yeaaaaaaaaaah………………………………….no. Nope. nope nope nope. I renounce your canon willis. I command my own canon and it dictates that wots-his-name is sniped from a rooftop, becky has a nice cry, mike spits on his corpse, and we can all move on from this point with Beck finding lodging and a crappy part time job.
Not possible. Dorothy’s too level-headed to take that option and would instead report it as a kidnapping at gunpoint. Dina doesn’t have the cultural context to do this because she never read the stupid no-dinosaurs-in-them books. And Joyce didn’t read them either, because they might have led her to do Satanic things like rescue her best friend from reparative therapy hell.
Did you miss the sequence where she escorted Joyce to the fountain because she saw she was scared? Plus ToeDad is definitely an abusive authority figure, and we know she hates that.
I’m actually betting more on Amazi-Girl going solo with Dorothy, Joyce, Walky and Mike tagging along. Why Mike? Who better to join in on a family sabotage?
Or, you know, they just let events run their course, which is that the incident gets reported to the police, crazy dad is institutionalized for being emotionally unstable, and he loses custody of Becky.
It’s not as “drama filled” as a bloody shootout, but it’s still likely that Becky gets a happy ending with Dina, just thru more standardised legal procedures. Remember this webcomic is more reality based than It’s Walky.
I’m not American so I’m not a patriotic fan of the US Government or such, but even I doubt that Child Care Services would allow someone who pulls this kind of crazy crap off firing a gun in a school as Becky put it, to retain custody of their child in this sort of situation. Right?
Don’t set that baseline just yet. There’s still a panicked Joyce running in the preview panels and the hospital scene is get to come, and I’m willing to bet good money that it’s all going to have something to do with Becky doing something when she’s in that car.
Also, skateboard guy next to something censored has yet to show up (I’mma name that guy Thomas!)
Unless I’m mistaken, Sayid is an Arabic name. So that little tidbit, coupled with the fact I refuse to look at the spoiler pages, leads me to conclude that a character of middle-eastern descent will be introduced, which will also be a horizon opener.
There already is one, I think—Asma, who was checking people into the dorm on the first day. But we haven’t seen her much since. In any case, it would be great to have Sayid become a regular.
Willis posts preview panels to this tumblr: http://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/
You can find older preview panels either by scrolling a lot or taking a look at the “Archives” page. : )
Let this be a lesson to you! Vote only for the characters you wish pain and destruction upon! See less of the people you like so that you can imagine their lives are comfortable and happy!
I just voted for Mary, just for that reason! I sure don’t hope Willis heaps mental anguish on her because I voted for her. Nope. Nothing but sunshine, rainbows, and unicorn farts for Mary!
This. The only thing I can actually compare the ball of pain in my gut to is the sense of revolsion I got from watching a let’s play of an indie horror video game called “Masochisia”. I’m trembling, and kinda feel like I might puke to be honest.
This gives us the safest resolution option though. Now, Joyce can file a police report naming Toedad as the man who discharged a gun on the school campus, we can add whatever beating he gave to Dina, send him to prison, and free Becky.
More like Damn you, Dark Side of Life This sort of Crap Is Found in that Willis Has only Gotten Better at Satirizing (Dramedy-style, of course)
Ross’s religiously rationalized behavior strikes me as a sort of a tantrum over how life isn’t playing out as it ‘should.’ A good part of why Becky was successfully able to talk him down from making things even worse was he got his way in the end. However this was after it, by all rational means, too late.
He already brought a loaded gun in public, on university property, pursued a registered student, whom he was actually considering ‘doing what he had to do’ against, discharged said gun right square in the middle of everyone, and only convinced his legally adult daughter to come with him under threat of what possibility shooting himself, someone else, or both. There were plenty of witnesses, and even more people probably heard that gunshot.
Problem is, will “thank goodness that’s over with” be the response the University takes to what happened? Seriously, waiting for someone involved to press charges would be pretty moot until Ross is at least arrested. Thing if it is, if word of Ross’s description doesn’t get to the right people fast enough so police can know where to begin before too much time has past….And the people in charge of the University, now seeing it as an isolated incident as far as their responsibilities are concerned….Are ready to let it slide, all because the eyewitnesses chose to simply go with the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ number, rather than simply step up and answer “Did anyone see what caused that gunfire sound?’
I’m not sure of the directions on campus, but maybe they will be driving past the field/woods and Dina will emerge, and see them pass by. She will make a stand, to block the car. (Tiananmen Square just popped into my brain!)
Ross will aim for her, Becky grabs the wheel, jerking the car to the side, resulting in an accident (cue: ambulance). (poor abandoned Joyce, too!)
If Ross was going to go for her, he’d have done something when he had her down in the forest. He probably was being honest when he said he didn’t want to physically hurt anyone.
Now, Dina realizing that Becky is in the car and leaping in front of it? That’s a scenario I can see happening. Whether or not Ross’ll learn anything from someone else being willing to die for his daughter would be an interesting question in that scenario.
Actually, yeah. Not so much the jump-in-front-of-the-car, though it’s possible, but I think Ross does have to drive back through that area to leave campus.
Dina’s not expecting him to run her down, but not afraid of a challenge. She did launch herself at him from the tree, even seeing the gun. He’s probably not speeding, since he has his prize. He looked still weepy in the car (last panel) probably not going to see very well, either. His “Y-yes” in first panel is probably telling that things went kinda unexpectedly his way, and he is standing down. So, not even expecting any more delays. (hello, PD? Bueller?)
for once…in some universe…dina is going to have a loving relationship with someone who is neither still in love with joyce nor requires her to throw herself in life-threatening peril. we do all wish the best for them
Now I’m thinking if Beckypoll was highest, Dina would’ve been accidentally shot. She survives but gets put into a coma for as long as Becky here is supposed to be gone.
Aye. If Ross somehow escapes campus, my guess will be that Dina wakes up from Ross-inflicted head trauma, filled with BURNING VENGEANCE.
I really hope he doesn’t make it off-campus. The less time Becky is subjected to more of the rhetoric she grew up with the better.
Shame on you, Packy. As a veteran member of the It’s Walky! forums, you should know there’s NO commas or exclamation points in that. The phrase is spoken like that of Death in the Discworld series: DAMN YOU WILLIS.
Cholma, you obviously know Discworld, so surely you know that no mere mortal can do The Voice. And if Willis heard He Who Cannot be Evaded damning him, we might not get any more comics ….
Are you kidding? The Willis has a Friday night Transformers Fan Club meeting every month with Death, the Librarian, and Agent Simmons as regular attendees!
Let’s be fair to Background Bob for a second here. He just lived through some man he doesn’t know brandishing and firing a gun for reasons unknown to him, in the middle of what was probably an otherwise average schoolday. It’s late morning/early afternoon on a Monday iirc, so it’s entirely possible he just woke up and was heading to his first class, and then suddenly he’s in the middle of a situation where he might very well die. It’s pretty understandable to be a little self-centered in the immediate aftermath.
It’s not over for Becky, or for Joyce, or for us as readers, but for him it is. He can take a breath, let the adrenaline start to wear off, and then maybe spare a thought for hoping that girl is okay. Probably after he’s safely away from whatever the hell just happened.
I can seriously picture Willis drawing that panel, writing that comment, then reading it back to himself as the character. Then he slowly leans forward, stares the guy down, and says this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7_LkZWjaI
shit shit shit shit never get in the car with the crazy guy with a gun WHO THINKS THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU THAT NOTHING THEY CAN DO CAN FIX!…please don’t have killed becky already
Nah, Becky seems to be Toe Dad’s last lifeline to the world, I doubt he’d kill her. Probably won’t even lay a hand on her to be honest. I was kinda’ sure he was gonna’ go the Suicide by Cops route, but who knows at this point.
I think he will sooner kill her than let the cops rescue her, and then die himself. He doesn’t care about HER, he cares about her ‘purity,’ and her ‘purity’ cannot survive without him, in his mind.
Except for like two strips ago where he states he’d die for her. He was perfectly willing to go out in a gunfight with cops or mutant raiders or whatever it is Indiana U has on Campus.
Probably mutant raiders.
He’d die to protect the image of her and her purity and soul (ie, not-gayness) he has in his head. From herself, if need be.
Remember, this whole thing started because he thinks Becky’s sexuality needs fixing by ANY MEANS NECESSARY. He will hurt her. Because he thinks that’s what’s best for her. He may not be physically touching her when he hurts her but he is ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED to a course of actions – “for her own good” of course – that will inflict unimaginable pain on her. EVERYTHING he can do from here, from “let’s pray until you’re fixed” to corrective rape (by proxy, probably,) is abusive.
I don’t know, maybe it’s because we’ve seen the far extreme end of bad parenting already (Amber’s dad), that Becky’s father doesn’t seem like he’d “rape the gay” out of her.
Still a very, very bad thing to rob your daughter at gun point though. And that’s what he’s doing, he robbing her because right now he sees her little more than an object to get back.
He’s abducting her, actually. And again. Fix her. By any means necessary. Reparative therapy includes a lot of sexual abuse that isn’t rape, which is possible (just because he’d send her away and have someone else do it wouldn’t make it not be him doing it). He could tell her “obviously this is a mistake and you’ve only made it because you’ve never had sex with a Good Christian Boy to straighten you out and show you the light, so here’s this Good Christian Boy you know him you two just get together and all will be well.” There are a LOT of options here and since he just ABDUCTED HER AT GUNPOINT I am not putting ANY of them past him.
This. There’s a lot of horrible ways these programs and their off-brand Church hybrids have to “fix the gay”. Even if there’s no sexual assault, there’s a lot of other abusive techniques these programs have to encourage a life of lying to oneself for Jesus.
He doesn’t mean that how a non-asshole would mean that. He means he is willing to die to save her soul, because that’s the only part of her that matters to him, because with that she rubber-stamps her golden ticket to Heaven. After all life on Earth is temporary, but Heaven is eternal, so…
Yeah, definitely 100% willing to pull the gun on her while she’s temporarily seeing sense again than risk a backslide where he can’t “shepherd her healing” through prayer.
He wouldn’t have to, to kill her. Remember, he still thinks Becky needs ‘fixing’. He’s taking her to god knows where so he can do that. (And my mind is still going straight to REPARATIVE THERAPY PLEASE DEAR LORD NO) And Becky is never going to be able to trust him ever again, regardless of any other traumas he inflicts on her, because HE PULLED A GUN ON HER. If she doesn’t escape somehow, that’s…
There’s a reason the LGBT suicide rates are so high. Especially for teens. If this is the last we see of Becky it is a very slow death she’s being consigned to.
He fired a gun on campus in front of a huge crowd of students and kidnapped someone. He’ll never get there. And he’ll have a choice between surrendering Becky to ‘corrupt’ secular authority or making sure she cannot be corrupted any further.
Well, yeah, it’s likely things are still going to get waaay worse before they get better.
I’m just saying even if this was the BEST-CASE scenario* that ends with her still in his custody, he wouldn’t need to physically threaten her again to be hurting her because he is doing that every single second he’s in her presence. And he’s probably still going to be hurting her loooong after he’s gone.
* For the loosest possible definition of “best case scenario”.
He also physically assaulted Dina and was about to MURDER her before
going off to “save” Becky. He made it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR by shooting the gun that he had no problem killing every single one of the students at the fountain if he had to.
You can already see how much her spirit has been broken just in this martyring. If he does get her back, it’s going to be really hard for her to escape again. After all, she knows he’ll hunt her to the ends of the Earth and he’ll hurt whoever she’s with. Even if she escapes back to the dorms, how much will be she checking herself with Dina or worrying that she’s putting her in Dina? If she doesn’t, how much fear will she have of dating anyone knowing the risk they are in?
This is Toedad winning and as you said, that means risking her early suicide one way or another all for his religious pride.
And if she does manage to swallow every single facet of herself necessary to convince him she’s “cured”, you do not internalize that much without it doing some massive damage to your mental wellbeing. Especially since she’d have to be doing that for the rest of his life. And probably depending on the Good Christian Boy he hands her off to and his family and mindset, she might STILL be in danger of some guy who thinks he owns her for the rest of her life.
Seriously everything about this storyline’s made me realize just how much my first big depressive bout was influenced by the self-loathing crap I’d internalized when I was realizing I was Not Straight.
“you do not internalize that much without it doing some massive damage to your mental wellbeing.”
Truth. So, so much truth. Parents teach you “LGBT people are wrong and evil and worthless” enough, you end up translating that to “I’m wrong and evil and worthless” when you realize you’re on the spectrum, especially once you realize (after careful probing) that they’ll never accept it and you basically have to hide it from them forever. And once that self-worth is gone, so are your chances of self-actualizing enough to get yourself into an environment that will teach you differently.
…shit, I just made myself more depressed than I already was from reading the comic itself. I didn’t think that was possible. 🙁
I really, really, REALLY want to see future comics of her and Joyce hanging out and doing Sisterly Bonding Things and just Joyce being supportive of her big sister and Jocelyne being happy and accepted because ugh I feel so bad for her.
Maybe they and Dorothy can go clothes shopping together since they all have similar taste in stripy shirts.
Still a dude who fired a gun on a college campus and forced a girl into his car, that won’t fly… if I sleep for 24 hours straight starting now will things be better tomorrow?
After 17 hours, it kind of gets hard to stay asleep. If you stay up for 24 hours, however, you may start to see things. Tactile Hallucinations are not fun either. I don’t enjoy being bitten by creatures that don’t exist. But you are right. I’ll bet a few calls have already been made to 911, and they know his car. Also, I can imagine that Becky will only tolerate this situation for a short time. She might even threaten him back with his own weapon. But even this might take some added verbal inflammation from her father. She’ll boil hotter and hotter until she explodes on him.
Being tired when you look at a strip means you are not as emotionally capable of processing the information without awful sobbing. I CAN TELL YOU THIS FROM EXPERIENCE
After 12 hours awake, I need to take my psychiatric meds,
and they knock me out for another 12 hours. If I push those
12 hours, my mental and emotional stability gets knocked down
a peg with each additional hour. Given all of this, I can agree with you
completely, from my own experience. I’m actually more affected by
comic stories emotionally than anything from real life, which makes
this situation magnitudes worse for me.
Really? I’ve been up more than 24 hours in a row lots of times, but I never had hallucinations. Not even that one time I was up for 54 hours straight.
I know staying up too long can have those effects, but I really doubt 24 hours would be enough.
If she still has Dina’s cell phone, she should call 911 and keep it hidden. A trackable open mic listening to their conversation is the worst thing for Toedad’s plan at this stage.
Aside from that, at least a couple 911 calls about a random adult with a rifle on a college campus demanding (to an outside observer) a random young woman come with him… Yeah there will be an AMBER Alert in no time.
Hopefully one of the inevitably several 911 calls about this will include that toedad made someone else get in his car with him, and not just that he fired a gun on campus then left.
Because that’s what’s going to determine weather the cops regard Becky as a kidnapping victim/potential hostage, or simply as a second suspect. If its the former, her chances of escaping the inevitable police confrontation safely are much higher.
Of course, this is only if Joyce herself doesn’t call the police.
So how much success do you think Joyce would have if she called the cops at this point?
I mean, Ross did come and abduct Becky at gunpoint. Feel like he’d probably be pretty upfront about the fact that he did in fact point a gun at his adult daughter to force her to come with him and why he felt this was reasonable.
At the same time Becky might not be too cooperative. Plus who knows what sort of police they’ve got in Joyce’s community. They might be a little too sympathetic to Ross’s cause.
I am, however, extremely concerned about BTD’s intentions at this point. Becky told him that the only way the day can end is with state troopers blowing the back of his head off. Which is a very reasonable belief. He did not disagree, he just said that he was prepared to die for her. She told him that he would get them all killed. He did not disagree, he just said that he would save her soul from Satan. It sounds as though BTD is accepting death as the price of preventing Becky from turning lesbian. He might still be blaming Dina.
This is no-where near over. Someone might yet get shot.
Yeah, this encounter isn’t going to be over until the McIntyres are very firmly separated from each other for good, and I’m just hoping it’ll be because legal forces make damn sure Ross doesn’t get near her again.
My first thought on this page was, “Joyce is alone at the fountain, again, and just suffered ANOTHER traumatic event. She is NOT leaving that fountain on her own.” Then I thought, “Wow, she probably doesn’t just see Ryans everywhere, now. She sees Ryans and gun-toting ToeDads everywhere.”
You mean leaves us hanging to go with another story? I thought someone figured out that this day runs at least till the hospital scene in the previews. But I spose that doesn’t prevent Willis from cutting away for a while.
I think that the ultimate ending of DoA will be Joyce waking up next to Walky (back in the Walky-verse, wedding rings on their fingers) and saying, “I just had the WIERDEST dream EVER!!!!”
I was thinking more along the lines of nice bump on the head; but now I’m wondering whether a bullet just falling down would be enough to actually cause a head wound…
Oh, boy, she’s in the car. Toedad is driving off with Becky, prepared to rehabilitate her “by any means necessary.” This is very, very bad. Devastating. I really hoped something would happen to prevent Becky from getting in that car with him. I don’t know what else to say.
Indeed. My brain is not able to process beyond “NONONONONONO” in a way that even him pulling the gun didn’t do to me. I knew he wouldn’t kill Dina or Becky. But this just looks… I mean, it’s not hopeless but it sure FEELS that way right now.
That’s definitely the point. To capture the hopeless feeling of those types of moments. Where you’ve tried everything you can, but the abusive person just removes all your options until you have no choice to submit to them.
Yeah, this is giving me a stomach ache. Whatever of his plans he chooses to go with now, it’s going to damage Becky. Though I’m still holding out for the chance someone will intervene before he can get too far – either police or some other.
Just knowing what her father is capable of is going to leave a mark. It is like she said in many ways, there’s no good way out of this now.
Just piggybacking on this train of thought, directing this out to the Becky haters out there. Also, pop culture references are my coping mechanism for these last few strips.
What Becky haters? I mean, I didn’t like her in the beginning when she was acting all jealous about Joyce having other friends, but that doesn’t mean I want her kidnapped.
Now that the gun is put away and he’s driving off with Becky the important question to ask is, does Toedad wear his seat belt? Because pro-tip, you don’t want to kidnap someone at gun point and then put them in the passenger seat without someone still holding a gun on them. It ends badly.
Why do I have a feeling that with all of this crap piling up on Joyce constantly she’s just going to do a total shift and start going through a phase where she acts like Sal, and not in the ‘happy-christian Joyce pretending to be a delinquent’ and she sort of becomes Anti-Joyce for awhile?
Yeah Ross isn’t getting very far. Between any footage or witnesses of him and his plates, any photos or media reports of him, police will be on him in less than half an hour.
They don’t know it but the person to whom he is most a risk is himself. I just hope that Becky’s got a plan; I’ve just got a feeling that something like this has happened to the McIntyres before.
Yeah, that dude’s the worst. Doesn’t even try to check on Joyce, to make sure she’s okay. Just goes ‘Welp, glad that’s over!’ and peaces out. Worthless as all hell.
To be fair, he has no idea who Joyce is or what’s going on, and he had very good reason to expect he was just about to die. He’s happy to be alive and getting the hell out of that situation before anything can change that. He certainly didn’t express himself in the most tactful way, but I can’t blame him for not sticking around or checking on Joyce. I mean, yeah, somebody should check on Joyce, but why is that the responsibility of the guy who was ALSO just in a traumatic situation?
The guy has no idea of what just happened ir why it happened, he doesn’t know any of the back story, all he knows is there was someone firing a rifle, lots of shouting and now hes safe
Well, Willis tends to be more of a stickler for realistic backgrounds than the typical romantic comedy. I mean, you can’t show a woman getting raped and then killed in Central Park crying for help for more than an hour while spectators just pass by in the movies. The audience would get bored, especially if the director tried keeping camera angles warranting an R rating or less.
We have movies exactly so that people can imagine themselves doing the right thing without having to do so in real life.
are you F**king kidding me? where the frack are all the cops. seriously every college has a campus security it should take them like 1 minute to get over there and track down the car. not a student? no problem, they still won’t let a crazy person force you into a car. even if she was underage he is a clear danger to her. child services! police! anyone but amazi girl exist in this F**ked up college!!!
How about the convenience store robbery flashback? Sal was having her hands on a police car hood with an officer standing beside her when Amber stabbed her.
Someone should be by soon, but he fired the shot pretty recently. That was probably when campus security or 911 was called, but even with priority response because gunfire, he’s already in a car, that’s not a student, and my guess is that this kind of situation would turn more into reporting the situation to police and them trying to figure out whose jurisdiction it is to get a girl back from her own father who is not putting her in danger of imminent bodily harm.
Police response to the Umpqua Community College shooting eighteen days ago took six minutes from the first 911 call to the arrival of the cops on the scene. Not under a minute.
“thank god that’s over with” !? Seriously? THAT is a fucking reaction that happened? A girl was basically taken a gunpoint, and it’s “THANK GOD THAT’S OVER” SERIOUSLY?!?!?
HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. He wasn’t listening, he was PANICKING. His reaction was an automatic response of “No one got shot, thank God”. Do you honestly expect him to have full knowledge of the situation and an appropriately respectful response two seconds after a gun went off on his campus?
You still don’t fucking walk away all “Oh, yay, that’s done.” It’s “Hello 911 some guy JUST FIRED A FUCKING GUN ON CAMPUS AND TOOK A CHICK AWAY”
Previous strips he’s all “Shit dude has a gun” and there is a good bit of conversation happening after where he could also be HELLO 911 FUCKING GUN HELP *blam* *shot heard over phone*
YOU DON’T KNOW that he’s not about to call 911! You are ASSUMING that he’s just going to “walk away”, as you put it! Where are these extreme extrapolations coming from?
And as for the point that he could’ve called 911 at any point beforehand, he was panicking and froze up as a result of being forced into an unpredictable and dangerous situation. His reaction has been one of the most realistic things about this scene.
YOU don’t know how he was reacting either, you’re ALSO just ASSUMING and trying to use YOUR assumptions to prove other people’s assumptions wrong.
His comments are literally: “Oh shit, dude’s got a gun.”
There is OBVIOUS focus on the two girls a few feet away from him and to the front. Becky has a pretty good plea to her father, there is a silent pause between Toedad and Becky as she then uses her mm to try and break through.
So for HIM, there is NO need to be panicking yet. In fact, there is still time for him to call police at this point as he’d be VERY clearly aware of what’s going on and who the focus is on.
THEN comes the shot. His response is: “Jesus! What the hell?” A rather coherent response, really,whereas one guy near the back of the fountain is the one going into the panicky “Oh God” chant.
He is, however, still quite close to them and still in VERY good distance to hear the exchange between Toedad and Becky, a woman CLEARLY being forced against her will to leave.
