Definitely doesn’t. Short lamp, then? Tall traffic sign, maybe?
Doctor_Who
And why does it appear to be rotated at a slight angle? Why does the black line possibly extending from it appear slightly off-center? Why is it located right in the middle of the sidewalk where people will walk into it?
So many questions! Tell me your secrets, possible lamp post! This means something, this is important!
Dean
It’s to indicate that Faz’s disguise skills are still imperfect.
Durandal_1707
Or that Faz has been zapped by the Kelvans.
Needfuldoer
Faz had to learn shapeshifting on his own. He didn’t have any other Dominion around to teach him.
Dr T
It’s a sign about the parking there.
There’s a 50% chance Faz gets distracted by Blowjob Cat, which is a few blocks away (in front of an elementary school).
Bicycle Bill
It’s a retro-style lamppost with the large glass globe at the top. See Google Streetview; the address is 103 W Kirkwood Ave.
I don’t think Joyce has told anybody she and Joe are texting buddies. They certainly don’t seem as friendly IRL as they are over text.
John Smith
Joyce educating Joe on the finer points of the importance of his actions seemed pretty close to me.
Freemage
Yeah, but that usually happens in ‘private’ (if you count a public place where no one who actually cares about what the two of you are saying as ‘private’). She doesn’t talk to him like that in front of any of their respective friends.
Well, Joyce is actively trying to break up the happy couple of Jacob and Raidah. She’s just doing it for Sarah while Sarah encourages it with the idea that Joyce is the one who will catch Jacob’s eye.
So the mocking text is being sent to the right party.
…or maybe Faaz’n-thony where the ‘N is pronounced like the breathy afterthought othat is the R in macabre, but I can’t see Joe going to that much effort
Is macabre of French origin? Because it sure looks French.
Agemegos
When I was a kid I asked my father “what does ‘macabre’ mean?” He told me an involved French folk tale about three brothers who killed their sister’s unsuitable boyfriend, buried his head in a pot and planted parsley over it, and gave it to her. “That’s macabre”, my father said, and I have never forgotten it.
Other French borrowings in English that end in “-re” include “acre”, “theatre”, “centre”, and “metre”.
Liquid Len
although in the US we “reformed” the spelling of the last 3 of those…
HeySo
Actually, in the US, those involved with theatre will (as per my personal experiences and second-hand information on the matter) typically spell the profession theatre and the building theater, so as to better distinguish them. Though this may perhaps also be because theatre folk (despite also being very free-spirited and goofy) tend to be rather firm-minded about propriety and what constitutes proper presentation, so the appeal of strictly adhering to international spelling due to it being more “stylish” may have more to do with it.
We are not actually sure about real life. …But his books and series tend to have … ISSUES … nay, entire publication runs, sealed in mylar … with underage children encountering sexual content. To put it sort of blandly.
The general advice for reading an Anthony series is “read until the one that’s just over your creepiness threashold, then stop”, because it’s generally only gonna get creepier from there.
–Dave, for examole, the Incarnations of Immortality series went a little off the rails with War, rather further with Evil, and right over the concrete barriers with Night, which volume he had to get publiahed at an indie publisher, since it would never EVER have passed muster at his previous one. And Xanth has been medium creepy for a couple dozen books now, though there it’s a type I can take – but it had distinct misogynistic elements even in book 1.
Faz wants to run around and explore college. I say let him. He can befriend the guy who runs the local comic book store, Ninja Rick who believes only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Naruto are worth reading.
Considering how many superheroes are shapely women in skintight outfits, I imagine some of them could do it.
thejeff
Yeah, but she’s his stepsister. Gross.
Annonymouse
That would not hinder The Faz where he will point out some social or legal precedent that exists somewhere in the world where that would not be “squicky”.
Kryss LaBryn
Hm. Okay, Anne and Aaron have a daughter, Ashley.
They get divorced, and Anne (who gets custody of Ashley) marries Brendan. Brendan himself is also divorced, with a son of his own, Brian.
That would mean that Ashley is Brian’s step-sister, but unrelated. Right?
