204

Betrayed
Posted on June 1, 2020 by David M Willis
Yesterday I had no idea what day it was, but I'VE FIGURED IT OUT BECAUSE I'M SMART, and TODAY is June 1, not... yesterday.  ANYWAY, Wack'd is running a bracketed Best Dumbing Of Age Character poll on their Twitter TODAY JUNE 1, and ... it's fun and I'm excited they're doing this!!!!  Dumbing of Age is turning TEN soon, y'all. Wack'd has taken the polling results from previous BEST CHARACTER polls on this site to determine, SCIENTIFICALLY, how to match folks up and uh I'm sorry Raidah anyway the results to this are official, whatever that means

204 thoughts on “Betrayed”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    that went some unexpected places

    =C

    1. OtterBoy1

      Kind of sad, too

    2. clif

      Touche, Faz. But I did horrible thing X because I knew you would always have the capacity for forgiveness doesn’t cut it as a valid pattern.

      I cheated on you because I knew you would always have capacity for forgiveness .
      I poisoned your dog because I knew you would always have capacity for forgiveness.
      I voted for Nash over you in the poll because I knew you would always have capacity for forgiveness.

      Sorry, it just doesn’t work.

      1. Paradox

        The slightly better excuse is “I’m afraid of my and my mother’s lives being ruined if he’s imprisoned so I’m trying to walk the line between doing bad things and doing them so ineptly that it hurts as few people as possible.”

        I don’t approve of the actions but I can have some sympathy for him.

        1. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

          “I am selfish” and to a lesser extent “my mother is unable to survive that” can also be an interpretation of that fear.

  2. Wack'd

    (Obligatory self-promotion: starting today I’m running a huge series of polls as part of a bracketed tournament to determine the Best Dumbing of Age character! You can find it by clicking the link in my name.)

    I have serious doubts Faz is telling the truth here. For starters, in the 2019-Sep-23 and 24 strips, Blaine has photos of Joyce and Sarah with Faz in frame, on the border and facing away from the camera. While it’s not impossible Faz didn’t take those photos, it strikes me as extremely unlikely.

    Additionally, in the 2018-May-20 strip, we see Faz hand the flash drive to Blaine. Faz has to explain what it is, and the way Blaine talks about it makes it sound like this wasn’t his original agenda. “That’s it?” could just be him putting down Faz, but “maybe there’ll be something incriminating” makes it sound like this hadn’t crossed his mind before then.

    So yeah, incredibly likely that Faz is covering his ass to stay on Joyce’s good side. Which is understandable! Even if Faz did do more than he’s letting on, he’s still a child of abuse, facing the possibility that a friend might turn on him. Even if he is lying, I’m not gonna call a 16-year-old evil for trying to stay on the good side of an abusive parent.

    1. David M Willis

      first panel: https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/yuri/

      ;D

      1. AntJ

        Huh. Wow. Shoulda thought of that.

        1. AntJ

          disregard my comment below, then

      2. Wack'd

        Huh! So basically Blaine just got incredibly lucky that Joyce managed to coax Sarah out of the dorm.

      3. Rikunda

        You know… I forgot about the mother. I don’t understand it though… It is an obligation her husband had before they got married (when she was… um… 18?). Why is it Amber that she focuses her hate on? Is the mom gone now? Did she dump them both?

        1. Needfuldoer

          When Blaine divorced Stacy (Amber’s mother), he agreed to pay for Amber to go to college in lieu of alimony because he didn’t think she would actually go. Amber did, so Blaine has to pay. He doesn’t want to, his objective with that agreement was to get out of paying anything. He made a bet and lost, now he’s pissed and taking it out on his daughter.

          And from the dialogue in this comic, Blaine has Yuri convinced that Amber and Stacy are the enemy, too. Notice she says “as long as the courts force us to pay tuition”.
          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-8/03-faz-is-great/tuition/

          Another thing: if she really thinks Amber’s tuition is “sucking this family dry”, is Blaine lying to her about their finances? He managed to come up with the bail money for Ross when the entire congregation together couldn’t.

        2. dralou

          About that last point: Yuri could still believe that they’re being sucked dry even if she knew/thought that they’re actually well-off: Yes, they have money, but they have significantly less money than expected because Amber DARED to attend a college, while they were fully convinced she’d figuratively wither and die in the shadows, somewhere out of sight.

          Not that I don’t think Blaine is above lying to her, but it’s not necessarily what happened. She could just demonstrate she’s in the same mindset as him.

        3. Needfuldoer

          In-state tuition, room, and board all together would be a little over $2,000 per month, assuming they’re paying up front and Amber didn’t qualify for any grants or scholarships. What Blaine’s actually paying out of pocket depends on what he declared as his income, and if loans were taken out to spread the cost out over time.

          He probably has more money than he legally declares, either as under-the-table payment for his money laundering or from skimming a little extra off the top of what passes through his hands. She may not have the full picture of this illegitimate income.

    2. AntJ

      I believe he took the photos because he didn’t think they were incriminating on their own, and Blaine would abuse him if he spent an entire day on campus and only got some slashfic.

  3. Doctor_Who

    Called it two years ago.

    1. Cass

      Was it really that long ago? Damn.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      In light of whagt has happened, the way Blaine is saying “What do you have for US?” in that strip makes it sound like Yuri might be involved in some way in this too.  Maybe not as an active participant/planner/strategist, but the fact that Blaine and Faz are not averse to talking about this in front her speaks volumes — at least to me.

  4. JetstreamGW

    Why would I feel bad for Faz? Faz is a shithead 😛 I don’t care that he’s got legitimate problems, he’s still a shithead.

    1. MarkeyMark

      I mean….he could have turned his sister into the cops essentially by giving Blaine her AmziGirl evidence. And he could have not come and just let him kill everyone.

