i mean, if i were asher, might be sociopathic but i’d totally be petty and like “i’m kinda dealing with suicidal ideation by hooking up too, if we break up and i kill myself, we already have pics of us together on my social media so your son will def be known throughout the city as my last relationship before my death”
anon did lead with “might be sociopathic but…” after all.
anon
Well luckily asher wouldn’t actually do that hopefully , as opposed to someone that would’ve been in an unstable state of mind like Ruth did in the early ruth/jen days
Have you never gone completely overboard and said something so out of pocket that your comment and the pocket were barely even aware of each other’s existence, all to fuck with somebody you could never see yourself getting along with?
It would be incredibly funny if his mother’s shit was the push Ethan needed to start living again, just live a happy gay life out of Spite for his shitty mother.
So is this a ‘you can be gay because I don’t want you to end yourself”, thing? Or are there other factors that we don’t know yet?
Because one the one hand baby steps. Maybe she can learn and grow because she does deep down love him and all that.
But my pessimistic side says that she may be reacting to some kind of outside thing that we don’t know yet. And she won’t grow and her bigotry prevents her from actually loving him.
If I were to give Naomi credit she doesn’t deserve the whole “for now” thing is a way of trying to maintain control she knows she doesn’t have over Ethan’s sexuality and that she’s already accepted it, but can’t admit it yet. She doesn’t want him to die and hopefully her conditional acceptance will lift his spirits and maybe there’s a vague hope there he will somehow become straight, but that’s assuming a lot. On face value though it doesn’t need to be more complicated than what she’s said. No ulterior motive or outside factor needed for a parent to not want their child flirting with clinical depression and suicide. Maybe she just read one of many reported sources that lgbt+ youth are more likely to harm or kill themselves.
But that would mean that she’s not irremediably evil. The comment section would never allow that.
Lumino
Right? I know Naomi is a piece of shit, but I’ve actually found this exchange kind of heartwarming.
She’s STARTING to change, with baby steps. She realized that she’d much rather have a homosexual son who is happy and alive, then a heterosexual son who is dead.
Many parents would rather deny that until the day something awful happens, but she at least was aware enough of the consequences to decide “I’d rather accept a lifestyle I find repulsive then bury my baby.”
Yeah, the bar is a tripping hazard in Hell, but we’ve all got to start some where.
At the very least, Naomi’s behavior is an opening for change, even if she’s not actually moving for that opening right now. It’s an opportunity, whether she takes it or not.
She did say “until you’re feeling better” but i doubt she’d really realize ‘being himself’ would make him happier versus him being in an even worse state if asher breaks up with him, or somehow even dies as well (that would be pretty messed up as a queer curse, “somehow my partners keep dying” in a separate kinda story but i imagine that might not be well received given the ‘bury your gays’ tropes or so)
“You can be gay if it means you don’t kill yourself. We will discuss this further when I’m not worried you’re going to kill yourself” isn’t baby steps. It’s barely facing in the right direction.
Obviously the counter to this is to maintain the appearance of a self-destructive bent even if/when Ethan no longer actually feels that way.
The practical problem with manipulating others is that people are clever and can learn to use your manipulation to further their own ends.
Clif
The problem with maintaining a sustained appearance is that over time it becomes frozen in place and it can become difficult to ascertain which is the reality and which is the appearance, even by yourself.
Being a clever manipulative ape who is surrounded by other clever manipulative apes, some of whom are even more clever, is the curse of being human.
“Well,” he chuckles dryly, “I never said it was a hypothetical.” In that instance, Asher pops out of the closet. Before Naomi could say another word, the two were already off. Had Naomi been actually supportive, she’d cheer for her son. Instead, she cursed bitterly under her breathe.
I love how Ethan is giving her more pushback than he once could have, being more defiant. So much of his life right now isn’t healthy, but this is at least a good thing.
162 thoughts on “This moment forward”
NGPZ
brotha cease this opportunity! this is the BEST!
time to put yo mamma’s newfound “”respect”” to the test! >:D
Yumi
Seize?