Anyways, Brian is going through an angsty teen phase and doesn’t like Anne much (because she’s not his real mom, Anne!), and since he’s already seventeen he takes off early for college, maintaining family contact with only short, grudging phone calls at Christmas and Father’s Day. And even those taper off after a few years.
Ashley, meanwhile, is finding their small town repressive and also moves out, to attend a different college in another state. Returning several years later, having graduated, for Homecoming*, she attends a concert by local-band-made-not-quite-big but they have a small record contract and some success on YouTube and the local rock station plays them sometimes, and there she runs into a cute, sweet guy about her own age, smart, with just the kind of dry wit she adores. They hit it off and hook up for drinks or just to hang out sometimes; but thanks to the noise at the concert when they introduced themselves she thought he said his name was “Bryant,” and they didn’t realize they were technically related through marriage (although not by blood) until she brought him home to meet her parents that Thanksgiving, which was one more awkward than usual.
Once they got past the mortification and familial recriminations, though, they decided that, not being blood relatives and having no history of actually living in the same house (beyond a vaguely-remembered presence–on both sides–announced by the distant slamming of a door and muffled music drowning out parental ire)–not to mention being legally adults who can make their own decisions, Mom, to just keep it casual for now and see where (and if) it goes.
Because, it ends up, they really do get along very well, and lord knows when one of them says, “Jesus, Dad,” into the phone, the other knows exactly how they feel.
The End.
* This plot point makes sense to Americans, right? Sorry, is Canadian.
I’d be much more worried about Amber if they got back together. Danny seems to understand Amber well enough that he isn’t affected by her angry outbursts, and he’s not in any physical danger from her.
Amber, on the other hand, might not be ready to handle the amount of support and affection he would try to provide, and it could end up feeding into her self-loathing. If she’s gonna date right now, she needs someone who is better at knowing when to give her space, or just let her vent some of that self-loathing without trying to argue as if she just needed to be persuaded. Like Walky did when they talked up on the roof.
thejeff
And I doubt Amazi-Girl would be happy when she found out.
Discussion (160) - “Little dude”
Ana Chronistic
Joe: “…Joe dun Joe’d it up”
Doctor_Who
::Tanooki Suit Sound::
“The ladies cannot resist Faz’s weird-stone-pyramid-probably-intended-to-mark-a-parking-space disguise!”
Delicious Taffy
That’s a lamp post, isn’t it?
Doctor_Who
Probably? I can’t tell if the black line is part of it, or part of the background.
Does it continue above Joe’s speech bubble or not?
Delicious Taffy
Definitely doesn’t. Short lamp, then? Tall traffic sign, maybe?
Doctor_Who
And why does it appear to be rotated at a slight angle? Why does the black line possibly extending from it appear slightly off-center? Why is it located right in the middle of the sidewalk where people will walk into it?
So many questions! Tell me your secrets, possible lamp post! This means something, this is important!
Dean
It’s to indicate that Faz’s disguise skills are still imperfect.
Durandal_1707
Or that Faz has been zapped by the Kelvans.
Needfuldoer
Faz had to learn shapeshifting on his own. He didn’t have any other Dominion around to teach him.
Dr T
It’s a sign about the parking there.
There’s a 50% chance Faz gets distracted by Blowjob Cat, which is a few blocks away (in front of an elementary school).
Bicycle Bill
It’s a retro-style lamppost with the large glass globe at the top. See Google Streetview; the address is 103 W Kirkwood Ave.
Delicious Taffy
Please don’t doxx lamps like that. They have a right to privacy, even if they’re out in public.
Dr T
No it’s not. That’s in front of Fountain Square Mall, whose address is….
*checks Google Maps*
……never mind.
Alan Lafond
Yes, it’s a lamp post.
This is where they are.
LookingIn
…I thought that was a streetlight.
AnvilPro
I think Sarah is the one that deserves the mocking text Joe, but A for effort. As for action… C.
DailyBrad
Joe and Sarah are definitely not on speaking terms right now, so I don’t think he’d be texting her, regardless.
Doctor_Who
Would he even have her number? They’ve never exactly been close.