      Yes, he’s a shithead. But at least he’s still got some form of concious.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        What evidence other than the Amazi-suit and (maybe) the grappling hook?  And Amber could have easily gotten out of that with one word — “cosplay”.

        1. thejeff

          Did he know any of that? The visit was after the stabbing, when she’d hidden the suit behind a false facade in the closet.
          Did I miss a bit where Faz found out about Amazi-Girl during his visit?

    2. Stephen Bierce

      Just like was said about Malaya, “characters are human not for the virtues they have, but for those they lack”.
      This is the first time in his long history as a character that he’s expressed any sort of honesty about himself to anybody else. For once his inflated sense of self is nowhere to be found.

      1. Axel

        also he is a child

        1. Doctor_Who

          An abused child, no less. Blaine has all the power in this situation, Faz is a victim just like Amber.

        2. EvilMidnightLurker

          See, that’s why I saw horror in the Fazsmile yesterday. I think that smile may have been beaten into him. 🙁

        3. Zaxares

          Yeah. With abused kids, there’s generally two paths that they go down. One is that they emulate their abuser and become bullies themselves, taking out their anger and frustration on targets weaker than themselves. The other is that they become pathetically eager to please, internalizing that “it’s their fault” when their abuser mistreats them because they “must have done something wrong”. The latter usually will do everything in their power to present a non-threatening, helpful front towards their abuser (and usually towards other people as well) in an effort to try and preempt any sort of anger or displeasure on others’ part.

    3. BarerMender

      I was just about to feel bad for Faz, but then he pulled that “capacity for forgiveness” line. Seems manipulative to me.

      1. not someone else

        That’s… pretty normal for a kid trying to survive, honestly. You pick up a lot of shitty habits from being raised like that, and manipulation is one of the less damaging ones.

        Abuse can’t excuse everything. That’s flat out. But abuse plus being a child means that the correct means of dealing with Faz is placement with extended relatives if they can find any who aren’t fucking evil, a lot of therapy, and an understanding he has the opportunity to change completely.

        (I mean- as he’s noted- Joyce has.)

    4. Concolor44

      Yes. Thank you.
      I hate, hate, HATE Faz’s reasoning here. Just dump the whole thing on the victim, you jerk.

      1. He Who Abides

        Yes, better that he go around beating people’s asses and goading people into fights so he can take it out on them ?

        1. Anon A Mouse

          There is a middle ground. Anyone who calls out Faz for being absolute shit here and having a shit excuse for doing it is valid. Everyone saying he is abused and this is him coping is also making valid points. But please don’t use the “At least he isn’t WORSE!”. EVERYONE can be worse, that isn’t actually any kind of feat to not be.

        2. He Who Abides

          I’m just saying that a metric fuckton of commenters defended Amber for being an aggressive and violent person because she was abused, and yet Faz (who’s gone the other route in dealing with it) is getting pilloried for it. ‘S bogus.

        3. Daniel M Ball

          It’s wrong, but it’s understandable if you understand how an audience functions. Amber’s reaction fits the way MOST people who haven’t been abused hope they’d come out, while Faz fits the way all too many people in abusive relationships wind up. almost EVERYONE wishes their response to abuse would be striking back, but the sad truth is, Faz represents an example of how often that wish goes unfilled.

          In short, Amber’s ‘amazigirl’ self is the fantasy, Faz is the cold bucket of reality. People pillory Faz because most people in his situation would wind up more like him, than like Amber.

        4. thejeff

          So what you’re saying is that people like Amber more than Faz because Amber’s reaction to the abuse is better than Faz’s?

          Faz may be more realistic, Amazi-Girl may be a fantasy, but implicit in that is that Amazi-Girl is actually not as bad as Faz.

        5. He Who Abides

          Okay, that makes it easier to understand. It still sucks, especially since DIDuo have generally taken their issues out on a lot of non-Blaine people (including Sal, who really didn’t deserve it), but I get it a little more now.

        6. Twitcher

          Yes, Faz’s reasoning is understandable for an abused 16-year-old, but I do expect that Joyce is going to get angry. Faz kind of implied that since Joyce is a Christian, it’s okay to use her and her friends humanity like doormats.

        7. thejeff

          Very kind of, since the word Christian doesn’t appear and it’s easy to read this as his perception of her character from when she was nice to him before than anything about religion.

        8. Leorale

          Apologies for the can o’ worms: I wonder if Christians might have a seriously different spin on forgiveness than other religions have.

          I once knew a Catholic who seemed to think that it was OK to do something shitty because I would someday forgive him. Like, getting forgiven would somehow make his action more morally OK?

          It made so little sense to me that I wonder if it was a religious difference. (By contrast, my home-religion specified that this loophole doesn’t work: if you sin, figuring “oh it’s cool, God will forgive me for this later,” then God won’t forgive that action. And logically: just because you think you’re going to get forgiven, it doesn’t mean that what you did was more forgivable.)

          Or maybe that particular Christian person was just wack, and I don’t mean to paint y’all with the same brush.

        9. thejeff

          I’m not Christian and I suspect there’s a lot of variation, but I don’t think there’s anything particularly unique in the religion in that regard. I think there’s something of the attitude in the common saying “Easier to get forgiveness than permission.”

          As far as that particular loophole, my understanding of the general Christian take is that forgiveness of sin requires repentance. Doing something with the plan to get forgiven later wouldn’t be a bar to being forgiven, but it’s not really a loophole, since the repentance has to be genuine. In theory anyway.

          Especially in the past, some religious practices might have tended in that direction: Catholic confession, for example. Go out to the wild party Saturday night, go to confession Sunday morning, do the assigned penance and you’re good.

