I’m sorry, everyone.
Posted on May 13, 2019 by David M Willis
Saturday!  May 18!  New Slipshine comic!  16 pages!  NSFW!  Get your memberships ready!  Oh dang!

632 thoughts on “I’m sorry, everyone.”

  1. The Sound Defense

    Apropos of nothing, has anyone seen the last episode of season 6 of Game of Thrones?

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      I have but I’m honestly not sure what you’re invoking it for? There’s lots of allying in it, but the alliances are being formed for Daenerys and for Jon, and against Cersei? And I don’t think the Iron Bank even makes an appearance in season 6, so where does the financing enter into it?

      1. chris2315

        I believe The Sound Defense is suggesting that generous amounts of wildfire be applied to this church.

        1. thEmpror

          Burn them all

    2. abysswatcher1993

      That and this strip are on equal levels of infuriating.

      1. BBCC

        On entirely different quality levels though.

        1. BBCC

          Oh, my bad, I thought this referred to the episode that just came out.

        2. Marsh Maryrose

          Haven’t seen tonight’s episode, but I haven’t been looking forward to it either (or the rest of the season). In the immortal words of the Hound: “Fuck the showrunners.”

        3. BBCC

          It was…definitely an episode. Again, no spoilers but goddamn.

        4. Inahc

          Yes. Yes it was. And we still have one more episode coming.

        5. BBCC

          I’m focusing on the parts of the episode I enjoyed and hoping the next one will be better.

    3. The Sound Defense

      *spoilers*

      I was referring to the part where one of the characters assembles all of their enemies into a single building and then blows it up.

      1. Marsh Maryrose

        Oh! I get it now. If only…

        Side note: as Dana Schwartz points out, GoT has become Event TV, and one can no more spoil a GoT episode than one can spoil a recently played major sports game.

    4. WindWalker

      This angers me more than the most recent episode. AND BOY DO I HAVE FEELS ABOUT THAT.

  2. BigDogLittleCat

    Oh my god. Fuck all these assholes.

    1. Ana Chronistic

      This is the WORST* strip in the entire Willisverse, I will fight you on this

      *until the next one

      [inb4 I was late bc I was so mad]

      1. Pinkie

        Uh-oh, looks like you really did jinx it yesterday.

      2. Meagan

        I assume you mean “worst” in terms of being unhappy with what is happening here plotwise, for the sake of our protagonists.

        In terms of plot development though, bringing various threads and characters together to further things along and tie everything in, this is amazing. The emotional “oomph,” the timing, the suspense – this is masterful storytelling. The art design is also nothing to shake a stick at.

        1. BBCC

          Yeah, this is the kind of ‘worst’ that makes me feel more engaged and excited about where the plot was going and appreciate the storytelling.

          Y’know the polar opposite of how Game of Thrones made me feel tonight. No spoilers but …oof.

        2. Victor

          I’m not a fan of that show, but HBO has a history of fucking up the last season of their shows. The last season of True Blood was awful. Actually, the last couple seasons were pretty bad.

          *And there’s a reason I read this comic by clicking a link to “Dave Willis Eats Diapers”

        3. BBCC

          Well, it’s nice to know they’re consistent in their finale fumbling.

        4. Anikiki

          Let’s not forget the final season of The Wire.

          On second thought, let’s forget about it.

      3. Felian

        How the hell does Blaine know these people?!
        This is so creepy and disgusting, i don’t want this to happen 🙁 🙁

        1. Needfuldoer

          He can find out where Ross is from easily enough, thanks to news articles, but how does Blaine know he’s connected to the protagonists? Probably has something to do with the flash drive Faz pocketed.

        2. MLEst1

          He doesn’t have to know about Joyce and Becky. If he knows that Amazi-Girl is the one who helped get Blaine arrested then that’s all he needs. The enemy (Ross) of my enemy (Amber) is my friend

        3. thejeff

          This does imply that he knows Amber is Amazi-Girl doesn’t it?

        4. Zach

          I’m pretty sure he knew, he was never a fool. And anyway, Amazagirl wasn’t there that night. You can check the tags.

        5. Michael Haneline

          He was ALWAYS a fool, there’s just different ways to be foolish.

        6. Matthew Davis

          Not necessarily. Amazi-girl is the one who beat him up in the parking lot, so he could just be looking for revenge.

        7. C.T Phipps

          This is some classic Kingpin and Electro crap. Bail out the other enemies of Amazi-Girl.

      4. Sambo

        As I was reading it, I was thinking the exact same thing: this is the WORST

    2. Keulen

      If Ryan and Leeland were somehow there as well it’d be a collection of all the worst characters in DoA in one strip.

    3. foamy

      I don’t think I’ve ever had a work of fiction take me from zero to rage quite so quickly.

  3. TheTJ

    “I’m sorry Everyone” Is an appropriate title for what’s going on here.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Except we know Willis isn’t sorry. He’s cackling with glee.

      1. DailyBrad

        Sometimes, but I dunno if this is a circumstance where he’s happy to bring back the pain. Beats Ryan coming back. We know Ryan’s family is suing Amber’s, but he’s hopefully too diced up to make an appearance.

    2. Meagan

      Yeah he did that on purpose.

    3. Woomy

      We should be thanking Willis for this drama

  4. nicostrat

    Oh no. nope, nope, NOPE NOPE NOPE!!!
    I see an evil dad conglomerate forming in the background and it’s gonna unleash hell (much to their dismay)

  5. AlexanderHammil

    Damn it, Carol.

    1. Abbefaria

      She’s really making it hard to give her the benefit of the doubt and not just write her off as utterly indoctrinated, I mean it’s a sad day when your not sure if a person would side with their child or the instigator of your child getting shot or caught in the cross fire somehow, and Willis would pull that kind of stunt. (and love him for it)

      1. Needfuldoer

        Oh Carol’s indoctrinated, alright. She was making bullshit excuses to justify Toedad’s actions, on the phone to Joyce the evening after.

        1. Fart Captor

          Yeah… She doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt and hasn’t since that phone call

        2. C.T Phipps

          I think all benefit goes out the window when the girl you raised as a daughter is almost kidnapped by a gun toting psychopath–and then you not only bail on her but your own daughter equally endangered.

        3. Needfuldoer

          Becky was kidnapped by a gun-toting psychopath. It became kidnapping after he coerced her to come with him using a deadly weapon.

        4. David

          Well, if your eye offends thee, tear it out and cast it away. It is better for an eye to be lost than the body to burn in hell.
          Something like that, if I remember correctly.

        5. T Campbell

          My take is that you can wrestle with doubt all you want when a friend you thought was a good person does something bad. In that phone talk, I heard Carol struggling. It probably wasn’t good that she let Joyce hear her struggling, but that wasn’t planned.

          This, however, is past the “wrestling” phase. She’s committed now. She’s trying to get him out of jail, and I refuse to believe she thinks he’ll leave Becky alone if she does. She belongs with him and with Blaine… and not with Hank.

        6. Needfuldoer

          GlThat phone call was in the evening, she had time to

        7. Needfuldoer

          Why the blazes did that submit?!

          Anyway, maybe she struggled to reconcile his actions against her belief that he’s a good person. She came to the conclusion that he is a good person trying to do a good thing, therefore his actions are justified and should be forgiven. We saw at least a little time pass between the incident and when she called Joyce, and she was pretty firmly convicted by that point.

          Carol can take a long walk off a short pier wearing cement shoes.

        8. David

          Oh, his actions should not be forgiven but completed. He hasn’t yet rescued Becky from her sinful endeavors. She is not just kissing girls. She wants to become a scientist. You know, someone like the current pope.

        9. AlexanderHammil

          It feels like the point of that call with Jocelyn was to establish that Carol hasn’t been a good person for a very long time, and that if Joyce *is* a good person, it’s in spite of her parents, not because of them.

        10. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

          T., unless you are talking about the actual ethical implications of Carol Brown’s (and the wiener youth pastor, along with the rest of their little glorified hardcore crew of a church family, as they need herd approval to decide on anything like this) decisions, you may be giving her reasoning process too much credit…

          This is not someone who is truly interested in following anything beyond a need to defend her threatened preconceptions about what faction she had chosen. The more things go wrong for her, the more she’ll retreat to the puppet show in her own head…While I don’t know enough about John or Jordan, I already feel sorry for both Joyce and Joshlyn….

        11. Jade

          Oh shit, y’know, now that I re-read that strip I wonder if the “I didn’t think he’d /actually/” might not mean she didn’t believe it when she saw it on the news but…she didn’t believe him when he told her he’d do it.

      2. Miri

        She would blame Becky and see her as the instigator because if she hadn’t “chosen” to be a lesbian and then run away to visit Joyce and try to corrupt her, Toedad would never have needed to go take a rifle to the college or point it at people… And I feel really dirty after typing that out, urgh, but that’s how I think she would view it…

        I wonder where Hank is.

        1. Khyrin

          Doing the needful.

      3. Eve

        I tend to think of an indoctrinated person as someone who was raised to believe in things uncritically, wheras she seems to have drifted further and further into extremes in her adulthood. At least from snippets I remember from their family, they used to not be so radical, they let their older kids go to normal school, they didn’t used to hate holidays. She seems to be actively getting worse. (I could totally be misremembering)

  6. Reaver

    He only threatened an ENTIRE SCHOOL CAMPUS WITH A GUN.

    1. Arawn

      But they deserved it because they were harboring people with alternate lifestyles. We all know that the only fully legal lifestyle is Straight, White, Christian AND Conservative. Everyone else doesn’t have as many rights.

      1. Reltzik

        And that makes everyone else jealous, which explains why straight white conservative Christians are so persecuted in America.

        /sarcasm

      2. jmsr7

        “Everyone else doesn’t have rights.”

        FTFY

        I mean, what do you think people who say “this is a Christian Nation” mean?

      3. paleotectonics

        Male. Also, too.

        White straight christian females are tolerated if they behave and serve their role as receptacles.

        1. Deanatay

          And childrearers. That’s women’s work.

    2. Mollyscribbles

      Pft, he didn’t threaten the *entire* school campus. Just the part of it that wanted to defend his daughter and keep him from “parenting” her properly.

    3. Evan

      Unfortunately they, and many others like them seem to be able to rationalize things by only their most immediate consequences rather than actual methods. In their minds because he never actually shot anyone, the only thing to consider is that he brought a gun (aka exercised 2nd amendment rights in an open carry state), in an effort to retrieve his runaway daughter (aka exercised his rights as her father.)

      Obviously that’s all complete Bullshit legally, since regardless of Open Carry, that doesn’t apply on private property of a College Campus where such things are an obvious threat to students. Plus Becky isn’t a minor so he has no such rights to force her to do anything, but it makes for great rationalization tools for a very conservative crowd.

      This also kind of illustrates another dark side of religion. Despite the tendencies of many Conservative Christians to be incredibly judgmental of other people, they can also be incredibly forgiving of their own sins. After all, if God is all-forgiving, than the important thing is no longer what you do, only that you be willing to repent for it afterwards. The perverse side to this is that most of them will judge people primarily on perception of lifestyle. If a person acts like they “ought to” than any personal failing they suffer from in the meantime is just a temporary issue that they have obviously been forgiven for as soon as they return to this proper lifestyle. By contrast if a person is not living right, then they are sinful, because as they see it the problem is ongoing and they have not properly repented.

      This is why you can see such continuing resilience of Evangelical support for people that have routinely cheated on their wives, or acted in similarly sinful ways. No matter how many times they do it, the consequences for such actions will never actually come from the Evangelical communities, because God will just keep forgiving them for it, so why hold it against them?

      1. BigDogLittleCat

        The words you’re looking for are “hypocritical hypocrites.”

      2. auroki

        See also Donnie Darko?

      3. C.T Phipps

        At the risk of #NotAllChristians, that’s not true of all religion let alone people. This is the kind of self-righteous self-justifying behavior that is pretty much the reason Jesus got killed, though. If you attack the self-righteous, they will say God said to strike you down.

        But this is among the worst I’ve seen. I say that as a guy who was a monstrous homophobe and bigot in high school (for which I will try to make up for every day for the rest of my life).

        1. Jean Cabot

          Hashtag this specific group of christians and their ilk that David Willis grew up among

        2. Mollyscribbles

          oh god it just sank in. From what Hank said, they came to this church because the ones they went to before were SO MUCH WORSE.

    4. Reltzik

      Also, kidnapping.

      Which, unfortunately, was not a hate crime. …. unless Toedad frames it as being because Becky wasn’t Christian enough, in which case it would be a hate crime under federal law.

    5. woobie

      It was only a single shot rifle, it would’ve taken FOREVER.

    6. Needfuldoer

      The various crimes of Ross MacIntire:

      Parking violation (car got towed)
      Brandishing a weapon (witnesses)
      Discharging a firearm in a populated area (witnesses)
      Armed kidnapping (Becky’s legally an adult)
      Assault and battery (hitting Becky in the car, this is on the 911 tape)
      Misdemeanor threat (threatening to shoot anyone who tries to stop him, also on the tape)
      Reckless endangerment (car accident)
      Driving without a seatbelt (ejected from said car accident)
      Assault (vs. Joyce, hence her sprained wrist)

      Kidnapping while armed with a deadly weapon is a level 3 felony in Indiana, according to a 5 second Google search. He’ll need a very sympathetic judge and jury to get away with that one.

      1. Tan

        You missed an Attempted Murder.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/mine-2/

        1. BarerMender

          Attempted murder twice; he drove to fling Amazi Girl off her skateboard at high speed.

        2. Tan

          That one could -maybe- be argued as merely reckless endangerment, whereas pointing a gun at someone’s head, pulling the trigger, and only missing because of circumstances outside your control is basically the clearest possible attempted murder. Attempted murder, btw, is explicitly defined as a Level 1 felony in Indiana, which means 20-40 years.

        3. David

          By the laws of the heathens, that is.

        4. thejeff

          And no self-defense argument allowed, since it was in the course of felony kidnapping.

      2. Chris Phoenix

        Is making a terroristic threat a crime in Indiana?

        1. Guest42

          Yes, it is everywhere in the states. It is a federal offense

        2. thejeff

          Hard to nail him with that one though. Nothing he did was really terroristic – not aimed at influencing politics or general fear. Specifically just threatening
          and kidnapping one person for personal reasons and other crimes directed at those trying to stop him.