His NEXT response is “Well, thank God that’s over with!” as he runs off despite yet another clearly traumatized victim right in front of him.
And you want us to believe that is a panicked response? Sorry, no. That’s an asshole response. And if you sympathize with it, thank goodness I’ll never be in a crisis situation with you or his other protectors.
Because in crisis situations, especially ones like this, it tends to be shown people band together to help other victims, especially when one is in clear danger.
So, again, no, fuck him, and all you people who would happily leave someone in a dangerous person’s hands without even literally lifting a finger to call for help.
Had it been me, I also would have dived for cover (just as he did) ….. but I would have also had my phone out and been dialing 911 as soon as I got out of the line of fire.
Gee willickers. Can’t imagine why he’d want to remove himself from this situation. Almost as if in the aftermath of a threat to his life he experience some sort of fight or something response, compelling him to flee the area as soon as he was able. Fight or…. what? I’m sure I read about something like this once.
It’s almost like he just experienced a traumatic situation too! People don’t always do what might be the most rational thing when they’re worried they’re about to die, or relieved in the aftermath of a situation in which they thought they were going to die.
The police have also almost certainly already been notified at this point, and you have no evidence that he isn’t about to go call the police. But you can’t really blame him for taking a moment to be relieved that the immediate situation in which he feared his imminent death is over.
Replying to this comment because it won’t let me reply to your next one… Seriously? You jump from “I disagree with these people about our interpretation of a minor fictional character who has about three lines of dialogue” to “Everyone I disagree with must be terrible, selfish people who would leave everyone else die in a crisis?” Wow.
(For the record, defending the reaction of a character does not imply that I would react the same way. Nor does your indignation and posturing give you any moral high ground over those who would prefer to give a character the benefit of the doubt, or have any bearing on your own reaction to a crisis.)
Yeah, I’m replying to the same person. The attempt to shame people over a fictional character is taking things pretty far. Maybe calm down a bit and have some empathy. Unless you have literally been taken hostage in real life, there’s really no reason for this level of emotional intensity, and there’s certainly no reason to turn on people for offering explanations and counter arguments.
All he knows is that someone arrived on campus with a gun and fired the aforementioned gun into the air and then drove away. He doesn’t know anything about Toedad intending to force Becky to conform to his delusional perception of who she is supposed to be to him. He doesn’t know anything about why this just happened. He doesn’t have the information required to understand how messed up the situation is.
And even if they did talk about it, the dude would probably be too busy focusing on not losing control of his bowelmovements to notice. Had he known as much as we do about the situation and what Toedad intends to put his own daughter through, then you would be right, but we have absolutely no reason to assume he does.
He is the dickhead commenters who said it’s ok if Becky is killed so long as the characters they care about arent, and they want to be done with Becky and get back to stories about the characters they like. There’s nothing wrong with being relieved to be alive and see the gunner gone, but he’s totally oblivious and self absorbed.
Yeah… oblivious and self-concerned. Almost as if a stranger just fired off a gun two feet away from him. Almost as if the event was quick and confusing, instilling a perhaps instinctual concern for his own personal safety and wellbeing. Go figure he wasn’t immediately filled with a sense of enlightenment and selflessness. Last I checked gunfire doesn’t instill a cosmic awareness of the affairs of strangers, a grand understanding of how we all fit into a global tapestry with the lives of even random strangers being equal in value to your own. Certainly not in under two minutes at least.
Ah, so you’ve obviously thought a lot about how you’d react. How about: wtf just happened? How about: cops will probably want to interview witnesses? How about, is everyone here alright???
“wtf just happened?” is a valid response, though not the only possible response of a decent human being.
“How about: cops will probably want to interview witnesses” is probably something most people wouldn’t be thinking of immediately after the incident ends. Gonna need a moment to sort through visceral immediate feelings before anybody starts thinking about abstract concepts like law and what the cops are gonna want when they show up in a couple hours.
“is everyone here alright?” is a something most people would start thinking about after they feel assured that they themselves are alright. Keep in mind, this is like two seconds after the guy with the gun left. Ross’s car is still on panel. Even if he was a doctor or something he’d still probably need a moment to pull himself together before he started looking after everybody else.
I am deeply concerned that you call a knee-jerk response of “no one is dead, whew” to be oblivious and self-absorbed. He thought he was either about to be murdered or about to be witness to a murder and he is glad nobody got injured. I should not have to keep explaining this.
So, don’t keep explaining it. We’ve read what you wrote. We aren’t buying it. You aren’t going to convince us by repeating the same argument over and over and …. even if you lock caps.
There’s more than one person participating in this conversation, here. Your repetition is no more convincing than theirs. You don’t get to reply to their comments arguing with them, and then tell them that they’re not allowed to argue back, whether you’re “convinced” or not. That’s not how conversations work.
Dude. I’m not arguing. I said what i have to say about that guy a while back, ive got nothing else, i dont even care whether you agree with me or not. Nor have i said that anyone else cant say whatever they want. Zagreus said they “should not have to keep explaining” it, so I said, you don’t have to keep explaining it, no one is forcing you, but if you actually do want to keep explaining it, hey, it’s a free commentarium (so far as Willis allows) so, knock your self out, but you are not going to convince me, but have fun. I’m mildly interested in the reasons you all have given why I shouldn’t judge this guy a dick — in this situation — and I’m mildly interested in how emo several of you are about it, and I’m mildly interested in the seeming lack of knowledge of what “quotation marks conventionally mean” — ie, that they enclose a quotation. But I’m not going to tell anyone what they can’t do with quotation marks either. Have fun and have a nice day. 🙂
@fogel: That is the longest-winded “not arguing” I’ve ever seen. If you wanna argue, go ahead, but don’t try to claim some moral high ground by pretending you’re not arguing.
Ps, your “quotation of what he said”, isnt. Instead of repeating yourself, try reading what he actually said and see if you can catch a glimmer why folks are unhappy with him..
Because you’ve essentially written a guy off as scum because he didn’t immediately think of Becky after a gun had been pointed in his face. He doesn’t know what’s going on with Becky and he just had the scare of his life. Why does that make him a bad person?
You are right that this incident does not mean that he is all bad. Heck, ive reacted a few times in ways that I wish i coyld have do overs on. Maybe he will too, later. But when I didn’t like my reaction to a situation, I’ve let myself know it. This guy’s reaction here is fubar. That is all I intended. And that is where we disagree.
What this all boils down to is that you’re blaming this guy for not being able to thoroughly analyze and reflect on the situation the way that commenters can. Just because this guy didn’t immediately do three different things after seeing a gun doesn’t make him “fubar”, for fuck’s sake.
“Thoroughly analyze”? Nope. Not looking for that at all. The 3 alternatives I suggested are all reactions of the same order as his. (As for thinking, stick around, the cops will want to talk to you, that’s actually something that I’ve thought relative to situations I’ve witnessed. That is just totes obvious if you’ve grown up watching American tv.)
Oh, heck! Soramke, that part where I said that I’m not arguing and have nothing more to add to what I’d already said? Never mind. I let my self get sucked back in! But the rest of what I wrote? All still good, I think.
What would have been actually fubar is if he had simply run away. Or maybe if he had laughed uproariously and said something like “serves that right!”
Or perhaps he he had hidden behind both women in an attempt to save himself.
Or perhaps if he had run straight at the guy screaming, perhaps getting himself and other people shot.
Being thankful that the immediate crisis is over doesn’t in any way make him a bad person. Hell, it’s not even a bad reaction. Your perception is skewed.
Which of course is exactly why these replies keep coming and why the message simply isn’t sinking in. No matter the incoming data, it will always be colored to whatever your perception happens to be.
“Being thankful the immediate crisis is over doesn’t in any way make him a bad person” I am SO glad that you agree with me! (You obviously noticed that I said that several times already.)
Gangler, Soramke, all: I HOPE that most of our exchange has come out of caring about the Willis-verse and misunderstanding each other about some things. (I am going to try not to respond again, so, please have the last word if you want it.)
I can totally see ‘thank god it’s over;’ they were probably pretty scared for their own lives (and if duck and covering might not have seen Becky go), but ‘thank god that’s over with‘ is kind of weird, it’s trivializing and, yeah, strange.
“That guy didn’t show complete omniscience and rational thought when confronted with a gunman on campus? Yeah, he totally deserves to die. FUCK him, amirite?”
How about “It’s over ’cause the gunman went away” being completely oblivious to the notion that, hey, maybe it’s not? Because there have been instances of multiple shooters in one site?? Because what if Becky makes a break for it and Toedad comes back???
It’s as myopic as Twitter’s stance when death threats were deleted. It’s SUPER WEIRD to not have alarms going off for at least a few hours when your life is put directly in harm’s way, even if the immediate threat is gone–adrenaline pumping, paranoia on high alert… and dude can just casually go back to “all’s cool” in seconds?
Also, girl kidnapped at gunpoint. C’mon, dude, I know you’re relieved for yourself and that’s okay, but at the very least report it to the cops now that your own hide’s momentarily clear.
I used to be involved in surf life saving clubs. Two of my brothers worked summers as life guards. I’ve been involved in a few rescues, and talked with people who have performed a lot. It’s a standing joke, a bottomless well of funny anecdotes: nearly all people are total jerks when you rescue them.
It’s not that everyone is an arsehole. Its the way that relief works after terror. It’s the adrenalin talking.
Agemegos: thanks. And, genuinely interesting. I would honestly be interested in those annecdotes. I do know that people who are not irredemable arseholes can react badly/weirdly in high stress, threatening, confusing, situations. My reaction to what that guy does and says is coming out of my feelings about the folks who posted ‘I don’t like Becky story, kill her or something and go back to characters I like’. To me he is representing those folks. As if Willis knew months ago about those posts and responded to them through that guy.”
Agemegos: I wonder if you were at any of the beaches I’ve been to: Bondi, Manly — yeah, tourist, but my wife grew up near Bondi before her family moved back to Perth and I’ve been at many of the Perth beaches.
I trained at North Bondi SLSC, so that’s one beach you mentioned. But I did my patrols mostly at places you’re unlikely to know: South West Rocks and Crescent Head.
This was actually a night terror for me awhile after I let my family disown me for the last time. Not that my dad who wanted to “fix me” would hunt me down with a shotgun, but that I’d end up in a situation (mostly due to economic desperation) where I’d have to meekly submit myself to his “plans for me”. That I’d have no choice despite my stubbornness. It’s still in the back of my mind sometimes even though I’m in a better and more stable place now.
This whole arc has been super intense for me, but also really healing. I’m really happy Willis is taking the care to do justice to the experience. So yeah…
I am very glad that life is better for you now. If you ever write a book about your journey, its one that I want to read. I believe that you have the experiences, the analytic brain, the heart, and the soul for it.
Background Bob is representative of a much bigger problem whenever Becky’s situation gets resolved and she (presumably) manages to come back to see Joyce.
People are going to blame her for Ross’ appearance, that her being there (squatting illegally, no less) brought in an emotional gunman to campus.
Cue both Joyce angrily defending her (and being even more upset at the world for being as ugly as it can be) and Becky even more torn by what her presence is causing Joyce to go through.
Well looks like we need to call the cops Joyce right please don’t be stupid right now he kidnapped her illegally under duress he is very very very much breaking the law right now please someone call the cops and not just let this go. You have
That right there wasn’t stupid, that’s shock, which I am not begrudging her the least because her brain just had to process “Becky’s Dad who used to drive me to Six Flags PULLED A GUN ON US” and “GUN” and “Becky’s going with him” and all of these are terrible and that’s before we pull in her pre-existing traumas.
BUT DEAR GOD PLEASE HAVE SOMEONE HAVE CALLED THE COPS.
It certainly looks damaged. It’s possible that Ross either damaged his car during his chase to find Becky. That or something happened at the auto shop when he was trying to get it back after they towed it away.
One has to wonder how Ross thought this would go. Like, what did he plan to do in the event that he actually shot someone? People have seen his face and most likely his licence plate. Dude, Ross. You not only won Worst Father of the Century (runners up being Blaine and Ging Freecss), but you also win the award for Worst Planned Kidnapping of the Century. Congratulations, you’ve now made villains like Condement King look competent.
Anyone else hear that? Cause if so, congratulations, you can now hear my hearts slowly but surely crumbling…. And I already finished my secondary soft serve supply. Lovely… Anyone got any Sierra Mist?
There is a preview panel for the next storyline that shows Joyce by a car with her dad. Though I can’t see the comic doing a time skip of a year. A lot of non Joyce storylines will be interrupted if that happens.
(Though there’s definitely a time skip of some sort of after this storyline because the preview panels in December show Leslie and gender studies is a MWF thing I think. And today is Monday. So one day at least)
Y’know, this pretty much *is* Gender Studies class. Joyce, you get an A because, let’s face it, you just got the biggest lesson the school can teach you about what LGBT women go through.
Licence number. BTD’s name and their home address. And even more important, someone tell the police that Becky has a mobile phone that is switched on, and what the number is. It’s very important that they get that number soon. They can track the phone. A negotiator can use it to get in touch with BTD. Only Dina and Joyce know about it.
I also think its will be very helpful for the police to know what is going on. Unfortunately I don’t think that Joyce is in any sort of shape to explain to them crucial things that were said about getting killed, dying for Becky, and Satan.
Also, it might be important that someone be told that they have to look for Dina.
Hm, Torchwood’s Children Of The Earth season versus this… Torchwood was worse objectively, but then I wasn’t as attached to the characters as I am to the DoA characters…
Ok I know this is comic book world, but in the real world, the police would have been contacted as soon as he pulled out the gun by any number of bystanders.
Multiple people would have been filming it with their phones. Including car and plate number.
In California an Amber Alert would be sounding on every cell phone and freeway warning signs giving the car make and plate number.
If he gets way for more than 6 hours this truly is the comic book world.
cripes I will get this right yet….
It actually goes by State. for example New York anyone over 18 but under 21 or still in college has a modified Amber alert system for them
he pulled out the gun on a busy street. (a passer by had exclamation points) then took time to enter a park wooded area and return for his car. He stood at the fountain having a conversation before he fired off the gun.
there is nothing he could have done more that setting himself on fire to draw attention.
911 was called, he was filmed. At least in the real world.
Surely somebody’s gonna call the cops on him, right? I mean, he just fired a gun at a school. Someone please tell me he’s not gonna get away with this…
D:
He also kidnapped an adult woman. She might be his daughter, and she might have gotten into the car, but it was by… I dunno, blackmail? He had just discharged a weapon and ordered her into the car, something she clearly did not want to do. That’s an overt threat right there. So yeah. Kidnapping.
I’m sorry, I know this is supposed to be all serious and stuff, but every time I see Becky’s dad, I can’t help but think of the ‘Son, I am dissapoint’ meme.
Also, anyone else realize chances are Sarah is going to be the designated shoulder-to-cry on? I mean, Becky is most likely gonna be hearing about this too, but I feel she’ll end up being the shoulder to cry on when both of Sarah’s give out.
Does anyone know if there are underground networks of religio-nut bags who would help & hide someone like toedad on the run with a kidnapped lesbian ‘needing’ to be ‘fixed’? Cause that could certainly drag this out horribly? Or do Toedads cam pants indicate that he could be planning to take Becky into the outback (wherever that might be relative to bloomington)?
In fact, right-wing professional homophobe organizations are big on aiding and abetting anti-gay or anti-women terrorists or law-breakers because it plays up the martyr for Jesus aspect and allows them to claim that those trying to return the kidnapped party or bring a law-breaker to justice are just attempts to “steal a child” or “prosecute a good Christian man”.
This is probably the best, realistic thing that could have happened. The rifles put away, the students are safe, they know where Becky is so tracking the car shouldn’t be an issue
Anything else, like another character charging into the fray, would have would things worse and probably got someone shot.
My head’s in a couple places where Dina’s concerned.
To what degree did Ross not harm Dina? Contextually it’s clear Ross was saying he didn’t shoot her, but we also know he didn’t truly leave her completely unharmed. Not sure how Becky will respond if Ross has done anything to her.
Dina also made that promise that she wouldn’t let Ross get Becky. Seemed to take the promise very seriously. Doesn’t have much time left to deliver on that now that Ross and Becky are in the car.
I’m really hoping that he just rounded down for a given value of “harmed” and just left her knocked out or otherwise thrown off in the woods rather than presuming she isn’t people because of her “snake-like deceptions”.
Being knocked out isn’t really the trivial thing that fiction normally portrays it as. We didn’t really see how well Dina took to being thrown, but she might require medical observation at the very least.
Becky, under the control of her father, falls into a deep depression. Unable to cope with her sexuality being so violently rejected by her father, and unable to be herself or be happy, she attempts to commit suicide. Before she’s able to complete the act, her father finds her and rushes her to the hospital. However, with suicide being a sin, and with the realization that his daughter can’t be fixed, he disowns her.
Mrs. Brown, hearing of the situation, calls Joyce so that Becky can have some kind of support when and if she wakes from her recovery.
Mrs. Brown agrees with Big Toe Daddy that suicide, lesbianism, disobeying a parent, and smooching Dina before gay-marriage are sins. Her idea of “support” is to tell Becky so and gather a posse who agree with her to pray over Becky.
didnt say anything about her forgiving toe dad, just agreeing with his general religious values
which she does
shes also kind of a jerk where people who dont conform to those values are concerned
Yeah, but their families are kinda close. There’s the possibility that she thought of Becky as an adopted daughter, especially since Becky lost her real mom and the ‘takes a village to raise a child’ atmosphere that the fundies I’ve known seem to take to.
Even if she felt contempt for Becky’s ‘choice’, that same ‘village’ would need to stand behind their lost sheep.
Joyce is still apart of the fold, so to speak.
Toe Dad pointed a gun at both people, and assaulted Dina (granted she assaulted back, but still).
Not to mention making a public spectacle that’d be negative publicity.
Last I checked gun wielding psycho’s aren’t a good way to market yourself as a group.
This. She may be fully willing to adopt her into the fold or show her sympathy for the horrible actions of “that awful man”, but will probably repeat a lot of the same notes about praying for her, getting her fixed or worse yet how “her sin has ripped up her family” (my dad was fond of that gamble). She’s more passive-aggressive than aggressive, but that can still leave some nice bloody marks on one’s resolve and mind.
He might have went to the impound and got it back without paying.What,he came with a gun to a university,it is possible that he stole it from the impound.
There’s a nice tracking device on him. This is a kidnapping. This is one of the few situations, where the police should be able to request and just get his location. (Specifically Dina’s phone’s location.)
Law enforcement can request cell phone records, but I’m not sure if they can get them in real time. Unless Dina’s phone has a ‘Find my iPhone’ or ‘Find my Droid’ app … and it’s been activated … then they can locate her phone thru the app’s website and map.
Bur we already know that Toedad and Becky are going back home – and Joyce knows where that is. Half if the Indiana State Police should be there, waiting for him, by the time he pulls into the driveway.
I know the sequence of events happened fairly quickly, and the police wouldn’t have a chance to get there in time (though, I would think they’re still on their way)… but I really hope this a-hole sees consequences for this.
As I recall, way back i asked for more strips with Becky in them. Willis responded saying that there’d be some more. This was not what I had in mind… Damn you, Willis.
*is trying not to cry* Have you ever known something was gonna happen, but when it did, you still weren’t ready for it no matter how put together you thought you were…. I feel like that… Joyce’s face…
My sister a few weeks ago tried to commit suicide by overdosing on an entire bottle of Tylenol. When she was taken to the hospital, at the time she told the doctors it was because of depression and they advised us not to bring it up for fear that she might try again. Today she told us that she is both transgender and doesn’t believe in God. I had for a while now, guessed she was either lesbian or transgender but I never said anything because I believe that is perfectly normal and doesn’t need to be talked about until the person is comfortable in discussing it. My parents are also accepting of this. The thing is that it’s hard for my dad to accept that she is atheist. My mom is a little more understanding and I fully accept it. I just think it might be hard for my dad to understand but ultimately he loves her. As hard as it might be, I know my dad will come around.
I don’t mean to upset you when it sounds like you’re having a rough time but from your story it sounds like your sibling is afab (was assigned female at birth) So if they’re trans they’re probably either non-binary or a man. Most people in that situation don’t like in that situation to go by she pronouns or be rerered to In typically female gendered ways. I know you only just found out about their gender but it’s literally never to early to start respecting a loved one’s gender.
If you need any advice or support, we’re here for you. If your sibling needs resources, I have a number I’ve collected specifically to aid trans youth. And *hugs* again. I’m glad that your sibling has family support during this time.
And no matter their age, your sibling would benefit from having a trans-supportive psychiatrist and endocrinologist to support them in case they want to start hormonal transition or just for support with legal and personal matters.
Make sure they know you’re there for them, and that’s it’s okay for them to do things at their own pace. And most of all, make sure they know you love them no matter what. I hope things get better soon. *hugs*
Please tell me they’re monitoring your sister’s liver function for a few months. Tylenol can wreak havoc on it and often the post-suicide attempt death is due to liver failure.
Oh jeez, Sorry about all the dramas happening with you. Offering sympathies and best wishes for you and your sister. Also echoing Saki’s sentiments; as long as she knows at least someone is there for her, it goes a long way in helping ground them in the world.
Of course it can’t, Becky is still in the clutch of Sapphic desires. Ross now needs to call the extended family and organize a good old cleansing heteronormative Christian gang rape and/or an exorcism in order to bring Becky back into salvation.
The work has just begun. A fisher of men does not just need to make the haul but bring the catch home and make soup from it.
Yeeaaaah as much as one person is saying thank god it’s over I’m betting others are saying “WHO WILL HE KIDNAP NEXT?!” and saving the video they took to show the police. There were a lotta kids at that fountain, I’m betting at least one recorded what went down.
Uh, isn’t that what the Second Amendment is about? Being able to defend your loved ones from the forces of evil? Which jury of his peers would condemn him?
The comic’s timeline will never progress far enough to actually break her. But as I’ve said before, something will interfere soon enough as this continueing will destroy Joyce forever. The only question is how long it’ll last and how does the saving. It might actually be the authorities for once.
Willis said that Joyce was partially autobiographical… “Destroy her forever” could mean “Joyce becomes a liberal atheist,” although I agree that the transition could be very emotionally traumatic.
All I know is Ross isn’t getting away from this. Becky will be back, even if she has to kill her own 6 foot toe fungus of a father in cold blood to get there.
Now, whatever happened to Dina is my latest concern right now?
I doubt she could, since despite everything Becky seems to still really care for her father. It’s not like Amber who hates her dad (to the point she beat him within an inch of his life). She was terrified that he might end up being killed by state troopers cuz of this.
Fudge, big fudging FUDGE!