      2. SillyGoose

        It could also simply imply “your capacity for forgiveness means that you won’t beat me senseless, while Father’s lack thereof means that he will. Therefore, since I cannot win, I must chose to lose in the least destructive way possible”.

        And not really “now you have to cause I made you cry!”, though that’s also a possibility.

        1. Twitcher

          I don’t think Faz is trying to be manipulative. He comes from a family where what passes for love is transactional. He’s still being insensitive, but he doesn’t exactly realize it. Joyce probably will tell him why and how so, though.

  5. Sirksome

    Who here thinks “disappointed” is code for “he beat me”? Hands?

    1. Cass

      110%

    2. Jezi

      Hand up here. At least, I read it as some kind of abuse happened, physical or otherwise.

      1. Regalli

        Yeah, I can just as easily see the emotional abuse shitstorm we’ve seen him unleash on Amber for situations he DIDN’T have a stake in, but. Blaine does not react to disappointment well. So.

        SOMETHING happened, and given Blaine does have a stake in it here I can see him getting physical, unfortunately.

        1. Sirksome

          I mean, Blaine’s already tried to physically abuse Amber…IN FRONT OF WITNESSES! That plus Amber revealing he’s beaten her mom and her before and Blaine admitting to that himself. “Touch her once and she quits!” I believe. Yeah this guy probably beat Faz and Yuri too possibly.

    3. Phil

      Hands? Yeah, Faz definitely caught some hands.

      1. StClair

        Yup. 🙁

    4. Hoboturtle

      Yes, I think people should make sure Blaine catches some hands

    5. Freezer

      *raises hand*

    6. Romanticide

      that or emotional abuse, but it wasn’t pretty.

      1. PB

        It can be two things.

  6. Jay

    Look, if Code Geass can’t make me feel bad for Rolo you can’t make me feel bad for this turd

  7. NinjaNick

    You’d be homeless either way, Faz. Bastard Blaine will have to deal with solitary confinement at best.

    1. segnosaur

      Yes… enough people know about Blaine’s activities. Either he is captured quickly by police (and goes to jail for a long time), or he goes on the run (attempting to avoid capture), without his home (and probably targeted by the mob as well as police). Either way, Faz will be homeless.

      Of course, it also doesn’t look good for Amber either… with Blaine in jail (or on the run) it will be impossible for him to keep up the legally mandated tuition payments.

      1. Emily

        If I ran a college tuition department I’d figure it would be good PR for IU to give a student who was just kidnapped by her abusive father off my own campus some financial assistance or something.

        Then again, I have morals, which is why I don’t run a college tuition department.

    2. not someone else

      I read this as his mother’s thoughts in his mouth, personally. “It doesn’t matter what your father does, we’d lose some of our cushy lifestyle be homeless and starve to death and I would make sure you know it would be All Your Fault” sounds very much like a Yuri excuse.

      1. BBCC

        I’m not sure why we’d assume Yuri and Faz have a cushy lifestyle. We don’t know much about Yuri’s knowledge of their finances. If Blaine’s in charge of them, it’d be easy enough to keep her in the dark and say they don’t have anywhere near as much as Blaine’s making. Blaine’s definitely the kind of asshole who wouldn’t let Yuri work if he could help it.

        1. Rikunda

          We know the mafia is involved, so for all we know Yuri is not even married to him willingly. Can you imagine why she would be interested? I am not doubting that he controls the means… I am sure he is controlling things down to rather they can breathe.

        2. Needfuldoer

          We can only presume it was some combination of grooming, gaslighting, and Stockholm Syndrome…

          Yech.

        3. thejeff

          Maybe not too cushy, but if Blaine’s living with them, you’d think he’d want comfortable at least.

          Of course, for all we know, Blaine’s also cheating on Yuri and supporting a third family. Following his established pattern.

        4. BBCC

          Not if it’s easier to control Yuri by keeping things less stable. A lot of abusers are willing to keep people in a less than ideal situation to maintain their control. I knew one that literally drove himself and his girlfriend into homelessness because it was easier to control her that way.

  8. Mehe

    Oh no, Faz.

    Oh, you poor child.

    1. He Who Abides

      ^This.

  9. StClair

    “So I knew I could do the awful thing, and you would still forgive me.”

    Totally fucked up, but flawlessly logical.

    1. bryy

      And 1000% in-arc.

    2. DailyBrad

      Faz is a survivor, but I mean…. he kinda has to be.

  10. DEAD MEME

    Lemme think…

    Nope, still not sad for this bongo.

  11. Joe Moose

    Sorry, still don’t feel bad for him.

    Also, I got just a smidge of dust in my eye.

  12. Sirksome

    I’m starting to wonder what the financial situation is for the O’Malley household is. Blaine’s clearly the bread winner I guess although how much he makes or what cut he gets for money laundering is up for debate. This whole thing was loosely motivated by him not wanting to pay Amber’s tuition after all. But are things really that bad?

    1. anonymsly

      I sincerely doubt it, but Faz has been told repeatedly that it is.

    2. segnosaur

      The way I see it, there are 3 possibilities:
      1) Blaine doesn’t really earn much, and is being honest when he says he can’t afford tuition for Faz as long as he is also paying for Amber’s schooling
      2) Blaine has illegal income (from the money laundering), but not enough legal income (i.e. from the cover business) to pay for schooling for 2, and would find it hard to explain the extra money for Faz’s education
      3) Blaine has more than enough income for both, but was just using the “Amber’s education prevents me from paying for Faz” as an excuse to be a jerk (to Faz, to Faz’s mother, and to Amber)

      I’d believe any of those options.

      1. Needfuldoer

        I could definitely see 2 and 3 coming into play.

        1 is highly unlikely, because it assumes Blaine can be honest about something that doesn’t reflect well upon him.