    7. Mkvenner

      I’m shocked the court even set bail. Then again this is Indiana.

      1. Otl1999

        This isn’t a real court or real life – this is Willis’s story. You shouldn’t conflate the two by assuming what happens in the story could really happen.

        1. Yumi

          Though in this case, it totally could, and would based on another comment here today saying, “Per the Indiana constitution, bail can’t be denied for any charge except murder.”

        2. thejeff

          It does look like the intent was to circumvent the law by intentionally setting bail that he couldn’t pay though, which is bad in a different sort of way.

  7. jeffepp

    Mister “I’m broke” has bail money?

    1. JessWitt

      I’m curious about that too. Unless Blaine’s been hoarding cash and lying to Yumi about his inability to contribute to Faz’ college fund.

      1. Kinoko

        Ugh. I wouldn’t put that past him. What an absolute shitstain.

        1. King Daniel

          After all, sending Faz to college would just mean that the kid gets to be out from under his thumb. And we can’t have that now, can we? /s

        2. Xenocide

          Sending Faz to college may mean we’d have to see more of him if it happened to be this college, so not paying for him may be the most humanitarian thing Blaine has done.

        3. Punaparta

          Sure, Faz is terrible, but that does not make the (implicit) mistreatment of him any less of a black mark on Blaine’s already long record, especially if (and this is likely) his terribleness is at least in part due to Blaine’s bad, bad influence.

        4. thejeff

          Faz is still 15, so regardless of money we won’t see him in this college for a long, long time.

      2. MLEst1

        I’ll have to go back and reread the strips, but did he actually say they didn’t have money, or just that they don’t have money *for that?*

        I can make money appear for something important to me, like an unexpected traffic ticket or a plane ticket to visit a dying relative. But I have to really have a good reason to spend $500 on games or some other frivolous stuff (like a child’s college education /s)

      3. Injuryman

        I don’t remember if it was explicitly stated in Dumbing of Age or if this is old Shortpacked info bleeding in, but isn’t Blaine like… secret mafia or something like that? He probably has a decent amount of money his wives have never known about.

        1. Woden

          Oh, it’s definitely been implied, at least, though I don’t recall if it’s been openly stated.

          http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/04-of-mike-and-men/receipts/

        2. thejeff

          Richard said that he was a mob stooge, apparently based on what Stacy had told him.

        3. jeffepp

          Korean mafia. Secret Empire is a whole ‘nother universe.

      4. Regalli

        I guaran-fucking-tee you that’s what’s happening. Betting he also controls her finances to some degree, too.

      5. Yumi

        This page’s comment section is Too Long, so I mainly am navigating it by searching for my name, and this comment keeps throwing me off.

        (Faz’s mom is named Yuri, btw)

    2. Emperor Norton II

      It’s almost as if he’s lying about a lot of things…

    3. Mkvenner

      Dirty money most likely.

  8. SgtWadeyWilson

    Please tell me he dies in an accident next storyline. Or both him *and* the toe.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Maybe Willis can add a Patreon stretch goal for “arranging” one.

      10k/month: sudden heart attack

      15k/month: meteorite strike

      20k/month: something called “the splorking” that he can’t reveal the details of, but it will involve a cheese grater, a bucket of clams, and a rubber mallet.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Splorkies may rule.

      2. butting

        That shopping list for splorking sounds like one of Carla’s.

        Yes, please.

      3. Kingmonster

        Hey, I’m totes up for a meteor strike.

        Any chance we could make that meteor the size of a mid sized building?

        …you know…just to be sure.

    2. timemonkey

      Honestly, everyone in todays comic could die and nothing of value would be lost.

      1. SgtWadeyWilson

        I mean… Joyce’s sanity might take a considerable hit if she doesn’t come to grips with the full extent of her mother’s terribleness first…

        1. Cmd1095

          I don’t know, could be interesting for Joyce to have her mom be struck down by god for her awfulness XD

    3. Proxiehunter

      An “accident”. And everyone has a nice solid alibi to prove that’s exactly what it was. Such a shame that the “accident” occured.

      1. Geneseepaws

        Can’t the station AI arrange for some space debris land on the… Crap, that was the competition. Well can the Ruttens arrange for a bridge or something to fall on them?

    4. Jaxx Sentinel

      Where’s the no regrets truck when you need it?

      1. SgtWadeyWilson

        Exactly.

      2. Dr T

        I think that guy only gets one appearance per universe, and he already appeared in DOA.

      3. RIK

        I think it was rebuilt into a red car and hunts the streets of Boston over in Something Positive. (Finding a strip with the actual car in it is left as an exercise for the reader, since it’s already past my bedtime)

  9. svata

    Ah yes. How little he did. Only kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, reckless endangerment…

    1. DailyBrad

      Becky is nothing more than Ross’s property to them.

      1. Jon Rich

        Which, in my opinion, is even worse than the horrendous anti-LGBT bigotry, given that it reduces someone to property. The idea that kids are the property of their parents is an incredibly poisonous one, and when taken to the extremes that Ross displayed, it’s all the more damning. Add in the fact that Becky is either 18 or nearly so, and thus likely not even a kid anymore (not that that would have made it better), and it’s just an unspeakably evil and insidious thing.

        Also, screw Carol. She raised Joyce to stand up for what she believed in, which meant that Joyce tried to intervene when Ross came for Becky. Joyce could have gotten shot, she could have died during the motorcycle chase, and she broke her hand punching Ross out! In every phase of the incident, Ross put Joyce in danger. Carol siding with Ross and disregarding the life-threatening danger he put *her own daughter* in is absolutely inexcusable.

        That level of disregard for her own child is just absolutely mind-boggling. I literally struggle to grasp it.

        1. jmsr7

          I don’t, it’s pretty straightforward and proceeds quite logically from their way of thinking. Ross subscribes to their lifestyle and therefore is ‘one of us.’ Becky does not and is therefore ‘one of them.’ Joyce is siding with ‘one of them’ and is therefore in the wrong. Got it? This isn’t about morality, it’s about tribalism.

        2. Jon Rich

          Yeah, but for that to override your attachment to your own kid is just insane.

        3. jmsr7

          Well yes. And it’s not just fundagelicals, it’s JW policy. Lots of groups do it too; abandoning your family in favour of your religious group is one of the markers of a cult.

        4. Reltzik

          Yup, and the Bible explicitly spells that out. Luke 14:26 (Jesus speaking) “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

        5. David

          You know the biblical punishment for raping a virgin? Inside of the city walls, rapist and victim are stoned because she should have shouted loud enough for others to hear. Outside of the city walls, the rapist has to marry the victim and is, contrary to normal marriage, not allowed to divorce her at a whim.

      2. Opus the Poet

        As explicitly shown in the Book of Job, non-adult children and all females are the property of their fathers and/or husbands in perpetuity.

        1. thejeff

          Unless God chooses to test you by killing them. In which case, should you pass, he may reward you with a new even better wife and children.

  10. Alethiolet

    Well that’s a jump scare if I ever saw one.

    1. Doctor_Who

      The It Chapter 2 trailer recently came out. It’s got nothing on this for inducing a sense of creeping dread.

      In the Unrated Director’s Cut of this strip, there’s a footnote that says “All These People Vote”, but it was cut for being too disturbing.

      1. James

        Well, no sleep for me tonight

      2. Fogel

        They vote right here in Hoosieristan … yep: that explains a lot. 🙁

  11. TheKelliestKelly

    Willis, I apologize for calling you a horse’s ass on Patreon yesterday. And wow, that title works for so many reasons

    1. insomniac

      The preferred terminology is DYW

      1. Lingo

        Hilariously, my brain momentarily translated that as “Do-It-Yourself Willis.”

    2. GoblinScribe

      There is NO way this isn’t a dream sequence. Except there’s no way it IS a dream sequence.

      (But literally, Blaine has no way I can puzzle out that he could have any meaningful connection to Ross???)

      1. GoblinScribe

        Like… who would be dreaming this? Nobody’s met all of these characters to be dreaming about them. Not Amber, not Dina, not Becky, not Joyce. So… I guess Blaine worked out that Amber has been spying on Ross (because she probably has) and took interest.

        1. GoblinScribe

          Okay, Blaine’s last appearance had him interrogating Faz about Amber’s friends. That’s the connection. PRETTY FUCKED UP YO

        2. GoblinScribe

          Sorry this is a chain I know
          So, Faz encountered Amber when Becky was present. There *is* a connection that’s plausible. The alternative is highly misleading panel hijinks.

        3. Zero

          Both Blaine and Ross were defeated by Amazi-Girl, who has declared Evil Dads to be her nemeses. Ross is the enemy of his enemy.

        4. Needfuldoer

          The entirety of DoA is either Walkyverse Joyce’s dream, or the daydreams of an autistic Amber staring into a snowglobe. It depends on whether you follow the Newhart or St. Elsewhere theory.

      2. BBCC

        My guess is the USB that Faz gave him had proof Amber was AG and so now Blaine is trying to hurt her by harassing her friends. In this case, Becky.

        1. MLEst1

          Couldn’t he also go after her directly and claim that she’s running around and recklessly endangering a Protected Class* by assaulting them due to her Dangerous Ideals**?

          At this point the only 3 people she has really been up against are him, Ross, and the guy who tried to sexually assault Joyce. Her dad is pretty charismatic, as many abusers are. He might be able to spin this into her having issues, especially since she already has enough self hatred she might believe it

          *Protected Class- straight, white males
          **Dangerous Ideals- belief in not being a dick to people

        2. BBCC

          Probably not. She’s assaulted a lot of people. It’d be hard to make a distinguishing case it’s about white men.

        3. thejeff

          Though he could probably get her in enough serious trouble just by revealing that she’s Amazi-Girl.

        4. BBCC

          Ohhhhhh yes, if Amber is revealed to be AG, she’s going to jail for so much assault by itself. Not to mention probable reckless endangerment for throwing those spiky balls into the road during the Toedad thing.

      3. BarerMender

        He knows Amazi Girl ruined Ross”s plan, and he knows Amber is Amazi Girl. He’s conspiring to murder his own daughter.

  12. Cattleprod

    Happy Mother’s Day, here’s the child abuser rally.

    1. Anywhere

      So, every Mother’s Day, are we going to get a new Worst Mom strip, like the Valentine’s Day tradition?

    2. Dr T

      Right now I can only think of 3 terrible moms in DOA, Carol, Linda, and Ethan’s mom. Amber and Billie have neglectful moms, but that’s not the same.

      Dina seems to have a great mom.

      1. DrWattson

        Come to think of it, Dina seems like the only character to have a healthy family relationship in the whole comic.

        1. C.T Phipps

          Carla’s parents are apparently awesome.

        2. Fogel

          Still can’t glom Carla”s rents NOT being Joe & Rachel

        3. C.T Phipps

          I suggest Carla is the daughter of Joe and rachel from an alternate dimension, escaping the Soggy invasion.

        4. Schpoonman

          Sierra and Dorothy have good parents, too.

  13. Alex

    This is the worst thing I have ever seen.

  14. HeinousActsZX

    There’s like 4 different things going on here and they’re all bad!

  15. Deadjolras

    I have so many things to say and I won’t bother to organize them properly, so be prepared for paragraphs of disjointed, word vomiting:

    1. They’re actually raising money to get Ross out of jail. They… They actually want him back with them! They want him to return to their community! And the pastor supports this! Hank, I don’t where you are and how you feel about this but you better put a stop to this.

    2. The youth pastor doesn’t even think that what Ross did was all that bad! Being held at gunpoint and being hunted through campus is “little”. What makes this worse is that this guy knows Becky and Joyce: they’re not unknown girls or strangers that were randomly victimized by the angry human toe. They were in his group. He was their teacher and their guide. And he has the gall to say that Ross didn’t do much harm to them.

    3. If something as terrifying as being threatened with a gun happened to me, I know my mum would care. She’d care and worry so much that if some asshole next to her said something similar to what the youth pastor is saying, she’d punch him on the spot. Okay, maybe she wouldn’t because she has unbelievable self-control but things would definitely get heated: she’d yell a lot, at the very least. But Carol? Carol says nothing. Doesn’t even react to someone saying that what happened to her daughter wasn’t all that bad. Instead, she decides to back him up in a way, revealing that she sees what Ross did (threatening people’s lives with a gun, attempted kidnapping and trying to send his daughter to a conversion camp) as him just trying to raise his child, as if kidnapping your kid and waving a gun around are valid parenting techniques and how dare people punish him so highly for it?

    4. And what else does this reveal about Carol? Maybe she would also attempt to “raise” her children that way if one of them had turned out like Becky. I don’t want to think about what this means for Jocelyne, except that I want Carol to stay as far away from her as possible. So yeah, I guess now we know for sure: Carol is a bad person. I don’t know who was still doubting that, but there you go.

    5. Last but not least, Blaine. Why is he there? How did he find out? Why does he even care about this little fundie community and their troubles? What possible interest could he have in a gun-toting, controlling piece of shit? I wondered all of that and then I remembered: Amazi-girl was involved in Becky’s rescue. So has Blaine finally connected the dots? Does he know Amber is Amazi-girl? Or does still think of them as separate people and is, instead, trying to get revenge on the vigilante that put him on the hospital? Whatever the answers are: fuck off, Blaine.

    TL;DR: Everyone in this strip makes me angry.

    1. jeffepp

      Go ahead. Say the words. He wants you to. Say them.

      1. Deadjolras

        *shakes fist at the sky* DAMN YOU, WILLIS

        1. PB

          Thank you. Reading this helped.

    2. AntJ

      “So, Faz, what can you tell me about her new friends?” is how we got here.

      Blaine and Carol in a strip together… damn.

      Gotta say, very nice contrast with Jocelyne feeling hope Hank will accept her while Carol tries to get her daughter’s attacker out of prison to protect his right to electrocute Becky into having boring hair.

    3. James

      2. But OBVIOUSLY he wasn’t actually going to USE the gun, it was just for his PROTECTION or some such bullhonky, I have to imagine.