What next Becky will conform to her father wishes will marry some catholic guy and all will be happy as family, right?
Cause as long father is alive he can always pull out his gun and Becky will have to do everything he wants out of pity.
Are you kidding? I’m Catholic and my parents are ENCOURAGING me to marry a lady! I feel that Becky marrying a Catholic would be as bad as Becky marrying a lady because neither one is bad. OOH! Maybe she could double-rebel and marry a Catholic lady!
Where is everyone getting all of these ideas about Becky and Joyce’s upbringing and Catholicism? They’re part of some sort of Fundamentalist/Evangelical Christianity, and that subculture at best doesn’t even recognize Catholics as Christian, at worst thinks they follow the anti-Christ. The particular form Ross clearly follows only really dates back to the 1970s, but the roots of their hatred of Catholics dates back probably 200 years in the US, if not more.
I think it comes down to how conservative the Catholic Church remains on their stance on sexuality and women’s rights and birth control that people assume they’re just as crazy in the head as protestant fundies and that the two would get along just fine. I’ve even come across people who were surprised that the person behind the Big Bang theory was a catholic priest.
It’s fascinating to me how much confusion there is about what people like Becky’s dad believe.
There are exceptions (Hey Mel Gibson!), but in general Catholics tend to be a little less awful and a little more rooted in reality than Evangelical Protestants. For one, they’re allowed to believe in evolution. For another, they’re allowed to believe the world is older than a few thousand years.
Yeah, me too. I know plenty of people here aren’t from the US, so that may be part of it, but I’m still surprised people presumably from here don’t realize that the most conservative, guns-solve-everything, anti-sex/purity, JESUS!, parts of our country are extremely Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian, that that’s who created and use these anti-gay “camps.”
Plus, on a lesser point, Catholics generally speaking don’t have a problem with nude art, like that statue behind Joyce that she’s avoided looking at. Renaissance art anyone? The Vatican is full of nudes XD
I just straight up have to never read the comments section again. Great comic, but I just can’t hang with the emotional responses. It’s a bit of a pity. Some of the story arcs (like this one) have a lot of nuance that I dig and would like to discuss with people from time to time. But that requires a certain amount of detachment from the material, and that seems to be in short supply. So inevitably what happens is I come to the comments section with an idea in mind, and leave, the original comment forgotten and replaced with arguments over ideologies and attempts to hammer home rational thoughts in the midst of stubborn refusals and obfuscation.
I realize the irony of my venting like this in the comments section, but it’s the last time. I swear.
JackPoint, Is it ironic that I too was wondering if I should/continue to read the strip but try to resist the lure of the comments? I have resolved to reform how I do my comments. So, to the extent that *I* soured your experience today because I was knee-jerky, casual/careless in phrasing what I do believe, and snarky, I do regret it and I hope that I won’t fall into that again.
This makes me so sad. On a really deep level. And I think it’s cause I can empathize a bit with Becky. If my dad hadn’t died a year ago, I think he would be a lot like Ross. Especially if my mother had died before they got divorced. I can’t help but place myself in Becky’s shoes. I need to go lie down, maybe cry, and then watch some TFS and or Monty Python to cheer myself up. Willis, you have incredibly skill at crafting characters and stories. My only regret is that I didn’t find out about you as an artist sooner.
FWIW, I’m broadly confident that Becky will be able to talk Ross down. He looks more frightend than angry right now. She just had to get him out of the crisis psychology and give him space to think without visualising his imminent last stand.
I can’t help but think that the damage to the car’s rear bumper is significant, somehow. Especially since that’s the part that was off the road when he pulled to a stop.
The response of people who think Ross is going to get away with this is baffling me.
It’s totally ridiculous to think at this point the police won’t either arrest Ross or kill him in the attempt. I don’t care what you think about police competence or them caring or how they treat GLBT peeps or anything:
Ross just kidnapped a person in public at gunpoint and fired his gun into the air in a public place while doing so. There are dozens of witnesses to this not least Joyce who can give the full story. This is going to the top priority for pretty much every law enforcement officer in the state.
If Ross goes back to his house the cops could well be there before him.
If he goes to the brainwashing camp they will turn him in. It’s not a CIA black site. Also, again, given what Joyce will report it’s one of the first places the cops will look.
And the idea he has a hidden place he can hole up with Becky is very improbable. Master criminals with massive resources frequently leave trails that can followed back to such a place. Someone as dumb as Ross having a well hidden hunting lodge where there’s no record of him owning and no one know he owns is pretty whack and even then he has to get food somehow.
Ross getting away with this would be literally beyond belief.
Law enforcement was able to find and arrest one of the most notorious leaders of the Sicilian Mafia. I’m sure the police in this case can track down a Wal-Mart discount bin shopper.
Also my two most disliked characters in the series are in the top two places in the “See more of” poll. Great. At least Lucy is way down in the rankings. Having all three of them in the top three would really make me dread the future of the comic 🙁
Funnily enough, crocodile tears are a real thing. Crocodiles will cry after killing their prey, presumably to get blood from their prey out of their eyes.
As i know,their tears are fluids they use to clean and lubricate the eye and while on dry land,because of the hissing of warm air through the sinuses stimulates the tear glands into emptying.
This was not you winning, Ross. This was you loosing the very last sliver of a chance of ever getting your daughter back. This was you demonstrating, without any doubt, that when the chips really are down you are NOT on her side. You are NOT there for her. You are NOT the parent she needs and deserve. You are the monster that comes to take her away.
But this WAS Joyce and Becky loosing. Loosing each other in the most horrible way. All they have left now is the love for each other. That has to count for something, right? Joyce has been wrong about so much. She isn’t wrong about love, right?
Yeah. I was thinking, this isn’t necessarily Becky breaking. Shes not denying her own self (yet). She’s just accepted that her “dad” is now a threat she has to handle so that as few people as possible get hurt. She’s given up the idea to expect reason or empathy from him. Whatever happens from here on out, he has lost her, and she’s realized she never really had him, not as the parent she needs.
Actually, there’s a very good possibility if the police response time is longer than it takes him to get to the Interstate. At this point, this scenario is the one you typically see on the evening news that ends with the woman dead in a park three states away. :/
I will be really pissed off if Ross gets away without even having a local manhunt begin after him for making terroristic threats on a college campus. Sure he didn’t hurt anyone, but this is still a FELONY. There is no way people would just brush it off and resume their day.
If you’re querying my 9/11 comment, the terroristic threats thing came into law (in Texas, at least) within the last ten years. Surely this whole thing had some law that would have already covered it?
… Ahah. I was assuming from the context that it was the same offense as the one referred to as ‘uttering threats’ up here. Seems it is actually terrorism related. (It looks like ‘true threat’ is the applicable term, but IANAL, and I certainly ANAAmericanL.)
The life lesson here is that those who hold the (bigger) guns are “freedom and justice”. Who cares about the rest of the world and it’s people, right?
“Oh, hey, you have a different opinion than me. I know I am right so you have to do what I say or you will die.”
Damn guns and their wielders…
Eh, that last panel is a bit iffy. The way it’s timed it feels like it’s coming off as a joke rather than a terrified student thankful that they’re alive.
Though being honest, the only reason I’m nitpicking is because damnyouwillisyoumonsterbeckyisaperfectangelhowdareyou
NO! No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ….*sniffles* God….damn you Willis ;^;
On another note, did NO ONE at that fountain think to call the cops or have a smart phone out to record this madness!? Needless to say, I think Dina might be Ok. He did post a later comic for January showing Becky there so who knows….aside from Willis obviously.
A) Slowest Police & Security Response time ever!
B) Why is Ross suddenly stammering, like he’s nervous? In my (limited) experience, religious zealots do not suddenly show humility or become polite when the get a win.
Ross, it seems to me, has been expertly portrayed as a man suffering the anguish of a mental breakdown. The tragedy is, he’s a man suffering the anguish of a breakdown with easy access to a hunting rifle.
It’s a bit disturbing, to me, the number of people who think that shooting him in the head is the only obvious solution.
See is starting to see first hand how harmful and dangerous religion can be to people’s lives. This a prime reason I hate religion, if you do not follow the religion, you are in danger by the people who practice the said religion.
This is pretty well done all things considered.
Becky’s Dad is an idiot there’s no doubt about that, but he cares about her and is seriously worried about her and believes what he is doing is right.
Granted everything he’s doing is dumb considering he literally chased her down and caused chaos in a school campus by shooting a shot gun in the air but I can’t really hate him for it since he is pretty desperate to keep what he has left of his family together.
Well done Willis
Reckless discharge of a weapon
Public endangerment
Taking a gun into a gun-free zone (something like that?)
No kidnapping since Becky went willingly. We can also only assume first-offense in absence of contrary evidence. I don’t think that adds up to decades of jail time.
I hope that the kids are mature enough and can know that it’s kidnapping. Plus if he is flashing guns like that, he can go to jail big time. Hopefully that one guy that was there can report it along with Joyce.
Consent given at gunpoint doesn’t count. It’s still kidnapping. If he crosses state lines, it becomes a Federal offense and removes the possibility of parole. The best Fundie can hope for if he’s convicted of a Federal crime is a period of supervised release after serving the majority of his sentence.
While I agree with everyone else saying that “at gunpoint” negates “willingly”, the fact that his victim is his own teenaged daughter means no court will go after him unless Becky herself presses charges. If Becky thinks she’s protecting Joyce and Dina by not pressing charges, you’re right about there being no kidnapping charges to go with all of Ross’ other crimes.
Combined with attacking Dina and firing the gun at school, they’ll throw the book at him.
Once he’s in custody, with a good chance of staying there, Becky won’t need to protect Joyce and Dina by not pressing charges. And all of this only matters once she’s safely away from him.
We don’t have them here in the UK – are they really like this? Saw the movie Jesus Camp, but assumed it was a bunch of far out wingnuts, not a relatively common thing.
The UK is pretty religiously moderate (barring recent immigration) because all of your fundamentalists were driven out during the 1500s. Guess where they all went?
With respect, That guy, you do, although they may not be as extreme in the UK as they are in the US. We have fundies here in Canada as well, but for the most part ours seem a far cry from those we hear about from our neighbours to the south.
If that article is to be believed, you have at least 650,000 fundamentalist Christians in the UK, and possibly twice that many. Their beliefs may range from relatively benign to extreme, and include few or many varieties of religious intolerance.
TC – blimey, fair enough! I guess they’re just really good at flying under the radar here. Religion is a very personal thing in the UK – I’ve only recently concluded that a coworker of mine I’ve known for six months might be religious, and I’m still not positive.
Still – odd. I guess it must be an echo chamber thing – I don’t have any religious friends, so I’m always more likely to meet more nonreligious friends of friends. Also, I suppose the tech world is never going to be a hotbed of Christian fundamentalism.
1) Yes, people like Ross exist.
2) Many people like Ross exist.
3) So many people like Ross exist that it sways national elections.
4) Many politicians like Ross exist.
5) They are all regarded by normal people are completely batshit insane.
“What happened at school today?” “Some dude came to campus, shot a gun, and kidnapped a girl. He didn’t kidnap me, though, so it’s no big deal.” I’ll stay away from Indiana University, an armed kidnapping doesn’t seem to bother anyone. No sirens in the distance and no reaction from the students. No one has there phone out to dial 911, or even tweet about it.
As for Becky, she’d have been better off letting Fundie shoot her. Death is preferable to the process, and aftermath of, the deprogramming process. Her body may survive, but her mind won’t.
I think that one guy running off is a mild jab at how bystanders are sometimes unhelpful – I’d like to think that one of the people who was hiding behind the other side of the waterfall will help in some way.
As far as the better off dead comment, I’m not quite sure what to say – that’s a pretty extreme view.
I would far rather be dead than have my personality, and quite likely my humanity, stripped from me in a fundamentalist deprogramming session. Look up the Gilmer Texas Witch Hunt and read about the methods used to extract confessions from the accused. The techniques would have made Torquemada proud. Becky’s animated body may return, but Becky won’t be there.
I know it’s awful. Corrective Therapy is genuinely one of the most vile acts perpetuated by people in our day and age, and I can’t really find the right words to articulate why it’s so evil without feeling like I’m shortchanging it.
But death isn’t preferable to anything. The victims of it aren’t broken, damaged goods; they’re people. They need help and support, not be told that they’d be better off dead after what they’ve gone through.
Let’s look at what the future holds for Becky. First, the deprogramming. It’s designed to eliminate any shred of free will. Becky will be bullied 24 hours a day. Little sleep, little food, no privacy, and no hope. When she finally succumbs to the pressure, the best that she can hope for is a form of dual personality. The real Becky will retreat and what’s left will confess her sins and beg forgiveness. Penance will come in an unwanted marriage to some “nice christian boy”, sex that would revolt the real Becky, and repeated pregnancies with children that she may somewhat love, but doesn’t want. The real Becky would never harm a child, the Becky the fundamentalists create is a different story. A story that’s played out in the news all too often. The rebuilt Becky will never know happiness, never know true love, and never be able to have anything that resembles a normal life. The rebuilt Becky will live in hell for the rest of her life. I don’t consider that worthwhile.
It doesn’t seem very likely that Big Toe Daddy will have made any preparations for holding a kidnap victim in secrecy. And it doesn’t seem very likely that any de-programming camp would dare to hold an adult who was kidnapped at gunpoint in broad day-light in front of scads of witnesses. I’m sure that de-programming is quite as horrid as you describe, but I don’t think Becky is likely to end up there. If her father doesn’t kill her to save her soul (which seems to be his intention at the moment) then she will be rescued by state police within a few hours or by the FBI within a couple of days.
Remember how BTD responded when Becky told him that there is no way this ends without the state police blowing the back of his head off? That’s what he is resigned to.
That depends on his fellow fundamentalists. He calls his preacher, his preacher does the rest. A quick phone call saying “save my daughter from her satanic lesbian ways. I’ll call you when I rescue her from that den of inequity.” and off he goes. When he makes that call, an address will be provided. He doesn’t need to plan the details. I mentioned the Gilmer witch hunt in another response. Here is a brief article with a few details. The specific are far worse. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-06-07/features/9406070116_1_murdering-police-blotter-kelly-wilson
I don’t think that case shows what you think it does. She disappeared and the case is unsolved. There was a hysteria about satanic rituals, which like most such proved unfounded.
There’s not even a suggestion it had anything to do with fundamentalist deprogramming. From the other post it sounds like you’re talking about the questioning that led to the false accusations, but that’s an entirely different story.
Quite the contrary, that case shows how easy it is to get fundamentalists to band together and how they’ll back each other up. It also shows how far they’ll go, and the level, of violence they’ll use to get the answer they want.
Don’t forget that Toedad can’t just simply walk away after pulling
that stunt with rifle AND shooting it off!!!
So I hope he gets arrested and put away so she can return to her friends and Dina’s fold….
The very first panel where Ross pulled the gun had a random background person conspicuously reacting to it, that served no purpose but to imply they’d be calling the cops.
I have to agree with the above poster….surely one of those ducking had a cell phone and tried to call 911…even if they didn’t talk and just let the operator hear what was going on.
As mentioned by others, I’d also find it hard to believe that college students would act so complacently after watching someone (who very well could have been a fellow University student) get kidnapped at gunpoint.
If Willis doesn’t show some reaction to this, I’d say DoA is drifting even more into the Fantasy zone.
I mean, Joyce…is she just going to stand there and do nothing? Go about her studies as if Becky had never been there?
And Dina, wherever she is, and she’d better be okay, can’t possibly just let this go.
Road Trip, perhaps? Mission Improbable, but not Impossible?
1) This isn’t over. Probably not in the short term, definitely not in the long run. Becky isn’t going to just vanish.
2) Who’s being complacent? The guy who’s saying “thank god it’s over” is up and running. And probably still processing what actually happened. Depending on what he heard and how much he saw while huddling in fear may not even realize anyone’s been kidnapped or what was going on.
3) Joyce isn’t here right now. She’s checked out.
She’s in shock and not functional at all. Hopefully she’ll reboot pretty quickly and become at least temporarily functional. Also hopefully, this will get her some counseling, where she can also start to deal with the near rape, but that’s long term.
4) Neither her nor Dina can just let this go. But I don’t think this comic is intended to be an adventure format. I doubt they’ll go off on a rescue mission. Which honestly suggests to me that Ross isn’t likely to actually make it off campus with Becky and that we’ve got another scene to play out before this is over. Not at all sure about that though.
5) But seriously, Willis will be showing reaction to this. Have you been reading this comic? Half the comic has been reaction to various horrible things – particularly the near rape and Blaine’s abuse + Sal’s robbery. That’s one of the things I love about it – violence has emotional consequences. The last few minutes of comic time are going to be playing out for years of strips.
How many times have you encountered a guy 3 spades short of a full deck wielding a gun in a public place that’s assumed to be safe, firing said gun, and confronting them about their possession and use of said gun?
Most people don’t know what to do when it comes to an active shooter. Most people aren’t going to charge and leap on a perceived dangerous person. At least, not until someone else goes first, and that is a rare quality to find in people who have many means of avoiding harm and/or escape, and still fairly rare in times when there are no means of escape.
I’ll put forth the example of the 9-11 hijacked airplanes… Of the 3 airplanes, fully loaded with people, only 1 had a situation where the passengers said “FUCK YOU” to the hijackers and forced their plane to crash out in an open field. Even then, it took the collective bravery of three passengers teaming together to start the charge, inspiring the others to charging with them. Were it not for them, that plane would have crashed, as was planned, into some other significant building or structure and killed thousands more. There were still plenty of people on that plane that fear had pinned down, even though they knew there was next to no chance they’d survive, since the hijackers had killed the pilots.
I’ll also include the Oregon shooting in my examples, specifically Chris Mintz. He had plenty of means to avoid and escape harm and could have easily fled with the majority, but he chose to instead try and interfere with the shooter. He got shot up, but thankfully he lived, and his sacrifice saved at least a few others. However, he did so knowing that he might die, and that he had no backup, and certainly no one was going to save him.
It is a rare, beautiful quality to confront danger… and not everyone has it. That’s just the way it is.
Everyone seems to be upset at the kid going, ‘Whew, glad thats over.’ Everyone would be glad its over, that the immediate danger has passed. Now that the danger has passed those that want to find a phone, because not everyone carries/owns a cell phone, and call for help if they are so inclinded. Everyone there did the most important thing, They SURVIVED the encouter. More over they survived it unharmed, well physically, everyone processes such incidents in their own way, some will shrug it off and go on as if nothing happened, others will have issues to deal with or compound current issues.
Starscreamer: the issue with just calling and leting the operator listen depends on how good/bad the phone’s microphone is, it might not pick up enough to convey what is going on. Then there is the fact that the police have your phone number and from that can find your address and come and harass you at a later date, perhaps even at home. If your someone that has been conditioned to fear the police, even when you’ve done nothing wrong, that is a scary prospect to consider. Especially if your not sure if your trading your safety (or just the illusion of it) would result in anyone gaining safety, or would just put others in more danger.
Choice of words does bother me. I can imagine someone thinking that, but saying it out loud, “Well, thank god that’s over”…it’s not over kid. If the police get involved, you are an eye witness, at the very least. It’s especially not over for Becky and Joyce and Dina.
Not to mention leaving the scene of a crime.
Perhaps I wouldn’t be so bothered if the kid said something that sounded more like he’s not just brushing if off as if it was just a cat up a tree.
Better yet, he could have gone over to Joyce to ask if she’s alright. Or gave some indication that he’s heading for campus security.
Or anything that wasn’t “Hey, I just saw a guy threaten two people with a gun, fire it into the air, and then take one of them away, and now he’s gone and the person who wasn’t apparently kidnapped is still there falling apart and the license plate of the getaway car is still within my line of sight but anyway ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME.”
So, I looked up what crimes that Ross would be guilty of and what charges he’d have if he were convicted. Aggrivated kidnapping is a Class X felony and carries a minimum sentence of 6 years, maximum of 30 years, and up to a $25,000 fine; additionally, since Becky is between 15 and 25 years old (presumably), additional imprisonment time can be added to the sentence on top of it, depending on the court’s interpretation of the gravity of the crime.
In addition to that, he may be guilty of several counts of Aggrivated Use of a Weapon, each offense of which would be a Class 4 Felony and if without a license to carry that’s another Class 4 Felony, each of which would have a min/max sentence of 3/6 years.
Seriously, this guy needs to be put away. I would have no problem making an example of him, and I’m a licensed gun owner myself.
It’s not relevant since there is no “gun show loophole.” The private sale of firearms, and inheriting them, is legal everywhere. If you buy from a licensed dealer, there must be a background check. The alleged loophole is just another way to demonize gun ownership. Criminals buy illegally (t’s a felony for a convicted felon to even touch a gun, much less buy one, but they’re rarely prosecuted) from, in most cases, the person that stole them. In the cases where a dealer makes an illegal sale, the dealer is prosecuted and the license suspended. His inventory is confiscated.
It’s a loophole in the sense that it’s an easy way to avoid the background checks at a place that functions as a marketplace for guns. It’s just as convenient as going to a store to buy one, just without all the legal hassle. Some people make a living selling guns at shows. It’s essentially a business, just not as a licensed dealer.
It’s legal, obviously. That’s why it’s a loophole.
And easily closed: Just require the transactions to be done through a licensed dealer who could do the background checks. At shows that would be trivial, the organizers of the show could set it up. Other private sales would be a little trickier.
thejeff, I’m guessing you’ve never actually been to a gun show, and if that’s the case, you’ve very likely never bought a gun from one. Any FFL (Federal Firearms License) holder is required to verify eligibility of a potential purchaser to own a gun, even at a gun show. One way of doing this is to verify that your Concealed Carry Permit or Firearm Owner Identification Card is current and that you are in good standing with the state. It is my understanding that FFLs have numbers they can call to verify that you have no pending warrants or convictions, and if you do they are not allowed to sell to you by law.
I’m not sure about this “gun show loophole” that you and ninja_jesus are talking about, but if there is actually a loophole for a disreputable FFL holder to *legally* get around a background check, then yes I think that loophole should be closed; however, if an FFL buys a weapon from the manufacturer or middleman or whatever and doesn’t perform his due diligence vis a vis paperwork and verifying one’s eligibility to own a weapon and this is traced back to him, he can permanently lose his license and possibly spend several years in jail. But if you have some kind of URL that shows a recent case in which this “gun show loophole” has been taken advantage of with no legal consequences, I’m open to the consideration.
What you may be referring to could be closer to a “Straw Purchase,” which is where you buy a gun intending to give or sell it to someone else who may or may not be eligible to purchase one on his own. That’s also illegal and both parties can be jailed and fined.