    3. Nah

      He had the money to pay for toedad out of jail right away, but Yuri complained that Ambers tuition was taking all their money. My guess is Blaine is just straight up lying to his wife about how much he has, and he’s more worried that paying for Ambers college (or refusing and getting taken to court) bring too much attention to his bank accounts and might tip Yuri off.

  13. CaptainRakHuns

    Willis. WILLIS. How dare you make me feel feels for Faz again? I am angry at you for once again besting my poorly guarded hearth with your superior and incredible character writing.

    Damn it all

  14. JA

    Next comic, Joyce cold-cocks him.

    1. anonymsly

      Joyce is very unlikely to beat up a child I think.

      1. NinjaNick

        True; he’s her only lifeline until AG/Sal catches up.

      2. thejeff

        Probably not going to happen, but realistically he’s only a couple years younger than her and is an accomplice to her kidnapping.
        I think at that point any moral concerns about hitting children go out the window.

    2. Needfuldoer

      Joyce passes out again, headbutts him in the crotch, and vomits.

      Then they can be roommates.

      1. cartoogle

        QC reference ftw

    3. Roborat

      Joyce is not tied up, and I doubt Blaine is wearing a sealtbelt, she could wrap it around his neck pretty easily.

  15. Jamie

    Re: Bracket

    Instead of voting (I don’t Twitter), I’m gonna comment on the brackets. Namely, Jocelyne v Danny makes me wince. Ethan v Leslie makes me wince more. I feel like all four characters deserve to make it past the first stage, and two of them can’t. Kinda hopin’ for a perfectly even split somehow.

    1. NinjaNick

      Me, neither. I’ll toss a ghost vote at Danny, Mike, Walky, and Dina. I don’t do Twitter because of…orange turd.

    2. Wack'd

      I don’t know yet how I’m gonna handle ties, but the answer is not gonna be “they both win”. Sorry!

      1. clif

        In the semi-finals, Sal vs Carla is going to be a tough choice.

  16. ScarletSabre

    Nope, I don’t feel bad for Faz… I understand him, sure, but feel bad? Nnnnope.

    If he moves his hair and reveals a black eye or other bruise from Blaine, I’ll feel a bit bad for him, but as it is he’s getting no sympathy from me

    1. S

      People who need to see bruises to empathize with victims of abuse are part of the problem.

      1. Thulcandran

        ^^^

      2. He Who Abides

        Well said.

  17. He Who Abides

    So, I feel like a lot of people aren’t going to feel bad for Faz here. Lemme just say that, if you defend Amber/Amazi-Girl going out and picking fights because of Blaine’s abuse of her, just imagine how hellish it’s been for Faz taking all of Blaine’s shit after he lost his preferred punching bag. Just sayin’.

    1. Anon A Mouse

      Nobody is saying Faz hasn’t been abused and I doubt anyone would truly say that this isn’t his way of coping. However, his actions are still reprehensible. I also cannot say that given the same situation at that age I might not do the same but that does not change things. We can feel sympathy for his reasoning and understand his actions and still condemn him for taking them.

      1. He Who Abides

        Except that a lot of people have actively pretended that Ambmazi-Girl are totally blameless for their shitty and illegal actions because of Blaine. Daniel M Ball explained why that’s happening up above (and helped me understand it a little better), but I have a problem in general when a character in anything is given a free pass for actions that any other character gets bashed on hard (to cite two other webcomic characters, Anne from The Wotch and Rudy from Rain both make my blood boil because of how much people pretend that anything’s okay when they do it).

  18. ktbear

    So according to the poll Carla is the best character? Well, I guess I knew that already.

  19. Some1

    To all the people saying they don’t feel bad for Faz, your essentially saying you don’t feel bad for a child who is very heavily implied to be beaten and is forced to help his abusive father because if he doesn’t he’ll be homeless (or at least thinks he will be). That’s a bit fucked up.

    1. segnosaur

      Faz is going to be homeless either way… either Blaine is caught by the cops, or he has to go on the run.

      I guess the big question is: At what age should we consider someone old enough/competent enough to think things through logically and rationally. If Faz was a pre-teen, it would be understandable that he would have trouble escaping the abusive programming by Blaine. If he were a full adult, you would expect him to be fully responsible. But as a teenager, he’s kind of in a grey area… mature-enough in some ways, but not in nothers.

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        Faz is 15. Blaine abandoned Amber and her mother what, 5 years ago? Assuming Blaine moved in with Yuri immediately, that’s 5 years of abusek starting when he was 10. So…

        1. BBCC

          Divorce finalized shortly after the robbery 5 years ago, he hasn’t spoken to Amber for 3 years prior to family weekend.

          And when Amber was still a nervous wreck (before the robbery) she was babysitting Faz (Patreon bonus strips). So Blaine almost certainly had access to him before that.

      2. Alanari

        I don’t think he’s going to be homeless. Prison is a home. He’s a teen, yes, but he is involved in kidnapping and murder. That’s probably not ending well for him. Abuse or not.
        And since Amber relies on her dad’s money to go to school, this might end badly for her, too.

        1. BBCC

          I mean, if Amber’s mom’s boyfriend will help out with a lawsuit from Ryan’s parents, he might be willing to help bankroll suing the fuck out of Blaine for this episode.

          Faz will HOPEFULLY not go to prison because he is a teenager, but he’d definitely need to sell coercion pretty hard to get out of juvie.

        2. segnosaur

          Amber’s mom might have legal grounds to sue… But I suspect she might have trouble collecting.

          Blaine would be in jail (so no income). He might have assets (like a house, cars, etc.), but since some of his income comes from money laundering, it is possible that the government will seize those because they are considered proceeds from illegal activities. (Alternatively, he may have also hidden those assets/put them in other names, so that they can’t be recovered in a lawsuit.)