      5. Aside from the connection to Amber, he probably sees this as a community that can and will act to shield him if he ingratiates himself and puts on the barest of righteous personas.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Their excuses don’t matter, his use of the gun for intimidation is pretty cut and dry. He used it to kidnap another adult. That’s a level 3 felony, which carries a sentence of up to 16 years in prison (9 recommended) and a $10,000 fine in Indiana.

        (I am not a lawyer, I’m just some schmuck halfway across the country with access to Google.)

        1. Woden

          And that’s presumably just for that one crime, when Toedad committed a whole slew of them that day.

          I do have to say, though, I’m not terribly concerned about the bail. Yeah, the people trying to raise money for his bail are utterly shitty people for doing so, but… last we saw of him, Toedad wasn’t exactly in any shape to either be a flight risk or a risk of committing further crimes for the near future.

      2. Fogel

        I believe that in some/many Americans world, The 2nd Ammendment means that you don’t need a reason to carry a gun, because you have the absolute right to do so and it’s your call, and no one has the right to question your motives or actions. On the other hand, if Ross did commit one or more crimes while carrying his gun, the answer to that is for one or more armed good guys to take him down, so carrying a gun is not simply a right, it’s a civic responsibility, even if that’s not explicitly in the Bill of Rights (cause it’s not the Bill of Responsibilities).

    4. Meagan

      I’m wondering if this is going to lead to divorce between Hank and Carol. I just don’t think Hank condones this. I think there’s a reason he is not seen at this meeting, and it is going to come to a head. Unless he can talk some sense into Carol.

      1. Meagan

        Actually, come to think of it, I wonder if he could use the whole ‘submit to your husband’ rhetoric for good in this case…and how she would react to that. Probably accuse him of apostasy.

        1. SillyGoose

          My bet is he’s in the church, but leaning against a wall i the back, out of sight, but within earshot. Not missing a word. Still in the church but already out of the Church.

        2. Fogel

          In the church, but not OF the Church — not Of The Body, help us Landru!

        3. Meagan

          If he is spying and hearing all this bs, the more the better. Although Carol seems so naive to how anyone could think what Ross did was bad, that I don’t think she’d hesitate to talk about it at home even if Hank isn’t there.

      2. C.T Phipps

        I don’t think there’s any chance of Hank sticking with Carol after this. Hank, I’ve got to wonder if maybe the problem with the churches you went to weren’t them but the fact you seem to have gone to a group of psychopaths.

        1. Meagan

          Maybe Hank can join Jacob’s church. 🙂

    5. Bagge

      1. Yes.
      2. Yes. He was their spiritual guide, their confidant and token trustworthy adult. I really wonder if he suspected something. If he sometimes had to comfort or calm down a Becky that really didn’t want to go home just yet. Not to put a too fine point on it – how surprised was he when Ross went after his child with a gun? And yet, here he is. “little”.
      3. Yes.
      4. Yes. Jocelyne has EVERY reason to be afraid of her.
      5. FUDGE THAT FUDGIN’ FUDGER!!!

      1. Bagge

        Excellent rundown.

    6. JessWitt

      I’m just relieved Hank’s not there (I hope). Joyce deserves one good parent.

      Also on the bright side, Jocelyne’s not a minor so she’s out and away from Carol.

      1. Tan

        I have such conflicted feelings on Hank not being present. On the one hand, it means he is not supporting this farce of ‘community support’. On the other hand, it probably also means he’s turning a blind eye to it and in particular turning a blind eye to Carol vocally supporting it.

        Fuck Carol. Fuck everything about Carol. I cannot even be bothered to care that Blaine is here because Fuck. Carol. So. Hard.

    7. BigDogLittleCat

      2. I’m biased af but I hear “youth pastor” and immediately assume the worst. Google “youth pastor” news if you want to ruin your evening.

      1. C.T Phipps

        …I was a youth pastor.

        1. Solenoid

          “was” would seem to be the key word here.

    8. jmsr7

      Good summary.

      1. Yes they want him out of jail because he’s a member of their tribe and this is just the gum’mint just trying to keep a good christian from practicing his religion and controlling his family. Hank can’t do anything about this except speak against it, which will get him kicked out of the tribe.
      2. I’m a little surprised at the youth pastor here and am wondering if he’s trying to blend in. Or not. Either way, minimizing or not acknowledging the traumas that fundagelical christianity inflicts (on outsiders as well as insiders) is consistent with their brand.
      3,4. Myep, Carol Brown is a bad person. Thanks for the confirmation Willis.
      5. Blaine has been doing his research, which includes having Faz spy for him. Remember?

    9. thejeff

      3) We also see the persecution complex here. “they could come after any of us, just for wanting to raise our kids right.”
      That’s got so little to do with what actually happened, but it’s how the Religious Right distorts everything into an attack on them.

  16. Human

    Evil dad team up

    1. Bagge

      Dads.

      Why does it always have to be dads.

      1. Proxiehunter

        The evil mom is probably going to be involved too.

        1. Bagge

          No doubt.

          I mean, she already is.

        2. SillyGoose

          Like literally front and center

        3. Ferret

          I wonder how Willis is going to justify Linda joining the Council of Evil Parents.

      2. DailyBrad

        It’s dads now, but keep in mind that Naomi (Ethan’s mom) and hell, even potentially Linda Walkerton might get pulled into things, too, if Blaine’s trying to fuck with Amber. Can we really say Naomi needs much of a push?

        1. ESM

          The question is whether Blaine is trying to fuck with Amber or get rid of Amazi-Girl (assuming he didn’t discover off-screen that they’re one in the same). Ross has no reason to care about Amber, but Amazi-Girl is the one who foiled his nefarious schemes.

        2. BarerMender

          Fuck with Amber? He’s trying to get Amber killed.

        3. Zee

          Unrelated to the topic but I forgot Ethan’s mom was named Naomi. What’s with shitty Jewish moms being named Naomi (Crazy ex girlfriend)

    2. Jamie

      This is really weird to see after watching a Let’s Play of Dream Daddy. 🙁

      1. Proxiehunter

        This is nightmare daddy, the grim dark sequel.

      2. Kim

        Haha! ^_^

  17. MatthewTheLucky

    Yeah, that makes sense.

    So, we’re setting up for a storyline where Blaine and Toedad go off the roof together after failing to goad Amazigirl into revealing herself, right? Carol too, maybe?

    1. MatthewTheLucky

      You know what would be the absolute best, though?

      Sidney Yus sets the building ablaze in an unrelated accident tomorrow.

      1. Cholma

        I’ve got it! Blaine & Toe-dad go up to the Garbage Roof, and it collapses under them! They are horribly (more) disfigured or killed. “What a damn shame” will say no one.

        1. Zero

          If the roof collapse under them badly enough to kill people on it, won’t it also kill everyone inside?

        2. Opus the Poet

          They fall down the elevator shaft and get crushed by the elevator, no collateral casualties. Aside from whoever has to clean up the disgusting mess, if they’re this rotten on the outside, can you imagine how bad it is inside?

        3. Goshii

          They fall down an elevator shaft onto the bullets from Toe-dad’s gun. 400 times

  18. DailyBrad

    Oh my god, oh my fucking god. This is more chilling than most any villain reveals I’ve seen in ages.

    And Becky’s been on TV, Ross is going to know exactly where Becky is. Ugh. I guess Robin has to show sooner rather than later if she has any intention of walking the walk.

    1. RicardtheDragoon

      Can Robin take advantage of Becky’s history for her campaign and make her a mascot? Yes. To some extent, she already has.

      If Blaine pays Ross’ bail and dastardly hijinks ensue, will Robin capitalize on that for her campaign? Certainly.

      Will such get Robin elected? I’m not sure, but it’s possible. Crazier things have happened and not just in the last few years either.

  19. Lucretiel

    I assume that there’s a double meaning in the title where Dan is apologizing to the readership for this turn of events

    1. MatthewTheLucky

      Wrong webcomic author.

      1. SillyGoose

        ‘Dan’ is now shorthand for “Da’n you Willis”.

  20. Nenja

    Oh no. That sure woke me up on a monday morning.

  21. SUGauthor

    I thought people who were deemed a danger to society didn’t get bail.

    1. David M Willis

      https://ktvq.com/news/trending/2019/02/08/man-charged-with-shooting-school-bus-driver-relased-on-500000-bond/

      1. SUGauthor

        I hate the world sometimes.

      2. Masumi

        That’s just fucking insane.

      3. JessWitt

        The justice system is broken.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          No, it’s working exactly as intended. That’s the problem.

        2. regina phalange

          Not in this particular way though. What, are we just going to immediately jail all people accused of felonies at this baseline? What if they’re innocent? Yeah, this guy clearly isn’t, but they don’t look at evidence of the crime at bond hearings–they look at nature of the crime, criminal history, and flight risk. If they looked at evidence of the crime, it would be a trial–and trials take time and money, that’s why they don’t happen immediately after arrest. So what to do in the meanwhile? See if there’s a reason to keep them out of society until then.
          The bond system IS messed up though. Someone else already posted about how it just facilitates keeping poor people in jail, which…yeah, pretty much. But the fact that we don’t automatically remand people just because the police say they did a felony-level bad thing is actually something that we do right.

      4. Delicious Taffy

        “Feared for his safety”
        Yeah, y’know, when I’m scared I might get hurt during a snowstorm, I usually get out of my car, pull a gun, and open fucking fire on an old man driving a school bus. We’ve all been there, right?

        1. SillyGoose

          I’m pleading gay panic! So panicked I actually came looking for them!

        2. Delicious Taffy

          “They might have been doing Queer Shit! How could I be sure I was safe, without hunting them down!?”

          We joke, but there are some real pieces of work out there.

      5. Reltzik

        Meanwhile…

        …. with liberty and justice for all…

        1. Reltzik

          … huh, that was back from 2015. My bad, I should have checked. It’s probably gotten better, since the arc of history bends towards history and there’s nothing that’s happened from 2016 on that’s threatened to derail that.

          /sarcasm

        2. Reltzik

          *bends towards justice grrrrr

        3. thejeff

          Somethings are getting better. At least in some places.
          California has eliminated cash bail entirely. Other states have limited it.

          Small steps, but awareness is growing of how much of a problem this is.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          That was like 5 years ago, and nothing has gotten better.

          I guess I’m lucky they “let me off” with a revoked driver’s license that requires almost $500 a month in insurance to maybe get back. Guess I’m even luckier my mom had recently had her leg destroyed by a truck and managed to get some settlement money, so she was able to pay off “my” fine and help me not go to jail.

          No, I’m not actually happy about any of that. This was all over a lack of insurance papers in a vehicle that wasn’t even mine, which I’d been told was already covered for the month.

        5. Opus the Poet

          You need a new grav for this site. I have a picture I grabbed off a QC page, that is nothing remotely porny or even sexual, that would be great as a grav for your username. How could I get the picture to you so you can use it?

        6. Delicious Taffy

          I’m active on Twitter under this name, if you’ve got that. An imgur link or similar would also work.

        7. Opus the Poet

          Sent.

      6. Needfuldoer

        I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

    2. Rotunda

      Very rarely.

    3. Dean

      Ross is a white guy, so he gets white guy rules. They’re not as good as rich white guy rules, but they’re still pretty good.

      1. SgtWadeyWilson

        I think you misspelled evil.

        1. SgtWadeyWilson

          Twice.

        2. alice

          ?

        3. Dean

          Good for him, I mean. Not objectively good.

    4. Agemegos

      Yes, but Ross is a white Christian homeowner, so he’s not a danger to society.

      1. Agemegos

        Straight, too. Probably a member of the NRA.

      2. C.T Phipps

        In my state, if he was poor, they’d still throw the book at him. Kentucky has done a great deal to equalize their hatred of and killing of the poor. Don’t believe me…look up food insecurity in Kentucky.

        1. Opus the Poet

          Or just look up Cherokee Schill, arrested for riding a bike to work after her car died permanently.
          https://road.cc/content/news/130546-kentucky-cyclist-repeatedly-arrested-%E2%80%93-commuting-road
          Pretty much the poster child for existing while poor in KY.

    5. regina phalange

      For remand with no bail, the crime usually has to be pretty horrific and repetitive (like serial rape/murder), or the person has to be a significant flight risk (like, skipped bail before, or literally owns a private plane and is a dual citizen).

      While the bail bond system is broken in other ways, this isn’t one of them. If Ross’s actions would be considered baseline for remand, almost all felonies would be, and that’s effectively jailing ALL of those people without a trial, considering these bail hearings can be anywhere from a few months to a year before trial. Can you imagine if this wasn’t such a cut and dry case, and there was a good likelihood the guy was innocent?

    6. Wizard

      Per the Indiana constitution, bail can’t be denied for any charge except murder. For any other crime, bail may be sky high, depending on the seriousness of the charges and whether the defendant is deemed a flight risk, but it can’t be denied outright.

      1. thejeff

        And this is why cash bail is a stupid system.
        You wind up with people who are serious risks (for flight or reoffense) getting out because they can put up the cash, but people who aren’t languishing in jail because they can’t.

  22. auroki

    Cue the Legion of Doom theme from the Super Friends

    1. abysswatcher1993

      The Legion of Doom only cares about stealing money, conquering the world and defeat the Super Friends. These guys want to convert gay people through torture and possibly murder innocents.

      1. ESM

        Honestly, DoA villains have always had a bizarre flair for dramatic Saturday Morning Tomfoolery that’s somewhat awkwardly co-existed them with being serious commentary on real social issues.

        Like, if tomorrow’s strip was Blaine telling Ross “If we don’t want to go back to jail, we’ll need to conceal our identities with masks!”, would it really seem that out of place considering they’re literally teaming up to fight a super-hero?

        Like, I don’t think it’s LIKELY that Ross is going to wear a spandex onesie with a giant toe on the chest, but I can’t entirely rule it out. I’ve always liked the goofier Skeletor side of DoA villains; it keeps the comic from getting too depressing, and allows these villains to be not-boring to read about without portraying them sympathetically. Every time Willis has so much as a throwaway line about Toedad missing his wife the comments get flooded with shitposting Toedad stans, so if Willis is going all in on the “All the bad guys are homophobic Riddlers”, I’m fully 100% unironically down.

        1. MatthewTheLucky

          Hey! What did Riddler ever do to you!?