Of course it’s not a FFL holder doing it. Plenty of people sell guns at gun shows who aren’t FFL holders. That’s the whole point. Some of them do this enough, to make regular money off it, not just selling guns they don’t want anymore.
“Straw purchase” is illegal, but I believe only applies if you’re acting as an agent for the third party. If you’re just buying guns and reselling them to others without setting it up beforehand, it’s not a straw purchase.
There’s nothing specific about gun shows that makes this different, it’s just a convenient way to meet customers. These days, the internet is filling much the same role.
Some of it might be technically illegal, but since there’s no registration or tracking of gun sales, it’s almost impossible to stop.
I see… I misunderstood the circumstances, I suppose. You are referring only to those people who have their own collections of firearms and wish to sell them at gun shows? And the implied risk is that someone who would be barred from buying normally could buy one in that way and use it in an illegal manner?
See, I’m not sure that’s something we should necessarily regulate. As Guairdean Beatha mentioned below, if you’re selling for a profit you must have a license. And if you’re just selling a weapon that you no longer need, you can do so… however, I believe there’s a federal law that requires this transaction to be done through an FFL. You can’t just go up to a random stranger, say “Hey, do you wanna buy a gun?” and make a sale on the spot. There’s paperwork at the very least that is required for any sale.
Also, I’ve been unable to find any recent case of someone who would otherwise have been unable to purchase a weapon illegally buy one from a private seller at a gun show and use it for some kind of mass shooting or something. In fact, of the last several mass shootings, the guns were bought legally from FFLs. There have been a few cases in the past where the guns used in these types of shootings were obtained through theft or other illegal means, but they are pretty much in the minority and there isn’t usually even a gun show involved.
I can’t find it myself; do you happen to know the frequency at which people take advantage of the “gun show loophole” to buy weapons used in crimes?
If you buy a gun with the intent to sell it for a profit, you must have a license. You may sell a gun you no longer need, sell one if you need money, or if you just don’t want it any more. Buying and selling selling even one as a business requires a license. There is no loophole.
Positive note, she’s in the passenger seat, not the backseat, so there’s still a possibility she can try to run at a stop sign in a location that is less crowded. Slim chance, but still better than no chance.
Or a spot with cops nearby. Like right down the road where they’re responding to the first 911 call.
For “getting in the car at gun point”, she’s really in pretty good shape, largely because he’s not thinking of her as kidnap victim. She’s not bound. She hasn’t been searched and had her phone taken. He’s not holding the gun on her.
There are any number of ways she can salvage this. OTOH, she’s also trying to do it without getting him shot, which makes it a bit harder.
I see a possible conflict of faith coming up soon. Also, sarah’s “I’ll be sorry when the world breaks you” might end up being relevant again soon…poor baby joyce ;-; *gives hugs*
I had a very vivid dream last night about Ross. Like, one of those really coherent dreams that you then forget but you know it was stupidly coherent for a dream. He had taken my entire class hostage and was telling us to renounce shit like evolution.
Then the ghost of Babe Ruth came in, gave a very moving speech about acceptance, and hugged him.
Oh, this isn’t over. The man fired a gun on the grounds of a school. Even if he gets off the campus, he can expect jail time when the police come to his house. I mean, they’re going to ask Dina and Joyce, and they’re going to tell the police who he is. Then, he gets arrested for KIDNAPPING at the very least, as well as any other gun related crimes bringing the weapon to the school incurs.
At that point, Becky can return to the school if she chooses to.
Unless he plans to go on the run, a fugitive from the law. In that case, the police catch up with him a bit later is all.
His life as a free man is pretty much over now, no matter what else he might do.
Y’know, I remember someone on tumblr complaining that tension in Dumbing of Age is always meaningless because in the end everything turns out as if the conflict never happened.
Now that this conflict has actually ended with a drastic change to the status quo, people are complaining about it.
Google up “correction therapy” and read some of the real life tellings from people who have either been forced to go through it, or tried to force themselves.
I don’t recall what percentage of known participants were later known to have tried to or actually killed themselves, but it’s large enough of a percentage for various medical and psychiatric associations to declare it a bad practice and actively discredit and disbar any licensed doctors or therapists who do it.
Not that most who do are licensed or accredited by anything other than religiously oriented “mail order universities” where they’ll ‘accredit’ you after you fill out a questionnaire declaring “God is awesome” and things like vaccines, pharmaceuticals, science, and feminism are creations of Satan.
It occurs to me that if this is college, then Becky is likely 18 or over. And with the involvement of the firearm makes her getting in the car coerced, which makes this entire affair KIDNAPPING. And as I’m sure there was at least one recording of the end of this, and with the reckless discharge of a firearm in a public place – specifically a college – the police will be involved.
In the real world dear old dad there would be looking at several serious criminal charges, and a possible stay at the grey bar hotel. If he went to prison or not would depend upon how upset the college and District Attorney were by the entire affair, and whether the court felt it needed to step on him or not.
After all it’s just reckless endangerment, kidnapping, unsafe discharge of a firearm, and possible assault charges.
If he’d had some drugs on him he’d be getting five years at the absolute minimum, but actual violence and risking lives can be pled down to minor charges.
If DoA paralells the real world at all, school shootings won’t be an unheard of thing. In fact, we can assume that already, since Becky talked the whole “You brought a gun, to a SCHOOL DAD” logic. Police and politicians are desperate to find a way to stop such incidents from happening, or keep them contained. Police are dealing with this problem in a way of being more aggressive and not waiting for specialty SWAT teams, going in to secure people and confront assailants, and opening fire on them the moment they refuse to drop their weapon (whatever it may be). Politicians are revving up the gun control debate again, but for any people captured alive who planned, attempted, or pulled off a school shooting (firing into the air counts, since it was shooting a gun on school grounds) is going to be the centerpiece for harsher legal penalty campaigns, and no prosecutor or judge is going to show them mercy. At all.
If Ross gets out of this alive, he’s looking at a life sentence… with a chance at parole when he’s in his 70’s. Late 70’s. Indiana’s a pretty harsh state when it comes to being convicted of a violent crime (discharging a firearm is a violent crime, no matter if it was straight up or not), and no amount of “I IS A MAN OF GAWWWWD YOOZ GUYZ!” will sway anyone… In fact, it’d have the opposite effect, either from irritating secular people, or enraging the religious who despise having that brand of loony taint their faith’s reputation.
Bystander guy kinda looks like Ryan with a different haircut and shirt, but since he’s unnamed and Joyce isn’t in catatonic panic mode, I’ll assume he isn’t.
Also, so many people quick to judge the police not being there, and yet fail to once again realize that these characters don’t exist in a universe where a weekend night dorm party lasts an actual 2 months. They live in their own real time, and we’re catching snippets of it at a time.
The police are on the way. There’s no way they aren’t. Enough people are going to have seen that car and the guy driving it waving around a rifle. Enough people are going to have heard that gunshot too. If Ross manages to get away with Becky, then yeah, that will be entirely non-realistic. Police don’t poo-poo calls of people saying that there’s a nutball on campus with a gun. If Ross manages to get off campus, it will be with a caravan of adrenaline pumped Johnny Laws out to put their reinforced front grills to the test.
I still think that the bystander who just says “Well thank god that’s over” is an incredible ****wad. Someone has just been kidnapped at gunpoint and THAT’s your reaction? Kid needs a kicking.
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The Willis hath giveth for many chapters. Now The Willis shalt taketh away.
He has shown how easily it is for him to give happiness, and how easily for him it is to take it away.
But remember.
It was worth it.
how dare you
yeaaaaaaaaaah………………………………….no. Nope. nope nope nope. I renounce your canon willis. I command my own canon and it dictates that wots-his-name is sniped from a rooftop, becky has a nice cry, mike spits on his corpse, and we can all move on from this point with Beck finding lodging and a crappy part time job.
note how she only said she would get in the car, tho…
THIS CAN ONLY END ONE WAY
Joyce, Dina, and Dorothy drop out in order to rescue Becky
there’s a bank heist with a dragon
also destroying four Horcruxes
WACKY HIJINKS
and in the end
LOVE
Joyce Brown and the Deathly Toedad
Not possible. Dorothy’s too level-headed to take that option and would instead report it as a kidnapping at gunpoint. Dina doesn’t have the cultural context to do this because she never read the stupid no-dinosaurs-in-them books. And Joyce didn’t read them either, because they might have led her to do Satanic things like rescue her best friend from reparative therapy hell.
No dinosaurs? Hedwig is a dinosaur.
My money’s on a Dina/Amazi-Girl teamup. Infiltrating the bad guy’s base to rescue Becky.
My money is still going to be on a three-way (Yeah I said it) of Sal, Ruth and Amazi-Girl going old school on ToeDad.
For that to happen, Sal would have to actually give a damn about something, which would clearly be out of character…
Did you miss the sequence where she escorted Joyce to the fountain because she saw she was scared? Plus ToeDad is definitely an abusive authority figure, and we know she hates that.
Sal gives a damn about many things, so I don’t know what you are talking about.
I’m actually betting more on Amazi-Girl going solo with Dorothy, Joyce, Walky and Mike tagging along. Why Mike? Who better to join in on a family sabotage?
Then we find out that Toedad is from an alien specied with various body-part shaped heads and we move on to the sequel series “It’s Becky!”
… wait.
I’m your biggest fan in this moment for that comment Ana <3
Or y’know, they report this *kidnapping* to the police with Toedad’s name, home address, and license plate number and things get dealt with.
Or, you know, they just let events run their course, which is that the incident gets reported to the police, crazy dad is institutionalized for being emotionally unstable, and he loses custody of Becky.
It’s not as “drama filled” as a bloody shootout, but it’s still likely that Becky gets a happy ending with Dina, just thru more standardised legal procedures. Remember this webcomic is more reality based than It’s Walky.
I’m not American so I’m not a patriotic fan of the US Government or such, but even I doubt that Child Care Services would allow someone who pulls this kind of crazy crap off firing a gun in a school as Becky put it, to retain custody of their child in this sort of situation. Right?
You made my day with the Harry Potter references. Thank you for that.
Squee
Base 8 sadness?
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I have a new baseline for how horrible a work a fiction can make me feel now. Thank you Willis.
I voted for Becky.
There will be proportionally more Dina, I assume.. :/
GIVE ME BOTH DAMMIT
Don’t set that baseline just yet. There’s still a panicked Joyce running in the preview panels and the hospital scene is get to come, and I’m willing to bet good money that it’s all going to have something to do with Becky doing something when she’s in that car.
Also, skateboard guy next to something censored has yet to show up (I’mma name that guy Thomas!)
He’s actually already been named Sayid.
Unless I’m mistaken, Sayid is an Arabic name. So that little tidbit, coupled with the fact I refuse to look at the spoiler pages, leads me to conclude that a character of middle-eastern descent will be introduced, which will also be a horizon opener.
There already is one, I think—Asma, who was checking people into the dorm on the first day. But we haven’t seen her much since. In any case, it would be great to have Sayid become a regular.
I believe Raidah is also an Arabic name?
Okay, I missed the preview panels–where can I see them, and when are they supposed to be released?
Willis posts preview panels to this tumblr: http://dumbingofage.tumblr.com/
You can find older preview panels either by scrolling a lot or taking a look at the “Archives” page. : )
October 21: Sayid watches something happen.
October 22: Something happens on North Woodlands Dr.
October 24: Joyce yells at someone.
Early November: Ambulance and a Hospital.
I think we’re going to see Becky and Toedad in a car accident. Possibly with cops on hand.
The street name Willis mentioned was “N Woodland Ave”.
The only one I can find by that exact name in Indiana is in Michigan City, which is near La Porte and therefore plausibly Becky’s hometown.
There is a “N Woodlawn Ave” in Bloomington, so this could be a false alarm.
Yeah… I work nights. So 6am was a bad time to post.
It’s N Woodlawn Ave, according to the Tumblr, which is where I got the dates and info.
The hospital is on November 10th.
I actually found the tumblr post and it said Woodland, so it wasn’t your mistake.
There’s also a preview panels tag now, which makes searching for the older ones much easier to do
On the dumbing of age tumblr.
Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
There was a bang too.
Let this be a lesson to you! Vote only for the characters you wish pain and destruction upon! See less of the people you like so that you can imagine their lives are comfortable and happy!
I just voted for Mary, just for that reason! I sure don’t hope Willis heaps mental anguish on her because I voted for her. Nope. Nothing but sunshine, rainbows, and unicorn farts for Mary!
How many Seymours is that baseline rated at?
At least ten.
Never watched Madoka, then?
This honestly hurt me more.
Never read it’s walky then?
Feels more visceral without the aliens and abudctees reminding me it’s fiction. This is very near reality.
This. The only thing I can actually compare the ball of pain in my gut to is the sense of revolsion I got from watching a let’s play of an indie horror video game called “Masochisia”. I’m trembling, and kinda feel like I might puke to be honest.
This is really not okay.
ow my heart.
Fucking preach it. Like just ow dude. This hurts worse than Telltale Games’ Walking Dead and THAT fucking hurt!
It really isn’t
I agree, ros still has both femurs.
Ross dangit, not ros.
Somehow seeing your cute gray face made me feel better.
This gives us the safest resolution option though. Now, Joyce can file a police report naming Toedad as the man who discharged a gun on the school campus, we can add whatever beating he gave to Dina, send him to prison, and free Becky.
It’s a dream at least.
Damn you, Willis
Yeah. That meme really hasn’t been needed like this in a while.
More like Damn you, Dark Side of Life This sort of Crap Is Found in that Willis Has only Gotten Better at Satirizing (Dramedy-style, of course)
Ross’s religiously rationalized behavior strikes me as a sort of a tantrum over how life isn’t playing out as it ‘should.’ A good part of why Becky was successfully able to talk him down from making things even worse was he got his way in the end. However this was after it, by all rational means, too late.
He already brought a loaded gun in public, on university property, pursued a registered student, whom he was actually considering ‘doing what he had to do’ against, discharged said gun right square in the middle of everyone, and only convinced his legally adult daughter to come with him under threat of what possibility shooting himself, someone else, or both. There were plenty of witnesses, and even more people probably heard that gunshot.
Problem is, will “thank goodness that’s over with” be the response the University takes to what happened? Seriously, waiting for someone involved to press charges would be pretty moot until Ross is at least arrested. Thing if it is, if word of Ross’s description doesn’t get to the right people fast enough so police can know where to begin before too much time has past….And the people in charge of the University, now seeing it as an isolated incident as far as their responsibilities are concerned….Are ready to let it slide, all because the eyewitnesses chose to simply go with the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ number, rather than simply step up and answer “Did anyone see what caused that gunfire sound?’
Fortunately, this isn’t over yet.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK NONONONONONONONONONONONONONO
NO.
NONONONONO.
My thoughts exactly.
DAMN YOU WILLIS
I…I need to go find something happy to read now.
I voted for Becky too 🙁
Our ferocious dina hearts beat as one.
It’s not reading, but this was what I watched after yesterday’s comic…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFcMG228AwQ
I am more of a bird person.
Ain’t he cute? One day he will take over the world.
Random scootie young art always cheers me up;
https://www.google.nl/search?q=skottie+young&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=1017&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIqsiJoIXMyAIVyDgaCh2hMQXw
Especially his Oz stuff.
oh god when dina finds out……..
curse you for making me both love and hate what you are doing.
I’m not sure of the directions on campus, but maybe they will be driving past the field/woods and Dina will emerge, and see them pass by. She will make a stand, to block the car. (Tiananmen Square just popped into my brain!)
Ross will aim for her, Becky grabs the wheel, jerking the car to the side, resulting in an accident (cue: ambulance). (poor abandoned Joyce, too!)
If Ross was going to go for her, he’d have done something when he had her down in the forest. He probably was being honest when he said he didn’t want to physically hurt anyone.
Now, Dina realizing that Becky is in the car and leaping in front of it? That’s a scenario I can see happening. Whether or not Ross’ll learn anything from someone else being willing to die for his daughter would be an interesting question in that scenario.
Actually, yeah. Not so much the jump-in-front-of-the-car, though it’s possible, but I think Ross does have to drive back through that area to leave campus.
Dina’s not expecting him to run her down, but not afraid of a challenge. She did launch herself at him from the tree, even seeing the gun. He’s probably not speeding, since he has his prize. He looked still weepy in the car (last panel) probably not going to see very well, either. His “Y-yes” in first panel is probably telling that things went kinda unexpectedly his way, and he is standing down. So, not even expecting any more delays. (hello, PD? Bueller?)
for once…in some universe…dina is going to have a loving relationship with someone who is neither still in love with joyce nor requires her to throw herself in life-threatening peril. we do all wish the best for them
Becky’s only third in the poll?
WE NEED TO FIX THIS SHIT.
*MIKE* is second ? :O
I see nothing wrong with this
A very apropriate grav for seeing nothing wrong. 🙂
betcha don’t, Amber.
I voted for mike…when i was maybe 300 pages back since i’m new to the comic and read the whole thing in like 5 days. I like how he punches ppl.
I’M SORRY I VOTED FOR DINA. I thought Becky counted as a package deal with her.
Hopefully it does; it SHOULD be.
I voted for Sarah, because it would be nice to see more of her.
I want to change my mind now. I do not want something awful to happen to her.
I voted for Sara, too!
Now I’m thinking if Beckypoll was highest, Dina would’ve been accidentally shot. She survives but gets put into a coma for as long as Becky here is supposed to be gone.
Because Willis.
You have to remember the buffer exists. What happens is already determined by the cruel hands of fate/the Willis.
I figured you guys had that handled. I voted for Ruth.
Would that I had two more votes for Jason and Sierra.
But where is DINA?
WE STILL HAVE THE HOSPITAL PREVIEW PANEL COMING UP SHIT SHIT HSIT
Aye. If Ross somehow escapes campus, my guess will be that Dina wakes up from Ross-inflicted head trauma, filled with BURNING VENGEANCE.
I really hope he doesn’t make it off-campus. The less time Becky is subjected to more of the rhetoric she grew up with the better.
Safe. Hopefully.
Damn you, Willis.
This physically hurt me.
NO!Please,somebody go after them!
NOOOOOOOOOO! Curse you, Willis!
The accepted phrasing is
DAMN YOU, WILLIS!
Shame on you, Packy. As a veteran member of the It’s Walky! forums, you should know there’s NO commas or exclamation points in that. The phrase is spoken like that of Death in the Discworld series: DAMN YOU WILLIS.
Cholma, you obviously know Discworld, so surely you know that no mere mortal can do The Voice. And if Willis heard He Who Cannot be Evaded damning him, we might not get any more comics ….
Are you kidding? The Willis has a Friday night Transformers Fan Club meeting every month with Death, the Librarian, and Agent Simmons as regular attendees!
Agent Simmons as in Jemma?
And don’t forget her girlfriend, Daisy!
I heard Sir Pterry read from one of the novels and voice Death at Minicon 40 in the Twin Cities.
! 🙂 !
Whoah! But it must be hard knowing that Death has already seen every iteration of Transformer till the end of Time. 😉
I’m crying now. Damn it.
…wheeeeeres Dina?
Maybe we’ll get a recreation of the “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” scene with Dina on a scooter?
Please let this happen or the heat death of the universe will have been for naught
Yes. I’ve seen it. It’s all downhill from here.
Thats why there is a censorship! 😀
Or inside a police car during a pursuit.
Next comic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmSSwz8GPtc
omg i honestly wouldnt be surprised
I totally approve this.
Dina is best Dinosaur.
+1.
OH fuck you Background Bob.
He’s just moved into 1st place for the most fd up character that Willis has done.
Pretty sure Amber’s Dad still owns that spot.
I’m pretty sure that Ross holds that spot, actually. Not that it’s an abusive father competition or anything. Plenty of awful to go around.
yes. He is now the biggest Bongo in this series. (amongst the ot evil people that is.
Eh, I can’t really blame a guy for being relieved he’s not dead
Right, but that’s not the fd up part.
Background Bob tells it like it is. He says what we’re all thinking!
Let’s be fair to Background Bob for a second here. He just lived through some man he doesn’t know brandishing and firing a gun for reasons unknown to him, in the middle of what was probably an otherwise average schoolday. It’s late morning/early afternoon on a Monday iirc, so it’s entirely possible he just woke up and was heading to his first class, and then suddenly he’s in the middle of a situation where he might very well die. It’s pretty understandable to be a little self-centered in the immediate aftermath.
It’s not over for Becky, or for Joyce, or for us as readers, but for him it is. He can take a breath, let the adrenaline start to wear off, and then maybe spare a thought for hoping that girl is okay. Probably after he’s safely away from whatever the hell just happened.
The comment on the last panel. I know I really shouldn’t, but it’s… funny ^^;
“yay, everything’s over, back to lunch”
Except not really.
I can seriously picture Willis drawing that panel, writing that comment, then reading it back to himself as the character. Then he slowly leans forward, stares the guy down, and says this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob7_LkZWjaI
*shiver*
shit shit shit shit never get in the car with the crazy guy with a gun WHO THINKS THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU THAT NOTHING THEY CAN DO CAN FIX!…please don’t have killed becky already
Nah, Becky seems to be Toe Dad’s last lifeline to the world, I doubt he’d kill her. Probably won’t even lay a hand on her to be honest. I was kinda’ sure he was gonna’ go the Suicide by Cops route, but who knows at this point.
I think he will sooner kill her than let the cops rescue her, and then die himself. He doesn’t care about HER, he cares about her ‘purity,’ and her ‘purity’ cannot survive without him, in his mind.
Except for like two strips ago where he states he’d die for her. He was perfectly willing to go out in a gunfight with cops or mutant raiders or whatever it is Indiana U has on Campus.
Probably mutant raiders.
He’d die to protect the image of her and her purity and soul (ie, not-gayness) he has in his head. From herself, if need be.
Remember, this whole thing started because he thinks Becky’s sexuality needs fixing by ANY MEANS NECESSARY. He will hurt her. Because he thinks that’s what’s best for her. He may not be physically touching her when he hurts her but he is ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED to a course of actions – “for her own good” of course – that will inflict unimaginable pain on her. EVERYTHING he can do from here, from “let’s pray until you’re fixed” to corrective rape (by proxy, probably,) is abusive.
I don’t know, maybe it’s because we’ve seen the far extreme end of bad parenting already (Amber’s dad), that Becky’s father doesn’t seem like he’d “rape the gay” out of her.
Still a very, very bad thing to rob your daughter at gun point though. And that’s what he’s doing, he robbing her because right now he sees her little more than an object to get back.
He’s abducting her, actually. And again. Fix her. By any means necessary. Reparative therapy includes a lot of sexual abuse that isn’t rape, which is possible (just because he’d send her away and have someone else do it wouldn’t make it not be him doing it). He could tell her “obviously this is a mistake and you’ve only made it because you’ve never had sex with a Good Christian Boy to straighten you out and show you the light, so here’s this Good Christian Boy you know him you two just get together and all will be well.” There are a LOT of options here and since he just ABDUCTED HER AT GUNPOINT I am not putting ANY of them past him.