    2. DailyBrad

      I mean, it’s a fiction story, and Faz is not a very likable character. I think people who say that aren’t really thinking of the gravity of Faz’s situation or that survivors aren’t exactly always going to be the easiest people to like when they do what they feel they have to do to get by.

      That, and I mean, a lot of people just flat out don’t like 14-15 year olds. It’s not like Ross gets an overwhelming amount of love when he’s around, either. It’s an obnoxious age, plus Faz is a holdover from Shortpacked, where he’s REALLY not an easy guy to like for a ton of reasons. DoA Faz is still creepy, just, not as awful since there are mitigating factors.

      1. DailyBrad

        Oops, I meant Howard, not Ross. Sorry, I have a migraine right now.

      2. thejeff

        The abuse Howard took in the comments here was really disturbing. Especially since the situation is parallel in that both of them are nearly certain abuse victims, so it’s not just 14-15 year olds. Neither of their behaviors is normal, even for 14-15 year old boys.

        Faz is worse – even before joining in the felony kidnapping and murder.

    3. Swissaboo

      Faz gets the misfortune of having been an unbearable adult in Shortpacked.

  20. Mra

    I wonder if Joyce’s church goers follow Desanto, and know their mysterious benefactors name. If so they should be finding out about his kidnapping fiasco any second now.

    1. Opus the Poet

      I know a lot of fundigelicals who treat social media like it was a direct line from Satan, so I’m going to say it’s unlikely that they would be following Robin’s official Twitter account.

      1. Norah

        But don’t a lot of them follow the orange turd?

  21. BBCC

    I mean, yeah, Faz is an abused kid and I’d be shocked if Blaine DIDN’T hold the family by the financial jugular. Who wants to bet he doesn’t let Yuri work?

  22. Some1

    thirty strips later:

    Sarah: So you adopted Faz?

    Joyce: Yep.

    Sarah: Can you do that?

    Joyce: Indiana’s foster care system needs some work.

  23. Leorale

    I had a boyfriend (now ex) tell me he knew he was behaving wrongly, but that it was ok, because eventually I’d forgive him. He’s one of the very few people whom I’ve never, ever forgiven. Jackass.

    1. temperaryobsessor

      I think I get Faz’s logic at this point and since Blaine’s version of unforgiving is what it is its hard to hold him to accountable. But if somebody basically told me to my face that they could live with hurting me because I would eventually forgive them, I think I would resolve to be less forgiving, at least to them.

  24. Bagge

    Bad news, kiddo. Your father is going to prison no matter what.

    But I have to say, Faz trying to make Blaine read “Bucky and the flesh-eating lube” greatly increases my opinion of him.

  25. Freezer

    I, for one, take pride in my ability to both feel sympathy for Faz and still want to backhand the little turd.

    1. Bagge

      That seems like a reasonable reaction.

    2. ScarletSabre

      I second this feeling wholeheartedly, and wholefistedly for the backhand too

    3. not someone else

      Thirded!

    4. CJ

      Forth

      1. Rabid Rabbit

        Sally.

        1. clif

          Ted.

  26. Kravis

    Amber’s fanfiction would surely be of use to shame her off of campus.

    1. Lawzlo

      Well you’d think that, but once the other students read about the heartwarming relationship between Commissioner Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth, sharing the late fall/winters of their lives together, they’ll understand.

  27. Thanatos

    The thing is, that, yeah, if Blaine goes to jail, they will probably lose the house because Blaine would not permit his wife to work, so income would be gone and payments would be missed, so the home would be lost. Most likely, his mother would do what is necessary to get another home. This probably means that she will shack up with another man. One who will probably also be abusive. Possible more abusive toward Faz than Blaine is. As in won’t be ok with “his woman” having a kid in tow. Blaine makes use of Faz and tolerates him as long as he is useful. Sadly, for Faz, it actually can get worse.
    Best case for Faz is probably: Blaine gets arrested, mom shacks up with another man who doesn’t want Faz, so Amber’s mom agrees to take him in. Then he gets Amber’s mom and Joe’s dad to raise him.

    1. Anon A Mouse

      I dunno, Blaine is pretty high up on the bad people scale, what with the mob ties and murder and all. I feel like Faz’s mom would have to work pretty hard to find someone actually worse. Not saying its impossible just that whoever she gets with next would have to be more than a murderous mob croney. That being said, I agree that things aren’t likely to get any better.

      1. Roborat

        Isn’t Blaine’s wife (name currently escapes me), related to Korean mob boss? in that case, she would be taken care of.

        1. thejeff

          “taken care of?” /pulp fiction

          I don’t think it’s clear. Most likely, but no hard evidence I know of. Yuri is Asian and he’s tied to the Korean Mob. We assume the connection, but I don’t think we know anything beyond that for sure. I’m not even sure it’s been made explicit that she’s Korean.

  28. Juanoku

    Faz… Has a character?
    PREPOSTEROUS

  29. Reed

    *siiiiiiiiiiiiigh* Faz you just had to remind everyone you’re an idiot kid who’s being abused. I hope he lands somewhere healthy after his father is eventually imprisoned.

    I hope all these jackholes realize that they’re destroying Joyce’s capacity to forgive, and I can’t stand how insulting that is. Like I can just do whatever I want to you consequences be damned because I know you’ll forgive me.

    1. PB

      Amen to the last part and a begrudging “yeah I guess” to the first part.

  30. Zatar

    Feeling bad for Faz is the biggest Damn You Willis! in a while, and given this entire arc that’s saying a lot.

  31. Shadotterdan

    I feel it needs restating, is Faz aware his dad just killed a guy?

