashback strip and we all know that’s not what you’re going for, so let’s skip that.’) The last few voting pages have been expanded to be ‘any character who it clearly seems is being held in reserve,’ with a (certain siblings) bit. I feel reasonably confident saying there’s a plan for Jordan’s reveal by now, though who knows when.

  37. Johan

    We gonna get some wholesome Joe action?

  38. Jhon

    I wanna see Robin trying to horn in on Becky’s pancake breakfast in order to consult with her media director.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Is it at St. Alfonzo’s, where they stole the margarine? Who needs their eyes fixed up from having deadly yellow snow crystals rubbed into them by an angry man named Nanook?

  39. JessWitt

    Oof I’m dreading Carol’s arrival. Hopefully Hank will try to keep the peace. Or separate from her.

    1. Aro

      I’m hoping Carol gets suplexed.

  40. Daniel M Ball

    Ruth(less)=Best Security System.

  41. hof1991

    Carol is down the rabbit hole. No chance she’s changing her mind.

    Hank has already been changing. I don’t think he’s here to take Joyce home unless she wants to go.

    Bet that’s a very cold hotel room.

  42. Jake'm

    This is still the same day, right? I can definitely understand Joyce wanting time to herself after being kidnapped twice in roughly as many hours. Though I’m definitely getting Sarah’s side of things in that delaying a response won’t help in the long-term. Even a text to say “I’m fine, we’ll talk soon” in some form would help ease her parents’ nerves a bit. Though that’s her decision to make, not mine :V

  43. DarkoNeko

    Classy Ruth

  44. Roger Sterling

    I can’t believe we’re going to end up rooting for Hank to assert his patriarchy and shut down Carol when she inevitably tries to pull Joyce out of college.

    I’m not saying that’s not the optimal endgame-it’ll be cathartic as hell. And the political dimensions are warped as fuck.

    But I suppose that’s what Evangelical christianity does to you-it turns its victims into its most diehard supporters, because those same victims would never want to reach the conclusion their suffering hitherto was unnecessary.

    I can totally see Carol as a Joyce in a darker timeline.

    1. Roger Sterling

      *as what Joyce would have grown into in a darker timeline

      1. abysswatcher1993

        That is Walkyverse Joyce before she ditched her dogmas. She was so bigoted she thought Dina was doomed to hell.

        1. Zaxares

          Man, I still remember that strip vividly.

        2. Roger Sterling

          No shit? What finally caused her to have her come to Jesus moment?

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