This. There’s a lot of horrible ways these programs and their off-brand Church hybrids have to “fix the gay”. Even if there’s no sexual assault, there’s a lot of other abusive techniques these programs have to encourage a life of lying to oneself for Jesus.
Yes. He’ll die for her. By killing her and saving her immortal soul. That’s what I said.
He doesn’t mean that how a non-asshole would mean that. He means he is willing to die to save her soul, because that’s the only part of her that matters to him, because with that she rubber-stamps her golden ticket to Heaven. After all life on Earth is temporary, but Heaven is eternal, so…
Yeah, definitely 100% willing to pull the gun on her while she’s temporarily seeing sense again than risk a backslide where he can’t “shepherd her healing” through prayer.
I think he meant that he’d die to save her soul, not to save her life.
My main hope here is that it’s really really hard to use a gun that size in a car…
He wouldn’t have to, to kill her. Remember, he still thinks Becky needs ‘fixing’. He’s taking her to god knows where so he can do that. (And my mind is still going straight to REPARATIVE THERAPY PLEASE DEAR LORD NO) And Becky is never going to be able to trust him ever again, regardless of any other traumas he inflicts on her, because HE PULLED A GUN ON HER. If she doesn’t escape somehow, that’s…
There’s a reason the LGBT suicide rates are so high. Especially for teens. If this is the last we see of Becky it is a very slow death she’s being consigned to.
He fired a gun on campus in front of a huge crowd of students and kidnapped someone. He’ll never get there. And he’ll have a choice between surrendering Becky to ‘corrupt’ secular authority or making sure she cannot be corrupted any further.
Well, yeah, it’s likely things are still going to get waaay worse before they get better.
I’m just saying even if this was the BEST-CASE scenario* that ends with her still in his custody, he wouldn’t need to physically threaten her again to be hurting her because he is doing that every single second he’s in her presence. And he’s probably still going to be hurting her loooong after he’s gone.
* For the loosest possible definition of “best case scenario”.
He also physically assaulted Dina and was about to MURDER her before
going off to “save” Becky. He made it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR by shooting the gun that he had no problem killing every single one of the students at the fountain if he had to.
You can already see how much her spirit has been broken just in this martyring. If he does get her back, it’s going to be really hard for her to escape again. After all, she knows he’ll hunt her to the ends of the Earth and he’ll hurt whoever she’s with. Even if she escapes back to the dorms, how much will be she checking herself with Dina or worrying that she’s putting her in Dina? If she doesn’t, how much fear will she have of dating anyone knowing the risk they are in?
This is Toedad winning and as you said, that means risking her early suicide one way or another all for his religious pride.
And if she does manage to swallow every single facet of herself necessary to convince him she’s “cured”, you do not internalize that much without it doing some massive damage to your mental wellbeing. Especially since she’d have to be doing that for the rest of his life. And probably depending on the Good Christian Boy he hands her off to and his family and mindset, she might STILL be in danger of some guy who thinks he owns her for the rest of her life.
Seriously everything about this storyline’s made me realize just how much my first big depressive bout was influenced by the self-loathing crap I’d internalized when I was realizing I was Not Straight.
Yeah, it’s scary shit. I’m really happy I managed to dodge all that.
“you do not internalize that much without it doing some massive damage to your mental wellbeing.”
Truth. So, so much truth. Parents teach you “LGBT people are wrong and evil and worthless” enough, you end up translating that to “I’m wrong and evil and worthless” when you realize you’re on the spectrum, especially once you realize (after careful probing) that they’ll never accept it and you basically have to hide it from them forever. And once that self-worth is gone, so are your chances of self-actualizing enough to get yourself into an environment that will teach you differently.
…shit, I just made myself more depressed than I already was from reading the comic itself. I didn’t think that was possible. 🙁
Oh hey, I didn’t realize you grew up in my house too.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Jocelyn Brown. 🙁
I really, really, REALLY want to see future comics of her and Joyce hanging out and doing Sisterly Bonding Things and just Joyce being supportive of her big sister and Jocelyne being happy and accepted because ugh I feel so bad for her.
Maybe they and Dorothy can go clothes shopping together since they all have similar taste in stripy shirts.
WTF
protip: not over with 😉
Still a dude who fired a gun on a college campus and forced a girl into his car, that won’t fly… if I sleep for 24 hours straight starting now will things be better tomorrow?
After 17 hours, it kind of gets hard to stay asleep. If you stay up for 24 hours, however, you may start to see things. Tactile Hallucinations are not fun either. I don’t enjoy being bitten by creatures that don’t exist. But you are right. I’ll bet a few calls have already been made to 911, and they know his car. Also, I can imagine that Becky will only tolerate this situation for a short time. She might even threaten him back with his own weapon. But even this might take some added verbal inflammation from her father. She’ll boil hotter and hotter until she explodes on him.
Being tired when you look at a strip means you are not as emotionally capable of processing the information without awful sobbing. I CAN TELL YOU THIS FROM EXPERIENCE
After 12 hours awake, I need to take my psychiatric meds,
and they knock me out for another 12 hours. If I push those
12 hours, my mental and emotional stability gets knocked down
a peg with each additional hour. Given all of this, I can agree with you
completely, from my own experience. I’m actually more affected by
comic stories emotionally than anything from real life, which makes
this situation magnitudes worse for me.
Really? I’ve been up more than 24 hours in a row lots of times, but I never had hallucinations. Not even that one time I was up for 54 hours straight.
I know staying up too long can have those effects, but I really doubt 24 hours would be enough.
I guess it depends on the person, and a personal level of
sensitivity.
Nooo, Becky. D:
If she still has Dina’s cell phone, she should call 911 and keep it hidden. A trackable open mic listening to their conversation is the worst thing for Toedad’s plan at this stage.
Aside from that, at least a couple 911 calls about a random adult with a rifle on a college campus demanding (to an outside observer) a random young woman come with him… Yeah there will be an AMBER Alert in no time.
Yeah. I admit I’m still waiting for Dina’s phone to come into play.
Right, she still has the phone! I’d forgotten about that.
Toedad doesn’t know about the cellphone either, which should help her dial them up without being noticed.
pls police pls (say that three times fast…)
Uh Becky, you are either going to die from cops unloading into the car or later down the road when your dad decides to kill you anyway
She knows this. She also knows that getting into the car means he’s not firing a gun in a crowded place.
Especially in a crowded place that contains Joyce…
Hopefully one of the inevitably several 911 calls about this will include that toedad made someone else get in his car with him, and not just that he fired a gun on campus then left.
Because that’s what’s going to determine weather the cops regard Becky as a kidnapping victim/potential hostage, or simply as a second suspect. If its the former, her chances of escaping the inevitable police confrontation safely are much higher.
Of course, this is only if Joyce herself doesn’t call the police.
Call the police, Joyce.
CALL THE POLICE NOW.
No! It can’t end this way! Besides, Ross shot a gun in public; surely the police will have to wrangle him in, right?
Now, Joyce, call 911 and tell them what happened. This is quite important and urgent.
At least Dina is still alive… right??
The Willis gifted us with a preview image from January that shows Dina, and her hat, alive and well.
Dina and her hat survived huh? I hope her hoodie made it too.
…unless it was previewing a flashback
Stop killing our Hopes.
It wasn’t blue. Or red.
Flashbacks are shaded different colors. Mostly blue for a reminiscence. Panic induced flashbacks are red though.
and this strip can continue with the dirty jokes, and we can forget this character nobody liked anyway…
……sniff….damn these allergies……
I’m not crying, that’s just my eyeballs sweating.
So how much success do you think Joyce would have if she called the cops at this point?
I mean, Ross did come and abduct Becky at gunpoint. Feel like he’d probably be pretty upfront about the fact that he did in fact point a gun at his adult daughter to force her to come with him and why he felt this was reasonable.
At the same time Becky might not be too cooperative. Plus who knows what sort of police they’ve got in Joyce’s community. They might be a little too sympathetic to Ross’s cause.
Ehh, police can be pretty crappy but I doubt they’d try to justify anything that involves guns being fired in a school.
Depends TX now allows concealed/carry at post high school schools.
Not until next August.
IU is not in Texas, and it has a no-gun policy.
There’s still a difference between carrying and firing.
What does that have to do with people being kidnapped at gunpoint?
Heart monitor: ^_^_^^^^__________
Beep…beep…bebebebeebeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
“there there becky, go on up to heaven now.”
….No
Just no
I do not accept this as cannon
I’m sorry Willis but there seems to be a mistake with your writing
please go back and do it correctly
Now, don’t go overboard. It was a rifle, not a cannon.
*slow clap*
I needed that laugh xD
Will you people please learn the difference between ‘canon’ and ‘cannon’?
Or we will murder you. With a CANNON.
There should still be some police with some concerns about all this.
Nah they (the police) only if it involves donunts or a minority they can bully/harass/hurt/kill.
Pretty sure Toe People are a minority.
“Toe People” isn’t the preferred term to them.
“Podiatric-American”, please.
And black guys only get involved in something if there’s watermelon or a white woman they can rob/rape.
Forget police, we need a dude in a blue police *box* to come and make everything better. 🙁
So, should I be glad that Joyce is ok or sad that Becky won’t be? 🙁
1. Both. 2. Joyce is not ok. She is WAY less ok than she was 2 minutes ago.
In addition to the new traumatic experience she’s also stuck in public without an escort again.
I imagine this might be enough to make her run for help regardless of how scared she is.
She’s ALSO just witnessed a side of her religion that she never dreamed of before.
Physically, Joyce is okay. Mentally, I’m pretty sure she’s not.
Ahh yes. Of course. My first reaction was “phew, no one was shot”.
Yeah, not shot (yet) is good but that face in the penultimate panel is just… incredibly heartcrushing.
I am, however, extremely concerned about BTD’s intentions at this point. Becky told him that the only way the day can end is with state troopers blowing the back of his head off. Which is a very reasonable belief. He did not disagree, he just said that he was prepared to die for her. She told him that he would get them all killed. He did not disagree, he just said that he would save her soul from Satan. It sounds as though BTD is accepting death as the price of preventing Becky from turning lesbian. He might still be blaming Dina.
This is no-where near over. Someone might yet get shot.
Yeah, this encounter isn’t going to be over until the McIntyres are very firmly separated from each other for good, and I’m just hoping it’ll be because legal forces make damn sure Ross doesn’t get near her again.
Oh no. No no no.
*PLEASE* tell me he’s not going to pull a Thelma & Louise or something… ;_;
Well, the bullet he fired has to come down somewhere. . .
What Rodimiss said.
I think Joyce is at abort. retry. fail. again:
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/screening-2/
Also, two break the cutie moments… you monster. :c
Now we wait for part two. All we can do now is believe in these girls.
Also Willis nobody is tagged on that page for some reason.
My first thought on this page was, “Joyce is alone at the fountain, again, and just suffered ANOTHER traumatic event. She is NOT leaving that fountain on her own.” Then I thought, “Wow, she probably doesn’t just see Ryans everywhere, now. She sees Ryans and gun-toting ToeDads everywhere.”
So they’re going to get pulled over and toe dad is still going to jail, right? Right?
Toedad’s crying. Interesting.
I find it more interesting that he’s stammering in panel one. Like her giving in and/or her question caught him off guard.
Called it.
That’s what people will say when the police shows up.
well i would be happy if they did next panel. but it seems, *SEEMS* like it will literally just end, for the time being
You mean leaves us hanging to go with another story? I thought someone figured out that this day runs at least till the hospital scene in the previews. But I spose that doesn’t prevent Willis from cutting away for a while.
Tomorrow: “The End forever, Willis out”
The next three and a half months of completed strips are all just part of a very long, very complicated troll.
I think that the ultimate ending of DoA will be Joyce waking up next to Walky (back in the Walky-verse, wedding rings on their fingers) and saying, “I just had the WIERDEST dream EVER!!!!”
That’s called doing a Newhart.
This will only happen because his fans seek him out at home later today, and MURDER him.
please don’t joke about inflicting bodily harm on the author…
Sorry, just venting
And now I’m worried about where that bullet is going to fall down…
Please let it be on top of that guy in the last panel.
…You want him to die because he’s relieved that the gun-toting maniac (as he appeared to be) is leaving without going on a shooting spree?
On topic that bullet would be very unlikely to come down in the immediate area.
I was thinking more along the lines of nice bump on the head; but now I’m wondering whether a bullet just falling down would be enough to actually cause a head wound…
Oh, boy, she’s in the car. Toedad is driving off with Becky, prepared to rehabilitate her “by any means necessary.” This is very, very bad. Devastating. I really hoped something would happen to prevent Becky from getting in that car with him. I don’t know what else to say.
Indeed. My brain is not able to process beyond “NONONONONONO” in a way that even him pulling the gun didn’t do to me. I knew he wouldn’t kill Dina or Becky. But this just looks… I mean, it’s not hopeless but it sure FEELS that way right now.
That’s definitely the point. To capture the hopeless feeling of those types of moments. Where you’ve tried everything you can, but the abusive person just removes all your options until you have no choice to submit to them.
“By any means necessary”, having accepted that this course of action cannot result in his being alive at sunset.
Yeah, this is giving me a stomach ache. Whatever of his plans he chooses to go with now, it’s going to damage Becky. Though I’m still holding out for the chance someone will intervene before he can get too far – either police or some other.
Just knowing what her father is capable of is going to leave a mark. It is like she said in many ways, there’s no good way out of this now.
Well, all you Becky haters have won! She’s gone. Just like you’ve always wanted. Aren’t you happy? AREN’T YOU FRABJOUS!?
Just piggybacking on this train of thought, directing this out to the Becky haters out there. Also, pop culture references are my coping mechanism for these last few strips.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???
You took the words right out of my mouth!
All the Becky-haters can die in all the fires!!!
Did you just reference a poem that seems to emulate drugs fairly well?
What Becky haters? I mean, I didn’t like her in the beginning when she was acting all jealous about Joyce having other friends, but that doesn’t mean I want her kidnapped.
Well. Fuck.
I have so many emotions!
*wail of incoherent anguish*
Now that the gun is put away and he’s driving off with Becky the important question to ask is, does Toedad wear his seat belt? Because pro-tip, you don’t want to kidnap someone at gun point and then put them in the passenger seat without someone still holding a gun on them. It ends badly.
Why do I have a feeling that with all of this crap piling up on Joyce constantly she’s just going to do a total shift and start going through a phase where she acts like Sal, and not in the ‘happy-christian Joyce pretending to be a delinquent’ and she sort of becomes Anti-Joyce for awhile?
There has been enough horrible traumatic shit pieling
And then Walky can be a poet.
Becky still has Dina’s phone…
Damn it Willis, I didn’t come here to feel.
I’m still waiting on a twist, like he has Dina in the trunk.
Oh good, someone pointed that out. Hopefully they can use that to (re-)extricate Becky.
Also hopefully it’s on silent, because I can’t imagine it will go over well with daddy douchebag if/when he finds out about it.
Yeah Ross isn’t getting very far. Between any footage or witnesses of him and his plates, any photos or media reports of him, police will be on him in less than half an hour.
But potential hostage situation since he still has the gun. Tough situation for the cops.
They don’t know it but the person to whom he is most a risk is himself. I just hope that Becky’s got a plan; I’ve just got a feeling that something like this has happened to the McIntyres before.
IU has quite a lot of security cameras. They will know what car to look for even if Joyce is too traumatized to tell them who to look for.
Whelp time for Joyce to find a new redheaded BFF….maybe Ruth would be up for it.
Ruth’s too busy breaking femurs and being in a destructive co-dependent relationship with Billie to make any friends.
Anybody else want to punch out the guy in the last panel…?
Damn you, Willis, damn you.
Yeah. I know he must have been scared to death and who knows, maybe he’s about to call the police, but I still want to strangle him.
Haha! Bystander Effect!
Yeah, that dude’s the worst. Doesn’t even try to check on Joyce, to make sure she’s okay. Just goes ‘Welp, glad that’s over!’ and peaces out. Worthless as all hell.
To be fair, he has no idea who Joyce is or what’s going on, and he had very good reason to expect he was just about to die. He’s happy to be alive and getting the hell out of that situation before anything can change that. He certainly didn’t express himself in the most tactful way, but I can’t blame him for not sticking around or checking on Joyce. I mean, yeah, somebody should check on Joyce, but why is that the responsibility of the guy who was ALSO just in a traumatic situation?
Kind of like the commenter who were saying, ‘ok if Becky dies, so long as Joyce is ok; finish this story and get back to people I care about’
Maybe if we’re lucky, Joyce will kick his nut sack.
The guy has no idea of what just happened ir why it happened, he doesn’t know any of the back story, all he knows is there was someone firing a rifle, lots of shouting and now hes safe
Yeah hes a real douche…
Well, Willis tends to be more of a stickler for realistic backgrounds than the typical romantic comedy. I mean, you can’t show a woman getting raped and then killed in Central Park crying for help for more than an hour while spectators just pass by in the movies. The audience would get bored, especially if the director tried keeping camera angles warranting an R rating or less.
We have movies exactly so that people can imagine themselves doing the right thing without having to do so in real life.
are you F**king kidding me? where the frack are all the cops. seriously every college has a campus security it should take them like 1 minute to get over there and track down the car. not a student? no problem, they still won’t let a crazy person force you into a car. even if she was underage he is a clear danger to her. child services! police! anyone but amazi girl exist in this F**ked up college!!!
Campus security NEVER responds within a minute, even in real life.
I’ve always doubted that DoA IU has a PD. I’VE never seen any police in this series. Where’s Semme when we need them?
How about the convenience store robbery flashback? Sal was having her hands on a police car hood with an officer standing beside her when Amber stabbed her.
That wasn’t at the university – Sal was, like, fourteen or fifteen in that flashback. fogel may be right, they don’t all have campus cops.
Someone should be by soon, but he fired the shot pretty recently. That was probably when campus security or 911 was called, but even with priority response because gunfire, he’s already in a car, that’s not a student, and my guess is that this kind of situation would turn more into reporting the situation to police and them trying to figure out whose jurisdiction it is to get a girl back from her own father who is not putting her in danger of imminent bodily harm.
He forced a woman into a car at gunpoint. They’re going to have some questions, at least.
They don’t know she’s not a student
Police response to the Umpqua Community College shooting eighteen days ago took six minutes from the first 911 call to the arrival of the cops on the scene. Not under a minute.
“thank god that’s over with” !? Seriously? THAT is a fucking reaction that happened? A girl was basically taken a gunpoint, and it’s “THANK GOD THAT’S OVER” SERIOUSLY?!?!?
“well, it’s her dad so it’s fine”
…
shithead
A MAN FIRED A SHOTGUN NEXT TO HIM AND HE NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE AND HE IS GLAD HE DID NOT GET SHOT.
Seriously, what the fuck is WRONG with you people?
How about because it’s not fucking over? A woman was just abducted at gun point. His response was “oh well, I didn’t get shot, not my problem.”
Fuck that guy.
HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. He wasn’t listening, he was PANICKING. His reaction was an automatic response of “No one got shot, thank God”. Do you honestly expect him to have full knowledge of the situation and an appropriately respectful response two seconds after a gun went off on his campus?
You still don’t fucking walk away all “Oh, yay, that’s done.” It’s “Hello 911 some guy JUST FIRED A FUCKING GUN ON CAMPUS AND TOOK A CHICK AWAY”
Previous strips he’s all “Shit dude has a gun” and there is a good bit of conversation happening after where he could also be HELLO 911 FUCKING GUN HELP *blam* *shot heard over phone*
YOU DON’T KNOW that he’s not about to call 911! You are ASSUMING that he’s just going to “walk away”, as you put it! Where are these extreme extrapolations coming from?
And as for the point that he could’ve called 911 at any point beforehand, he was panicking and froze up as a result of being forced into an unpredictable and dangerous situation. His reaction has been one of the most realistic things about this scene.
YOU don’t know how he was reacting either, you’re ALSO just ASSUMING and trying to use YOUR assumptions to prove other people’s assumptions wrong.
His comments are literally: “Oh shit, dude’s got a gun.”
There is OBVIOUS focus on the two girls a few feet away from him and to the front. Becky has a pretty good plea to her father, there is a silent pause between Toedad and Becky as she then uses her mm to try and break through.
So for HIM, there is NO need to be panicking yet. In fact, there is still time for him to call police at this point as he’d be VERY clearly aware of what’s going on and who the focus is on.
THEN comes the shot. His response is: “Jesus! What the hell?” A rather coherent response, really,whereas one guy near the back of the fountain is the one going into the panicky “Oh God” chant.
He is, however, still quite close to them and still in VERY good distance to hear the exchange between Toedad and Becky, a woman CLEARLY being forced against her will to leave.
His NEXT response is “Well, thank God that’s over with!” as he runs off despite yet another clearly traumatized victim right in front of him.
And you want us to believe that is a panicked response? Sorry, no. That’s an asshole response. And if you sympathize with it, thank goodness I’ll never be in a crisis situation with you or his other protectors.
Because in crisis situations, especially ones like this, it tends to be shown people band together to help other victims, especially when one is in clear danger.
So, again, no, fuck him, and all you people who would happily leave someone in a dangerous person’s hands without even literally lifting a finger to call for help.
“So for HIM, there is NO need to be panicking yet.”
Because as we all know, crossfire isn’t a thing.
Had it been me, I also would have dived for cover (just as he did) ….. but I would have also had my phone out and been dialing 911 as soon as I got out of the line of fire.
Gee willickers. Can’t imagine why he’d want to remove himself from this situation. Almost as if in the aftermath of a threat to his life he experience some sort of fight or something response, compelling him to flee the area as soon as he was able. Fight or…. what? I’m sure I read about something like this once.
It’s almost like he just experienced a traumatic situation too! People don’t always do what might be the most rational thing when they’re worried they’re about to die, or relieved in the aftermath of a situation in which they thought they were going to die.
The police have also almost certainly already been notified at this point, and you have no evidence that he isn’t about to go call the police. But you can’t really blame him for taking a moment to be relieved that the immediate situation in which he feared his imminent death is over.
Replying to this comment because it won’t let me reply to your next one… Seriously? You jump from “I disagree with these people about our interpretation of a minor fictional character who has about three lines of dialogue” to “Everyone I disagree with must be terrible, selfish people who would leave everyone else die in a crisis?” Wow.
(For the record, defending the reaction of a character does not imply that I would react the same way. Nor does your indignation and posturing give you any moral high ground over those who would prefer to give a character the benefit of the doubt, or have any bearing on your own reaction to a crisis.)