    1. AGV

      Probably not
      Although, he could be and still want to help Blaine not to go to jail given the finantial situation (or what he’s been told about it)

    2. Bicycle Bill

      He did say in yesterday’s comic, “no one GOOD was harmed.”  So I think he knows that Ross is either dead or damned close to it.  And Blaine was holding the bloody hammer and had the bloody handprint across his face.  I don’t think Faz is quite that thick that he couldn’t put the pieces together.

    3. segnosaur

      He definitely should be aware….

      – Depending on where he was hiding in the house, he may have heard Walky describing to Amber/Amazigirl about the fight in the basement.

      – Faz was in the house after Dina attacked Blaine and yelled “You killed becky’s dad”

      – When Blaine and Faz first left the house, Blaine commented to joyce “you can keep your dead body” (when Faz was near by)

      – He was near by when Dorothy told Blaine “All you killed was a co-conspirator”. (Unless Faz was already in the van by then and the van was soundproof, Faz would have been within earshot)

      Then of course there are the other clues… the bloody hand print on his face, his threat to kill joyce. Plus, he might have been at the top of the stairs when Blaine talked about throwing Mike off a staircase. (Wasn’t exactly a murder, but certainly a suggest of attempted murder.)

      So yeah, Faz would have to be completely oblivious to not know Blaine was a murderer.

  32. BenRG

    I dunno, Faz. Forgiveness is harder when it is presumed as a get-out for acting in your own self-interest.

  33. Rikunda

    I cannot feel bad for Faz. He made a completely stupid choice. They have lost their home. There is NO way in hell there will not be repercussions from this for his dad, and thanks to his actions now him too. It is good he purposely failed his father up to now, but when it counted most… He failed to stand up to him when he would have lost his home either way.

    1. SuperZero

      What choice is that? He hasn’t made, or had, many choices.

    2. Axel

      as I said below, he has grown up seeing Blaine do terrible things without consequences; there’s no reason for him to believe this will be different, even if it’s a dramatic escalation.

      Plus, Blaine has almost certainly drilled it into his (and probably his mother’s) head that they couldn’t live without him.

    3. thumb

      He’s a kid. Much younger than anyone else in our cast who also make a ton of dumb choices (see title of comic).

      1. Needfuldoer

        He’s about two years younger than most of the main cast.

        1. thejeff

          It’s an important two years though.

  34. HaretaSora

    I really dont feel sorry for Faz. His whole ‘you have the capacity for forgiveness’ screams as if he’s saying ‘I knew i could betray you and do shit and you’d forgive me cause your a pushover’ you know?

    Also, like someone else said, I find it unlikely that Faz didn’t know that his dad had just killed a man and even with everything screaming how it’ll end with Amber’s dad in jail he still decided to help be an accessory to a kidnapping

    1. StClair

      I agree with the first part at least.
      For the second, I’d have to look further into his head, and I really don’t want to.

    2. Thulcandran

      Almost like he’s had “I can do what I want to you and you’ll have to forgive me, because you have no choice” modeled for him from childhood.

  35. GUIGUI

    O no, he is human!

  36. Icalasari

    His last panel, nope, he needs a punch

    I feel I might be very angry lately

    1. He Who Abides

      He’s probably gotten a bunch of them already, from Blaine. And unlike Amber/Amazi-Girl, he doesn’t seem to have a caring parent to contrast Blaine.

      But no, let’s just pretend he’s evil while letting his violent sister(s) off the hook. Sounds fair.

      1. thejeff

        His sister may be violent, but she hasn’t done anything nearly as bad as helping out with mass kidnapping.

        1. Human Bean

          True enough, but she’s not under Blaine’s thumb anymore. Faz probably has to live with him every day.

        2. He Who Abides

          I don’t think it’s that true. Ambmazi-Girl stalked Sal for weeks hoping for an excuse to thrash her, and “excessive force” might as well be their catchphrase no matter the situation. That, and they’ve got a decent enough support network (Ethan, Stacy, Mike-ish, Dorothy, Danny). Faz doesn’t even have a parent to help him cope with the horrors that he must be dealing with at home.

        3. thejeff

          Amber/AG’s behavior with Sal was bad, especially early on. No denying it.

          Faz is an accomplice to kidnapping and murder. He is currently trying to appeal for sympathy to a girl he’s helped abduct and who, were this reality and not a webcomic, would likely wind up dead shortly.
          Now he’s only an accomplice which mitigates it somewhat, though his freeing of Blaine led directly to Joyce’s current plight.
          In purely legal terms, Faz is guilty of felony murder. Nothing Amber has done is nearly in this league.

          And while some people excuse Amber for everything, others still think she’s a monster for stabbing Sal when she was younger than Faz, traumatized and goaded by Blaine, so the other side’s around too.

        4. SuperZero

          Faz isn’t actually guilty of that, because he was forced to be there by his abusive father. In order to be guilty of felony murder, he has to actually be guilty of some of the other crimes; Faz is a victim.

        5. thejeff

          That’s a case he could make in court. I’m not sure how sympathetic a jury would be, especially since he continued once Blaine wasn’t a direct threat to him – releasing him and thus leading to the Joyce’s kidnapping.

          That’s almost certainly his motivation, but I’m not sure it’s a get out of jail free card. Combine it with a plea and testifying against Blaine, he’d probably get off light, assuming the prosecutors don’t think the case against Blaine is air-tight already.

  37. Brasca1

    Faz. You’re still going to lose your home. Do you seriously think Blaine will get away unscathed? Best case scenario is a good foster family, but you can forget about Amber paying a visit.

    1. SuperFroakie82

      I think the implication is that he actually does think Blaine could get away with this if he helps, or at least he thought that when he cut him free.

      1. BenRG

        Or that he is so scared of him and his mother being made homeless that he couldn’t take any other course of action, no matter how futile he believes it is.