        2. auroki

          The Legion when together or acting independently is always acting on their own interests. Just like ESM commented, they are trying to being back on of their own who is a legit known criminal back into the fold like some deranged villian council. Any parent I’ve known mine or other wise would never have let their kids near another parent who had no problems threatening children over their Ideals and choices.

          And of course Blaine would do his research and seek out these Fundis to use as his own minions to exact whatever sadistic ideas he has for Amber or /Amazi Girl. (Still considering he hasn’t figured out her identity. Also assuming amber didn’t leave data on that flash drive he had Faz acquire) Despite it being about some serious topics, this strip to me at least plays like the opening villian plan of the week dialogue of how they are going to steal The Eye of Thundara so that they may dine on turtle soup after finally unmasking that pesky neighborhood Spider Man!

          That being said if they are going to start being more aggressively active and offensive with their pland and motives, masks and costumes might not be a bad idea really. Look how long Amazi Girl was able to keep her identity a secret. People are more entranced by the idea of masked heroes and villians than figuring out their goals or even their Identities.

          Plus if Willis is gonna go all Kickass on us with regular joes and janes beating each other in costume then I too am also game.

    2. Ryek Hvek

      the Parents of Doom are assembling a legal team

  23. Diner Kinetic

    Amazi-Girl runs on comic book physics, so in a way Blaine assembling his own Masters of Evil makes perfect sense.

    But also: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

  24. Bagge

    Joyce: “Jocelyne… is mom a good person?”

    Mom: “If I hunt my child with a gun I may go to jail. Where is the justice in that? Also, we should really try to get Toedad back.”

    Narrator: “Carol was not a good person.”

    1. Meagan

      I heard that in the voice of the Pushing Daisies narrator. Then my brain tried to do it in the Jane the Virgin Latin Lover Narrator voice and it didn’t work.

      I think the Pushing Daisies narrator added in an ‘alas’ – ‘Carol, alas, was *not* a good person.’

      1. Koboldnation

        Try the Arrested development narator, it works 🙂

        1. Seregiel

          I got Hitchhikers Guide narrator. It works because I hope his whale ass splats.

        2. Meagan

          Never watched Arrested Development and only read the Hitchhikers books. Well I did watch the movie but don’t remember anything about it except it was super different from the books.

  25. Tacos

    Aw fuck.

  26. Teddae

    DAMN YOU WILLIS

  27. newllend(henryvolt)

    Yep! The Sinister six story line is going down.

  28. Piotr W

    Wait, that’s Joyce’s mom? Oh wow…

    1. Bagge

      It sure is.

      Oh wow indeed.

  29. Bagge

    JOOOOOYCE, CODE EVIL DAD. DECK THAT MOTHEREFFER.

  30. TheFlamingonator

    Oh fuck…

    out of curiosity how much would Toedads bail be? I mean threatened two teens on a college camous with a gun and attempted to kidnap one against her will… It better be dang high

    1. Wraithy2773

      On principle, it should be low enough that he can afford to pay it, but but high enough that he can’t skip town on it.

      That’s what bail should be for everyone accused of a crime. Too often bail is used as a cudgel to get someone to confess to a crime because they need to get out of jail and back to work.

      1. Wraithy2773

        …and obvious addendum to what I said: If he is not in a state of mind where he would be willing to respect the bail posted, he should not be offered bail of any amount.

      2. Reltzik

        Principle and the bail system are rarely on speaking terms.

  31. Josh Spicer

    That’s a no from me dawg.

    *stares at monitor*

    *takes glasses off*

    *walks outside*

    *just never comes back*

    1. Josh Spicer

      Alternatively.

      Fucking Blaine.

  32. Khyrin

    I had hoped Hank had snapped the crankshaft on the “Ross gets out of prison” nightmare machine.

  33. BBCC

    Oh, hey, right after we talk about how Carol doesn’t give a shit Ross stuck a gun in Joyce’s face!

    Mother fucker, I hate everyone in this room.

    1. thejeff

      Of course she cares, but she’s more worried about how “they” will come after poor innocent Christians just trying to raise their kids right. It’s the principle of the thing.

      1. BBCC

        Pfft, silly liberals, thinking children are PEOPLE with RIGHTS and not just property of their parents.

  34. TimeLoss

    Yep, they are all the absolute worst. What the hell is Blaine’s master plan here?

    1. DailyBrad

      My prediction? Pain.

      The memory stick he made Faz get from him would tell him who Amber’s friends were, and he wants to cause trouble for her. I wouldn’t be shocked if he finds some other ways to do it, too.

      It’s kinda fucked up that Faz himself might be one of our few bits of hope if can give them any kind of warning. Maybe Joyce’s kindness will bear fruit if he has remorse for the shit Blaine is pulling now.

      1. DrunkenNordmann

        Of course that’d require Faz to actually realise he screwed up.

        1. DailyBrad

          I think he knows, he just seems very trapped. Even with the way Amber treats him, she’s still better to him than his parents are, and he knows it.

      2. Vulcanodon

        Causing disaster for her friends would be a very mob-guy thing to do.
        Also, Damn You Willis.

    2. TheFlamingonator

      Getting on their good side? Making them believe that miracles do happen qnd then he turns around and does something thst they twist into something beautiful? Not sure but I HATE ITT

      Cant imagine its using Ross to help him get closer to the campus, they are definitely not getting anywhere near it.

  35. Transgressingwaffle

    While I love how good this twist is. I’m a little sickened. I thought he was gone. Dont get me wrong I’m excited but things were just going well. Damn you Willis. Damn you.

    1. Transgressingwaffle

      I just realized that was Amber’s Dad. This just got worst. What the hell.

  36. NF

    This is like a supervillain team-up.

  37. Aubrey

    Mmf

    Carol seems reeeeally fargone. Like, buying into the narrative that a man being arrested for kidnapping, threatening people with a gun, shooting a gun on campus, vehicular assault, and quite a bit more means that you are at risk… yikes. That’s full-on religious indoctrination, that being a Christian makes violence okay.

    1. Meagan

      I just want to point out that there are a *lot* of ways to be Christian in this world. I don’t like when folks flatten it into all-one-thing. I don’t think you are necessarily saying that’s not true, but for any peace-loving, non-threatening-children-with-guns Christians on this thread, I see you. ^_^ (

      Not a Christian myself, but have known many that would never condone this kind of thing – the majority, really, of the ones I’ve met. I see what is happening here as a fringe phenomenon that seems more prevalent in certain places due to concentration of people with such beliefs in those places.

      1. BigDogLittleCat

        Unfortunately, this “fringe” has been moving into the mainstream and has considerable power still in the US.
        These are the people behind the laws that threaten women’s healthcare, LGBTQ people, and science education.
        #notallchristians, but these are the Christians who matter these days because they’re driving the repressive policies of the right.

        1. C.T Phipps

          For an example here in Appallachia, the Big Box Corporate Churches are all shills for the Republican Party and drain tens of millions from the public every year that they divide among themselves as well as donations. They often talk about the evils of abortion and the “in Fox news” issues.

          They also ignore the fact that 2 million Kentuckians are food insecure along with 200,000 children without enough food. So much so the independent churches allied with secular charities are the only reason people aren’t dying left and right of hunger.

        2. thejeff

          The Vice President gave a speech to Liberty University grads this weekend about how Christians in this country are being persecuted for their beliefs and freedom of religion is under assault.

          Carol’s right in line for a lot of fundies here.

        3. C.T Phipps

          It’s important to understand that Pence doesn’t believe Catholics, Mormons, liberal Christians, or everything really but fundamentalist evangelicals are Christians. So, he’s correct because a lot of us believe their hate-filled prosperity gospel is heretical and should be stopped from spreading hate as well as supporting corrupt government.

      2. alice

        what are you responding to?

  38. Alice Macher

    Anathema you, Willis!

    (The usual “damn you” didn’t seem strong enough for this turn of events.)

    1. Minim

      …now all I can think of is Anathema Device…

      1. LauraS

        18 days!

  39. TheTJ

    Also…. Kinda going through some stuff like this with my parents at the moment… Only I didn’t get the college experience as the rude jolt that Joyce did, instead I had to rely on Web-comics, pop-culture, and fellow nerds to get my head on straight.

    It can be truly shocking to see something absolutely unforgivable, and then find out your parents think it’s mostly okay, they just disagree with “How they went about it”

    Willis, I feel like a lot of this is semi-autobiographical for you, but it is cutting me to the quick, my man.

  40. Ravenstromdans

    Oh, look. It’s the monthly meeting of the Willfully Ignorant and the Ignorantly Malignant of Society. This should go well!

    1. Reltzik

      Oh, no. They meet AT LEAST once a week.

  41. Bagge

    “No, I actually think what Ross did was bad, that we should condemn the hunting of children with guns and maybe we could give that money to the poor instead of bailing out a monster?” <- Said by no one in that room, which includes at least five people. Among them a pastor, a youth pastor and the friggin' mother of one of the people threatened.

    1. BBCC

      And any other LGBT+ kids in that congregation are getting a very important lesson right now.

      I hate these adults so much right now.

      1. Nono

        I’d like to think that there’d be some sense not to have children for this meeting, but… I’m not sure these guys are raising kids right in the first place.

        1. BBCC

          I mean, even if they aren’t physically present, they’ll certainly hear all about it.

    2. Reltzik

      “Oh, and definitely some money for the victim, who was left homeless, penniless, disowned, and without any legal documents.”

      1. Bagge

        “Because when we brag about how we look after our own, we DO mean that we help the victims rather than the abusers, right?”

        1. C.T Phipps

          “Why didn’t we just shoot Becky while she was here? Had she tasted salt and water to make her guesting right?”

  42. Kamino Neko

    … Come on, Carol, you remember he had a goddamn gun, right? And threatened your daughter, as well as her best friend? You’ve lost your last shred of ‘maybe she’s just misguided’ (sorry, Joss).

    1. DailyBrad

      “I would die for you, Joyce, I would die for you”. We already knew she was making excuses for Ross, we just… oof. I notice we do not see if Hank is there or not, but given he’s explicitly stated he’s never liked Ross, we can hold out hope.

      1. bryy

        I doubt Hank was even told about this meeting.

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      Yeah, I was holding out hope that maybe she would turn things around and have at least have one person have a Redemption. But it looks like that hopes just been stomped out.

      1. King Daniel

        If you’re holding out for a potential parental redemption arc, Hank seems to be on that course right now.

        1. newllend(henryvolt)

          He’s already redeemed himself in my eyes.

  43. Tandel

    Holy ass balls, purported parents and guardians, being a worse person than Gashface isn’t a tournament you’re supposed to want to compete and win at. Yet here we are.

  44. newllend(henryvolt)

    This has got to be the second worst thing I’ve seen a fictional mother do on mother’s day this year.

    1. Bagge

      …I hesitate to ask about the worst.

      1. newllend(henryvolt)

        Queen Moon from “Star vs.”

        1. Lingo

          I thought you were referring to GoT.

        2. newllend(henryvolt)

          Ok, the worst thing a fictional CARTOON Mpther has done on mothers day this year. ( don’t watch Game of Thrones but I’m not taking my chances)

        3. Marsh Maryrose

          From what I understand, the Mother of Dragons had quite a night.

        4. Bagge

          I kinda like their father’s day entry in the end of season four.

        5. TemperaryObsessor

          To be fair Carol neither has access to magic nor the influence to hope to get away with worse.

  45. Derek

    what the fuck could Blaine possibly gain from this!?

    1. BBCC

      He hurts Amber’s friends, therefore he hurts Amber.

      1. Rotunda

        I think he wants money, too. His introductory angle to the church people is that he can help them raise money. He will do this in an evil way, and keep some, maybe all. He doesn’t personally care that Ross is in jail awaiting trial, but knowing that there are people who do gives him something to hang a scam on.

        1. BigDogLittleCat

          Good point. Christians like this are among the easiest people to scam because they believe their own narratives instead of paying attention to how the world really works.
          I would loooooove it if Blaine runs a scam scalps all these creeps.

    2. Bagge

      “The enemy of my daughter is my friend.”

      Because that’s just the kind of father he is.

    3. Eve

      Amazigirl basically caused a car accident in that daring chase scene, if he can get ross out and willing to legally get on her for that, he can get revenge on amber.

  46. ESM

    I’m a little confused as to what Blaine’s up to, here. Is he trying to team up with a bunch of DoA villains to form a Legion of Doom to fight Amazi-Girl? Are Mary and Ruth’s Grandpa going to show up in green and yellow spandex?

    1. newllend(henryvolt)

      My guest is he figured out that Amber was Amazi-girl and he’s trying to get pay back by ruining her life.

      1. ESM

        If he knew that Amber was Amazi-Girl, wouldn’t he go straight to Ryan the Rapist with that information, and offer to help him get revenge in exchange for dropping the lawsuit? Unless he doesn’t want to kill Amazi-Girl, in which case he has no reason to team up with Ross.

        1. Fart Captor

          I’m pretty sure Ryan is not in any condition to go after Amazi-Girl again even if he’s dumb enough. Hopefully that little shit has PTSD and can’t even talk to brunettes with glasses anymore without peeing his pants

    2. DailyBrad

      Honestly, I picture Naomi shows up next, especially if anything Amber may have had on her computer can implicate Ethan as being openly gay. Keep in mind, the only way he got her off his back to begin with was dating Joyce. He’s here to make life hell.

  47. Derek

    also I said hello to David earlier at TCAF. hi Mr Willis!

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      I thought the tradition Willis greeting was, “Damn you!”?

      1. Derek

        crud, I didn’t even think of that at the time

        1. Yumi

          I was trying to be nice when I met him. Now I wish I had upped my Patreon amount to $5 so I could have seen this early and yelled “Damn you!” while displaying the strip on my phone.

  48. Thursday Violist

    …and they all lived happily ever after.

    1. Opus the Poet

      In Hell? I could back the Kickstarter for that.

  49. Cephalo the Pod

    …I’m not sure I’m feeling it.

    Hasn’t Willis confirmed that whatever jail time Toedad would be getting was enough that Becky wouldn’t have to worry about him for, like, years?

    Assuming I’m recallig correctly, there can’t really be any stakes in this emerging conflict.

    1. DailyBrad

      I guess it depends. I wouldn’t be shocked if the conditions of his bail would make it abundantly clear he needs to stay far, far away from Becky, but we don’t know for sure.