Reltzik
It’s cool, Joyce overshares everything with Sarah anyway. Two birds, one stone, plausible deniability.
meanderling
I don’t think Joyce has told anybody she and Joe are texting buddies. They certainly don’t seem as friendly IRL as they are over text.
John Smith
Joyce educating Joe on the finer points of the importance of his actions seemed pretty close to me.
Freemage
Yeah, but that usually happens in ‘private’ (if you count a public place where no one who actually cares about what the two of you are saying as ‘private’). She doesn’t talk to him like that in front of any of their respective friends.
cbwroses
Well, Joyce is actively trying to break up the happy couple of Jacob and Raidah. She’s just doing it for Sarah while Sarah encourages it with the idea that Joyce is the one who will catch Jacob’s eye.
So the mocking text is being sent to the right party.
Keulen
Faz got away very fazt.
cbwroses
Gotta go fazt!
TheAmazingKMan
Good job Joe 😛
TooOldToBeCool
“Faz was distracted by the sexy.”
King Daniel
How do you even pronounce “Faznthony”?
Delicious Taffy
Just like that.
Reltzik
With great difficulty.
Doctor_Who
Helps if you’re Daffy Duck.
Barf Ninjason
Faa-zin-thuh-nee
…or maybe Faaz’n-thony where the ‘N is pronounced like the breathy afterthought othat is the R in macabre, but I can’t see Joe going to that much effort
Delicious Taffy
Is macabre of French origin? Because it sure looks French.
Agemegos
When I was a kid I asked my father “what does ‘macabre’ mean?” He told me an involved French folk tale about three brothers who killed their sister’s unsuitable boyfriend, buried his head in a pot and planted parsley over it, and gave it to her. “That’s macabre”, my father said, and I have never forgotten it.
Other French borrowings in English that end in “-re” include “acre”, “theatre”, “centre”, and “metre”.
Liquid Len
although in the US we “reformed” the spelling of the last 3 of those…
HeySo
Actually, in the US, those involved with theatre will (as per my personal experiences and second-hand information on the matter) typically spell the profession theatre and the building theater, so as to better distinguish them. Though this may perhaps also be because theatre folk (despite also being very free-spirited and goofy) tend to be rather firm-minded about propriety and what constitutes proper presentation, so the appeal of strictly adhering to international spelling due to it being more “stylish” may have more to do with it.
Kryss LaBryn
Like Xanth. Say “Piers Anthony,” then say “Xanth”, then say “Faz-Xanth-ony.” Right? 😛
Freemage
Wow. That works. And since Piers is an irredeemable pervy scumbucket, that… well. Yeah.
thejeff
Is this something I don’t know about in real life or just judging from his books?
David DeLaney
We are not actually sure about real life. …But his books and series tend to have … ISSUES … nay, entire publication runs, sealed in mylar … with underage children encountering sexual content. To put it sort of blandly.
The general advice for reading an Anthony series is “read until the one that’s just over your creepiness threashold, then stop”, because it’s generally only gonna get creepier from there.
–Dave, for examole, the Incarnations of Immortality series went a little off the rails with War, rather further with Evil, and right over the concrete barriers with Night, which volume he had to get publiahed at an indie publisher, since it would never EVER have passed muster at his previous one. And Xanth has been medium creepy for a couple dozen books now, though there it’s a type I can take – but it had distinct misogynistic elements even in book 1.
Passchendaele
*stares at last panel in abject horror*
Delicious Taffy
Is that because you noticed the probably-woman in Panel 1, who Faz would also have noticed?
Passchendaele
I didn’t realize that, OH NO X 2.
Deanatay
I noticed the hideous Ugg boots (s)he’s wearing. Only one other person in this comic has that kind of abysmal fashion sense…
thejeff
And we have to find out who she is.
thejeff
Why? Faz is obviously just out of panel a few steps ahead, right? Right?
C.T Phipps
Faz wants to run around and explore college. I say let him. He can befriend the guy who runs the local comic book store, Ninja Rick who believes only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Naruto are worth reading.
Zach
Naruto?
Unforgivable!