      2. Axel

        I mean, he’s surely seen (and seen evidence of) Blaine doing countless terrible things before and none of it was stopped.

        They also may very well be able to keep their home (or find another one) without him, but Blaine has almost definitely made sure to tell them that they couldn’t.

  38. PB

    Scientific proof has now been made that you can feel bad for someone and still want to punch them in the face.

    1. Eldritchy

      Let’s do it the magical girl way, first you beat them into the concrete and then you give them a hug.

      1. Andrusi

        And then Faz will develop a much nicer personality and start wearing a cute outfit that conveniently fits into a gap in the existing cast’s color arrangement.

        Either that or he’ll suddenly turn back to evil for another half-season.

  39. Jake'm

    …damn it, Willis…

  40. Keulen

    Damn it Willis, stop making me feel bad for Faz.

  41. anonymsly

    I don’t know, I see Faz’s choices here as quite reasonable given what he seems to think are his options. He seems to take it as read and absolute that he’d have to betray someone and his options were:
    Joyce/Amber – people he likes/loves but doesn’t rely on for physical needs who are also good people capable of understanding/forgiveness
    OR
    Blaine – someone he loathes but relies on for physical needs, someone his mom relies on similarly, and who is a bad person INcapable of understanding/forgiveness.

    In his place and situation I might well feel have no choice but to do the same as he’s doing now. If a betrayal is necessary, best it be the person(s) Icapable of understanding/forgiving rather than the violent murderer I’m almost certainly stuck with who is not capable of either. I’d prefer it otherwise, but survival dictates.

    The number of people in this comment section out for the blood/pain of someone seemingly locked into doing low-grade cold equations as a life would be unsettling to me if I didn’t realize that Faz is always going to get this reaction. He’s FAZ, an unsettling abused kid who smiles all the time, doesn’t always seem to understand or care how social norms work, and also doesn’t seem to express emotion or make emotional choices. He’s FAZ, a kid whose other-universe (fully adult) counterpart had zero non-gross characteristics, which always meant the readers here would wish horrors on him. He’s got multiple decks stacked against him.

    Me, I can only say ‘poor kid, it’s never not going to suck to be you.’

    1. Wraithy2773

      This, this, 100% this.

      People really need to look back over Faz’s appearances prior to this arc. The worst that we’ve seen him do is being creepy (in a manner framed as comedic), being a nuisance for various characters and stealing stuff from Amber’s computer, which turns out just to have been some weird-ass Batman/Superman slashfics (…assuming he didn’t grab the really messed up ones. Remember how Mike learned about the term “Guro”? https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-6/04-it-all-returns/busy/ ).

      He’s a fairly fucked-up kid, absolutely, but he’s not the devil, and people are treating him like a Ross or Blaine, when he’s not even a flippin’ Mary…

      1. Bicycle Bill

        a word to the wise — you do NOT want to deeply Google “guro”.  Just take my word for it that it is a sub-genre of manga and anime focusing on the bizarre and the grotesque featuring gore and mutilation mixed with eroticism.

      2. Anon A Mouse

        Nobody is comparing him to Ross or Blaine, most people are saying “despite his abuse, which is terrible, he has committed reprehensible actions” which is objectively true. I believe everyone here, even the ones who claim not to, feel sympathy for “an abused child” but are tempering it with a number of things: people generally don’t like Faz, his wording in the last panel sets off a lot of peoples warnings about manipulative abusers, and his actions are objectively bad in this situation and he knows it. It is not hard to understand his situation and even believable that many of us would do the same thing but this does not excuse his actions nor relieve any ill will others may have towards him for taking them.

        1. Puckish Rogue

          Thats a pretty good summation

        2. thejeff

          There’s also the fact that his reprehensible actions led directly to Joyce being prisoner here in a van being driven away by a kidnapper and murderer.

          If this wasn’t a webcomic the most likely outcome here is that Joyce would not forgive Faz because Blaine would kill her.

  42. Anime fan

    Really doubting any of what Faz is saying. He’s always been a cartoonishly manipulative little bastard.

    1. BenRG

      Remember that Walkyverse =/= Dumbing of Age. It isn’t beyond possibility that Willis is deliberately aping Wv!Faz’s behaviour here to make his actual motives and perceptions harder to establish until the defining moment arrives.

      1. Nono

        Man, Drew got some leftover bashing from the other universe when he showed up despite all his appearances here being harmless.

        1. thejeff

          Yeah, Drew was a different case, since Faz’s essential Fazness was established in his first appearance here.

        2. He Who Abides

          Danny as well, at least until he came out.

      2. thejeff

        It isn’t, but it’s awkward when the characterization is apparently identical and therefore we know the abuse is retconned in, not part of the original reason for the behavior.

  43. Sombrero

    Sorry Faz, but Joyce is not stupid. She may forgive you, but she won’t forget. Better put actions behind your words quickly because this time not even Amber will be able to save you.

  44. hof1991

    People do what they need to get through their days. Survival sex, shoplifting, petty crime, join a gang. Faz is just a more extreme case of an abused child trying to get by. It’s led him to some dark places. No reason to think he wants or enjoys the life he’s been given. He’s a bit actor in the narrative who has little agency. Yes I pity him. Probably would avoid him too, since he will pass on his second hand pain.

    Every teacher sees kids like this. They need help not more trauma.

  45. Cmasta

    *votes in the first four matches*
    *sees current standings*
    Well that’s disappointing

  46. DarkoNeko

    …
    Really.

    1. SuperFroakie82

      Well, I’m from Utica, and I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase “steamed hams.”