    2. BBCC

      We’re not at jail time territory. We’re at bail territory.

      1. Cephalo the Pod

        …so I did a few seconds of research, and I found out bail is a temporary thing?

        But I could have sworn that some people get released from jail permanently due to bail?

        And now I’m genuinely confused as to why someone would spend so much money just to briefly get someone out of jail.

        1. Rabid Rabbit

          Bail is “You give us this much money, and we don’t make you stay in jail until your trial.” So if you get found not guilty at trial, you end up not going to jail at all (after the first few days, and Toedad’s spent at least some of those in hospital).

          And it’s not necessarily that brief a time, depending on how loaded the court calendar is and how much time the prosecution feels it needs to prepare a case. Among other things, that may mean that you can keep working until the trial, and not lose your house or whatever.

        2. FairyGothMama

          If the person out on bail shows up for court like a reasonable human, the bail money is returned.

        3. Agemegos

          Bail gets refunded when you appear at court for your trial.

        4. Knayt

          Minus the fraction paid the bail bondsman, as people usually can’t afford their whole bail without a loan.

        5. Agemegos

          We don’t have the thing with bail bondsmen and bounty hunters where I come from, because we hate free enterprise and freedom and grifters making a buck out of the American Way.

        6. butting

          Are you thinking of parole by any chance?

          Bail allows somebody to be out of custody (though with conditions set by the court if felt necessary, often including financial sureties) in the time leading up to trial.

          Parole sets somebody free from custody (though with conditions set by the parole board if felt necessary) in the latter parts of their sentence.

      2. King Daniel

        IIRC, he hasn’t even had a trial date set yet. Or if it has, I can’t remember where.

        1. Rabid Rabbit

          Not that we’ve heard, and at the pace this comic goes, I don’t think we’re any more likely to see his trial than Gashface’s.

  50. Masumi

    Joyce should invest in some punchin’ gloves. So she doesn’t break her wrist again.

    1. TheFlamingonator

      Like Boxing gloves? because oh my god that is such a satisfying mental image

      1. Tyler Durham

        Nah, they don’t hurt enough. Think boxing gloves with spikes.

        1. TheFlamingonator

          ooh brass knuckles spring to mind

      2. Opus the Poet

        Punching gloves protect the hands from impact but don’t reduce the impact to the target. Primary use is speedbag work, the traditional punching bag.

    2. thejeff

      She could use a little training in throwing a proper punch as well.

  51. hector balbador

    Next storyline is called Vote for Robin

    1. Marsh Maryrose

      I was told the next storyline would be Chum Malaya.

      1. King Daniel

        Storyline titles change on occasion – “It All Returns” was originally titled “Returns to Nothing”.

        1. Marsh Maryrose

          🙂 There was a twitter thread too long to explain, and also my keyboard is acting up, and also, like Robin, I may not make it as far as the bedroom before I go ker-plop.

  52. emusam

    A logical sequence of events:

    Blaine has the money. He uses this as an in to the community.
    Ross doesn’t believe in rule of law and skips bail.
    But they catch him immediately.
    Everyone is out their money plus in debt to Blaine for some con.
    Blaine is less in debt to people you really don’t want to be in debt to.

    1. Zero

      Wouldn’t he be more in debt?

      1. emusam

        He makes a little off the con.

  53. Bagge

    “Father, can we afford to send me to college?”
    “No my son, that money goes to your sister. You should hate her.”
    “I understand father… what are you doing now?”
    “Now I’m bailing out a monster out of jail. That’s very good use of our money.”
    “…yes father.”

    I mean, at this point I just assume Blaine poisons poodles or something offscreen everytime we don’t see him

  54. Angel

    Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

  55. Fart Captor

    I was SOOOOO happy that Becky had showing up lately and forgot that it’s not safe to spend too much time in the spotlight around here 🙁

    Now she’s living and working off campus, away from any security guards or friends who might alert her to approaching butthole dads! I’ll bet Carol or even suspicious enough that she won’t tell Hank about any of this in case he warned her about it

    (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

    1. RicardtheDragoon

      She may not have campus security guards or nearby friends anymore, but Becky now has another line of defense: her boss, Robin, who will use any controversy to get another vote in her favor. Becky may or may not be as well protected as before, but, for her own selfish interests, Robin will make sure any harm is publicized to the broadest region she can get.

      1. Fart Captor

        Yeah but that’s not gonna do squat to PREVENT harm. She doesn’t have like a security detail except at events. At best, all publicity is gonna do is make it harder to drag Becky to brainwashing camp unnoticed, which is not reassuring

        1. SillyGoose

          Since Robin had chosen the appartment for herself, we can hope it’s the kind of condo with a full-time janitor or some other security measures preventing trespassers from entering the building.
          Of course it’s not helpful during commute, but it’s something.

  56. Catman

    … Fuck…

  57. Rotunda

    Blaine isn’t from La Porte. He is there, at the church, at a meeting for bailing out Ross, on an evil mission to hurt people. A room full of gullible strangers with a strong need for action but not enough money is a natural environment for his grifting ways.

    1. Bagge

      The only silver lining I can think of is that he will probably cause these assholes LOTS of pain in the long run.

      Sadly, a lot of it will spill over to Joyce, Becky and Amber first.

    2. Fart Captor

      They don’t need to be all that gullible. They’re perfectly okay with the kind of hurting Blaine is aiming for. This arrangement will be mutually beneficial and all of them will sleep just fine even if somebody gets killed as a direct result. After all, they’re “just trying to do what’s right” (ugh)

      1. Rotunda

        They’re going to be gullible. Remember how he scammed Danny by acting concerned about Amber? He’s likely to present himself as sympathetic to the persecution righteous people like them suffer at the hands of the ungodly majority. He could pretend to be setting up a web site like GoFundMe for such victims, and keep the takings. He could be agitating for them to uncover and punish Amazi-Girl, too. He’s not allowed on campus, and not allowed near Stacy, but he has been resourceful in devising workarounds like sending in Faz to do espionage. He has uses for a church full of people with a one-track mind, where that one track doesn’t involve being wary about the likes of Blaine O’Malley.

  58. Ferret

    God damnit Willis. You couldn’t just let us have a good and pure and wholesome strip and call it a day, could you?

    1. Catman

      He gave us exactly a day. Yesterday.

  59. tim gueguen

    These people are following a narrative that Fox News would look at and go “Nope, we’re not going to support this guy.” They’d probably wave away what Ross did as the actions of a mentally ill lone wolf who isn’t a real Christian.

    1. DrunkenNordmann

      You’re giving Fox News too much credit.

  60. NaYa

    Fuck. I hate this world so much.

  61. abysswatcher1993

    So Joyce mom is evil and working for an homophobic group, and Blaine wants to help them to make a league of evil that is actually more competent than what Lex Luthor/Facebook guy tried to do in Batman V Superman. Also, I know Blaine wants revenge against his daughter, but why is he targeting her friends that he barely knows? It would make sense if he targeted Dina, or Danny, but Joyce and Becky?

    1. Zero

      Amazi-Girl helped defeat Blaine. He’s an Evil Dad, which is her Favored Foe.

      1. goggleman64

        Thank you for this moment of joy x3

      2. Zero

        Ross. I meant Ross.

        Although she did do both.

  62. Nono

    How would Blaine have enough money still? He has to raise Faz, and court order means he still has to pay for Amber’s education.

    What does this hellspawn even do for a living that he could bail out someone with likely a dozen federal crimes stacked against him?

    1. King Daniel

      It’s been established previously (in both universes) that Blaine has literal Mafia connections. In the other ‘verse at least, Faz’s mother Yuri was the daughter of one of the higher-ups.

      1. Nono

        I really have no idea how Blaine and Stacey ended up together then.

        I mean, Amber probably wasn’t a planned pregnancy, but this is still a mafia henchman marrying and living with some suburban mom for a decade and a half.

        1. Rotunda

          To a sociopath like Blaine, it would be sufficient that Stacy is pretty and he desired her, and perhaps thought she would make a nice decoration. The techniques that such people use for gaining and abusing spouses are well-documented.

        2. Eve

          Because normal husband in a nice family that seems unrelated to that mafia makes it harder for cops to associate him with them maybe?

    2. Vukodlak

      A bond is not a fine, assuming Ross doesn’t jump bail or get arrested again, Blaine will get his money back. Even if Ross is eventually convicted. He’s also not shouldering the full cost.

      1. Vukodlak

        As an added note as it is Indiana, they could go to a Bond Agent and pay only 10% (non-refundable) and the agent will take care of the rest/.

  63. Rabid Rabbit

    To everyone complaining that they’re wrong: Come on, Toedad ended up with injuries requiring a neck brace. Surely that’s penance enough??? (/s, in case it wasn’t obvious.)

    At least Hank doesn’t seem to be there, at least at the moment.

    1. Zero

      That’s enough penance. The problem is he’s still dangerous.

      That’s a different question.

    2. Vukodlak

      I prefer to use Italics for sarcasm but because this comments section doesn’t have an edit or review feature I’d ended up with the tags showing half the time.

  64. Michael Chandra

    Kill them all and let their God sort them out.

    1. Zero

      Doesn’t seem to require much sorting.
      Dump the lot in the reject bin and move on.

  65. Wraithy2773

    ……okay, stepping back a bit from the attitudes of the church-members here? A… hot take of sorts.

    In terms of principle, it’s, erm, wrong that Becky’s father had bail set at an amount that he couldn’t possible afford (which seems to be implied here).

    Bail is supposed to be a way to allow those accused of crimes to continue to support their families and organize their defense, but while also providing enough of a deterrent to prevent them from just running for the hills. If someone seems to be enough of a threat to society that they cannot be trusted to act rationally and respect the amount of bail given, they should not be offered bail.

    Its one of those tricky “Legal Ethics” questions, because we’ve seen “Bail is set at twice your yearly salary and you’re the only provider for two kids guess you better just plead guilty to this crime for a sentence that lets you out of prison” to be horrifically abused.

    It it outright wrong that people are in jail right now because they cannot afford to post bail. That shit needs to stop.

    …

    Still, fuck Becky’s asshole of a father, and fuck Joyce’s asshole of a mother too for her reasoning for this crap. Just wanted to bring up that there’s OTHER bits of bullshit going on too.

    1. Meagan

      Good point. I think, in this case he should not have gotten bail at all, because he showed himself to be a religious extremist. He does not have any children or family to support because his wife is dead and he is obviously not going to be supporting his daughter financially unless she obeys him, and she is of age (I assume – some people start freshman year at 17, and if that were her the cops would have sent her to foster care or family, I think).

      And yes, jail and bail systems are totally messed up.

      1. Fart Captor

        Yeah, setting bail impossibly high is wrong only when someone isn’t clearly dangerous or a flight risk. What’s wrong here is that Ross would already be out if he were wealthy, despite how clearly dangerous he is

        1. Meagan

          But Wraithy’s point as I understand it is that if someone is clearly dangerous, they shouldn’t have bail at all.

      2. BBCC

        One of the first things Becky said to Ethan was that she was eighteen and her dad could go screw.

      3. StClair

        Christians can’t be religious extremists. QED.
        Only people who follow/believe in other, wrong religions.

    2. regina phalange

      Yeah, there’s something deeply, deeply broken in the bail system in terms of manipulative price setting and lack of adjustment for poorer defendants.

      That said, they don’t look at the actual evidence yet at bail, because it’s not trial time (if a trial could be had that quickly, it would be–saves a lot of time/effort). All they look at is the defendant to assess flight/recidivism risk in general, then the magnitude of the crime of which he was accused. It’s pretty flatly-wrong to deny bail based on only those factors unless one/both are extreme, because that’s essentially jailing someone without a trial (i.e. denying him due process) (….and so is setting an aggressively high bail, but again, deeply broken in that regard). I’m guessing that in this case, the judge saw the news, and even though it’s not evidence-assessment time, let the fact that Ross is clearly guilty factor into setting the high bail. Because I doubt his possible charges would amount to THAT much, but defendants whose crimes were caught on tape and shown on the news tend to get higher bails.

      1. thejeff

        His charges are pretty serious. Kidnapping is a big deal felony.
        He’s got at least assault with a deadly weapon on there as well.

        And while he may not be a huge flight risk, he is a serious risk of reoffending. No reason to think he wouldn’t go after Becky again. Any kind of domestic violence has huge recidivism potential.

        That said, I’d rather see bail denied than set intentionally high in an attempt to prevent him from making it. That’s the worst of both worlds. Either it’s a bypass of the bail rules to keep him in jail without trial or, if he can unexpectedly pay it, a way for him to get out and be a threat again.

        1. Opus the Poet

          Also not mentioned was possible Federal charges, which would have an additional bail set for. That might push the total beyond his ability to pay. Also since he’s estranged from his daughter and his wife is dead and they apparently didn’t have any other children, his familial obligations are nil, negating that from consideration.

  66. newllend(henryvolt)

    Ok ok people Carol could be worse, I mean the only way Carol could be any worse is if let’s say we find out that she such a hardcore Ross sympathizer is because she had a affair with him or something…… which would make sense as an excuse if anyone asked for a reason why Becky’s mom killed herself.

    Shit I think I just thought up a depressing fan theory.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      That wouldn’t be far off. Abusers enable each other.

    2. Meagan

      Content Notification: internalized homophobia, suicide, in the context of making this fan theory way worse.

      Maybe she and Becky’s mom had an affair and then the mom felt so bad about being a sinner, and Carol is trying to make up for it…

      That’s dark. Hence the CN I added.

  67. 3oranges

    This is a wonderful strip, bringing all these people into the same room, and then making it absolutely clear they deserve to be in the meteor impact we will hear about on the news later.
    …
    I will like it considerably less if we don’t get said meteor impact.

  68. Robbie

    I feel sick

    1. Robbie

      I’m gonna go meditate on the phrase “it’s a comic”

  69. Jupiterror

    Blaine, why

    1. abysswatcher1993

      Because he is an evil piece of shit that makes Joe’s dad look like a saint.

    2. Fart Captor

      He’s probably trying to undo the one thing he knows his daughter feels pretty good about

    3. Matthew Davis

      I’m not sure it’s fair to put Joe’s dad in the “evil dad” category. “Clueless horndog dad that needs to do better (and is kinda trying, maybe?),” maybe.