Vagabond is the only true comic! It’s obvious because it’s long.
Inahc
You had one job, Joe…
*facepalm*
DailyBrad
A superhero couldn’t corral Faz, I don’t think Joe ever had a chance of it.
Doctor_Who
Considering how many superheroes are shapely women in skintight outfits, I imagine some of them could do it.
thejeff
Yeah, but she’s his stepsister. Gross.
Annonymouse
That would not hinder The Faz where he will point out some social or legal precedent that exists somewhere in the world where that would not be “squicky”.
Kryss LaBryn
Hm. Okay, Anne and Aaron have a daughter, Ashley.
They get divorced, and Anne (who gets custody of Ashley) marries Brendan. Brendan himself is also divorced, with a son of his own, Brian.
That would mean that Ashley is Brian’s step-sister, but unrelated. Right?
Anyways, Brian is going through an angsty teen phase and doesn’t like Anne much (because she’s not his real mom, Anne!), and since he’s already seventeen he takes off early for college, maintaining family contact with only short, grudging phone calls at Christmas and Father’s Day. And even those taper off after a few years.
Ashley, meanwhile, is finding their small town repressive and also moves out, to attend a different college in another state. Returning several years later, having graduated, for Homecoming*, she attends a concert by local-band-made-not-quite-big but they have a small record contract and some success on YouTube and the local rock station plays them sometimes, and there she runs into a cute, sweet guy about her own age, smart, with just the kind of dry wit she adores. They hit it off and hook up for drinks or just to hang out sometimes; but thanks to the noise at the concert when they introduced themselves she thought he said his name was “Bryant,” and they didn’t realize they were technically related through marriage (although not by blood) until she brought him home to meet her parents that Thanksgiving, which was one more awkward than usual.
Once they got past the mortification and familial recriminations, though, they decided that, not being blood relatives and having no history of actually living in the same house (beyond a vaguely-remembered presence–on both sides–announced by the distant slamming of a door and muffled music drowning out parental ire)–not to mention being legally adults who can make their own decisions, Mom, to just keep it casual for now and see where (and if) it goes.
Because, it ends up, they really do get along very well, and lord knows when one of them says, “Jesus, Dad,” into the phone, the other knows exactly how they feel.
The End.
* This plot point makes sense to Americans, right? Sorry, is Canadian.
Deanatay
Ahh, the most common superpower…
C.T Phipps
I am disappointed that Danny and Amber aren’t getting it on. The two of them are a couple I hope to get back together.
timemonkey
Danny and Amber were never a couple to begin with.
Delicious Taffy
No, but I have it from a reliable source that the two of them blurred that line in her bed, at one point.
Nono
I don’t think Amber should be dating ANYONE for a while.
Jago
And neither should Danny. They need to figure themselves out. But hey, they’re still friends, right?
Emily
As long as Amber refuses to pursue any kind of treatment for her pretty serious issues I think it’s in Danny’s best interests to steer clear.
thejeff
But the shenanigans would be interesting, since Amber and Amazi-Girl aren’t talking or sharing memories anymore.
Fart Captor
I’d be much more worried about Amber if they got back together. Danny seems to understand Amber well enough that he isn’t affected by her angry outbursts, and he’s not in any physical danger from her.
Amber, on the other hand, might not be ready to handle the amount of support and affection he would try to provide, and it could end up feeding into her self-loathing. If she’s gonna date right now, she needs someone who is better at knowing when to give her space, or just let her vent some of that self-loathing without trying to argue as if she just needed to be persuaded. Like Walky did when they talked up on the roof.
thejeff
And I doubt Amazi-Girl would be happy when she found out.
Not going to happen in the near future, so …
Ivy
If you’re still texting, you’re still friends, so good for Joe and Joyce
Jago
You’d have to mess up worse for Joyce to drop you as a friend.
Stephen Bierce
*plays “Runaway” from the For Your Eyes Only soundtrack on a random car stereo*
Reltzik
Knowing Faz’s current location is half the battle.
Beef
The other half is leaving him there
The Aussie Bloke
keeping him there*
Fixed that for you. 😛