NGPZ
yeah that’s what im sayin, time to watch how Ethan be playin’ this
Lysbeth
And dezest
anon
i mean, if i were asher, might be sociopathic but i’d totally be petty and like “i’m kinda dealing with suicidal ideation by hooking up too, if we break up and i kill myself, we already have pics of us together on my social media so your son will def be known throughout the city as my last relationship before my death”
Meeks
what the fuck? what would that accomplish?
Azhrei Vep
Fucking with Naomi.
anon did lead with “might be sociopathic but…” after all.
anon
Well luckily asher wouldn’t actually do that hopefully , as opposed to someone that would’ve been in an unstable state of mind like Ruth did in the early ruth/jen days
Taffy
Have you never gone completely overboard and said something so out of pocket that your comment and the pocket were barely even aware of each other’s existence, all to fuck with somebody you could never see yourself getting along with?
Ana Chronistic
*Ethan and Asher go at it*
“I was hoping you would at least have the same amount of shame as you would have fucking a GIRL in front of me”
Morrison
“No.”
Ray Radlein
Oh, like she wouldn’t have been down to watch him do Joyce way back when
Rowen Morland
Guess she needs a heteronormative sickos meme, leaning against the window.
Opus the Poet
Dr. Heteronormative is a villain on Questionable Content.
https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1526
Kazuma Taichi
“I dunno, my mom showed up unannounced, I’m feeling a little suicidal about that”
anon
Pretty sure she basically told ethan to ‘fuck joyce’s brains out/get her pregnant asap’ as soon as they met during that parental visitation day
Ana Chronistic
yeah but fuck Joyce’s brains out IN HER FACE?
shadowcell
Dumbing of Age Book 15: As of This Very Second, It’s Cool With You for Me to Have Sex With Men
Radiance
Dumbing of Age Book 15: Your Hypothetical Is Detailed In A Way That I’m Finding Portentous
(Portentous is bolded, underlined, and, quite possibly, WordArt.)
Clif
Nice.
Needfuldoer
I hope it’s the shiny, chrome effect WordArt. That one’s the best.
Opus the Poet
No, it should be dripping blood Word Art, dripping from bent and welded round tubes.
ValdVin
I’d put it in a PT, Bridgeport-style balloon from Pogo.
Pergola
I am sure “Your Hypothetical Is Detailed In A Way That I’m Finding Portentous” is related to “Suspiciously Specific Denial”.
Laura
Said in a Darth Vader voice:
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
“I find your detailed hypothetical portentious.”
Nathan
I came here to make sure someone had made this joke ?
Animedingo
Theres so many better words than portentous
NGPZ
momma KNOW our brotha’s hypothesis be ominous
he already be playin’ an’ challenging her dominance
Dday
Lepidopterists.
Canticle.
Perspicaciousness.
Astrolabe.
Michael Steamweed
Berma Shave?
Mark
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?
morleuca
Shibumi
Clif
Your Hypothetical Is Detailed In A Way That I’m Finding Astrolabe.
No, not feeling it.
Shadowsnail
In the closet, Asher is a certified babe.
Check that heavenly body with an astrolabe.
thejeff
Or to be a bit meta: sesquipedalian.
Yugnat
Says you, I learned a word today.
Ana Chronistic
prognosticatory?
RassilonTDavros
I really love how 110% done with his mom’s shit Ethan is here.
I mean I’ve felt that way about Ethan in general since the time skip, but this conversation in particular brings me joy.
Boop
Same. I hate that it’s come at the cost of nihilism but he’s needed, for a long time, the courage to tell toxic people to go fuck themselves.
Da Boy
It would be incredibly funny if his mother’s shit was the push Ethan needed to start living again, just live a happy gay life out of Spite for his shitty mother.
anonymsly
I do hope that the barrenness of Ethan’s field of fucks prompts him to point out that he’s gay whether or not his mom allows it so….
jeffepp
“How hot is he?”
Opens closet door.
“Yes, OK, this time.”
Daibhid C
Yep, that’s how homophobia works.
SillyGoose
Counterpoint: we know that’s not how homophobia works, but then we also know homophobia _doesn’t work_ so there’s that.
ANeM
The Homophobia knows what it is because it knows what it isn’t. By subtracting what it isn’t from all things, it can accurately determine what it is.