  70. rachel

    *reads today’s trip* oh no oh no oh no oh no
    *reads today’s announcement* OH YES

  71. Foxhack

    Clearly there is no God, because if there were, he’d make everyone in this strip fall into a hole.

    1. abysswatcher1993

      Or there are multiple gods, and some are evil.

      1. Meagan

        I’ve been spending a lot of time on reddit lately, and I’m wondering if the phrase ‘username checks out’ would be appropriate here. It might be a stretch, or not, depending on your theology/cosmology.

        1. CoMa

          I think it’d fit perfectly.

          Also I agree. A volcano might also suffice. An active one.

      2. Reltzik

        Or only a single god, who’s evil.

        … I mean, it would explain SO MUCH of the Old Testament…

        1. Josh Spicer

          Evil or just a dick?

        2. Reltzik

          “Huh. Pharaoh just decided to let my people go… but it’s too soon, I wasn’t done plaguing Egypt… huh… what to do… what to do…. I KNOW! I’ll harden his heart to MAKE him keep them as slaves! This way I’ll still get to kill EVERY FIRSTBORN CHILD IN EGYPT!”

          …. I’m going to go with evil on this one.

    2. newllend(henryvolt)

      So Willis doesn’t exist? Bizzare.

  72. Delicious Taffy

    Raise your kid right. Point an actual fucking gun at their face until they obey you.

  73. Mr. Random

    …. this seems bad.

  74. NinjaNick

    No! No bailing out that Toeleech.

  75. Meagan

    I thought that this was a scene where random churchgoers were raising money for *Ryan* to get out on bail for a while. And I was wondering why Carol was there and if she knew all the messed up stuff he did.

    I didn’t figure it out until I came to the comments.

    1. Bagge

      Honestly, that would be on brand for them as well.

      1. Gandalf007

        I think it’s been hinted that Ryan is a (possibly famous and influential) pastor’s son or similar, so yeah, it totally would.

        1. C.T Phipps

          I genuinely am surprised it’s not this Pastor’s son.

          But I guess Willis thought the world would be too small then.

        2. BBCC

          Also, Joyce probably would have known her own pastor’s son.

        3. Rabid Rabbit

          That being said, it would make Blaine’s appearance make a bit more sense, in that he’d have an easier time linking Amber and Gashface-Dad’s congregation than Amber and Random-Guy-Who-Shot-Up-the-Campus.

          It occurs to me that he may still not know that Amber and AG are the same body; last we saw him, he was looking for information into Amber’s friends, and her may just have happened upon Toedad that way.

        4. thejeff

          Or that Amazi-Girl, who beat him up, was also involved in stopping Ross.

          Or he learned from the thumb drive Faz stole that Amber is AG.

        5. David

          Ryan is the secret son of Joyce’s older pastor brother.

        6. Opus the Poet

          Too young/old. Joyce’s brother is too young, Ryan is too old.

  76. JessWitt

    Oh. My. Gods.

    I’m losing my mind out of shock reading this strip. I can’t believe that Ross’ old congregation would think to try and release him. And then Blaine shows up and ughhh.

    So, anyone have any stories of people trying to release dangerous folks out of prison?

    1. King Daniel

      Willis linked a real-life example further up. Guy shoots a school bus driver during a snowstorm, posts bail, gets out.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Yeah, but the poor guy says he feared for his safety. You can’t hold anything he did against him, right?

  77. JetstreamGW

    Pfftahahahahahahaha.

    Oh this is gonna be great. Drama time!

  78. Xccj

    Blaine is trying to create his own Sinister Six gang or whatever. Next he’ll try to recruit Clint.

    1. David

      Ryan and Leland?

  79. Kitschensyngk

    I am picturing a number of scenarios where this could all play out and each of them end in a smoldering crater where Indiana University used to be.

  80. drs

    And this is how the Pride started.

    (Actually the Pride are better parents than this lot. Blaine doesn’t care enough. Carol could fit in, what with worshiping an eldritch horror and being willing to die for her child, but is too forgiving of someone else threatening her kid.)

  81. Peter

    For the record, this was the moment when I decided that Carol was not just bad, but irredeemable.

  82. Axel

    I’m not saying this is unrealistic because it isn’t but what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

    1. Axel

      I hope this gets back to Joyce and fast

  83. MatsuoTanuki

    https://youtu.be/PB4Nby2Ai-g

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      DO. NOT. WAAAAANT! D:

  84. Mkvenner

    I was expecting horns and brimstone.

    1. MatsuoTanuki

      https://youtu.be/1b4HXE9PaNs

  85. Corlanthis

    Holy shit if *this* isn’t an ominous strip. I had to scroll back up and double check that there wasn’t a portentous lightning strike behind Blaine in the last panel.

  86. Bagge

    It was a while since we saw Blaine, so maybe it’s good to look back on his best moments.

    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/04-just-hangin-out-with-my-family/approved/

    1. Bagge

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/nothing/

      1. Bagge

        Maybe should take a look at Toedad as well, while we are at it.

        http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/damn/

        1. Keulen

          I don’t think assholes like Blaine and Toedad have “best” moments. They just have bad and slightly-less-bad moments.

        2. Yumi

          I get the feeling you didn’t click any of the links.

  87. Nono

    Okay, I think I’ve figured out why this strip upset me.

    When Ross was… indisposed, it felt like, for once, there was a win. Becky got her freedom. Amazi-Girl defied physics just to save her. Joyce got in a much-applauded punch. And Becky’s farewell to Ross felt cathartic.

    But now there’s the reminder that he can come back. He can always come back. And then it doesn’t feel like a win anymore. Because there might never be a proper win, because people like Carol and Pastors and so on will always be set against you. And it just feels very bleak, and miserable, even with the knowledge that it will all probably work out because it’s a comic.

    I’ve sat through all of DoA, through some of the really ugly, but real stuff, like Ryan and Robin and Mary, but when this storyline pops up again, I might actually have to take a break instead of following it real-time.

    1. BBCC

      Take care of yourself.

    2. Marisa Mockery

      Same here. I can’t handle another Blaine or Toedad arc, muchless the two teaming up.

      1. Robbie

        I’m not sure I can either.
        I recently moved across the country to be as far from abusive family as I can. My dad is very much like toedad and Joyce’s mom, only looks less like a toe… and it is really hard to read this stuff.

        1. Dragon_Nataku

          *hugs everyone in this thread*

    3. Nelly Dreadful

      Me too. I might… need to delete the dumbing of age bookmark for a while and check back in a year or two. I’m in a bad mental place at the moment where everything feels hopeless and like nothing I could do could matter or make things better. Having Becky’s Dad released again on the world by people who don’t care about the harm he might do despite everything that the characters did to stop him… I think that might hurt me, right now. I dunno if I’ll be able to stay away, habit is strong, but I think I might have to try.

      1. Inahc

        *hugs*

  88. oggser

    yeah ive been trying to come up with a comment for like 5 minutes so instead of content im just gonna ask you to imagine a full minute of visceral screaming in place of this. thanks in advance!

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Only a minute? Thank you for your incredible restraint in these trying times.

    2. Jhon

      Google is your friend:

      visceral screaming with no discernible start or end.

  89. AY

    >:(

    1. Koms

      This sums up all of our reactions actually.

    2. Catman

      Big mood

  90. CJ

    Ok, this one answers one of Joyce’s questions: Carol is bad.
    As well as both pastors of their church. There is no excuse for trying to get out a guy on bail who took a gun to his daughter.

    1. SillyGoose

      Let alone a guy who took a gun to *your* daughter.

  91. Opus the Poet

    Too. Many. Teeth.

    Amazi-Girl should have knocked out more of his teeth.

  92. brumagem

    I can only assume Willis coordinated this BUMMER of a strip to release the same day as announcing that DOOZY of a pornographique.

    I’m on to (damn) you, Willis.

  93. wynne

    WIIIIIIILLIIIIIIS

  94. dethtoll

    Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever hated a new story arc on sight as much as I have this. I agree with Nono, this is kind of a slap in the face. Ross is a villain we recognize on sight because we know people like him. Some of us have been victimized by people like him. As horrible as Blaine is, he’s got a kind of cartoon supervillain vibe around him that allows for some distance.

    And now some of the worst characters are all in a comic together? What the fuck is this Injustice League shit?

    1. BBCC

      There have been plenty of people in the comments who have talked about being victimized by men like Blaine.

      This is Blaine trying to hurt Amber through her friends, with info he probably got from the USB Faz supplied.

  95. BenRG

    So that’s Blaine’s Evil Plan(tm)? He wants Ross as his muscle? Well, at least presenting himself as some kind of white knight shows a degree of intelligence and cunning!

    1. SillyGoose

      Oh, Blaine’s smart, of sorts. I mean, abusers are usually very good at manipulating people. Either from the get-go or they learn when their early-year victims manage to get away from under their thumb. I mean, if you want to be able to keep abusing people without damage to yourself, gaslighting has to be part of it or someone might notice. Not *everyone*’s as accepting of torturing your children as fundies.

  96. Eldritch Gentleman

    Can we get an Exterminatus here? I think we really need an Exterminatus here.

    1. Kingmonster

      YES!! THIS GUY GETS IT!!!

  97. Koms

    I can’t express the anger I feel. Words fail me. Religion has always been used by a powerful few to control and manipulate other people. It’s true for many religions. Mine included. When I see people of my religion thinking that they are some blessed tribe and people of a certain other religion should be obliterated, it makes me so ashamed.

    1. Meagan

      I think this is more a function of humanity than religion per se, either that or any ideology can be thought of as a religion. People use tribalism and symbolism of all kinds to try to justify their superiority and right to conquer/control others. They (we, I’m a human too and thus susceptible to it) will use whatever cultural symbols are available to justify it.

  98. Warcodered

    Is this a team up?

    Legion of Bad Dads?

    1. CoMa

      The League of Extraordinarily Bad Parents?
      Anti-Justice League?
      Against Teens, Titans?

      I don’t know, call for ideas, people!

      1. Pan

        Against Teens, Titans is my favorite

  99. Warcodered

    Youth Pastor is right I mean it’s not like he killed anyone…I mean sure he came dangerously close. What kind of nanny state do we live in where we get punished for crimes we almost commit./sarcasm

    1. segnosaur

      Attempted Murder. Now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel prize for “attempted” chemistry?
      – Sideshow Bob

      1. TemperaryObsessor

        No but most classes as long as you can show you at least attempted your homework you will get some credit.

  100. TheHabbadasher

    Damn you, Willis!

    1. SillyGoose

      Damn you, Willis! indeed.

  101. C.T Phipps

    I know I was overwhelmed by Game of Thrones but this is just…sickening.

    I like to think even at my Pre-Liberal Christian days during my darkest, most homophobic and Fundamentalist days, that I would have been disgusted at this kind of behavior.

  102. CoMa

    I can’t even imagine Joyce’s reaction to her mother bailing him out. Or Becky’s, for that matter. And with help of Amber’s dad. Holy fuck.
    And this after yesterdays wonderful piece of narration.

    (Btw, my first reaction to this strip was immediately “Kill it with FIRE”, but I doubt this will become a viable option… maybe a bonus comic?
    Okay, no, bad, I shouldn’t even imagine that right after waking up)

    1. C.T Phipps

      “Say it.”

      “You’re insane.”

      “No, not that.”

      “Amazi-Girl will stop…”

      “WRONG!”

      1. Schpoonman

        I understand that Superman Returns isn’t a good but goddamn it had some good bits.

  103. ninja_jesus

    This is terrible.

    Also, so are the intrusive ads. I hope you can do something about it, Willis.

    1. ninja_jesus

      Sorry, even that came out a bit forceful. Willis, please, can you do something about the ad situation? They are pretty intrusive.

      1. BBCC

        You have to report it to Hiveworks. It might take a couple days, but they’ll get to it.

  104. Danielle

    and theres this asshole!

  105. C.T Phipps

    WHO IS THEY!?

  106. Pan

    Jesus fuck what how why would you oh my god what?!

  107. goggleman64

    Content warning: murder

    If this wasn’t DOA, I’d say that Blaine was about to manipulate Toedad into trying to take back Becky, and that one of these poor kids was probably gonna die.

    Yeah, the setup does seem a bit “Injustice League”, but I can’t get over the idea of a sociopath manipulating an unhinged, armed, violent person with the help of a whole community that ignores the peril he presents. And I can’t get past how all these students are so willing to stand up and fight for what they believe in, and how they’ve already put themselves in harm’s way. I can’t get past how unsafe all these good people are, precisely because they are good people.

    It /is/ DoA, though, so we know no-one’s dying. Maybe that’s what DoA is for.

    1. Opus the Poet

      At the risk of getting banned, “There were good people on both sides.”

      Sociopaths manipulating psychopaths is an ongoing thing in this culture. And I want off this funhouse ride.

  108. Mishyana

    “At that moment, in the Hall of Doom”

  109. acher4

    …
    wtf
    WTF!
    These people disgust me to oh so many levels, I can’t even…I cant’t…

    ARRGGGGGGGGG…..

    There should be a law for arresting people that bail people who brandished weapons in school ground. As a failsafe… arrest them all, clean the streets.

    ARGGGGGGGG!!!!

  110. Zellgato

    How… is he not in jail again?
    I thought he techcinally had conflicts with a underage or near underage minor amoung other tdetails.

    though its been a while..
    sometimes ir eally wish DoA had a cast list.
    or i just don’t see it

    1. thejeff

      Because he hasn’t been accused of anything, much less proven. Assuming we’re talking about Blaine, not Ross.

      He’s an abusive fuck and apparently a statutory rapist, but the only thing about him that’s come to the attention of the authorities is that he got beat up by “unidentified parties”. And he got thrown off campus for bothering his daughter, but that’s not that serious.

  111. TlalocW

    This pisses me off so much – well done, Willis. Seriously. It’s a mark of a good story-teller to be able to elicit emotional reactions like this. I know I shoulnd’t get stressed out so much over fiction, but the pastor and youth-pastor were already on my shit list because of the way they treated Becky, and Joyce’s mom even more so. The fact that they’re more worried about him rather than Becky who up until recently was homeless is so consistent with so much of what the evangelical branch of Christianity is today. Toenail Dad in the process of kidnapping his daughter, brandished and fired a weapon in public on a college campus, and they think his bail is too high. Jeeze.