Yeah, I’m replying to the same person. The attempt to shame people over a fictional character is taking things pretty far. Maybe calm down a bit and have some empathy. Unless you have literally been taken hostage in real life, there’s really no reason for this level of emotional intensity, and there’s certainly no reason to turn on people for offering explanations and counter arguments.
All he knows is that someone arrived on campus with a gun and fired the aforementioned gun into the air and then drove away. He doesn’t know anything about Toedad intending to force Becky to conform to his delusional perception of who she is supposed to be to him. He doesn’t know anything about why this just happened. He doesn’t have the information required to understand how messed up the situation is.
And even if they did talk about it, the dude would probably be too busy focusing on not losing control of his bowelmovements to notice. Had he known as much as we do about the situation and what Toedad intends to put his own daughter through, then you would be right, but we have absolutely no reason to assume he does.
He is the dickhead commenters who said it’s ok if Becky is killed so long as the characters they care about arent, and they want to be done with Becky and get back to stories about the characters they like. There’s nothing wrong with being relieved to be alive and see the gunner gone, but he’s totally oblivious and self absorbed.
Yeah… oblivious and self-concerned. Almost as if a stranger just fired off a gun two feet away from him. Almost as if the event was quick and confusing, instilling a perhaps instinctual concern for his own personal safety and wellbeing. Go figure he wasn’t immediately filled with a sense of enlightenment and selflessness. Last I checked gunfire doesn’t instill a cosmic awareness of the affairs of strangers, a grand understanding of how we all fit into a global tapestry with the lives of even random strangers being equal in value to your own. Certainly not in under two minutes at least.
Ah, so you’ve obviously thought a lot about how you’d react. How about: wtf just happened? How about: cops will probably want to interview witnesses? How about, is everyone here alright???
“wtf just happened?” is a valid response, though not the only possible response of a decent human being.
“How about: cops will probably want to interview witnesses” is probably something most people wouldn’t be thinking of immediately after the incident ends. Gonna need a moment to sort through visceral immediate feelings before anybody starts thinking about abstract concepts like law and what the cops are gonna want when they show up in a couple hours.
“is everyone here alright?” is a something most people would start thinking about after they feel assured that they themselves are alright. Keep in mind, this is like two seconds after the guy with the gun left. Ross’s car is still on panel. Even if he was a doctor or something he’d still probably need a moment to pull himself together before he started looking after everybody else.
I am deeply concerned that you call a knee-jerk response of “no one is dead, whew” to be oblivious and self-absorbed. He thought he was either about to be murdered or about to be witness to a murder and he is glad nobody got injured. I should not have to keep explaining this.
So, don’t keep explaining it. We’ve read what you wrote. We aren’t buying it. You aren’t going to convince us by repeating the same argument over and over and …. even if you lock caps.
There’s more than one person participating in this conversation, here. Your repetition is no more convincing than theirs. You don’t get to reply to their comments arguing with them, and then tell them that they’re not allowed to argue back, whether you’re “convinced” or not. That’s not how conversations work.
Dude. I’m not arguing. I said what i have to say about that guy a while back, ive got nothing else, i dont even care whether you agree with me or not. Nor have i said that anyone else cant say whatever they want. Zagreus said they “should not have to keep explaining” it, so I said, you don’t have to keep explaining it, no one is forcing you, but if you actually do want to keep explaining it, hey, it’s a free commentarium (so far as Willis allows) so, knock your self out, but you are not going to convince me, but have fun. I’m mildly interested in the reasons you all have given why I shouldn’t judge this guy a dick — in this situation — and I’m mildly interested in how emo several of you are about it, and I’m mildly interested in the seeming lack of knowledge of what “quotation marks conventionally mean” — ie, that they enclose a quotation. But I’m not going to tell anyone what they can’t do with quotation marks either. Have fun and have a nice day. 🙂
@fogel: That is the longest-winded “not arguing” I’ve ever seen. If you wanna argue, go ahead, but don’t try to claim some moral high ground by pretending you’re not arguing.
Aw, Toad, I apologize. TL;DR.
Ps, your “quotation of what he said”, isnt. Instead of repeating yourself, try reading what he actually said and see if you can catch a glimmer why folks are unhappy with him..
Why you so stressed about this?
Because you’ve essentially written a guy off as scum because he didn’t immediately think of Becky after a gun had been pointed in his face. He doesn’t know what’s going on with Becky and he just had the scare of his life. Why does that make him a bad person?
You are right that this incident does not mean that he is all bad. Heck, ive reacted a few times in ways that I wish i coyld have do overs on. Maybe he will too, later. But when I didn’t like my reaction to a situation, I’ve let myself know it. This guy’s reaction here is fubar. That is all I intended. And that is where we disagree.
What this all boils down to is that you’re blaming this guy for not being able to thoroughly analyze and reflect on the situation the way that commenters can. Just because this guy didn’t immediately do three different things after seeing a gun doesn’t make him “fubar”, for fuck’s sake.
“Thoroughly analyze”? Nope. Not looking for that at all. The 3 alternatives I suggested are all reactions of the same order as his. (As for thinking, stick around, the cops will want to talk to you, that’s actually something that I’ve thought relative to situations I’ve witnessed. That is just totes obvious if you’ve grown up watching American tv.)
Oh, heck! Soramke, that part where I said that I’m not arguing and have nothing more to add to what I’d already said? Never mind. I let my self get sucked back in! But the rest of what I wrote? All still good, I think.
What would have been actually fubar is if he had simply run away. Or maybe if he had laughed uproariously and said something like “serves that right!”
Or perhaps he he had hidden behind both women in an attempt to save himself.
Or perhaps if he had run straight at the guy screaming, perhaps getting himself and other people shot.
Being thankful that the immediate crisis is over doesn’t in any way make him a bad person. Hell, it’s not even a bad reaction. Your perception is skewed.
Which of course is exactly why these replies keep coming and why the message simply isn’t sinking in. No matter the incoming data, it will always be colored to whatever your perception happens to be.
“Being thankful the immediate crisis is over doesn’t in any way make him a bad person” I am SO glad that you agree with me! (You obviously noticed that I said that several times already.)
Btw, pretty sure the gun wasn’t pointed in HIS face
Gangler, Soramke, all: I HOPE that most of our exchange has come out of caring about the Willis-verse and misunderstanding each other about some things. (I am going to try not to respond again, so, please have the last word if you want it.)
AND, I apologize for my snark. I AM working on it.
Uh, working not to go to it reflexively, not to refine it.
I can totally see ‘thank god it’s over;’ they were probably pretty scared for their own lives (and if duck and covering might not have seen Becky go), but ‘thank god that’s over with‘ is kind of weird, it’s trivializing and, yeah, strange.
Honestly, out of this whole crazy arc, his reaction is probably the most unrealistic thing to me.
Such a difference one little preposition makes.
So I know who I’m voting for that bullet to land on.
…. okay, I’m still voting for it to land on Ryan, but this guy’s trying for runner-up.
“That guy didn’t show complete omniscience and rational thought when confronted with a gunman on campus? Yeah, he totally deserves to die. FUCK him, amirite?”
How about “It’s over ’cause the gunman went away” being completely oblivious to the notion that, hey, maybe it’s not? Because there have been instances of multiple shooters in one site?? Because what if Becky makes a break for it and Toedad comes back???
It’s as myopic as Twitter’s stance when death threats were deleted. It’s SUPER WEIRD to not have alarms going off for at least a few hours when your life is put directly in harm’s way, even if the immediate threat is gone–adrenaline pumping, paranoia on high alert… and dude can just casually go back to “all’s cool” in seconds?
SO WEIRD.
Also, girl kidnapped at gunpoint. C’mon, dude, I know you’re relieved for yourself and that’s okay, but at the very least report it to the cops now that your own hide’s momentarily clear.
Honestly, Im voting that the dude is ryan and is therefore definitely a shit head.
I used to be involved in surf life saving clubs. Two of my brothers worked summers as life guards. I’ve been involved in a few rescues, and talked with people who have performed a lot. It’s a standing joke, a bottomless well of funny anecdotes: nearly all people are total jerks when you rescue them.
It’s not that everyone is an arsehole. Its the way that relief works after terror. It’s the adrenalin talking.
Agemegos: thanks. And, genuinely interesting. I would honestly be interested in those annecdotes. I do know that people who are not irredemable arseholes can react badly/weirdly in high stress, threatening, confusing, situations. My reaction to what that guy does and says is coming out of my feelings about the folks who posted ‘I don’t like Becky story, kill her or something and go back to characters I like’. To me he is representing those folks. As if Willis knew months ago about those posts and responded to them through that guy.”
Agemegos: I wonder if you were at any of the beaches I’ve been to: Bondi, Manly — yeah, tourist, but my wife grew up near Bondi before her family moved back to Perth and I’ve been at many of the Perth beaches.
I trained at North Bondi SLSC, so that’s one beach you mentioned. But I did my patrols mostly at places you’re unlikely to know: South West Rocks and Crescent Head.
They both look like awsome places on line for holidays, if quite the contrast to Bondi.
Cerberus, I am so impressed and moved that you were able to write all that you did yesterday knowing that this was coming today. Bless you.
This was actually a night terror for me awhile after I let my family disown me for the last time. Not that my dad who wanted to “fix me” would hunt me down with a shotgun, but that I’d end up in a situation (mostly due to economic desperation) where I’d have to meekly submit myself to his “plans for me”. That I’d have no choice despite my stubbornness. It’s still in the back of my mind sometimes even though I’m in a better and more stable place now.
This whole arc has been super intense for me, but also really healing. I’m really happy Willis is taking the care to do justice to the experience. So yeah…
I am very glad that life is better for you now. If you ever write a book about your journey, its one that I want to read. I believe that you have the experiences, the analytic brain, the heart, and the soul for it.
So what now? Are they just going to live their lives on the run ?
It will be a short run.
Background Bob is representative of a much bigger problem whenever Becky’s situation gets resolved and she (presumably) manages to come back to see Joyce.
People are going to blame her for Ross’ appearance, that her being there (squatting illegally, no less) brought in an emotional gunman to campus.
Cue both Joyce angrily defending her (and being even more upset at the world for being as ugly as it can be) and Becky even more torn by what her presence is causing Joyce to go through.
You know you shouldn’t be Willis ideas, don’t you.
*giving* Willis ideas (damn)
Well looks like I will be going to bed in a puddle of tears…
Well looks like we need to call the cops Joyce right please don’t be stupid right now he kidnapped her illegally under duress he is very very very much breaking the law right now please someone call the cops and not just let this go. You have
That right there wasn’t stupid, that’s shock, which I am not begrudging her the least because her brain just had to process “Becky’s Dad who used to drive me to Six Flags PULLED A GUN ON US” and “GUN” and “Becky’s going with him” and all of these are terrible and that’s before we pull in her pre-existing traumas.
BUT DEAR GOD PLEASE HAVE SOMEONE HAVE CALLED THE COPS.
I’m afraid Joyce isn’t doing much of anything soon. Save maybe bursting into tears.
Yeah, I can maybe see her managing to sit down, maybe even not in the fountain, but…
Someone please help Joyce.
Is the back of the car damaged or is that how it supposed to look?
Possibly damaged while being towed.
It certainly looks damaged. It’s possible that Ross either damaged his car during his chase to find Becky. That or something happened at the auto shop when he was trying to get it back after they towed it away.
First time seeing *this* side of it up close. It might just be an old beater.
Well, call the police about a parental kidnapping and a maniac who shot a fricking gun on a college campus after pointing it at students!
One has to wonder how Ross thought this would go. Like, what did he plan to do in the event that he actually shot someone? People have seen his face and most likely his licence plate. Dude, Ross. You not only won Worst Father of the Century (runners up being Blaine and Ging Freecss), but you also win the award for Worst Planned Kidnapping of the Century. Congratulations, you’ve now made villains like Condement King look competent.
Anyone else realized how awkward this whole thing’s gonna’ be if they get stuck in traffic.
Toe Dad: “….Soooo….Back to the Future II’s comin’ out soon. That ought to be fun.”
I don’t think he allows Becky to watch scientific movies,even science fiction ones.
Anyone else hear that? Cause if so, congratulations, you can now hear my hearts slowly but surely crumbling…. And I already finished my secondary soft serve supply. Lovely… Anyone got any Sierra Mist?
Hearts, or heart is? Are you a Timelord?
Random Thought #3:
Joyce still has Gender Studies after this. Can she even attempt to get back to normality and what will Dorothy be able to do about this?
Joyce isn’t making it to gender studies today.
I’m guessing Leslie will be understanding.
The university is likely to off Joyce a do-over next year.
*offer*
Her parents are quite likely to want her to come home, too.
There is a preview panel for the next storyline that shows Joyce by a car with her dad. Though I can’t see the comic doing a time skip of a year. A lot of non Joyce storylines will be interrupted if that happens.
(Though there’s definitely a time skip of some sort of after this storyline because the preview panels in December show Leslie and gender studies is a MWF thing I think. And today is Monday. So one day at least)
Or today is going to be really long.
Oh the next storyline starts in late November, and that Leslie preview panel is from a comic that will go live on New Year’s Eve.
We haven’t had a time skip in a while. Not since Dorothy got frustrated with studying back in Book 3
I think I vaguely remember Willis mentioning something about doing a one (or was it two?) week time skip at the end of this storyline.
He established in comments on Tumblr that That Perfect Girl occurs in October. That means a timeskip to Friday at a minimum.
Y’know, this pretty much *is* Gender Studies class. Joyce, you get an A because, let’s face it, you just got the biggest lesson the school can teach you about what LGBT women go through.
Noooooo
LICENSE NUMBER.
REPORT A KIDNAPPING.
LICENSE NUMBER.
Licence number. BTD’s name and their home address. And even more important, someone tell the police that Becky has a mobile phone that is switched on, and what the number is. It’s very important that they get that number soon. They can track the phone. A negotiator can use it to get in touch with BTD. Only Dina and Joyce know about it.
I also think its will be very helpful for the police to know what is going on. Unfortunately I don’t think that Joyce is in any sort of shape to explain to them crucial things that were said about getting killed, dying for Becky, and Satan.
Also, it might be important that someone be told that they have to look for Dina.
How is one panel making me feel worse than everything that’s happened in Dr. Who ever?
How about Torchwood? xD
Hm, Torchwood’s Children Of The Earth season versus this… Torchwood was worse objectively, but then I wasn’t as attached to the characters as I am to the DoA characters…
Children of the Earth was exactly what I was thinking of. Primarily, the way Jack ended it.
…And now I’m remembering the saddest scenes from DW on top of this strip. NOT HELPING ;___;
Well…
I thought that bottle of whiskey in my pantry would last through the rest of the month.
Now the whole bottle might not be enough to last me the rest of the night.
Ok I know this is comic book world, but in the real world, the police would have been contacted as soon as he pulled out the gun by any number of bystanders.
Multiple people would have been filming it with their phones. Including car and plate number.
In California an Amber Alert would be sounding on every cell phone and freeway warning signs giving the car make and plate number.
If he gets way for more than 6 hours this truly is the comic book world.
Becky’s 18. No Amber Alert would be issued for her.
there is no age limit for Amber alerts. it goes for any abduction.
erp…. my mistake, your right Aislashu.
cripes I will get this right yet….
It actually goes by State. for example New York anyone over 18 but under 21 or still in college has a modified Amber alert system for them
When someone pull a gun the last thing you want is pulling attention on yourself by, say, taking out your phone and starting to film.
he pulled out the gun on a busy street. (a passer by had exclamation points) then took time to enter a park wooded area and return for his car. He stood at the fountain having a conversation before he fired off the gun.
there is nothing he could have done more that setting himself on fire to draw attention.
911 was called, he was filmed. At least in the real world.
Well, let’s hope reality ensues and Toe Dad suffers the consequences of firing a gun on campus.
A few panels of him in the slammer would be therapeutic at this point for all involved, I think.
What…
No…
It can’t end like this…
Surely somebody’s gonna call the cops on him, right? I mean, he just fired a gun at a school. Someone please tell me he’s not gonna get away with this…
D:
He also kidnapped an adult woman. She might be his daughter, and she might have gotten into the car, but it was by… I dunno, blackmail? He had just discharged a weapon and ordered her into the car, something she clearly did not want to do. That’s an overt threat right there. So yeah. Kidnapping.
This ENCOUNTER is ending like this. This isnt the end of the story.
This isn’t the end of the story line.
Like I said, Toehead won’t get away with it. Almost everyone has a cell phone in hand. There’s a 99.99% chance someone will report it.
Welp, Willis, thanks for that on my birthday. I’m gonna go drink myself stupid and drown myself in the toilet now.
C’mon, man, gimme some mood whiplash here!
I’m sorry, I know this is supposed to be all serious and stuff, but every time I see Becky’s dad, I can’t help but think of the ‘Son, I am dissapoint’ meme.
I see him and think “I wonder if this is what Joe would look like if he really let himself go.”
No.
this….is like every evil plot all rolled into one and delivered to our doors. I can here Him and Mojo Jojo right now…
I don’t think even those two would hit this level.
Also, anyone else realize chances are Sarah is going to be the designated shoulder-to-cry on? I mean, Becky is most likely gonna be hearing about this too, but I feel she’ll end up being the shoulder to cry on when both of Sarah’s give out.
On a happier note, the English edition of this dinosaur game has just been released. Dina would both approve of it and excel at it!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163277/cardline-dinosaurs
I don’t think I’ve ever felt the need to shout this to the heavens with as much fervor as I feel now but, “DAMN YOU WILLIS!”
”Better”?
Does anyone know if there are underground networks of religio-nut bags who would help & hide someone like toedad on the run with a kidnapped lesbian ‘needing’ to be ‘fixed’? Cause that could certainly drag this out horribly? Or do Toedads cam pants indicate that he could be planning to take Becky into the outback (wherever that might be relative to bloomington)?
There are:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/29/1114724/-Kidnapped-her-kid-rather-than-allow-lesbian-ex-court-ordered-custody
In fact, right-wing professional homophobe organizations are big on aiding and abetting anti-gay or anti-women terrorists or law-breakers because it plays up the martyr for Jesus aspect and allows them to claim that those trying to return the kidnapped party or bring a law-breaker to justice are just attempts to “steal a child” or “prosecute a good Christian man”.
I just don’t have anything remotely adequate that I can say about Ross disappearing Becky.
I hate this outcome, to say the least. Fuck this story and damn you, Willis.
In the poll I was going to vote for Riley. WHERE THE HELL IS RILEY, DAMN IT!!!
She choked while eating cereal.(j/k)
And Ross will be arrested as he technically abducted her at gun point, in front of MANY witnesses
There’s nothing technically about it. Abducting her at gun point is exactly what he did.
^1
This is probably the best, realistic thing that could have happened. The rifles put away, the students are safe, they know where Becky is so tracking the car shouldn’t be an issue
Anything else, like another character charging into the fray, would have would things worse and probably got someone shot.
I do wonder where Dina is though…
My head’s in a couple places where Dina’s concerned.
To what degree did Ross not harm Dina? Contextually it’s clear Ross was saying he didn’t shoot her, but we also know he didn’t truly leave her completely unharmed. Not sure how Becky will respond if Ross has done anything to her.
Dina also made that promise that she wouldn’t let Ross get Becky. Seemed to take the promise very seriously. Doesn’t have much time left to deliver on that now that Ross and Becky are in the car.
Hopefully she’s just bruised and winded and still back in the woods.
I’m really hoping that he just rounded down for a given value of “harmed” and just left her knocked out or otherwise thrown off in the woods rather than presuming she isn’t people because of her “snake-like deceptions”.
Being knocked out isn’t really the trivial thing that fiction normally portrays it as. We didn’t really see how well Dina took to being thrown, but she might require medical observation at the very least.
Oh very much so. Which is why I’m hoping he just rounded down on “hurt” rather than rounded down on “anyone”.
Becky, under the control of her father, falls into a deep depression. Unable to cope with her sexuality being so violently rejected by her father, and unable to be herself or be happy, she attempts to commit suicide. Before she’s able to complete the act, her father finds her and rushes her to the hospital. However, with suicide being a sin, and with the realization that his daughter can’t be fixed, he disowns her.
Mrs. Brown, hearing of the situation, calls Joyce so that Becky can have some kind of support when and if she wakes from her recovery.
Mrs. Brown agrees with Big Toe Daddy that suicide, lesbianism, disobeying a parent, and smooching Dina before gay-marriage are sins. Her idea of “support” is to tell Becky so and gather a posse who agree with her to pray over Becky.
Toe Dad pointed a gun at Joyce. Why would her mom so easily forgive something that could kill her kid.
didnt say anything about her forgiving toe dad, just agreeing with his general religious values
which she does
shes also kind of a jerk where people who dont conform to those values are concerned
Yeah, but their families are kinda close. There’s the possibility that she thought of Becky as an adopted daughter, especially since Becky lost her real mom and the ‘takes a village to raise a child’ atmosphere that the fundies I’ve known seem to take to.
Even if she felt contempt for Becky’s ‘choice’, that same ‘village’ would need to stand behind their lost sheep.
Joyce is still apart of the fold, so to speak.
Toe Dad pointed a gun at both people, and assaulted Dina (granted she assaulted back, but still).
Not to mention making a public spectacle that’d be negative publicity.
Last I checked gun wielding psycho’s aren’t a good way to market yourself as a group.
This. She may be fully willing to adopt her into the fold or show her sympathy for the horrible actions of “that awful man”, but will probably repeat a lot of the same notes about praying for her, getting her fixed or worse yet how “her sin has ripped up her family” (my dad was fond of that gamble). She’s more passive-aggressive than aggressive, but that can still leave some nice bloody marks on one’s resolve and mind.
She might not. She would try do the best thing for Joyce according to her beliefs about what is good. Which are vile.
I just noticed, the back of his car is damaged ; did he hit something while rearing, on the way from the forest ?
Or maybe pushing Dina in, so she can be ‘punished by the hand of god’.
He might have went to the impound and got it back without paying.What,he came with a gun to a university,it is possible that he stole it from the impound.
It’s his gun. Becky doesn’t ask how he got one. She asks why he brought it here.
I’m going to guess it was in the trunk and impound didn’t care because it’s legal to have a gun in your trunk in Indiana.
There’s a nice tracking device on him. This is a kidnapping. This is one of the few situations, where the police should be able to request and just get his location. (Specifically Dina’s phone’s location.)
So the rest of the comic just plays out like Taken, but with Dina?
Fund it!
Law enforcement can request cell phone records, but I’m not sure if they can get them in real time. Unless Dina’s phone has a ‘Find my iPhone’ or ‘Find my Droid’ app … and it’s been activated … then they can locate her phone thru the app’s website and map.