  47. pamplemousse

    I don’t comment much. But I’m going to say this- I’m a child therapist who works closely with children who have experienced intense levels of abuse. It can change the trajectory of brain development, which can did impact problem-solving, cognitive functioning when faced with emotional stressors, morals, values, and self-worth. And for a minor who is living under the thumb of his likely-abuser, Faz’s actions and reactions make sense. It doesn’t mean he’s not obnoxious (especially for those who first encountered him as a sexually-inappropriate adult in Shortpacked). I think Willis’s depictions of children, teens, and young adults living with or in the aftermath of abusive parents are pretty realistic (exaggerated dissociative reactions and superhero shenanigans aside, which I believe he acknowledges to be exaggerated for storytelling purposes).

    Faz is unnerving, but I can’t judge the morality and actions of an abused teenager (especially with a violent, toxic, and manipulative father) through my regulated and adult lens. He is neither fully bad or good. He’s complicated, he is human, and he is trying to survive. The fact that his actions and words are reminding people of their own abusers shows that one, abuse can be a cycle; two, in the real world, we need to work together as a community to break that cycle; and three, David Willis is a gd good writer and knows how build a realistic character who may be searching for their own redemption. The nuances to Faz’s interactions with others reads to me like a child who wants to be loved and accepted and has never been shown a healthy template for relationships. Even abused children just want their parents to love them on some level. It’s an unbelievably painful process for a child to unpack or let go of their parents, regardless of the pain they’ve caused.

    1. Vulcanodon

      Thank you for making this comment pamplemousse

    2. Thulcandran

      Thank you for saying this.

    3. Rani

      So if there’s a last minute flashback where it turns out Blaine also had a bad childhood, are we supposed to suddenly feel bad about wishing harm upon him? Does morality not exist if you’re under 18 and then suddenly apply full force at 18? And what does it mean that Becky and Amber went through equally shitty childhoods and ended up making vastly better and more compassionate choices than Faz?

      1. He Who Abides

        Amber/Amazi-Girl stalked Sal for weeks, just so they might have a chance to bash her teeth out. They’ve taken out their anger on far more than just their abuser, on a level that shrieks “excessive force” like a banshee with its tits getting pulled into a sausage grinder, and has tried to actively goad nonviolent offenders into starting fights just to have the excuse of “no, they started it” multiple times. And they’ve been training for that scenario for years, only to put lives in jeopardy by doing so. Sorry, but I’m tired of pretending that Amber/Amazi-Girl have made “vastly better and more compassionate choices” at this point. I’ll grant you Becky, but DIDuo should not be running free at this point.

      2. SuperFroakie82

        Well having some good friends probably helped a bit, which I wouldn’t be surprised if Faz lacks.

      3. BBCC

        1) Kids don’t have the same capacity for decision making as adults do. Their brains are still developing.

        2) Kids are still dependant on their parents. That’s why parents can be liable for things kids do, because they are supposed to be watching and teaching them.

        3) Amber certainly didn’t make a better choice when she stabbed Sal through the hand after she was restrained at Blaine’s goading. While it’s possible to be a bad person after abuse, people who are currently in that situation can make bad decisions out of stress and desperation, especially when they’re kids.

        4) Yeah, I’d be concerned if people had no sympathy for a child Blaine being abused. Child!Blaine wouldn’t have deserved it any more than Amber had. He can’t deserve abuse for things he hadn’t done yet. That doesn’t mean you have to not wish harm on adult Blaine for shit he’s actually done. I personally do feel for Faz here, and I think it explains his actions well. The OP didn’t say YOU can’t judge Faz, they said THEY PERSONALLY did not feel comfortable judging him by adult standards due to their own understanding of Fez’s situation.

  48. Rabisch

    Faz is the a fan of Amber’s fans fiction and is able to recognize it easily. I wonder if he read it for interest or because his sister is the author.

  49. Rosicrucian

    I wonder what will happen after Blaine can no longer pay Amber’s tuition.

    Maybe Joe’s dad will pick up the tab?

  50. Zee

    People expect a surprising amount of objective forethought from a desperate 15 year old who’s mental development has been warped by abuse, huh?

    1. timemonkey

      Some doesn’t don’t care what happens to Faz.

    2. thejeff

      People are upset when that 15 year old assists a murderous kidnapper and is directly responsible for that kidnapper escaping with one of his victims as a hostage.

  51. Jay

    I don’t normally comment, but I hope Faz dies slowly and painfully in a fire. That is all.

    1. Needfuldoer

      As long as Joyce gets clear of the truck before it explodes.

      And doesn’t turn around to watch it explode. Cool protagonists don’t watch explosions.

    2. SuperFroakie82

      why

  52. Badgermole

    I don’t know what everyone else is reading but this is a great illustration of why women and children don’t report abusive partners and parents.

  53. Aprion

    Nope, no, njet, nee, nein, iie. Some shit you don’t forgive.

  54. Dracke

    People forget the kid has likely been abused as much as amber…

  55. CMasta

    It’s really amazing how many people think an abused child who definitely has not had any counseling nor any positive influences in his life should be making healthy decisions especially vis-a-vis standing up to his abuser.

    Like do y’all really think that’s how it works?

  56. Dr. T

    Hey Faz! Guess what?! There is no chance your dad doesn’t go to jail now. He can run, but the secret is out.

  57. Sombrero

    I cannot feel bad for Faz without any evidence that he is an abused child instead of Yuri’s project of future K-mob boss. Faz’s ridiculous self-confidence does not fit with being subject to abuse. It brings to mind more the reflection of a (probably delusional) overambitious mother.

    1. Avery Owens

      I dunno, my brother had (or seemed to have, more accurately) very high self esteem while he was a teenager still living with our abusive father. I get where you’re coming from though.

  58. Nah

    I mean this has kind of been expected to be happening since Amber pointed out she felt guilty about not doing anything about a kid being stuck living with her dad back on Garbage Roof.

  59. abysswatcher1993

    Willis, you are a monster for making me feel for Faz!

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