  112. JediMB

    barfbarfbarfbarf

    This comic update is really good at making me feel really awful and infuriated.

  113. DahliaRose

    It’s like the Legion of Doom is forming. Honestly it also feels like something we’d see happen in It’s Walky. I half expect to see Blaine reporting to Head Alien in the next page.

  114. BenRG

    Prediction: Blaine will very quickly ingratiate himself with the congregation and become a trusted adviser and possibly even treasurer. He will then embezzle the church blind and leave its trustees with endless legal complications with regard to money laundering and connections with known racketeers before he’s stopped.

    That’s what you get when a stranger turns up with warm smile and an offer to give you everything that you’ve ever wanted. You’d expect a group like this would be more wary of a serpent offering them a delicious-looking fruit.

    Naturally, they’ll blame Becky and Joyce.

    1. Amelie

      That would be reasonable psychopath behavior, but Blaine is unreasonably committed to proving he’s still the boss of Amber. I say he’s going to pool their funds to accomplish that in some way that the rest of the group will think is “too far”. Maybe hiring a Toe impersonator and giving him an assault rifle.

  115. Amelie

    It’s not about what you “want”, Carol. As gross as that is. It’s about you thinking you should get to shoot up a school and kill your own kids because you can’t get what you want.

  116. Pseudoclasm

    QUICK! While theyre all in one place! DROP THE NUKE!!!!
    Wait, crap. Cockroaches can’t be killed by nuclear warfare….

    1. Mr.Morningstar

      Nah it’s just the fallout afterwards they’re immune to, but if we drop it directly on them they will be instantly disintegrated

  117. ThatGuy

    Finally. If amazigirl is going to become a murderer there is no one better to be cherrypoped

  118. Pickacard

    Thanks willis I hate it

  119. Lone Duck

    I mean, if you want to drive Joyce out of the church, this is how you do it.

    1. BenRG

      Based on various things that Willis has posted over the years about his mother, I’m quite sure that they are convinced they are doing the right thing and that this is proof that they love their children.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        Certainly.  Remember after the incident with Toedad when Carol was talking with Joyce over the phone?  She told Joyce the exact same thing Toedad told Becky as he was abducting her … “I would DIE for you.”

  120. Felgraf

    I hate these people. So much. I just.
    Flames.
    Flames, on the side of my face.

  121. Lone Duck

    On the bright side, more people are going to get a chance to beat the shit out of Blaine and Toedad. Silver lining people.

  122. djaevlenselv

    Gotta say, Blaine, that is SOME dedication to assholery you’re showing.

  123. showler

    Shouldn’t that building look a little like Darth Vader and be in a swamp?

    1. John

      Please, they are nowhere near as classy as the Legion of Doom.

  124. Icalasari

    …Huh, I didn’t know Hell was located in a church

    1. BenRG

      Actually, I suspect that it’s a bit like the Garden of Eden, with a serpent offering some very stupidly naive people a delicious-looking fruit in exchange for their unquestioning support.

      1. TemperaryObsessor

        To be fare I from what I understand from the story Adem and Eve couldn’t help being naive until they already ate the fruit.

        1. Opus the Poet

          And the serpent didn’t lie, that’s the kicker.

  125. Mr.Morningstar

    Why does Blaine want to pay Ross’ bail? He doesn’t even know the guy… I assume. Seems weird even for an asshole like Blaine but I suppose we’ll find put

    1. BenRG

      To get foot-soldiers with which to prosecute his vendetta against Stacey and Amber.

  126. Nimitrick

    Damn you Willis!

  127. Dracke

    to anyone who forget this works in comic book logic, i bring forth this!

    (also i love Robin because of her previous incarnation in Shortpaked) (a lot of the cast is recycled from previous comics, and i love them for doing that.

  128. Darkoneko

    oh BLOODYmarvelous.

  129. Fire_daws

    Jeez, the whiplash from yesterday’s comic.

    Pretty sure that Carol has gone from “crappy parent” to “worst parent in the strip”.

  130. Matthew Davis

    Ok, I didn’t see it said yet, but it’s worth noting that we don’t see Joyce’s _dad_ here at this little rationalization rodeo/evil dad teamup. So there’s still hope that she has one not-worthless parent.

  131. Vulcanodon

    “They could come after any of us for kidnapping at gunpoint!”

    That sense of Christian persecution…

    1. C.T Phipps

      They are engaged in criminal conspiracy so yes they have a right to be afraid.

      1. thejeff

        At this point, probably not. Trying to raise bail for an accused criminal is not in itself a crime.

        Likely Blaine’s going to get them involved in a criminal conspiracy, so wait a few days.

    2. BenRG

      But, and here’s the rub, they consider what they’re doing to be right. Once you have this diverging sense of right and wrong between any group and society as a whole, violent incidents and the like become inevitable as there is no longer a moral common ground.

  132. Poofdepoof

    Carol proving that Jocelyne’s hope/lie was unfounded only three days later…

  133. C.T Phipps

    I wonder what will happen when Blaine tries to kidnap her or KILL HER (since she rejected him for SCIENCE) only given she’s a campaign manager for Robin Desanto now.

    I hope she has security somewhere.

    1. BenRG

      I wrote a fanfiction once where Joyce learns that Ross was shot dead by the Secret Service. In my story it was because he was threatening Congresswoman Dorothy Keener but it could easily be because the idiot came barging into a deSanto rally with a gun.

    2. AeromechanicalAce

      Here’s a rare happy thought from this. Maybe this mess will somehow give Robin a reason to redeem herself. If her backstory From Shortpacked is even still close to intact (minus the aliens) She’s no stranger to shitty dads.

  134. MegaBee

    Holy crap, dude.

  135. Kaidah

    What the actual hell? Ross, as in Becky’s asshat dad Ross? In this day and age, what judge would grant bail to a guy who kidnapped a girl at gunpoint from the grounds of a university? I get that justice is supposed to be blind, but I didn’t realize she’s also been drinking drain cleaner.

    1. BenRG

      They’re complaining about the bail bond, so it’s probably something astronomical (six figures+).

    2. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

      Temporary insanity? Fear that he won’t survive much longer in the prison environment?
      This is hardly your average jerkass redneck. He knows only how to speak in some pastor-reciting-King James-scripture-ese, for starters. When he first appeared, readers noticed he looked like he never learned how to dress for appearing in public by himself.
      Over the course of the kidnapping, his outbursts appear more like that of a selfish 7-year old who had just lost his mother than a more typical example of a middle-aged man who did what he did.
      Also, is their any chance he’s secretly suffering from muscular dystrophy or something of the like?
      I get he’s really short and wimpy and all, but both the size of the weights in his secret weight room and the lack of injury his punches inflict for someone built the way he’s built, who clearly wasn’t attempting to hold back….
      Ross doesn’t come off as someone who truly learned to operate in the adult world past what could be expected from people who took the short bus to and from school as kids. He probably appeared to the police, prosecutor, judge,etc. as having the mind of a child.

      Did he even finish getting convicted, yet? The system can get slow…

      1. Opus the Poet

        Not that slow, it’s only been a few weeks since Toedad’s attempted kidnapping.

  136. Regalli

    FUUUUUUCK.

  137. Ragnarok101

    Well, congrats Willis, you’ve proven a webcomic can actually make me nauseous with hatred.

  138. JBento

    It’s always sad when trash is only METAPHORICALLY on fire.

    1. ShinyNeen

      And it only gets worse when the trash starts to pile up.

  139. Kingmonster

    …

    …heh…

    heheheh…ha ha ha ha….AAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

    …haaaaaaaaaaa…

    …

    Nope.

    *BEGINS LONG CHANT TO SUMMON THE GREAT UNMAKER OF ALL THINGS*

    1. Kingmonster

      Huh…I would’ve thought that someone would’ve tried to stop me from bringing a horror beyond human comprehension into our material plane by now…

      …meh…

      *RESUMES THE DARK SUMMONING*

  140. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

    Man, if Carol has to testify in front of a good lawyer should whatever this Korean Mob flunkie is planning get out of control….The others would probably keep their mouths shut on the bench when she wouldn’t, is what I’m thinking…

    1. BenRG

      She’d be proud of it and tell everyone about the ‘blessing’ they’d received.

      1. DudeMyDadOwnsADealership

        If they’re trying to bail Ross out of the mess his man-baby ways got himself into (and the rest of his congregation by association) chances are they won’t have the guts to let her know she blew it or even let their lawyer attempt to make her aware….Ah, well, when they learn just how much Blaine isn’t one of their own, they’ll always have the simple truth that they trusted him point blank, believing he was sent from God or whatever, and just “naturally assumed” he was just like them and not a career criminal…

  141. wakeangel2001

    how little he did? just trying to raise his kids right? He discharged a firearm on a college campus, and attempted to kidnap his daughter, who IS a legal adult, for the purpose of delivering her to gay conversion therapy which is considered a form of abuse just about everywhere. If the man doesn’t belong in prison he belongs in a mental hospital, he is NOT fit for civilized society.

    1. Opus the Poet

      Gay conversion is legal in Indiana. Still.

  142. Cmd1095

    Alright FINE, you want it so bad? HERE IT IS

    DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

  143. Makkabee

    I did not see this coming. I didn’t think the congregation would go beyond passive sympathy for Toedad McArmedrampage and actually try to help him get out of jail. I was kind of hoping to snicker at their “thoughts and prayers” for him, but no — HE gets cash.

    Totally in character for Amber’s dad to help them, though — he’s definitely a “loves to watch the world burn” type.

  144. Dr_D

    This strip shows grizzlies at its worst.

    And I applaud Willis’ magnificent evilness.

  145. Dr_D

    Oops. Somehow autocorrect made tribalism into grizzlies.

    1. OBBWG

      I thought you were referring to Mama Grizzly (Sarah Palin) and her ilk.

    2. Jhon

      Your autocorrect scares me.

  146. Makkabee

    If I didn’t know these were written well in advance, I’d think it was a repsonse to Mike Pence’s recent talk at “Liberty” “University.”

    1. Bicycle Bill

      These are written well in advance, but I suspect Willis has a way of inserting or modifying something ‘on the fly’ if circumstances warrant it.

  147. WikiDreamer

    I…I never thought I’d see the day where I’d stop reading this serie-*pfft* LMAO! Like I could seriously finish that statement. 😉 Nah, nah, I’m riding this out till the frame grinds into the pavement, but it’s amazing how DYW! has crafted such a fantastically detestable character to push you to a point where you’d want to stop but you still want to see your favorite characters come out happy in the end. There’s also a VERY sad reality for me in the case of Blaine in that my father was about as much of an unforgiving bastard with an ax to constantly grind & prove himself right to everyone by any manipulative mean, & don’t get me started on abuse, we’d be here for days, even if I was, as my father put it, just a witness to it all since “he knows personally, he did nothing wrong to me.” The sight of Blaine in any context is SO rage inducing, I went back to re-read the Toedad arc, to calm down. Maybe it’s cause I dunno what’s gonna happen, but I’m damn sure that whatever it is and whenever it does it will not be pretty…and I will have popcorn in hand when it does.

    1. Emperor Norton II

      “The sight of Blaine in any context is SO rage inducing, I went back to re-read the Toedad arc, to calm down.”

      I think the reason for that is that it’s so clear that Toedad is not happy. He really isn’t. He’s a horrible bastard with all the bigotries you could imagine him to be… But this doesn’t make him happy. At all.

      He goes through the motions, genuinely thinking them to be the Right Things To Do in the eyes of his church; but all it ever does is make him more miserable, and he’s too blinded by himself and his fellow fundies to see that this is why.

      Blaine, on the other hand, is a complete and utter narcissistic bastard; who doesn’t have any such thoughts. He knows that he’s not being good, but he just doesn’t give a fucking shit, because he thinks everyone else is a bastard too, just that they’re lying about it.

      He’s perfectly content (or at least, gives the appearance of being perfectly content) with being an unrepentant asshole, because that makes him feel smarter and more superior than the suckers who look out for one another.

  148. SlothfulCobra

    Jeez, a little attempting to murder your family and threatening to shoot up a campus and everybody gets all huffy. Next they’re going to get up in arms every time you plant a pipe bomb.

  149. Zee

    Are you a shitty parent? Do you sometimes struggle with facing the consequences of your actions? Are you in need of support? Then join the Shitty Parent’s Union today! We offer such services as:
    -posting bond when you get arrested for child abuse or other less than legal methods of raising your child correctly
    – resources on how to more effectively invade your child’s privacy and strip them of any sense of agency
    -support groups for when those rebellious little shits start to think they’re their own person
    -seminars on how to abuse your children without the risk of jail
    -and so much more!
    Membership is $50 a month. We recommend taking this money from your child, just to send the right message.
    Call now at 1-800-IFUCKINGSUCK

    1. BBCC

      I can’t believe I’m about to defend her either, but not even Linda would bail out someone who stuck a gun in her daughter’s face.

      I mean, she’d probably figure it was Sal’s fault because hooliganism and she should’ve listened to Linda more, but still.

      1. JBento

        Hey, the devil just asked me to relay a message to you:

        “Don’t break the thermostat – do you have any idea how long it takes this freaking place to thaw?”

        1. BBCC

          Yeah, it felt wrong on my end too. Sorry, Satan.

  150. maxyai

    this looks like the formation of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N.

  151. Lexi

    As much as I don’t sympathize with these characters (and I really don’t!) I wonder if this is an example of how groups can minimize their own actions, and judge them by intent, and even rewrite the situation a little bit.

    Like, day one: “Oh goodness, he did what?”