Bur we already know that Toedad and Becky are going back home – and Joyce knows where that is. Half if the Indiana State Police should be there, waiting for him, by the time he pulls into the driveway.
Most phones have GPS, so as long as the phone is turned on, it can be located.
Many phones can be remotely turned on!
She never even got to say goodbye to Dina. 🙁
Just imagine Dina and Ghost!Becky cuddles….
…oh, wait…
*sob* Noooooo!
Sorry, sorry! You’re right, that was mean.
….because Dina would go right through Ghost!Becky and not be able to cuddle her at all. ;___;
……yes. that is what makes it mean. thank goodness you saw the error of your ways >(
I know the sequence of events happened fairly quickly, and the police wouldn’t have a chance to get there in time (though, I would think they’re still on their way)… but I really hope this a-hole sees consequences for this.
don’t be a dick
Becky. Your grievance, shall be avenged.
As I recall, way back i asked for more strips with Becky in them. Willis responded saying that there’d be some more. This was not what I had in mind… Damn you, Willis.
Be careful what you wish for. Vote for Mike.
‘Over’?? Did someone say “OVER”?? Nothing is over until WE say it’s over!!!
Does anyone else think the blonde background dude might be Ryan? Just to be extra frosting on the trauma cake.
….well, fuck.
And Joyce wouldn’t know better because everyone looks like him to her anyway with her ptsd.
And now Joyce is alone in public again.
Surely that can only end well.
wait, what happened to Ross’s bumper
It’s Indiana. The roads are shit, nobody can drive, and you WILL crash at least once…a year.
just seems like kind of a weird detail to throw in there? hope its nothing sinister
Well, all the above and the fact that a beat-up old car is a bit of a redneck stereotype. It could just be to further emphasize that factor.
It’s from when he was Tow Dad. Towing a car to remove it tends to damage the bumper.
..I’m kinda surprised this doesn’t result in a lot of lawsuits.
No, not if the tow truck operator knows what they are doing. They go to great lengths to avoid damaging vehicles.
*is trying not to cry* Have you ever known something was gonna happen, but when it did, you still weren’t ready for it no matter how put together you thought you were…. I feel like that… Joyce’s face…
I really shouldn’t have come here after what’s happened today to me and my family. I’m not even sure if I should talk about this.
Given the context, that sounds really serious. Are you okay? Need someone to talk to?
My sister a few weeks ago tried to commit suicide by overdosing on an entire bottle of Tylenol. When she was taken to the hospital, at the time she told the doctors it was because of depression and they advised us not to bring it up for fear that she might try again. Today she told us that she is both transgender and doesn’t believe in God. I had for a while now, guessed she was either lesbian or transgender but I never said anything because I believe that is perfectly normal and doesn’t need to be talked about until the person is comfortable in discussing it. My parents are also accepting of this. The thing is that it’s hard for my dad to accept that she is atheist. My mom is a little more understanding and I fully accept it. I just think it might be hard for my dad to understand but ultimately he loves her. As hard as it might be, I know my dad will come around.
I don’t mean to upset you when it sounds like you’re having a rough time but from your story it sounds like your sibling is afab (was assigned female at birth) So if they’re trans they’re probably either non-binary or a man. Most people in that situation don’t like in that situation to go by she pronouns or be rerered to In typically female gendered ways. I know you only just found out about their gender but it’s literally never to early to start respecting a loved one’s gender.
Yeah I’m gonna need to start doing that. Or rather I should say that I should ask them how they want to be referred to as.
I’m really sorry for what happened and hope that your sibling will feel better after she sees the support your family has for her no matter what.
If you need any advice or support, we’re here for you. If your sibling needs resources, I have a number I’ve collected specifically to aid trans youth. And *hugs* again. I’m glad that your sibling has family support during this time.
I think I would like that number in case my sibling wants it.
Trans-specific suicide hotline, though it’s understaffed so your sibling should always have a backup:
http://www.translifeline.org/
Very responsive tumblr for answering questions asked by non-binary youth:
http://nonbinaryresource.tumblr.com/
Trans youth educational resources for parents trying to understand:
http://www.imatyfa.org/resources/parents/
Well-reviewed chest binder:
http://www.underworks.com/tri-top-chest-binder
Even better reviewed chest binder:
http://www.gc2b.co/
Searchable state map for support groups for parents of trans kids or groups for trans youth:
http://www.transgenderchild.net/resources/support-groups/
Information on Puberty Blockers if your sibling is pre-pubescent:
http://www.imatyfa.org/permanent_files/pubertyblockers101.html
And no matter their age, your sibling would benefit from having a trans-supportive psychiatrist and endocrinologist to support them in case they want to start hormonal transition or just for support with legal and personal matters.
Let me know if you need more specific resources.
Words can’t adequately express how thankful I am right now.
Make sure they know you’re there for them, and that’s it’s okay for them to do things at their own pace. And most of all, make sure they know you love them no matter what. I hope things get better soon. *hugs*
You and your sibling, take care now.
Please tell me they’re monitoring your sister’s liver function for a few months. Tylenol can wreak havoc on it and often the post-suicide attempt death is due to liver failure.
Tacos, I hope that your sib comes through this and that your family heals.
*Hugs*
If it’s too painful to talk about,don’t do it man.In any case,you have our support.
*Patpat* *Gives internet blankets* =(
Oh jeez, Sorry about all the dramas happening with you. Offering sympathies and best wishes for you and your sister. Also echoing Saki’s sentiments; as long as she knows at least someone is there for her, it goes a long way in helping ground them in the world.
Noooooooooo Becky!
And as soon as they pull out of the street, they’re surrounded by cop cars, right? RIGHT?!!
Still a kidnapping, still highly illegal, just report it and he’s going down.
THIS CANNOT END THIS WAY
THIS CANNOT END THIS WAY
THIS CANNOT END THIS WAY
FUCK!!!!!!!
Of course it can’t, Becky is still in the clutch of Sapphic desires. Ross now needs to call the extended family and organize a good old cleansing heteronormative Christian gang rape and/or an exorcism in order to bring Becky back into salvation.
The work has just begun. A fisher of men does not just need to make the haul but bring the catch home and make soup from it.
Wait, you’re a troll, aren’t you
oh yeah, it makes sense now
I think sarcastic, not trolling, but it’s a thin line.
For fucks sake can we stop with the rape.
Now there’s a sentiment shared by many.
300 years of anguished screaming
Yeeaaaah as much as one person is saying thank god it’s over I’m betting others are saying “WHO WILL HE KIDNAP NEXT?!” and saving the video they took to show the police. There were a lotta kids at that fountain, I’m betting at least one recorded what went down.
Uh, isn’t that what the Second Amendment is about? Being able to defend your loved ones from the forces of evil? Which jury of his peers would condemn him?
…………………………….?
The jury of ‘peers’ is probably not going to be full of people who are absolute batshit insane
then can they really be called his peers?
Plays ‘Indiana Wants Me’ by R. Dean Taylor on the hacked Muzak.
For me, the feels have reached a long-standing classic.
Someone should really see about fixing that Muzak.
Heck no,hacked stuff is much cooler.
Oh look, the guy with the gun got his way. That should make all the gun nuts from the last few days very happy indeed.
She still has Dina’s phone. Trace that sunnavabongo
She does…
…
… plans… schemes… ideas…
no
please somebody save becky. if becky is converted i don’t think i can read this anymore. i just can’t
The comic’s timeline will never progress far enough to actually break her. But as I’ve said before, something will interfere soon enough as this continueing will destroy Joyce forever. The only question is how long it’ll last and how does the saving. It might actually be the authorities for once.
Willis said that Joyce was partially autobiographical… “Destroy her forever” could mean “Joyce becomes a liberal atheist,” although I agree that the transition could be very emotionally traumatic.
i was promised the only way this ends is with state troopers
All I know is Ross isn’t getting away from this. Becky will be back, even if she has to kill her own 6 foot toe fungus of a father in cold blood to get there.
Now, whatever happened to Dina is my latest concern right now?
I doubt she could, since despite everything Becky seems to still really care for her father. It’s not like Amber who hates her dad (to the point she beat him within an inch of his life). She was terrified that he might end up being killed by state troopers cuz of this.
I think I might sincerely need to take a break from DoA for a while. A webcomic storyline has never wrecked me this completely.
Fudge, big fudging FUDGE!
What next Becky will conform to her father wishes will marry some catholic guy and all will be happy as family, right?
Cause as long father is alive he can always pull out his gun and Becky will have to do everything he wants out of pity.
I don’t think it’s really “pity” so much as it is fear for everyone’s lives, and he wont be able to do this if he goes to jail, which he will.
Marrying a Catholic would probably be almost as bad as marrying a lady, I think.
As a Catholic myself, I kinda sort of resent that.
It’s not your fault you’re pure evil. Satan just got to you with his lies is all. XD
Are you kidding? I’m Catholic and my parents are ENCOURAGING me to marry a lady! I feel that Becky marrying a Catholic would be as bad as Becky marrying a lady because neither one is bad. OOH! Maybe she could double-rebel and marry a Catholic lady!
I believe that you are right about that. (Do sects like Toedads still call the RCC the Whore of Babylon, or is that phrase antiquated?)
Where is everyone getting all of these ideas about Becky and Joyce’s upbringing and Catholicism? They’re part of some sort of Fundamentalist/Evangelical Christianity, and that subculture at best doesn’t even recognize Catholics as Christian, at worst thinks they follow the anti-Christ. The particular form Ross clearly follows only really dates back to the 1970s, but the roots of their hatred of Catholics dates back probably 200 years in the US, if not more.
I think it comes down to how conservative the Catholic Church remains on their stance on sexuality and women’s rights and birth control that people assume they’re just as crazy in the head as protestant fundies and that the two would get along just fine. I’ve even come across people who were surprised that the person behind the Big Bang theory was a catholic priest.
I believe that it dates back to Plymouth — and to New Amsterdam.
It’s fascinating to me how much confusion there is about what people like Becky’s dad believe.
There are exceptions (Hey Mel Gibson!), but in general Catholics tend to be a little less awful and a little more rooted in reality than Evangelical Protestants. For one, they’re allowed to believe in evolution. For another, they’re allowed to believe the world is older than a few thousand years.
Yeah, me too. I know plenty of people here aren’t from the US, so that may be part of it, but I’m still surprised people presumably from here don’t realize that the most conservative, guns-solve-everything, anti-sex/purity, JESUS!, parts of our country are extremely Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian, that that’s who created and use these anti-gay “camps.”
Plus, on a lesser point, Catholics generally speaking don’t have a problem with nude art, like that statue behind Joyce that she’s avoided looking at. Renaissance art anyone? The Vatican is full of nudes XD
Admittedly, one pope did have the genitals knocked off a number of the statues… Then again, I’m reminded of the Sistine chapel.
!
Once again, a gun-wielding religious fanatic has shown us that righteousness of cause that prevails over deviant freedoms.
…
…what?
Wait.
Was all this just an anxiety attack for Joyce? Was all this in her head?
I… don’t think that’s how anxiety attacks work.
Anxiety attacks aren’t the same as schizophrenia.
What exactly caused you to leap to this conclusion?
Are you sure you’re not projecting?
Dinah and Sarah call the SWAT, get the dad and neighbours killed in the name of love.
Becky survives the assault, still doesnt know her social security number so finds no job, and everyone lives happily ever after.
I just straight up have to never read the comments section again. Great comic, but I just can’t hang with the emotional responses. It’s a bit of a pity. Some of the story arcs (like this one) have a lot of nuance that I dig and would like to discuss with people from time to time. But that requires a certain amount of detachment from the material, and that seems to be in short supply. So inevitably what happens is I come to the comments section with an idea in mind, and leave, the original comment forgotten and replaced with arguments over ideologies and attempts to hammer home rational thoughts in the midst of stubborn refusals and obfuscation.
I realize the irony of my venting like this in the comments section, but it’s the last time. I swear.
JackPoint, Is it ironic that I too was wondering if I should/continue to read the strip but try to resist the lure of the comments? I have resolved to reform how I do my comments. So, to the extent that *I* soured your experience today because I was knee-jerky, casual/careless in phrasing what I do believe, and snarky, I do regret it and I hope that I won’t fall into that again.
… okay, I may be taking a break from this comic. This isn’t fun anymore.
This makes me so sad. On a really deep level. And I think it’s cause I can empathize a bit with Becky. If my dad hadn’t died a year ago, I think he would be a lot like Ross. Especially if my mother had died before they got divorced. I can’t help but place myself in Becky’s shoes. I need to go lie down, maybe cry, and then watch some TFS and or Monty Python to cheer myself up. Willis, you have incredibly skill at crafting characters and stories. My only regret is that I didn’t find out about you as an artist sooner.
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no…
FWIW, I’m broadly confident that Becky will be able to talk Ross down. He looks more frightend than angry right now. She just had to get him out of the crisis psychology and give him space to think without visualising his imminent last stand.
I can’t help but think that the damage to the car’s rear bumper is significant, somehow. Especially since that’s the part that was off the road when he pulled to a stop.
It’s Chekovs damaged rear bumber. Or gun. Or both.
Honestly, I’m just rolling my eyes at this point.
Thanks Willis. You gave me something to love then you ripped it away from me. Fuck you. And fuck toe dad with his shriveled ass in panel 1
I was drunk and sad when I wrote this. I’m sorry Willis. I’m not taking back what I said about toe dad though
Because “Damn You Willis” isn’t enough to stress how frustratingly insane this storyline’s made me, here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFs3lOqr1UE
The response of people who think Ross is going to get away with this is baffling me.
It’s totally ridiculous to think at this point the police won’t either arrest Ross or kill him in the attempt. I don’t care what you think about police competence or them caring or how they treat GLBT peeps or anything:
Ross just kidnapped a person in public at gunpoint and fired his gun into the air in a public place while doing so. There are dozens of witnesses to this not least Joyce who can give the full story. This is going to the top priority for pretty much every law enforcement officer in the state.
If Ross goes back to his house the cops could well be there before him.
If he goes to the brainwashing camp they will turn him in. It’s not a CIA black site. Also, again, given what Joyce will report it’s one of the first places the cops will look.
And the idea he has a hidden place he can hole up with Becky is very improbable. Master criminals with massive resources frequently leave trails that can followed back to such a place. Someone as dumb as Ross having a well hidden hunting lodge where there’s no record of him owning and no one know he owns is pretty whack and even then he has to get food somehow.
Ross getting away with this would be literally beyond belief.
Law enforcement was able to find and arrest one of the most notorious leaders of the Sicilian Mafia. I’m sure the police in this case can track down a Wal-Mart discount bin shopper.
People cause major disturbances and disappear with victims, who they consider family members they are helping or protecting, all the time.
In full sight of someone who absolutely will give their name, address, motivation and all other information to the police?
All of what you say is reasonable, but it’s still stressful and our we guaranteed a REASONABLY happy ending?
Also my two most disliked characters in the series are in the top two places in the “See more of” poll. Great. At least Lucy is way down in the rankings. Having all three of them in the top three would really make me dread the future of the comic 🙁
How dare you.
Pistols at dawn, sir.
How about slingshots or Turkish towels instead? I think we’ve had enough guns to last us a while around here.
Plays “Safe and Sound” by The Civil Wars and Taylor Swift.
I read “Safe and Sound” and Capital Cities came to mind and I was like huh?
Is ToeDad…crying?
No,those are crocodile tears.
Funnily enough, crocodile tears are a real thing. Crocodiles will cry after killing their prey, presumably to get blood from their prey out of their eyes.
I do the same after pouncing on onions.
As i know,their tears are fluids they use to clean and lubricate the eye and while on dry land,because of the hissing of warm air through the sinuses stimulates the tear glands into emptying.
!! It’s intelligent design!!
Hopefully, Becky tries to strangle Ross while he’s in the car. It might be difficult without a neck, but it’s possible.
Use the toe twister from self defense class.
Just swivel in her seat and kick him in the head as hard as she can.
If I could have a few minutes alone with Toe Dad, here’s how it would basically go down.
This was not you winning, Ross. This was you loosing the very last sliver of a chance of ever getting your daughter back. This was you demonstrating, without any doubt, that when the chips really are down you are NOT on her side. You are NOT there for her. You are NOT the parent she needs and deserve. You are the monster that comes to take her away.
But this WAS Joyce and Becky loosing. Loosing each other in the most horrible way. All they have left now is the love for each other. That has to count for something, right? Joyce has been wrong about so much. She isn’t wrong about love, right?
Yeah. I was thinking, this isn’t necessarily Becky breaking. Shes not denying her own self (yet). She’s just accepted that her “dad” is now a threat she has to handle so that as few people as possible get hurt. She’s given up the idea to expect reason or empathy from him. Whatever happens from here on out, he has lost her, and she’s realized she never really had him, not as the parent she needs.
Sympathy through light physical contact? :'(
:'(
So, now he’s armed with a hostage…there is no possible way that he makes it out of town.
Actually, there’s a very good possibility if the police response time is longer than it takes him to get to the Interstate. At this point, this scenario is the one you typically see on the evening news that ends with the woman dead in a park three states away. :/
DAMN IT
Yeah, fuck this.
I will be really pissed off if Ross gets away without even having a local manhunt begin after him for making terroristic threats on a college campus. Sure he didn’t hurt anyone, but this is still a FELONY. There is no way people would just brush it off and resume their day.
“terroristic threats” – Was there really nothing else to charge a nutbar running around firing a gun with before 9/11?
Huh?
If you’re querying my 9/11 comment, the terroristic threats thing came into law (in Texas, at least) within the last ten years. Surely this whole thing had some law that would have already covered it?
… Ahah. I was assuming from the context that it was the same offense as the one referred to as ‘uttering threats’ up here. Seems it is actually terrorism related. (It looks like ‘true threat’ is the applicable term, but IANAL, and I certainly ANAAmericanL.)
God…..DAMN it.
Maybe Dina is hiding in the back seat and waiting for the right moment?
Ready to take down Toedad like Nedry?
The life lesson here is that those who hold the (bigger) guns are “freedom and justice”. Who cares about the rest of the world and it’s people, right?
“Oh, hey, you have a different opinion than me. I know I am right so you have to do what I say or you will die.”
Damn guns and their wielders…
Joyce has a big gun….just not in this universe
DAMN IT!!!
I feel so bad for Joyce. 🙁
So no campus police…sigh.
It’s been what, a couple of minutes since someone first noticed a gun? It’s not like the police can teleport.
Eh, that last panel is a bit iffy. The way it’s timed it feels like it’s coming off as a joke rather than a terrified student thankful that they’re alive.
Though being honest, the only reason I’m nitpicking is because damnyouwillisyoumonsterbeckyisaperfectangelhowdareyou
It’s supposed to be painfully ironic.
It’s the phrasing that makes it come off too casual.
If the line was just “thank god it’s over” or even if we got no line at all and just saw him running away, I think it’d be a lot more effective.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”
I’mma so sad
NO! No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ….*sniffles* God….damn you Willis ;^;
On another note, did NO ONE at that fountain think to call the cops or have a smart phone out to record this madness!? Needless to say, I think Dina might be Ok. He did post a later comic for January showing Becky there so who knows….aside from Willis obviously.
A) Slowest Police & Security Response time ever!
B) Why is Ross suddenly stammering, like he’s nervous? In my (limited) experience, religious zealots do not suddenly show humility or become polite when the get a win.
“When you have seconds, the police take minutes.”
How long do people saying this think this scenario has taken?
CALL THE POLICE.
NO, Last Panel Jerk guy. This is NOT over. It can’t be Ò_Ó
GODDAMMIT WILLIS
Ross, it seems to me, has been expertly portrayed as a man suffering the anguish of a mental breakdown. The tragedy is, he’s a man suffering the anguish of a breakdown with easy access to a hunting rifle.
It’s a bit disturbing, to me, the number of people who think that shooting him in the head is the only obvious solution.
See is starting to see first hand how harmful and dangerous religion can be to people’s lives. This a prime reason I hate religion, if you do not follow the religion, you are in danger by the people who practice the said religion.
This is pretty well done all things considered.
Becky’s Dad is an idiot there’s no doubt about that, but he cares about her and is seriously worried about her and believes what he is doing is right.
Granted everything he’s doing is dumb considering he literally chased her down and caused chaos in a school campus by shooting a shot gun in the air but I can’t really hate him for it since he is pretty desperate to keep what he has left of his family together.
Well done Willis
My prediction of high-speed chase and shootout is holding up.
COPS! CALL THEM! You know who this guy is and where he lives, he can be in jail for DECADES before sunset.
Reckless discharge of a weapon
Public endangerment
Taking a gun into a gun-free zone (something like that?)
No kidnapping since Becky went willingly. We can also only assume first-offense in absence of contrary evidence. I don’t think that adds up to decades of jail time.
I think “willingly” is a stretch considering he had a weapon.
I think most people would consider this to be under duress.
Wait , wait, wait agreeing to get in a car at gunpoint is considered willingly?
I hope that the kids are mature enough and can know that it’s kidnapping. Plus if he is flashing guns like that, he can go to jail big time. Hopefully that one guy that was there can report it along with Joyce.
Earl of Orkney v Vinfra, bongoes!
Consent under duress is super NOT consent. This fact is a good thing to keep in mind in all aspects of life.
No court in America would regard consent given at gunpoint as actual consent. This is kidnapping.
Consent given at gunpoint doesn’t count. It’s still kidnapping. If he crosses state lines, it becomes a Federal offense and removes the possibility of parole. The best Fundie can hope for if he’s convicted of a Federal crime is a period of supervised release after serving the majority of his sentence.
While I agree with everyone else saying that “at gunpoint” negates “willingly”, the fact that his victim is his own teenaged daughter means no court will go after him unless Becky herself presses charges. If Becky thinks she’s protecting Joyce and Dina by not pressing charges, you’re right about there being no kidnapping charges to go with all of Ross’ other crimes.
In isolation? Maybe not.
Combined with attacking Dina and firing the gun at school, they’ll throw the book at him.
Once he’s in custody, with a good chance of staying there, Becky won’t need to protect Joyce and Dina by not pressing charges. And all of this only matters once she’s safely away from him.
She’s an adult, he has no legal control over her.
I despise fundies. DESPISE THEM! They do SO MUCH DAMAGE!
We don’t have them here in the UK – are they really like this? Saw the movie Jesus Camp, but assumed it was a bunch of far out wingnuts, not a relatively common thing.
The UK is pretty religiously moderate (barring recent immigration) because all of your fundamentalists were driven out during the 1500s. Guess where they all went?