Dday
Twirls hair, pupils dilate.
“… Ok, but how gay is he?”
Bedovian
Naomi isn’t great but she is kind of hilarious in a toxic way.
Meagan
I agree, at least in this strip. She brings a different flavor than our more standard villain parents.
Risky
I’m digging the truckload of genre savvy.
Matrix
He don’t care and that’s okay
Sirksome
And then they start making out in front of her to test her conviction. And that’s chapter 1 of Amber’s latest fic!
Jess
So is this a ‘you can be gay because I don’t want you to end yourself”, thing? Or are there other factors that we don’t know yet?
Because one the one hand baby steps. Maybe she can learn and grow because she does deep down love him and all that.
But my pessimistic side says that she may be reacting to some kind of outside thing that we don’t know yet. And she won’t grow and her bigotry prevents her from actually loving him.
Bryy
Naomi’s Conditional Love is Conditional.
Yumi
Let’s not over look that “Until you’re feeling better, anyway.”
Michael Steamweed
“Once you’re not depressed anymore, then we’ll go back to pushing you into heterosexuality again.”
Sirksome
If I were to give Naomi credit she doesn’t deserve the whole “for now” thing is a way of trying to maintain control she knows she doesn’t have over Ethan’s sexuality and that she’s already accepted it, but can’t admit it yet. She doesn’t want him to die and hopefully her conditional acceptance will lift his spirits and maybe there’s a vague hope there he will somehow become straight, but that’s assuming a lot. On face value though it doesn’t need to be more complicated than what she’s said. No ulterior motive or outside factor needed for a parent to not want their child flirting with clinical depression and suicide. Maybe she just read one of many reported sources that lgbt+ youth are more likely to harm or kill themselves.
Mark
But that would mean that she’s not irremediably evil. The comment section would never allow that.
Lumino
Right? I know Naomi is a piece of shit, but I’ve actually found this exchange kind of heartwarming.
She’s STARTING to change, with baby steps. She realized that she’d much rather have a homosexual son who is happy and alive, then a heterosexual son who is dead.
Many parents would rather deny that until the day something awful happens, but she at least was aware enough of the consequences to decide “I’d rather accept a lifestyle I find repulsive then bury my baby.”
Yeah, the bar is a tripping hazard in Hell, but we’ve all got to start some where.
Taffy
At the very least, Naomi’s behavior is an opening for change, even if she’s not actually moving for that opening right now. It’s an opportunity, whether she takes it or not.
anon
She did say “until you’re feeling better” but i doubt she’d really realize ‘being himself’ would make him happier versus him being in an even worse state if asher breaks up with him, or somehow even dies as well (that would be pretty messed up as a queer curse, “somehow my partners keep dying” in a separate kinda story but i imagine that might not be well received given the ‘bury your gays’ tropes or so)
Daibhid C
“You can be gay if it means you don’t kill yourself. We will discuss this further when I’m not worried you’re going to kill yourself” isn’t baby steps. It’s barely facing in the right direction.
Mark
Obviously the counter to this is to maintain the appearance of a self-destructive bent even if/when Ethan no longer actually feels that way.
The practical problem with manipulating others is that people are clever and can learn to use your manipulation to further their own ends.
Clif
The problem with maintaining a sustained appearance is that over time it becomes frozen in place and it can become difficult to ascertain which is the reality and which is the appearance, even by yourself.
Being a clever manipulative ape who is surrounded by other clever manipulative apes, some of whom are even more clever, is the curse of being human.
Grayfinity
“Well,” he chuckles dryly, “I never said it was a hypothetical.” In that instance, Asher pops out of the closet. Before Naomi could say another word, the two were already off. Had Naomi been actually supportive, she’d cheer for her son. Instead, she cursed bitterly under her breathe.
Grayfinity
Oof, minor spelling mistake.
Michael Steamweed
Sadly, no edit function for us.
AeromechanicalAce
Ghostwriting for Amber?
Grayfinity
Maaaaaaaaaaaybe?
DailyBrad
I love how Ethan is giving her more pushback than he once could have, being more defiant. So much of his life right now isn’t healthy, but this is at least a good thing.
Bash