    Day two: “Well I mean, he just wanted his daughter to come with him, and he got a little threatening. Don’t we all get a little scary when we’re upset?”
    “He had a gun!!”
    “Guns are legal in this state! Any of us could be carrying right now!”
    *conversation dissolves into a nasty gun debate, anti-gun people shouted down about how it was a shotgun, and just for self defense and hunting, and how they were thinking of getting one for the varmints in the tomatoes this year already*

    Day three: “And now Becky is going against everything we ever taught her! One of our own, her immortal soul doomed forever because of a mistake! If only she’d listened to her father a little more!”
    *no one dares bring up the gun thing again, cause yesterday was so nasty.*

    And so on…

    Sidenote: I really hate that my avatar is smug-faced, hat Danny. Is there a way to change this? Every time I post something even slightly controversal, I can’t help but feel like it’s being said by a smug-ass white, cis, hetero guy in a fedora who overuses the word “Actually…” Even if that’s not actually who Danny is!

    1. Emperor Norton II

      Two ways to change your avatar:

      1: Play the avatar roulette. By capitalising different letters in your email when filling in the email field, you’ll get a different, random DoA avatar.

      The danger of this method is that you might end up with something worse than smug Danny. After the latest avatar shake-up, a commenter called Phantom ended up with Peter (Mary’s boyfriend). Since they were not a fundie asshat, this did not amuse them, so they played the roulette… and got Mary.

      2: When you start making a post, you’ll see that to the right of the field where you fill out your name, there’s a link where you can specifically make an avatar (except they call it gravatar, just to be proprietary about it).

      This way, you can get the exact avatar you want (doesn’t have to be confined to DoA characters), and it won’t change next time DYW does one of his avatar shake-ups by adding new avatars.

      1. Lexi

        Ah, it’s the email field that defines this. Good to know!

  152. beige

    Yes Carol, they arrested Ross because he wanted to raise his kids right

    not because he fired a gun on a campus, attempted too kidnap a legal adult and tried too force them through a process ruled in most places in the world as a form of abuse

    but because he was doing the right thing

    1. beige

      aka: personal bias is an amazing thing and carol is a self-righteous idiot

  153. Solenoid

    The fact that little meetings like this for similar purposes almost assuredly happen everywhere in real life gives me deep and abiding pessimism regarding the possibility for continued domestic peace.

  154. Emperor Norton II

    Let us all take a moment to blame Deathjavu for this strip.

    1. ShinyNeen

      Aww, c’mon, this was always going to happen. The Willis gaveth (Joyce growth and wonderful Jocelyne paneltime), and now the Willis taketh away (our ability as readers to rest easy for the foreseeable future).

      Besides, jinxes aren’t real, sheesh. *Tugs collar nervously*

    2. Bagge

      Daaaamn you Deathjavuuuuuu!

      1. Deathjavu

        I will happily luxuriate in both your blame and curses. It’s like a warm, spiky blanket.

        Is this why Willis writes these kinds of strips? It all makes sense now…

  155. FortyTwo

    Ugh, ugh, ugh. Joyce’s mom’s, “They could come after any of us next, just for wanting to raise our kids right,” is pure Evangelical, right wing “logic.” Oh, noes! The government interfered when one of ours held his sinful daughter (and her friend) at gunpoint to save her soul! They are interfering with her salvation! How DARE they?!

    1. thejeff

      Worse, it’s persecution of Christians. “If they’ll stop him from kidnapping his daughter and threatening to shoot people on campus, they’ll come to our homes and take our kids away just for teaching them about Christ.”

      It’s complete batshit, but it’s common.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        “And after all — the Constitution says we have ‘Freedom of Religion’ right there in the First Amendment.”

        Well yes … sort of.  It says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”  It DOESN’T say you can freely break the law under the guise of practicing your religion … something certain Native American tribes claiming the use of peyote as a part of their religious rituals or Rastafarians insisting that ganja is a key part of theirs have run up against many, many times, and almost always with the same results.

      2. C.T Phipps

        Note that said persecution of Christians doesn’t include Mormons, Catholics, or liberal Christians.

  156. He who hears Voices

    … this is not going to end well when Joyce finds out.

    1. He Who Abides

      Another Outsider, I see. Or at least, I hope that’s where your name reference is from.

  157. ShinyNeen

    Ugh. Carol’s going to be actively awful, other members of Joyce’s church are going to be actively awful, Blaine is going to incite/manipulate them into being more awful, and now there’s a real possibility we’ll see Ross again. Awful people reinforcing each other to be more and more awful. God, this is exhausting to think about.

    I love this comic for being so realistic and the characters so believable but… dang, it hurts when it reminds us how low people can and do go.

  158. Lena

    Ugh this makes me actually feel sick.

  159. CianM1301

    That “I’m sorry, everyone” was aimed at us, wasn’t it?

  160. kutharos

    From my personal experience with the church “and it’s not a positive one.” this right here actually removed my suspension of disbelief. You might as well just have the church have martian sleeper agents.

    1. Yumi

      Which part, the bail raising or Blaine showing up?

      1. kutharos

        The bail raising. Overall I don’t buy it as ‘realistic’, whatever you want to consider that to be. The way this church was setup, I can believe everything to this point, i.e. ostracizing a member of their church and so on. I can buy that, I seen that.

        Now raising bail money on one of their members who kidnapped his own daughter at gunpoint? No. I honestly don’t buy it, and it feels forced overall.

        1. DaisyFM

          When you’re friends with someone for a long time, you have a hard time believing that they did a bad thing. You defend them. You make excuses for them. You think other people are lying or exaggerating about their behavior. A church group raising bail money for a friend they believe is wrongfully convicted is not far fetched.

          This same sort of misplaced loyalty is the reason why #metoo gets so much push-back.

        2. BBCC

          I’m glad your experience with the church precludes this sort of thing. Others with experience with these sorts of communities have been calling this since Toedad was arrested. Cerberus did.

        3. Apostate

          I miss Cerberus. Anyone know what happened?

        4. Yumi

          She’s been posting somewhat recently! Not the long write ups she used to do, so maybe you’ve missed it, but she’s been around.

        5. TheStranger

          Mainstream conservatism has a severe martyrdom/persecution complex. It is capable of blithely ignoring any reality with which you present it in order to reach the justification it seeks.

          Blaine kidnapping his daughter at gunpoint is objectively awful, but the conservative persecution complex will see his incarceration exactly as Carol framed it.

          There is nothing mainstream conservatism cannot justify with the invocation of “family values” or “b-b-but liberals!”

          I’ve seen acquaintances, friends, and family I otherwise respect do exactly that far too often to believe it to be a coincidence.

        6. Yumi

          I’m not exactly sure how to phrase this, but I think that, even for works that are overall more or less “realistic,” “breaks your suspension of disbelief” and “unrealistic” can be different things.

          Like, it can be tricky to claim things as unrealistic because there are a lot of lived experiences out there. Like someone might consider a story wherein a middle school teacher tells a student, in front of the class, that he “doesn’t teach f*ggots” and kicks the kid out of the class, and then not only doesn’t receive disciplinary action (at least as far as the student knows) but goes on to get the teacher of the Year award at the end of the school year to be unrealistic, because that’s, like, A LOT of suckage. But I know a guy that happened to, so I know it’s not unrealistic.

          That said, it might break one’s suspension of disbelief, especially based on how it’s set up. And I think that’s more what your criticism is saying, that the set up of these people in this setting does not flow to this scenario for you.

          I think people get defensive about “not realistic” comments because they can be read as denying lived experiences, which is sucky. But also, I think it’s fair to comment that a particular development doesn’t work for you. And, of course, people will argue with you either way because this is the internet and most people here are probably here because they enjoy the comic*, but whatever.

          I was like, “Wait, Carol is THIS awful??” myself, but it didn’t really break anything for me because I was then like, “Yeah, Carol is THIS awful.”

        7. Kutharos

          People have their own opinions on the matter. I just say what I strongly feel. Others don’t, and should not agree with me. Eveyrthing I said is based on my PoV and my past experiance. You are right, I don’t feel it was set up overall.

          Do I feel like this was set up correctly? No. I don’t think it was, and so far I have remain unconvinced it was done correctly.

        8. egg

          I…feel like we haven’t seen enough of a pov not explicitly condemning toedad’s actions for this to NOT feel unrealistic, but I also don’t think it actually IS unrealistic. Like, these people are operating off a pretty limited and skewed version of the context. Their view ain’t consistent with our play by play. Far as they know, this guy’s kid did something bad and ran away and he went and picked her up. Gun? He must have felt threatened, and he WAS attacked by her friends! Threatening students? These things get drummed up by the media, he wouldn’t have actually hurt anyone. Bringing a gun onto a campus at all? Unfair law! “What little he did” is just being overzealous about what ANY parent would have done and driving dangerously. Narratively it’s jarring but some of my childhood churches would have done the same. Unfortunately.

        9. egg

          Also: you can’t “kidnap” your own daughter in a framework that makes her your property. Oh, she’s an adult? Well, BARELY. Sure he shouldn’t have threatened her with a gun, but do you think that even happened? He probably brought it along for self defense.
          You know how liberal extremists can be these days, especially on college campuses. Sure he overreacted, but any parent would have done the same or wanted to. I mean, can you imagine if you lost your wife like he did and then your daughter goes and does THAT? What he needs now is help and support, not further condemnation. I’m pissing myself off I’m going to bed

    2. C.T Phipps

      I can believe it but I think there should be a lot more dissent. People angry with the choice and not just Hank.

      1. Yumi

        There may be more dissenters off-screen, but unless we actually end up seeing them, yeah. I’d say they could have done their best to only communicate the meeting to those they felt were fully on their side, but if it was hush-hush, how did Blaine know to show up.

        (Alternate theory: Blaine has been hiding around that church for days waiting for a good opening.)

  161. PB

    Guys, I threw up and blacked out, what happened?

    1. Tilt

      Joyce and Sarah hugged and said they love each other. =3

      1. PB

        Okay, good to know I didn’t miss anything. Thanks. :3

  162. Random Commenter

    I signed up for a Gravatar sololy becuase this strip angers me SO MUCH. Someone help me figure out how to ‘Login’ with it now, please?

    1. Bagge

      YOU HAVE THE BEST GRAVATAR!!!

  163. WindWalker

    Oops, nevermind, It works.

  164. NovaAva

    I rage screamed out loud when I read this.

  165. Booker

    Many things!
    1) I’ve actually heard someone in real life, related to me by blood, actually voice those same thoughts Joyce’s mom voiced. Somehow here it makes me all the sicker
    2) There is nothing about this comic that shocks me. Having grown up friends with folk who were very much the type of people who would agree with everyone in this comic…raising bale to get out a bad man cause he shares their faith is absolutely something they’d do.
    3)Toe-dad needs to be out of prison, and clearly so changed and bitter by the experience that even the members of his parish will regret baling him out
    AND 4) Joyce Dad….only you can save us! Be a voice of reason. Please!

    1. PB

      3) I would pay SO MUCH for this to happen. I doubt it but it would be so nice.
      4) Yeah, where IS Hank?

      1. Booker

        Wait….what if….Ross goes Frankensteins monster and is what leads to Blaines ultimate defeat in this universe?

  166. Andrew_C

    Jesus Fucking Christ!

  167. Claire

    Oh man that alt text… “storyline over” more like storyline just beginning!!

  168. Acebender

    well shit

  169. brasca1

    I don’t know where Blaine got the money, but here’s hoping he got it from a loan shark who won’t be happy when he fails to pay back.

  170. TemperaryObsessor

    This strip makes me think Jocelyn shouldn’t tell her mother she’s a woman ever, and shouldn’t tell her dad until they get divorced.
    I mean from what Carol is saying I have reason to believe she might come after Jocelyn with a gun when she comes out.

    1. TemperaryObsessor

      I mean what am I supposed to believe when her reaction to the person who held a gun to not only his daughters head but her daughters head being in jail is to try to bail him out and say that if they would jail him they could try to jail any of them for trying o raise their children right

      1. BBCC

        The only relief I have here is that the Browns don’t own a gun.

        1. Yumi

          I have to wonder how hard it is to get one in Indiana, though.

        2. BBCC

          I mean, probably not at all, but last we saw they didn’t own one.

        3. Opus the Poet

          No harder than in any other red state. Pretty much any firearms laws are going to be enforced against POC before any white person, and it would have to be something pretty spectacular to affect a white person.

        4. Seregiel

          Carol keeps telling Hank he needs a gun…

        5. BBCC

          Indeed she does.

    2. PB

      I like that “until” because yep.

      1. PB

        WHOOPS there we go, gravatar restored.

  171. BrokenEye, the True False Prophet

    So, the Dumbiverse equiavlent of the Axis of Something has finally assembled

    1. ShinyNeen

      Man, I wish Sydney Yus was leading these people!

  172. butts

    OH NO

    FUCK

  173. Agemegos

    I wonder whether Blaine is slick enough to lend them a bunch of Mob money secured by a mortgage on the church building and land, relying on Ross to forfeit his bail so that the Korean mob get the church and sell it to Moonies. For a commission as mortgage agent, naturally.

  174. Eve

    What the fuck it’s the baddadpocalypse

    He needs Ross out of Jail for Ross to properly sue his daughter

    Also, FUCK this church. Well, no, hopefully that’s just a meeting of some of the church folk (including both pastors, yuck) and the reason they don’t have enough is because most of the people who go there didn’t show up to the meeting to save that asshole cuz they don’t want to.

  175. Victor Riley

    Threatening your kids with a gun is raising them “right”? Sorry… but Joyce’s mom has a special place in hell reserved for her. It’s even marked “Heaven”, so she’ll probably go willingly without question.

  176. egg

    Anyway this comic is too close to reality for me to feel comfortable saying I wanna kill any of the characters, that’s a piece of hyperbole that I just can’t seem to get out of my mouth if a work isn’t chock full of fantasy violence already?

    But god damn everyone on this page is really pushing it

  177. DragonLizardJareth

    And this is the part of the story where the religious group (which at this point is no doubt a cult), goes full blown murder/suicide and become terrorists.

  178. Treita

    Oh, Shatner. That’s a face I had hoped to never see again.

  179. Leo

    “How little he actually did”

    Lemme point a gun at you then and we’ll see if you feel the same way.

  180. Hari

    This can’t end well….

  181. Mishyana

    I know we’re a few days past this one, but I felt the need to say that these are the sort of people who contribute to the sort of people who put abortion providers on their knees in a church and put a gun to the back of their heads, and then afterwards are all “But we can’t be held responsible!?! Who could have imagined all our poisonous rhetoric would lead to this point??”

  182. bryy

    Carol is pro-murder.

    Great.

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