With respect, That guy, you do, although they may not be as extreme in the UK as they are in the US. We have fundies here in Canada as well, but for the most part ours seem a far cry from those we hear about from our neighbours to the south.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/leavingfundamentalism/2012/04/23/uk-fundamentalists/
If that article is to be believed, you have at least 650,000 fundamentalist Christians in the UK, and possibly twice that many. Their beliefs may range from relatively benign to extreme, and include few or many varieties of religious intolerance.
TC – blimey, fair enough! I guess they’re just really good at flying under the radar here. Religion is a very personal thing in the UK – I’ve only recently concluded that a coworker of mine I’ve known for six months might be religious, and I’m still not positive.
Still – odd. I guess it must be an echo chamber thing – I don’t have any religious friends, so I’m always more likely to meet more nonreligious friends of friends. Also, I suppose the tech world is never going to be a hotbed of Christian fundamentalism.
Your answer comes in a few parts:
1) Yes, people like Ross exist.
2) Many people like Ross exist.
3) So many people like Ross exist that it sways national elections.
4) Many politicians like Ross exist.
5) They are all regarded by normal people are completely batshit insane.
I’m worried Becky is about to become the new Ruth.
“No regrets…”
She seems to have a lot of regrets right now.
*Archer meme*
DO YOU WANT RUTHS?
‘CAUSE THIS IS HOW YOU GET RUTHS
“What happened at school today?” “Some dude came to campus, shot a gun, and kidnapped a girl. He didn’t kidnap me, though, so it’s no big deal.” I’ll stay away from Indiana University, an armed kidnapping doesn’t seem to bother anyone. No sirens in the distance and no reaction from the students. No one has there phone out to dial 911, or even tweet about it.
As for Becky, she’d have been better off letting Fundie shoot her. Death is preferable to the process, and aftermath of, the deprogramming process. Her body may survive, but her mind won’t.
I think that one guy running off is a mild jab at how bystanders are sometimes unhelpful – I’d like to think that one of the people who was hiding behind the other side of the waterfall will help in some way.
As far as the better off dead comment, I’m not quite sure what to say – that’s a pretty extreme view.
This has all taken place over the course of maybe ten minutes at maximum. Toedad’s only public display was all of a few pages ago.
If whoever saw him when he first pulled out his gun didn’t call the police, then what happened at the fountain is probably when they were called.
Okay and I just read your second paragraph and what the hell would motivate you to post something like that?
I would far rather be dead than have my personality, and quite likely my humanity, stripped from me in a fundamentalist deprogramming session. Look up the Gilmer Texas Witch Hunt and read about the methods used to extract confessions from the accused. The techniques would have made Torquemada proud. Becky’s animated body may return, but Becky won’t be there.
OTOH, there’s still a damn good chance he won’t get away and won’t have the chance to go through with it.
I know it’s awful. Corrective Therapy is genuinely one of the most vile acts perpetuated by people in our day and age, and I can’t really find the right words to articulate why it’s so evil without feeling like I’m shortchanging it.
But death isn’t preferable to anything. The victims of it aren’t broken, damaged goods; they’re people. They need help and support, not be told that they’d be better off dead after what they’ve gone through.
Let’s look at what the future holds for Becky. First, the deprogramming. It’s designed to eliminate any shred of free will. Becky will be bullied 24 hours a day. Little sleep, little food, no privacy, and no hope. When she finally succumbs to the pressure, the best that she can hope for is a form of dual personality. The real Becky will retreat and what’s left will confess her sins and beg forgiveness. Penance will come in an unwanted marriage to some “nice christian boy”, sex that would revolt the real Becky, and repeated pregnancies with children that she may somewhat love, but doesn’t want. The real Becky would never harm a child, the Becky the fundamentalists create is a different story. A story that’s played out in the news all too often. The rebuilt Becky will never know happiness, never know true love, and never be able to have anything that resembles a normal life. The rebuilt Becky will live in hell for the rest of her life. I don’t consider that worthwhile.
It doesn’t seem very likely that Big Toe Daddy will have made any preparations for holding a kidnap victim in secrecy. And it doesn’t seem very likely that any de-programming camp would dare to hold an adult who was kidnapped at gunpoint in broad day-light in front of scads of witnesses. I’m sure that de-programming is quite as horrid as you describe, but I don’t think Becky is likely to end up there. If her father doesn’t kill her to save her soul (which seems to be his intention at the moment) then she will be rescued by state police within a few hours or by the FBI within a couple of days.
Remember how BTD responded when Becky told him that there is no way this ends without the state police blowing the back of his head off? That’s what he is resigned to.
That depends on his fellow fundamentalists. He calls his preacher, his preacher does the rest. A quick phone call saying “save my daughter from her satanic lesbian ways. I’ll call you when I rescue her from that den of inequity.” and off he goes. When he makes that call, an address will be provided. He doesn’t need to plan the details. I mentioned the Gilmer witch hunt in another response. Here is a brief article with a few details. The specific are far worse. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-06-07/features/9406070116_1_murdering-police-blotter-kelly-wilson
I don’t think that case shows what you think it does. She disappeared and the case is unsolved. There was a hysteria about satanic rituals, which like most such proved unfounded.
There’s not even a suggestion it had anything to do with fundamentalist deprogramming. From the other post it sounds like you’re talking about the questioning that led to the false accusations, but that’s an entirely different story.
Quite the contrary, that case shows how easy it is to get fundamentalists to band together and how they’ll back each other up. It also shows how far they’ll go, and the level, of violence they’ll use to get the answer they want.
Don’t forget that Toedad can’t just simply walk away after pulling
that stunt with rifle AND shooting it off!!!
So I hope he gets arrested and put away so she can return to her friends and Dina’s fold….
Sooooo.. where’s the police? Can’t believe someone can shoot a rifle in a college campus and nobody would phone 9-1-1 on their iphone.
The police are still in a reality where they can’t teleport.
The very first panel where Ross pulled the gun had a random background person conspicuously reacting to it, that served no purpose but to imply they’d be calling the cops.
I have to agree with the above poster….surely one of those ducking had a cell phone and tried to call 911…even if they didn’t talk and just let the operator hear what was going on.
“Now let’s never speak of her again”
As mentioned by others, I’d also find it hard to believe that college students would act so complacently after watching someone (who very well could have been a fellow University student) get kidnapped at gunpoint.
If Willis doesn’t show some reaction to this, I’d say DoA is drifting even more into the Fantasy zone.
I mean, Joyce…is she just going to stand there and do nothing? Go about her studies as if Becky had never been there?
And Dina, wherever she is, and she’d better be okay, can’t possibly just let this go.
Road Trip, perhaps? Mission Improbable, but not Impossible?
1) This isn’t over. Probably not in the short term, definitely not in the long run. Becky isn’t going to just vanish.
2) Who’s being complacent? The guy who’s saying “thank god it’s over” is up and running. And probably still processing what actually happened. Depending on what he heard and how much he saw while huddling in fear may not even realize anyone’s been kidnapped or what was going on.
3) Joyce isn’t here right now. She’s checked out.
She’s in shock and not functional at all. Hopefully she’ll reboot pretty quickly and become at least temporarily functional. Also hopefully, this will get her some counseling, where she can also start to deal with the near rape, but that’s long term.
4) Neither her nor Dina can just let this go. But I don’t think this comic is intended to be an adventure format. I doubt they’ll go off on a rescue mission. Which honestly suggests to me that Ross isn’t likely to actually make it off campus with Becky and that we’ve got another scene to play out before this is over. Not at all sure about that though.
5) But seriously, Willis will be showing reaction to this. Have you been reading this comic? Half the comic has been reaction to various horrible things – particularly the near rape and Blaine’s abuse + Sal’s robbery. That’s one of the things I love about it – violence has emotional consequences. The last few minutes of comic time are going to be playing out for years of strips.
How many times have you encountered a guy 3 spades short of a full deck wielding a gun in a public place that’s assumed to be safe, firing said gun, and confronting them about their possession and use of said gun?
Most people don’t know what to do when it comes to an active shooter. Most people aren’t going to charge and leap on a perceived dangerous person. At least, not until someone else goes first, and that is a rare quality to find in people who have many means of avoiding harm and/or escape, and still fairly rare in times when there are no means of escape.
I’ll put forth the example of the 9-11 hijacked airplanes… Of the 3 airplanes, fully loaded with people, only 1 had a situation where the passengers said “FUCK YOU” to the hijackers and forced their plane to crash out in an open field. Even then, it took the collective bravery of three passengers teaming together to start the charge, inspiring the others to charging with them. Were it not for them, that plane would have crashed, as was planned, into some other significant building or structure and killed thousands more. There were still plenty of people on that plane that fear had pinned down, even though they knew there was next to no chance they’d survive, since the hijackers had killed the pilots.
I’ll also include the Oregon shooting in my examples, specifically Chris Mintz. He had plenty of means to avoid and escape harm and could have easily fled with the majority, but he chose to instead try and interfere with the shooter. He got shot up, but thankfully he lived, and his sacrifice saved at least a few others. However, he did so knowing that he might die, and that he had no backup, and certainly no one was going to save him.
It is a rare, beautiful quality to confront danger… and not everyone has it. That’s just the way it is.
Correction… I said 3 airplanes, I meant to hit 4.
Everyone seems to be upset at the kid going, ‘Whew, glad thats over.’ Everyone would be glad its over, that the immediate danger has passed. Now that the danger has passed those that want to find a phone, because not everyone carries/owns a cell phone, and call for help if they are so inclinded. Everyone there did the most important thing, They SURVIVED the encouter. More over they survived it unharmed, well physically, everyone processes such incidents in their own way, some will shrug it off and go on as if nothing happened, others will have issues to deal with or compound current issues.
Starscreamer: the issue with just calling and leting the operator listen depends on how good/bad the phone’s microphone is, it might not pick up enough to convey what is going on. Then there is the fact that the police have your phone number and from that can find your address and come and harass you at a later date, perhaps even at home. If your someone that has been conditioned to fear the police, even when you’ve done nothing wrong, that is a scary prospect to consider. Especially if your not sure if your trading your safety (or just the illusion of it) would result in anyone gaining safety, or would just put others in more danger.
Choice of words does bother me. I can imagine someone thinking that, but saying it out loud, “Well, thank god that’s over”…it’s not over kid. If the police get involved, you are an eye witness, at the very least. It’s especially not over for Becky and Joyce and Dina.
Not to mention leaving the scene of a crime.
Perhaps I wouldn’t be so bothered if the kid said something that sounded more like he’s not just brushing if off as if it was just a cat up a tree.
Better yet, he could have gone over to Joyce to ask if she’s alright. Or gave some indication that he’s heading for campus security.
Or anything that wasn’t “Hey, I just saw a guy threaten two people with a gun, fire it into the air, and then take one of them away, and now he’s gone and the person who wasn’t apparently kidnapped is still there falling apart and the license plate of the getaway car is still within my line of sight but anyway ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME.”
Well, either we’d lose Dina or Becky. At least nobody dies and there’s still hope.
…
Unless Becky takes the rifle and shoot herself once in the car.
So, I looked up what crimes that Ross would be guilty of and what charges he’d have if he were convicted. Aggrivated kidnapping is a Class X felony and carries a minimum sentence of 6 years, maximum of 30 years, and up to a $25,000 fine; additionally, since Becky is between 15 and 25 years old (presumably), additional imprisonment time can be added to the sentence on top of it, depending on the court’s interpretation of the gravity of the crime.
In addition to that, he may be guilty of several counts of Aggrivated Use of a Weapon, each offense of which would be a Class 4 Felony and if without a license to carry that’s another Class 4 Felony, each of which would have a min/max sentence of 3/6 years.
Seriously, this guy needs to be put away. I would have no problem making an example of him, and I’m a licensed gun owner myself.
What are your thoughts on closing the “gun show” loophole?
It’s not relevant since there is no “gun show loophole.” The private sale of firearms, and inheriting them, is legal everywhere. If you buy from a licensed dealer, there must be a background check. The alleged loophole is just another way to demonize gun ownership. Criminals buy illegally (t’s a felony for a convicted felon to even touch a gun, much less buy one, but they’re rarely prosecuted) from, in most cases, the person that stole them. In the cases where a dealer makes an illegal sale, the dealer is prosecuted and the license suspended. His inventory is confiscated.
It’s a loophole in the sense that it’s an easy way to avoid the background checks at a place that functions as a marketplace for guns. It’s just as convenient as going to a store to buy one, just without all the legal hassle. Some people make a living selling guns at shows. It’s essentially a business, just not as a licensed dealer.
It’s legal, obviously. That’s why it’s a loophole.
And easily closed: Just require the transactions to be done through a licensed dealer who could do the background checks. At shows that would be trivial, the organizers of the show could set it up. Other private sales would be a little trickier.
thejeff, I’m guessing you’ve never actually been to a gun show, and if that’s the case, you’ve very likely never bought a gun from one. Any FFL (Federal Firearms License) holder is required to verify eligibility of a potential purchaser to own a gun, even at a gun show. One way of doing this is to verify that your Concealed Carry Permit or Firearm Owner Identification Card is current and that you are in good standing with the state. It is my understanding that FFLs have numbers they can call to verify that you have no pending warrants or convictions, and if you do they are not allowed to sell to you by law.
I’m not sure about this “gun show loophole” that you and ninja_jesus are talking about, but if there is actually a loophole for a disreputable FFL holder to *legally* get around a background check, then yes I think that loophole should be closed; however, if an FFL buys a weapon from the manufacturer or middleman or whatever and doesn’t perform his due diligence vis a vis paperwork and verifying one’s eligibility to own a weapon and this is traced back to him, he can permanently lose his license and possibly spend several years in jail. But if you have some kind of URL that shows a recent case in which this “gun show loophole” has been taken advantage of with no legal consequences, I’m open to the consideration.
What you may be referring to could be closer to a “Straw Purchase,” which is where you buy a gun intending to give or sell it to someone else who may or may not be eligible to purchase one on his own. That’s also illegal and both parties can be jailed and fined.
Of course it’s not a FFL holder doing it. Plenty of people sell guns at gun shows who aren’t FFL holders. That’s the whole point. Some of them do this enough, to make regular money off it, not just selling guns they don’t want anymore.
“Straw purchase” is illegal, but I believe only applies if you’re acting as an agent for the third party. If you’re just buying guns and reselling them to others without setting it up beforehand, it’s not a straw purchase.
There’s nothing specific about gun shows that makes this different, it’s just a convenient way to meet customers. These days, the internet is filling much the same role.
Some of it might be technically illegal, but since there’s no registration or tracking of gun sales, it’s almost impossible to stop.
I see… I misunderstood the circumstances, I suppose. You are referring only to those people who have their own collections of firearms and wish to sell them at gun shows? And the implied risk is that someone who would be barred from buying normally could buy one in that way and use it in an illegal manner?
See, I’m not sure that’s something we should necessarily regulate. As Guairdean Beatha mentioned below, if you’re selling for a profit you must have a license. And if you’re just selling a weapon that you no longer need, you can do so… however, I believe there’s a federal law that requires this transaction to be done through an FFL. You can’t just go up to a random stranger, say “Hey, do you wanna buy a gun?” and make a sale on the spot. There’s paperwork at the very least that is required for any sale.
Also, I’ve been unable to find any recent case of someone who would otherwise have been unable to purchase a weapon illegally buy one from a private seller at a gun show and use it for some kind of mass shooting or something. In fact, of the last several mass shootings, the guns were bought legally from FFLs. There have been a few cases in the past where the guns used in these types of shootings were obtained through theft or other illegal means, but they are pretty much in the minority and there isn’t usually even a gun show involved.
I can’t find it myself; do you happen to know the frequency at which people take advantage of the “gun show loophole” to buy weapons used in crimes?
If you buy a gun with the intent to sell it for a profit, you must have a license. You may sell a gun you no longer need, sell one if you need money, or if you just don’t want it any more. Buying and selling selling even one as a business requires a license. There is no loophole.
Plays “Weeping Song” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
a song in which to weep.
Well, at least it’s not something off Murder Ballads.
Welp.
I don’t what saddens me more, the fact that the storyline may end with Becky leaving or that Sarah saying that Becky’s not over Joyce is true.
Positive note, she’s in the passenger seat, not the backseat, so there’s still a possibility she can try to run at a stop sign in a location that is less crowded. Slim chance, but still better than no chance.
Or a spot with cops nearby. Like right down the road where they’re responding to the first 911 call.
For “getting in the car at gun point”, she’s really in pretty good shape, largely because he’s not thinking of her as kidnap victim. She’s not bound. She hasn’t been searched and had her phone taken. He’s not holding the gun on her.
There are any number of ways she can salvage this. OTOH, she’s also trying to do it without getting him shot, which makes it a bit harder.
Pretend this is an episode of Cop Rock. You’ll feel better about it.
I see a possible conflict of faith coming up soon. Also, sarah’s “I’ll be sorry when the world breaks you” might end up being relevant again soon…poor baby joyce ;-; *gives hugs*
Yeah, I really don’t think Sarah expected the world to do its damnedest to break Joyce in the fastest possible time. :/
I’d love to see Sarah use that bat to beat Toedad to mush though.
then she gets that endorsement deal with Louisville Slugger
BUT WHO DID JOYCE CALL FOR HELP
Hold on, gravatar fail?
THANK GOD THAT’S OVER? YOU STUPID TRASH CAN A DEFENSELESS GIRL JUST GOT INTO THE BACK OF A CAR TO SAVE YOUR STUPID A$$ CALL THE POLICE!!!!
I’m hoping for another Jurassic Park moment, with Dina having snuck into the car and popping out at the right moment to spit in his face
So Joyce is now alone at the fountain with no one to escort her to a safe place… Yeah Becky is screwed.
Maybe she can overcome her trauma to help Becky?
Rick and Morty show up through a portal…
I had a very vivid dream last night about Ross. Like, one of those really coherent dreams that you then forget but you know it was stupidly coherent for a dream. He had taken my entire class hostage and was telling us to renounce shit like evolution.
Then the ghost of Babe Ruth came in, gave a very moving speech about acceptance, and hugged him.
That is NOT the strangest dream I have ever heard or read of.
oh god, I JUST realized Ross Toe Dad is wearing CAMO PANTS.
He’s probably a doomsday guy as well.
Oh, this isn’t over. The man fired a gun on the grounds of a school. Even if he gets off the campus, he can expect jail time when the police come to his house. I mean, they’re going to ask Dina and Joyce, and they’re going to tell the police who he is. Then, he gets arrested for KIDNAPPING at the very least, as well as any other gun related crimes bringing the weapon to the school incurs.
At that point, Becky can return to the school if she chooses to.
Unless he plans to go on the run, a fugitive from the law. In that case, the police catch up with him a bit later is all.
His life as a free man is pretty much over now, no matter what else he might do.
Nooooo! DAMN YOU WILLIS!!!
Y’know, I remember someone on tumblr complaining that tension in Dumbing of Age is always meaningless because in the end everything turns out as if the conflict never happened.
Now that this conflict has actually ended with a drastic change to the status quo, people are complaining about it.
You really can’t win as an author, can you?
?!
What webcomic were they reading, because it definitely wasn’t this one, where stuff always changes
So uhm… how he going to bring her back from “the devil” that is gayness in his mind?
Expose her to lot of hetero porn?
Google up “correction therapy” and read some of the real life tellings from people who have either been forced to go through it, or tried to force themselves.
I don’t recall what percentage of known participants were later known to have tried to or actually killed themselves, but it’s large enough of a percentage for various medical and psychiatric associations to declare it a bad practice and actively discredit and disbar any licensed doctors or therapists who do it.
Not that most who do are licensed or accredited by anything other than religiously oriented “mail order universities” where they’ll ‘accredit’ you after you fill out a questionnaire declaring “God is awesome” and things like vaccines, pharmaceuticals, science, and feminism are creations of Satan.
It occurs to me that if this is college, then Becky is likely 18 or over. And with the involvement of the firearm makes her getting in the car coerced, which makes this entire affair KIDNAPPING. And as I’m sure there was at least one recording of the end of this, and with the reckless discharge of a firearm in a public place – specifically a college – the police will be involved.
In the real world dear old dad there would be looking at several serious criminal charges, and a possible stay at the grey bar hotel. If he went to prison or not would depend upon how upset the college and District Attorney were by the entire affair, and whether the court felt it needed to step on him or not.
After all it’s just reckless endangerment, kidnapping, unsafe discharge of a firearm, and possible assault charges.
If he’d had some drugs on him he’d be getting five years at the absolute minimum, but actual violence and risking lives can be pled down to minor charges.
If DoA paralells the real world at all, school shootings won’t be an unheard of thing. In fact, we can assume that already, since Becky talked the whole “You brought a gun, to a SCHOOL DAD” logic. Police and politicians are desperate to find a way to stop such incidents from happening, or keep them contained. Police are dealing with this problem in a way of being more aggressive and not waiting for specialty SWAT teams, going in to secure people and confront assailants, and opening fire on them the moment they refuse to drop their weapon (whatever it may be). Politicians are revving up the gun control debate again, but for any people captured alive who planned, attempted, or pulled off a school shooting (firing into the air counts, since it was shooting a gun on school grounds) is going to be the centerpiece for harsher legal penalty campaigns, and no prosecutor or judge is going to show them mercy. At all.
If Ross gets out of this alive, he’s looking at a life sentence… with a chance at parole when he’s in his 70’s. Late 70’s. Indiana’s a pretty harsh state when it comes to being convicted of a violent crime (discharging a firearm is a violent crime, no matter if it was straight up or not), and no amount of “I IS A MAN OF GAWWWWD YOOZ GUYZ!” will sway anyone… In fact, it’d have the opposite effect, either from irritating secular people, or enraging the religious who despise having that brand of loony taint their faith’s reputation.
Bystander guy kinda looks like Ryan with a different haircut and shirt, but since he’s unnamed and Joyce isn’t in catatonic panic mode, I’ll assume he isn’t.
Also, so many people quick to judge the police not being there, and yet fail to once again realize that these characters don’t exist in a universe where a weekend night dorm party lasts an actual 2 months. They live in their own real time, and we’re catching snippets of it at a time.
The police are on the way. There’s no way they aren’t. Enough people are going to have seen that car and the guy driving it waving around a rifle. Enough people are going to have heard that gunshot too. If Ross manages to get away with Becky, then yeah, that will be entirely non-realistic. Police don’t poo-poo calls of people saying that there’s a nutball on campus with a gun. If Ross manages to get off campus, it will be with a caravan of adrenaline pumped Johnny Laws out to put their reinforced front grills to the test.
I still think that the bystander who just says “Well thank god that’s over” is an incredible ****wad. Someone has just been kidnapped at gunpoint and THAT’s your reaction? Kid needs a kicking.
I felt like giving him a high five in the face with a chair.
I would be happy to supply the chair.
Some people just need a pat on the head…
… with a hammer.